Japan’s anonymous bulletin board 2-channel noticed something amiss about a post made yesterday on the Japanese Q&A service Yahoo! Chiebukuro (meaning “pearls of wisdom”). Commenters pointed out that a question asking how to translate a passage into English (in Japanese) was identical to a question from the second stage of Kyoto University‘s entrance exam held earlier that morning. The post’s time stamp indicated it was submitted not long after the exam began, meaning the culprit actually had the nerve to appeal for the Internet’s help during the test!

After some more investigating, 2channers discovered that Yahoo! user aicezuki had also posted a number of math-related questions (J) this past Friday. Again, the time span of the math posts (1:37 to 2:11PM) happened to match the math examination period (1:30 to 3:30PM).

Though “the university asks test takers to switch off their cell phones and put them in their bags while taking exams,” officials now believe that the cheater used a phone to submit the question to Yahoo! Chiebukuro. 2chan offered their own theories, as reported by Asiajin:

Remember, memo or take photos of the questions, then ask permission to invigilators for toilet break, accessing Yahoo! Chiebukuro and write questions. Or, if you have a cooperator outside, you can e-mail to him/her, and he/she will handle Yahoo! Chiebukuro. (You need to go to bathroom twice in a single test, if you yourself want to pass the exam, though.)

The school’s officials state that “they will thoroughly look into the matter after the second-stage exams are completed Sunday.”

According to the QS World University Rankings, Kyoto University is the third highest-ranked university in Asia. Smart students. Some so smart they don’t even have to study well — just cheat well.

(via Asiajin; image via Kyoto U)

Updated: Entrance Exam Cheater Who Used Yahoo! Answers Caught

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