Photo/Illutration Applicants before the start of the test of geography, history and civics at the University of Tokyo on Jan. 14, the first day of the standardized university entrance exams. (Shinnosuke Ito)

Standardized university admission exams across Japan kicked off largely without a hitch Jan. 14, but there were instances of examiners calling an end slightly early, which means applicants can take makeup tests later this month.

Applicants this year totaled 512,581, down 3.4 percent from last year, according to the government-affiliated National Center for University Entrance Examinations.

On the first day, tests of three subjects--geography, history and civics, as well as Japanese and foreign languages--were given. Science and math were scheduled for the second and last day.

Last year’s exams were overshadowed by a knife-wielding high school student who attacked three people, including two applicants, near the campus of the University of Tokyo on the first day.

There were no such dramas this year.

But there were glitches during the test of geography, history and civics.

According to the center, two venues--one in Nagoya and the other in Osaka Prefecture--finished five seconds and one minute earlier, respectively, than they were supposed to as test examiners did not keep precise track of time.

The center said 119 applicants who took the test at the two sites can take a makeup exam on Jan. 28.

At a testing site of Yamaguchi University, the Japanese language exam began 30 minutes later than scheduled as a fire alarm went off prior to the test, affecting around 550 test-takers.

The alarm apparently sounded after detecting smoke in a nearby building that was not used as a test venue.

In the listening comprehension portion of the English test, 41 students across Japan had to redo the part due to a glitch with the electronic devices they were using.

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