The purpose of this study is to identify what are the critical characteristics of career management programs at junior high school for successful career education. The questionnaires consist of the two basic axes of Nakadome (2005), the relevance of curriculum and goals, and the environmental support including teacher collaboration or school culture. An analysis was undertaken of the questionnaires complete by 274 respondents, principals and 220 career guidance teachers who currently work in public junior high schools. The results of the analysis are as follows: 1) Teachers approach to students' needs 2) gathering information how to arrange career education 3) culture of organization to promote workplace communication 4) focus on measurable target tend to do develop career education. These four factors showed significant differences between the schools with successful career education and those with unsuccessful career education. Finally, the issues of how to launch career education in junior high schools are discussed.

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