This article, which is related to a longer piece to be published in 2023, starts from the point of view that, despite some issues, there may be borrowable ideas in how South Korea and Japan developed their education systems, especially at the outset of their modern periods of educational development. However, in the popular press, and even among some specialists, such as development agency officials, there is perhaps not enough realization of some of the features of these systems that recommend them, such as their world-best degree of learning outcomes equality, and there is perhaps too much emphasis on the idea that students in these countries are stressed much more than students in other countries, and that most of the learning is rote learning. This Viewpoint uses numerical indicators of equality to show just how commendably equal those systems are, in terms of learning results, especially compared to systems in developing countries. It also examines official and comparative data on stress and on rote learning, to present an alternative view. While it is undoubtedly the case that students in these systems are stressed, and that the systems could put more emphasis on creativity, these countries are hardly outliers in these respects, even as compared to countries whose systems have a reputation for being more relaxed or more creative.