Schools in Japan

Many of us have pretty strong ideas about schools in Japan. Those of us living in Japan with children tend to regard them as something less than perfect, to put it mildly. Even those without children tend to be somewhat horrified by the sight of schoolchildren in 19th-century military uniforms on all days of the week and by the way in which the sensational cases of violence and abuse in schools reported by the press actually seem to be an everyday occurrance.

To those in the West, Japan's schools are often regarded as models of discipline and a stronghold of academic standards.

The truth about Japanese schools as far as the pupils are concerned, is often only known by those who are the pupils. But it's difficult to find someone who has experience of both. We've been lucky enough to make contact with Jordan, an American who's currently at a Japanese high school in southern Japan on an exchange program. She has a Web site at:
www.geocities.com/water11276/endlessblue.html. Well worth visiting!

In America

  1. Classes are longer (I'm used to 45min unlike here where it's 50)
  2. No cleaning up the campus
  3. No uniforms
  4. Student/teacher relationships are stronger
  5. Classes seem less uptight, more loose and enjoyable.
  6. Teachers never hit their students
  7. Students are able to go to their teachers with their problems more easily
  8. Girls aren`t always touching one another (they`re always feeling each other's breasts, and it`s not considered lesbianish)
  9. More boyfriend/girlfriend relationships (here [in Japan] they always talk about having a boyfriend or girlfriend, but they never do anything about it)
  10. More people hang out in the library
  11. More boys and girls are friends
  12. Chairs are more comfortable
  13. Fewer windows ( This school is covered with windows, I have these urges to open all of them one day, wonder how long it would take me....)
  14. More students' work is shown on the walls, these walls are SO BARE here!
  15. None of this pencil case crap (everybody has them! They have all these pens. In America, people never have pens, if you manage to hold on to the same pen for a week it`s like some sort of record)
  16. More talk of bodily functions, i.e. sex and periods. (it`s a big no-no to talk about that here, the girls think I`m some sort of pervert `cause I used to always talk about that here, till I got smart)
  17. More talk about sex in general
  18. More talk about drinking
  19. More talk about drugs (they all think that drugs here are needles.. I'll probably explain about drugs later)
  20. Cars more important
  21. Kids have more freedom, i.e. later curfews, less rules,
  22. Boys less shy
  23. Girls less shy
  24. Girls and boys more loud
  25. Less guys do sports in America ( just about everybody does some kind of sports here, except me.....)
  26. Less guys muscular (this ties in with 25)
  27. Hair is shorter, less straight, and there are more colors
  28. Kids pay less attention in class
  29. More fights in America ( god I miss those...)
  30. No class pins or school pins!
  31. Shorter, tighter clothes in America, well, more showing of their bodies (girls) w/o it meaning much)
  32. No changing of the shoes...
  33. More books in the library, also the library is bigger
  34. Fewer stairs (well at my school anyway)
  35. No wood floors (the school would probably go up in flames if there were)
  36. No sliding doors
  37. No windows into the bathroom on the door
  38. School isn`t prepared for any massive rain storms ( yeah, I know about the rainy season, but still, sometimes our school road would get so flooded they closed school early)
  39. Different ceilings (stupid, yes, but still worth mentioning)
  40. Fewer classes taken per day (in America there were 8 periods, here there are 6)
  41. School isn`t such a big deal (less studying, more partying)
  42. Teachers aren`t so egotistical
  43. More languages are offered (like French, Spanish and Italian)
  44. More clocks ( the JET dude [exchange teacher] says that when they renovated, they took all the clocks down, now if there is a clock in a classroom, the teacher or students provided it, there are NONE in the hallway!)
  45. The bells are less dinky, they ring like how they`re supposed to in America, not play this stupid tune that lasts and lasts....
  46. Less wood in the school altogether
  47. Bigger cafeteria
  48. More vending machines that are more spead out around the school
  49. Bigger changing rooms for gym, with actual lockers in them
  50. More lockers, less cubbies (more space to store your stuff in)
  51. More smoking on campus (the school is more lenient as well about smoking, here, if you`re caught, you`re automatically suspended, this also has to do with the fact that it`s a public school and it`s not required education and you`re not an adult, so the school can do whatever they want with you)
  52. School is less clean
  53. More running in school
  54. School buses
  55. More computers in school
  56. Less calligraphy and little signs with proverbs on them around the school
  57. Only 5min between classes ( here there is 10, TOO MUCH TIME!!!)
  58. Less psycho about gym class (in America, gym class is otherwise known as talk class)
  59. There is less enthusiasm about clubs or sports ( Practically everybody is part of a club here - even me as I`ve now joined the English club)
  60. Clubs meet every day, even Saturdays and Sundays (usually half day but most people stay for longer) . Practice begins right after school (3:30 except Tuesdays and Fridays when school goes until 4:30) and it ends at 7:00. In my old school practice was between 3:00 to maybe 4:00 or 5:25 or so, maybe a little later if you had a game or something. If I had to compare this amount of practice to America, it would probably be rated as something like "super varsity".
  61. There is less worry about getting into a good university.
  62. The girls here shave EVERYTHING! Even their arms because they don`t want anyone seeing their black hair. They shave their legs, just like in America, they also shave their armpits. They also pluck their eyebrows until pretty much nothing remains and then they draw their eyebrows in with a make up pencil.
  63. The girls aren`t so uptight here. They`re more relaxed and easy to be around.
  64. There are bigger desks. I`m 177 cm and the desk (even though it says that people up to 179 cm can fit) doesn`t give me enough room to cross my legs. I have to bend so much in order to write. It`s probably a good thing I`m not fat as then I would have a real problem fitting into the desk.
  65. There are more janitors in America. This probably has to do with the fact that we clean up the campus.
  66. There are security guards at school in America. I noticed that after all those school shootings they really hiked up the number of guards. Not that there are no problems here in Japan. I`ve heard all about those students attacking teachers here, but not doing anything about it seems like a Japanese thing to do, like not talking about all those perverted old men who touch girls on the train here.
  67. More sex is performed in school, this ties in with the fact that there are more boyfriend/girlfriend relationships in America.
  68. Elevators are in the school (here there is nothing but stairs and some more stairs)
  69. There are more retarded kids in school ( probably has to do with the fact that high school isn`t required)
  70. Not so many trees dotted around the campus
  71. There are more school plays (I don`t even think that there is a drama club here)
  72. There is a PA (public announcenment) system (any announcements made are made during homeroom)
  73. More students are called on in class, they also raise their hands more (here, whenever the students are asked a question, they all look down and hope that they aren`t picked on).
  74. There is no little platform for the teachers to stand on. (It`s about a foot tall and is in the front part of the classroom.)
  75. Students switch classrooms during the day (here the teachers switch classrooms, so the result is that you`re ALWAYS with everybody in your homeroom)
  76. More candy and sweets are available in school
  77. More parties :)
  78. More kids cut class ( every once in a while someone cuts a class, but it`s very infrequent)
  79. Teenagers are treated like responsible adults and not little kids
  80. There is more homework assigned per night in America.
  81. No trading of mini-pics, a very big thing. (can`t really explain what they are, i`ll get a picture up of a mini-pic one day on my website as soon as I find a scanner)
  82. More school trophies are displayed
  83. There are bigger hallways (has to do with the fact that we don`t switch classrooms here that much)
  84. More electronics are to be found in school in America, i.e. computers, CD players, everything except cellphones of which there are a lot here in Japan (it`s very popular here for high schoolers to have a cellphone)
  85. Less girls have arm muscles
  86. Less grouping or generalization ( The Japanese have this tendancy to categorize everything)
  87. More doodlings are around the campus, esp. the desks and bathroom walls which are very bare here!
  88. Guys actually have hair gel in their hair in America. There`s not much to be found here. (You can find it, but not as much selection)
  89. Girls don`t tell each other that they`re "cute". The first time anyone ever asked me that, I was too embarrased to answer. Then I explained that in America people don`t usually ask that to their friends.
  90. Girls have backpacks. (Here they have tote bags, a few girls do have backpacks, but totes are in the majority, guys have the backpacks and sports bags)

Thanks, Jordan. Speaking for myself, I'm fascinated by this - some goes accent the "accepted wisdom" and some confirms what we outsiders have always suspected about Japanese schools.

Go to Jordan's home site for more details of life in a Japanese school:
www.geocities.com/water11276/endlessblue.html.