Posts Tagged: student life

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12
Aug 11

Radio Taisou: Daily Exercises

Every morning at 6:30, the NHK radio airwaves plays a special tune and encourages residents of Japan everywhere to join together for a special 5-10-minute workout. Communities gather at local parks, employees at offices arrive early to exercise before the work day begins, and kids who get to school early for sports team practice join together to workout. In the summer, schools, parents, and communities encourage young children to head to the local park and participate in the morning exercise. In many areas, a volunteer instructor will stamp a participation card for each morning a kid comes to the session in the summer; if the kids fill up their cards, they get participation prizes.

These morning exercises are called “radio taisou,” or “radio calisthenics.” There’s also an afternoon version that airs at 3:00. Some companies have their workers drop what they’re doing to stand and perform the exercises. There are two kinds of exercises: those for younger, more energetic people and those for everyone else. The basic exercises is mostly a series of stretching routines, a simple “warm up” to get the blood flowing and the mind more alert for the day. At most sites, a volunteer will lead the group in the workout. After many days of repeating the stretches, you may come to remember how to do them yourself.

Radio taisou began in Japan in the 1920s. The Japan Post newspaper and NHK Radio started the project, although they may have been inspired by MetLife’s American radio exercise programs that appeared around the same time. The radio taisou briefly stopped after World War II, when American occupiers thought the masses getting together for a daily workout was too militaristic in nature. However, the program was reworked in the 1950s and focused more on exercise and bonding with co-workers, classmates, and members of the community. They’ve aired consistently since.

See an example of the radio taisou in a park here.

Have you ever participated in radio taisou while in Japan? Do you like the idea of a short daily exercise you do together at work, school, or in the neighborhood? Why or why not?

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27
May 11

Rounin: “Wandering Samurai” in Modern Times

The traditional rounin is a wandering samurai–a samurai who lost his master, either to death or to his master’s fall from grace. Since the samurai’s entire life revolved around devotion to the master, the samurai loses his sense of of purpose. The “honorable” path for the masterless samurai was to commit seppuku (“harakiri”): ritualized suicide. Those who opted not to kill themselves wandered freely, taking mercenary, bodyguard, and odd jobs where they could. These samurai became rounin–a title that was less than honorable.

Today, rounin still exist, but they’re not samurai. Modern rounin are young adults who failed their college entrance exams but still hope to attend college. (In Japan, most colleges require that you pass an entrance exam, similar to middle and high school entrance exams.) Rather than take a full-time job, these young people devote the next year to studying as hard as they can in order to pass the entrance exam the next year. They may live with their parents or take on part-time jobs in order to pay rent, but their primary focus over the next year is studying on their own to pass exams. They may attend cram schools or hire tutors–usually students currently attending the school they want to attend who have obviously passed the entrance exam–in order to help them, but otherwise, they’re on their own and must keep up the motivation throughout the year.

Most colleges hold their entrance exams at about the same time each year (toward the beginning of the year; the school year begins in early April). Prospective students can take exams for as many colleges as they please during the entrance exam season, but most choose a handful of colleges so they can focus on the topics they think may be on those particular exams. (Each college makes up its own exams; the more prestigious the school, the more difficult the exam.) The exams are usually only held once a year–in fact,  prospective students usually don’t get a makeup exam if they miss it, so they’ll venture out even if they’re ill. Solely missing an exam can turn a student into a rounin.

Some prospective students continue to fail the yearly exams for the colleges of their choice and they continue to be rounin for more than one year. Of course, they can always decide to go to a less prestigious school with a less difficult exam or to skip college altogether, but since better schooling affords better career opportunities, many students don’t want to give up.

Would you become a rounin or would you rather go to a second-choice school or get a job? Would your parents support your decision?

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8
Oct 10

The Gakuensai: Annual Japanese School Festivals

In a few weeks, schools across Japan are going to hold their annual gakuensai (“school festival”), also often known as the bunkasai (“cultural festival”). The aim of this festival is to show parents and members of the community what the students can do to express their creativity and demonstrate their talents. It also allows the community and students from other schools to explore the campus grounds. Extracurricular groups, which are more important to school life than in American schools, can also earn money for activity funding.

Most schools throughout Japan hold such a festival sometime in late October to early November, which, if you remember, is about two-thirds into the Japanese school year. The festival tends to last for somewhere between one and three days over a weekend, but the preparation lasts a week or more. Students in elementary through high school are typically required to participate, since the preparation extends into school time, but college students do not have to participate and will usually only participate if they’re members of an extracurricular group.

Each individual homeroom class (and there are usually several classes per grade) must decide on an activity or event to produce for the cultural festival. Common activities include producing a play (even if it’s not a drama class), turning their classroom into a haunted house, turning their classroom into a themed cafe, selling items, or putting on an educational display. Extracurricular groups also tend to participate, usually by showing off something to do with their activity, such as selling crafts for an arts and crafts club or holding a music performance for a music club, or for something purely to earn money for their club, such as selling food for a sports group. Most students–since most students participate in an extracurricular club–participate in shifts in their homeroom class activity, their extracurricular group activity and just some time off enjoying what other groups and classes have to offer at the festival.

After each class decides on their activity, the tend to be given an entire week off from classes in order to prepare. They must still go to school, for that’s where they’re expected to prepare. But the students practice leadership and can do what’s necessary for a week to get their activity ready, whether it’s rehearsing a performance, making costumes, building sets, making items to sell, building a stand at which to sell food, or turning their entire classrooms into themed areas. Many students, especially those in middle school and older, are even allowed to spend the nights at school (with teacher chaperones) during this week in order to have extra time to prepare.

Have you ever participated in a gakuensai? What were your favorite parts of the festivals? Do you wish that Western schools held similar festivals?

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7
Jun 10

Japanese Suffixes, Part 2

Today we’re continuing our lesson on Japanese suffixes by going over a couple more important suffixes in the Japanese language.

Sensei

Sensei is a suffix used only with family names as a term of respect. More polite than san, sensei is primarily used with those who have earned a wide level of respect in their fields. It’s used for all teachers and doctors, at least when addressed by their co-workers and students and patients. It can also be used when referring to successful professionals in a variety of fields, such as scientists, politicians, religious figures, lawyers, accountants and even mangaka (comic artists), authors, artists, and musicians.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Nakamura-sensei, Nakamura Kenji-sensei*

An English translation may include “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” “Ms.,” “Dr.,” “Professor,” “Father (as in priest),” or something similar, depending on the exact context. Unlike other suffixes, sensei can actually stand on its own as well, meaning that you can directly address these professionals or people whom you respect with “Sensei” without even stating their names. This use of the word is similar to that in English when you think of calling a college professor “Professor.”

A little less formally, but still in a way that demonstrates respect, students may even use the term when addressing their tutors, who may not be that much older than them. If you visit Japan, you might use the term when coming in contact with any of the abovementioned professionals or someone from whom you expect to learn a lot. You may also find yourself addressed with the suffix if you tutor someone or teach English or are a professional in one of these fields.

Sama

Not extremely frequently used in day-to-day conversations, sama is still an important suffix that you’ll find in entertainment, media, and sometimes in customer service interactions. Sama is traditionally only used with family names, but it may be used with given names depending on the context.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Nakamura-sama, Nakamura Kenji-sama, Kenji-sama*

Sama demonstrates that the person being addressed with this suffix is being regarded with one of the highest levels of esteem. The suffix is traditionally only used when there is a great level of hierarchal disparity in the relationship between the speaker and the addressee, such as a servant speaking to his or her employer. Its English translation varies depending on the context, but could be as elegant as “Lord,” “Lady,” “Master,” or “Mistress,” or as normal as “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” or “Ms.,” or have no translation at all.

Businesses often employ this suffix when addressing their customers to demonstrate how important the customers are to them. Official forms or mailings traditionally give everyone the title of sama over san.

Perhaps less traditionally but fun nonetheless is the fact that people also use the term (most often with given names) for people whom they worship—not quite literally, but people with whom they are enamored, but whom they consider far beyond their reach. Fans shouting out to or making signs for celebrities are the most frequent examples, but even students might (somewhat jokingly) use the suffix for popular boys and girls whom everyone in class wishes to date.

Whom in your life might you address with sensei or sama if you were speaking Japanese? Would you deserve the title sensei yourself?

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4
Jun 10

Japanese Suffixes, Part 1

In Japan, where politeness in language is so important, suffixes are quite essential. What are suffixes? They’re words that come after other words—in this case, these suffixes are titles of address. A rough English equivalent could be the prefixes “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Ms.,” etc., but you’ll see that it’s not so straightforward as that.

Below are some of the Japanese language’s most common suffixes. As you may know from studying the language, differences in level of politeness are more common than gender differences.

San

San is by far the most common Japanese suffix. It’s a polite suffix that’s not overly polite and works in nearly any situation. When you’re not sure which suffix is appropriate, fall back on san.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Nakamura-san, Kenji-san, or Nakamura Kenji-san.*

San can be used with both family names and given names, but you’ll be exhibiting an extra level of politeness by using it with family names and only addressing someone by his or her given name when given permission. When used with a family name, it can be translated as “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” or “Ms.,” depending on the person’s gender and marriage status. (There is no differentiation.) However, unlike in the U.S., co-workers, business associates and the like are more likely to address each other by each other’s family names, even after knowing each other for years, so even if in the English translation, using “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” or “Ms.” would sound weird, it’s correct in Japanese.

When used with a given name, there’s no English translation. However, you should use san with people who have given you permission to address them by their given names but with whom you’re not extremely close, especially if the person is older than you. For example, if you live with a host family, they may give you permission to use their given names, but it would be polite for you to add the suffix san to the names of all of the family members who are about your age or older.

Chan

Another common suffix is chan. You should not use chan to address anyone unless you know the proper context because chan does not demonstrate any level of politeness or respect. Instead, it’s closer to a term of endearment.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Kenji-chan*

Chan is used only with given names and has no direct English translation. Very close friends, particularly girlfriends who are teenage or younger, may choose to address each other with this suffix added to their names. It is also sometimes used in a romantic, cutsey way between couples (for both males and females, but especially females). Most commonly, it’s used by anyone speaking to a young child, particularly young girls. (But it may also be used with very young boys.)

If you speak to a young child in Japan, you may use chan. Otherwise, wait until you’re invited to address a close friend with this term (you can usually tell if they address you with the term). If you’re older than high school age, you probably won’t use chan for anyone but young children.

Kun

Somewhat similar to chan, but less cutely endearing, is kun, which has no direct English translation.

*Nakamura (family name) Kenji (given name) = Nakamura-kun, Kenji-kun*

Kun is most often, but not always, used with given names by people to address younger boys (elementary to middle school age especially). It may also be used with family names for boys and even girls by those in a hierarchical relationship with the youths, such as teachers or mentors addressing their students. (Teachers don’t address their students by given names.) It may also be used with family names by students, particularly girls, to address the fellow male students in their class with whom they’re not especially close.

Come back Monday to learn a few more Japanese suffixes!

How would you address the people whom you encounter in your daily life if you were speaking Japanese? Decide which suffix is most appropriate.

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16
Apr 10

Japanese Schooling, Part 3: School Life

Uniforms are required at most Japanese middle and high schools (and some elementary schools), public and private alike, but each school makes the uniforms slightly different. Boys’ uniforms can either be similar to a business suit (pants, blazer, tie, dress shirt) or military-style with a high-collared buttoned-up jacket and perhaps a military-style hat that they wear for special occasions.

Girls’ uniforms always consist of skirts but can follow one of two styles: business-style (skirt, blazer or sweater, dress shirt and tie or bowtie) or seeraa-fuku (“sailor uniform”), which consists of a skirt and a shirt with an old-fashioned sailor collar and bowtie or ribbon around the neck. There are usually two types of uniforms for each gender at each school, one for the colder months and one for the warmer uniforms, but girls always have to leave their legs exposed, even during the cold months!

Although it varies from school to school, most Japanese school days last from 8:30 or 8:45 a.m. to 3:50 p.m., although attendance at after-school activities is virtually required, so students usually stay until 5 to 6 p.m. Students get a lunch break for 30 to 45 minutes halfway through the day, during which they can either eat cafeteria food—if the school has a cafeteria—food sold at a snack cart, or food they’ve brought from home. If the school doesn’t have a cafeteria, students eat in the classroom and lunch workers bring wrapped trays of food for those who haven’t brought their own lunches. Older students can usually eat where they want in the public areas of the school (like outside if it’s nice out), but elementary students are usually supervised during lunch.

Instead of teachers generally staying put in one classroom and students moving from classroom to classroom throughout the day as they do in American middle and high schools, Japanese schools even through high school are closer to American elementary schools in that the same group of students stays put in one classroom all day long (expect when headed for gym or perhaps some arts class). Instead, the teachers move from classroom to classroom throughout the day. This means that students are typically stuck with the same group of classmates—for better or worse—for at least the entire school year, if not for the full three years. Each classroom has a homeroom teacher who takes attendance and discusses morning announcements before classes begin.

Do you like the idea of wearing uniforms in middle and high school? Do you think it’s fair that the girls’ uniform requires a skirt? What do you think of the idea of staying put in a single classroom for the entire day?

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14
Apr 10

Japanese Schooling, Part 2: School After School

Japanese students are easily overworked because they do more than just attend 50 to 60 more days of school each year than their American counterparts. Participation in after-school activities is virtually required—it’s an unwritten rule in a society that stresses cooperation and working together over individual achievements—and students who refuse to participate in at least one club are considered to be unsocial and are jokingly referred to as the “Go-Home Club.” Luckily, many of these clubs can be fun, such as sports and hobby clubs, but there are a number of clubs for those who particularly like certain school subjects. Japanese students are therefore not usually done with school until 5 or 6 p.m.

However, the commitment to education doesn’t end there. Besides after-school activities, most Japanese students attend what’s called gakushuu juku or “cram schools” for several hours each evening or their parents pay private tutors (usually college students at the more prestigious schools) to work with their children one-on-one. Cram schools, optional schools for which parents must pay a small tuition, are nonetheless so common in Japan that most students attend at some point or another. Private tutoring and cram schools focus on one thing: getting students to pass exams to get into middle schools, high schools, and college—particularly high schools.

In the US, students headed for college may be used to taking a national standardized test such as the ACT or the SAT. If the college is particularly selective, there may be another test from the institution. However, taking tests to get into middle or high school is virtually unheard of, unless it’s a private school, and even then, not all private schools have such a requirement.

However, Japanese students must take tests to see if they can get into the school of their choice, even public schools. Each school offers its own tests and some schools are famous for being particularly hard to get into, but those schools are attractive to high-achieving students and parents alike, as acceptance into the best middle and high schools increases a student’s chances of getting accepted into the best colleges. The entire school year before taking a test, most Japanese students will concentrate on studying what may be on the exams during the school day and during cram school at night. Then they’ll study for a few more hours each day during their free time. Many Japanese parents even prefer that their children stay up late studying than go to bed early to get enough sleep. It’s easy to see how Japanese students on the whole become more overwhelmed and overworked than most of their American counterparts!

To add to the pressure, there are generally no make-up days for the exams. If you’re sick or otherwise late or miss the exam for a school you want to apply to, you’re out of luck. With college, you can wait a year and apply the next year, becoming what’s called a rounin and studying non-stop (perhaps while working a part-time job) for yet another year for the exam. However, with high school, you’ll just have to apply to other schools and miss out on your top choices. This kind of pressure actually makes some kids sick on the day of the exams, but they go anyway.

As a whole, high school entrance exams generally have the reputation of being the turning point of a student’s career, although college exams are nearly as important. (Although most students do go to college, fewer move onto college than to high school, and the exams can be easier for students if they already know what kind of career or field of study they’d like to go into.) However, even if they’re much easier and less stressful, there are even exams for many middle schools and some elementary schools—even some kindergartens! A number of overachieving Japanese parents want their children to start at a very young age on a path to the best high schools, colleges, and careers in the country, which can lead to a lot of pressure on their kids.

Can you imagine having to study for a year for important exams to get into even public schools? Do you think that one-time exams are a good indication of a student’s skills? Do you think it’s fair to look down upon students who choose not to join an after-school club?

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12
Apr 10

Japanese Schooling, Part 1: A Brief Overview

This week we’re taking a look at the Japanese school life. Look for Parts 2 and 3 later this week!

So you’ve finished all your back-to-school shopping and just entered a new grade at school. The flowers are blooming and it’s finally spring. Think I’m mixing up with spring with fall? Not in Japan.

The Japanese school year begins in early April, after students have had only one week of vacation from school. The school year is year-long, ending in late March. Japanese students do have a number of holidays off from school each year, including a few week-long vacations, particularly around Golden Week in May (more on that later in the month) and New Year’s. Their summer vacation is the longest of all of their vacation periods—but they usually only have about a month off from late July to late August, not the 3 months we’re used to in the West. Plus, their summer vacation occurs in the midst of the school year, so they have plenty of homework to do during their time off and return to school to continue in the same grade they were in before they left.

American students attend an average of 180 to 190 days of school per year, but Japanese students spend about 240 days each year at school. It was only in 2002 that the Japanese government introduced the yutori kyouiku (“relaxed education”) policy that no longer required students at public schools to attend school for half days on Saturday. The required Saturday school days were progressively relaxed since the 1970s (schools closed one to two Saturdays a month) in response to overly stressed students, overworked teachers and higher costs. However, some Japanese people believe the total cancellation of Saturday classes has led to a decline in academic performance. Nevertheless, it may reduce some of the risk of overworked students bullying other students or committing suicide, both of which have long been concerns of the Japanese public. (Later this week, we’ll talk more about what makes Japanese students so stressed.)

Japanese schooling is divided into the following:

  • Pre-school/Kindergarten: These are private schools, as attendance is actually not required by the Japanese government. Parents can choose to educate their children at home at this age if they wish.
  • Elementary school: Grades 1 through 6. This is the start of the compulsory education.
  • Middle school: Grades 7 through 9. Middle school is a part of compulsory education.
  • High school: Grades 10 through 12. High school is actually optional, although most students do choose to go on to high school. However, they can choose to move onto careers or technical schools instead if they wish. This mostly happens in more rural areas, where students join parents’ businesses or becomes farmers or fishers.

Do you think education in other countries should be compulsory only through 9th grade? (It’s compulsory until the student turns age 18 in the US.) Why or why not? Would you like a 5 ½ day school week? Do you think it’s a good idea for students to have shorter summer breaks?

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30
Mar 10

Lunch in Japan: The Bento

When bringing food from home for lunch at school or work, the menu generally consists of last night’s leftovers in a Tupperware container or a freshly-made sandwich, piece of fruit and juice box in a paper bag. In Japan, the traditional lunch-to-go is called the bento, which, appropriated from an ancient slang Chinese term, means “convenient.”

Bento are served not in bags, but in sturdy square or rectangular bento boxes, which range in quality from storage-container-like durable plastic to wooden boxes to fragile polished lacquerware. The more expensive boxes are often decorated ornately in a classical Japanese design and may be family heirlooms. Bento can also come in disposable plastic bento boxes when purchased pre-made at food stands or convenience and grocery stores.

The main feature of the inside of the box is its separated compartments, so food doesn’t become mixed. Smaller, cheaper bento boxes may have as few as two compartments, whereas larger, more expensive bento like those intended to carry an entire group’s food for an outing, may be three or four stacked layers of two to five compartments each. Bento boxes can be tucked into any school bag or brief case, but they are traditionally carried with a large decorative Japanese handkerchief called a furoshiki. The furoshiki is not used to blow noses or wipe faces and is intended for carrying items. You tie the cloth around the box and carry the box by the knot of fabric at the top.

Bento can contain virtually any Japanese or Western food that is easy to take on the go, but the primary staple is white rice. The largest compartment of the bento box, sometimes 2/3 the size of the box, is traditionally reserved for white rice with a little garnish, strips of seaweed or pickled vegetables. Popular food for the rest of the bento include picked vegetables, tempura meat and vegetables, sausages, chicken, fish, and boiled eggs. Less traditionally, bento may consist of Western food like finger sandwiches.

The most simple of all bento consists only of white rice with an umeboshi in the center. Umeboshi, which is often translated as “pickled plum” but is a pickled ume, a native Japanese fruit somewhat like an apricot, is red when pickled and this gives the bento the effect of looking like the Japanese flag (white with a red circle at the center). Therefore, this type of bento is called the Hinomaru bento, as Hinomaru is the name for the Japanese flag.

Traditionally, bento are cooked by Japanese mothers and wives for their children and husbands to take to school and work. Some women get up an hour or more before their families to make these bento, which not only feature delicious food, but may be elaborately decorated with patterns of colors or shapes or even meant to look like popular cartoon characters. The more ornate and varied the bento, the more “love” the woman is said to be packing for her husband or children and it’s often a joke that those stuck with the Hinomaru bento have unloving wives or mothers. More realistically, it could simply be that the busy career woman doesn’t have time to make elaborate lunches or the lunch was made by the man or student him or herself.

It’s also a traditional for Japanese girls, particularly high schoolers, to get up early before school to cook food and then offer a hand-made bento to their crushes or boyfriends, perhaps in anticipation of one day cooking for them during marriage. Although this is far less common as more women continue to work after marriage and children, an old-fashioned romantic Japanese marriage proposal translates to, “I want to eat your bento everyday.”

Can you imagine eating rice and pickled vegetables every day for lunch instead of sandwiches? Would you think it was fair for your mother, wife, or girlfriend to get up an hour early just to make you lunch?