Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Japanese Schools: TRUTH

WATCH this video AND THEN read the post SO you can understand my frustration.
The reason I didn't embed the video is because the thumbnail suggested things.

So this video had me screaming cuz lots of stuff are wrong so I would like to correct it.

I am half Japanese and I have spent ALL my school years in Japan.

Number 10

Hair styles.

If you go to a public junior high or high school chances are things are really strict and the video is telling the truth. But
I went to a private junior high and high school and there were plent of guys with long hair. Maybe not punky styles but long hair and some dyed it light brown or even blonde.

The video says girls have it easy with hair but are "not allowed to shave their legs". DA HECK! I have never heard of such stupidity! Maybe in public junior high and high schools but still! I mean, you can't TELL if someone SHAVED or NOT can you?

To tell you the truth I never really thought about why girls weren't allowed to put on makeup. Instead of "focus on your study" I think it was more of a "make the school look good".



Number 9

Not allowed to have a relationship because it is a distraction.

That is so messed up it's probably just one or two stupid public junior high or high schools. Having a bf or gf is NOT FORBIDDEN. Kids to have bfs or gfs just not very publicly because it's not the Japanese custom to be all open about stuff. I don't know how many teachers knew how many kids had bfs or gfs. The kids certainly knew cuz we TALKED ABOUT IT OF COURSE.



Number 8

We all eat the same frickin meal for lunch.

Not all Japanese schools. For me, it was only elementary school that we had setup lunches we all had to eat. In junior high and high school we either bought it at a convienience store or had our mothers or fathers make it, bring it ourselves, or buy it at the school's lunch catering service thing. I do know some public schools have setup lunches though.

And the stuff we are served is not either RICE, FISH, or SOUP. What is this the Showa Period? Come on! We have spaghetti, curry, and many many other dishes even white bread. So, relax peeps!

AND, we are not PUNISHED if we don't eat every piece of food. What school did you look into? We are told to at least eat as much as we can and we are allowed to leave food. I LEFT FOOD EVERY SINGLE TIME!



Number 7

Finally something you have right. No, we don't employ janitors. I just realized that's what janitors are for. Anyway, in elementary school we cleaned between class, right after lunch. In junior high and high school we cleaned after the day was done. It depends on the school when they do it.



Number 6

Japanese schools don't use substitute teachers.

Uhm, no. We do have substitutes. In elementary school, we only had two classes. Class one and class two and I was in class one often. If the teacher didn't come, the class two teacher along with a substitute teacher for both classes will take care of us. In junior high and high school we had five classes and we DID have substitutes. Just to let you know, the teachers come to us, we don't go to the teachers. We had homerooms.

Idk about other schools. But I'm pretty sure students are left COMPLETELY alone cuz just like those in America or the States, we would be OUT OF CONTROL. It has happened.



Number 5

Students are taught to defend themselves.

Those hook things they show in the video, I have seen them only in high school and only once and no, the students were not allowed to use them, only the teachers. And we are not taught specifically in a class to defend ourselves. It was an event lesson ONCE in all the six years of junior high and high school that we learned how to defend ourselves. I forgot everything.

And those hook things are not in every classroom. The teachers are hiding them in the teacher's room or something like that, idk.



Number 4

Another thing you have right. Yes, at the start of every class, we are supposed to bow to the teacher. To show respect, duh!

Some schools even start with meditations??? I have NEVER heard that. What, is that from a school in the mountains??



Number 3

Punctuation is important. Unless you have a good reason, don't be late.

Isn't it important in other parts of the world, too? It is RUDE to be LATE, right?

Look, we are like any other student. We watch the clock hoping the day will end. GEESH! Who likes to go to school on a rainy day when you could be at home in your nice warm bed...watching the clock makes the day seem to go by really slowly though.

After school classes? Idk. But some kids did have club activities. And others may be told to stay later because they failed an exam and they must get some kind of study session for those who failed. Yes, I went to one of those. JUST ONCE though. And you don't go home THAT late. The teachers aren't THAT mean. Idk about public schools though.



Number 2

The traditional uniform.

Mine was nothing like those in the picture. And the boys traditional uniform in the picture is called gakuran and is typically worn by students who go to public junior high or high schools or, to very prestigious schools. The boys in my school wore different uniforms. And, it depends on the kind of school what kind of uniform you wear. So, FUN FACT, you can tell what school someone goes to if you can recognize the uniform.



Number 1

5 weeks for summer break and they go to school.

Nope. Well, we do get 5 weeks which is enough break, I think. I mean, AMERICA! WHY is the break so frickin long? I don't understand. Our semester finishes in late July and we have summer break until end of August. Then we start our third semester in September.

BUT we do not go to frickin school unless we are studing to get into high school. Those kids doing that will go to juku which is like a out-of-the-school school where teachers specifically teach students to help them pass their entrance exams. These schools are not in anyway related to the normal schools we go to.

I never went to school during the summer unless I had pool activities (elementary school) or I had to feed the bunnies (elementary school).

And, the reason Japanese are so good in math and science is because we study high school level in our third year of junior high. I was surprised some of my Oregon friends (when I went abroad) didn't know these simple math questions that I had done in junior high. I guess they don't teach it in the States.


Phew, feeling much better now that all of that is cleared up. Hope you guys, not from Japan, feel like visiting now :)

See ya later, alligators :D