{"id":856,"date":"2008-07-03T15:02:36","date_gmt":"2008-07-03T06:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-07-03\/856"},"modified":"2008-07-03T15:02:36","modified_gmt":"2008-07-03T06:02:36","slug":"my-visit-to-a-japanese-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-07-03\/856","title":{"rendered":"My Visit to a Japanese High School"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 26 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMy Visit to a Japanese<\/span> High School<\/span>\nPhoto by Toku Ninomiya<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Until two days ago, I don't think I'd been inside a high<\/span> school since\nhaving graduated from my own back in Rootstown, Ohio (class of 1984...\nyikes!). I'd certainly<\/span> never been inside a Japanese<\/span> high school, but had\nseen enough of them from the outside to have the impression that they were\nsomewhat like prisons... dark, dirty, bleak.<\/p>\n\n

One of the dads at Anthony's kindergarten, Yoko-chan's daddy<\/a>, teaches\nat a high<\/span> school, and invited me to visit his class. I'd mentioned<\/span> that\nit'd be interesting to do a series<\/span> of blog posts on kindergarten daddies,\nhaving recently featured another such daddy in a post<\/span> on noh theater<\/a>, so that's\nwhat started the idea.<\/p>\n\n

I thought I'd snap a few pictures and be done, but it turns out that he\nhad a full,<\/span> wonderful day in store for me. He secured<\/span> permissions for me\n(and my camera) to enter the school, and to visit classes in progress. I got a<\/span> full tour, got to meet the principal and seemingly most of the 515\nstudents, and participated in one of his classes.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKyoto Prefecture's Nishi-Uji High School<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Nishi-Uji High\nSchool<\/a> was built in the mid 1970s, and is currently one of five public\nhigh schools serving Uji, a sweeping<\/span> city south of Kyoto. It consists<\/span> of\ntwo main buildings connected by walkways (creating a tree<\/span>-filled center\ncourt that would be really nice if it weren't for the earthquake\nretrofitting being done at the moment). There are also two gymnasiums and a\nhuge<\/span> sports ground. It's all clear<\/span> on the satellite photo of the area<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

There are 515 students in the three grades that make up a Japanese<\/span> high\nschool, and 42 teachers (not counting the teachers that fill administrative\npositions, such as the former science teacher who is now the principal).\nThat's an impressive 1:12 teacher\/student ratio that is perhaps better than\nthe average Japanese public school.<\/p>\n\n

Like pretty much all Japanese schools, the kids wear uniforms...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 20 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>90 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNext Year's<\/strike> This Year's Uniforms<\/span>\non display\n<\/div>\n\n

I arrived at 1pm. It was still<\/span> lunch break, so the kids were eating, or taking a break.<\/span>..<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 38 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKicking Back During Lunch Break<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>750 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOverlooking the Central Courtyard<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 20 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 320 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nUno Is a Popular<\/span> Pastime<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

At first I thought that it was a girls<\/span>' school because I didn't<\/span> see any\nboys, but it turns out that it's just the ratio... three fourths of the\nstudents are girls (which seems lucky for the 26% that are boys!).<\/p>\n\n

When I found some boys and they spotted my big camera pointing their way, they were more than happy to ham it up for the camera...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBoys Will Be Boys<\/span>\nmoments before obscene pelvic gestures were thrown into the mix<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

As is reflexive in most every Japanese, the sight of a camera<\/span> brings a\nPavlovian<\/span> peace-sign response. I normally<\/span> try to avoid it, but we've seen\nit recently on my blog here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 31 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nlargely ignored\nDress Code<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

One thing very different from an American high school is that the kids\nbelong to a particular<\/span> room and they generally stay in it for all classroom\ninstruction, and it's the teachers who move from room to room. It really<\/span> makes a lot<\/span> of sense... there's less commotion between classes (40 teachers\nmoving instead of 500 kids), and the kids develop a sense<\/span> of\nownership\/responsibility for their room and desk.<\/p>\n\n

This means that the teachers don't have their own room, so they have a\ndesk<\/span> in a teachers<\/span>' office area. After meeting the principal and thanking\nhim for allowing me to visit his school, we walked around a bit,<\/span> then went\nto the teacher's area to wait for classes to start. I really<\/span> didn't know\nwhat the plan was, so just went with the flow.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNinomiya-sensei<\/span>\nmy host for the day\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nGodzilla on Ninomiya-sensei's Desk<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Once classes were in session, he gave me a tour<\/span> for an hour, until he had a class.<\/span> First we went outside...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 44 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStudent Parking<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Most students come by bicycle, or by train + bicycle. Surprisingly, only\n21 kids live close enough to walk, and 57 kids spend more than an hour each\nway.<\/p>\n\n

I don't understand the details, but this school is apparently special in\nthat they've tried some alternative education techniques here, such as\nallowing the kids more latitude to choose for themselves what to study and\nhow to do it. In many respects<\/span>, this makes it closer to American schools,\nbut they're starting to retreat from this idea because in the 10 years\nthey've been trying it, test scores have gone down and they've seen their\ngraduates disadvantaged by it. I suppose<\/span> it's a valid<\/span> question as to\nwhether the approach is bad, or simply that it doesn't fit it into the\nlarger context of the country's already-established education system.<\/p>\n\n

In any case, I believe<\/span> that this is a school<\/span> that kids elect to attend,\nwhich would explain the long commutes that some face, as well as a\ndecidedly<\/span> bright and cheerful mood to the place – a far<\/span> cry from the\n“prison” I half<\/span> expected.<\/p>\n\n

We walked around to the back, where you could see one building shrouded\nin earthquake-retrofit construction. The covered<\/span> scaffolding made it seem\nsort of castle-like...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nlooks like\nFort Uji<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/18, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHuge Sports Ground<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/18, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKids Practicing Tennis<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Kids can pick one of several sports, and work on it for a quarter<\/span> of the\nyear until they switch to another. These kids were just starting tennis. It was hot<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

Cooler heads prevailed in one of the gyms, where badminton practice was under way...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The tour then continued inside, where I got<\/span> to visit an economics class\nin progress....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>180 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLessons in Progressive Taxation<\/span>\n( My thought: just wait until you start earning money, kids, and you'll learn all<\/i> about it )\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>350 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDutifully Taking Notes<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Then it was off to a first-year (equivalent to grade 10 in the US) math class...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I was a math major, and this is simple stuff, but nevertheless, my brain\nhurts just looking at it.<\/p>\n\n

Then it was time for Ninomiya-sensei's next class, a small<\/span> once-a-week\ngroup discussion on ethics. This is what I thought<\/span> I'd originally just take\na few<\/span> snapshots of, but it turns out that I was<\/span> a guest<\/span> member of the\ndiscussion. We talked<\/span> for two hours, using my foreign perspective to spur\ndiscussion (and, hopefully, stimulate thought) on all kinds of issues\nranging from Japanese culture, to gender equality, to school bullying, to\ndiffering approaches to education, to religion.<\/p>\n\n

Just before a break we took halfway through, I asked<\/span> them to envision\ntheir life at 36 years old (they were now mostly 18). Career? Kids? Both?\nThey were to think about it during the break, and then we'd discuss (with\nmy intention to then ask \"does what you do in your life now<\/i> have any\nimpact on getting there<\/i>?\").<\/p>\n\n

So, we come back from break and Ninomiya-sensei asks “Life at 36...\nokay, who's first?” at which point the five students exploded into a\nrock<\/span>-paper-scissors competition that was almost violent in its sudden fury.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRock-Paper-Scissors Aftermath<\/span>\nNatsuki, at left, lost, so had to go first\n<\/div>\n\n

Unless you have actually seen it, you can't possibly imagine how fast a\ngroup<\/span> of Japanese can decide the most complex selection processes with\npaper-rock-scissors. Whether it's picking one out of five, or 7 out of 32,\nor whatever... they apparently can communicate on some kind of ESP level at\nnano-speeds, resolving ties and moving on to subsequent rounds until the\nfinal winner or winners have been selected. I don't<\/span> exaggerate a bit<\/span> when I\nreport<\/span> that they can perform two entire rounds each second<\/b>. I can't<\/span>\neven begin<\/i> to follow along that fast, much less participate. I'm merely<\/span> left in awe, with a puzzled<\/span> “who won?” look on my\nface.<\/p>\n\n

Even at five years old, Anthony is getting good at this, although his\nage isn't at the two-levels-per-second stage..... yet.<\/p>\n\n

Classroom instruction ends at about 4pm, after which kids not already in\ntheir home room return for a few<\/span> minutes for announcements, and then to\ntidy up their room.<\/p>\n\n

The colors of this hallway shot seemed wonky with the mix of sunlight, shade, and fluorescent, so I'm trying a B&W version...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nTypical School Hallway<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHome-Room Announcements<\/span>\nI was one of the announcements\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 48 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRoom Cleaning<\/span>\nit's the thought that counts\n<\/div>\n\n

Then came time for the various school clubs. There are a dozen<\/span> different\nsports clubs, including three different tennis clubs, soccer, softball,\nbaseball, kendo<\/a> (Japanese\nfencing), weight training, volleyball, handball, basketball, and badminton.<\/p>\n\n

Non-sports clubs include singing, band, homemaking, volunteerism, folk\nmusic, broadcasting, art, theater, and tea ceremony.<\/p>\n\n

Ninomiya-sensei had office hours to counsel students, so I wandered<\/span>\naround to check out the clubs. Indoors, the music-related clubs seemed\npretty popular, and I could<\/span> hear some of the kids practicing, and some were\nreally<\/i> good.<\/p>\n\n

On the way out, we stopped by the other gym to see kendo, Japanese\nfencing (which I understand<\/span> as well as western fencing, which is to say not\nat all). The uniforms<\/span> certainly looked impressive...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 32 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nKendo Practice<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOn the Offensive<\/span>\n( as far as I could tell, the tall kid in the background, being attacked, was the only guy )\n<\/div>\n\n

What a treat. All and all<\/span>, it was a day<\/span> of wonderful surprises, both\nbecause I got<\/span> to actively participate, and because my stereotypes were\nwholly broken. I'm sure that<\/span> this school is nicer than average, but even\nso, it was much nicer than I would<\/span> have expected.<\/p>\n\n

Thanks Yoko-chan's daddy, for a wonderful<\/span> experience!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until two days ago, I don't think I'd been inside a high school since having graduated from my own back in Rootstown, Ohio (class of 1984... yikes!). I'd certainly never been inside a Japanese high school, but had seen enough of them from the outside to have the impression that they were somewhat like prisons... dark, dirty, bleak.<\/p>

One of the dads at Anthony's kindergarten, Yoko-chan's daddy, teaches at a high school, and invited me to visit his class. I'd mentioned that it'd be interesting to do a series of blog posts on kindergarten daddies, having recently featured another such [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}