Japanese school life has many similarities to western schools. They go to class, make friends, study play sports and hopefully eventually graduate. This is a very vague comparison of their similarities. Below are example photos and information about school life in Japan....
Here you can see High school students walking to school. The majority of students in Japan walk, bike, take a bus, train, or subway. Japan has an excellent mass transit system.
Fun fact- Japanese students are forbidden to drive to school. There is no Japanese translation for snow-days. (Although this is a slight exaggeration.) What is not is the fact that I have never in all my years teaching in Japan had school closed for snow. One time the train didn't run due to the rare heavy snow fall, but students that lived in walking distance still had to go to school. Japanese students change from outdoor to indoor shoes. In most Japanese schools you will have your indoor, and gym shoes. A few schools don't have shoe lockers or have to wear indoor shoes, but the majority do. Here is a typical image of a Japanese classroom. Just like in the West, you can find happy active high school students in Japan. I have taught both somber, and energetic (genki) students. At lunch the majority of students eat in the classroom, there are no cafeterias in Japanese high schools. Some students will actually eat in their club rooms. Most students bring their lunch, buy a school lunch, or bread from a person who comes to the school selling bread. After classes finish at the end of the day before going home or parting in club activities, students not janitors clean the school. The following are examples of high school club activities limited to Japan, The first one is Kyudo, Japanese Archery. Students must practice their form for an entire year before being able to shoot a bo towards the very end of their Freshman year. Kendo can be found in the U.S. but not in high school, typically a club outside of American academia. The Japanese tea ceremony is an old custom from Japan that is actually still quite popular for girls in high school to take. I've never seen boys in the club, but if you are not from Japan, taking part in it can be fun. |
Sources...
http://www.khiart.com/travelphotos/kyoto_city_photo_school-kids.jpeg
http://www.oldphotosjapan.com/en/photos/316/school-girls-eating-bento#.VTVwFPlT66M
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4089/3821/1600/bowsand%20arrows1.jpg
http://www.ob.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/clip_image004.jpg
http://furanotourism.blogspot.com/2011/08/2011-bellybutton-festival-japanese-tea.html
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/snow-city.html
https://www.travelblog.org/Photos/5908536
http://lucky-japan.blogspot.com/2014/10/japanese-students-clean-classrooms-on.html
http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/894587_10200845748376819_596384370_o.jpg
http://www.khiart.com/travelphotos/kyoto_city_photo_school-kids.jpeg
http://www.oldphotosjapan.com/en/photos/316/school-girls-eating-bento#.VTVwFPlT66M
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4089/3821/1600/bowsand%20arrows1.jpg
http://www.ob.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/clip_image004.jpg
http://furanotourism.blogspot.com/2011/08/2011-bellybutton-festival-japanese-tea.html
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/snow-city.html
https://www.travelblog.org/Photos/5908536
http://lucky-japan.blogspot.com/2014/10/japanese-students-clean-classrooms-on.html
http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/894587_10200845748376819_596384370_o.jpg