Japan – to Ageo-area December 4, 2002

Out from Tokyo we went to meet our friends Kazue and Jim, who live in the Ageo area about an hour or so north of Asakusa, where we were staying. Bill got this shot of one of the bullet trains just before it left the station.

T The first order of business was to join a class of Japanese kids in a kanji class – Bill Everyone was happy to practice their English.

And before we left, everyone posed for a class photo.

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In schools, there is no central heat around Tokyo, so the classrooms are cold. And just after lunch every day the kids clean the floors in the class – hardwood floors that are scrubbed using cloths and soapy water that the kids run back and forth with over the floor. They couldn’t believe that we had other people do the cleaning – and carpets!!! That was unheard of!

The class was very rote, with the children learning as a group a very proscribed set of lessons. There is much more commotion in the class than in Bill’s school (about 40 kids/class) but they all listen to the teacher whenever she talks or starts a lesson. Lots of respect.

The school system includes not just regular school, but also Juko school, that runs after the regular school day ends, and cost much money. The people who can afford it send their kids to Juko school after regular school, and they are expected to do extraordinarily well in their studies. Competition is fierce, and entrance to college is difficult. The exams are hard and studying is tough. If you do not pass, or have not high enough grades, there is no second chance – you do not go to the best schools.

In a funny turnabout, once the kids are in college, they generally do very poorly, slack off and party all the time. There is no corresponding study-ethic to make them work hard, and they view the college experience as “I worked really hard to get here and now I can relax”..

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