Culture Notes

I wrote this at the beginning of this month. Maybe it's interesting, maybe it's not. But here ya go.

Lots of interesting observations this week.

Although the Japanese love their alcohol, they do not love drinking and driving and penalties are very severe. As school teachers we are considered public officials. Employed by the board of education we are expected to uphold a certain standard of public behavior. Seems logical, teachers are also public figures in the United States, but not to the extent of this.

The first day we arrived in Oita we signed our year contracts and were given the ‘responsibility’ and ‘appropriate public behavior’ speech. I remember being struck by the strict punishments for offenses not entirely in one’s control such as traffic accidents. As public officials, if we were to be in a car accident and people were hurt, it would be grounds for being fired. Yes, fired for causing a car accident. Of course each situation is different but our boss stressed this point very thoroughly adding that this is the same for Japanese people. Who gets fired for being in a car accident?!

Then, a few weeks after we got here, there was an incident where a public official was in a car accident, and he had been drinking some alcohol. This incident prompted special afternoon meetings at all schools mandated by the Board of Education. The principal gave a 30 minute lecture about drinking, driving, duty, etc, and various teachers were asked to stand up and pledge that they would not drink or drive. Then, as requested by the Board of Education, all enkai were to be postponed for 2-3 weeks. In the room a common *sigh* went up from the crowd.

Ironic that our employer can tell us what to do or not to do in our free time as a result of an accident that occurred in someone else’s free time. I guess the lesson here is in Japan you never have ‘free time.’ No matter what you are doing you are in the public eye and you have a duty to act according to the group which you represent.

This week there was another accident with drinking and driving, news quickly spread that that teacher was fired and this time in the special meeting each teacher had to sign an oath that they would not drink and drive. It’s amazing to me how much a person’s life can be regulated by their employer and other ‘groups’ in society. After growing up with a strong sense of American individuality all of this does go against my sense of boundaries between the personal and private life. That’s the beauty of cross cultural understanding...It is interesting to observe these differences.

At the beginning of each month, there is an assembly to award various student accomplishments, make announcements (the drinking and driving incident was also announced to the students), and to have the dreaded uniform check. During the assembly a teacher mentioned to me that after the speeches we would have the uniform check so the students are probably nervous.

Nervous?

It’s a uniform...how hard can it be to wear it correctly...there’s not much room for variation...
Shows how much I know.

Teachers were sitting on the ground, rulers in hand, to check the distance between the hem of the skirt and the top of the socks. It had to be so exact that they had to use rulers?! The girls had to be checked in the following areas:

Length of skirt and socks
No earrings.
No long hair. If the hair was long it had to be tied into a side pony-tail, not a down the back pony tail.
No obvious make-up. I saw girls who usually wear heavy eyeliner and eye make up wearing natural tones that day...I almost didn’t recognize them!
No nail polish, nails cannot be too long.
Must wear the school pin.
Must be carrying the school ID card in their pocket.

For boys, I also saw teachers on the ground checking the length of their pants. It’s crazy! Regulating even their hair... For offenders they were to sit in a group to later be lectured and then they would have another check in a few days. I asked what the consequences would be if they failed the second check - parents would be called, both parents and students would be lectured about offending the school codes, no respect, etc...and possibly an eventual suspension. I was assured it never really goes farther than the second check, but wow.
All the teachers were surprised that I had never worn a school uniform. I was glad.

Strict regulations in school, and in life in general, leave little room for individual expression. Perhaps this is why on the train and in all the department stores the school girls have rolled up their skirts so short that I am even shocked (and I am used to seeing short shorts/skirts). Perhaps this is why most students carry hair gel or make-up in their school bags so the minuted they step outside the school walls they can look how they choose. Perhaps this is also why in the fashion district, Harajuku, in Tokyo, there are young people dressed in elaborate costumes, if for no other reason to rebel against conformity. (Check out the book “Fruits” for fashion beyond your wildest dreams)

There is a period after high school graduation and before entering the career life of a ‘salary man’ where Japanese people do not have to act or dress according to someone else’s rules. For many this period is college...I think I may have touched on this a little before, but college is less stressful than high school. GETTING INTO college is difficult but once you are in, you are in, and traditionally will be sucked up by some large career firm after graduation. Although this is changing, it has been true that a certain college guarantees a certain job - for life. Loyalty to a company in Japan is a top priority and loyalty is awarded by promotions. Often senior people in the company will reach the top position based on seniority rather than skill. So, the deal is student works very hard in Jr. High to pass an entrance exam to the high school of their choice. Then, high school students work very hard to pass the college entrance exams for the college of their choice. This college entrance exam is what sends students to juku, or cram school, after the regular school day. A typical schedule for a student who goes to juku is this:

7:30- 3:30ish School
3:30-6:30ish Club Activities (sports, etc)
6:30-9:00ish Juku
get home around 10pm, sleep, get ready for the next day.

Students usually go to school on Saturdays and Sundays to study or to do their club activities. The basketball team practices for three hours everyday, EVERYDAY. No break on weekends. Can you imagine? On Fridays I always ask what students will do on the weekend. 95% of the time the answer is: sleeping, staying at home, watching tv, staying by myself. Now I understand why, it’s the only time they can relax - if they are lucky.

Even from nursery school, parents - especially mothers - are acutely aware of the track their kids are on. They fight to get their children into the top nursery school or elementary school so that they can then enter a good junior high, to get into a top high school, to enter in a top college, and finally be securely employed in a stable job. High school is the accumulation of all that pressure, the moment of truth, if you will. Once you pass that entrance exam to college, the pressure bubble bursts and college is lax. Students sleep in class, talk on their phones in the back rows, etc. They dress how they want, they sometimes live alone in their own apartments, they have part time jobs. They are free - or as free as you can be if you are Japanese. Free until they have to put on their ties and skirts for the workplace.