They start school in Japan at the age of six. Before that, children usually go to kindergarten. By the time they enter school, children should be familiar with the basics of arithmetic and be able to read hiragana and katakana.
In elementary school, children learn Japanese, mathematics, science (physics, chemistry, biology), social studies (ethics, history, etiquette), music, fine arts, physical education and household. By the end of elementary school, children must, in particular, have learned 1006 kanji characters from the 1945 characters of the state list.
In secondary school, English is added to the list of subjects and several special subjects of choice. The composition of these subjects depends on the school.
The most difficult subjects are mathematics and languages - Japanese (learning kanji) and English.
The high school curriculum is slightly more varied than the secondary and primary school curriculum, but students are given more opportunities to specialize in a particular area of knowledge.
schedule of lessons
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School usually starts at half past eight in the morning. Every Monday before the start of classes, students are built on a "ruler", and the school principal speaks to them for 15 minutes. On other days, this time is reserved for general school announcements and attendance. In Japan, diligent school attendance is of great importance. However, a truant may escape from school after the first lesson.
Duration of lessons in primary school is 45 minutes, in secondary and high schools - 50 minutes. Between lessons, small breaks of 5-10 minutes are organized, after the fourth lesson (about half past twelve), a large lunch break is usually organized - about 60 minutes. Students who try to eat breakfast brought from home before the official start of lunch is punished, especially if they eat during class. ^ _ ^ Elementary school rarely has more than four lessons a day. In high school, their number can go up to six.
In elementary school, there are no homework assignments, while in middle and high school, homework is very large, so, despite the availability of days off, older Japanese students are the busiest people in the country.
Organization of studies
Unlike Russian schools, in Japan each class is assigned its own office (in Russia, the office is assigned to the teacher). Therefore, not students, but teachers walk between lessons from office to office. The cabinet assigned to the class is signed with the appropriate sign.
Teachers are different for each class and for each subject, although in small schools this may not be the case.
Oftentimes, Japanese schools do not have canteens or changing rooms, so students have to dine and hang clothes in classrooms.
At the end of the lessons, the students themselves completely clean the school and school grounds. There are no cleaning ladies in Japanese schools.
For schoolchildren, they often organize joint field trips and excursions to ancient Japanese cities and temples. Such excursions usually last up to three to four days.
For most middle and high schools, uniform is compulsory. Each school has its own, but in fact, there are not so many options. Usually it is a white shirt and dark jacket and trousers for boys and a white shirt and dark jacket and skirt for girls, or “sailor suit”. Primary school students usually dress in normal children's clothing.
Circles and courses
Participation in school hobby groups (kai) is considered an important part of high school education. Usually their activities are related to either sports or art, takes place at the end of classes and is organized by the students themselves. In addition to the obvious benefits they provide, circles are also breeding grounds for the bullying system, where older students push younger students around to get better results from them (or just make fun of them).
At the very beginning of the school year, the leaders of the circles put up their "advertisement" for the seventh grade students. Almost every seventh grader enrolls in one or more circles and remains in them throughout the entire period of study in secondary school.
Exams
The main problem in Japanese schools is the grueling exams, each of which takes several hours of hard work and much more time in the preparation process.
Middle and high school students take exams at the end of each trimester and midway through the first and second trimesters. There are no exams in primary school. Mid-term exams are held in Japanese, Mathematics, English, Science, and Social Studies. At the end of the trimesters, exams are held in all subjects studied.
Circle meetings are canceled a week before the start of exams so that students can prepare for exams. The exams are usually in the form of written tests. The exam grades are based on a percentage system. The highest mark is 100 points.
The transition from high school to high school is carried out according to the results of examinations. First, based on his school performance, the student receives a list of high schools in which he has a chance to enroll. Then he takes the transition exam, and based on his results and previous performance, the question of which high school the student will go to is decided.
Good students go to prestigious high schools, bad ones go to seedy schools for those who do not intend to pursue higher education. These schools tend to focus on home economics, agriculture, and so on. Their graduates have no career prospects.
Those who do not want to go to high school can go to five-year "technical colleges" - vocational schools. However, admission to them is not so easy - there is a large competition in the best of them, since skilled workers in Japan are highly valued. Some technical colleges are owned by large firms, and their graduates take immediate employment.
Academies
In addition to ordinary public schools, there are also private paid academy schools, as well as "national" schools - schools of national importance. To enter them, you need to pass special exams in a large competition. On the other hand, they have better educational programs, and many of them qualify for out-of-competition admission to high school or university.
Usually, the children of the Japanese elite are trained in academy schools: politicians, businessmen, diplomats, professors of famous universities. Those who receive scholarships to study at the academies often turn out to be "black sheep" and sometimes become the subject of bullying by their classmates.
In some academies, school uniforms are not required.
Universities and colleges
The main criterion for choosing a university is prestige. Those who were able to graduate from a prestigious educational institution are hired for almost any job. It is believed that a capable and diligent young man can figure out any business that is entrusted to him.
Instead of a university, you can go to a two-year college that provides specialized education. About 90% of Japanese girls enter them and receive “grassroots” female professions there: nurses, kindergarten teachers, elementary school teachers, qualified housewives, and voice actresses.
Admission to the university takes place in two stages. In the first, high school graduates take a national exam. Based on its results, they apply to the university of their choice. There the question of their admission to the actual entrance exams is decided, which they then pass.
Among the most prestigious universities are the public universities of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sendaya, as well as private universities: Waseda, Keio, Chuo, Meiji in Tokyo, Kansai University in Osaka and Ritsumei in Kyoto.
The most prestigious is the Tokyo State University (Todai), founded in 1877 and occupying an area of 30 hectares in the center of Tokyo. About 10 thousand people study at the same time within its walls, 2,000 of them are foreigners. 90% of Todai's alumni take their place in the country's elite, two of its graduates became Nobel Prize laureates in literature (Kawabata Yasunari and Oe Kenzaburo).
Those who did not pass the exams at the desired university can take the exams after a year or two. At this time, applicants either study in special courses, or work, or combine the first with the second.
In Tokyo and Yokohama, a curfew is imposed at 22:00. Children under 18 are not allowed to enter the cinema and slot machines after 10 pm.