Life at a Japanese school AMA

[Ai-chan]

Ai-chan! I forgot to ask before, but...
Do the students follow sub cultures? Like emo, goth, punk, tech geek. (The only ones I've personally encountered.)
Something within the boundary of your school's rules. A spark to show their unique individuality? Or is that too much of standing out?

Yes, there are some cultures that students follow. The most common is gyaru culture. Followed closely behind by the death metal crowd (Ai-chan can't tell the difference between emo, goth, and punk) and gothloli. There are also other variation of loli culture such as sweetloli, kawaiiloli, imololi and pinkloli.

Back in Ai-chan's days, we mostly had to deal with the kogal and biker crowd. Kogal is something like girls who rebel against traditional Japanese values, such as snow white skin, black hair, straight hair, obedience, demure and decency. The biker gang is basically Great Teacher Onizuka when he was still a student. We didn't have the gyaru culture back then. You can tell the difference between gyaru and kogal by looking at what they value the most. For gyaru, it's to be stylish. For kogal, it's to be rebellious.

 

[Florestes]

There are also other variation of loli culture such as sweetloli, kawaiiloli, imololi and pinkloli.

I'm too low level to understand anything beyond "loli" .
Thanks for the cool answer!

 

[Ai-chan]

I'm too low level to understand anything beyond "loli" .
Thanks for the cool answer!

Sweetloli is pretty much the fashion where the girl wears alot of lace and ribbons and act like a gentle, kind and naive fantasy European princess.
Kawaiiloli is basically a fashion where the girl wears a lot of very cute clothes that more or less make people who look at them think, "She must be an airhead"
Imololi is short for imouto loli, which is the fashion and action that makes one think of their own little sisters. It's not sexy, but has an incestuous appeal, like how the sister wears skimpy clothes without caring that their brother can see their titties.
Pinkloli is like gothloli, but where gothloli wears all black and white, pinkloli wears all pink and white.

 

[SailusGebel]

As far as Ai-chan knows, nobody in Ai-chan's schools practiced wrestling. No kickboxing or taekwondo either. Martial arts clubs in our school were judo, aikido, karate and kendo. When Ai-chan studied at the all-girls school, there was a petition for sumo club as well, but the teachers rejected the application. Probably because they guessed the girls who petitioned for sumo just wanted to grope each other's half-naked bodies in public.

Ai-chan didn't join any of the martial arts clubs back in school, except for kyudo, which is Japanese archery but that's more of a philosophical and spiritual journey than the idea of getting stronger. Ai-chan did join kenjutsu long after graduating school, though. Kenjutsu is like kendo, but kendo is the art of winning competitions using a bamboo sword. Kenjutsu is the art of killing with a sword, though Ai-chan's specialty is naginata.

I'm stupid, or maybe I'm misunderstanding, sorry, so I want to be sure that we were talking about the same thing. Professional wrestling is the fake one, where everything is scripted. When I asked if it was popular, I meant that maybe someone attends the live events of some promotions, has a favorite wrestler, watches old shows, talks about wrestling and how many people do this. When I asked about becoming a professional wrestler, I meant going to NJPW Dojo to become a young lion or something like that.

 

[Florestes]

When Ai-chan studied at the all-girls school, there was a petition for sumo club as well, but the teachers rejected the application. Probably because they guessed the girls who petitioned for sumo just wanted to grope each other's half-naked bodies in public.

I've just remembered the anime "chio's school road" from reading your description (the "Kabaddi Club captain" to be more specific)

Sweetloli is pretty much...

No need to waste your time on me, I could have googled.

(Ai-chan can't tell the difference between emo, goth, and punk)

In my personal experience emo= hello kitty, goth= black+1kg of metal, punk= ripped clothes from the 90s era of rock music.

 

[Ai-chan]

I'm stupid, or maybe I'm misunderstanding, sorry, so I want to be sure that we were talking about the same thing. Professional wrestling is the fake one, where everything is scripted. When I asked if it was popular, I meant that maybe someone attends the live events of some promotions, has a favorite wrestler, watches old shows, talks about wrestling and how many people do this. When I asked about becoming a professional wrestler, I meant going to NJPW Dojo to become a young lion or something like that.

If you're talking about those scripted wrestling events such as WWE, it's hard for Ai-chan to say yes or no. Ai-chan can only say that Ai-chan doesn't know anyone who was interested in that kind of events. Ai-chan doesn't even know if there was such an event near us in Japan back then. There was probably an underground one in Shibuya, but Ai-chan isn't sure and it was definitely too far for our students to visit regularly.

tldr: Ai-chan simply has no idea. Certainly it was never a topic of conversation among us.

 

[SailusGebel]

If you're talking about those scripted wrestling events such as WWE, it's hard for Ai-chan to say yes or no. Ai-chan can only say that Ai-chan doesn't know anyone who was interested in that kind of events. Ai-chan doesn't even know if there was such an event near us in Japan back then. There was probably an underground one in Shibuya, but Ai-chan isn't sure and it was definitely too far for our students to visit regularly.

tldr: Ai-chan simply has no idea. Certainly it was never a topic of conversation among us.

Thank you for answering.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

I always thought wrestling was popular in Japan, but maybe it’s because the only Japanese politician I know of is Antonio Inoki

 

[TheEldritchGod]

How does a Male typically court a female? (Generic steps taken)
How does a female typically get the attention of the male they desire?
What percentage of students have premarital sex?
What are the most popular sports?
Do they have cheerleaders?

Sex with teachers/students: How often for:
Teacher(M)/Student(F)
T(M)/S(M)
T(F)/S(M)
T(F)/S(F)
And how do students view it when if it goes public?

What are the views on homosexuality between M/M and F/F?
How often are there school sponsored events where Both genders are encouraged to participate? (Prom/Dances/Etc)
How often do classes go on outtings and if so, where do they go? (Museums/Beach/Tours)

I'll most likely come up with more later.

 

[Ai-chan]

How does a Male typically court a female? (Generic steps taken)
How does a female typically get the attention of the male they desire?
What percentage of students have premarital sex?
What are the most popular sports?
Do they have cheerleaders?

Sex with teachers/students: How often for:
Teacher(M)/Student(F)
T(M)/S(M)
T(F)/S(M)
T(F)/S(F)
And how do students view it when if it goes public?

What are the views on homosexuality between M/M and F/F?
How often are there school sponsored events where Both genders are encouraged to participate? (Prom/Dances/Etc)
How often do classes go on outtings and if so, where do they go? (Museums/Beach/Tours)

I'll most likely come up with more later.

How does a Male typically court a female? (Generic steps taken)
Usually through a love letter, put into the girl's shoe locker, it's not locked. Or they will call the girl to an isolated spot while their friends cover the line.
How does a female typically get the attention of the male they desire?
Hard to say, most signals are subtle. Japanese girls are quite often passive when it comes to getting boys attention.
What percentage of students have premarital sex?
Ai-chan doesn't know.
What are the most popular sports?
Track
Do they have cheerleaders?
Some schools do, but it's not like the American kind of cheerleaders. In many cases, the cheerleaders are boys, with loud voices, huge banners and large drums.

Sex with teachers/students: How often for:
Teacher(M)/Student(F)
VERY uncommon, because it's against the law.
T(M)/S(M)
None as Ai-chan knows
T(F)/S(M)
There have been cases, but depending on the age, it's just a misdemeanour.
T(F)/S(F)
As far as Ai-chan knows, it doesn't happen. There have been rumoured that one of the teachers at the all-girls school was one of the girl's lesbian lover, but the person who told the rumour was a liar, so we didn't really believe her.
And how do students view it when if it goes public?
Very badly. Even if the teacher doesn't get arrested, the PTA would demand the teacher sacked and the teacher always leaves the school in the end.

What are the views on homosexuality between M/M and F/F?
We don't talk about gays and lesbians. And if we do talk about them, we talk shit about them. Unlike in animes, Japanese people actually do not approve of homosexuality.
How often are there school sponsored events where Both genders are encouraged to participate? (Prom/Dances/Etc)
Quite often actually. We didn't have prom but we did have school festivals and at the end of the festival period, some schools have a dance session on the field too. Pretty much all school events are coed, Ai-chan can't recall any school event that is restricted to only one gender.
How often do classes go on outtings and if so, where do they go? (Museums/Beach/Tours)
It depends on what you define as outing maybe. We had weekly visit to the farms that supplied our school lunch and helped the farmers out. It was to teach us humility and to understand the plight of farmers and the value of the food that we ate. As for other more formal outings, it depends on the school, Ai-chan's school never had outings to the beach but we did go to museums, but this is very rare. Any such outings are more commonly done by school clubs instead. We did have one big trip where we go to other cities or countries which happened once in middle school and once in high school.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

[Many Replies]

Thanks for the answers.

A few more:

- Is there a stigma against orphans/children who are adopted?
- I see an emphasis on politeness in schools in Japan. Are uncomfortable subjects just avoided entirely, or is it more socially acceptable to lie about an uncomfortable subject to avoid confrontation?
- Social Mobility: Is your status in a school determined by: Actions? Family? Wealth? Friends? Appearance? Age? Grades? Physical Strength/Combat Ability? and if so, to what degree?
- How hard is it to change your status in the social hierarchy? (For example, I was a social outcast for 10 years until I hit 12th grade. Then I beat the ever living shit out of anyone who fucked with me. I went from the kid everyone picked on, to the kid everyone was fuckin terrified of because I was a bundle of pure unfocused hatred and had been working out for the last three years of High school. Technically that was movement up the social hierarchy.)
- What's it like to have friends? (Friend being someone who is willing to interact with you outside of a government mandated institution, when neither one of you is getting paid to be there, they are not a member of your family, and they spend time in your presence without expecting any sort of compensation)

 

[Ai-chan]

- Is there a stigma against orphans/children who are adopted?
Nothing organized. As in there is nothing in Japanese culture that persecutes adopted children. Adoption is actually quite common. However, kids can be cruel. So like every other place in the world, entitled children would be cruel to the less fortunate children.

- I see an emphasis on politeness in schools in Japan. Are uncomfortable subjects just avoided entirely, or is it more socially acceptable to lie about an uncomfortable subject to avoid confrontation?
It depends on the uncomfortable subject. Disciplinary offences are nipped in the bud through punishments. Uncomfortable opinions are generally kept to the self, unless you stand out, in which case, you would be hammered down by the other students. You can be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or a zoophilia and nobody cares, unless you flaunt it. Do not flaunt your sexuality. Unlike in America, you are not entitled to your sexuality. People will ignore it if you keep it to yourself. If you start campaigning for 'Gay Lives Matter' or something like that, you now becomes a nail that stands out and you will be hammered down. Do not stand out in a Japanese school or in any Asian community for that matter.

- Social Mobility: Is your status in a school determined by: Actions? Family? Wealth? Friends? Appearance? Age? Grades? Physical Strength/Combat Ability? and if so, to what degree?
Japanese schools value equality, that's why you're not allowed to wear high heels, jewellery or modify your uniform. As for status that you make yourself, it's mostly based on your achievements (such as winning competitions), your grades, and your reputation. Family and wealth doesn't really matter. In the first place, people who want to flex on their family or wealth would go to specific rich people's private schools.

- How hard is it to change your status in the social hierarchy? (For example, I was a social outcast for 10 years until I hit 12th grade. Then I beat the ever living shit out of anyone who fucked with me. I went from the kid everyone picked on, to the kid everyone was fuckin terrified of because I was a bundle of pure unfocused hatred and had been working out for the last three years of High school. Technically that was movement up the social hierarchy.)
There is no social hierarchy in Japanese schools. As in there is no king, duke, count, baron and peasant. So there is no going up or down the hierarchy. What we have are cliques or what we call as circle. What this is, is basically shared interests. You can be in a card game otaku clique, or an eromanga clique, which is something like an outcast circle, but it's not like that means you're a bullied victim. Social isolation is common, but it doesn't automatically becomes bullying. It simply means you have not been able to fit into any of the circles and your classmates don't know how to deal with you because they don't know what you're into or not into. Fixing this is simple: find a circle that you halfway like and ask them if they could teach you a thing or two. Actual bullying is different, but that is quite rare actually.

- What's it like to have friends? (Friend being someone who is willing to interact with you outside of a government mandated institution, when neither one of you is getting paid to be there, they are not a member of your family, and they spend time in your presence without expecting any sort of compensation)
Ai-chan doesn't know how to answer this question. It's nice to have like-minded people to talk to, maybe. And it's nice to have friends who won't judge you when you experiment.

 

[Armored99]

So a trope I've seen a few times from the little Japanese media I've consumed is a student meeting with their homeroom teacher, I think, and having to do a future plans type thing. Does this really happen?

 

[Ai-chan]

So a trope I've seen a few times from the little Japanese media I've consumed is a student meeting with their homeroom teacher, I think, and having to do a future plans type thing. Does this really happen?

Yes, both are real. Every day you start with homeroom meeting in the morning. Every class is assigned a homeroom teacher, chosen among the teaching staff. Sometimes the homeroom teacher may be away for one reason or another, in which case a junior teacher will be requested to take over homeroom for the day. The homeroom meeting runs roughly for 10 to 20 minutes, and the homeroom teacher uses this time to discuss various issues or provide information to the class.

We did do the future plan thing. It's for students to fill in with their choice of universities. After that, the homeroom teacher will find a convenient time to do a counselling session. They will inform the student what they need to do to be eligible for their choices or how they can improve themselves in order to be enrolled. Japanese universities has a reputation for being extremely hard to enter, but very easy to stay in once you're accepted. Some people who didn't plan to enter university would often leave it blank or give joke answers. The homeroom teacher would still insist that they fill in the form as even if they didn't enter university, they would at least be able to improve on the off-chance that they change their minds later.

By university, Ai-chan doesn't mean universities such as Toudai or Sendai only. It also includes vocational education such as plumbing or electrical. Or apprenticeship.

 

[Florestes]

So a trope I've seen a few times from the little Japanese media I've consumed is a student meeting with their homeroom teacher, I think, and having to do a future plans type thing. Does this really happen?

Daily Lives of High School Boys - ENGLISH DUB - Episode 7

The part starting at the 15 minutes mark. That is how I imagine it goes down for most people submitting a "Career Paths" form at school.

 

[Armored99]

Yes, both are real. Every day you start with homeroom meeting in the morning. Every class is assigned a homeroom teacher, chosen among the teaching staff. Sometimes the homeroom teacher may be away for one reason or another, in which case a junior teacher will be requested to take over homeroom for the day. The homeroom meeting runs roughly for 10 to 20 minutes, and the homeroom teacher uses this time to discuss various issues or provide information to the class.

We have homerooms in the U.S. too. atleast where I live, but I really don't remember us doing anything constructive. just a thirty minute break time to do the pledge of allegiance, and nothing else.

We did do the future plan thing. It's for students to fill in with their choice of universities. After that, the homeroom teacher will find a convenient time to do a counselling session. They will inform the student what they need to do to be eligible for their choices or how they can improve themselves in order to be enrolled. Japanese universities has a reputation for being extremely hard to enter, but very easy to stay in once you're accepted. Some people who didn't plan to enter university would often leave it blank or give joke answers. The homeroom teacher would still insist that they fill in the form as even if they didn't enter university, they would at least be able to improve on the off-chance that they change their minds later.

Never had anything like this.

 

[Venusaur26]

Just the typical isolation-type bullying. It didn't reach the point of putting flowers on the victim or snapping nude pictures as blackmail material. The worst harassments Ai-chan can remember was spreading rumours on the school BBS.

Oh but hiding books and shoes were pretty common.

Though bullying in the west is a lot more offensive

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Is it possible to get a highschool equivalency degree? This is what I did in my country. I dropped out and did a test that basically said I know everything I need to know. It’s worth the same as a highschool diploma to jobs and you can go to certain colleges if you have one.

 

[Ai-chan]

Is it possible to get a highschool equivalency degree? This is what I did in my country. I dropped out and did a test that basically said I know everything I need to know. It’s worth the same as a highschool diploma to jobs and you can go to certain colleges if you have one.

In Japan, all entry into colleges requires an entrance exam. And you need to finish high school to take the entrance exam. There is a certificate that you can get which basically says you have a high school level proficiency even if you didn't graduate high school, which allows you to take the entrance exam. But most people were of the opinion that if you're going to enter university, it's better to finish high school, since much of the things you will learn in the first two semesters in university have its foundations in high school.

According to a friend of Ai-chan's, it seem pre-calculus in East Asian high schools is apparently the same as college calculus in America.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

According to a friend of Ai-chan's, it seem pre-calculus in East Asian high schools is apparently the same as college calculus in America.

I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised. A lot of the whole SEA region puts a large emphasis on education, but it does differ from college to college, which is why if you transfer they may reject credits for your calculus class if your new school deems that you didn’t learn enough.