Five Pivotal Ways Our Sister-School in Japan differs from PHS
October 17, 2017
- Dress code: Everyday, students in Japan have to follow a strict dress code. Students have to wear their uniform everyday, and they can’t even attend school if they don’t wear it. For the boys, they wear what’s called a Gakuran. The top is a buttoned down shirt that is usually black or blue, and for the bottom, straight leg pants that are typically black. The girls’ uniforms are somewhat similar to the boys. Their design was based off the British Royal Navy. Their top is a blouse with a sailor styled neck tie and their bottom is just a skirt.
- Grading system: Japan has an entirely different grading system. Elementary school goes through from grades 1-6, junior high is just three years 7-9, and high school is also three years 10-12. On a grading scale, getting an A is even easier, 80-100 is an A, 70-79 is a B, 60-69 is a C, and 0-59 is an F.
- Janitors: Unlike PHS, Japan’s schools don’t have any janitors to clean up the building. Instead, the school makes the students do the cleaning. After lunch time, students would have to take the time to clean up the mess in their classroom, and or bathroom, the students have to do the dirty work. Cleaning up after yourself is meant to teach the students respect and a form of responsibility.
- Academic Year: In Japan, the school year is much longer than PHS. Japan starts their school in April, during the springtime, everything is growing, students see this as a new beginning and a perfect time to start new things. The school year then goes through summer, but students get a 40-day long break from July to August. Japan has a total of 210 school days, compared to US, having only 180.
- Lunches: Lunch is entirely different in Japan. In the United States, staff make the meals and serve the students, in Japan, it’s entirely flipped. Students help make the lunch, and students get to serve other students. Lunch is the most important part of the day in Japan, students get to sit down, relax, and eat. Staff makes the lunch entirely from scratch and everyone eats the same meal.
