Japan and High School

Have you noticed that "high school" seems to be a fairly popular theme in Japan? What I mean is that here you see high school settings and characters everywhere - movies, cartoons, comics. Often seems like for most Japanese people "high school" equals "hey-day."

In the West, or in the U.S. at any rate, I think the "good old days" that many people have come to wax nostalgic for are more often the days of university or just young adulthood in general. In pop culture, at any rate. That's not to say we don't have our share of movies, TV shows, and literature featuring high schoolers, but I think they often appeal to the limited audiences. If I had to compare, I'd say American entertainment tends to be more dominated by college and post-college themes.

Are Western and Japanese media really so different in this aspect? I think so, and here are a few observations I've made as to why.

Exhibit A: Manga and Anime

I lump these two together because more often than not they go hand in hand (a large number of anime series are taken directly from manga). Of course not all manga are high school-themed. There's a wide enough variety of Japanese comics and cartoons out there to satiate a veritable army of nerds.

I'm hardly claiming that all or even the majority of manga and anime have to do with high school. However I think a relatively large percentage do.

While doing a little research, I came across a Japanese blog with an entry about the most popular manga in Japan during 2009. According to a survey conducted by Nikkei Entertainment Magazine, the popularity of many series is shared across demographics (more so considering age than gender, though).

Of the top 20 manga listed by the survey, 5 of them featured high school students or settings (君に届け; 桜欄高校ホスト部; 名探偵コナン; xxxHOLiC; おおきく振りかぶって).

That means that in 2009, 25% of the top manga were high-school related.

When you consider other big titles like Death Note, Slam Dunk, and Boys Over Flowers, there's a pretty strong case for the argument that "a lot of manga and anime have something to do with high school."

Exhibit B: Movies

When it comes to Japanese movies, many of the more well-known titles don't have anything to do with high school (though Godzilla may well step on a few schools). A lot of the more classically popular films fall under the 時代劇 (period drama) or fantasy/scifi headings.

Looking a little closer, there are a number of Studio Ghibli (makers of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away among many others) movies with high school student protagonists: 猫の恩返し (The Cat Returns), 海が聞こえる (Ocean Waves), and the upcoming コクリコ坂から(From Kokuriko Hill).

How many Disney animations with high school characters can you think of?

Couple this with the fact that like anime, a lot of Japanese movies come from manga series. Thus you have Death Note (the movie), Boys Over Flowers (the movie), Gokusen (the movie), etc.

And let's not forget one of the most (in)famous movies to come out of Japan, Battle Royale, originally a novel about adults sending high school students to an island to fight to the death.

She's a winner!

Exhibit C: Video Games

These days there are almost as many different kinds of video games as comics. Plenty have nothing to do with high school, but the genre does creep into even this medium.

To start, once again we have many manga spin-offs. More Death Note, Slam Dunk, ad nauseam.

If you're a fan of Japanese games, you may be familiar with the Persona (Shin Megami Tensei) series. Not quite at the same level of name recognition as Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, but it's been picking up steam over the years, especially due to its recent releases for the Nintendo DS. Essentially its a series about high school students who can control demons or spirits.

Many high school-themed games don't make it abroad for one reason or another, and thus I don't have very much information or even an English name to offer you. One Google search for "high school protagonist games" turned up this title from 2004, Kuron Youma Gakuen Ki (Story of the Nine Dragons Academy?), which appears to be about a high school boy who decides to be come a treasure hunter (a legitimate pursuit in this game's world) and transfers to a special academy in Tokyo.

I was also recently playing a baseball/high school game called Atsumare Pawa Puro Kun Koshien, in which you can take the roll of either the coach or team captain of a group of high schoolers and must train and lead them to victory. In Japan, the best high school baseball teams qualify to enter a nationally televised tournament that's held annually at Koshien stadium (incidentally not too far from where I live). It's basically the equivalent of high school students getting the chance to play at Fenway Park. The goal of this game is to get your team to Koshien. If you fail, apparently your life and the students' baseball careers are over.

I also have a game called Inazuma Eleven, which is similarly about a soccer team of high schoolers with big ambitions. I believe that one has made it out of Japan.

There are also plenty of other games, often of the dating orientation, that are centered around high school life. I haven't played any of these, though, as I find them creepy.

Why don't many of these games make it out of Japan? For some reason they're not anticipated to sell well abroad. In many cases  I believe it's because Japanese people just have more of an affinity for high school than we do abroad.

Implications

So the high school theme appears more often in Japanese pop culture than in many others. What does it mean? I don't know - you tell me. It could be that despite the wads of homework and sometimes slavish dedication to a club or sport, high school provides (or provided) the last memories of freedom for many Japanese people, and that's something they cherish.

One of my friends theorized that the Japanese have more of an appreciation for that "time of innocence," and that high school marks the time before adulthood when some things are still pure. That could be. It might go partway to explaining one of the more prevalent fetishes associated with, uh...lower Japanese culture.

What do you think? If you've spent some time in Japan or have consumed a lot of Japanese media, do you think Japan is more fascinated with high school life than other countries? If so, why do you think that is?

I'm curious to see what you come up with.

Update: Some good stuff in the comments. From Ryan Cecil:

 "I wanted to say that I do agree with your friend about the "Age of Innocence." It was first brought up to me by a Japanese friend, explaining why high school students don't have part time jobs. "We Japanese like our children to be children." Having a job just doesn't seem right for a child, so that's a good reason to prohibit it.

It's also brought up a little bit in my debate classes, when students talk about school uniforms: "We feel like students when we wear school uniforms." So the high school atmosphere thing is important not just to nostalgic adults, but students too. Also, I think you can look to the way (it seems) certain events are ubiquitous at every school, such as sports day, cultural festivals, and certain school trips. I think creating "happy high school memories" is real important to Japanese people.

There's also the way, compared to Americans, Japanese high school students are more naive about... almost everything. I think they feel like they're "supposed to" be naive, especially the good kids. (Maybe it's subversive to be a precocious high school student here)."

Think that's well put. Perhaps because in many cases Japanese people have to make a very quick transition to adulthood, this last period of youth and innocence is especially valued. I'd love to have a native or two weigh in on this.

One thing that gives me pause, though, is my perception that a lot of high school students are (a) sexually active as are teens in other countries and (b) often work part-time jobs though they're not supposed to. According to my understanding of the concept, (lack of) sexual awareness and experience are cornerstones of "innocence," so I'm not too sure it's something Japanese youth really possess. Though that wouldn't necessarily preclude them from trying to hold on to it.

Eryk brings up another good point:

"I think high school is interesting because it is a period that blends care-free living, protection, and a very real community with a shared set of seemingly insurmountable problems. College is too care-free to inspire the drama needed for good storytelling; and the social cohesion isn’t the same. "

Adversity can really help build great relationships, and it could be that all the hard work and drama of high school make for not only good memories but also strong friendships. Some of your classmates become your buddies in the trenches, struggling a'la J-drama to overcome the odds and win that baseball championship or study your ass off and get into Tokyo University.

And some perspective from Kaori. I recommend reading the comments if you're interested, but here's part of her thought:

"I agree with you and a lot of the comments. High school really is pretty much our first taste of freedom, and the fact that it's within a certain boundary (because let's face it, your still kids) makes it all the more exciting. It's probably a mix of innocence and adolescence."

Creamy

My experiences with my co-workers over the past two and half years have probably been pretty representative of most people's. There are people I've worked with who I haven't been so fond of, and then there have been those who I've really enjoyed spending time with.

There's this one English teacher at my part-time school who's self-given nickname is Ben, though no one ever really calls him that. He looks to be in his late thirties, but I found out recently that he's the oldest teacher in the department at that school, meaning he's at least in his late fifties. Ben-sensei is probably the most laid back teacher I've met, and he says the damnedest things sometimes. 

Yesterday Maia (the other ALT) and I were sitting at our desks, talking about something of no particular importance, when Ben-sensei turns around (his desk is the row behind ours) and says to us "that bitch is creamy." We laughed and tried to set him straight. "You mean crazy?" He chuckled but didn't answer. For some reason he busted out his new catchphrase twice more that day, but without our correction or explanation. 

I'm still confused as to what a creamy bitch is.

Japanese teachers: the revolving door

It's that time of year again, and I always find it a bit sad. The way schools (at least high schools) are administered in Japan, teachers are assigned to a school by the Board of Education for a usually undetermined length of time. Depending on a teacher's age, a guess can be made - for example new teachers generally stick around at their first school for 3-5 years, and teachers a few years away from retirement usually won't get moved around very much. Aside from that, though, it seems pretty arbitrary.

Teachers don't find out until mid to late March whether or not they're going to be transferred, and where they're going. So the teachers who are leaving have known for week or two now. Until right before they leave, it's supposed to be a secret - I guess so students and other teacher don't feel obligated to give gifts or throw parties or whatever, but all the teachers always seem to know who's outbound.

Last year we lost an English teacher I was really fond of - she was very mother-like and really pushed her students, in a good way. By some strange twist of fate (and this almost never happens), she's coming back this year. On the flip side of the coin, we're losing the vice-principal, who is a pretty nice guy. Last year he invited me and Joe and another ALT (who he happened to have worked with) to his house to make udon. I think I may have blogged about that occasion. While I was a bit turned off by the political discourse, it was really kind of him to invite us to his home, and he's always been very patient at work with my Japanese limitations.

As well, one of the history teachers who I've been friendly with since coming to work here is transferring. As he was in charge of the Judo club, I used to drop in to watch practice now and then and chat a little bit with him about this and that. He once lent me a video (a real, VHS video) of this movie he likes. I didn't understand most of it and actually fell asleep, but I appreciated the gesture. He also invited my family over to his house when they visited last year, and as my sister was sick and we had to decline, he dropped off some fruit at my house for her! Unfortunately I haven't talked to him that much recently, but I'm sad to see him go.

Also leaving is a member of the office staff (事務員), who is probably the sweetest woman I've known here.

Today is the day all the teachers clear out their desks, some of them for good. Those who are staying will relocate later today or tomorrow (except me - my real estate is permanent, it seems). Tomorrow it will be nice to see the new teachers, but for today it's sad to watch the out-going crew.

School culture festivals

Edit: 11/18/09

A couple weeks ago, one of the high schools I teach at held its annual 文化祭 (bunkasai; culture festival). This event is something I never experienced in high school in America; to my knowledge, our high schools don't have anything quite like it. Students prepare for these festivals weeks in advance. Each homeroom class prepares something, be it an exhibit, a game, or a food stand of some kind. On the day of the event, the school is open to the public, so friends and family and alums (OB and OG, they call them here) come visit and partake in the festivities. Most of the students get really excited and are, of course, glad to have a couple days off from classes (usually takes at least a day beforehand to start setting stuff up). Here are some pictures:

The opening ceremony included local Hyogo celebrity, Habatan.

One homeroom made a cap art exhibit. I believe it's supposed to be Hideki Matsui of the Yankees, but I think they got his jersey number wrong.

Edit: As Shadow pointed out in the comments, it appears to be Mariners' player Suzuki Ichiro.

Here are some other things the students made.

Japan explores private school tuition funding...?

Via the Japan Times:

The education ministry has decided to pursue ways to make private high schools tuition-free for students from low-income households under the new government's key policy, government sources said.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry will ask the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry to use taxes allocated to local governments to help fund the tuition-free program, which would apply to households with an annual income of up to ¥3.5 million.

Education ministry data show that municipal governments spend roughly ¥32 billion in expenses related to public high school tuition fees, including those needed for tuition exemptions and for covering fees in arrears.

The ministry is seeking to use ¥24.9 billion out of the ¥32 billion after the aid package for high school students is put in place in the next fiscal year.

As an advocate of tuition vouchers in the States, I'm curious to see how this plan works out. The main challenge, it seems, will be to overcome the reduced portion of the budget allocated to public schools. But I'm not exactly clear on what money is being spent here - federal or municipal. If it's from the regular budget that each prefecture uses to fund its board of education, I foresee problems, as teachers are already underpaid and resources are stretched thin at some schools (in Hyogo, anyway).

Fun with Mary Jane

The other day I was teaching a lesson on illness and injury - how to say "I have a fever" and "My head hurts" and that sort of thing. On one of the worksheets I made, I presented three patients with their complaints, and the students had to write some advice, using the "(Person) should ..." format. One of them was Spiderman, saying that he had gotten into a fight with a thief who had punched him in the face, and now his tooth hurt (excuse the implausibility - I know Spiderman would never sustain an injury from such a lowly foe). After a few minutes, when we were checking the answers, some of the more vocal boys started giggling. I asked one of them for his answer, and he offered "Spiderman should go see MJ." It took me a second to process, and then I chuckled. "Mary Jane?" I asked. "Yes, MJ! Mary Jane-u!" the boys laughed.

Little things like that make me appreciate the innocence (in some regards, anyway) of many Japanese high students. Saying "Spiderman should go see Mary Jane" would no doubt evoke a completely different and substance-related image for an American high schooler. I'm sure if that kind of slang and drug culture were existent in Japan, the situation may have been different. But they're not. The boys just meant that Spiderman should go see his girlfriend. Of course, they probably did mean that Spidey should seek a different kind of action from his girlfriend. Hmmm...I guess they're not so innocent after all. Perverts.

High School Music

The other day I attended my high school's annual band concert. Throughout the school year and even during vacation, band members can be heard after school practicing all around the school grounds. And they practice hard. I'm talking hours a day, every day, for months. These concerts are the culmination of their efforts. Unfortunately, I was only able to stick around for the first half of the performance, but I liked what I heard. Here is a clip of their first piece, and my favorite of what I stuck around for. It's a selection of pieces from the movie "Kiki's Delivery Service," which I've never seen but have heard good things about.

I just want to say again that these kids are really impressive. I think they practice a lot more than American high schoolers, and it shows. That's not to say that American high school bands are necessarily inferior (I enjoyed my school's and my sister's band concerts, as well), but...well, that's not a discussion I want to delve into now. I'm just proud of these students. If they don't sound excellent, the fault lies with my camera, not with them.