Japanese Schools

Today I walked out of the teacher’s office during 4th period to see a line of desks where teachers were talking with students one-on-one. I asked my vice principal what was happening, and he explained to me that the students were consulting with the teachers about which high school they could attended based on their current test scores. In Japan where you go to high school determines where you can go to college. Even though most of the schools are public, there are “good schools” and “bad schools.” It made me so sad to watch my 14 and 15 year old students sitting there, knowing that their academic performance up to this point, and the decision they make now, will effect the course of their life. Each decision effects our life, of course, but there isn’t much of a chance for redemption or grace in this system. If you have had a hard time thus far, you go to the “bad” school, which will make it impossible to get into a good university. If you decide in high school that you really want to try, and you want to do your best, its kind of too late. A lot has already been decided for you. You’re at the “bad school,” tough luck. I'm not the only one that thinks the system puts undue pressure on these kids at too early an age. I got to have a really wonderful conversation with my vice principal about the pressure the system puts on students, problems in the American school system, moral deterioration in Japanese society, human nature and ultimately the meaning of and need for grace.

I’ve been working with the special ed class a bit this week, and it has continued to remind me of how great God’s love for us is. Theses students can’t do anything. They aren’t useful to society by traditional standards. But they are people. They are made in God’s very image. And they are perfectly loved and treasured by their creator. (I think Henry Nouwen got it right). Goodbye pressure to perform. Goodbye feelings of worthlessness if I mess up. I’m loved completely, extravagantly, and passionately by God. Even if I screw up. Even when I make mistakes. Maybe especially then? His compassion is so deep and He understands our frailty and need for grace. Even in my successes I need grace, and He gives it. I wish somehow I could let my students know how completely they are loved! Not so that they would stop trying to learn because they no longer need to perform, but so they could learn in security and live in confidence that their worth is not based on their academic performance or the prestige of their school.

Everything in the school system is so different. Yesterday I was reflecting on what life looks like here, and I honestly felt like if I was air dropped here for the first time, I would feel like I was on a different planet. It’s starting to feel like home though.

Some parts of this school system wonderful. For example, in Japanese schools, there are no janitors, so the students clean the school everyday. Cleaning time is so much fun!! I just finished doing the Japanese version of “mopping,” zokin. Place a rag on the floor, put both your hands on it, stick your but up in the air, and then run forward in that position pushing the rag in front of you across the floor. Japanese people are super good at it, but I really really suck... I always either slip or get stuck. Today I raced a bunch of my girls doing zokin. I lost AND fell and went sliding across the floor. It was so great, the whole hall was laughing. And it gave them a perfect opportunity to use their latest grammatical structure, “Is it difficult for you to use zokin?” One of the girls even told me in English, "Now you are a real Japanese girl!" There is a much stronger sense of community among students here than in the States. It's really beautiful.

However, this group identity leads to a stifled sense of self. I sit right next to one of the phones in the teacher’s room, which is wonderful for “listening practice” (aka eavesdropping). ;P My first day at school I heard this conversation between a teacher and one of the students fathers:



“Hello, this is so and so from Oike Junior High School. Is this so and so’s father?... I was calling about so and so’s hair color. Summer break just ended and his hair is a little bit brown… oh… his hair was always a little bit brown…?... Well, it was black last semester…Oh, he dyed it black last semester?... Well, do you think you could get him to dye it black again?”

As the Japanese proverb says, 出るくいは打たれる, the nail the sticks out will be pounded down.

Anyways, I love it here, but there are things I hate here (maybe that’s why I’m here?). I hate that one of my 8th grades doesn’t want to go to high school at all because he doesn’t think he is smart enough to get into a good school, so why bother. I hate that some of the seats I sit in at lunch are empty because the students refuse to come to school already (futoko). But I love the warmth the teachers and vice principal here extend to me. I love the joy with which the students greet me in the halls. I love the curiosity that they have about my world. I love the way the students care for one another. I love the deep conversations I can have with the Japanese teachers. I love zokin races down the hall at cleaning time. I love it here.