Next to dojos (martial arts halls), space stations, underground secret laboratories, and the insides of giant robots, schools are one of the most prevalent and important settings in mangas and animes. Small wonder when you consider that students of all ages ultimately make up a large part of their audience - the reader/viewer should be able to identify with the hero, even if it's merely in nostalgic retrospect.

Here is where the oft-cited "Lolita complex" - the fascination of the Japanese with young girls in school uniforms - comes into play, which is, in the end, nothing more than the wish, at least for the duration of a dream, to return to the carefree (idealized) time of teenage existence - no responsibility, no social pressure (generally known to be immense in Japan), and, additionally, the sweet experience of first love, exciting and new... The fact that the Lolita complex definitely also has more extreme outgrowths bordering on the perverse (e.g. the zestful trade of used underwear or pubic hair of young girls) is not meant be surpressed here, but in its harmless, most widespread variant, it's not much different from the rampant adolescence worship and girliemania that also exists here (You can find more on that in our adults only special). Yet Japan is precisely where ones school days absolutely aren't the "great period of freedom". As a student, you're already woven into a taut social system and system of rules, and the choice of kindergarten (!) can already be crucial for your career and success later on. If you go to the right kindergarten, you can get into the right elementary school, then into the right middle school, then into the right high school, finally into the right university in order to get into the right firm and preferably acquire the right position there...

The contemporary educational system has its roots in an educational reform modeled after the Prussian academic entity from the end of the 19th century, when Japan, after having been sealed off for centuries, opened up towards the West and adopted several cultural idiosyncrasies. Introduced at the time, among other things, were a compulsory (elementary school) education for girls as well and the ubiquitous school uniforms - the sailor suits, called "sêrâ (sailor) fuku" (sailor clothes), for girls; the dark suits with high collars ("gakusei fuku", student clothes) for boys. After World War II, under the American occupation, the educational system was reformed once more - the "Prussian" pre-war school was considered a breeding ground for nationalism and militarism in the eyes of the Americans. Naturally, the reform that took place was based on the American system. The compulsory education period was stretched out from six to nine years, and a standardized academic form that was divided into elementary, middle, and high school (analagous to the American elementary, junior high, and senior high school) was introduced. Until the completion of middle school, the co-education of boys and girls became obligatory. Elementary and middle schools are usually supported by the community and are organized into school districts, so you therefore initially also go to school where you live (even though a certain freedom of choice has been introduced into many districts in the last few years).
But since choosing the right school, as already mentioned, is so crucial later in life, the transition from middle to high school as well as the later transition to university marks the beginning of the so-called "examination hell" for Japanese students - students have to take an entrance examination in several subjects at the desired high school that is considered extremely difficult. It's for exactly this entrance examination that Usagi and co. are seen preparing themselves for, from Sailor Moon R until Super S, when they always meet to study together over the course of months; Kozue [1] and her friends are seen sweating for it and even neglecting their beloved volleyball, and, in Fushigi Yuugi, the heroine Miaka suffers quite horrendously from the fact that her mother wants to force her to take the entrance examination at a completely different (much more demanding) school than she would actually like to and believes she can pass. Special cram schools (juku) even exist to specifically prepare for these entrance examinations (and later those for university) following regular school. Even poor students often attend such cram schools in order to take tutorials. Ami's "Crystal Seminar" in Sailor Moon is one such juku.

From 3 to 6 years of age, most children attend a kindergarten or a preschool. These are usually private, and a female kindergarten teacher watches out for 7-15 children who are more or less free to develop there: chaos reigns, there's screaming, pushing, punching, playing, laughing - the educators only intervene when there's imminent danger and this seldom occurs. "Just let them hit each other, because while they're strong enough to inflict pain on each other right now, they're not strong enough to really do anything to themselves. In this way, they'll learn to evaluate their own strengths." The girls, traditionally raised to be restrained, are naturally more likely to be reproved if they act unruly than the boys, who are, of course, supposed to become "little samurai". Indeed, the kindergarten teachers even keep a diary for each child in which what was eaten, drunk, admired, cried about, or laughed about every day is exactly recorded.

The "seriousness of life" begins with enrolment in school, which - as is also partly the case in Germany - takes place at 6 years of age. In the next six years, children attend elementary school followed by 3 years of secondary school.
In elementary and middle school, the following subjects, among others, are taught: Japanese, social studies, history, mathematics, various natural sciences, music (each child - at least in elementary school - learns how to play an instrument so that every class can form a small orchestra), art, technical science and home economics (as of Grade 5) as well as physical education and ethics. Then, in Grades 7-9, English is added as an elective course. The alternative, namely taking a vocation preparatory course, is seldom chosen since English is regarded as absolutely essential for high school attendence.
Although high school (also 3 years) is no longer compulsory, it's still attended by 95% of all students - no other country on Earth has such a high percentage of eighteen-year-olds who've completed high school! Most schools are public and supported by the community, but there are also private schools (ca. 28%) that - aside from a few elite schools - are often held in lower regard than public schools. The following subjects are taught: modern and old Japanese, writing, social studies, history, ethics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, home economics, health, physical education, art or music, and a foreign language (usually English). As in our upper school, you can choose if you would rather place greater emphasis on natural sciences or the humanities, for example, and you have a limited selection of elective courses to be chosen according to specific rules - e.g. you can choose if you want to take art, music, or calligraphy as your compulsorily prescribed arts course; you can decide if you'd rather take world or Japanese history, etc. In all, 14 different subjects per schoolyear are taught with particular emphasis placed on physical education and the natural sciences. While most public high schools tend to offer a general eduction, there're also some high schools oriented towards vocational preparation, often even supported by large firms.

As far as class is concerned, we here in Germany can consider ourselves rather fortunate by comparison (even if many a reader plagued by school-induced stress don't want to just believe me on this): discussions and casual conversations which make class interesting don't exist in Japan. Instead, there's iron discipline, respect in front of the teacher, strict memorization and the rattling down of facts, facts, facts - even in language class, more emphasis is placed on vocabulary training and grammatical rules than on the active comprehension and use of the language. (Which is why many Japanese - in Japan - are very uncertain about their knowledge of foreign languages. "If you just start off in English," advises the Japanese Maiko Covington, who today lives in America, "most people I think will get all nervous that their English isn't good and shy away. I think in general if you want to strike up a conversation with a Japanese on the street anywhere, even if you are planning to talk in English, start up the conversation with a bit of Japanese, even if it's just 'konnichiwa'. They will appreciate it, and it will relax them a bit.") The class tests, which mostly take place at the beginning of a schoolyear, are comprised of multiple choice questionnaires to be marked with crosses.
Since schools can partially determine their own curriculum, some place an extreme amount of weight on later entrance examination subjects and the class degenerates into mere exam preparation, others, on the other hand, rarely do this. Many students simply tune out during non-examination relevant subjects, learn for the "important" subjects or exams or do completely different things: "When I remember my high school days," writes journalist Hirai Kô in the Asahi Shimbun, "I am overcome by shame. I wrote stories, made movies, and much more, only learning was something I never did. ... If I had been at a school where the educational mandate was as strictly managed as it usually is today, I would probably have also found myself among the 2.5% of high school dropouts." In a recent survey by the Japanese ministry of culture asking dropouts about their reasons, 45% answered that the wished to learn something that would also be useful in life. Another survey in November 1997 distinctly showed that 30% of elementary school and 60% of middle and high school students, respectively, were of the opinion that they couldn't come to terms with "that which we have to learn and the way that it's taught to us" because "content and methodology are such that we can't follow them well". A great deal of students thus fall back on the aforementioned cram schools, in which knowledge is also only funneled into their heads - learning disabled or poor students are also dealt a bad hand here. Thus, in spite of the seeming freedom offered by "automatic transfer to higher grades", there's considerable pressure weighing down on students, one intensified even more by the strict rules concerning clothing and conduct. Behavior, for example, is noted in detail in report cards which you must later produce over and over again, and a fight at the wrong time in the wrong place can, under certain circumstances, later cost you your dream job. The frustration of many Japanese adolescents is great, and violence in schools, mobbing among students (ijime) as well as vandalism are also not uncommon in Japan, as is frequent truancy that already almost amounts to a refusal to attend school. However, even though all of this is still much rarer than in the U.S.A. or where we are, too, it's considered to be a serious problem in Japanese society.

Similar to Germany, classes in Japan have their own fixed classroom into which teachers for respective subjects come. A class usually has ca. 45-50 students that are grouped together according to their academic capability (thus, there's a distinct gradient beween classes and, in everyday reality, often also within them) and (in high school) their elective courses. The class is - as with us - designated by a number which is comprised of a level number (the count restarts at 1 at every level of education, thus Grade 8 is Grade 2 of middle school) and a letter or a second number: 2-A, 3-1, etc. Then, each student also has another number, the "attendance number" (shusseki bangô), which simply depends on what their position - alphabetically - during roll call is (Hideaki Eguchi, who lies at tenth place in his class, 3-2, would have the number 3210, for example). Once a class community is formed, no member is - through such things as being left back a year or transfer to a parallel class - "forcibly removed" since this would disrupt the harmony of the group - the group, the social unit to which one belongs (school grade, sports team, family, coworkers...), is something very important in Japan, and school, as the most important entity involved in the relaying of knowledge and interaction with others, in which one spends an inordinate amount of time, is even counted as being more important than family. Thus, even the worst student is carried along until the next level of education. The (last) school year can only be repeated if they fail the entrance exams and re-examinations of all their elected high schools. The class is thus a kind of tight clique unto itself whose members have relatively close relationships with one another. Often, students give themselves special nicknames which are only used by their classmates. Unfortunately, however, the tightly knit class structure can also become a serious problem, especially for students who, for how-should-I-know whatever reasons, can't easily integrate into this community - perhaps only because they don't get along with one or two others. As mentioned previously, mobbing also exists at Japanese schools and, in some cases, has already led to the suicides of the boys and girls concerned.
Naturally, the seating arrangement plays an important role in every class - since everyone wants to sit next to their best friends and no one should feel discriminated against, the seating arrangement in some schools is changed on a regular basis or/and lots are drawn. This organization belongs to the duties of the class president, as does e.g. looking after absent students and helping them to not lose contact (Hikari Horaki in Evangelion is a good example). Aside from that, each class votes for representatives who hold specific offices in the student government. The responsibilities of the students also include cleaning the classroom and tidying up after class.

Teachers (sensei) have a different relationship than they do in Germany to their students - they are "their" children, they carry the responsibility for their well-being. If a student is bad in school, it's also a disgrace for the teacher! The teacher also looks after the private lives of their students, takes an interest in their personal concerns and problems, and is ready to help them if need be (which we can understand from the numerous serious or humorous scenes in countless mangas and animes...). If a student is caught committing some kind of offense, e.g. fare dodging on the public bus, the police will not only take the person themselves but also their parents, teachers, and the school principal to task or at least inform them. When faced with a class that is 40-45 students in size, this is, of course, a pretty idealistic notion - in reality, it's often not possible to successfully respond to each and every student as much as would be necessary. But the teacher also isn't saddled with the sole responsibilty - it's assumed as a matter of course that the parents' house makes just as much of an active effort in the support and academic success of the student; and the class itself, as a "big family", also carries part of the responsibility for poor students, on whose behalves everyone is interested and who should be helped so they can keep up.

Since the class only seldom leaves the classroom, books are usually kept in a desk or a locker. The classrooms look the same in most schools - the blackboard and a small podium for the teacher in front, a door leading to the hallway on one side, the windows on the other, in the center of the room rows of desks. There are usually lockers located at the rear end of the room in which students store e.g. their gym stuff, and a cabinet filled with cleaning equipment. Changing clothes before physical education class is, of course, not done in the classroom but in individual dressing rooms. Like school uniforms, sportswear at each school is standard issue and summer and winter variants may be distinguished. An integral part of it is a headband called a "hachimaki" which is white on one side and red on the other. When the gym class is split up into teams e.g. during a ball game, the individual teams can be wonderfully distinguished in this fashion. The short girls' gym shorts, called "bloomers" (buruma), are also characteristic. Physical education class is divided along gender lines and comprised mostly of ball sports types - basketball, volleyball - gymnastics, or jogging. At the beginning of gym class, a "rajio taisô" - warm-up exercises to a specific song (rajio means "radio") - regularly takes place. This is even standard practice in large firms before work begins!

The classroom and even the desks are often personally decorated by students. In each room, there hangs a black board on which the "goal of the month" that you've taken upon yourself to achieve is hung up. Full-time education is the norm. Most schools hold six to seven classes daily, each 50 minutes long, with 10 minute breaks between courses that e.g. can be used to change clothes before physical education, to move to another room (seldom), or just simply for a quick chat (or diverse ways of fooling around). Since 1995, Saturday classes only take place every 14 days and even not at all in some schools. Even before then, classes were only held for half the day on Saturdays.
Every schoolday begins with a morning gathering (tyôrei) of all the students and teachers in the gymnasium or auditorium, where the principal gives an edifying speech (yawn, wheeze). During it, the students must be absolutely quiet and show disciplined behavior - not even scratching is allowed, even if it really itches. Clearly, the tyôrei is "extraordinarily" loved by students! Also, news from the student government is made public on this occasion. When all the students subsequently perform a perfectly choreographed bow, they go to their classes and the lessons begin. When the teacher enters the class, the students bow - then the teach can use the degree of bowing as a measure of their popularity; the greater it is, the deeper the respect. Lunch break lasts 45 minutes. Eating is done in the classroom, and, for that reason, some classes push their desks together to form tables at which several of them sit together. Often, food is sold at school - bread rolls or small noodle dishes that are ordered and paid for in the morning and are then picked up by a class representative during lunch break and distributed in the hall. What isn't ordered in advance is sold according to the "who comes first eats first" principle - Ranma fans might still remember Ranma's continuous fight with Ryoga at their old school for the best goodies! Most students admittedly bring a lunchbox (bento) with rice with them from home, preferably cutely and prettily decorated and garnished (Makoto Kino is a mistress at doing this!) - the higher the prestige of the female classmate in question. Girls also often make bento for boys they like (that's why Aoshima in Oh My Goddess is the way he is when it comes to the bento made for him by Belldandy).
Normally, there aren't any recesses. After class, the classroom is tidied and cleaned up, and, for this purpose, groups are always organized who take turns. Then, once or twice per semester, the entire class unites for a more intense cleaning compaign. (Incidentally, students are also "allowed" to clean the school toilets... grrrx.)
If we assume for a moment that class starts at 9:00 A.M., a student is already tied down until ca. 4:00 P.M. on an average day (no more Moon Toon Zone). [2] Aside from that, it's also expected that you join one or more "clubs" which meet outside of class - here, the most diverse possibilities are offered, from the different types of sports to manga drawing, tea ceremony, chess, or computer. The clubs often have a certain degree of rivalry towards one another as far as budgets and talented members are concerned and downright climb over each other at the beginning of the school year in order to recruit new members. Here, too, dedication and discipline are expected regardless of which club is chosen - just hanging around a work or study group in order to procure an alibi because it improves your report card later on doesn't work!
Because students spend a lot of time in school and, aside from that, are also supposed to study (normally, homework amounts to another 4-5 hours per week), part-time jobs are strictly forbidden at almost all schools. If a student is caught in the act, they're threatened with stiff penalties. Hence, in many mangas and animes, you see students who're secretly supplementing their budgets and trembling at the thought of being discovered - like Yakumo, who works at a nightclub at the beginning of "3x3 Eyes". Punishments for breaking rules (also if e.g. you gives cheeky answers to teachers or are inappropriately dressed) include such "pleasantnesses" as standing or kneeling in the hall and maybe holding a bucket of water in your hands while doing so (ouch!!). The most severe punishment is - as it is with us as well - expulsion from school.

The school year is traditionally divided into three three-month-long trimesters. It starts on April 1st of every year and ends on March 1st. There's one month of vacation in between, and, furthermore, there's also summer and winter vacation (in July and November, respectively) which likewise last 4 weeks each. In the last few years, the school year has also been divided into semesters in many schools. Traditionally, ceremonies and tests take place at the beginning and end of each trimester or semester. The exact layout of these ceremonies is individually arranged between students and teachers at each school.
Every few months, an "ensoku" or field trip takes place. The most important thing for students on this occasion, recounts Maiko Covington, is, of course, what kind of provisions you take with you - as cute a thermos as possible with calpis (a kind of sweet milk beverage) or tea, bento, and sweets (okasi), during the course of which the teacher decides how much money everyone should spend on sweets to take with them ("Not more than 500 yen!"). Naturally, the treats are enthusiastically exchanged... Where you're seated in the bus is also very important - to this end, lots are often even drawn. Wearing the school uniform during ensoku is also required (elementary school students also often only wear the signature yellow hats of the school) - the school's sportswear if you're actually going hiking. Prior to departure, the teacher once again inspects all of the students to make sure they look respectable - but then, in the bus, the first ones already start e.g. to comb their hair differently (more stylishly!). The destination of these excursions should always have some kind of intrinsic educational value whenever possible, whether it's exposure to nature while hiking or visiting a temple or an otherwise interesting structure (e.g. the Tokyo Tower - see Magic Knight Rayearth), where a guided tour subsequently takes place. Naturally, most students are significantly more interested in the festivities which take place during the drive (e.g. singing karaoke on the bus), the many funny pictures that're exchanged afterwards, or the souvenir shops. In Japan, when you go somewhere, it's customary to bring back an "omiyage", a small present, for family members who couldn't come along - e.g. a treat typical of the region being visited or some kind of thingamajig with the location's name on it. Also very popular as omiyage and souvenirs for oneself are keychains, mascots or amulets (e.g. for success in school) that can be hung from one's schoolbag.
Furthermore, once during the school year - traditionally in autumn - a large school festival (bundokai) take place, during which sports competitions take place, clubs showcase themselves, and each class sets something up; an occasion during which the community of the school is celebrated.
Community and identification with the school are emphasized in Japan - most schools, especially public ones, thus require a school uniform whose wearing is supposed to strengthen the identification of the students with their school, balance out social differences, and, last but not least, ensure a "respectable" appearance of the students in public: there are strict regulations about what's allowed and what isn't. First of all, each school has a summer and a winter uniform. The due date for the changeover (koromo-gae) is precisely defined - and even if, at the beginning of the winter uniform period in October, it's still broodingly hot, the change is obligatory! The switch to summer uniforms occurs in June. Elementary school students wear short pants (or little skirts), regardless of whether it's summer or winter.
There are different basic variations with uniforms - boys commonly wear black pants and a black jacket with a stand-up collar, a white shirt underneath (seen e.g. in Slam Dunk or Ranma 1/2); sometimes, the ensemble also looks more like a suit (e.g. in El Hazard). Girls wear e.g. a dress in a muted color (e.g. dark blue or gray, sometimes plaid as well) with either a middy blouse or a white blouse and a compatibly colored jacket. Since each school has its own uniform, you can recognize at first glance which students belongs to which school. Of course, most students try to individualize this homogenous look a little - e.g. through variation of dress length (very long/very short), colored socks instead of white, blouses with a different cut than the usual, cool gym shoes instead of the usual college slippers, funny keychains on schoolbags. "Tough guys" (and those that think they are) wear oversized black pants, make their jackets as long as possible with an enormous stand-up collar, leave (shock, horror) their shirt collars open, or give themselves a greased quiff. Make-up and hairstyles are also gladly experimented with, and regulations restrict things here, too: neon-colored hairbands, synthetic alterations, and hair that's too long (especially if worn loosely) are an eyesore for most schools. Whenever possible, girls should wear a ponytail or braided pigtail, bound with a black or dark blue hairband, and under no circumstances should hair be greater than shoulder length; hair length is also specified down to the centimeter (!) for boys. "The more daring girls might dye their hair, or perm it," reports Maiko Covington about her school days. "I must say that I got away with perming my hair, because people just assumed it was natural, ha ha. One girl in my high school class was forced to go to the barber and have her hair dyed back black after dying it reddish-brown. Some people also experiment with cosmetics. There is no way Ranma could get away with wearing that martial arts suit if he went to a normal school! They would most likely shave his head in the principal's office." Assuming they don't completely throw him out of school right away, because even this can be a very real threat if the dress code is too blatantly violated. Admittedly, most schools have revised their school regulations in the last few years and entitled the students to somewhat (!) greater freedom as far as hairstyles or objects they're allowed to bring with them to school are concerned. However, colored hair, flashy earrings, loose socks, and pagers or cellular phones are, as always, prohibited almost everywhere.
Before setting foot in the school building, exactly as is done before entering a house or residence, you change your shoes: at the entrance of the school is a large shoe locker, where outdoor shoes are exchanged for the prescribed uwabaki (a kind of slipper, similar to gymnastic slippers, normally white with colored highlights e.g. on the toes and heels). Many students admittedly wear their gym shoes instead of their uwabaki or put on their uwabaki for physical education - both are not very popular with teachers. Besides, school shoes are optimally suited for collecting the signatures of all one's friends...

More than 40% of all high school graduates decide to pursue a degree. For admission to university, next to a high school diploma, passing an entrance examination is once again required - the more prestigious the university, the harder the examination (in some cases, "Vitamin B" also helps and applicants are admitted based on recommendations e.g. on the part of their high school). Most university applicants register for exams at several universities and focus their hopes on making it into one that enjoys at least a certain level of prestige in the public eye. Moreover, the name of the university is, in fact, more of a deciding factor than the field of study, but, even among these, there is (as with us...) a certain ranking scale. Medicine enjoys the best reputation, physical sciences and engineering rank before the liberal arts. Students who haven't passed their entrance examinations yet and are waiting for the re-examinations are also referred to as "ronin" (like the masterless samurai of the past). Yusaku Godai from "Maison Ikkoku" send his regards! Including the entrance fee, studying at a public university costs the equivalent of 3000-4000 DM [2] during the first year, private universities approximately three times that much. If, however, you successfully gained entrance into a good university, you could've been almost certain, at least in the past, that you would have found employment at a good firm after completing your degree, regardless of the field you studied - it just depended on the rank and name of the university!

The worldwide economic recession has admittedly also made its presence felt in Japan, and, during the last investigation in the spring of 1999, it was determined that "only" 92% of that year's high school graduates had found a position - a job is therefore also no longer a foregone conclusion for students (Yusaku Godai can also sing a ditty about that... whoever hasn't found a place to work by April 1st, incidentally, usually has to wait until the following year since prestige-carrying large corporations, at least, only hire until this date). The best reputation is still enjoyed by the universities of Tokyo - the public Tokyo University and the private universities Waseda and Keio. Especially between Keio and Waseda there exists a traditional rivalry. In most subjects, the course of studies lasts four years, of which the first two represent a kind of Studium Generale (general introduction and preparation). Since you also advance more or less automatically during the course of your studies once you've passed the entrance examination, most students don't exactly pursue their studies all that intensely and instead consider it as a kind of "rest period" between their academic and professional lives.
After reading this article, whoever finds themselves thinking "School in Japan - The Sheerest of Horrors", be at ease: many of these regulations primarily seem so restrictive to us because we're not used to them - most Japanese students don't find anything wrong with them and would instead probably react with surprise at some of the things we take for granted. Everyday school life, of course, isn't paradise either here or in Japan, but students also have the freedom to have fun and pursue their own interests here as well as there.

SH (Stefanie Holzer)

Sources:
Asahi Shimbun, Dahlem Edition
Florian Coulmas, The Land of Ritual Harmony
Marion Grein, Japan Today and Yesterday
Maiko Covington, description of her school days at http://server.berkeley.edu/Anime/japan/Maiko.html