Japan is considered to have one of the best education systems in the world. Though the basic school system in Japan is literally the same as Taiwan’s (which is six years of elementary school, three years in both junior and senior high school, and four years for university), the curriculum is, of course, very different. Here are a few differences I learned about during my visit to two high schools in Saitama City.

Clean environment

A tidy Japanese classroom (by Estella Tong)

Japan is well known for its clean environments. The main reason is because of the good habits Japanese people cultivate from the time they are young. When in school, they are made to clean the classrooms thoroughly at least three times a week. Students also have to clean their classrooms on Saturdays. Additionally, since most schools don’t hire full-time janitors, it teaches students that they’re responsible for the mess they make.

A typical Japanese class (by Estella Tong)

Even though cleaning our classrooms is a common thing to do in Taiwan, most students don’t take it seriously. Therefore, you often find litter everywhere and some cupboards and windows are covered in dust. Another phenomenon you can see is that Taiwanese students like to throw wet tissues on their restroom walls. The main reason is that they believe school janitors will do the cleaning work for them.

Indoor shoes

People in Japan make it a habit to wear indoor shoes not only at home, but also at school. Every student has two pairs of indoor shoes: one for PE class, one for daily school life. When they get to school, they will leave their outdoor shoes in the locker area until school ends. When there are visitors, they will provide plastic bags for your outdoor shoes, and then give you a pair of indoor shoes (which are not very comfortable).

In Taiwan, we barely take off our outdoor shoes. We usually take off our shoes when we go to rooms that aren’t cleaned as often, in this instance, the library.

School lunch

You often hear Taiwanese students complaining about how queasy school lunches make them. Sometimes, the vegetables are nasty and overcooked. Also, the meat they use is either mystery meat or chicken drumsticks that don’t taste thoroughly cooked.

Even though most elementary schools and junior high schools in Japan have the same lunch system as ours, the students in Japan enjoy their food much more than Taiwanese kids do. Japanese schools provide students with milk and miso soup along with rice. Also, curry rice is really popular among students.

School clubs

A popular club in Japanese schools is Kendo, which is awesome (by Estella Tong)

One of the things you mustn’t miss in high school is, undoubtedly, school clubs. Some of the most common clubs are pop dance, guitar, pop music, basketball, and science. You might not find all of these in Japan, but instead, you can find many more clubs that you don’t usually think about which will definitely amaze you.

Tea ceremony and flower arrangement are usually associated with housewives or retired woman. However, the two of these are included in their list of school clubs. Besides these, you can also find a kendo or judo room. What really surprised me was that they had a huge soccer field which you can barely find in Taiwan since schools in Taiwan isn’t as big as theirs. Since one of the schools I went to was a girls’ school, they also have clubs like Japanese Archery and Traditional Japanese Dance Club.

Transportation

Students in Taipei usually take public transportation or ride their bikes to school. Sometimes, parents take them to school by car or scooter.

Meanwhile in Saitama, motorcycles and cars are relatively rare. Most kids ride their own bikes, walk to school with their friends or even take the train.

Last but not least, most schools in Taiwan make students get there before 7:30 in the morning. However, schools in Japan starts and hour later than ours. This, I believe, most Taiwanese students envy.

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(by Estella Tong)

Obviously, there are lots of things that schools in Japan do better than Taiwan, especially school lunches. Hopefully, one day Taiwanese kids can enjoy their meals and also learn to keep their environment clean.