Life in a Japanese High School: Part 1
A new school year has begun! Well, not really. In Japan, the school year actually begins in April and ends in March. So really I’m just jumping into the middle of things, but anyway, a new semester has begun, which means I’m actually a teacher now. It’s been pretty rad so far, and definitely a new adventure.
Panorama of Kyoto City. Completely irrelevant, but still pretty cool.
We’re about three weeks in to fall semester, and I’m adjusting quite well to life in high school again: early mornings, drowsy afternoons, after-school club activities, and trying to get to bed before midnight to do it all again the next day. Not having homework this time around is a huge bonus though. I actually have a pretty cool work schedule, albeit a bit unorthodox for the average teaching gig. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I ride my bike to my base school in Fushimi (southern Kyoto city), and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I catch a ride to my visit school in Uji (south of Kyoto). It’s a nice change of scenery each day, with each school having its unique vibe, but it also means I have twice as many faces to remember. It’s taken a bit of getting used to, but I feel that I’ve settled into a good rhythm now, at least enough so that I can present a report on life in a Japanese high school. Believe me, it’s quite different than in the States.
1) Uniforms
I know that many private schools in the US require uniforms, but I was a public school kid. Public school for life! I’m happy to say that both schools I teach at now are also public schools, but the Japanese custom of school uniforms gives it a formal private school feel. For the guys, it’s matching slacks and white button-ups. For the girls, matching plaid skirts with the high socks, and a white blouse with either a tie or a bow. To be honest, having all of my students wear the same clothes doesn’t help with my struggle to remember their names. But I still think the whole uniform thing is pretty classy.
Slippers: another very Japanese thing. It’s customary in Japan to remove your shoes before entering a home. School is no different. Every school has an entryway with lockers where students and teachers alike remove their outdoor shoes and put on their indoor slippers. Luckily I came prepared, because I look like a little princess trying to prance around in the tiny green guest slippers available at the school. Maybe “little” isn’t the right word. Anyway, it’s pretty boss strolling through the hallways with my comfy Made-in-‘Murica sandals. Livin the dream.
2) Teacher rotations
Remember high school? For us Californians, it meant walking from building to building across a sunny, open-air campus, hoping that you had class with your friends. Due to Kyoto’s dramatic climate, schools here are typically one building with multiple stories, probably similar to schools in the Mid-West. More interesting, however, is that students don’t change classrooms. In American high schools, teachers set up shop in their classroom, where they command authority from their desk-shaped throne. In Japan, the students are king of the classroom. All the teachers have their desks in the teachers’ room, while the students have their own desks in their homeroom classrooms. They sit at the same desk all day as different teachers rotate through to teach their respective subject. Sounds a bit confining, but the students seem to enjoy having their own space, and they probably get to know the 40 kids they share that room with quite well. Each class has a designated homeroom teacher that is somewhat the authority figure (often more like a parent) over that group of students. My situation is a bit different. I get to commandeer the Language Lab (LL) room, where I have taught all my lessons thus far. So the students come to me. I think they enjoy the change of scenery. Then a good, I could be mistaking their “enjoyment” with bewildered intrigue over the giant American in the front of the classroom. Did I mention I stand out?
LL Room at my base school.
LL Room at my visit school. Welcome to Johnny Sensei’s wonderful world of English.
A day in the life.
Like I said, my schedule is pretty rad. Every morning I show up to school around 8am to take care of some business before the daily teachers meeting at 8:30. Yes it’s in Japanese. No I don’t understand any of it. But I smile and nod like the rest.
A rare peek at an empty teacher’s room.
I typically only teach 2 to 3 lessons throughout the day, so I spend a lot of time at my desk in the teacher’s room lesson-planning or working on various little projects. At first, I was a bit intimidated by the task of planning all my own lessons, having never been a real teacher before. But over the past month I’ve designed a curriculum for the first two semesters and I’m slowly churning out some half-decent lessons that the students seem to be enjoying thus far. I only teach the freshmen, but I teach all of them, yes all of them, at both of my schools. I see each class on a two-week cycle, so I’ll teach each lesson I prepare 17 times before moving on to the next. So if my lesson sucks, I’m the one that hates it the most. That being said, I do put a lot of work into these plans, and I often get quite antsy at my desk, so I’m always eager for any chance I get to do something else around school.
My desk in the teacher’s room. Aka the creation station.
One such opportunity is the afternoon school club activities. I head up the English club at my base school, where I have the privilege of shepherding all 3 of my devoted members during our after-school meetings three days a week. English is hard, so I don’t blame the other 1000ish students that have found something better to do. To be fair, they have some pretty sweet options, like kendo, tea ceremony club, calligraphy club, and a hodgepodge of sports. For the record, the men’s volleyball team at my base school has 4 guys. 1 team, 4 guys. But they’re chill, I’ve gotten to play with them a bit. If only we had enough people to actually play a game…
The second opportunity to get out of the teachers room and chat with some students comes during cleaning time. Which brings me to point of difference number 3.
3) Cleaning time
Why hire janitors when you have about 1000 able-bodied students? I think they’re on to something here. Every day after lunch at my visit school, they strike up the school anthem on the PA system as the students report to their cleaning stations. For about ten minutes the teachers supervise as all the students clean their portion of the campus. They usually finish early, and enjoy a nice break as the school anthem gives way to some good ol J-pop blasting through the hallways. I always have a good time walking around and chatting with different students each day. Some of these kids are really funny as they try to entertain me with their limited English. Or maybe it’s the random foreign dude strolling the hallways that’s the real entertainment…
4) Cultural Festival
Speaking of entertainment… For a month or so every year, the entire high school system of Japan shifts into Cultural Festival mode. Cultural Festival is that delightful time of the new Fall Semester where the entire school shuts down for 2-3 days for an epic festival that has been months in making. Each class spends countless hours preparing for their performances. For the ichinensei (Freshmen), it was a video project. For ninensei (second years), a live dance performance. And for sanensei (third-years/seniors), a student-written and produced drama in the school’s auditorium. Oh ya, high school in Japan is only three years. On top of that, many of the other clubs, such as tea ceremony, calligraphy, and folk-rock club will prepare some beautiful performances as well. For the students, it’s a lot work through all the preparations, but also a lot of fun. For most of the teachers, it’s a lot of work making sure all their students are on top of those preparations, but also a lot fun. For me, it’s a lot of fun. I got to cruise around and enjoy the impressive dance spectacles and student dramas, laugh at the goofy videos my ichinensei students came up with, sip on some quality green tea served by the kimono-clad tea ceremony club, and rock out to the school folk-rock band performances. So much fun.
The main outdoor stage at my base school. Each class made a sweet banner and hung it from their classroom balcony.
A ninensei dance performance at my visit school. Note all the observing students leaning over balconies and classroom windows.
All in all, there’s something a bit magical about life in a Japanese high school. It could be just that it’s all a new cultural experience for me, but the students also seem to really enjoy their time here. For one thing, teachers and students have a really cool relationship, and it’s a very common occurrence for a student to walk into the teacher’s room just to chat for a bit. The teachers are really involved in their students lives as well, and they will often go above and beyond to help with just about anything. Everyday, as I head out between 4:30 and 5ish, the school is still busy with life. I’ll hear the militaristic chants of baseball practice from the field, the chilling yells and clashing wooden swords of kendo practice in the basement gym, and – my favorite – the crashing cymbals and wailing guitar solos of the folk-rock club soaring from an upper window somewhere. I’ve already jammed with one of the bands, and believe me, these kids can shred. Though I’m still the new guy, and I’ll always be the foreign guy, it’s been awesome how both of my schools have really welcomed me into their special community, asking me to give speeches and encouraging me to hang out with students in after-school clubs and really just to enjoy my time here. And I’m confident that there will be plenty more enjoyment to come.
Monkeying around in Arashiyama
Nothing says “fun” like cucumber on a stick. 
Arashiyama bamboo forest
Uji City peeking out over the tree line
forest bridge in Ohara
peaceful waterfall in Ohara
おいしいかたですよ!
Sunset by the Kamo River
Uji Bridge several days after the typhoon
Nijo Castle gardens
Arashiyama train station
rain on an Arashiyama graveyard
fushimi inari tori minis
too tall for this country, no matter what century
Just crossing the street toward the Toji farmer’s market. Yes, the market was here. 
My newest wall decoration, courtesy of Toji market
Ohara gardens
Ohara koi pond
statuettes for days
Chillin with the Ohara locals. I think I was underdressed.
Your guess is as good as mine
KonnichiWhatsup 