You Are NOT Special

I may have posted on this before, but it has hit me lately how much of the Japanese mentality is geared towards emphasizing the importance of the group over the importance of the individual. Some examples:

People are called by their last names first, even little children. One's personal name is secondary to the family name.

Students wear uniforms to school, even as young as age 3. Yes, 3.

The school I visit most often has children from ages 3-5. Every morning, the kids are taken outside for some morning exercises. They do it to music, and everyone must be in sync. Nothing is too different from America with that, except when they're done, the teachers teach the kids how to dry themselves with a towel. Imagine 90 children standing in a group (all wearing the same tee-shirt and shorts... or, most days, just their shorts) drying themselves with a towel. In rhythm. All students count, in unison, "1, 2, 3, 4...." up to 20 with each new number representing a stroke of the towel. This is repeated for their arms, legs and stomach.

Then, at the same school, there is synchronized teeth brushing. After lunch everyday, the students sit down and brush their teeth in unison. There's no out-loud counting this time (that's just plain silly), but everyone brushes together.

"The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." is a famous Japanese saying. If you stand out in any way, everyone else will be sure to pull you back down with them. Or an outside authority will put in you in your place.

Regarding the school uniforms, I asked some Japanese friends of mine what happens if students fail to wear their uniforms ("That doesn't happen.") or if they wear them incorrectly. If it happens, schoolteachers will write a negative comment on their permanent record, which will ultimately work against them when it comes time to get into a good high school or a good college.

There are most certainly some benefits to this universal conformity. When people see that others in their group are struggling, they are generally very willing to pick them up to the level of the group. Homogeny is paramount.
When purchasing a product or service, there is an acceptance that things were done right. There is the assumption that things were assembled or serviced according to a rigorous plan, with no steps omitted, corners cut or any other straying from the assigned path.

Compare the Japanese mentality to America's overemphasis on individuality. Take last year's World Cup TV coverage, for example. In what is arguably the world's greatest team sport played on its highest level, with teams representing whole countries, I shook my head at ESPN's coverage where you could vote for the "man of the match." An opportunity to single out one person in a team sport with each side representing millions of people.

Certainly there are times to focus on the individual and there are times to focus on the group, but I think these two cultures are on extreme opposing ends of the spectrum.

For Example

I neglected to include this story with my previous post, but it's an interesting example of how educators have more power than parents in Japan.

One boy in our school has a rather unorthodox haircut. Basically, it's long in the back (think mullet) and while he has hair all over the top of his head, the hair right down the middle is noticeably longer than the rest, so it has a mohawk-look, a little. Anyway, this unorthodox hairstyle prompted the head of my school to call his parents and ask them to change his hair so that he wouldn't "negatively affect the younger students."
I told my boss that would NEVER fly in America. "First ammendment!" you'd hear. My boss shrugged and said that it's perfectly OK in Japan.

Parent / Teacher Conferences

The new school year is a few weeks old in Japan. Teachers and parents get together to talk about each child's education. Much as is done in the States. Except parents do not go to the schools to meet the teachers. Instead, teachers visit the homes of their students to meet their parents.
In the States, parents most often have greater force / power / authority when it comes to their children's upbringing than their teachers. The opposite is true in Japan. Teachers have the right to question parenting styles and act as a greater guide for children.
In the States, you would very easily find parents overly defensive over their children, and even more so, their own parenting style. And parents are quick to judge teachers for their approach to "raising" their kids. Parents are more often allowed to openly question teachers, but the opposite isn't as socially acceptable.

In many respects, Japan places education as a centerpiece of its society. Most students take classes six days a week, have very little time off, and by the time they hit middle school, go to cram schools (juku). Kids attend these cram schools after their regular schools in order to cram as much information into their heads so they can pass entrance exams for high school and college. Where in the States we enjoy 2 months' vacation between school years, students here get a weekend off.
So with this focus on education, elementary and middle school teachers annually visit the homes of all their students. They go to view their students' home lifestyles. They openly examine the "quality" of their home life - quietly rating things such as how clean their houses are and what they eat.
In many respects, I think it makes a great deal of sense, because it gives teachers a much more complete understanding of each student. Teachers can tailor their lessons and curricula with greater knowledge of exactly who their students are. When a student acts out, the teacher can respond in a far more appropriate way, having a greater understanding of the student's general perspective.
During the visits, teachers generally speak with the students' mothers, asking them some private details of their kids' behavior, medical issues, and if there's anything in particular the moms want the teachers to be aware of / look out for.
Trying to picture such a system in America, I can't help but visualize mothers angrily defending their stance and parenting style. "How dare you tell me how to raise my child! Who do you think you are?"

As my time winds down here in Japan (I return States-side July 3), I have some posts planned covering food (MUCH to write there), the convenience stores, driving, and the equivalent of the dollar store.
Stay tuned...