Wuhan high school students tell of Japan's education: Study轻松ly and emphasize etiquette

"Japanese middle school students need to learn how to take care of babies." This surprised the Wuhan middle school students who visited Japan. Yesterday, Dai Fan from Class 9, Grade 2 of East Lake Middle School, shared his experiences about the study and life of Japanese middle school students.

Relaxed learning at school, but intense extracurricular tutoring

In September this year, Dai Fan participated in the "21st Century East Asia Youth Grand Exchange Program" and visited places like Tokyo City and Wakayama Prefecture with a delegation of 40 people from Hubei Province.

At the附属 High School of National Tsukuba University in Tokyo, Dai Fan became very interested in the school's "home economics" course, which teaches students how to take care of infants and young children. Other cultural courses are basically the same as those in high schools in China and Japan.

Dai Fan found that Japanese teachers don't push students' studies as tightly as teachers in Wuhan do; it all depends on the students' self-discipline. If students aren't conscientious, they fall behind in their studies. Because they haven't learned well in class, many students attend tutoring classes after school. "Tutoring classes generally repeat the knowledge taught in class, unlike the improvement classes in Wuhan, which teach more advanced knowledge," said Dai Fan.

Lively campus culture allows students to sell snacks

Japanese middle school students wear uniforms, and their clothing is very simple: white shirts and dark blue school pants or skirts, showing the sunny spirit of youth.

Japanese high school campus culture is rich. Dai Fan saw at the附属 High School of Tsukaba University that the school has over a dozen clubs for archery, rowing, football, basketball, baseball, tennis, handball, etc., and students usually use their free time or weekends to participate in collective club activities.

When visiting Seirin High School in Wakayama Prefecture, the visiting group happened to catch the school hosting a cultural festival - some students were selling snacks on campus, others were teaching skincare methods.

Unlike Wuhan high school students who often eat outside the school, most students at Seirin High School eat in the school cafeteria, while a few bring their own meals to school.

Families emphasize etiquette, often using polite phrases

During the visit, Chinese students were separately arranged to live with Japanese families. Dai Fan stayed with an ordinary farming household with one girl and one boy.

Japanese families place great emphasis on etiquette; when children return home, they must say "I'm back," before eating they should say "I'll start now," after finishing they should say "Thank you, I've had enough," before sleeping they should say "Good night," and upon waking up they should say "Good morning." Dai Fan said he felt awkward at first because he didn't normally say so many polite words at home, but later he got used to it.

There is also an important etiquette at the dining table: guests absolutely cannot leave food uneaten, because leaving food is considered disrespectful to the host. Dai Fan said that although some dishes weren't to his taste, he still tried to finish them.

Reprinted from China Education Information Network