Day 10: Ogi Junior High

At Ogi Junior high we got our first experience inside a Japanese school. The school has 639 students. I, along with the three other art teachers in my group, was drawn immediately to the art room, where students were busy working on geometric line drawings. I was impressed at the behavior of the students, and surprised when they rose to bow at the teacher at both the beginning and end of class. The teacher did not speak English, so we went and found our group interpreter. I asked about the obvious emphasis on Western art, and why Eastern and traditional Japanese art was not being taught. He explained that Western art is based on elements and principals that are essential to learning basic skills. Eastern art, however, is based on religion and philosophy. He told us that students that are serious about art will study Eastern art in more advanced classes.

After a while in the art class, I stopped by a Japanese class. Students were discussing stereotypes. Some interesting stereotypes of Americans: golden hair, big noses, wide open eyes, and high calorie food. Before I entered the class they had asked some others from my group about some stereotypes of Japanese people. One of their replies was “always taking pictures.” This made the kids laugh, as all twenty of us Americans were toting cameras and taking pictures of just about everything.

Lunch was served in the classroom. I was assigned a class and given a special helper to walk me through the process. There are no lunch ladies in Japan. The students, wearing aprons and masks, do the work. We had bean curry, rice, vegetables, and milk. My helper got it all for me. Before eating, the class says, together, “i tadakimasu,” which essentially thanks those who prepared the food. When the meal was done, bowls, trays, and eating utensils and rinsed and placed in bins by the kids. Milk cartons are also rinsed, then torn open and flattened out for recycling. It was all done by students – amazing. After lunch we had a meeting with the school administration and a few teachers. We asked questions for the next two hours. We found out that it is not uncommon for teachers to come n on weekends in order to keep up with their duties. Teachers are not just teachers, they also take active roles in the lives of students. Teacher communication is fostered by a large room that is home to all of their offices. There are no cubicles, just desks where they work. This is the same in all schools.