One Year Blogging Anniversary!

Today marks exactly one year since I started I started blogging. Woohoo! From day one, I set out to create a quality blog where I could record my adventures and provide a way for friends and family to see what's going on in my life once in a while. I had previously failed to take advantage of opportunities to record and share my experiences during my first two years in Japan, but I recognized that the opportunity was still right there for me to grasp. So with new determination, I began my blog exactly as the new school year (and more generally work year) began in Japan. I knew this would ensure that I could capture the entire Japanese school year in this blog, as well as all seasons, major holidays and events, and so on. Looking back, I'm pleased with my accomplishment.

If you've ever read my blog before, you'll know that I write about a variety of topics. I've written about various travel experiences, the city and region in Japan where I'm currently living, Japanese culture, work life in Japanese public schools, and more. And surprisingly, I've never been at a point where I didn't have anything to write about. Even still today, there are many topics I want to write about and am planning to publish as soon as possible.

I'll admit, I do not receive many visitors here and I have virtually no subscribers. I think most people, and especially bloggers, would agree that when you put in a substantial amount of time on something, it's nice to get recognized. Well I'm not going to lie, it would be nice to have a bigger readership. But at the same time, this isn't my goal nor has it ever been the reason for doing this.

I feel like keeping this blog has benefited me in a lot of ways throughout the past year. Writing new posts gives me the chance to reflect on my experiences and appreciate them more than I would otherwise. It often encourages me to do further research to get a better understanding of the things I've seen, places I've visited, or people I've met. And I've been able to learn a lot more about Japanese culture, as well as gain new perspectives I probably never would have obtained if I never kept this blog.

Of course I hope my blog has been equally interesting for friends, family, or anyone else that may have come across it in the past 12 months. I understand that the concept of reading is not what it used to be, especially on the internet. We have to be careful about what we choose to spend our time reading, just as we need to be mindful of how we spend our time daily. Thus for those who continue to follow my blog, whether it's for every post or once every few months, thank you for checking it out. Maybe it will inspire your to travel, learn, and try new things. Maybe, it will even inspire you to write a blog someday.

Here's to another year of happy blogging!

- Daniel

School Ceremonies in Japan (Beginning-of-Year)

In my last post I introduced the end-of-year ceremonies at Japanese public junior high schools. Now, just over a week later, it's time for the beginning-of-year ceremonies. 

First day of the new school year

Here's the same list I posted previously, but this time I have shown the beginning-of-year ceremonies in bold.

• Sotsugyōshiki (卒業式), Graduation Ceremony
• Shūryoshiki (修了式), Closing Ceremony
• Rininshiki (離任式), Farewell Ceremony
• Shinninshiki (新人式), Welcome Ceremony
• Shigyōshiki (始業式), Opening Ceremony
• Nyūgakushiki (入学式), Entrance Ceremony

You'll see that both groups of ceremonies (first three and last three) balance each other out nicely. The Farewell Ceremony is meant to say goodbye to the leaving teachers, whereas the Welcome Ceremony is meant to welcome the new incoming teachers. The purpose of the Closing Ceremony is to formally close out the school year; the opposite is true of the Opening Ceremony. And lastly, the Graduation Ceremony is for the third-year students who have finished their junior high school years, and the Entrance Ceremony is for the new first-year students who are just starting junior high school.

Note about naming conventions: In the U.S., students in junior high school are generally referred to by their overall grade level, such as "6th-graders, 7th-graders, and 8th-graders". But in Japan, it's relative to their current school level, such as "1st-graders, 2nd-graders, and 3rd-graders". For example, a first-year junior high school student will be called a "1st-grader" (一年生, ichi-nensei ). It can be confusing so I've tried to simply avoid this ambiguity altogether, but I couldn't really get around it in several parts of this post, which is why I bring it up now. In particular, I have to describe the teachers in this way because I don't know how else to do so without it being even more confusing! So in the context of this post, "first-grade teachers," for instance, refers to junior high school teachers who teach first-year students.

Shinninshiki (新人式), Welcome Ceremony

Every March a group of teachers must leave their current school. As I described before, the typical reason for this is normal school transfers. This is usually how each school that lost teachers gains new ones from school year to year as well. Occasionally several of the new faces include brand new teachers, or those yet to pass their teaching license exams and technically still in the training phase. In addition to teachers, the principal, vice-principal, or any other schools staff are all subject to transfers and similarly move around between local schools. Despite a few drawbacks, this system provides quite a few benefits. Namely, the constant flow of teachers and staff to different schools allows each to gain various experiences and work with an extensive variety of different people during their careers.

Incoming teachers introduce themselves to students

During the ceremony, the incoming teachers are welcomed into the school then brought on stage to give short self-introductions. This is only for the second- and third-year students; the new kids don't come until later during the last ceremony of the day (see below). The rest consists of the usual things, including a few speeches and chorus singing.

Shigyōshiki (始業式), Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony immediately follows the Welcome Ceremony (at my school). This one is quite simple and quick. There's another speech, some more singing (including the school anthem), and more bowing. 

Additionally, the second- and third-grade teachers now come on stage to be quickly introduced to students. Although students already know many of the teachers, they don't yet know who will be their specific teachers for the new school school. This is when they can find this out as the information about which grades and class sections the teachers are assigned to is revealed.

At my junior high school, each grade is split into four or five class sections (組, kumi). For example, second grade consists of the following: 2-1 (grade 2, class 1), 2-2 (grade 2, class 2), and so on. In Japan, students stay in their classroom for all general classes while teachers move between classrooms depending on the class section they are teaching. Of course, for certain subjects like art, music, or home economics, students move to other classrooms. They also go to the gym for P.E., as you would expect. Perhaps I'll go into more detail about the school system in a future post.

Just after the ceremony has finished, the student affairs chief and student guidance chief come on stage and bark at students again; It's hard for me to understand exactly what is being said when they do this, but I believe it's mostly to warn them to behave during the next ceremony. 

Nyūgakushiki (入学式), Entrance Ceremony

Finally, the Entrance Ceremony is held to welcome the new first-year students. This is nearly equal in scale and importance as the Graduation Ceremony. The students have to practice beforehand and be on good behavior as their parents and family come to watch.

The upperclassmen sing for the incoming first-year students

Remember I talked about how all these ceremony balance so well? Just like during graduation when the third-year students' names are read aloud (to collect their diploma), in the Entrance Ceremony the first-grade students' names are read aloud (officially making them students of the school). There are other similarities as well. Students sing several songs, including the school anthem, national anthem, and one additional song which the upperclassman sing directly to the new kids. A long speech from the principal is given. Several current students read some words of encouragement to the new students. Also like the previous two ceremonies, teacher introductions are done. This time, it's the first-grade teachers who are introduced to the new first-year students. 

The end of the ceremony marks then real beginning of the new school year. It's the start of something totally new for the first-graders. They always have a lot to learn and will have to grow up more quickly than ever. From this point until the following year's closing ceremonies, they will experience many physical and emotional changes. The boys start to rapidly grow taller. The girls start to become young women. They all begin to understand the new pressures of junior high school. The second-graders are in a transition period, still holding on to their youth and immaturity but trying to figure themselves out. It's a big year for the third-graders. They generally seem to have a better appreciation for their school life, and for the majority of students, must work harder than ever to prepare themselves for the soon-to-come high school entrance exams and their future steps past junior high.

School Assembly: Seitokai Setsumeikai (生徒会説明会), Student Council Briefing

Just a day or two following all of the ceremonies is also a school assembly called the Seitokai Setsumeikai. The purpose of this is to introduce the various school clubs (especially sports) to the new first-year students so they can get a better sense of which they might like to join. You can read more about it in this post.

***

Short Side Story: 

A funny thing happened to me this year during part of the Entrance Ceremony; I was standing in the back of the gym when the teachers walked on stage to be introduced. The vice principal started reading the names of each teacher as each stepped forward and bowed. He got to the last name and it was mine. As he started to read he noticed I wasn't up there. Frankly, I was just as surprised as him because I didn't know I was supposed to be up there in the first place. Oops.

Afterwards, I apologized and it certainly wasn't a big deal. But the case above brings up a really good point that I've learned while being here—half of the time I am never clearly informed about anything. 

A good example of this is when I'm sitting in the staff room and everyone suddenly gets up and leaves without saying anything to me. Later I'll find out that there was a fire drill (without alarms), and the whole time I was just sitting in the staff room wondering what the heck was going on. My guess is that I'm not verbally told about these things because I'm expected to read them from the dozens of papers handed out weekly or the notes written on the white boards in our staff room. 

I still haven't concluded whether this is a fair expectation or not. To be clear, I would never expect anyone in Japanese schools to specifically cater to me using English since this is Japan after all, but considering the circumstances (being hired for a job that specifically states that Japanese ability is not required), it would be nice to at least get the information (still in Japanese) verbally and clearly. Regardless, it has occurred to me that this is part of an even bigger overarching theme: if you're a foreigner in Japan that wants to truly fit in, you have to go 100%, or forget about it and face being alienated. For the record, I'm not here to criticize. I'm more interested in the observations and implications of this rather judging it to be good or bad.

And, there's an obvious caveat here—this is based on my personal experience and likely doesn't apply in every circumstance and in every part of the country. Still, I've been thinking about this a lot recently and I may write about in another post later.