Free Web Hosting Provider - Web Hosting - E-commerce - High Speed Internet - Free Web Page
Search the Web

Education
Home Page | Education | Social and Class Differences | Enviromentalism | Visions of Atomic Energy | An Emergent Feminism | Contact Me | Links

Education
The first aspect of Japanese life that I would like to discuss is that of education. Many anime shows deal with school life in Japan, to name some: Kareshi Kanojyo no Jijou, Kodama no Omacha, I'll Make a Habit of It, Hana Yori Dango, Sailor Moon, Tenshi ni Narumon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, To Heart, Sakura Diaries, and Ranma ½. The two that I will focus on in this section are Kare Kano (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou) and Kodacha (Kodomo no Omacha. Respectively these shows translate to "His and Her Circumstances" and "Child's Toy." In Kodacha, the story line follows the life of a girl named Sana, age 11, who is an actress. In her school, however, the classroom is ruled by a boy named Hayama. San calls Hayama 'the monkey boss,' because of how he leads all the other boys into disrupting the class and playing tricks. They are constantly reducing the teacher to tears, and the reason she doesn't try to stop them is because Hayama has a picture of her and one of the other teachers at the school kissing. Sana, goaded on by the other girls in the class, begins a campaign to bring Hayama down. The aspect of school life in the show that is of particular importance is the behavior of the children at the beginning when they refuse to pay attention in class. In an issue of Japan Quarterly last year, an article on the "Chaos in Elementary Classrooms" was featured. In this article Takahashi Shotaro wrote the following:


"The high profile erosion of teacher control in Japanese elementary schools is a situation in which all the students, not just some unruly class member, defy a teacher who has to present all the subjects. Trouble typically emerges when the children do not take their seats when the bell rings. Instead they continue wandering about the room. Feuding children start to tussle. As the teacher watches helplessly, some children insult him or her; some get physical by lobbing paper planes at the teacher. Until the end of World War II, such a situation was beyond imagination in a nation where looking up to teachers had been an ingrained tradition. Everyone was mindful of the axiom: 'Walk well behind you teacher so as not to step in his shadow.' The legacy remained well into the postwar years: Now no discipline is enforceable in a classroom that has become embroiled in chaos, and there is none of the bonding that once was common between children and teachers." (78)


In Kodacha, the boys in the class are the only ones who really defy the teacher, the girls merely watch. But other than that all of the above quoted passage holds true. There are quite often paper planes flying around the classroom, the boys also play ball, and at one point in the series, Hayama brings water guns to class filled with ink and the boys shoot the teacher and the girls. All along the girls are helpless, even though they make it quite clear that they want to study and learn in their class. It is only through Sana's efforts that Hayama is brought low by the use of a candid photo of him in his underwear. Then the classroom returns to normal and the teacher is allowed to do her job while all the children sit respectively in their seats. In Japan I think this show would have quite an impact on the target audience of school children. By making the subject matter one that is directly influences by actual events in the lives of Japanese children, it is making them empathize with the moral that school is for learning, and that one should wish to learn while in class. That in fact, inappropriate behavior will not be rewarded but rather you will find yourself being blackmailed by an indecent photograph. I believe it is safe to say that one of the best methods of influencing children's actions is through what they watch on television, admittedly home life and peer pressure also play respectable roles. But honestly, one of the best ways to create change is by hiding morals in a pretty package that the children will open and accept without ever really being aware of it. The show Kodacha is full of humor and craziness, but it is also a gentle reminder to children to behave well in school.


In Kare Kano, the emphasis is also on behavior, but more attuned to grades than obeying the teacher. In this show, the two main characters, Arima and Yukino, begin dating and because they are spending so much time together they do not study as much so that when finals come they both slip from top of their grade to lower places. They are immediately called into the principal's office and berated for their lapses in grades. The principal tells them to stop dating because they should be thinking more about their futures in this critical time of their lives. He says that once they have gotten into college they can resume dating, but until they are in good universities they must concentrate on their studies. Arima and Yukino refuse to obey this mandate, because they feel that there are some things more important than grades, love being at the top of the list. Because of their recalcitrance, their parents are called in, and they also say that some things are better than grades. More concisely what they say is that their children are old enough to decide for themselves what they want and that they trust them to make the right decision.



The Japanese have long considered education to be of utmost concern, even to the point where they consider it "with a nearly religious respect" (Shotaro 81). However in recent years, the importance of school has begun to slide. This, indeed, is also one of the reasons behind the misbehavior of children written about in conjunction with Kodacha. That is why, the reactions of Arima, Yukino, and their parents is not so strange. In the past it might have been shocking to hear two students talk back to the principal, but as Japan has grown economically and branched out globally, the individuality and autonomy of its citizens has increased as well. No longer is everyone going to obey without question the rules set forth for them. At some point, everyone must make a stand for what they believe in and what they want, and in the case of the anime Kare Kano, the battle is fought on a student's desire to live for something besides school. Not that school or studying is completely given up by Arima and Yukino. On the contrary, after winning the battle with the principal they both apologize to the principal for their rudeness and promise to study harder. The principal tells them that he was actually happy to see students that knew so well what they wanted, even if it was at odds with what he wanted for them, at least they knew their own minds unlike many of their schoolmates. After this Arima and Yukino strike a balance between studying, seeing one another, and their many extra-curricular responsibilities. The main point in this story line was, I think, to portray high school life as it involves both educational and social aspects, and the moral would be then that both should be seen as equally important in the growth of an individual. High school is a major time in the life of a Japanese youth, because in it they are discovering who they are. After they graduate high school, college life is very easy and seen by most people as a vacation before one enters the real working world. And then once one enters the "real" world, life becomes very set in the working day. Yukino's father even says in Kare Kano that "One day in high school is more important than one year afterwards.


The focus on the youth of Japan in these two shows that I have described is also an important one, because they are seen as the future and the process of their growth vital to the nation. If the children are supposed to eventually raise the value of the nation in a global setting, or even just to increase the standing of a city or prefecture, they must have the best morals ingrained in them from childhood onwards. Education in schools is mandatory, but their education after school through things such as anime are also of increasing importance. That is why such shows as this provide a real-life glimpse at the mechanics behind education. One way of viewing the trend in anime for school dramas is to consider the makers as attempting to round out the scholarly education of the next generation by constantly presenting them with images of learning.




Shotaro, Takahashi. "Chaos in Elementary Classrooms." Japan Quarterly. ed. Matsumoto Toshimichi. April-June 1999. pp. 78-82.