{"id":3358,"date":"2025-01-23T14:06:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=3358"},"modified":"2025-01-23T14:06:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:06:03","slug":"opinion-what-a-school-performance-shows-us-about-japanese-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=3358","title":{"rendered":"Opinion | What a School Performance Shows Us About Japanese Education"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Update: This documentary short is <\/em>nominated<\/em> for the 97th Academy Awards.<\/em><\/p>\n

What makes Japanese people distinctively Japanese? For me, the key lies in what we are taught during our elementary school years.<\/p>\n

Children as young as 6 are given the responsibility to clean their own classrooms and serve one another lunch. Schools are structured like mini societies, where everyone has a role and is expected to contribute to the community. There\u2019s a strong focus on nonacademic education intended to teach teamwork, work ethic and a sense of accomplishment.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Japan as the child of a Japanese mother and a British father, I struggled with my identity. It was only years later when I was living abroad that I came to appreciate the values and work ethic instilled in me by my elementary school education; they are so normalized in Japan that their worth is underappreciated. These traits also contribute to why Japanese society works the way it does: Our trains run on time because we are taught to prioritize harmony and consideration for others; on the other hand, we live under a collective pressure to conform and not bring shame upon our community.<\/p>\n

In the short documentary above, \u201cInstruments of a Beating Heart,\u201d filmed in 2022, first graders at a Tokyo public school are presented with a challenge for their final semester: to form an orchestra and perform at a school ceremony. As the children are taught to \u201cmake your hearts as one\u201d and rigorously rehearse, we see both the pressures and the wonders of being held responsible to a group. The character-building traditions in Japanese education are experienced through Ayame, who, in the face of newfound challenges, learns to be resilient. I believe the experience of overcoming obstacles, as Ayame does, is crucial to education. But where should the balance lie between discipline and freedom?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n