Photo of the Week #10

This is Osaka Castle. It was originally built in 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was completed
in 1597, however Hideyoshi died the following year.

Interview with a Japanese Student

Hi everyone!

Last week, I interviewed a Japanese student named Minori, who is 11 years old, about the same age as you all. I wanted to know a bit more about how school in Japan works, as well as ask about her interests to see what Japanese kids do for fun, and how it compares to what American kids do. Her dad, Eiji, also helped to clarify some parts that I didn't fully understand, as well as give some context for some of Minori's answers.

So, here's how the interview went! The actual interview went too long for me to write out in one post so I had to cut it down a bit, but if you have anything you want to ask about how it went, please let me know in the comments!

A middle school in Japan. Many schools have three floors, with one floor for
each grade.

Quin: So, these questions will be regarding the theme of "School in Japan". To start off with, how many students go to your school?

Minori: One thousand fifty nine.

Eiji: From first grade to sixth grade, there's about one thousand...?

Minori: Yeah.

Eiji: About one thousand and fifty students, yeah.

Q: I see.

M: It's the biggest school in Kyoto.

E: Right, that's actually somewhat rare to have that many. However, the area that we live in has an unusually high amount of kids. For instance, if it was a school where you're living in Shimogyo-ku, it would probably be a lot less, like around 500 or 300 students, but where we live, there's a lot of students.

Q: I get it. I think 300-500 students is pretty normal in America, too.

Another example of a school, this time an elementary school. In Japan, elementary
school lasts all the way until sixth grade, but high school only lasts for three years.

Q: How many classes do you have in one day?

M: Six periods, or five periods.

E: How long is one period?

M: Forty-five minutes.

Q: Got it. Could you tell me what your schedule is like? Starting in the morning, how does your day go?

E: So a timetable, right?

Q: Yes, that's right.

E: Could you give an example of what an American elementary school schedule is like?

Q: Usually, in the morning, there's some kind of subject, like science or math.

E: Isn't there usually a homeroom class first? For about fifteen minutes or so?

Q: There's some schools that do that, and some that don't, I think. At my elementary school, we started a subject right as school began.

E: Ah, I see. In Japan, the subjects that students study are...let's see, Japanese...

M: (in English) Japanese!

Q: (laugh) That's right!

E: So, Japanese...

M: Math, Social Studies, Science, Kagayaki...

E: Right, Kagayaki is a little bit difficult to explain, isn't it. It's about working together, or providing a general experience for what life has to offer, through things like volunteering.

M: Also Music, Art...

E: Like making pictures, and things like that.

M: There's also Health class.

E: Right. You know about PE class, right?

Q: Yes, I do.

E: Health class is more about keeping the body healthy and how the body changes as kids grow older.

M: Also...

E: What do you have for class tomorrow? English?

M: Right, English! I have that twice a week.

E: But you do mostly like singing and dancing in English, right?

M: Right now we're researching a country, and giving an introduction to that country in English.

E: You can do that much? I thought you could only do about a personal introduction!

Q: That's really impressive!

M: We get some templates, like (in English) "You can see..." and that sort of thing, and then we fill in the blanks.

E: That seems pretty interesting. Also, you have Ethics, right?

M: Yes, and also club activities.

E: Then, if there's time for Kagayaki, people will present a project, or something along those lines.

A Japanese class learning English phrases. See if you can learn how to say the
Japanese counterpart!

Q: So, about how long does a school day last?

E: Like how so?

Q: Like, when does class start in the morning?

M: I usually get to school at 8:00 AM.

E: And why do you get there so early?

M: So I can play dodgeball.

E: And then, before class starts, you usually read a book, right?

M: Yeah, for about 15-20 minutes.

E: And it's not required, just whoever wants to read can read whatever they want, even a manga or something?

M: No, it has to be some sort of school-related book, and it's required. Manga is fine, if it's a manga the school has picked out for students to read that they can learn something from.

E: And then homeroom, right?

M: Uh huh.

E: So the teacher will outline the schedule for the day, go over any announcements or warnings for students if, for instance, there's a strange person hanging around outside the school, and then regular classes will start.

An example of an educational manga. This one is titled
"Japanese History for Beginners"

M: And then there's the Health Observation...

E: What's that? That wasn't around at all when Dad was a kid.

M: It's like, everyone is called by name, and if you're healthy, you say "Feeling good!" or something like that.

E: Ah, so for instance if you're sick, you'd say something like "I have the flu".

M: People with the flu don't come to school, though.

E: That's true, I suppose they wouldn't.

M: So if you have a cough or something, you cough or sniff when they call you.

E: Minori, how are you today?

M: Feeling good.

E: So the teacher takes attendance like that, and then the class starts. Classes are about...?

M: 45 minutes, and they start at 9:00. After the first period ends, there's only a five minute break, so only enough time for a cup of tea or to go to the bathroom. Then after the second period, the first break starts, and goes about 25 minutes. Then third period, five minute break, fourth period, and then it's time for lunch.

E: So people start lunch together, right?

M: Yeah, everyone eats together until the bell rings forty minutes after lunch starts, and then the break starts. We can do whatever we want for twenty minutes during the break.

E: Then what?

M: Then we do some cleaning until the fifth period starts, then five minute break, then sixth period, then there's another homeroom for fifteen minutes at the end of the day.

E: The teacher will say things like "Today we did this", "These kids were bad kids today", and "Please be careful" before sending you home, right?

M: Uh huh. And then we can play dodgeball, but I usually go home right after class ends.

A group of Japanese students playing dodgeball. However, games are not always
this organized.

Q: Isn't it usually that all classes are taught in the same room in Japanese schools?

M: It's the same room for most classes, but Music and Science are in different classrooms because they need other teachers to teach it.

E: And so then all the other classes are taught by the homeroom teacher, right?

M: Yeah. Except for PE, which is at the sports stadium.

Q: What's your favorite class, then?

M: Calligraphy!

E: So writing characters elegantly, and that sort of thing. It's about once a week, right?

M: Not that often, more like once a month.

E: In Japan, we prepare a special paper for writing characters and practice calligraphy about once a month...

M: Once or twice.

E: Right. There's not anything like that in America, is there?

Q: Well, when I was in elementary school, we practiced cursive, where we write like this (mimes writing in cursive).

E: Ah, I see.

Q: But I'm not sure if it's still taught in schools, since it's not used much anymore. About forty years or so ago, people would use cursive almost exclusively after graduating from high school and entering college, but nowadays most people just print their words in regular writing.

This example of Japanese calligraphy shows many of the different strokes that kanji
are comprised of. This particular character, ei, can mean "eternity" or "lengthy".

E: So, other than your favorite, what are some of the other favorite classes among students?

M: Social Studies and Japanese. A lot of people think Science and Math aren't that interesting.

E: How about in America?

Q: I think a lot of people's favorite class is PE.

E: Do you like PE?

M: Yep!

Q: Do you get homework every day?

M: I do.

Q: About how long does it take?

M: Usually about twenty minutes. But there's a lot of students that don't do their homework.

E: About how many percent of students come to school without their homework done?

M: Probably about 30%.

E: That high!? What a bunch of bad kids, huh...


At the end of the interview, I asked the two if there was anything they were curious about in regards to American schools. Minori didn't have any questions, but Eiji was curious about a couple things. These are his questions, so please post your answers in the comments!

What do American kids so after school? Do they all play together somewhere, or do they play video games at home?

What's a popular organized activity in America that parents have their children do? (i.e. sports, playing an instrument, painting, etc.)

Do American elementary school students do drama classes?

Are first-generation Americans able to assimilate to the culture well and succeed in school?


This is my final post for this blog. It's been a lot of fun for me to find topics that I thought would be interesting, and to see all the feedback and answer the questions that you all have had over the term. I hope that you guys also had fun reading my blog, and while I'm sad to end the blog here, I'm glad I was able to share this experience with you all!

For now, though,

さよなら！(Goodbye!)

Photo of the Week #9

Two  students of Kyoto University with signs inviting people to go to the haunted house. Most of the signs were similar to this, being made with simple cardboard and colored markers.

Kyoto University Festival!

Hi everyone!

Last week, I was invited to go to the November Festival at Kyoto University, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce you all to some not-so-well-known aspects of Japanese university culture! So, let's get started!

Circles （サークル）

One of the circles in Doshisha University. This group is one of the tennis circles.

Before we get into the details of the festival, I thought it would be important to teach you about "circles" in Japan. A "circle" is similar to a club or a group, and will usually meet once or twice a week to hang out together. If a circle is a sports-oriented circle, however, these meetings will usually be to practice whatever sport the circle is for. There are many different types of sports circles, which range from the aforementioned tennis circles to archery circles to karate circles. However, other types of circles, such as debate circles, English conversation practice circles, and circles that just meet up together and watch Disney movies, are also common. Some are more serious than others (many tennis circles are less for tennis and more to meet people), but in general the people that you meet and spend time with in your circle will become your friends through college and beyond. The reason that I wanted to bring up circles and explain them to you is because every part of the festival in Kyoto University was run by the university's different circles, from the announcements to the games to the festival stands. Speaking of...

Stands （売店）

An example of one of the stands at the festival. This particular stand sold chocolate-
filled mushrooms and a sweet egg dish known as maki.

At the festival, there were dozens and dozens of stands all selling different things. Most stands, like the one in the picture, sold some sort of food, but what kind of food was served was different between every stand. Some sold ramen or dishes that could be a full meal, while others sold sweets or small helpings of chicken or beef over rice. There were also stands that sold souvenirs or small handmade jewelry, but those were a lot more rare. The reason that there were so many stands and such a wide variety was that every stand was run by one of Kyoto University's circles. The members of the circles would open stands to either fundraise and support circle activities, to show off what the people in the circle could do and hopefully gain new membership, or both. Many of the people running the stands would call out to me to get me to go to them or would have a person standing in front of the stand trying to snag customers. That was fun at first, but after I'd had lunch and didn't really have any reason to go to the stands anymore got a little annoying, so if someone talked to me I'd give them a big smile and wave at them while pretending I couldn't understand Japanese to make them go away.

Performances （パフォーマンス）

A group of some of the performers from this year's festival.
About half the people in the dresses and skirts are actually guys.

Another large attraction of the festival was the groups of performers that would take the stage and put on a show. There was a large concert-style stage that was brought in to facilitate this, as well as a more informal area towards the middle of the festival area. The people that performed on the stage were for the most part well-practiced and professional groups that would sing songs and dance for the spectators. Many of the people did so in the "idol" style of performance, where a group (usually consisting of women) will rehearse a dance routine and sing a song (think late 90s-early 2000s boy band style concerts, but with more skirts). The people at the more informal area did more of a variety show, where instead of singing and dancing people showed off their jump rope skills and did short comedy routines. One of the most interesting groups was one that put on a magic show. It was a new experience for me, because at every other magic show I've been to there has been someone heckling the magician from the audience, but this time I got to see a full performance without unwanted audience participation. Like with the food stands, all the different performances were put on by members of the various circles.

Festival Games（祭の試合）

The archery game from the festival. The cost was 300 yen,
and I won a pair of plastic sunglasses worth 100 yen, but
the feeling of victory made up for any loss.

Another of the attractions at the festival were the different contests that some of the circles had set up. Generally, these attractions were put on by some of the more serious sports circles, and the game tended to match what the circle was for. For instance, the archery circle had a shooting contest, shown in the picture above, the baseball team had a speed pitching contest where the fastest pitcher won a prize, and so on. There were also some games that resemble American festival games, like a game where you tried to scoop up the most superballs out of a pool of water, a target shooting game, and a game where you take big chunks of tofu and throw them at a guy with his face exposed in a cardboard cutout. Many of these were also fun to just watch, especially the tofu one.

Haunted House （お化け屋敷）

The circle in charge of the haunted house kept people from taking any pictures
of the inside, but they left a bulletin board where people who went through it
could leave comments on it like "Fun!" "Scary!" and "Quin left me behind!"

The place that I had the most fun at was the haunted house that the swimming circle had set up. In Japan, there are haunted houses that are similar to the ones that we have in America around Halloween, but most of the ones in Japan are open year-round. The one at the festival was a sort of maze-like course that was set up in an emptied-out lecture room, with cardboard lining the walls of the maze. Oh - and all the lights were turned out, making the room pitch-black. To help people get through the maze, the circle had some of their members guide visitors through the room, with only a tiny bit of light from a small glow-stick to follow. As you go through the maze, the guide narrated the stories of the various ghosts of the maze, who, would jump out of nowhere and join in on their story, trying to spook you. Many of the costumes weren't particularly scary, but the sudden appearance of the specters (circle members in costumes) would be enough to spook people going through the maze. There were many twists, turns, tunnels, and one section that reenacted the scene from the movie The Ring where the girl crawls out of the television screen and chases you, so I had a great time there. I recommend trying a Japanese haunted house if you ever have the chance; they're really fun.

A painting from the festival that says "Kyoto University is interesting."

That's all for this week, but I have a quick announcement to make. Next week's blog post will be an interview with a Japanese student that is about the same age as all of you! So, if you have any questions that you want to ask them about living in Japan, Japanese middle school, or just what their favorite color is, please comment to this post and I'll ask your question when I do my interview with them! I'll be asking some questions of my own, but I really want most of this interview to be from questions that you all have, so please be sure to give me a lot to ask!

Until next week,

またね！(See you soon!)

Photo of the Week #8

One of my favorite restaurants in Japan, named Ichijyoji Boogie. They serve excellent
ramen and soba (another type of noodle), and they specialize in spicy foods.

Food in Japan

Hi everyone!

It's finally time - today the subject is going to be all about food in Japan! I'm going to go over some of the most common dishes you can find here, and some of the varieties they can come in!

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き)

Okonomiyaki, topped with mayonnaise and seaweed

Okonomiyaki is a sort of Japanese-style pancake. It is commonly found in Osaka and the Kansai area of Japan, which is a little bit south of Kyoto. Okonomiyaki is usually made with ground flour, eggs, and cabbage as the main ingredients, and often contains some sort of meat to help accentuate the flavor, such as pork belly or shrimp. Due to the influence of the nearby Kansai region, there are a lot of okonomiyaki shops in Kyoto, but my favorites are the ones where you can make your own. These shops provide a large skillet built into the table in front of you while you eat, where you can cook the okonomiyaki much like you would cook a pancake or an omelet. When it's done, you top it off with a large helping of savory sauce and mayonnaise, making it look like a sort of strange pizza. Many Japanese shops lean into this look, and advertise their okonomiyaki as "Japanese Pizza". One of the bigger problems I have in Japan is finding food that has enough calories to keep me from getting hungry again later in the day, but if I eat a nice big okonomiyaki, I certainly don't have to worry about not eating enough.

Bento Boxes (弁当)

A somewhat prettier-than-usual bento box. They're usually a lot smaller.

One of the most common lunches for people to have in Japan is what is known as a bento box. Many bento boxes are homemade, but it's also common for people to go out to a 7/11 or similar convenience store and pick up a pre-made one since they're fairly cheap (almost never more than 500 yen, or a little less than $5) and decently nutritious. Most bentos contain a form of protein, such as meat or eggs, some vegetables, rice, and sometimes flavorings such as soy sauce or wasabi. Homemade ones often have a little extra, such as more meat, some sushi, an onigiri (rice ball), or something of that sort. Some people take a lot of pride in making their bento boxes very neat and appetizing, with lots of fun colors, shaping the rice into a heart, and writing messages with sauce onto the main dish. However, don't expect that sort of treatment if you buy a convenience store bento.

Yakitori (焼き鳥)

Some different types of yakitori. Of all the foods I've seen in Japan, yakitori
has the most varieties.

Yakitori is very similar to what we in America call "kebabs". It's a very common food in Japan, and can be found at almost any restaurant that serves Japanese food, making it a safe food to fall back on if you haven't tried anything else on the menu yet. It comes in way too many variations to list here, but the types that I have eaten include chicken, steak, vegetable, shrimp, prawn, beef entrails, chicken heart, pineapple, and many more. There is even a restaurant near my dorm that sells 10 mystery yakitori, where the cooks will give you a completely random assortment of yakitori and leave you to it. Most yakitori is marinated in some sort of teriyaki sauce, but it's usually not a meal by itself, since it tends to be just meat with some cooked vegetables. It's a good idea to get some tofu, edamame, or salad to make sure that you have a balanced meal.

Sushi (寿司)

A sushi board that gives an insight into the vast amount of types of sushi available in Japan.

Sushi is one of the most iconic Japanese foods, and with good reason. The base of sushi is generally  a small amount of rice rolled into a ball, but once that is made, there are a wide variety of ingredients that can be used to make it. A common ingredient is seaweed, which is used to wrap the rolled up rice and to give it some flavor. Many types of sushi also include seafood, most of which is served raw. Raw fish, shrimp, or other seafood is very common in Japan, and can sometimes be served by itself in a dish known as sashimi. Most sushi also includes pickled vegetables, and is served primarily with soy sauce and wasabi to give it a bit of an extra kick. For a long time, I refused to eat sushi after I had a bad experience with it when I was two years old and thought it was cake, but I've since come around to liking it a lot more. Since sushi is a little more difficult to make, not as many restaurants serve sushi as ones that serve yakitori, so if you want to find sushi while you're in Japan, it's best to search for a place known for selling it.

Ramen (ラーメン)

An example of Japanese ramen. This particular kind is known as Kararamen, or
spicy ramen (I like spicy foods)

If someone mentions Japanese food, the first thing that comes to my mind has to be ramen. For a long time, I had thought that ramen was a food that only starving college students ate, and always came in a Styrofoam cup filled with dry noodles and freeze-dried veggies. Top Ramen especially stood out to me as a food where I wondered why anyone would ever eat, until I started paying for my own food and realized it was 39 cents per bag. However, while that sort of ramen got me through the first couple years of college, it pales in comparison to the real thing. Ramen is taken to an art form in Japan, with restaurants of all shapes and sizes putting their own spin on noodles, vegetables, and meat slices in a hot broth. Anything and everything can change from restaurant to restaurant, from noodle width to amount of meat to types of vegetables used in the dish to spiciness, the combinations and varieties are unique no matter where you go. Additionally, in Japan there aren't any set manners against how loudly you eat ramen, which made me very surprised when the middle-aged man in a suit sitting next to me in my first ramen store started slurping up his noodles like a three-year-old trying spaghetti for the first time.

Japan's food is probably the most well-known and widespread aspect of their culture. Even if you don't know much about Japan's history or its landscapes, there's a good chance that you're familiar in some way with Japanese food. This week's blog was a lot of fun for me to write, and I'm excited to keep writing these up for you all!

Until next time,

またね！(See you soon!)

Photo of the Week #7

The road next to the old Imperial Palace in Kyoto. Traditionally, gravel roads were
used to make it harder for assassins to sneak into the palace grounds.