Kakinoki James

Schools in Japan are set up fairly differently from those in the US.
In Japan:
* Students must wear school uniforms.
* Jr. High students all seem to be a member of some club, usually a sports team.
* In Japan elementary school is for 6 years, jr. highs are for 3 years and high schools are for 3 years.
* All students help clean the school every day. There are no janitors.
* In most schools, students eat in their classrooms.
* Lunch is for 30 mins.
* All students eat the school lunch. There are no choices to make; everyone (including the teachers) just eats the 1 set menu. School lunches usually are comprised of 200 ml of milk, bread or a bowl of rice, some sort of salad, the main course, and sometimes a desert such as a piece of fruit or some jello.
* After lunch (at least in elementary and jr. high schools) students have 30 mins. of free time.
* Elementary school through jr. high it is almost impossible for students to be held back a school year no matter how poorly they do.
* High school is NOT mandatory.
* Students can choose which high school they want to attend, but they MUST pass the school's entrance exam. Every school has a different test, so students that want to go to high school usually take the entrance exams for several schools. Each exam is a 3+ hour long test.
* It is very hard for a student to be suspended from school and I haven't even heard of in school suspension here.
* Japanese teachers usually visit their student's homes at least once a year to see what kind of environment they go home to.
* In all 4 schools I work at, there is a stage in the gym, there are no seats for spectators on the 1st floor of the gym but there is a sort of balcony around the gym where people can stand and look down own the gym, the school teacher's room/office is just to the left of the main entrance, the vice-principal is in charge of the teacher's room/office, the principal has his/her own office.