Japanese primary schools... Oops! Universities.

Hello ! 

I recently had to write a small report for my German university about my impressions of Japan and the experiences I made there. Now calm down! I didn't mention anything about my 'cultural' experiences in Butterfly club - I just had to talk about my impressions of Kyoto university. Allow me to reformulate the politically-correct crap I wrote and let me unleash my hatred for this stupid elitist cast-making entity commonly refered to as 'the Japanese education system'. 

Having spent just a few months in Japan is too short to be able to catch the wholeness of the Japanese culture and way of living. There are things that you'll just never get (like why the hell do the taxi drivers wear stupid white gloves?) - and things that you can easily decipher, using the power of logics. Fortunately - otherwise you wouldn't be able to read this post (get a life, by the way), I was able to resolve the following question:   

why the f***do a lot of Japanese students sleep during class? 

Basically, you have a normal lecture hall designed for 100 people (which is never full) and you'll find at least 2 or 3 students sleeping. You'll say it's not much - I'll say f*** off. I mean there are constantly 2 or 3 students sleeping like shit, anytime of the day, in any class. As if they don't have energy, or motivation to study. Kind of weird, as their parents have to pay the (f++++ expensive) tuition fees (2800€ per semester BIATCH). It's as if they don't care about studying itself - it's paid, they'll get the degree somehow, the grades don't seem to matter much. Is that so? 

I tried to look deeper in the subject, talked about it with expats and Japanese friends. You surely heard that, like in China, poor Japanese school kids are encouraged to (read: forced to/threatened if they don't/beaten up and left dead unless they don't) study hard during high school, to get good grades and enter a prestigious university. Besides making their parents proud - which is nice for them, as they probably didn't have any source of happiness or pleasure since for ever - it will ensure the good students a great life after graduation: they will get hired in a big company, get a free training and become a rich salaryman (read: an emotionless robot doing what it's been told without thinking). Because big firms like people who graduated from famous universities. And working in a big company is basically everybody's dream. 

Isn't this picture perfect? It's so well organised and put out together. First you study hard in high school, then you get to relax during university times; then you graduate in slavic cultures and history of art but get hired to analyse the financial aspect of that new contract Honda just signed with Exxon. How logical! Wait... Wtf? Doesn't seem that logical after all. How about people care less about the university of the degree, and care more about the degree of the university? It's not complicated. You just have to invert 2 words. 

Ok, I understand that the field of your studies sometimes doesn't relate to your future career, that you can take a different path... 

But what if universities were meant to be a place of shared knowledge, a place where you could learn important skills for your future life. Like communication, logics, organisation, leadership... And not a daycare center for post-pubescent Japanese. 

You heard me. University time in Japan is basically seen as 4 years of holidays. Those 4 years are granted each students as a reward for working out so hard to enter university, and as a compensation for the lifetime sacrifice they will be making to their future employer: after they get hired, they'll only get one week of holidays per year, plus a few extras here and there. Oh, and they will be morally obliged to stay out late in the office for no real reason. So let's be nice and let them enjoy their careless holidays, where they meet friends, life-lasting partner and make connections important for their future career. 

How about learning a new language or learning how to think and express oneself logically? Sorry, that's not on the plan. 

So, that's why students sleep during class: because they are spoiled little brats who don't give a s*** about learning potential new stuff, knowing their future is already secured (read: will be as boring as hell). Mind you, I make fun of the poor students, but I should also blame the Universities which, knowing their position of 'elites' and enjoying every second of it, won't do much to change that - we don't want those students to know how to think! We don't want to teach them new stuff - we want them to know how to quietly obey the rules. Good girl, good boy!  

Because if they changed the system... It would mean the students would have more knowledge, a better organisation, a sense of fairness... They might start to claim more things, or worse.... be independent. And we don't want that, do we? 

I saw an add on TV one day about the Kyoto University. It said something like that:

"Welcome to the Kyoto University, 2nd best in Japan. Our facilities include some irrelevant research offices and a few faculties, all teenager-proof. Our children-friendly staff is fully trained and is looking forward to assisting your progeny in their daily-life struggles - how to fill a form, where to find and how to use the toilets, how to cure a hangover or a tough breakup. Their well-being and healthy development is our priority number 1 and and we will make sure that no part of their brain will be sollicitated during their stay at Kyoto University. 

Kyoto University. Care takers since 1897. Fees from 50 000¥ a year."