Category Archives: Mirai 1-065

03 JS 007 Schools, KD 5-064 学校, Mirai 1-065, Obentō 02-032

学　校 gakkō school

22/03/2012 lamihome Leave a comment

03 JS 007 Schools, Education, KD 2-080 School Uniform, Mirai 1-065, Obentō 02-100

Girls’ school uniform

14/03/2012 lamihome Leave a comment

02 ED 054 Food in Japan, 03 JS 027 Lunch, 109 Hiragana Food, 203a Likes, 203b Dislikes, KD 3-100 Lunch, Mirai 1-065, Mirai 1-087, Mirai 2-124, Nori, Obentō 01-091, Seaweed

School lunches 給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

24/01/2012 lamihome Leave a comment

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

In Japan school lunches are provided and compulsory for students, so each child will have had a healthy lunch every day. This practice is instilled from the earliest Primary School years.

Every day the menu changes, so over a long period of time students get a balanced diet. It also curbs the annoying desire of children to express the “I don’t like this” and “I don’t like that” and “I don’t eat that”. Mind you, not as annoying as parents who decide for their children that they don’t like something! Unless there is a sound medical reason, they all eat it. Annoying too when you think about the fact that one billion people in the world experience hunger at some stage during the day… OK… Let’s move on:

These photos will give you an idea of what Japanese school lunches look like:

High in iron, protein, omega; rice, soup, milk, seaweed,
salmon, fruit, spinach, pickles. Notice: no sugar!

げつようびのきゅうしょく

getsuyōbi no kyūshoku

Monday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

Cheese, rice, kimchee (originally Korean), quail eggs, soup, milk. Notice: no sugar!

かようびのきゅうしょく

kayōbi no kyūshoku

Tuesday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

すいようびのきゅうしょく

suiyōbi no kyūshoku

Wednesday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

Have you noticed that every day the students have soup of some sort? That’s because research has shown that soup is easier to break down in the stomach and it does so more slowly. Students won’t feel so hungry so soon. Again: no added sugar! How great is that for children!

もくようびのきゅうしょく

mokuyōbi no kyūshoku

Thursday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

きんようびのきゅうしょく

kinyōbi no kyūshoku

Friday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

We’ll just start on another week’s lunch:

げつようびのきゅうしょく

getsuyōbi no kyūshoku

Monday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

かようびのきゅうしょく

kayōbi no kyūshoku

Tuesday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

すいようびのきゅうしょく

suiyōbi no kyūshoku

Wednesday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

Do we see some repetition here?

もくようびのきゅうしょく

mokuyōbi no kyūshoku

Thursday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

That’s a boiled egg on the left there – all prepacked.

きんようびのきゅうしょく

kinyōbi no kyūshoku

Friday’s school lunch

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

So there you have it: two weeks of school lunches in a Japanese primary school. All lunches have some rice prepared in a slightly different way. They all have a soup of some sort to help with the digestion. They all have an extra carton of milk. They all have some meat or fish to supplement. They all have some vegetables and pickles and it all fits on an easy tray to make distribution in class easy.

いただきます！

itadakimasu!

Enjoy your meal!

給食　きゅうしょく　kyūshoku

The photos were provided by S. Lowry, Japan. We are most grateful for his efforts.

03 JS 007 Schools, Education, KD 5-094 School Life, Mirai 1-065, Obentō 02-032

School Grounds 学校のグランド　がっこうのぐらんど

26/05/2011 lamihome Leave a comment

109 Hiragana School, Education, KD 5-094 School Life, Mirai 1-065, Obentō 01-014, Obentō 02-100

School Shoes　上履き　うわばき uwabaki　and school entrance　玄関　げんかん genkan

26/05/2011 lamihome Leave a comment

school shoes　上履き　うわばき uwabaki

school shoes　上履き　うわばき uwabaki

school shoes　上履き　うわばき uwabaki

school shoes　上履き　うわばき uwabaki

school shoes　上履き　うわばき uwabaki

school entrance　玄関　げんかん genkan

school entrance　玄関　げんかん genkan

　

school entrance　玄関　げんかん genkan

school entrance　玄関　げんかん genkan

school shoes　上履き　うわばき uwabaki

03 JS 013 Classroom, Education, KD 1-065 Japanese Classroom, Mirai 1-065, Mirai 1-109, Obentō 01-091, Obentō 02-027

204 Inside a Japanese classroom 教室の中　きょうしつのなか

26/05/2011 lamihome Leave a comment

Typical of a Japanese classroom is that the students face the blackboard (actually in Japan often the green-board) and that the teacher stands in front of the class. Also, notice in this photo: no uniform!

Most commonly students sit in single file.

This arrangement is acceptable only during lunch, but as soon as the gong goes, all desks are put in line again. Lots of smiley faces! Boys on the right, girls on the left. (That is more because of teenage ‘angst’, rather than a rule). The girls have their hands together, because they are waiting to say ‘いただきます。‘ itadakimasu, which means ‘for what we are about to receive…’　The boys on the right are totally distracted by the camera. The teacher seems to be waiting too.

Hey! Wait a minute… no uniform!

Uh, oh, a “wandering desk”.

Watch that good old chalk!
(The little bright green box in the front on the
left-hand side is a little dust vacuum cleaner!)

This is what it looks like:

It took Panasonic to think of it.

Green board, but no single file… Modern. Air-conditioning. Wow!

Thank goodness! Single file again!
You bring your bag to class. Periods are 50 minutes long.

International students “integrate” in a different way.
And back to single file again…

Materials are reasonably up to date, although everything is “set” by the Ministry of Education.

International teachers are brought into many schools. However, they tend to work more as talking tape-recorders. Many schools are trying to vary this approach, but the Ministry prefers to be cautious. Of course, it can be a problem, if you don’t speak enough Japanese to explain English…

Aaahh, back to green-board and single file.

The two biggest shocks in a Japanese classroom for international students are that there can be up to 45 students in one class, so personal contact is absolutely minimal, and that the students sit in the hiragana-order (like alphabetically). Only a medical reason will get you shifted to the front. No personal whingeing about wanting to sit next to your friend!

As a postscript:

There is one thing that needs to be said though: Japanese students have to work very hard. Yes, some students opt out, but the vast(est?) majority works very hard. Add to that an uncomfortable uniform, no air-conditioning in summer and lots of home work, travelling time, cram school for many; it sure is no fun.

And this is the interesting thing we observed: there were so many kids who were so happy! Yes, they were serious when they worked, but they also had fun and their personality shone through! Maybe the difference comes from the fact that they have to work and they accept that fate, whereas our students feel too often that the world owes them a living. Maybe that is too harsh. Have we been lowering the resilience threshold? Maybe. Japanese students have to work very hard and they do it very well. You be the judge.