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Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#171

Post by blackearl »

moufestaphio wrote: post #149
thrower123 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What racism is there to fight in Japan? Are you sure you aren't just pulling stock arguments out here?

It's not exactly a secret. Japan is super racist. They outright will often refuse services to foreigners/non-ethnic Japanese. Here's a quick few results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan#Ethnic_... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2123539/no-c... https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Japan-Update/No-forei...

Right, but why would Japanese children be refusing to go to school because of racism toward non-Japanese?

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#172

Post by giggles_giggles »

claudeganon wrote: post #151
moufestaphio wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not exactly a secret. Japan is super racist. They outright will often refuse services to foreigners/non-ethnic Japanese. Here's a quick few results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan#Ethnic_... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2123539/no-c... https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Japan-Update/No-forei...

Not only that, but it’s all more or less entirely legal. There’s very little in the way of civil rights protections like there are in the US, and what does exist is subject to the large, conservative leaning power of the judiciary.

EDITED

Getting downvoted for asking an honest question and trying to understand something..

I wish I could delete my account because I have an impulse control disorder and sometimes I accidentally antagonize the hivemind and then feel bad all day, but I can't, because Hacker News doesn't give me the power to do that, so I keep logging in for some reason. Neat!

Could someone please ban me? Delete my comments? Please?

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#173

Post by Iv »

blackearl wrote: post #171
moufestaphio wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not exactly a secret. Japan is super racist. They outright will often refuse services to foreigners/non-ethnic Japanese. Here's a quick few results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan#Ethnic_... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2123539/no-c... https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Japan-Update/No-forei...

Right, but why would Japanese children be refusing to go to school because of racism toward non-Japanese?

In the two cases I know, because they are black Japanese (one parent Japanese, one African) and that it just breaks the mind of both students and teachers that you can be Japanese without being 100% ethnic Japanese.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#174

Post by Iv »

thrower123 wrote: post #131
Iv wrote: post #113

"As the numbers keep rising, people are asking if it's a reflection of the school system, rather than a problem with the pupils themselves." Got some first hand experience here. Hard to not be a bit sarcastic. Geeze, I don't know... Is it that the students of Japan are suddenly becoming stubborn (or "weak") or is it that a system that: - does not fight bullying - does not fight racism - does not allow students any fr…

What racism is there to fight in Japan? Are you sure you aren't just pulling stock arguments out here?

That's the interesting thing. As a white man, I thought "Oh, they are actually kind to foreigners!" and then I helped raise a black kid in Japan.

I remember a guy who helped us install in the village when we moved to the countryside. He had lived in the US for a while and told us "That's nice to have foreigners! I love foreigners! Especially white ones!"

Yeah, as a white guy, you dont get to experience much racism, doesnt mean it is not there.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#175

Post by mdorazio »

microcolonel wrote: post #146
Iv wrote: post #113

"As the numbers keep rising, people are asking if it's a reflection of the school system, rather than a problem with the pupils themselves." Got some first hand experience here. Hard to not be a bit sarcastic. Geeze, I don't know... Is it that the students of Japan are suddenly becoming stubborn (or "weak") or is it that a system that: - does not fight bullying - does not fight racism - does not allow students any fr…

> does not allow students any free time for any hobby I don't know about you, but Japanese people who grew up in Japan, in my experience, are the most likely of anyone I've ever known to have active hobbies that they picked up during middle or high school. I don't know of any nationality or ethnic group I'd associate more with having active school-age hobbies. > does not fight racism That may be a problem for those w…

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with your first point entirely unless you have some stats for it. My personal experience has been that Japanese people 1) are no more likely than others to have active hobbies, and 2) largely do not pick up long-term hobbies until college or later in life because their younger years were overburdened with schoolwork.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#176

Post by rusabd »

sytelus wrote: post #165
oddity wrote: post #5

If you're a kid and do the cost/benefit analysis, going to school looks like a dumb decision and a huge opportunity cost for time that could otherwise be used for things with known reward (playing). Bullying, exams, homework, sleep disruption, etc is all cost. What does the student believe they get they out of it? The pathway from school to job is nebulous to young kids who don't yet need money to live. As kids get o…

I would not recommend home schooling unless you are trained, certified and experienced as teacher. For one thing, kids will miss out on social interactions that I feel are the 50% of the learning experience. When you have 20 kids class you start to develop notions of how different people are, how they think, behave and share. Learning to deal with all these is major part of the school system. Other important thing is…

Are you a professional educator? Because you sound like one. Teaching 7 years old divisions is the simplest thing ever. I've done it in the car driving to hockey practice using sharing scenarios. You just need to know what kids interested in and the parents know that the best.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#177

Post by blackearl »

Iv wrote: post #173
blackearl wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but why would Japanese children be refusing to go to school because of racism toward non-Japanese?

In the two cases I know, because they are black Japanese (one parent Japanese, one African) and that it just breaks the mind of both students and teachers that you can be Japanese without being 100% ethnic Japanese.

But again, that has to be such a tiny minority that OP's list sounds made up.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#178

Post by mfoy_ »

blackearl wrote: post #171
moufestaphio wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not exactly a secret. Japan is super racist. They outright will often refuse services to foreigners/non-ethnic Japanese. Here's a quick few results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan#Ethnic_... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2123539/no-c... https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Japan-Update/No-forei...

Right, but why would Japanese children be refusing to go to school because of racism toward non-Japanese?

Or if you're "Japanese" but with Korean heritage... I've heard stories of people who had Korean ancestry and they had a deep terror of anyone ever finding out.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#179

Post by mfoy_ »

Joe-Z wrote: post #142
elhudy wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally, I visited a friend in Hokkaido for a couple weeks and during my time there (as a white non-Japanese speaking person) I was kicked out of two restaurants upon entry for not being Japanese. Racism exists everywhere.

Yes, racism exists. That was not GP‘s point though. The point was that enough kids in Japan are victims of racism that it gets listed as one of the top reasons why so many pupils don‘t want to go to school anymore. I also highly doubt that there are so many non-Japanese kids in local japanese schools that this is a major problem.

Well there certainly won't be so many non-ethnic / non-Japanese kids in local Japanese schools with that attitude.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#180

Post by thrower123 »

moufestaphio wrote: post #149
thrower123 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What racism is there to fight in Japan? Are you sure you aren't just pulling stock arguments out here?

It's not exactly a secret. Japan is super racist. They outright will often refuse services to foreigners/non-ethnic Japanese. Here's a quick few results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_Japan#Ethnic_... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2123539/no-c... https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Japan-Update/No-forei...

Sure, they are ferociously xenophobic, but if everybody is Japanese, and they are racist against non-Japanese, then it's not exactly a significant problem for Japanese students.

I'm somewhat reminded of the little podunk Maine town I grew up in; people were racist as all hell, but there was nobody to be racist to, because the entire county was white-trash WASPs and French-Canadians, and those two groups were so mixed together that nobody could sling a slur without hitting themselves with it.

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