Many Japanese children refuse to go to school • Hacker News Board

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#181

Post by danans » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:04 PM UTC

giggles_giggles wrote: post #172

claudeganon wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

> Why does Japan stand out? Because they are industrialized?

Sure. They should be compared to countries with similar levels of wealth per capita, since that wealth, in theory, should enable them to rise above what you describe in Nigeria.

But that said, what you quoted the Fulani man saying is frequently expressed in Europe or the Anglosphere today, but with the target being a non-Christian religion.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#182

Post by dgzl » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:04 PM UTC

mdorazio wrote: post #175

microcolonel wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I was an exchange student in high school to Japan and I have never seen groups of people more dedicated to both studying and hobbies, especially at the grade-school age.

There are private companies that offer study rooms that HS students rent every weekend. Kendo, soccer, baseball and basketball clubs were really huge at the school I was visiting.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#183

Post by moufestaphio » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:09 PM UTC

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?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin

Or Zainichi Koreans, who are born and raised in Japan (there are a LOT).

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#184

Post by moufestaphio » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:12 PM UTC

mfoy_ wrote: post #178

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?

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.

They're referred to as Zainichi.

After WW2, there was over 1 million Koreans living in Japan. Some went back, some decided to wait due to the war starting.

Then the country they were going back to no longer existed, so they stayed. Many don't even have citizenship.

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/02/news/japanborn-koreans-li...

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#185

Post by doublement » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:19 PM UTC

dgzl wrote: post #182

mdorazio wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I was an exchange student in high school to Japan and I have never seen groups of people more dedicated to both studying and hobbies, especially at the grade-school age. There are private companies that offer study rooms that HS students rent every weekend. Kendo, soccer, baseball and basketball clubs were really huge at the school I was visiting.

The clubs you listed all involve strenuous physical activity... and are clubs. People can pursue them as hobbies, of course, but I think for most people a hobby is something personal, and perhaps pointless, outside of the sound mind/sound body routine.

EDIT: Kinda surprised at the downvotes! Is it really so controversial to consider a club activity less of a "real" hobby than something self-organized?

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#186

Post by moufestaphio » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:20 PM UTC

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?

oh, I just thought of a good example of Hacker news favorite investor: Masayoshi Son.

Notice his last name is Korean? But he was born and raised in Japan.

And here's what he has to say: https://asia.nikkei.com/NAR/Articles/SoftBank-s-Son-stands-u...

Even in his early childhood, he was attacked verbally and physically by Japanese classmates. In kindergarten, he was jeered at for being Korean. Once, another child cut his head open with a stone.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#187

Post by freeflight » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:21 PM UTC

whyBother wrote: post #119

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…

Racism? It's Japan . Whatever racism there could be, it's an extremely small, microscopic particle among the whole of the school system. Even if the incidents are egregious, this is not even among the top twenty reasons that "many" refuse to attend. As far back as the 1980's it was widely reported that Japanese expectations for children's performance and good behavior drive them to mental illness, from the top down,…

> Racism? It's Japan. Whatever racism there could be, it's an extremely small, microscopic particle among the whole of the school system.

Racism and discrimination aren't just reserved to the color of skin, it's often built around whole ancestries of groups and their traditional social standings [0].

For the same reason, the Nazis killed people that were just as white as themselves, as most scientific racism [1] went way past defining races merely by the color of skin [2] and anti-Slav sentiments are something very present in many Western European countries to this day.

Case in point: The Nazis, and many other white-supremacists, consider themselves to be Aryans, supposedly descendants of the lost continent of Atlantis [3] and apparently the top of their imagined race pyramid.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untermensch#Etymology

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan#Nazism_and_white_suprema...

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#188

Post by seavanas » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:27 PM UTC

doublement wrote: post #185

dgzl wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was an exchange student in high school to Japan and I have never seen groups of people more dedicated to both studying and hobbies, especially at the grade-school age. There are private companies that offer study rooms that HS students rent every weekend. Kendo, soccer, baseball and basketball clubs were really huge at the school I was visiting.

The clubs you listed all involve strenuous physical activity... and are clubs. People can pursue them as hobbies, of course, but I think for most people a hobby is something personal, and perhaps pointless, outside of the sound mind/sound body routine. EDIT: Kinda surprised at the downvotes! Is it really so controversial to consider a club activity less of a "real" hobby than something self-organized?

> Yep, just gonna move the goal post a bit further to make my argument valid.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#189

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:28 PM UTC

danans wrote: post #181

giggles_giggles wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

> Why does Japan stand out? Because they are industrialized? Sure. They should be compared to countries with similar levels of wealth per capita, since that wealth, in theory, should enable them to rise above what you describe in Nigeria. But that said, what you quoted the Fulani man saying is frequently expressed in Europe or the Anglosphere today, but with the target being a non-Christian religion.

[deleted]

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#190

Post by downerending » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 5:29 PM UTC

freeflight wrote: post #187

whyBother wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Racism? It's Japan . Whatever racism there could be, it's an extremely small, microscopic particle among the whole of the school system. Even if the incidents are egregious, this is not even among the top twenty reasons that "many" refuse to attend. As far back as the 1980's it was widely reported that Japanese expectations for children's performance and good behavior drive them to mental illness, from the top down,…

> Racism? It's Japan. Whatever racism there could be, it's an extremely small, microscopic particle among the whole of the school system. Racism and discrimination aren't just reserved to the color of skin, it's often built around whole ancestries of groups and their traditional social standings [0]. For the same reason, the Nazis killed people that were just as white as themselves, as most scientific racism [1] went…

> Racism and discrimination aren't just reserved to the color of skin, it's often built around whole ancestries of groups and their traditional social standings.

Indeed, but this exists everywhere. Why would this factor be unusually influential in Japan?