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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

#141

Post by kiba »

Pigo wrote: post #120
claudeganon wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social order in modern Japan is ruthlessly maintained through group pressure, extreme enforcement of hierarchy, and deference to various forms of authority. While many will try to tell you in some Orientalist fiction that this is inherent to the Japanese people, it’s actually more the byproduct of the postwar, American-designed order that rehabilitated the former fascists as a “conservative” parliamentary party and i…

There are other Oriental countries with a similar focus on putting the group before the individual. America has had a lot of influence on a lot of places, and certainly not all for the best, but how could America have influenced a place into a behaving a way that is completely foreign to America?

America occupied Japan and performed political censorship.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#142

Post by Joe-Z »

elhudy wrote: post #133
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?

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.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#143

Post by the_af »

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?

Not an expert in Japan's culture, but from what I read about it, there's some racism towards Japanese with Korean ancestors, and apparently this forces some people to hide their heritage.

There was also an article -- even posted on HN, I think! -- that some family names linked to historically lowbrow jobs (the "untouchable", such as undertakers and butchers) still carry some sort of stigma. Not their current occupations of course, but the stigma historically attached to those families.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#144

Post by microcolonel »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #132
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?

Well, there's the one when you're not ethnically Japanese, for a start... not sure how common that is, but dealing with racism is certainly a thing when that happens.

Clearly not a problem for the ethnic Japanese refusing to go to school, it seems like it's just been jammed into this ignorant argument from a template.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#145

Post by PeterisP »

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?

For a random example of racism in Japan's shools that simply don't accept that other ethnicities exist, here's a story about students required to dye their hair black in order to match everyone else - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/27/japanese-stude... - in this particular situation the student had naturally brown hair, which most likely means a non-Japanese parent, and was bullied by the authorities because of that.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#146

Post by microcolonel »

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 who are from visible minorities, but the majority of the children who are refusing to go to school are broadly ethnic Japanese, or Okinawan. Seems like it'd be low on the list.

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#147

Post by adamsea »

"Many schools in Japan control every aspect of their pupils' appearance, forcing pupils to dye their brown hair black, or not allowing pupils to wear tights or coats, even in cold weather. In some cases they even decide on the colour of pupils' underwear."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50693777

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#148

Post by seavanas »

nabla9 wrote: post #128

> In Japan, more and more children are refusing to go to school, a phenomenon called "futoko" Articles about Japan always bring up Japanese names for things. What is the reason for this? You don't usually see the same for other countries: In German more and more children are lonely, a phenomenon called "die Einsamkeit".

they're weebs

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#149

Post by moufestaphio »

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?

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...

Re: Many Japanese children refuse to go to school

#150

Post by moufestaphio »

microcolonel wrote: post #144
fennecfoxen wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there's the one when you're not ethnically Japanese, for a start... not sure how common that is, but dealing with racism is certainly a thing when that happens.

Clearly not a problem for the ethnic Japanese refusing to go to school, it seems like it's just been jammed into this ignorant argument from a template.

Goes deeper than just that.

There is being born in the wrong 'caste': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin

Or the many Koreans who are in 'limbo' (zainichi) after WW2:

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

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