Issues Faced by Japanese Students Today

In all levels of schooling, Japanese students face a great deal of stress, from school, peers, and family. This post is intended to highlight some of the issues that many Japanese students face along with some extreme social issues that exist among students, to raise awareness of what Japanese students go through, especially in contrast to Canadian students.

Education in Japan is very competitive, and students are under constant pressure to study hard for entrance exams for prestigious schools and universities. Often, this pressure comes from certain mothers, who will drive their child to study regardless of their physical and emotional well-being. Some mothers are more extreme than others. In the late 90s, a woman murdered her neighbor's two-year-old daughter because she had been admitted into a prestigious kindergarten that her own daughter failed to enter (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/jun2000/jap-j19.shtml). Many Japanese students attend cram schools during the evening to give them further time to study. In addition, all high school students are required to register with an extra-curricular club that meets year-round, adding even more to their schedule.

Because of all this pressure on Japanese students to succeed, suicide is very common among Japanese students. In 2005, 886 students committed suicide, many of which were school-related. (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20070615a2.html) Suicides are especially prevalent during entrance exam season, when a student receives unfavorable marks. Currently, Japan's suicide rate is one of the highest in the world.

Many youth in Japan suffer from a unique condition called hikikomori. This is a condition in which youth, mostly young men, from early adolescence to mid-thirties, will shut themselves in their room and avoid social contact with anyone for a period of six months to several years. They go to such extremes because they are afraid of others, and cannot handle the pressure society places on them. (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/magazine/15japanese.html)

Ijime, or bullying, is a very major social problem in Japan, often more so than in North America. Usually, students who are bullied stick out in some way, and the entire class participates in bullying these students, often by ostracizing them. Teachers will often encourage bullying, as they see it as an effective means of "behavior modification," and parents tend to place the responsibility on the victims rather than the bullies. Bullying is another major contributor to both suicide and hikikomori. (http://legacy.lclark.edu/~krauss/advwrf99/causeeffect/akikocause.html)

In an interview with Paul Suzuki, who works with Japanese students, he identified the main concern Japanese students have as, "They are longing for a place of belonging... where they can feel at ease, feel accepted, know they would be welcomed, and belong." Many Japanese students do not feel they have a place of belonging, even at home.