Alberta/Japan Network Development (Summer 2012)

Based on Suggestions from Alberta/Japan Network Development (Summer 2011) and follow up with school and community groups, the Alberta/Japan Network will be one of the networks we plan to work on next summer see FACTSnet Summer Programs 2012.  Some of the possibilities are as follows:
  1. Continue working with the Alberta Japan Twinned Municipalities Association at http://www.ajtma.com.
  2. To look for a sister non-profit organization in Japan.
  3. Connect with Albertan's in Japan and people from Japan (or people who have lived in Japan) who are in Alberta.
  4. Work with School Boards, teachers and other educators to develop curriculum resources, especially for Alberta Grade 8 Social Studies.
  5. Take an educational trip to Japan to develop networks,  friendships and first-hand curriculum resources. see curriculum links in index for historical places to visit.
  6. Further networking with other organizations, like the Edmonton Japan Community Association, to create more local networks and cultural sharing, visit them at: http://www.ejca.org

Take a virtual visit to Japan or plan an actual visit or email factsabj@gmail.com for a guided virtual tour or more information.  See Summer 2020 Job Opportunities (COVID-19 update) if you are under 30 and would like a summer job to work on this network.

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FACTSnet English Blog Index

Alberta/Japan Network Blog Index

  1. Alberta Japan Curriculum >>
  2. Alberta Japan Relations >>
  3. Life in Alberta and Japan >>
  4. Alberta Japan Events and Projects >>
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Archive abj 2020

FACTSnet tours offer pre & post tour networking with links related to the Alberta K-12 curriculum. Japan is a fascinating place to visit, with its ancient culture (we will focus on the Edo and Meiji periods, Alberta Grade 8 curriculum) beautiful landscape (sea and mountains) and its modern facilities.  Tours are organized by FACTs and other groups who want to participate in our network.  If you follow the Curriculum tour a visit to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb devastation will give a new perspective on war (grade 11 curriculum)  Other stops on the tour relate to either the grade 8 or 11 curriculum or both.    We suggest using travel by local transportation (instead of a tour bus) and JR rail, super trains.

December 2013:

Our itinerary was as follows: Tokyo (Dec. 17 - 21), Towada (Dec. 22-24) , and Sapporo (Dec. 24-26)  Tokyo (Dec. 28).  We contacted people in preparation for future tours.  Our time in Towada was a highlight.  Email factsc@gmail.com for more information.

Spring Break 2014 Tour:

This tour is similar to the December tour and will continue to develop Alberta/Japan Relationships in the Osaka Kyoto area (March 27-31) and in the Tokyo area (April 1-8).   Email factsc@gmail.com for more information.

Generic Alberta Curriculum Tour:
  1. Day 1: Fly overnight to Japan
  2. Day 2: Tokyo
    • Arrive in Tokyo
  3. Day 3: Tokyo (Rest Day)
    • Visits  (Several options - We will arrange guides for smaller groups)
    • Visit Holy Resurrection Cathedral
    • Options for diner and rest. 
  4. Day 4: Tokyo
  5. Day 5:Tokyo - Kyoto 
    • Travel by bullet train to Kyoto
    • Optional activities in Tokyo or Kyoto (tour group decides).
  6. Day 6: Kyoto
  7. Day 7: Kyoto - Nagasaki
  8. Day 8: Nagasaki
  9. Day 9: Depart for home
Tour extensions  (The whole group, smaller groups and individuals may decide to extend their tour).  Below are some of the options:
  1. Visit  Universal studios in Osaka. .
  2. Visit Himeji Castle
  3. Tokyo Disneyland
  4. Visit one of Japan's many resorts.
  5. Teach English
  6. Visit friends and/or sister groups to Canadian organizations.
For each tour we purchase Round-trip flights, JR rail passes and hotels as a tour group.  Each tour group decides on their pricing and options to add to the tour price.  For more info. on tour groups and pricing email factsc@gmail.com.  Larger tour groups (more than 6) will subdivided into groups of 7 or less with one of the members of this group being a group leader.  For example, a group from a school division may consist of a teacher as a group leader, two parents and 4 students.   If you are interested in being a group leader please indicate that in your email.

Optional:

In each city there are several other sites that could be visited some smaller subgroups may want to add these sites or to substitute these sites - see Historical Places to Visit in Japan Index.  (We may also find that the whole group wants to change sites).

Email factsc@gmail.com for more information on any of our tours.

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.
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Japan-AB Archive

Vjm1-logan/charlie said...
We believe the canadian style is more effective than the Japanese style of teaching. But in canada we still do encounter some bullying but there have been no suicides we have heard of.
May 31, 2010 10:20 AM

So far I haven't heard of any school related suicides.
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Archive of Old Versions of Historical Places to Visit

The following is an archive of all the old, un-updated posts of historical places to visit in Japan that correspond with the grade 8 curriculum. [note: currently this is incomplete]

Tokyo Posts:
Nagasaki Posts:
Kyoto Posts:
Hiroshima Posts:
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An Introduction to Canadian Student Life 2010 pilot

This post will be a summary of comments made by Canadian students. Once we have two or three classes of students making comments. Students will be assigned the task of summarizing the comments. The best summaries will be posted.

Instructions:

Read the comments of others and then add a unique comment of your own. You may comment on what others have said or disagree with what they have said. Remember this post is for Japanese students who are learning English so use simple English that does not have slang in it.

How to comment:

Use the Name/URL option to identify your comment. The name used for your comment should put your class code followed by a "-" then your first name and last initial (Anonymous comments may or may not be posted and if you are being marked, you will not get a mark).

See vjm1 comment below
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Issues Faced by Japanese Students Today - An Interview With a Japanese Student

Following the interview with Hikari about Japanese student life, we asked Nozomi about what is important to Japanese students, and what issues Japanese students face.

In junior high, many students were preoccupied with how to look better and how to be accepted by friends. In high school, the main concern is admission to university. There is a pressure on students to do well in their studies by teachers, students, and peers. In a sense, there is peer pressure to study. In addition, students form clicks in both junior high and high school, and students who don't find a group of friends when school begins often find themselves lonely.

In both junior high and high school, bullying is frequent, which leads to suicide and hikikomori (See Issues Faced by Japanese Students for a description of hikikomori). Many students skip school so they will not have to be bullied. Stress is another factor that leads to suicide. Many Japanese parents place exceedingly high expectations on their children, and they study far too hard. In addition, parents are often busy, and there is little family time. Frequent divorces also lead to single-parent families.

See Woon's blog Excerpt from japantoday.com
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FACTSnet Alberta/Japan Summer projects 2010

In 2010 the projects focus on developing relationships between St. Albert Alberta and Tokyo Japan as well as developing a structure to facilitate province wide participation. During May, June we are developing a blog and getting feedback from teachers, students and others on the usefulness of the blog in establishing longer term relationships between Alberta and Japan. Grade 8 students would learn about the history of Japan as it relates to the grade 8 curriculum and help Japanese students with their English. Either Japanese or Canadian students or both can participate in the pilot project as follows:
  1. Sites to visit in Japan
    1. Some of the members of our summer team will be visiting Japan in July. In preparation, for the visit, we are getting feedback on sites that would be of most interest to Alberta students see Instructions for providing feedback.
  2. Introductions:
    1. An Introduction to Japanese Student Life
    2. An Introduction to Canadian Student Life
  3. Places to Visit in Alberta: (Capital, Centralta) - This project is under development and is primarily for Alberta grade 7 students to share information about Canada.
    1. Resources for Alberta Curriculum - This project would find and evaluate resources that could be used in the grade 8 Social Studies Curriculum and/or Japanese Language and Cultural studies.
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      Oldest Post and Archive Index

      Historical Sites Indexes
      These indexes list a number of important sites in Japanese history. The Locations index sorts the sites by their geographic location, and the Historical Periods index sorts the sites by the time period that the site relates to.

      Cultural Indexes (to be added)
      These indexes contain posts that are related to elements of Japanese culture.

      Curriculum Indexes
      These indexes follow posts that are related to the Alberta curriculum outcomes related to Japan, including both the grade 8 Social Studies and High School Japanese Language curriculae.

      Other Posts Not in Index (Archive)
      FACTSnet Alberta Japan Summer projects 2010
      Issues Faced by Japanese Students Today
      Issues Faced by Japanese Students Today Interview
      Introduction to Canadian Student Life Pilot
      Japan-AB Archive Comments
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