Unwrapping the Enigma

Beautiful Buttocks. I saw this fantastic phrase repeated down the front of a t-shirt in the window of a downtown Kumamoto boutique. How I restrained myself from buying it, I will never know. I do think I have gained some perspective on the enigma I have been presented on the subject of Japanese fashion, however.

All schoolchildren from first grade through high school wear uniforms which look very similar to most uniforms kids in American private schools wear. Elementary schoolchildren are often dressed in white polo shirts, grey or navy bottoms – shorts for the boys and pleated skirts for the girls – and with the option of a matching grey or navy sweater vest, sweater, or blazer. Uniforms for junior high and high school kids look a lot like Catholic school uniforms with plaid skirts and ties and dark grey or navy blazers. Though some girls’ uniforms are an outfit styled remarkably like a sailor outfit most often worn by toddlers in the States, and some boys wear a Mandarin style jacket and pants.

Now, the idea of school uniforms is, of course, not completely unknown to this public-schooled American. On my high school debate team, I often argued that uniforms in public schools would improve kids’ grades and safety. My advocacy for school uniforms hit a snag, however, when I discovered that school kids in Japan are required to wear their uniforms whenever they are in public – evenings, weekends, holidays. Of course, some wild kids will rebel and dress in something else to go out, but if they are seen by someone they know, they will probably be reported and disciplined by their school. How crazy is that? The girls are also not supposed to wear makeup or style their hair in an unnatural way - dying or perming it. Though those rules are beginning to slide just a little. But basically, they aren’t supposed to appear in any way that will draw attention to themselves as individuals rather than as a group.

It’s little wonder then, that by the time these girls get out of high school, they jump at the chance to wear outrageous things and radical looking makeup. All girls go through an experimentation phase with their appearance. These girls are just five or six years behind American girls in their fashion development.

Mystery solved. I still don’t like the stocking that come just above the knee, however.

Japanese schools do have a practice I believe American schools should emulate in ‘Cleaning Time.’ After lunch, students get about 45 – 55 minutes of recess, then they have a 30-minute period of cleaning. All students – even the first graders - clean the entire school: their classrooms, hallways, restrooms, even the teacher’s room and the outside. They empty all the trash, sweep the floors, and wash the sidewalks. At one of my schools, the kids clean the outside – sweeping the sidewalks and watering the plants – before school begins and clean the inside after lunch. I think it’s a fantastic idea; and in addition to the cooking classes, it teaches the children how to survive in everyday life, not just in a schoolroom. Kids, in general, are capable of so much more than we ask of them, I think.

I’m still really enjoying my job. I have now been to all of my schools and have learned how to drive to them all, though it took several occasions of getting lost. The kids continue to ask the oddest and often uncomfortable questions. The first question I always get is ‘How old are you?’ I never realized just how American I am in the sense that in my mind, that is simply a question you are not supposed to ask. Someone can volunteer their age, but you never ask. It is completely different here as Nobie told me I needed to include my age on my resume. In job postings, the preferred age of the candidates are often one of the first things mentioned.

The second question I am always asked is if I am married. It seemed strange to me as when I was their age, I never gave a second thought to the personal lives of my teachers, even when I knew their husbands or kids. And often, when I say that I am unmarried, the students immediately start chattering between them like stereotypical Jewish mothers and grandmothers discussing possible marital matches for me. One class even thought it prudent to tell me that their male teacher was also my age and unmarried, and then asked me if I liked him. What do I answer to that? And these are 9 year olds. Nobie said that is a strictly rural thing, though. In most of Japan, it is considered impolite of anyone to ask if someone is married or in a relationship.

A few other questions verboten in Japan are ‘What school did you go to?’ and ‘What is your - or your father’s - job?’ If asked the second, most Japanese will simply name the company they work for with no indication if they are a janitor for the company or the president, or they will simply say they are a salaryman. These questions seem so innocuous to me, but in Japan the answers can quickly place someone in a certain societal position or strata. It can be used to judge someone quickly and often unfairly.

I better get back to work. I am preparing a lesson on directions: up, down, over, under, etc. Before I go, though, let me include my favorite Japanized-English phrase so far. Stewart and I were walking past a department store when I saw a sign for a ‘Retro Future Sale.’ Make of that what you will.

- Jenny