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role of children in japan

The role of children in Japan may be quite different from the roles of children in the US. In Japan, the parents have the tendency to put too much pressure on the children. The parents in Japan have a way of thinking that their children's behavior is what judges them. Therefore, parents are very strict on what school the children go to, what sports they play, and how they act in school. They will try very hard to put their children into a high level school in order to prove that they are good, dedicated parents. This leads to the children feeling too much pressure. Some children are made to go to cram schools after school few times a week from elementary school. I personally don't like this idea.
It seems that in the US, this does not apply. Largely because there aren't entrance exams for highschool, the children aren't forced to study at cram school or forced to keep a high GPA for a good resume. In the US, I feel that children are more free. They don't have to worry too much about keeping a good reputation at school, and the parents aren't too noisy about this either. In Japan, parents are very fussy about their childrens reputation because it has tremedous affect when taking the entrance exams.
Though the idea of making their children keep a good reputation and grades are good, I feel that the situation in Japan is too intense. They should give their children little more slack, and never force their children to do something they don't want to do.

marriage divorce children

In Japan, divorcing was not a common thing. Once you were married, you were expected to stay married for as long as you live. Therefore, there were many middle-aged married couples who were not satisfied with their partner or life. However, in recent Japan, divorcing is not so uncommon. There are numerous TV shows where they teach the audience when the best timing for a divorce is, or how to sue your partner for the most money in the case of a divorce. Though this may increase the number of happier adults, this is a very bad influence to children.

Marriage in Japan has also changed in the recent years. In Japan, it used to be common for people, especially women, to get married at a younger age(maybe early 20s). Nowadays, women are getting married at a much older age(maybe late 20s, early 30s). This may be because the number of women who want to work are increasing. Until recently, the culture of the Japan was that men do the work, and women do the housework. Due to the globalization and wenternalization of Japan, this idea is now thought of as discrimination.

This leads to the change in the way Japanese couples think of children. Before all the changes of marriage and divorce in Japan, it was probably much easier to have children. Now, you have to think about your age, what to do if the wife still wants to work after having the baby, if the couple will be able to continue a good relationship, and the number of children they are caplable of raising. Some couples just don't have kids becasue they feel that they will not be capable of raising a child if they are both working full time. This may be part of the reason why Japan has and will have the problem of Aged Society.

dating in japan and america

I feel that there are differences between dating in Japan and dating in America. First of all, the events you spend with your girlfriend/boyfriend is different. For example, in the US the winter holidays is spent with your family. In Japan, it is considered normal for couples to spend time together on Christmas. On the other hand, I think it is common for Americans to spend time with girlfriend/boyfriend or friends on new years eve. In japan, new years eve is usually spent at home with your family. Another difference is the formality. In the US, I feel it is common for people to introduce your partner to your parents or friends even if they don't think they will get married. Japanese are usually very conservative about their relationship, and keep it to themselves until they feel that they have a steady and lasting relationship. Lastly, I don't think popularity or race has much effect on a relationship in Japan. There isn't really any need to find someone with the same rank, though it can be prefered at times. Nonetheless, I feel that Japanese society enables more freedom when it comes to relationships.

peer groups in japan and america

I am sure that peer groups exist anywhere in the world. However, depending on the country, the types of groups differ. In class, we mainly discuss the difference between peer groups in Japanese high schools and American high schools. Since I went to an all-boys school in Japan, I am not too familiar with how the groups are made in coed and all-girls schools. What I can say is that Japanese high schools have fewer groups. The main reason for this is probably because Japanese students feel the strong need to fit in. In America, I would think that students like to express them selves freely and be unique. This is not so for Japan. In fact, Japanese society prevents this. In most Japanese schools, students are expected to be normal; wear the same clothes, carry the same bag, have the same color hair, etc. This way of thinking has gotten so infiltrated, that Japanese students are comfortable with being the same as others. Therefore, it is common in Japanese high schools to only have 2 or 3 large groups while American high schools have many small groups. Japanese students feel the need to stick together with as many people as they can. They are afraid to be different. In conclusion, I think that the way peer groups differ has a lot to do with the culture and concept of the country.

self-introduction

Hi, my name is Ken, and I am a freshman at SILS at the Waseda University. I lived in New York for about 8 years, so I am very excited to hear from you all! I'm sure it will remind me of the good old days. My hobby is to ride the motorcycle, and drive around 2000km (well over 1000 miles) every summer. I also love music, and feel that it's a shame that you can't listen to music when you're riding the motorcycle. My favorite musicians are Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, and of course the Beatles. こんにちは、健といいます。現在早稲田大学、国際教養学部の一年生です。アメリカに8年間住んでいたので、この交流を非常に楽しみにしています。同じアメリカということで、ニューヨークで過ごした楽しい日々を思い出す機会になるからです。趣味はバイクに乗ることで、毎年夏には2000キロくらい走ります。音楽も大好きで、バイクに乗ってると音楽が聴けないことを非常に残念に思います。好きなミュージシャンはエリッククラプトン、レッドツェップリン、そしてもちろんビートルズです。