My Experiences Studying in Japan (体験入学）

This article contributed by Yuta Toda.

Studying in Japan has been portrayed in many animes or tv shows in many ways. For example, some may believe that Japanese school life is exciting, harsh, or possibly depressing sometimes. Through my experiences of attending 4 Japanese public schools throughout my 12 years as a student I have learned that there are massive differences in the environment of the school depending on the geographic location of the school and the difficulty of the school. In this newsletter I would like to share my personal experiences attending these four schools. Although this may be difficult for someone without any Japanese speaking skills, if you are someone who speaks Japanese to a moderate level, it could be a great resource to improve your Japanese.

Narahara Elementary School (楢原小学校）

I attended Narahara Elementary School located in Tokyo Hachioji, Kiyokawa for 5 years for around 3 weeks through 5 summers. Narahara elementary school was around a 10 minute walk from my Grandma's house where I went with childhood friends from kindergarten which I attended before I came to the U.S. Elementary school was something that probably would be similar in any school but helped me develop my Japanese skills. 

Narahara Junior High School (楢原中学校）

Narahara Junior High School also located in Tokyo Hachioji, Kiyokawa was around a 20 minute walk where I attended for only 1 summer due to Covid-19. Obviously since middle school is still incorporated into the Japanese government's curriculum it was still very similar to elementary school where I saw around half of the people I saw in elementary school. Here I also was able to experience clubs in Japan where I joined the tennis club. For first years, it was mostly cleaning the fields where the seniors played and also picking up tennis balls. This was where I was able to first experience the strict hierarchy of age. 

Tohoku Gakuin Junior and Senior High School (東北学院高校）

This was the first Highschool I attended as well as the first school outside of Tokyo located in Sendai, Miyagi, around 2 h 30 min with shinkansen from Tokyo. There I lived in a dormitory for 3 weeks in basically the middle of nowhere. The School was surrounded with rice fields, and you had to walk at least 30 minutes to get to the nearest town. Because Gakuin is a Middle and High School combined private school, if you got into the middle school you didn’t necessarily have to have high grades or pass an entrance exam in order to move up to the highschool level. Thus, the academic levels in the school varied from 63-67 (偏差値）from the highest to the lowest level. Outside of academics I mostly focused on soccer as well as exploring the city of Sendai and Miyagi. Compared to the people in Tokyo, students tended to be more mellow, but were harder to approach depending on the person. 

Because this was my first time living alone and studying I highly recommend this experience, and can possibly be a great preparation for College or just finding more about yourself. 

Tokyo Toritsu Tachikawa Kokusai Chutokyouiku School (立川国際高校）

Tachikoku is probably the most interesting school I have attended out of these 4 schools. Located in Tokyo, Tachikawa around 15 minutes from Tachikawa train station. There, I was able to experience a school that was closer to the center of Tokyo. Compared to Gakuin (Sendai), this was higher in academic level. I was mostly disappointed that the Soccer Club wasn’t very good but there obviously is a negative correlation between the academic level of the school and the competitive level of their sports clubs. The school also offered a diverse background where it offered study abroad programs for Japanese students to go to the U.S which is very rare. 

Because this was my first time using the train to go to school it was a very interesting cultural experience where I was able to experience rush hours and helped me become much more responsible with my time. Compared to Gakuin I was also able to enjoy the city of Tokyo with my friends on the weekends and was probably the most productive summer through my student career. 

If you are looking to spend a summer in Tokyo and want to experience a Japanese Highschool life, this is a school I personally recommend.