What's high school life in japan like?

Question

i'm from the philippines and im kinda a big fan of manga and i've read tons of school life genres. i noticed that when it comes to someone's first day, the one close to you will introduce his/herself and you guys get to be close and stuff and it made me wonder if it's always like that especially if you're a foreigner. i asked my mom if i could go study in japan once and she told me it was very strict there which gave me a shock cuz from what i know, its not. well... i really wanna know what high school life is in japan. can anyone be so kind to tell me? thanks :D im really interested~

Answer 1

It is absolutely nothing like that.

Boys and girls in Japanese high schools almost never talk to each other, they never become friends inside the school. They hang around in groups of all guys or all girls.

They can be quite friendly, but there are a lot of bullies in Japanese schools, and occasionally students commit suicide because of the stress of it.

Lessons in the schools are basically lectures. The students sit there and the teacher lectures, they are not interactive at all. Most of the students fall asleep or don't listen, even in high level schools.

This is one of the reasons students here go to Juku (cram school) in the evenings and even weekends. They have little free time and lessons are not interactive, so they don't have much imagination.