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1. Teachers in Japan do not have a permanent school assignment. They change schools. They can only teach in one school for three to four years the longest. They have to move to another school within the city or the neighboring cities. New teachers change from one to three years and veteran teachers who are about to retire can stay in the same school for up to seven years.

In the Philippines, most teachers stay in their assigned schools until retirement, unless they want to be transferred to another school for personal reasons or for promotion.

2. Teachers in Japan change grade level assignments. Not only that teachers have to change schools in Japan, they also have to change their grade levels assignments. For example, a teacher who teaches first grade this year will most probably be teaching second year the following year. They follow the students they are teaching. Few teachers remain in the same grade for consecutive years.

Whereas in the Philippines, most teachers stay in the same grade level until retirement. It is not uncommon for siblings to have the same first grade teacher.

3. Class schedule in Japan changes everyday. Class schedule in Japan is not fixed for the whole year unlike in the Philippines. The schedule is announced a week or a day before usually on Fridays. It is very easy to change the class schedule in Japan because all subjects are taught at equal amounts of time. Each subject is taught at 45 or 50 minutes. Unlike in the Philippines, academic subjects like Math and Science are taught up to one hour or longer and shorter time for non-academic subjects like Music or Home Economics.

I was very surprised about this when I came to work in Japanese public elementary schools because in the Philippines we decide on the schedule at the beginning of the school year. Teachers gather and spend a good amount of time making the schedule that would fit every teacher’s individual schedule and every class’ individual schedule. It’s not easy to make the schedule work for every teacher and every class. Once decided, we follow this schedule from start (June) to end (March) unless there are important changes that we need to do.

4. Japan is a country that values equality and uniformity. Equality in schools is observed through equal treatment of students in terms of opportunities and participation in activities. For example, on a Sports Day, all students participate regardless of their physical abilities. Everyone can participate in racing whether he runs fast or slow or even in wheelchair. Whereas in the Philippines, competition is common. We have all sorts of school competition (Quiz Bee, Spelling, Beauty Contest, Money Contest, Sports Meet, etc.) which is not very common in Japan. It is a battle of the fittest in the Philippines. And only the fittest and the brightest shine. Uniformity is also a very important attribute of Japanese schools and the whole society in general. This can be seen through uniform designs of school bags, school shoes, haircuts and even hair color in junior high schools and high schools. Wearing black suits over white inner is common and considered standard for students on the job training and for those looking for a job. Subtle, basic colors are the staples. It is not pleasing to stand out like a sore thumb in Japan, which is the opposite in the Philippines. Filipinos like individuality and assortment and we like to stand out. Medatsu is a Japanese word which means to stand out. In Japan, you don’t want to be a medatsu, but in the Philippines, being a medatsu is encouraged.

5. Outdoor and indoor shoes shoes culture in Japan. The footwear worn from the house and outdoors will not be allowed to be worn inside the school buildings. Each class/student has their own shoe box. Upon entering the school building, outdoor shoes are changed to indoor shoes. Japanese are very particular about cleanliness. Indoor shoes help to avoid dirt getting inside the school building from outside.

In my native land, this custom doesn’t exist. Although some individual teachers require their students to bring indoor shoes, and have their own classroom shoe box, this is not considered a standard for everyone to follow. It’s all up to the teacher or the principal.

6. Japanese teachers should be able to play the piano and swim before they can pass to be a licensed teacher. In Japan, each elementary school teacher is expected to teach music, play the piano of course and to teach swimming in the school’s swimming pool.

Most public schools in the Philippines don’t have a single piano. Even the small private schools don’t. Teachers teach music even without the ability of playing any musical instrument. It is not a requirement. But, Filipinos love to sing. And I wonder why even though we lack many musical instruments, which sometimes we can only see in pictures or drawings that teachers ask the students to draw (draw the three types of musical instrument: brass, wind and percussion and make a scrap book in music class), we can still sing out loud from the bottoms of our hearts. 🙂 Many Filipinos are famous singers locally and internationally.

For an elementary student in the Philippines, having a swimming pool in the school is like living the dream. Filipinos love swimming. Most occasions like birthdays we like to celebrate it in the beach. But, unlike Japanese, we don’t learn basic swimming skills in school. We learn it on our own. Pretty sure by just going to the beach often or the nearby river. Beaches in the Philippines are open all throughout the year and we even have night swimming. This is a big surprise to the Japanese people since they can only go swimming in the beach in summer. Night swimming is rare. Swimming schools are open all throughout the year but swimming pools are only open in summer.

7. School lunch in Japan is prepared at schools or school lunch centers. School lunch is one of the best features in Japanese schools. I have a different detailed blog about it here. I like Japanese school lunch. It saves me from the hassle of preparing my own packed lunch and saves me some yen since school lunch is cheaper compared to buying food outside. It’s nutritious, well-balanced and well prepared. Japanese students help in the distribution of their school lunch. Whereas in the Philippines, students can opt to bring their lunch boxes, buy at the school canteen or go home and eat if their houses are close to school.

8. Japanese children walk to school on their own (with exemption of those living in far-flung countryside). Chaperon and giving children rides to school are greatly discouraged and most often not allowed in Japan. Students go to school by groups according to their area of residence. In the beginning of classes in April, parents and guardians will accompany grade one students on their way to school but only up to few meters away from their houses. Not all the way to school.

It’s a different scene in the Philippines. In the beginning of class, about 90% of grade one students are taken to school by their guardians. Guardians even stay to watch the class from the classroom windows. Although this is discouraged by the school, some parents couldn’t help but watch their kids in class. In the weeks that follows, fewer guardians do this. Many children, especially lower grades, are taken to school (up to the school gate) by their guardians all throughout the year. In some private schools, there are car pool companies that take children to school for a specific amount of fee.

The difference lies about the distance and safety. In Japan, students should go to the nearest elementary school in their area, not in any school they want to go unless they want to go to a private school. It’s usually a few minute walk from their houses. Except if you’re living in the inaka (country side) where your school can sometimes be as far as an hour walk. In the cities, there are traffic volunteers (usually the elderlies) that guide students in their way to school making sure of the safety of the road. Parents, teachers and principals also help in doing this. This is called ‘koutsu jidou’ in Japanese. Parents take turns doing this. It is very common to see the elementary school principal guiding the traffic and greeting students in front or near the school gate. In the beginning of classes, usually the whole month of April, teachers accompany students halfway on their way home where guardians are waiting to take them up to their houses. This is only done in the beginning and when students get used to it, they go to school and go home with their own groups. Whereas in the Philippines, many parents opt to send their children to central schools, the big schools in the heart of the city, which is very far away from their houses and nearly impossible to get to by foot. With the distance problem and the traffic, it is dangerous and impractical to walk to school.

9. Recess time in Japan is not eating time. Classes in Japan usually starts at 8:30 in the morning. Four subjects are taught in the morning which usually last 45-50 minutes with 10-15 minutes interval. The nakayasumi is the mid-break and the longest break. During this time, students can go to the playground or to the library or just relax and have a break. In the Philippines, subjects are usually taught consecutively without intervals (for example, schedules are 8:00-9:00, 9:00-10:00) and during the recess time, students usually eat their baons (bring to school snacks), or go to the school canteen, or buy at the canteen tray delivered in their very own classroom. Baon can be food or money or both. This is a part of Philippine culture that most school children look forward to and recess time is jokingly everyone’s favorite subject.

10. Bringing money to school is okay in the Philippines but not in Japan. As mentioned above, students can buy food to eat during recess time in the Philippines and students can bring money as much as their parents can afford to give them. In Japan, it is uncommon for students to bring money to school and if they do, there is a limitation, for example, elementary students can only bring ¥100, junior high schools ¥300. There is nothing to buy at the school so there is no need for money. Japanese students are also not allowed to bring their own snacks or use accessories or bring CDs etcetera.

These are only few of the many differences between the elementary and junior high schools in Japan and the Philippines. These differences are of course very normal and not written to make one country look better or bad. These differences are part of the culture and that is what makes each country unique.