Katori City Sawara Junior High School

Today we arrived at the Junior High at 9:00 a.m. Students were already in the classrooms. We were warmly welcomed by the Principal and Vice Principal of the school. We were given a quick tour of the building and then invited to visit any classrooms we wished to. Junior High is set up in 3 levels. Levels 1, 2, and 3 would be the same as grades 7, 8, and 9 in the United States.

The classes were structured much like those in the United States. Students were expected to take notes and/or follow along in textbooks. The main difference was that students stayed in the same classroom all day and the teacher moved from room to room. There was a 10 minute break between each class. I am sure this was for the teacher to have time to move to the next classroom. This did allow the students time to socialize.

The students again were very excited to see us. They easily approached us to introduce themselves and ask us our names. “Hello, my name is ____. What is your name?” This was repeated over and over throughout the hallways. Another favorite phrase was “lovin’ it” from McDonald’s commercials. I stopped by a room where level 3 boys were playing a board game called “shogi”. It was much like our chess. I asked if I could watch and they quickly tried to teach me how to play. They patiently explained how each piece could me. I watch intently, but needed more than 10 minutes to learn the game. They really seemed to enjoy teaching me. I wanted to find them at lunch time to continue the game, but couldn’t find them.

While watching “shogi”, a boy asked me if I knew Obama. I told him yes, he was from my home state of Illinois. He told me I should vote for Obama. He would be a great president. There was not enough time to talk about what he knew about our presidential race, but obviously if he knew who a candidate was he must know something about it.

I found the girls to be more talkative and easily approached us. The boys were more shy and reserved, but you could tell they wanted to talk with us. They were very friendly if we approached them first. All students are taught English starting in level 6. Older students were much more comfortable approaching us. Level 6 students were very self conscious trying to use English.

Lunch was in the classrooms with the students. I ate with a level 1 class (7th grade). Again students served lunch from containers in the front of the classroom. Lunch was very good. We had noodle soup with vegetables and two cooked quail eggs, breaded squid (it looked like a fish stick), seaweed with nuts, rice, Japanese omelet (like our omelet, but cold and cut in squares) and seaweed papers to make sushi type wraps. A boy in my group was very giggly and asked me many questions in Japanese and then would tell me to say “yes”. Quickly a girl in the group would say “no, no”. I am not sure what he was asking me. But he was obviously trying to play a joke on me. I thought it was very funny.

After lunch students had some free time. Then they cleaned the school like at the elementary. I was amazed Jr. High students didn’t refuse. They quickly got brooms and clothes and started cleaning. Again I don’t think United States students would cooperate. After cleaning was completed some students helped prepare for a music program while others read books in the classroom. The students reading reminded me of United States students spending more time looking at the clock and out the door than reading.

At 2 p.m. it was time for the music program. Everyone went to the gym where parents had already gathered. The students performed many different choral selections, all directed by students. It was beautiful. Many of the songs were in English; one the songs was John Denver’s song West Virginia. It was amazing to watch all three levels perform together. We were told the music clubs have won many awards and competitions. I could understand why. It was like listening to a professional choir.

At the end of the day we watched club activities. I watched kendo for a while. Students had long sticks that they swung at their partner. It seemed to resemble sword fighting. It was so aggressive, but still controlled. Amazing!

I also watched some soccer and baseball. Then I went over to the area where girls were bumping volleyballs around. Two girls came over to talk. I asked if I could play. We enjoyed 20 minutes of bumping in a circle until my arms were bruised and I was exhausted. I really enjoyed myself. It had been years since I had bumped a volleyball around. I found I really missed it.

At 5 p.m. it was time to go. The students were done with club activities. Now they would go to cram school. This is a study session to prepare them for the examination they must take to determine which high school they could attend. They do not get to choose, it is determined by their test scores. Some high schools are vocational and others are college prep. High school is not mandatory. Elementary and Jr. High are compulsory.

Dinner tonight was revolving sushi. The sushi travels around a track and you select the plates of food you want to eat. The bill is calculated by the number and color of your plates. This is a great way to select your food; you get to see it before you decide if that is what you want to eat. As a group this seems to be our favorite type of restaurant, next to yakatori (chicken on a stick).