Education System in Japan

The education system in Hong Kong and Japan are more or less the same, but still there are some differences.

1. Basic School System

In Hong Kong, we have kindergarten, primary school, secondary schools, colleges and universities. We also have tutorials schools which helps students to prepare for their public exams. Secondary schools in Hong Kong do not separate into middle and high schools, so students do not have to take the high school exams. And unlike the cram schools in Japan, the tutorial schools in Hong Kong do not only prepare students for public exams, it also helps students to have a better understanding of subjects that they are not good at. There are many tutorial classes for various subjects, for example Chinese, English, Mathematics, Economics, and Geography etc.

As the education system in Hong Kong has just changed recently, so students now only have to take one public exams for entering the universities. Unlike that in the old time, students had to take two public exams within three years, which was quite hard and toilsome.

2. Subjects studied

Most of the subjects that we have in schools of Hong Kong are the same as that in Japan, except for English. In Hong Kong, students start learning English in kindergarten, and would continue studying English in primary and secondary schools, and of course in colleges and universities as well. But in Japan, English learning is not started until students have entered the middle schools.

3. Uniforms

All schools in Hong Kong, including all kindergarten, primary school and secondary schools (except for very few international schools), students have to wear school uniforms. In most of the school, especially for those which are famous and have high reputations, there are a rather strict standard in wearing uniforms. For instance for girls, the dress’s length must reach the knees. Also, girls’ hair must be tie up properly. Overall, you cannot be too outstanding in your outlook and hair style, or else you may have broken the school rules. However, I have found that the dress codes in Japan’s schools are not as strict as that in Hong Kong. At least students can freely have their own hair styles, and the girls can wear shorter dress or skirts. JFurthermore, the uniforms in Japan are much smarter and prettier than that in Hong Kong! It would be great if our uniforms can have the similar designs as that of the uniforms in Japanese schools!

4. Activities in schools

The biggest difference between school in Hong Kong and Japan is that there are rarely any school festivals in Hong Kong. Unlike the Japanese schools, schools in Hong Kong will not open to the public or students from other schools unless the school is in certain special occasions such as school anniversaries. I think it is great that there are school festivals in Japan because students can gather together to organize various interesting activities and shows, which I deem that students will enjoy a lot from that process!

In Hong Kong, students also have afterschool activities, or we will say we are joining a club or a society. But in some schools having afterschool activities is not compulsory, so sometimes some students may miss the chance of participating in extra-curricular activities, which can help them to meet more friends and find out their own interests.

Sport Day is usually held in most schools in Hong Kong, the events are more or less the same, except that we do not have the event ‘Three-legged race’.

JAfterthoughtsJ

I think if I have such a chance (which it is impossible XD) I would like to try studying the primary and secondary schools in Japan. The reasons are as follows:

i) The schedule of the primary school is not that tight, and students can have more time to do their homework or revisions, or participating in different extra-curricular activities. Unlike that in Hong Kong, students in Hong Kong often have to spend so many times in school and also the school works, and they have to take a lot of extra-curricular activities which are not for relaxation or interests, but for gaining certificates and scores for later secondary schools’ admissions.

ii) School festivals are great because students can help organizing different event, activities and shows for the visitors, and I think that there would be more team-spirits between students. It is just disappointing that schools in Hong Kong do not usually hold this kind of events.

iii) It is an once-in-a-lifetime chance that if I can try wearing the uniforms in Japanese High schools because they look smarter and prettier, plus there are less restrictions in wearing uniforms in Japanese schools!

Survey Project Reflection

After doing this project, I think I have learnt about the travel preferences of the Japanese, as well as how to create a better questionnaire for collecting more useful and relevant information for analysis.

 For instance, I now knew that the Japanese only have little knowledge about the amusement in Hong Kong. It is true that Japan has a lot of amusement parks which are of larger scales and have more attractions, but then this doesn’t necessarily mean that Hong Kong’s amusement parks are less interesting than that in Japan. Different from Disneyland Hong Kong Ocean Park is certainly a ‘local-made’ amusement park. It includes the characteristics of Hong Kong and it is unique from other amusement parks in the world. Ocean Park is also very educational as you can see and observe various kinds of marine animals and endangered species, like sharks, penguins and pandas. Therefore I deem that more promotion is needed for other foreign tourists to know that Hong Kong Ocean Park is the most representative amusement park and one of the must-go attractions in Hong Kong!

In the future, I would like to know the shopping preference of the Japanese people too. As Hong Kong is regarded as ‘shopping paradise’, it is important to know about the preferences of the tourists, so that more can be done to improve tourism, as well as increasing the number of foreign tourists who come to visit Hong Kong. And I would like to put the survey online for a longer time, and allow more people to do it, so that more information can be collected. If possible, it is a considerable way to put the survey on the Hong Kong Tourism Board website, thus when the Japanese people are visiting the Japanese version of the website, they can try to do this survey. Maybe after they have done the survey, relevant travel and shopping information can be given to them as well, so that it helps them to plan for their trip to Hong Kong!

From the survey, I have found out what food do the Japanese want to taste in Hong Kong, and it is interesting to find out that they have a special preference in ‘xiao long bao’ and other Chinese ‘Dim-sum’ like ‘xiao mai’ and shrimp dumpling’! I do not know that they like traditional Chinese ‘Dim-sum’ so much that most of them would like to have a try of it! In fact, being the most representative food in Hong Kong, ‘Dim-sum’ would be the only commonly known food in Hong Kong by other foreign tourists. But then there are still many other food that are unique and can only find in Hong Kong, like fishball, stinky ‘tofu’, milk tea etc. I think the Japanese can explore more on other Hong Kong food, rather than just staying focus on ‘Dim-sum’ and the Cantonese Dishes!

More reviews on the questions are definitely needed to improve this project, so that the information collected can be more useful and relevant to what we want to find out. Also, I think I should include some questions related to shopping because this is the aspect that I want to know, but I did not set much questions on shopping, so only a little information is collected. And maybe pictures can be included in the survey, so that the Japanese people would find it more interesting in doing this survey, and with the picture, they can also choose the most appropriate answers for the questions by referring to the pictures which have shown them items that they do not know. Of course, if it is feasible, I would like to input a video as well, which this video is an introduction about Hong Kong’s food, entertainment and shopping. I hope that this video can let the Japanese people to have a better understanding of Hong Kong, as well as attracting them to come visiting Hong Kong!

Feedback on the presentation: "Criteria of choosing wives for Japanese men" & "Animations in Japan"

A. Criteria of choosing wives for Japanese men

This is a very interesting survey conducted by Helen san, Ellen san and Claudia san! Although not much Japanese people have done this questionnaire, the results of the survey can still be a reference for girls who want to marry a Japanese XD

I found that the results of this survey were quite similar to my expectations, for instance Japanese men prefer their wives to be good at cooking, kind and gentle etc, maybe I was partly influenced by those Japanese TV drama and animations that a married woman should possess these qualities! Also, it is fun to know that Japanese men would consider women having more friends as better persons! I don’t think people in Hong Kong would do this! And despite the fact that the Japanese women love to put on their make-ups, Japanese men simply do not like that. But then I think make-ups are necessary for women to give a good first impression to the men, just don’t overdo it would be ok : )

I do not know whether I would marry to a Japanese man or not, but actually I think it would be interesting if I can be someone who has a different nationality and cultural background from me! Though communication and cultural differences would be the obstacles in a relationship of two people with different nationalities, I think one can learn how to accept and tolerate others under such a circumstance!

B. Animations in Japan

Yuki san and Elaine san are certainly professionals in studying Japanese animation, and this survey is really interesting and informative! This survey clearly reveals that the influences of Japanese animations on people are not entirely negative in nature, it seems to me that not many Japanese people are addicted to animations. Rather, they would treat watching animation as a kind of leisure activity, or an entertainment. But then it is out of my expectation that not many people in Japan like watching some classical animations, like ‘Slam Dunk’, ‘Kindaichi Case Files’etc.

I really appreciate the beautiful artworks and creativities of the Japanese people who make the animations! I was also once very obsessed with one of the most popular animation, and that’s ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’! l love the storyline and the characters in the animation, and I consider this animation as the best animation I have ever seen!

Feedback on the presentation: "Japanese Music" & "Otaku"

A. Japanese Music

After the introduction given by Yuri san and Joeie san , I get to know more about the music preferences of the Japanese. The followings are something that I have found out after the presentation:

1. Ayumi Hamasaki is not so popular in Japan.

I seldom listen to Japanese pop music, but then it is very often that I hear people talking about Ayumi Hamasaki when it comes to the discussion on Japanese music, therefore I originally think that Ayumi Hamasaki is a representative of Japanese pop singer. However, after the presentation, it is surprising that Ayumi Hamasaki is not that popular in Japan. I guess most of the Hong Kongers (including me) may be mislead by the media that Ayumi Hamasaki is the most popular female singer in Japan! Anyway, I have never listened to the songs of Ayumi Hamasaki before, so I can’t really give any comments on her singing skills and figure out why she is not popular in Japan.

2. The Japanese listen to large variety of music.

Before time, I just thought that the Japanese preferred to hear some pop music or rock music. But out of my expectation, the Japanese love listening to a large variety of music, not just pop and rock music, but also jazz, classical, hip-pop, Japanese hip-pop etc. Most surprisingly, the Japanese seem like listening to traditional Japanese music such as ‘enka’. I don’t know much about enka, but I really appreciate the Japanese about the way that they are so interested in and love their own culture. This is one thing that the Hong Kongers can never do!

B. Otoku

Thank you Kumo san, Blue san and Philip san’s clarification on Otoku! If I didn’t listen to this presentation, I think I may continue misunderstanding this group of people! I remembered that I have watched the movie ‘Densha Otoku’, and ever since then I have stereotyped boys who are obsessed with animation, computers and comics as ‘Otoku’.

However, this may not be the true meaning of ‘Otoku’. ‘Otoku’ are just like other ordinary people, it’s just that they have some special interests in animation, comics and computers, but this does not necessarily mean that they are ‘weird’, ‘geeks’, ’abnormal’. The media (especially in Hong Kong) has mislead the public towards ‘Otoku’, thus many people may discriminate or look down upon them.