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.

Japanese Personal Pronoun Project

Unlike English or Chinese, the personal pronoun “I” in Japanese consists of different forms. Different forms are mainly varied with areas, gender, formality and ages. Below are some commonly used personal pronouns:

1. わたし（私）

²  It is in a formal style.

²  It can be used by both males and females.

²  In fact, in some casual or informal occasions, わたしwould no longer be considered as neutral, but feminine.

l         It is used by people of different ages, background and gender, and it is commonly used in books, magazines and advertisement.

2. わて

²  It is used in the Kansai dialect.

²  Its nature is similar to わたし.

l         This is an advertisement board of 大阪のお土産や. Since Osaka is in kansai area, and the image of this product refer “himself” as 「わて」, so this has indicated that the use of personal pronouns also varied with area.

3. わたくし （私）

²  It is used in a very formal occasion.

²  It is considered the most polite and formal personal pronoun.

²  It can be used by both genders.

l         It is often seen in the book title, so maybe it is one of the occasions in which「わたくし」is used.

4. あたし

²  It is in informal style.

²  It is mostly used by young women as it sounds kind of cute.

²  It is considered as girlish if males used it.

²  It commonly appears in conversation, but not in written forms.

²  It is found in the lyrics of some Japanese jingles.

l   「カブトムシ」はaikoのジングル. aikoは日本の女性シンガーソングライター.「あたし」appears in the lyrics of this song.

Here are the lyrics:

-あたしもどんどん年老いて
-深い安らぎ酔いしれるあたしはかぶとむし

 

l   「横顔」もaikoのジングル. 日本テレビ系ドラマ『ホタルノヒカリ』の主題歌となった曲.「あたし」also appears in the lyrics of this song.

Here are the lyrics:

                      -あたしはとても切ない

    

                

5. ぼく （僕）

²  It is in casual, informal style.

²  It is mostly used by males, but kids use it as well.

²  As it is a boyish word, females rarely use it.

²  Its kanji is equivalent to male servants in Sino-Japanese word form.

l         In these two books, the writer himself used 「ぼく」to express himself as a young little boy. He has an identity as a grandson, as well as a son, and he is trying to use his words and pictures to describe his relationships with his grandmother and mother. Here we can see that 「ぼく」is used by little young boy.

6. おら・オラ

²  It is used in the Kanto dialect.

²  It is commonly used by children because of the influence brought by Crayon Shin-chan.

l          It is seen that in the manga of “Crayon Shin-chan”, the main character Shin-chan often uses 「オラ」to express himself. As Shin-chan is a few years- old kid, it is not surprising that children who have read this manga would imitate Shin-chan and use 「オラ」to express themselves.

l     “Dragon Ball” would be another popular manga among young kids, in this manga, the characters also use「オラ」 to express themselves, thus kids could be easily influenced by the manga and use 「オラ」to express themselves in their everyday life.

7. おれ・オレ

²  It is in informal style.

²  It is mostly used by males as this pronoun gives a sense of masculinity.

²  Females rarely use it.

²  In certain occasions, it may be considered as rude.

l         In one of the most popular sport-themed manga “Slam Dunk”, the main character Hanamichi Sakuragi is a teenage boy who later notices that he is very interested and talented in playing basketball. He is considered as rude in school and among his schoolmates, and he often use 「オレ」to express himself, so this has actually shown that「オレ」 is mostly used by males and it is kind of rude using this pronoun.

l         Mitsui Hisashi is also another player who is in the same team as Sakuragi, he was once a gang member, but then he felt regretful about himself and has decided to join the team again. He is considered as rude also and he uses「オレ」, so this has further affirmed the use of 「オレ」.

I would like to use 「わたし」and「あたし」. This is because「わたし」is the most commonly used personal pronoun, and it can used by males and females, as well as formal and informal occasion, so the chance of wrongly using certain personal pronouns can be reduced! As for「あたし」, since it is made for young girls, so there should be no reason for not using 「あたし」in my daily casual conversation as a young teenage girl !  : )



Japanese Geography Project

During the last summer holiday (Aug 2010), I have been to the Tohoku (northeast) region of Japan, including Miyagi(宮城県), Akita(秋田県), Iwate(岩手県) and Aomori(青森県). Although it was only a 5-Day trip, I could experience another side of Japan, which is filled with natural beauty and historical value.

Unlike other busy and popular cities in Japan (e.g: Tokyo, Osaka), people in the Tohoku region seem to have a slow-paced, leisurable lifestyle. Tourists can temporarily forget all the other tedious and annoying stuff in work and everyday live, and fully enjoy their holiday here!

The attractiveness of the Tohoku region also includes the beautiful sceneries of nature. The sceneries of the river, lake, hill and forest that I have visited are really fascinating and enchanting!

Here below are the places that I have visited!

1) 松島(Matsushima) @宮城県

  There are more than 260 islands on the Matsushima Bay, where it is located in the central part of Miyagi prefecture. These islands are of different sizes and have their own uniqueness, and all the islands here have combined and created an amazing and stunning view, thus Matsushima is one of the three most beautiful sites in Japan!

2) 厳美渓(Genbikei Gorge) @岩手県

  The river currents of the Iwai river(磐井川)has led to the erosion of the huge rocks, creating a 2km long Genbikei Gorge. The sceneries here are very ravishing and attractive. When spring has come, the cherry blossoms growing by the two sides of the gorge would create a breath-taking picture, which, for sure, would add more beauty to Genbikei Gorge !

3) 奥入瀬渓流(Oirase Stream) @青森県

  Along the Oirase stream, you can see many waterfalls. The water there is clear and limpid, creating a beautiful and lovely scenery with the surrounding green forests.  

You can walk along the path and enjoy different sceneries of Oirase stream in different seasons, and here is also a popular spot for taking great pictures and hiking! 

  

4) 十和田湖(Lake Towada) @ 秋田/青森県

  It is a large crater lake located at the border of Aomori and Akita prefectures. The wonderful views of the lake do attract a lot of tourists, in which you can enjoy the stunning sceneries either by taking a boat ride or walking along the shore!

I really appreciate how the Japanese government are promoting and conserving the natural beauty of Japan. It is great to see all the beautiful sceneries of nature during different seasons. For instance like the cherry blossoms in spring, green leaves in summer, red leaves in autumn and snow in winter. The four seasons have created different pictures in nature, in which people living in the cities can hardly observe such kind of views! I hope I can explore more natural beauty of Japan in the future, and I particularly want to visit Tohoku region again, as I believe that Tohoku region owns many of the amazing and stunning sceneries in Japan!

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History does not only reveal the past development of a country, but it also reveals the uniqueness of its culture and people. I love taking a walk freely in these spots filled with rich history, and I must say that the historical buildings and sites in Tohoku region are really impressive.

1) 五大堂(Godaido) @宮城県

 Godaido is actually a Buddhist temple built on a small island near Matsushima. It is a representative site of Matsushima, which you can still enjoy the great sceneries of Matsushima while visiting Godaido.

2) 角館(Kakunodate) @秋田県

 It is commonly known as “Little Kyoto” of Michinoku because there are a lot of residences of the old samurai, these residences have formed into a castle town, which this design has lasted for 380 years long. You can enter different residences of the samurai and observe the design of these old houses, some residences have transferred into an exhibition hall, where you can find some old pictures, goods and writings in the old times. And some residences become shops, where you can buy some souvenirs and food!

3) 仙台城(Sendai Castle) @宮城県

  It is a castle built by the famous Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, Date Masamune (伊達政宗). Now the castle has transferred into a park, known as the Aobayama park (青葉山公園), a bronze statue of Date Masamune is stood in the park for commemorating the achievement of this great leader.

I am not very familiar with the history of Japan, but I am fascinated by the rich history revealed by all the temples and historical sites in Japan! It is another way to explore and experience more about Japan, although someone may think that it is quite boring when it comes to something about history, I myself prefer to follow such a way to know more about a country. I am now planning to go to Kyoto, which I think it is a real place for tourists to learn about the history and experience the traditional side of Japan.