Japanese Lessons: A Year in a Japanese School Through the Eyes of An American Anthropologist and Her Children

by Gail R. Benjamin

Benjamin dismantles Americans' preconceived notions of the Japanese education system

"Gail R. Benjamin reaches beyond predictable images of authoritarian Japanese educators and automaton schoolchildren to show the advantages and disadvantages of a system remarkably different from the American one..."― The New York Times Book Review

Americans regard the Japanese educational system and the lives of Japanese children with a mixture of awe and indignance. We respect a system that produces higher literacy rates and superior math skills, but we reject the excesses of a system that leaves children with little free time and few outlets for creativity and self-expression.

In Japanese Lessons , Gail R. Benjamin recounts her experiences as a American parent with two children in a Japanese elementary school. An anthropologist, Benjamin successfully weds the roles of observer and parent, illuminating the strengths of the Japanese system and suggesting ways in which Americans might learn from it.

With an anthropologist's keen eye, Benjamin takes us through a full year in a Japanese public elementary school, bringing us into the classroom with its comforting structure, lively participation, varied teaching styles, and non-authoritarian teachers. We follow the children on class trips and Sports Days and through the rigors of summer vacation homework. We share the experiences of her young son and daughter as they react to Japanese schools, friends, and teachers. Through Benjamin we learn what it means to be a mother in Japan--how minute details, such as the way mothers prepare lunches for children, reflect cultural understandings of family and education.

Genres: Nonfiction, Japan, Memoir, Education, Textbooks, Asia

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Felipe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being the sucker for modern Japanese ethnographies that I am, I had to pick up this book when I happened to catch site of it at my university's library. Unfortunately... I am still debating whether or not it was worth the time I took to read it.

Mainly, it's Benjamin's unavoidable "Japan is Better" attitude that I find hard to swallow. She is unapologetic in her insistence, and it's the fact that she seems to base her assumption mainly on test scores that really gets to me. Having experienced the Japanese university system first hand (at three separate universities, now) and having interacted with a number of teachers in the lower levels of the Japanese education system (who were very willing to share their feelings on what they considered to be the numerous failings of their system), I cannot help but conclude that test scores are a very poor judge of academic achievement, especially considering the emphasis in Japan on "memorize this, and memorize it hard, kiddos, 'cause there's a test a comin'."

My other main complaint is how she glosses over the criticisms at the end, a number of which are quite serious and indeed brought up by native Japanese citizens today. It was at this point that I wonder how much the system has changed since she experienced the elementary school system (91-92), but at the same time, factors such as discrimination against the Korean-ethnic and burakumin populations is nothing if not a depressing constant, and certainly not something that should be rushed through as it was in this book. (She didn't even explain what burakumin are, or why they are discriminated against, despite giving a short but satisfactory explanation of the Korean-ethnic population--an omission which baffled me.)

Ultimately, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who has not either experienced the Japanese school system first hand, or the products thereof--it gives too biased an analysis for those completely uninitiated. By the end, I was having to force myself just to finish the last section, and wondering what ridiculously idyllic little corner of Japan this particular academic conducted her research in.

(I never thought I'd find the book that would make me adopt the defensive stance of "Leave America alone!" Good grief.)

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it is pretty dated by now, I still found this delightfully insightful and very readable despite the academic purpose. Benjamin excelled at finding parallels between what happens in Japanese schools and what happens in Japanese society among adults, highlighting how Japanese elementary schools emphasize the social skills needed to succeed in adult life in their society. I also thought she did a good job asking what the Japanese themselves think of their school system, pros and cons.

I think I would've enjoyed a little more "first hand" material, like more of her children's thoughts/opinions or thoughts from her Japanese friends with children also in elementary school--there is some of that, but I wish there had been more. And although it purported to cover a whole year, it was mostly focused on summer vacation and the fall term.

[Cheryl Gatling]

My daughter gave me this book to read. My daughter had taken Japanese classes at the University of Pittsburgh. I am certain that this author, Gail R Benjamin, was one of her professors. I found the book very interesting to read, but not very easy to summarize, so I put off writing a review. Here, three months later, is what I remember.

The author, when she was living and working in Japan, had two children, and she sent them to Japanese schools, instead of to an English-language school, which is what most non-Japanese do while staying in Japan. I don’t remember their ages, but Sam, the boy, was approximately middle school, and the daughter, Ellen, was about primary school.

One of the ways Japanese school was different is that there was a lot of uniformity. All the kids wear uniforms, with color coding for different grade levels. There is a single national curriculum. All kids study the same subjects with the same books. At lunch, all the kids eat the same thing. Kids are expected to place group unity above their personal preferences, and this practice continues into adulthood. When work groups have a dinner together, they will also all order the same food.

There is a lot of work expected. There are homework assignments that are to be done at home (with the help of the mother). There are summer assignments, including swimming lessons, that are to be done, and again, the mother is expected to make sure that all of this gets done.

There is a huge emphasis on working in groups. Almost all classwork is done within small groups. Again, this is preparation for adult life, where work is done in groups. Individuals are rarely singled out, either for praise or for criticism. There is a Sports Day every year, where kids seem to have great fun running races and such, even though there are no winners declared.

Discipline is not harsh, and mostly consists of enticing a disruptive student back into the fold. It is assumed that the misbehaving student just does not yet understand how wonderful it is to be part of the group, and once he understands that, he will settle down and conform.

Grades are not given. When kids get up to the high school years, they have to take a placement test that will determine which school they will attend, and eventually which college they will attend. This is so important that kids put in extra hours studying in special after-hours schools.

Most of the kids enjoy school. Learning to read and write is challenging. First they learn to read using the syllabary, and then they learn the kanji characters. One of the required classes is moral education, something that would not fly in American schools, since Americans equate morality with religion, and religion is contentious. Art and music are taught with as much seriousness as the core subjects, and are always a part of the curriculum.

I think the thing from the book that made the biggest impression on me is the idea in Japanese schools that anybody can learn anything, as long as you start with simple enough principles, and advance step by step. Americans are quick to assume that certain people have a talent for language, or for math, or for art, and the other people just as quick to assume, “I’m not good at that,” and give up. Of course some people pick up some subjects more quickly than others, but I love to think that anybody can learn anything.

At the end Benjamin sums up the pros and cons of Japanese education. There are criticisms, even from the Japanese, that the curriculum is too hard, and that the emphasis on conformity can lead to bullying of kids who are different. And she makes some comparisons with American education, but I’m going to end on the positive note of anybody can learn anything.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is slightly dated, as it references research from the 70's-80's and events that occurred in the 90's. The publication date is 1997, so I feel this can easily be forgiven by the reader. It only briefly touches on what is considered controversial about the education system to Japanese people, focusing on a more descriptive view as a contrast to the american education system. It is a nice view of one families perspective, and may have been ground-breaking research at the time, but perhaps a more recently published book would have a fuller picture, if one is going for an analysis of the Japanese education system as a whole, rather than single point detailed examples.

[Rosie Zhao · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir is old, so old that the author’s 1st grade daughter is my age. I have no idea how accurately this would represent the modern day Japanese education system, but I’m willing to bet a fair bit.

There were some really interesting takeaways for me, as the Japanese approach is much different from the American (or even Chinese) approach to grade school education. This is a topic that I enjoy, as an educator and as someone who aspires to teach in Japan.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to just anyone, but for me it provided a number of helpful insights. 8/10

[Sweetmongoose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although published in 1997, still relevant to anyone interested in Japanese culture and/or interested in pedagogy. Many Japanese pedagogical techniques are now being taught in teacher education programs in North America. A fascinating read, accessible yet detailed.

[Shelby Bethke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The full title of this book is Japanese Lessons: A Year in a Japanese School Through the Eyes of an American Anthropologist and Her Children. With a mouthful like that, this book can't be anything but an academic text. I was an anthropology major in college and I was always the one who spoke a lot in class and I have a lot to say about this book, but I'll try to keep it down since I don't want this to turn into a rant. Our anthropologist, Gail R. Benjamin paints an almost utopia view of the Japanese school; a view which I have not seen during my time teaching in Japan.

Let's set the scene. Ms. Benjamin and her husband taught at a university near Tokyo for a year and during that time they enrolled their children, Sam and Ellen, in 5th and 1st grade respectively at the local elementary school. The author then guides us through that school year and what she experienced. Spoiler Alert: everything was perfect. The classes were challenging but not overwhelming. The kids were happy and always got along and liked their teacher. The kids were given every possible opportunity to be creative and express themselves. I think the author may have thought she needed to do this in order to counteract the stereotype that many Westerners have of Japanese school children just filling in worksheets and doing problem set drills all day. I can testify that this is definitely not the case, I would even say that in many ways I think the Japanese education system is superior to the American one, but I certainly wouldn't say that it's perfect.

I said I wasn't going to turn this into a rant so I'm just going to take issue with one of Ms. Benjamin's stances. She talks quite a lot about her children having to work harder then then did in their old American elementary school and she does acknowledge that students have difficulty keeping up with the rigorous curriculum. She says how in Japan 70% of the elementary students are able keep up with all the work expected of them. In middle school, this number drops to 50% and in high school only 30% of the students are able to understand all the material. How can this not be a problem? Ms. Benjamin justifies it by saying that 30% comprehension of such advanced material could still be 100% comprehension of an easier, American curriculum. While I acknowledge the truth in that, it really annoys me that she completely sidesteps the stress Japanese students have trying to keep their heads above water.

I do want to say that this in an older text. It was published in 1997, but the year that the Benjamins actually spent in Japan was 1989-1990. There were several things in this book that I disagreed with, but a lot of them could be explained by the that time gap. The cultural world can evolve almost as quickly as the technological one and I have no idea what policies and social norms of Japanese education have changed in that time. And it wasn't all bad. Ms. Benjamin did point out some interesting things that I hadn't thought about before such as the relationship between school children and their parents, and how a lot of education helps prepare kids for the group mentality of Japanese society. In the end, I think I would recommend this book since there isn't a whole lot of selection on this topic and different perspectives are always important, but please, whatever you do, don't let it be the only one you read. Balance it with something a little more realistic.

[Harry Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a result of a recommendation by someone on Goodreads. Although it is 15 years old, it is still relevant to the discussion about US education. My take away is that putting so much focus on teachers and resources, as we do, misses the primary reason our schools are so lackluster. We should instead take a long and critical look at our education system. This is not an easy read by any means, but worth the effort.

[Very Casual · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happened upon this in the Stack at work: fascinating! Makes me want to enroll my daughter in a Japanese school immediately! And move to Japan to teach. Somewhat dated now but still a great anthropological read.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An eye-opening view of Japanese education. Many ideas I wish were used in American schools. Some that seemed a challenge to my way of thinking. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in education. It is great to have a chance to see a completely new way of looking at the classroom.

[Lynn Calvin]

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