Japanese society

Politics in Japan Japanese School System Japanese name Social insurance in Japan Over-concentration in Tokyo

Politics in Japan

Ten-no who is the Emperor of Japan has been the head of Japan since the ancient times.

But, under the current constitution of Japan, Ten-no is not "the head of the state" but "the symbol of the state".

Therefore, Ten-no can't take part in political affairs of Japan.

Only some actions such as declaring the opening of the Diet, the ceremonies for appointing the ministers, etc. are provided.

The parliamentary cabinet system is adopted in Japan.
So, the Prime Minister is substantially the head of Japan.

Japanese Diet is in the center of Tokyo.

It consists of two Houses, namely the House of Representatives ("Shugi-in" in Japanese, 465 seats) and the House of Councilors ("Sangi-in" in Japanese, 248 seats).

The former corresponds to the Lower House and the latter corresponds to the Upper House in many countries.

All members of the Houses are elected by Japanese people aged 18 and over.

The Prime Minister is chosen from among the members of the Houses.
Then, the Prime Minister appoints the administrative ministers and forms the Cabinet.

Each prefectural governor, each mayor of the city, town or village, and the members of the assembly are also elected by the people in the area.

Guide to National Diet Building in Tokyo

School System in Japan

Overview of School System

In Japan, 6-year-old children enter elementary school.
(Many of them go to kindergarten for a few years before elementary school.)

The children go to elementary school for six years.

After that, they enter lower secondary school (junior high-school).
They learn in the school for three years.

Education through these schools is compulsory in Japan.

But more than 98% of them go to high school.
And, they learn in high school for three years.

The schools in Japan have basically the three-term system.

The first term is from early April to late July.
The second term is from September to late December.
The third term is from early January to late March.

Classes are conducted from Monday to Friday.

Commuting to school without adults

The chidren in Japan go to school by themselves or in groups.
Basically, school bus is not used and the parents don't take the children to and from the school./p>

That has been the standard for a long time in Japan.

The reason is that it is safe, the traffic rules are observed, and the local community watches over the children.

Through this, Japanese children cultivate a sense of independence and social skills, and also learn traffic rules.

If you head out into the town around 8 a.m. on a weekday while traveling, you might see the children on their way to school.

School Lunch system

Japanese elementary schools have School lunch system.

The menus designed with nutritional balance in mind are systematically planned, and the meals based on the menu are prepared daily at the schools or the local facilities.

The students on duty in each class bring the meals to the classroom and serve the meal for all class mates.

All the students including the homeroom teacher eat the same meal at their own desks.

The meal ends at the same time, and all students help with the cleanup.

Through this, Japanese children acquire the knowledge about the nutritional value of foods and cultivate a sense of gratitude toward those who provide their meals.

Classroom cleaning after school

After the day's classes are over, all students clean their classroom.

Experiencing this fosters a mindset among the entire population to keep public spaces clean.

Occasionally, the news reports highlight with a sense of surprise instances that Japanese players cleaned up their locker room, or Japanese supporters picked up trash in the stands after the international game.

These actions are one of the results of school education in Japan.

Career path after graduation

In Japan, the entrance ceremony is held at the beginning of the first term in early April, and the graduation ceremony is held around the end of the third term in mid-March.

These are held as important events at each school with the participation of all teachers and the school staff, students' parents, and current students.

With the entrance ceremony, the children realize that they have entered a school at a higher level.

With the graduation ceremony, the children leave the school and part ways with their teachers and classmates.

These are just in the season of cherry blossoms.
Cherry blossoms are invariably used as a symbol in these events.

The students advance to the next grade in April.
That is based on Japanese fiscal year starting in April.

The 18-year-old students who has graduated from a high school decide their career path.

About 70% of them go to university, colledge or institute.
The others get a job.

To enter a high school, university, and colledge, the entrance examination is held in most schools from January to February.

It is one of the trials for their lives.

The university entrance ceremony also takes place in April.

The timing of graduation and entrance ceremonies in Japan differs from that in most other countries.

When studying abroad at a foreign university, or when foreign students come to study at a Japanese university, a gap of several months usually arises.

Names of Japanese people

The order of Japanese name is (Family name) - (First name) contrary to the name in many countries.
The order is the same as the name of Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese peoples.

Of course, Japanese name is based on Japanese language.

Both family name and first name have generally 2 to 4 syllables, and about half of the spelling are vowels (a, i, u, e, o).
So, it seems that Japanese name is hard for most foreign people to pronounce.

It is said that there are more than 300,000 kinds of family names in Japan.
And, the first name has lots of varieties.

Since ancient times, the nobles and samurai had family names, but the commoners did not have it.

After the era of the samurai ended, it became mandatory for all citizens to have a family name in 1875.
So, a wide variety of family names emerged in Japan all at once.

Check such Japanese names in the following page.

Names of Japanese people

Social insurance in Japan

In Japan, there are some social insurance systems such as pension, medical insurance, employment insurance, etc.

All Japanese people who reached a certain age have an obligation to participate in each insurance, and the insurance premium is collected.

So, all Japanese people can basically receive the pension from the age of 65.

And when Japanese people get treatment in any hospital, only 30% of the fee is charged by the insurance.
In addition, it is reduced to 20% starting at age 70, and to 10% at age 75.

For this reason, it seems that Japanese people seek medical care relatively easily.

But, if you need to go to hospital during the trip in Japan, you must pay the expensive cost of the treatment.
Therefore, you should take out any overseas travel insurance before you come to Japan.

Over-concentration in Tokyo

In Japan, there are three big city areas.
They are Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya areas.

The population of Tokyo area is about 34 million, Osaka area is about 18 million, and Nagoya area is about 11 million.
The total population of these areas is about half of whole Japan.

Especially, Tokyo area has over a quarter of the total population of Japan within 80-kilometer radius.
The area includes Yokohama, Kawasaki, Saitama, Chiba with a million or higher population.

The people who want to live in such big city area must solve a difficult problem.

If a person hopes to live near central part of the city, the huge amounts of money to buy a house are needed.

On the other hand, if a person hopes to buy a house at a reasonable price, the target house is far away from the city.

Of course, the solution for many common people is the latter.

So, the commuting time is very long.
In Tokyo area, if it takes within one hour, the person is happy.
Some people spend over two hours to go to their workplaces.

Additionally the living space in Japan is narrow.
Once Westerner said "It's like a rabbit hutch".

In the city area, we can get easily a "Mansion" as living space.

Mansion in Japanese don't mean luxurious house but condominium.
Generally, it has two or three rooms and dining room with kitchen, and if it has four rooms, it is in large class.

The general price of such "Mansion" is four times more expensive than the annual income of the workers.

In the urban areas, detached houses are main.
However, the house area is small and the number of rooms in the house is not large.

Total population of Japan is rapidly decreasing.
But, among all the prefectures in Japan, Tokyo is the only one that the population continues to grow.

Government organizations, the headquarters of many large enterprises, main mass communications, etc. concentrate in Tokyo.
So, population inflow into Tokyo area is still continuing now.

This means that the the population of all areas in Japan except for Tokyo is rapidly decreasing.
The aging in the areas is advancing and the declining birth rate doesn't stop.

In a few decades, Japan will be a whole different country.

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