Before I arrived, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about teaching in a women’s university. How archaic, I thought, to have such institutions in the 21st Century in a first world country. But now that I’ve experienced just how much of a man’s world it is in Japan, and how women are supposed to defer to men at all times, I think it’s better that these girls are allowed to be themselves in this female environment for another four years of their life. Once they start out on their chosen career – unless they’re planning to be a nun or an infant teacher – they’ll be working with men and will be expected to behave in a dizzy way, raise the pitch of their voice by at least an octave whenever they speak, and giggle behind their hand like a demented hyena as often as possible.
One of the first tasks for my students at the beginning of term was to fill in an information card, so I could learn a little bit about them, and I was astonished when I read about their goals and ambitions –
I wondered when was the last time that an English university student regarded marriage as her only long-term goal? Probably in the 1950s.
Other goals were equally lacking in ambition and drive –
Or how about this list of favourites from a 19 year-old?
No mention of alcohol, cigarettes, nightclubs, clothes, music or any of the other things that university students usually enjoy.
I soon realised that a university in Japan is more like a school in England. They love a game of snakes and ladders –
And are definitely not too cool to do the Macarena –
I’m planning to teach them the hokey-cokey on the last day of term.
And another thing about these girls is that they’re always so exhausted –
They stay up half the night online, and then can’t stay awake during the day. It’s such a common occurrence that one of the comments in our comment bank for writing reports says ‘she sleeps in class’. Even the most disaffected students I taught in England managed to stay awake for the whole lesson.
I’m also getting an insight into the way the Japanese mind works, and for all their reputation for precision and detail, their measuring system seems somewhat vague –
And this girl wasn’t the only one who measured a character’s size in puddings, there were several others. What sort of pudding, I wanted to know – is there a standard size for a big pudding?
Equally strange is a fondness for pop stars with dead fish eyes –
– I’ve never seen ‘dead fish eyes’ and ‘cute’ in the same sentence before.
The girls graduate in traditional costume, and a hire company set up shop next to the cafeteria a couple of weeks ago, so that the girls could get kitted out –
I was horrified by the price – nearly £400 just to hire the outift – but there was no shortage of customers having a fitting –
It’s different from a standard kimono because it has an extra piece, almost like a skirt at the front, and it’s worn with boots rather than sandals –
I suppose it’s good training for them, so they’ll be used to this formal attire when they finally achieve their ambitions and put on their wedding kimono, before settling down to a life of bliss with a salaryman who works 14 hours a day – weekends too – and hardly ever takes a holiday.
Japan may look Western on the surface, but once you get beneath the veneer you soon find out that it’s utterly, utterly different.