The Arts in Japanese Schools

So it has been a looooong time since this blog was updated. Apologies for that!

Today I want to bring up something that I’ve noticed in my time working at a Japanese high school. On the day of this writing, it is actually a special day for the students. The school has brought in performers to entertain the students after lunch, and they will be performing a famous stage production. Cool right?

Well, yes and no. I think it’s really good that the school is doing something like this, but the thing that concerns me is that this kind of thing only happens once every three years. That means every student will only be able to experience it once. Someone told me that the event is held to expose the students to the arts, and sometimes instead of stage performers, they bring in musical acts. But that still begs the question, are the arts only important enough for students to experience them once?

Coming from America, I know full well that funding for the arts programs is always the first to be cut from any school budget. But when I went to school, I still had the opportunity to take band as well as art, and after school I would attend art club or continue band practice. They took up portions of the school day, and the school also offered choir and theater. Though the funding was limited, I still had the freedom to experience these things. 

Japan doesn’t have that. The only way students are allowed to partake in anything artistic is by joining a school club after school. There are no arts classes held during the regular schedule. And because of how the clubs operate, of course students can only ever be in one club. So students have a very limited ability to experience anything from the arts, and that makes me sad. 

From my personal perspective, the arts are not praised nor encouraged in Japanese high schools. They can be seen as a waste, because they take away from the time students should spend studying for the many tests they have to take. They have no freedom to experience this whole other aspect of the world, and I think they’re really missing out on something. 

This is all coming from someone who was involved in a lot of the arts, and I only teach at 2 schools in Japan, so it isn't like I really have a lot of varied experience to draw from regarding this topic. But the arts in general don’t seem to enjoy the same love (if you want to call it that) that exists in America, even outside of the school setting, and that fact is something that saddens me greatly. These students could really be missing out on something great, as they are forced to keep their heads in their books and focus on passing the tests. 

Maybe someday that will change, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon. So all I can do is hope that there are schools and communities in Japan that actively encourage the youth to pursue the arts, because without it, the world is a sad place indeed.