Japanese High School Curriculum

[Dumbledork]

I need some information about the Japanese educational system. I've been googling for some information but most sites don't have the precise information I need.
1) What's the curriculum in a typical High School) The information that I got from various anime and manga is rather sketchy. All they seem to get taught in anime is history, English, Japanese literature and PE. I'm prety sure they have more courses than those. In every anime and manga girls seem to have cooking and sewing lessons. What's the equivalent for boys? So anything else?
2) How exactly does the club system work?
3) At what time does school start and end?
4) Are after school clubs mandatory or optional?

[EdenB]

1) Some information on the curriculum in the below link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_education_in_Japan
Highlights are that Japanese, English, Maths and Science are the major courses. Since a certain time both males and females have been made to take home economics.
2) See four
3) Unknown
4)Also unknown, if you go from the information from anime it varies from not being mentioned, joining being encouraged but not mandatory (a commonly occurring phrase being the "Going Home Club") to being mandatory. A guess would be that it depends on the school, but I can't find anything definite on it.

[Atlan]

A friend of mine from Japan, an excange student, made one note of difference between there and here. In Japan, (or at least his school), PE was manditory, and the two choices were Judo and Kendo.

[khim]

I need some information about the Japanese educational system. I've been googling for some information but most sites don't have the precise information I need.
1) What's the curriculum in a typical High School) The information that I got from various anime and manga is rather sketchy. All they seem to get taught in anime is history, English, Japanese literature and PE. I'm prety sure they have more courses than those. In every anime and manga girls seem to have cooking and sewing lessons. What's the equivalent for boys? So anything else?

"Cooking and sewing lessons" are called "home economics". There are analog for boys. More information here. There are difference from school to school but I'm pretty sure I've seen math and physics in anime . PE is mandatory.

2) How exactly does the club system work?

Details differ from school to school, but usually there are fixed time for club activity and you can choose club to participate...

3) At what time does school start and end?

Differs from school to school, but usually start is at 8:30, end at 3:30 (not including club activity - it's another one or two hours).

4) Are after school clubs mandatory or optional?

Like high-school itself: it's not mandatory, but almost everyone goes there anyway.
P.S. I hope you know that there are three terms per year: April 8 to around July 20 (first one; school years starts from April!), September 1 to around December 22, January 8 to around March 23...

[Dumbledork]

Three terms? No I didn't know. I thought there wre only two divided by the "Golden Week". Good to know.
Several more questions to the third point. Any short breaks between lessons? How long does lunch break last and at whattime does lunch break start? Are Saturdays school days or not?

[Lord Aries Greymon]

Are Saturdays school days or not?

That is both a yes and no.
sometimes, there's a half-day on Saturday.
I'm, uncertain what circumstances cause it to be used, but I'd assume it'd be mostly a make-up day. (ya know, when you take a test you missed out on.)

[khim]

Several more questions to the third point. Any short breaks between lessons?

10 minutes (sometimes 5 minutes, but usually 10). Teachers need some time to go from class to class. Class is 50 minutes long (longest in the world AFAIK). Students are always in the same room - exception is, of course, classes with special equipment: computers (if it's included - it's not mandatory), PE, chemistry.

How long does lunch break last and at whattime does lunch break start?

Depends on school, but usually it's 30-35 minutes long after 4th period (usually 12:40). After that you have small time for yourself (or you can use this for lunch too if you are not using cafeteria) and soji (school cleaning - also figures prominently in anime).

Are Saturdays school days or not?

Before 2002 - half-day, today - it's day off. Buf you still can be forced to attend school at Saturday as punishment/remedy/etc.

[lwf58]

The half-day on Saturday used to be mandatory, but as noted in the previous post, schools began to phase it out in 2002. Clubs are not mandatory, but there's pressure on students to encourage them to join a club. It's thought to help students learn to work in a group, which is a big part of Japanese social dynamics.

[Dumbledork]

Thanks for the answers.

[EdenB]

Class is 50 minutes long (longest in the world AFAIK).

Just a minor point, but 50 minute definitely shouldn't be the longest class in the world. At high school level in the UK it's 60 minutes in most schools I believe and used to be longer which some schools still practice I think.

[Lord Aries Greymon]

Class is 50 minutes long (longest in the world AFAIK).

Just a minor point, but 50 minute definitely shouldn't be the longest class in the world. At high school level in the UK it's 60 minutes in most schools I believe and used to be longer which some schools still practice I think.

He did say A.F.A.I.K. [As Far As I Know]
I hate that Acronym.
Took me a week to understand what it meant.
EDIT: fixed a Nested Quote. wish I knew why they're so difficult to spot. I know my eyesight's still 20/20.

[nuclear death frog]

On the class length issue, I went to a public high school where students took eight classes split over two days, four a day, 90 minutes each; plus lunch, at staggered intervals since the school had close to 4000 students in just the upper three grades; ninth grade was at a separate campus. Gym was only mandatory for two years; after that it was optional.

[Pale Wolf]

Class is 50 minutes long (longest in the world AFAIK).

I think the 100 min in Ontario school system wins that

[lwf58]

Comparing notes on how long school days or class lengths are for schools other than Japan is off-topic. This is research about Japanese schools.

[lwf58]

Dumbledork, how familiar are you with the other aspects of Japanese school life? For example, are you aware that:
1. Japanese students are assigned to a room, and stay in it for the entire school year. Except for classes which require special equipment like science labs, phys ed, and home ec, they stay in the classroom, and the teachers come to them, so they get a different teacher each period.
2. Japanese schools do not hire people to perform janitorial or custodial services. The students clean their homerooms, and public areas are assigned to classes in rotation. Students are often allowed to decorate their homerooms with small touches like posters to personalize them a little.
3. Students change floors according to their year.
4. Japanese junior high and senior high schools do not use titles like "sophomore", "junior", or "senior" for students. They use "first year", "second year", and "third year".
A fun site to get little glimpses into Japanese school life is the blog of a JET assistant teacher, http://www.gaijinsmash.net/.