Japanese Nationals: Do you think Americans should put more pressure on their kids?

Question

In the U.S. we have this perception that in Japan it's very intense, and from age 5 to 18, a japanese's sole duty to life is to study 6 days a week and in the summer.

Some Americans put a lot of pressure, but some do not. It's certainly not universal or enforced by the government.

As a Japanese national, either currently lving in Japan or having been there, do you think Americans should be harder on their kids about school or is it the other way around, that Japan should be nicer to its children?

Answers from Americans who've been to japan are also welcome.

Answer 1

I've never been to Japan, but I've been to China, where the demand to do well in school is very high as well. I definitely think that American parents should teach their children to value education more.

Answer 2

Yama is right.
Every country has different custom and education system.
For eg, In China, ppl work and some elite children study more harder than Japan. However, I have no right to stop them.
Japan always seek what is good for their future. Because Japanese likes, so called future life, convenient life, and automatic things(You know the door of Taxi open automatically in Japan). etc. That is what I can say.

I think you can ask the ppl in "Japan" room of Travel category. There are are many Japanese and American who has kids, teaching there and living in Japan.

Answer 3

I'm American but worked in Japanese schools for two years and now have two kids in Japanese Saturday school here in the states, which covers basically the same curriculum as Japanese regular schools.

Japanese people that I know are of two minds on this. About 10 years ago there was a movement to give kids in Japan more time to play, and a freer form of education, "yutori kyoiku", was implemented in many schools. Many parents now feel that this was a mistake, and a large number of kids go to cram schools until late in the evening to make up for what they're not getting at school.

No matter what your opinion on educational issues, it's a fact that Japanese language, with its thousands of complex characters all with a number of meanings and pronunciations, requires years and years of rote memorization and repitition to learn. When my kids were in pre-school, I didn't plan to send them to Japanese school, but when I thought about what a waste it would be to speak Japanese but not read and write it, I decided it was worth the daily homework and all-day Saturdays. It has paid off so far--they are able to communicate with twice as many people with their two languages.

Answer 4

It is just different cultures and they each have their own reasons for the way they do business. For instance we have summer off because the family used to need help during harvest. It is just the culture you live in.