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Japanese Senior High School 2007/10/25 16:48
I am 12(yes, a junior, but one has big dreams!)
and I'm writing a novel, which consists majority of school life in Japanese Senior High School
I certainly do NOT want to make up false information on this. I need to know things like:
1) What time to they report to school?
2)When does their school term ends or starts.Like...what month.
3) What time to they leave school?
4) Is it true that they only study for half a day on Saturday? And if so, how long is their half day?
5) How long is a certain lesson?
6) Let's say you're in the 1st grade of Senior High School. So...how old are you?
7) Those in Senior High School, what are their age groups?
8) If a student comes to shcool by bicycle(gomen, wrong spelling, I'm rushing for time), where does he/she put it?
9) When does a student graduate? (which year?) If he doesn't graduate, what would happen?
10) At which month is a students exams? (Like finals etc)
11) What are New-Half (s)?


I'm so sorry for asking all thess quesions, but I have to finish my novel by this year, and all these are the info I do not now.
I've already visited the Maiko Covington webpage, but I can't seem to contact the writer.
I've searched every website possible but ... I can't borrow aany books too, as I can't find ANY books.

Please, help, ANYONE!!!!!!!!!

NOTE: I am not American so I also do not understand all those 1st grade, 2nd Grade kind of thing.
by Rae  

hope it helps 2007/10/26 19:30
There is a wide variation of senior high schools in Japan nowadays, but let me try to tell you about a typical one.

1) At most schools, students should be in class by 8:30am.

2) Typically, the first day of a new school year is around April 8th, 9th-ish. Summer vacation usually starts just before July 20th and usually lasts til the last day of August. Winter vacation usually starts on December 23rd which is a national holiday (current Emperor's birthday) and lasts til about Jan 8th. The school year ends around March 20th. The terms always used to be in between those vacations (3 terms). However, nowadays a lot of schools have only 2 terms, one ending around October.

3) Classes typically finish around 3:10pm. But a lot of students participate in club activities etc. The gate usually closes around 6:00pm. However, competetive clubs, especially sport teams may often last until around 9:00pm.

4) Most schools have both Saturdays and Sundays off. Some schools have classes on Saturdays but just for the morning. There are usually 4 morning classes and the last one ends around 12:30pm, which would be just before lunch time if it were a weekday.

5) Typically, one class (lesson) usually lasts for either 45 or 50 minutes.

6) The oldest person in the 1st year of Senior High School turns 16 on April 2nd. As I mentioned, school starts around April 8th. So most students are 15 except for the very few students who already had their birthday during the first days of April.

7) There are 3 years in Senior High School, and you must attend all 3 years (you can't skip a year and graduate earlier). However, in some schools, you can repeat a year or two if you flunk. Therefore, typically ages are from 15 to 18, but some can be around up to 20 or so.

8) At a lot of schools in the city, commuting by bicycle is not allowed. However, at schools which allow bicycles, there is a lot near the gate, sometimes inside and sometimes outside, to park them. You can see an example of a lot if you can get hold of the DVD for "Sekai No Chushin De Ai O Sakebu (Crying Out Love At The Center Of The World)"'s TV drama version.

9) Students graduate as soon as they finish their 3rd year. I'm not sure what you mean by "If he doesn't graduate, what would happen?" He'll be a high school dropout, I guess. You have to hope he has better plans for his future.

10) There are final-term exams just before the term ends, and mid-term exams around the middle. For terms, refer to the previous answer.

11) "New-Half" is a non-offensive term to mean "drag queen" (half woman, half man). But I can't imagine a senior high school student being a New-Half, since they are too young to get a legal sex-change operation.

Just for your reference, the following is an extremely thorough list of all the senior high schools in Tokyo. It is in Japanese, but if you click the school names on the very left row of the pink block, you can jump to their websites, and then you can click around to view some photos.
by Uco, with son in 1st yr of sr. high rate this post as useful

HERE is the list 2007/10/26 19:33
by Uco rate this post as useful

Letters 2007/11/5 18:47
If a boy student happens to like a girl and decides to give her a love letter or so, when he passes it to another student to pass it to the girl, how would the girl be able to read it?
Under her desk I suppose? OR you can't read it under?
by Ai rate this post as useful

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