HELP! Japanese Setting - I need pictures!

[SimonMoon5]

Try this link:

Life in a Japanese High School

 

[Alzrius]

Re: Re: Re: HELP! Japanese Setting - customs and traditions

I'd forgotten about the high school enterence exams ^_^;; So you've already been a help, thanks!

Sure! Kumbaya, it never hurts to help! (Eek the Cat reference, sorry, I'm tired)

I guess to start maybe some festivals, extra curricular activities, that kind of thing would be a help.

Ah, now we're getting somewhere. In Japan, Feb 14 is Valentine's Day, as normal, but on that day, girls give chocolates to the boys that they like, but boys don't do the same. On March 14, White Day (a month after Valentine's Day), then its the boys' turn to give chocolates to the girls that they like. The Cherry Blossom Festival ("Sakura Matsuri") is held whenever the cherry trees are in bloom, usually in April. This holiday, which isn't official, so it can happen over several days, has people having picnics, reading poetry, playing music, etc. The Emperor's birthday is always a national holiday. As an odd note, mail is delivered seven days a week (I once got a package on a Sunday, to my surprise).

School clubs and teams (for sports) are very important, as much so, if not more, than classes. A person who joins the kendo (sword practice) club is expected to already have been practicing for years, and that they'll practice pretty much every day for hours at a time with the club, that they'll compete with them, etc. Dedication to clubs runs very high, and is taken very seriously.

What time does school start and end? do they just have a lunch break, or do they get morning and afternoon breaks as well? How much time is there between classes?

Im not sure when school starts and ends (I'm an American attending college here). I think it begins around the same time as American schools, but ends maybe an hour later than ours. They only get a lunch break, and that's it. Ten to fifteen minutes between classes is standard. There is school on Saturdays, but it tends to just be a half day, ending around noon or so.

College begins in April, but I don't know about previous school caldendars, but I think its the same. Most breaks are longer, with both spring and winter breaks being about a month. Summer break, though, is also only a month long (July). This is nationally standardized.

How much choice do you have over what subjects you take? In Jr High? High School?

This is pretty much the same as in America.

Hope that helps!

 

[thatdarncat]

Thanks guys, that does help a lot

Moving on though

Religion and beliefs - What are the major Japanese religions? Do they take holy days off? Do people go to a service every week or something like that?

 

[MadBlue]

I teach at a Junior High School in Japan. Maybe I can give some suggestions.

Alzrius gave some good advice. Sports Day (in fall) and Culture Day (in spring) are also very big events in Jr. and Sr. High. At age 13-15, the characters would be 1st to 3rd year Jr. High students, or in the first half of Sr. High.

The school year starts in April and ends in March. Students get a month off in summer, but they're tested the week they get back to school in the Fall, so they have to study all summer.

For a lot of kids, the school uniform acts as a kind of secret identity. With 50+ students in most classrooms, many teachers don't recognize their students outside of their uniforms. So as a Mage with Arete, you can almost be guaranteed that your school life and your private life are separate - at least as far as authority figures are concerned.

You'll definitely want to check out Mainichi Daily News Online, and particularly the WaiWai link on the right - just to get an idea of what the seedy side of life in Japan is like without the supernatural out and about. I think the Cult of Ecstasy would be much more popular than the Akashic Brotherhood.

I played in a Mage game set in Tokyo for over a year. It was a lot of fun. My character was a "Takenoko" (Orphan) mage who owned a game center near Tokyo Tower. That was a lot of fun. The GM moved back to Canada, though.

MadBlue

 

[Krug]

buy every issue of Lone Wolf and Cub and you'll have more than enough stuff to use in your campaign.

 

[MadBlue]

Thanks guys, that does help a lot

Moving on though

Religion and beliefs - What are the major Japanese religions? Do they take holy days off? Do people go to a service every week or something like that?

Shinto and Buddhism (particularly Shingon) are the most popular religions. Japanese people don't tend to be particularly religious, though, although people have Shinto groundbreaking and wedding ceremonies and Buddhist funerals - and I mean the same people.

Weekly services, per se, aren't common, but there are days that everyone celebrates or observes, especially ones that deal with family members, deceased or otherwise.

There are a lot of "new religions" that have weekly services, though. They tend to be more rigidly structured than traditional Japanese religions.

New Year's Day is the most popular holiday. Almost everyone goes to a shrine on New Year's Day to receive their fortune for the coming year.

There are special days in the Japanese (Buddhist) calendar that are auspicious or inauspicious for starting and/or ending things. Not that most Japanese people pay attention to them any more than most Americans pay attention to Catholic feast days.

Also, people ask each other about Blood Type the way people in the West (or at least, the States) ask about Star Signs.

There's a wealth of information that can be plumbed for a game set in Japan, especially a Mage game. You might want to search for Japanese holidays and customs and "new religions" in Yahoo.

MadBlue

 

[thatdarncat]

I teach at a Junior High School in Japan. Maybe I can give some suggestions.

Alzrius gave some good advice. Sports Day (in fall) and Culture Day (in spring) are also very big events in Jr. and Sr. High. At age 13-15, the characters would be 1st to 3rd year Jr. High students, or in the first half of Sr. High.

without[/i] the supernatural out and about. I think the Cult of Ecstasy would be much more popular than the Akashic Brotherhood.

I played in a Mage game set in Tokyo for over a year. It was a lot of fun. My character was a "Takenoko" (Orphan) mage who owned a game center near Tokyo Tower. That was a lot of fun. The GM moved back to Canada, though.

You might just be able to, thank you. Does Jr High cover grades 6-8 or 9-10? Do students have to take exams to get into Jr High as well as Sr. High?

I was definitly looking at different things to do than Martial Artists all the time - I'd already been thinking of clubs, like Cyberia in Lain, for example. Definite Cult of Ecstasy ground, though I hadn't planned on having Traditions in the city (or Technocracy OR Nephandi OR Mauraders) to start with - they have reasons for being elsewhere.

A couple of my friends lived in Japan for a year or two teaching English. I've been thinking it would be fun to do, but I don't know if I will now.

 

[thatdarncat]

i have printed sevral links via my "history in your game" threads on mondays

you wanna post some of the links?

 

[alsih2o]

you wanna post some of the links?

start here, i will gather others
http://www.isei.or.jp/books/75/Front.html

 

[darkbard]

junior high is grades 7-9, high school 10-12. but they don't call them by those numbers. they say, "1st grade high school student" or "3rd grade junior high school student." also, getting into high school is a very competitive process akin the u.s. college admission. many high-level high schools have a few automatic berths at prestigious universities with which they can [nearly automatically] insure student acceptance. also high schools are broken down into academic, agricultural and business sub-types [there are probably a few others too].

students don't take exams to gain entry into junior high school and attend a junior high school in their hometown. for high school, students may commute as much as an hour each way to attend the high school of their choice.

oh, and don't underestimate the importance of school uniforms. although not every school has uniforms, those that do see their students wearing uniforms even on sundays [when there are no classes]! which reminds me: high school students have classes on saturdays [although this is being eliminated in some areas].