Alrighty, the latest Japanese Culture article is up!

This week's article puts the spotlight on two rather interesting pieces of information regarding Japanese children... Check it out!


Bizarre Japanese Children Facts

WHAT THE *BLEEP*?!?!?! Are you serious?!?!

If any of that stuff happened here in the US, parents would be out to hang the administration for not stopping this. It is considered sexual assault here!

What does the school administration do about all that "kancho-ing?" Look the other way? Not only is this entirely unsanitary but it is dangerous. You can do some serious damage to those private parts as small or undeveloped as they may be.

I would NOT tolerate that sort of behavior and I am surprised that any decent Japanese parent would allow his or her child to engage in that without some serious reprisal.

But then, again I have seen those Japanese "prank" shows and what the Japanese society will tolerate. Public humiliation and nudity are nothing.

It is so odd that a society that prides itself on cleanliness and propriety allows this stuff to happen. I wonder if all that repression erupts in ridiculous behavior like this.

P.S. Please excuse my bleeping.

Also, I'm glad that you reported this because it *is* important for non-Japanese nationals to know if ever they wish to work there and enroll their kids in public school.

And it's just the most bizarre thing...

Thanks for bringing to light a lot of interesting facts about life in Japan that we, "foreigners," would never know. Wow.

Don't get me wrong: it doesn't change how I feel towards the Japanese. I *am* Japanese! But as a fourth generation (yon-sei), I have never been there. I would love to visit and maybe live there for a while so I've been reading your culture articles with great interest.

Wow, what eye openers your articles are. Good thing I don't have any school age children or I would be doing some kancho-ing of my own if anyone touched my kids in that manner. LOL.

Hey Lori,
Sorry for the late reply! Just got back from a trip to Tohoku. Saw mummied corpses in temples (cool!), and went to Osorezan, a mountain said to be the gateway to hell (awesomely depressing landscape). Now, I'm resting for a bit before going to Kyushu this Tuesday.

Yeah, about the kancho-ing. I'm serious... Unfortunately for us non-Japanese, from the Japanese viewpoint, kancho-ing and such stuff is normal for kids. To them, touching a friend's private part is like patting him on the shoulder. I've even heard from my female ALT friends that some kids tried to touch their boobs, and flip up their skirts even.

First few times I got assaulted, I shouted at and squeezed the kids' hand so bad they cried, though I was risking my job... Now I've given up and try to ignore them. I've become de-sensitized, I think. That's what spending almost 5 years in Japan can do for you. Sigh...


Yes, Japan is one of a kind... and not necessarily in a good way. I love Japan, but if I happen to marry and have kids, I will not want them to study in a public school in Japan.