I went to China for spring break, and since this a Japanese blog I won’t talk about my trip other than to note the new security procedures when re-entering Japan from a foreign country. In the past, as a foreign resident with a work visa and a multiple re-entry permit I was able to queue up in the line with Japanese citizens and more or less breeze through customs and immigration. However last year, citing the threat of terror, the Japanese Diet passed new legislation that requires all foreigners, visitors and residents alike, to be photographed and finger-printed upon entry into the country. Naturally, I can no longer get in the citizen line. I was a little upset when I heard the news, but found the reality to be far less incovenient than I initially expected. Japan can be astonishingly efficient in some ways and frustratingly inefficient in others. Fortunately the new procedures as implemented at Kansai International proved to be pretty easy. A nice, older gentleman directed us from the queue to the immigration officers. At each station, there is a computer monitor with an integrated webcam that the officer controls to take your picture, as you place both index fingers onto scanners on either side of the monitor and press down. The only other change is the hanging of a huge banner against the back wall that says something to the effect of “for the prevention of terrorism,” something that I think may be a bit of an overreaction on the part of the government.
Now it’s April and the sakura (桜) trees have burst open with cherry blossoms, signaling the start of a new school and work year in Japan. The official first day of school was Tuesday. In the morning the second and third years came for the 始業式 (しぎょうしき/opening ceremony). Along with the usual speech by the principle, there was an onstage introduction of all the new teachers and staff. Every year, some of the teachers and administrative staff are shuffled around between the prefectural high schools. This year we got new math, science, social studies and English teachers, along with a new school nurse and groundskeeper. The 入学式 (にゅうがくしき/entrance ceremony) for 新入生 (しんにゅうせい/incoming first years) was held at 2pm. As the band plays and parents and siblings watch, the homeroom teachers lead their new classes into the gym, seating them just like the graduation ceremony, with half the class on the right, half on the left of the procession pathway. Following the national anthem, the principle gives another speech, and then introduces the homeroom teachers. The new students also sing the school’s alma mater for the first time. At the conclusion, the homeroom teachers lead the students out the way they came in and take them to their new homerooms. The parents stay for a while longer and receive general information on the school. The next day there’s yet another ceremony in which the second and third years “meet” the new first years. First the third years are seated on the gym floor, each class in single file, followed by the second years and finally the first years. A space is left between first years on the left side and the second and third years on the right . This is so the students have plenty of room to bow to each other at the beginning of the ceremony. First, the entire student body bows to the principle, then the two groups of students face each other and bow. Finally, they move together and close the gap, in essence becoming a single group. The speeches in this ceremony are given by a few of the former teachers and staff, who have either just been transferred to different schools or have retired. They talk about their time at the school, and inevitably someone gets choked up and wipes away a few tears. Mostly, the students seem bored by the affair.
Like last year, I’m teaching all of the first and second years (seven classes of ~40 students each), as well as the third year oral communication class which meets twice a week, giving me 16 classes per week. Unlike last year, where I went to the homeroom classes for their writing lessons, this year I’m having the students come to the language laboratory (LL) for my classes. Most English classes meet three times a week, and I’m in only one of those. I had my first class today and it went decently well. At the beginning of the school year the new students are extremely shy, especially in English class. Hopefully with time they’ll open up a bit and will more readily try to speak.
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