In the West, or in the U.S. at any rate, I think the "good old days" that many people have come to wax nostalgic for are more often the days of university or just young adulthood in general. In pop culture, at any rate. That's not to say we don't have our share of movies, TV shows, and literature featuring high schoolers, but I think they often appeal to the limited audiences. If I had to compare, I'd say American entertainment tends to be more dominated by college and post-college themes.
Are Western and Japanese media really so different in this aspect? I think so, and here are a few observations I've made as to why.
Exhibit A: Manga and Anime
I lump these two together because more often than not they go hand in hand (a large number of anime series are taken directly from manga). Of course not all manga are high school-themed. There's a wide enough variety of Japanese comics and cartoons out there to satiate a veritable army of nerds.
I'm hardly claiming that all or even the majority of manga and anime have to do with high school. However I think a relatively large percentage do.
While doing a little research, I came across a Japanese blog with an entry about the most popular manga in Japan during 2009. According to a survey conducted by Nikkei Entertainment Magazine, the popularity of many series is shared across demographics (more so considering age than gender, though).
Of the top 20 manga listed by the survey, 5 of them featured high school students or settings (君に届け; 桜欄高校ホスト部; 名探偵コナン; xxxHOLiC; おおきく振りかぶって).
That means that in 2009, 25% of the top manga were high-school related.
When you consider other big titles like Death Note, Slam Dunk, and Boys Over Flowers, there's a pretty strong case for the argument that "a lot of manga and anime have something to do with high school."
Exhibit B: Movies
When it comes to Japanese movies, many of the more well-known titles don't have anything to do with high school (though Godzilla may well step on a few schools). A lot of the more classically popular films fall under the 時代劇 (period drama) or fantasy/scifi headings.
Looking a little closer, there are a number of Studio Ghibli (makers of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away among many others) movies with high school student protagonists: 猫の恩返し (The Cat Returns), 海が聞こえる (Ocean Waves), and the upcoming コクリコ坂から(From Kokuriko Hill).
How many Disney animations with high school characters can you think of?
Couple this with the fact that like anime, a lot of Japanese movies come from manga series. Thus you have Death Note (the movie), Boys Over Flowers (the movie), Gokusen (the movie), etc.
And let's not forget one of the most (in)famous movies to come out of Japan, Battle Royale, originally a novel about adults sending high school students to an island to fight to the death.
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| She's a winner! |
Exhibit C: Video Games
These days there are almost as many different kinds of video games as comics. Plenty have nothing to do with high school, but the genre does creep into even this medium.
To start, once again we have many manga spin-offs. More Death Note, Slam Dunk, ad nauseam.
If you're a fan of Japanese games, you may be familiar with the Persona (Shin Megami Tensei) series. Not quite at the same level of name recognition as Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, but it's been picking up steam over the years, especially due to its recent releases for the Nintendo DS. Essentially its a series about high school students who can control demons or spirits.
Many high school-themed games don't make it abroad for one reason or another, and thus I don't have very much information or even an English name to offer you. One Google search for "high school protagonist games" turned up this title from 2004, Kuron Youma Gakuen Ki (Story of the Nine Dragons Academy?), which appears to be about a high school boy who decides to be come a treasure hunter (a legitimate pursuit in this game's world) and transfers to a special academy in Tokyo.
I was also recently playing a baseball/high school game called Atsumare Pawa Puro Kun Koshien, in which you can take the roll of either the coach or team captain of a group of high schoolers and must train and lead them to victory. In Japan, the best high school baseball teams qualify to enter a nationally televised tournament that's held annually at Koshien stadium (incidentally not too far from where I live). It's basically the equivalent of high school students getting the chance to play at Fenway Park. The goal of this game is to get your team to Koshien. If you fail, apparently your life and the students' baseball careers are over.
I also have a game called Inazuma Eleven, which is similarly about a soccer team of high schoolers with big ambitions. I believe that one has made it out of Japan.There are also plenty of other games, often of the dating orientation, that are centered around high school life. I haven't played any of these, though, as I find them creepy.
Why don't many of these games make it out of Japan? For some reason they're not anticipated to sell well abroad. In many cases I believe it's because Japanese people just have more of an affinity for high school than we do abroad.
Implications
So the high school theme appears more often in Japanese pop culture than in many others. What does it mean? I don't know - you tell me. It could be that despite the wads of homework and sometimes slavish dedication to a club or sport, high school provides (or provided) the last memories of freedom for many Japanese people, and that's something they cherish.
One of my friends theorized that the Japanese have more of an appreciation for that "time of innocence," and that high school marks the time before adulthood when some things are still pure. That could be. It might go partway to explaining one of the more prevalent fetishes associated with, uh...lower Japanese culture.
What do you think? If you've spent some time in Japan or have consumed a lot of Japanese media, do you think Japan is more fascinated with high school life than other countries? If so, why do you think that is?
I'm curious to see what you come up with.
Update: Some good stuff in the comments. From Ryan Cecil:
"I wanted to say that I do agree with your friend about the "Age of Innocence." It was first brought up to me by a Japanese friend, explaining why high school students don't have part time jobs. "We Japanese like our children to be children." Having a job just doesn't seem right for a child, so that's a good reason to prohibit it.
It's also brought up a little bit in my debate classes, when students talk about school uniforms: "We feel like students when we wear school uniforms." So the high school atmosphere thing is important not just to nostalgic adults, but students too. Also, I think you can look to the way (it seems) certain events are ubiquitous at every school, such as sports day, cultural festivals, and certain school trips. I think creating "happy high school memories" is real important to Japanese people.
There's also the way, compared to Americans, Japanese high school students are more naive about... almost everything. I think they feel like they're "supposed to" be naive, especially the good kids. (Maybe it's subversive to be a precocious high school student here)."
Think that's well put. Perhaps because in many cases Japanese people have to make a very quick transition to adulthood, this last period of youth and innocence is especially valued. I'd love to have a native or two weigh in on this.
One thing that gives me pause, though, is my perception that a lot of high school students are (a) sexually active as are teens in other countries and (b) often work part-time jobs though they're not supposed to. According to my understanding of the concept, (lack of) sexual awareness and experience are cornerstones of "innocence," so I'm not too sure it's something Japanese youth really possess. Though that wouldn't necessarily preclude them from trying to hold on to it.
Eryk brings up another good point:
"I think high school is interesting because it is a period that blends care-free living, protection, and a very real community with a shared set of seemingly insurmountable problems. College is too care-free to inspire the drama needed for good storytelling; and the social cohesion isn’t the same. "
Adversity can really help build great relationships, and it could be that all the hard work and drama of high school make for not only good memories but also strong friendships. Some of your classmates become your buddies in the trenches, struggling a'la J-drama to overcome the odds and win that baseball championship or study your ass off and get into Tokyo University.
And some perspective from Kaori. I recommend reading the comments if you're interested, but here's part of her thought:
"I agree with you and a lot of the comments. High school really is pretty much our first taste of freedom, and the fact that it's within a certain boundary (because let's face it, your still kids) makes it all the more exciting. It's probably a mix of innocence and adolescence."
If the rumors of the brutal Japanese workweek are true, then high school represents the oldest demographic of people with enough spare time to fight evil, or be secret ninjas or whatever. The average Japanese 30 year old salaryman has no spare time to battle demons. Unless the demon is alcoholism.
ReplyDeleteHeh heh...
ReplyDeleteWell, I would have thought university would be that time. Aside from the top schools, college in Japan is not very difficult. The hard part is getting in, not passing. And for many of those people that is their last bit of freedom before that brutality.
But I guess not everyone identifies with that.
High school is the time for 青春. Despite the fact that University is just 4 years of party time for Japanese kids, they consider high school to be the 'time of their youth'.
ReplyDeleteHey Caroline Josephine, thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteThat indeed seems to be the case. For me the question is "why?"
Hey Paul,
ReplyDelete(Ahh, I wrote a kinda long comment, and Blogger lost it. I'll try to be articulate a second time...)
I wanted to say that I do agree with your friend about the "Age of Innocence." It was first brought up to me by a Japanese friend, explaining why high school students don't have part time jobs. "We Japanese like our children to be children." Having a job just doesn't seem right for a child, so that's a good reason to prohibit it.
It's also brought up a little bit in my debate classes, when students talk about school uniforms: "We feel like students when we wear school uniforms." So the high school atmosphere thing is important not just to nostalgic adults, but students too. Also, I think you can look to the way (it seems) certain events are ubiquitous at every school, such as sports day, cultural festivals, and certain school trips. I think creating "happy high school memories" is real important to Japanese people.
There's also the way, compared to Americans, Japanese high school students are more naive about... almost everything. I think they feel like they're "supposed to" be naive, especially the good kids. (Maybe it's subversive to be a precocious high school student here).
All of these kind of point to the "Age of Innocence" idea, so that's why I believe in it. What do you think Paul?
I guess this image of a Happy High School Time kind accompanies or colors some Japanese conservative values. Like, "students should obey authority, do what they're told, conform to the image presented by society... and then everything will work out in the end for you." The media provide a lot of images of this ideal high school to encourage students to conform to it (and hence, conform to traditional society). I don't mean that in a sinister way, but I do think that's what it's about.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Ryan - gonna add some of it to the post. Sorry about Blogger...doesn't seem to have the most reliable comment platform.
ReplyDelete"It's also brought up a little bit in my debate classes, when students talk about school uniforms: "We feel like students when we wear school uniforms." So the high school atmosphere thing is important not just to nostalgic adults, but students too. Also, I think you can look to the way (it seems) certain events are ubiquitous at every school, such as sports day, cultural festivals, and certain school trips. I think creating "happy high school memories" is real important to Japanese people."
I think that's a great point. It reminds me of how at high school graduations here they play really sappy pop music; it's like they're trying to recreate a TV drama and manufacture an emotionally meaningful event (though I think the music is a bit over the top).
I think the two ideas might be tied together - the innocence and freedom. The "Japanese children should be children" idea might seem so extreme (to me anyway) because the transition to adulthood can be so sudden here.
Yeah, I agree completely about the music! It reminds me, too, of the displays of (basically fake) emotion that is mandatory in many situations at school. Once my students lost the debate tournament and their "team leader" was bawling without any tears. I said, "You don't have to cry, why are you crying, we knew we wouldn't win, you did very well, etc." and she kind of said between howls, "I am the team captain, so I should feel regret!!" A friend of mine watched as a student she didn't know so well fall on her face and wail when the ALT left in July... even though they weren't close, and the crying was obviously kinda fake.
ReplyDeleteI mean obviously we in the West have our own performances, of course.
As for the transition to adulthood, you might say that many Japanese never do transition to adulthood! They are shepherded into uni, into their first job, and up the corporate ladder however far is deemed appropriate (by someone else), and they deal with it.
Yeah, I'd be curious to see how high school these days compares with high school 50 or even 100 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI mean there are obviously plenty of Japanese people who make a full and healthy transition to adulthood, but it does feel as if the system doesn't really prepare many people for independence.
It seems to be the apex of most of their lives. Especially the girls. Goodbye uniform...goodbye blind relentless idolozation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Raw. For some of people it appears that way. The Golden Years, as it were.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why high school is so highly regarded but I have a good guess as to why university isn't. In America we remember college fondly because it has two things, little responsibility and no parental supervision. In Japan the little responsibility is still true but most live at home. They never get that perfect storm of good times that we get.
ReplyDeleteThat's another good point. But I'd still imagine they have more freedom in college.
ReplyDeleteGreat, though-provoking post!
ReplyDeleteI think high school is really the last chance you have to determine your fate in Japan. Once you are in college, it’s a production line into the workplace. You can’t change that path once you’ve made it there. Whereas, in high school, there is still some educational liquidity. If you work hard enough, you can move from a level 4 to a level 1, as late as your last year, and that can change your entire life.
I think high school is interesting because it is a period that blends care-free living, protection, and a very real community with a shared set of seemingly insurmountable problems. College is too care-free to inspire the drama needed for good storytelling; and the social cohesion isn’t the same.
For a country that tends to get isolated as it ages, High School is really the last time you hang out with people from other walks of life, interests, etc. I can imagine being nostalgic for that, but I also imagine it’s simply easier to write compelling narratives about that time than any other.
Thanks, Eryk! Another really good point.
ReplyDeleteThough I'm not quite so sure about hanging out with people from other walks of life. I think most kids tend to hang out either with their homeroom classmates or the other members of their club/sports team. At least in college they may meet people from other part of Japan or other countries.
" College is too care-free to inspire the drama needed for good storytelling; and the social cohesion isn’t the same. "
ReplyDelete+1
Wow, you've got a great topic here! I agree with you and a lot of the comments. High school really is pretty much our first taste of freedom, and the fact that it's within a certain boundary (because let's face it, your still kids) makes it all the more exciting. It's probably a mix of innocence and adolescence.
ReplyDeleteIt may have something to do with the fact that a lot of schools up until junior high are already chosen for you by district (unless you enter a private school) but when it comes to high school, you can actually choose where you want to go. And like Ryan's students said, school uniforms are a part of the Seishun nostalgia, but it's also the whole image of each high school and the reputation that they have. Most kids are proud to be in their specific high schools and there's a lot of school rivalry...it's like high school kids have a world of their own.
I know I felt like no one could stop me at times and I think that's a feeling that doesn't come easily after you're an adult in Japan...especially now with the recession (not to mention the earthquake). College kids are young but they're pretty much already at the bottom of the adulthood foodchain, which naturally makes them more cautious...but kids in high school are at the top of their game, no longer a child but not quite yet an adult, and for those precious 3 years they're free and I think that's one of the reasons high school feels so special.
It's sort of a period where kids who were basically restricted from many many things (jr high even restricts the color of hairbands!) are able to experiment a little, go wild a little, and learn a little about who they are without the other restrictions that come with adulthood (like resposibility for your actions, finding jobs, what to do for the rest of your life...etc). And I think, it's the mentality we have during those days that make us look back with fond memories :-D
Whoa this was really long...it's practically a spam. Sorry!
No, thank you for the great comment, Kaori!
ReplyDeleteInteresting recipe - a bit of freedom without much responsibility. Ah, the days of youth. =)
Very interesting entry(and comments) you have here. I think it's because high school students are one of the largest consumer group. They're always the fastest in picking up the latest trends. It's like if you want to sell a new product, get a high school kid.It spreads really fast among them.
ReplyDeleteThe high school theme is necessary so that the kids can relate and identify themselves with the content easily. And they'll be like " Ah, I can see myself in such situation or I can see myself wearing that pair of shoes.."
Thanks, Rene!
ReplyDeleteThat may be a part of it, but I think it goes beyond that. In most market there are niches and targeted consumers. The largest demographic isn't targeted for everything. In Japan, though, it seems entertainment that involves high school is really appealing to audiences who are beyond that age.
That said, you're right - there is plenty of stuff that is marketed to high schoolers and that spills over (as I think is prone to happen in a society obsessed with cuteness).
I talked to my girlfriend last night and she kind of agreed about having a good balance of freedom and challenge without too much responsibility, as the teacher I asked said. So I think many people here like to reminisce about those times.