Same way as anime?

9 comments

1. If you go to public elementary or junior high your school is determined by where you live.

   Thls tends to be with walking distance, unless you live in the middle of nowhere where there’s so few kids you end up getting sent to a school in another city.

2. It makes sense to live near where you go to school or go to school near where you live, whether you’re in Japan or not?

3. It is worth adding that high school students can be travelling quite a bit further. When I catch the local train, particularly at peak time, there are plenty of high school students going to/from the big city (I live in a fairly rural area). Whereas I see elementary and middle school students walking (or cycling) to/from school all the time.

   That also turns up in anim. If you have seen Joshikousei no Mudazukai you often seen the girls commuting.

4. I mean everything can be in walking distance..

5. I lived about 10 to 15 minutes away (on foot) from my primary and junior high schools. My high school was further away: I had to use public transport or beg my father to drive me if he was around. 😬

6. That is not the case for everyone.

7. I grew up in America and live in Japan now. I totally understand your confusion. Unfortunately America is less safe and designed to make cars to be the only mode of transportation. There used to be more trains and street cars but many were demolished to make way for the highways you know and love. Now American suburbs are pretty much dead and require a car to go to school, get groceries, or eat out.

   In Japan this is very much not the case. Though there is a lot of reliance on cars here unless you live in the middle of nowhere all your necessities can be met without the use of a car. There will be nearby grocery stores to buy food. Local bars you can frequent and meet people. And, in general, most schools will be in walking distance of students’ homes. In fact, many schools will make it against the rules for students to commute by car. So, elementary and middle school students will walk to school.
   When students reach High School their school may be a bit less local so they might have to take a train or bus to school. But still, they will not be taking cars.

   There does seem to be more of an issue with zoning for schools though. For example, a less fortunate community may be forced to walk to schools that are a bit farther, rather than the school that is right next to them. Some other schools I’ve seen have been on islands and their students were primarily from the mainland. This meant the students needed to take a boat to school every day.

   There really are so many kinds of schools here it’s hard to label all of them as one thing. But, essentially yes, Japanese students walk to school.

8. Good lord no!
   I was an exchange student in Nagoya around 2003 and the commute to school involved a bike ride, 2 train rides and a school bus ride from a depot at the end of the train line. All in all it was about 1.5 hours each way.

9. It’s just a South American thing for the only mode of transportation to be cars.