Hello! I am considering studying in Japan for my senior year of high-school. What were your experiences growing up and attending high school in Japan? Are the classes very strict and vigorous? Is it difficult to make friends? What do students do after school and on weekends?
3 comments
Japanese high school seinors spend most of the year focusing on university exams.
They retire from club activities in the summer and, at least at my school, don’t even have classes from January to March.
Doing a full year exchange as a seinor would be very awkward as your classmates are focusing more on what they’ll do next year.
Honestly, the best time to do an exchange in Japan is during university.
Or, if it must be high school, a short term homestay during summer holidays.
I did one year in Japan in high school
over 20 years ago. The program makes a huge difference – full year in one place is better.
The biggest impact on you will be your host family. A good family makes a good experience.
The school will not put you with seniors. And you won’t be in a very academic focused high school. They don’t do that. They’ll shuffle you all over the school doing different classes.
I highly recommend it. It was life changing for me in a very good way.
My experience is also a little old but it lines up with what has already been said. Students are focused on getting into a good college. But you will find many are generally interested in foreigners and you shouldn’t have too much trouble making friends. What they do for fun varies a lot by the cliche you associate with and the part of the country you are placed in. Lots will stay home playing video games. Karaoke is still a big thing. They go shopping and make weird TikTok videos. That kind of stuff.