Punctuality is important at any school.
But it is especially important in Japan. Students are expected to be at school at 8:30 AM sharp! If they come to school late more than 5 times, they're punished with cleaning responsibilities even earlier in the morning for an entire week.
The students are the cleaning staff.
No janitors are needed here. The students in Japan take on the responsibility of cleaning up the classrooms, bathrooms and hallways. Their cleaning duties include dusting, mopping, and erasing whatever's on the chalkboard.
Students eat in their classrooms.
Instead of going to a cafeteria, the students set up their own lunches in the classroom with their own place mats and dishes. Lunch is then served by either lunch ladies of the students themselves. Wasting food is not allowed, so they're required to eat everything on their plates!
Swimming lessons are taken very seriously.
It's a part of the curriculum. Majority of the schools in Japan have their own swimming pool, where kids are required to learn how to swim a minimal distance. Students who fail must take training in the summer.
Students aren't allowed to modify their natural physical appearances.
This doesn't apply to all of the schools in Japan, but a good amount of them. This means the students aren't allowed to wear makeup, colored contacts, hair dye, nail paint, or even groom their eyebrows.
Weekends in Japan used to be only 1 day long.
The government changed the weekend to 2 days in 1992. Some high schools, however, disregard the rule and offer Saturday classes.
Students are prohibited from dating and having open relationships.
It's forbidden in all junior high schools. The rule is there mainly to ensure that students have no distractions from their studies.
Student's summer "vacation" is only for 5-6 weeks starting on July 20th till the end of August.
That's only half of the vacation time students get in America! As if vacation for them wasn't short enough, the students often spend their time off in class to either study, do homework, or participate in school clubs.
Elders are always greeted as a sign of respect.
So of course greetings are expected to elders that are providing you with education. To greet their teachers, students bow both before and after class.
There are several strict rules on how boys and girls are allowed to wear their hair.
Girls aren't allowed to hair any color-dyed hair, any colorful scrunchies, and bangs longer than their eyebrows. Boys are not allowed to have any long facial hair and are expected to appear neat and clean cut at all times.
Cell phones are not allowed to be used inside the school.
Students are only allowed to use their phones in the parking lot or front entrance of the school either in between classes or after school.
Uniforms are not to be tampered with in any way.
Students aren't allowed to be crafty with their uniform. They can't spruce up or decorate their uniforms with any accessories. The uniforms are to be worn exactly as instructed and maintained even after they leave the school building.
There are rarely ever any substitute teachers.
Instead, the students just study on their own and are expected to be on their best behavior. From time to time, another teacher in the school might come and check in on the class.
Students are prohibited from wearing colored outerwear on top of their uniforms.
Their jackets or sweaters have to be dark toned: tan, navy, black, or grey. The students are also not allowed to wear any jewelry.
All students under 18 have a curfew of 10 pm.
The exact rules vary from city to city. Nonetheless, Tokyo and Yokohama are two cities that enforce the 10 pm rule. Students who are under 18 will be denied access into cinemas and arcades after 10.
