In the United States, fall means ‘Back to School’ but in Japan it means something a little different.
The Japanese school year spans three semesters.The first semester for Japanese students begins in April and runs through July. The second semester starts in September and runs through December. The third semester starts in January and runs through March.
In a sense, the fall season in Japan can also be described as ‘Back to School’. But for Japanese kids, it is more of a ‘Return to the School Year’. In this way, our overlapping school seasons do not share the same level of excitement and anticipation.
April in Japan is when kids go nuts with new notebooks, pens, pencils, and new outfits (or pressed uniforms). Of course, April is also when kids anticipate the excitement of reuniting with friends and dread the new and unknown demands of a new school year.
While the first semester is mainly focused on course work, the second semester features big school events. One of them is a “sport event” or a “sport festival” (called 運動会 undoukai in grade school; 体育祭 taiikusai in junior high and high school). For example, students in a school will compete in track & field, volleyball, basketball, or simpler games like ‘tag’ for grade level students. While these events usually occur on one or two days, students prepare for them throughout the semester.
The second semester is also the time when students hold an annual ‘school festival’ (called 学園祭 gakuensai or 文化祭 bunkasai). This event is open to the public. Parents and prospective new students are invited to visit the school to see what students and various academic and social clubs have been working on.
Regardless of which semester is what, parents in America and Japan probably both look forward to September for exactly the same reason!
