Thank you Stitchawl! This information has been absolutely fascinating!
Do you have any suggested reading material about overall and current Japanese culture?
The media specialist at my eldest son's school took an official education-based trip to Japan some years ago. The Japanese wanted to know how American students were "okay" with failure (isn't that an awful compliment
), and invited a group of American teachers over to exchange ideas.
She brought back many slides and a few souvenirs which she presents to the kids here. One of the things that I actually loved learning, was how ALL of the students were responsible for their school. They helped keep it clean, they helped with lunch, etc. I think that is a fantastic way to teach responsibility, especially away from home. I also like how there was one main backpack, sold for ALL of the children, with a removable flap (or something to that nature) in a color based on grade level.