This Woman Shared The Rules Schoolkids In Japan Must Follow, And The Rest Of The World Should Take Notes
Interview With Author
While, from what we have seen in numerous Hollywood films and sitcoms, American high schools are full of intense drama where romance and teenage tears meet the kind of gossip you only see in the headquarters of a super cool fashion magazine, Japanese schools offer a very different kind of student life.
Thanks to Japan’s high educational standards, school there is a place to learn structure and discipline. This Japanese school teacher known as Hito Bito on TikTok is sharing a rare glimpse from her firsthand perspective about how amazingly different Japanese schools are from the schools you and I went to.
Hito Bito’s TikTok channel boasts an audience of 427.9K followers and her videos have amassed a whopping 16.2M likes in total. Below we wrapped up some of the most interesting things about Japanese schools Hito Bito shared on her TikTok channel, so pull your seat closer!
More info: Braid.network/Hitobito
This American TikTok creator is revealing things about Japanese schools that would seriously shock Americans
Image credits: hito.bito
“Things about my school in Japan that could send Americans into a coma. We all have to change from outdoor to indoor shoes as soon as we enter the school. And no, I’ve never seen any love notes or confessions in the shoe cubbies.”
Image credits: hito.bito
Image credits: hito.bito
“Also, you don’t know clean until you’ve been to a Japanese school because these kids clean the school from top to bottom every single day.”
Image credits: hito.bito
Image credits: hito.bito
Bored Panda reached out to the creator behind the Hito Bito TikTok account, who was happy to share with us about the Japanese lifestyle.
“Ever since I was young, I watched videos of YouTubers living in Japan (Abroad in Japan, Rachel and Jun, etc.),” the creator recounted. When she was graduating, she decided it was time to shoot her shot at becoming an English teacher in Japan. “I had visited Japan prior to living here, and realized I’d always regret it if I didn’t live in Japan for at least a year.”
Image credits: hito.bito
“They also serve themselves lunch and clean their trays. This admittedly blew my mind but definitely in a good way.”
Image credits: hito.bito
“Now, what sends me into an absolute spiral almost daily is that they leave the windows open and there’s no heating or cooling in the hall so I have to walk around in a coat.”
Image credits: hito.bito
Image credits: hito.bito
“Then, probably the most coma inducing part is the dress code. Girls either have to wear their hair above their shoulders or in a low pony. Definitely no dyed hair, so no anime protagonists.”
“And I don’t follow these rules, but no piercings and no makeup.”
Image credits: hito.bito
The Hito Bito creator said that although she did a minor in Japanese, the shock after moving to Japan was real. “I think the real shock is piecing all the rules together at once. I knew about a lot of the intricacies of living in Japan before living here thanks to my many Japanese teachers, but as soon as you step foot in Japan, you’re flooded with rules — some rules are obvious and explicit but some are learned by accidentally stepping out of line and having to learn from it,” she explained.
Image credits: hito.bito
According to the creator of Hito Bito, a lot of people in Japan really trust the established rules and the system. “Many aspects of life are very smooth and convenient as long as everyone knows what’s expected of them,” she said.
Having said that, “if you have an issue that is even slightly exceptional or isn’t outlined in the rule book, then that can be difficult.”
Here’s the full video Hito Bito shared on her TikTok channel
@hito.bito Had a stroke when the school lunch was this good #japantravel #japanlife #gingerinjapan #japaneseculture ♬ Sakura Kiss (From “Ouran High School Host Club”) – AmaLee
If you’re planning on moving to Japan, the TikTok creator has some advice. First, “don’t just watch videos about the robots, vending machines, and bright lights of Japan!”
According to the author of Hito Bito, it’s best to prepare yourself by watching different content. For example, “videos about countryside life, traditional forms of theater or tea ceremony, and the everyday Japanese life experience.”
“This way, you can come to appreciate the deep history influencing the way Japanese society works,” the creator of Hito Bito concluded.
And this is what people had to say about her viral video
There are two sides to the coin as usual. Everyone is very well behaved in Japan, yes. On the other hand - societal rules are so stifling, depression and suicide, especially among young adults, are a huge problem. Also as a woman you have to practically give up your career when you get married and have children as you're expected to be a stay-at-home wife from thereon.
Japan emphasizes conformity. Some of their ideas are good, yes, but many are only there to make sure no one stands out in any way. South Africa has a lot of similar rules: uniforms, no elaborate hair styles, yadda, but learners can still be individualistic within that structure. Although they don't clean their classrooms themselves (well - we make them pick up papers, wipe up, etc.) so things can get dusty or a bit messy. I'd rather have that than a colony of drones.
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BP's blind infatuation with Japan continues. Recently Tokyo rescinded the rule that any high school student whose hair was not naturally black enough had to dye it jet black so they'd look like everyone else, so there is progress. Teachers and schools are forbidden to deviate from strictly planned schedules, so for example at 10:20 on Wednesday morning, every teacher in every school in Japan teaching the same subject should be saying roughly the same words. Of course in history class these words never touch on WWII. High school girls can get jobs after class, sitting in a booth so middle aged salesmen can look at them.
I don’t understand the admiration either. Yes they have nice things and yes they keep their country clean. But I have spent some time in Japan and went from blind fascination to reality check very fast. I grew up in communist country behind the iron curtain and their culture is scarily similar in demands for uniformity, not standing out, no complaining, just fall in line and do your part in the hive. Add this weird polite hostility towards foreigners and medieval approach to women…. I’m not so keen going back there in a hurry.
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Doesn't Japan also have one of the highest suicide rate among students in the world?
I believe that they used to, however, the rates have been dropping. It is an incredibly strict culture for many people who don’t fit with societal norms. Furthermore, they also have a word in their language for death from overwork. I truly home that the younger generation is working toward eradicating some of the more intense social pressures.
Load More Replies...
Same in China - windows are open all winter to let the “healthy air” in, even on buses. The wind chill inside a moving bus is wicked cold
And here I was thinking „lüften“ was a German thing. I love learning about different cultures so much
Load More Replies...
No piercings and no makeup, but face-altering software is ok it seems...
Although Canadian students are expected to change into indoor shoes, I don't think soft slippers would be functional during fire drills. (Also, on that note, although I've heard the stories, I've never actually seen any girls come out of the gym locker rooms undressed during a fire drill. In our gym shorts and T-shirts, at times, yes. But not in our underwear. )
Oh, yes, Japan and shoes. Go to school, change into "school shoes", go to my classroom, change into classroom slippers (because I have carpet), go to the gym and wear gym slippers. Go home and wear my slippers. Go to the restroom and put on "restroom slippers". The slipper companies have a got a very good gig in Japan.
Yes. I wish there was an in-between of American & Japanese schools -- the shoe-change rule + clean + more individuality, maybe?
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My daughter's elementary classroom is so gross, it's cleaned every night but man the kids get it dirty
This is in the same vein as those Foreigners in South Korea making Tiktoks about life in Korea. Kdramas and animes have people gloryifying these countries so when videos like these are up those Weeboos and Koreaboos eat it up. Clearly BP folks are not in that demo graphic, we have sense, lol.
A friend of mine has a job that requires him to travel to S. Korea three or four times a year. He always dreads it.
Load More Replies... Just wondering about how many of these comments are actually from people that have experience with Japanese culture and how many are from people that have no experience whatsoever aside from second hand knowledge or things they’ve heard from others.
That's just what I was thinking. I've lived in Japan for over 20 years, and it's changed a lot in that time. I'm thinking a lot of things in the article and in the comments are not based on reality, but on TV and movies.
Load More Replies...
I don't think most countries have air conditioning at houses, let alone school. To me that's just normal and what's chocking is that there are people in this planet rich enough to take that for granted.
I'm sure some older girls do color their hair and wear a wig in dress code to school. And they prob do wear long sleeves under the tops and leggings under the skirts. The cleaning part would be great here in America and I do think all schools should have a dress code. Makes it easier to see what school kids go to and less hate on clicks. Plus I know kids grow out of clothes and it's expensive to rebuy new clothes because of that but recycling clothes to be reused to someone else shouldn't be an issue. And the price of uniforms would go down too with more schools doing that. It puts the eyes on learning and not joe jocks new Nikes or Chris's low rise designer jeans.
Oh, for sure! When have rules ever stopped kids? It's no longer common, but back 15 years ago or so, I used to see a lot of kids dye their hair blond/blonde, uniform violations (giant "loose socks", short skirts, piercings), etc. Now they rebel in other ways ... like just not going to school.
Load More Replies...
I wish the shoes and cleaning was a normal at my school (southern Canada), I'm apart of the student maintenance team and there's 4 of us that clean the building after school is out everyday, and it gets so bad sometimes, especially in the middle school area, that I tend to have panic attacks from how overwhelming the mess is
I definitely agree with the cleaning part. We were once made to scrape off all the chewing gum stuck to tables in our homeroom. I wouldn't necessarily consider myself to be a germaphobe, but scraping other people's s**t without gloves made me gag. (Granted, for the next couple of months, we would have bludgeoned anyone trying to stick anything to any desk,so...)
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That just sounds cruel. Discipline is one thing but this goes far beyond that and it's not okay. Not at all.
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Ngl I'd be able to follow the hair rule I always have my hair in a low pony tail and don't really like dying my hair everything else seems like it makes sense so I wouldn't mind being there
A lot of this is relevant in most average South African schools and probably in much of the world. No hair dye, no make-up, only one piercing per ear, absolutely no facial piercings, hair tied up if it is below collar length, all standard rules in the average South African school. Small independent private schools without uniforms tend to be a bit more lenient. I've never seen a school with heating, some schools might have air cons that are used only when it's very very hot.
Well, because she doesn't. Only her hair is kinda the same color
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Because we all know that one person's opinion is what all Americans want.
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There are two sides to the coin as usual. Everyone is very well behaved in Japan, yes. On the other hand - societal rules are so stifling, depression and suicide, especially among young adults, are a huge problem. Also as a woman you have to practically give up your career when you get married and have children as you're expected to be a stay-at-home wife from thereon.
Japan emphasizes conformity. Some of their ideas are good, yes, but many are only there to make sure no one stands out in any way. South Africa has a lot of similar rules: uniforms, no elaborate hair styles, yadda, but learners can still be individualistic within that structure. Although they don't clean their classrooms themselves (well - we make them pick up papers, wipe up, etc.) so things can get dusty or a bit messy. I'd rather have that than a colony of drones.
Load More Replies... BP's blind infatuation with Japan continues. Recently Tokyo rescinded the rule that any high school student whose hair was not naturally black enough had to dye it jet black so they'd look like everyone else, so there is progress. Teachers and schools are forbidden to deviate from strictly planned schedules, so for example at 10:20 on Wednesday morning, every teacher in every school in Japan teaching the same subject should be saying roughly the same words. Of course in history class these words never touch on WWII. High school girls can get jobs after class, sitting in a booth so middle aged salesmen can look at them.
I don’t understand the admiration either. Yes they have nice things and yes they keep their country clean. But I have spent some time in Japan and went from blind fascination to reality check very fast. I grew up in communist country behind the iron curtain and their culture is scarily similar in demands for uniformity, not standing out, no complaining, just fall in line and do your part in the hive. Add this weird polite hostility towards foreigners and medieval approach to women…. I’m not so keen going back there in a hurry.
Load More Replies... Doesn't Japan also have one of the highest suicide rate among students in the world?
I believe that they used to, however, the rates have been dropping. It is an incredibly strict culture for many people who don’t fit with societal norms. Furthermore, they also have a word in their language for death from overwork. I truly home that the younger generation is working toward eradicating some of the more intense social pressures.
Load More Replies... Same in China - windows are open all winter to let the “healthy air” in, even on buses. The wind chill inside a moving bus is wicked cold
And here I was thinking „lüften“ was a German thing. I love learning about different cultures so much
Load More Replies... No piercings and no makeup, but face-altering software is ok it seems...
Although Canadian students are expected to change into indoor shoes, I don't think soft slippers would be functional during fire drills. (Also, on that note, although I've heard the stories, I've never actually seen any girls come out of the gym locker rooms undressed during a fire drill. In our gym shorts and T-shirts, at times, yes. But not in our underwear. )
Oh, yes, Japan and shoes. Go to school, change into "school shoes", go to my classroom, change into classroom slippers (because I have carpet), go to the gym and wear gym slippers. Go home and wear my slippers. Go to the restroom and put on "restroom slippers". The slipper companies have a got a very good gig in Japan.
Yes. I wish there was an in-between of American & Japanese schools -- the shoe-change rule + clean + more individuality, maybe?
Load More Replies... My daughter's elementary classroom is so gross, it's cleaned every night but man the kids get it dirty
This is in the same vein as those Foreigners in South Korea making Tiktoks about life in Korea. Kdramas and animes have people gloryifying these countries so when videos like these are up those Weeboos and Koreaboos eat it up. Clearly BP folks are not in that demo graphic, we have sense, lol.
A friend of mine has a job that requires him to travel to S. Korea three or four times a year. He always dreads it.
Load More Replies... Just wondering about how many of these comments are actually from people that have experience with Japanese culture and how many are from people that have no experience whatsoever aside from second hand knowledge or things they’ve heard from others.
That's just what I was thinking. I've lived in Japan for over 20 years, and it's changed a lot in that time. I'm thinking a lot of things in the article and in the comments are not based on reality, but on TV and movies.
Load More Replies... I don't think most countries have air conditioning at houses, let alone school. To me that's just normal and what's chocking is that there are people in this planet rich enough to take that for granted.
I'm sure some older girls do color their hair and wear a wig in dress code to school. And they prob do wear long sleeves under the tops and leggings under the skirts. The cleaning part would be great here in America and I do think all schools should have a dress code. Makes it easier to see what school kids go to and less hate on clicks. Plus I know kids grow out of clothes and it's expensive to rebuy new clothes because of that but recycling clothes to be reused to someone else shouldn't be an issue. And the price of uniforms would go down too with more schools doing that. It puts the eyes on learning and not joe jocks new Nikes or Chris's low rise designer jeans.
Oh, for sure! When have rules ever stopped kids? It's no longer common, but back 15 years ago or so, I used to see a lot of kids dye their hair blond/blonde, uniform violations (giant "loose socks", short skirts, piercings), etc. Now they rebel in other ways ... like just not going to school.
Load More Replies... I wish the shoes and cleaning was a normal at my school (southern Canada), I'm apart of the student maintenance team and there's 4 of us that clean the building after school is out everyday, and it gets so bad sometimes, especially in the middle school area, that I tend to have panic attacks from how overwhelming the mess is
I definitely agree with the cleaning part. We were once made to scrape off all the chewing gum stuck to tables in our homeroom. I wouldn't necessarily consider myself to be a germaphobe, but scraping other people's s**t without gloves made me gag. (Granted, for the next couple of months, we would have bludgeoned anyone trying to stick anything to any desk,so...)
Load More Replies... That just sounds cruel. Discipline is one thing but this goes far beyond that and it's not okay. Not at all.
Load More Replies... Ngl I'd be able to follow the hair rule I always have my hair in a low pony tail and don't really like dying my hair everything else seems like it makes sense so I wouldn't mind being there
A lot of this is relevant in most average South African schools and probably in much of the world. No hair dye, no make-up, only one piercing per ear, absolutely no facial piercings, hair tied up if it is below collar length, all standard rules in the average South African school. Small independent private schools without uniforms tend to be a bit more lenient. I've never seen a school with heating, some schools might have air cons that are used only when it's very very hot.
Well, because she doesn't. Only her hair is kinda the same color
Load More Replies... Because we all know that one person's opinion is what all Americans want.
Load More Replies... 
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