September 28, 2016
Outstanding articles occasionally appear on Chinese websites.
As you know, I have fortunately never encountered despicable Chinese individuals.
This is probably because I have met people who are not fascists possessing minds shaped by anti-Japanese education, which is Nazism itself and fascism itself.
I have encountered only Chinese individuals who possess the intelligence that human beings ought to have, like the journalist who wrote this article.
Of course, since the number of such encounters is fewer than ten, this cannot be regarded as a generalization about Chinese people.
However, if one looks at Chinese websites, it becomes clear that such individuals are by no means complete exceptions.
The following article also serves as an excellent annotation, from a Chinese perspective, of the reasons why the turntable of civilization is turning in Japan.
The following is from an article published on Searchina, seen on MSN News on September 27.
“Education” is an important activity for cultivating the next generation who will bear the nation.
Education does not consist solely of academics; teaching discipline, habits, and manners is also part of education, but Japan and China differ greatly not only in culture and politics but also in their educational systems, and from a Chinese perspective, Japanese education appears “strange” in some respects.
On the 22nd, the Chinese media outlet Toutiao analyzed early childhood education in Japan and China, explaining that Japanese preschool education, which appears “strange” to Chinese observers, is in fact an important factor in making Japan a powerful nation.
The article introduces eight “strange” points: preschool children carrying bags of various sizes and purposes, frequent changing of clothes and shoes, children carrying their own belongings when going to school, attending school in shorts even in winter, allowing children of different ages to play together, an astonishing amount of physical activity, learning how to laugh, and enjoying countless events.
The article states that these eight points feel “strange” because they are not seen in Chinese kindergartens, but it also points out that each has a solid and meaningful rationale.
For example, preparing bags of various sizes and purposes teaches children to organize their belongings.
It explains that this leads Japanese people to acquire the habit of sorting garbage, and argues that Japan’s “abnormally clean” cities are nothing other than the result of this education provided from early childhood.
The importance of education, and especially the importance of education in early childhood, cannot be overemphasized.
Young children can purely absorb extremely beneficial habits, and excellent habits acquired at an early age become a great asset not only to the individual but also to society.
In China, “cram-style” education is common, and it begins from early childhood.
While education in Japan focuses on cultivating habits, morality, and social skills, in China academic subjects are taught.
Which form of education is more beneficial to the nation and society should be obvious at a glance when one looks at Japanese and Chinese society.
(Edited by Kenji Murayama)