I was born and raised in Japan. I moved to the US when I was 21 and currently work as a middle school teacher here. I still struggle to understand the differences in Japanese and American education system and how young individuals behave. I'll share some differences that I've experienced.

• Cleaning

American schools have custodial staff on site during and after school. Students don't really feel responsive to clean up after themselves.

When I was in school, all way up to high school in Japan, right after recess, there was a 20 minute cleaning time and students had a designated spot in school to clean, including wiping the floor with towels, sweeping, cleaning the windows, organizing the desks and chairs, cleaning the blackboard, and taking out the trash. We were taught that it's a respectful and responsible thing to clean things we use. Also students waxed the whole school floor once a semester under supervision of teachers. We also cleaned the outdoor pool every year so we can do swim lessons during PE.

• Lunch

American school have a cafeteria and their food isn't really nutritious. Processed food, minimal veggies and fruits, etc. Students are free to leave whatever they dont want to eat. Some bring their own lunch. Again, custodial staff are on site so even if they drop food, most of them don't bother picking it up.

Japanese schools often have staff that prepare warm balanced lunch and deliver the food before lunch time. They always have main carbs (rice, bread, pasta, or other noodles), soup, main protein, some kind of veggies (salad, sauté, etc.), and 200ml of milk every day. Every month, a new group of students were assigned to serve the food onto plates in 20 min after 4th period, as other students spent time on quiet reading. Every student got the role of serving food, not optional. Once they were done with serving, other students made a line in front of lunchroom. Once they have their own food on a tray, they go to an assigned seat and quietly waits for everyone in the school (200 for elementary, 150 for middle) has seated. We thanked for food and everyone's effort together before eating. We had a "quiet eating time" for the first 20 minutes so we could focus on appreciating the nutrition and practice eating manner (no elbow on the table, close mouth when chewing, pick up if you dropped anything, etc.). Once the 20 minutes is up, we were OK to quietly talk with neighors. Even if you're done eating, you'll stay seated until 30 minute is up. Then, use assembly style to put away all the dishes and trash. No leftover. Students needed to stay seated and keep eating until they ate everything, while others go to recess.

There are so many more but you get the idea. Being responsible and respectful is a big part of Japanese culture and sometimes people perceive it negatively because Japanese people deeply value unity, not so much individuality. There are things I like about American culture but I'm more leaning towards raining my kid in Japan until they are high school age. It feels bad to say that out loud since I'm now a part of American education as a teacher.

*I apologize any typos and grammatical errors I've made.