Greetings from Ashoro! When talking about the end of the school year, most of us in Canada would be referring to the month of June. Our thoughts may then drift towards the two months of summer break that follow. However, if you refer to June as the end of the school year to a person in Japan, they would give you a weird look.

Compared to Canada, the school year is split very differently here in Japan. We are currently in Spring Break and when students return to school in mid-April, they will be entering a new school year in a new grade. The last day of school was sometime during the fourth week of March, followed by Spring break for roughly two weeks. Depending on the school, the Spring break could be longer or shorter than this, and in some cases are issued some sort of homework to complete during this time.  

The school year is divided into three semesters. The year kicks off with the Spring/Summer semester from April to July, followed by three to five weeks of summer break. Second semester begins in September and continues until the end of December, just in time for a few weeks of Winter break. Finally, third semester opens in January and concludes in March, then it starts all over again.

During breaks, students here are generally not as free as the students in Canada to do as they please. Summer and Winter breaks require students to complete a span of pages in their workbooks filled with reading exercises and questions, in math, science, social studies, and Japanese language arts. Once they enter junior high school, they will begin to take home English homework as well. Youth involved in club and sports activities will continue to go to practices throughout the break on top of all of this.

All of the extra work may seem rough coming from a relatively lax schooling experience in Alberta, however, it seems to be a good bonding experience. I often see kids from around town gathered in local buildings to study together and turn it into a fun, productive hangout. It is not unusual to see a gathering of students with a tabletop filled with snacks and games alongside their educational materials.

Originally written for the Wetaskiwin Times on March 18th, 2021. It has been edited to align with current schedules. 🙂

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