School Culture - Greetings

Small Student Aisatsu

The Ai-sa-tsu -挨拶

(Hellos and Goodbyes)

"Why is everyone leaving?" confused ALT

*For more posts similar to this one, see Being in a Japanese School - Culturally

PTA Aisatsu

Allow me to explain the quote above. Every once in awhile the entire staff room will get up and go somewhere. During the first few days spent at a Japanese school, it's possible to be a bit confused as to where everyone is going or what they are doing (impossible not to be confused actually). This confusion is just one of the side effects of existing in a Japanese school. One morning, if you don't know any better, you may think that all the teachers are leaving! It will appear as though all the teachers are heading towards the front gate with their street shoes on and jackets zipped up. However, they are just heading to the Aisatsu.......

Staff Aisatsu

Aisatsu is the Japanese word for a greeting. The aisatsu is a formal event during the school day. Students and staff greet the students at the front gate every morning, then the morning aisatsu continues in the hallways and school ground all the way until the first class starts. Basically, everyone you encounter will give you an enthusiastic "O-hayo!! Go-zaimasu!!" But that only lasts until the first bell. Then you get the classroom aisatsu (further below).

Many people think about Japanese culture and they think of sushi, manga, geisha, rice....whatever. But this little word - Aisatsu - is a critical component of daily life in Japan. I have yet to go to a school in Japan where Aisatsu wasn't fantastically stressed by the faculty. There are signs usually everywhere reminding the students to aisatsu properly. 

Aisatsu Tai-Kai

Sometimes you get the........... Aisatsu-Tai-Kai   (挨拶大会）

For the record, Aisatsu-Tai-Kai is just what I call it. The Japanese actually downplay this event a bit and call it the "Aisatsu-activity" or 挨拶運動 (aisatsu-undou).

Aisatsu Tai-Kai in the USA

Aisatsu-Tai-Kai is the aisatsu where seemingly everyone in the entire neighborhood is at the front gate greeting the students. It always reminds me of when an American football team enters the field of play and there is a human tunnel of cheerleaders and other assorted supporters cheering for you. In Japan sometimes the student council and PTA will make signs and everything for these wild morning greetings...the works!! It's a sight to see. And that's just the beginning.

KI-RITSU!!!

There's aisatsu before and after just about everything in Japan - especially the schools. In the gym they do it before and after sports practices, gym class, games, assemblies, activities....everything. A formalized greeting that requires one person (a leader) to begin the convocation  by yelling some form of call to order (e.g. kiritsu), then the group at the very least gathering and standing in a pre-organized and set formation, then a group chant (e.g. onegai shimasu), a group bow in unison followed by the beginning of the activity. 

1 on 1 Aisatsu

The classroom form of aisatsu begins with the homeroom class leader (student council rep or someone similar) calling for everyone to stand up, he says good morning/afternoon, everyone else repeats the chant, then everyone sits down. the teacher then says something such as "Let's begin today's math class." The thing of it is....it's the same exact thing every time, every day. Exactly the same. No variation. 

WARNING TO FUTURE ENGLISH TEACHERS IN JAPAN: Don't mess with the aisatsu. If there is one thing you want to strictly adhere to while in Japan, it's the aisatsu. It's serious business. You will encounter teachers who don't give a wink about it, but that will be rare and you will know immediately who these teachers are.

Sayonara Aisatsu

One odd note about aisatsu is that there is no aisatsu for the rest of the day in the hallways or around the school in general. For some reason everyone kind of walks around and keeps to themselves. Even the kids. It always seemed like I was the only one still saying hello, making eye-contact or gesturing a friendly wave or something. I always got the feeling that the Japanese thought that this was extremely strange behavior of me, but who knows....then again, I'm from Whidbey Island. Whatever. In Japan, if it's not customary or expected, than it's strange. More on that in a later edition.

Do you have a question about Japan or a topic that you are interested in that you haven't found on this blog? If so, please tell me about it in a comment. I will get a post up about it as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!!