Just a quick thing. I was wondering if there was such a thing as a "Prep" or "Goth" or "Nerd" in Japanese schools. Where I live there are too many social groups and if you do not belong to one you are an outsider.

So basically is there social hierarchy in japanese schools?

Not really. They preffer to be part of the big group instead of being individuals. Individualism doesn't exist in Japan. Heres an interesting article for you:

A clear social impact of Japanese system of schooling is that children learn responsibility and group-harmony early in their lives. To expand upon this sense of responsibility, children are offered moral education classes and forced to solve their own disputes. The standard schedules usually involve emphasis on Japanese, arithmetic, science, social studies, and physical education. Within the schools themselves, children incorporate a sense of kohai and senpai on the first day of school because sixth grade-students act as older siblings to the first graders, giving them guidance and advice. Additionally, there is an early emphasis on deep understanding of the subjects that is reinforced by the teachers' patience and devotion to ?mastery learning,? which consists of repeating lessons as needed so that children can understand concepts intuitively.

Children are also divided into han, or working groups, which serve as chore-groups as well as learning groups. For example, certain han are assigned to cleaning up the classroom and others are assigned to serving lunch, with a rotation implemented. The leaders of the han are referred to as hancho and are responsible for acting as a teacher's apprentice and reporting the han's status to the class. Other forms of student leaders are the toban, or the class leaders responsible for mediating problems amongst the students, and the ?teaching children? called oshiego. One result of using student groups and leaders is that children are taught about social harmony on a micro-scale, as they must maintain peace amongst their core-group of peers. In fact, the class itself is viewed as a new type of family with its own kafu or rules of the house. This view of the school greatly assists education of social accord . Another impact is that children learn better by receiving individual focus from the oshiego and the oshiego also learns better because, through teaching, he develops his understanding of the material on a deeper level.
Teachers often govern their classrooms differently; however, two prevailing systems of government are kyoshitu okoku (classroom kingdom) and ?vertical equality.? In the kyoshitu okoku system, children are treated as equals and often have difficult tasks hidden from them in order to prevent any overwhelming vertical stratification from forming. The vertical equality system involves the teacher working directly with each student to make the student more well rounded, while still promoting greater class harmony . The social implications are intuitively present as the classroom is treated as a microcosm relative to overall Japanese society and the children thus learn the valued asset of understanding harmony and hierarchy. Japanese children respond to these systems by being better behaved. One explanation offered for the greater number of well-behaved children in Japanese schools is that children are taught that a person can be good and happy, while in Western schools obedience is often associated with boredom and stagnation

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Thank you for that my question has been answered and I like the way they do things..I just wish people would do that over here in america...

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Individualism does exist in Japan you just have to know where to look.

This is a topic that is not talked about much in Japan because of the belief you have to conform in get along in Japanese society (if a nail sticks up pound it down). However being an individual goes a long way in any culture and here in Japan individualism is practiced in degrees. For some to break out of the group and be an individual they often times have to leave Japan or some incases such as business start their own.

If you look at the Japanese who have left Japan most want to be an individual and do that they leave Japan. It becomes very difficult if and when they return to accept the groups hug if you will and conform. This is not to say all the social engineering is bad, for schools it is a good thing teaching what they do. But I believe once out of high school college students should be allowed to think on their own. Some companies search out the individuals that can think on their own and not rely on the group consensus to make decisions. I happen to know several students that were courted by large companies for being the individual.

A prime example of consensus failure is Daiichi powerplant. The individual that could have and should have prevented the meltdown was not allowed to because the group leaders did not say to. The same thing applies to Japanese airline pilots, co-pilots are taught not to question the captain (authority) and it leads to disaster. Being able to question authority as an individual can make the difference in many situations and the Japanese are learning this in a very hard way. I know this is a broad statement, but I just wanted to point out some situations where the group can fail and does.

However there is a place for consensus in society, but not in every situation. I come from a Western country and I was taught a moral code and conduct from my parents. It is the parents responsibility to teach children same as they do here in Japan. The school I attended reinforced what was taught at home.

I live in Japan because the social group makes it a great place to live, but with it I have to accept some social engineering. As a freethinking individual I run into conflicts all the time, but I choose my battles carefully.

Just one man?s opinion.