Summary & Conclusions

Bob Waldie reported that his school, Blaengwawr Comprehensive, didn't have the Internet at present, but even if he had to set it up himself, they would definitely be on line soon. We discussed the idea of putting illustrated versions of our reports on an Aberdare Girls' School home page in the first instance.

Christine Michiels from Athenée Royal Air Pur, Seraing, Belgium did not have the Internet in her school but thought that its installation was likely in the next few months.

Patrick Clastres from Lycée Jean Zay, France also said that his school didn't have the Internet at present and pointed out that not many teachers in France are computer literate. However, he thought that the maths teacher might be able to use email at the nearby university. In the meantime we agreed to write to each other with details of progress with the Internet in our respective schools.

Ursula Weger from Gymnasium Seligenthal, Landshut, Bavaria didn't have the Internet either, but thought it was quite likely to be put in during the coming year when some renovations have been completed. Her Head Teacher was not too interested in computers, however.

Bartholomäus Huber from Ursulinen Realschule, Landshut, Bavaria was expecting the Internet to be set up in his school in October. He personally has two rooms and runs Word for Windows v 6 on a Pentium 75 and may even get the Internet at his home address. We agreed to use letters and fax to keep each other informed of progress.

John Bibby from Furze Platt School, Maidenhead, England has had the Internet in his school for some time but didn't know how it was used at present. He agreed to pass my details on to the teacher concerned.

David Moloney from Ryesh Green School, Reading, England has had the Internet at school for about a year and a lady called Vicky Flemming is in charge of it. Their email number is @ryegreen.demon.co.uk but if you wanted to write to David personally you must put dm immediately in front of the @ symbol.

John Waggener from Meadowcreek High School, Atlanta, USA, has the Internet at school and at home. The school number is currently mcreek@mindspring.com but they may be changing the web server soon and so this number might change. His home number, woolfolk@mindspring.com, can be used for initial contact. One of Mr Waggeners students has already contacted me via the Internet requesting information from our History department about the war of 1812.

Bruce Salmestrelli from Plainsboro Regional High School, New Jersey, USA, has a personal email address at his home, BruceSalm@aol.com, but his school will not have email for another year although it does already have a home page. He didn't quite understand how it could have a home page without email, but it was probably something to do with the way their computer manager had organised the system.

Jennifer Hartley from Lipman Middle School, California, USA has the Internet at school, but does not yet have her own personal number. The number to use for the moment is sbabaya@aol.com.

Ingrid Farrell from The Masters School, Dobbs Ferry New York, USA said that her school would be connected from September and sure enough I received a message from her school Computer Coordinator, David Lankford at the beginning of this term. Their email number is Tamia@msn.com.

On the Japanese side there was much interest in the use of the Internet too, but none of the schools that we visited actually had the Internet connected although several were hoping to have this done within the next twelve months. However, when I returned home I was delighted to find an email message waiting for me from Mr Yoshinori Ishikawa, whom I had met during the reception at the Omika Club. He wanted to know my impressions of Japan and Japanese education and so I replied that I was preparing a report on this and would send him the relevant sections when it was complete.

At Sukegawa Middle School I did not see any computer equipment at all, but one of the teachers with whom I had discussed the Internet at a previous meeting at the Omika Club gave me a photocopied list of Internet, World Wide Web and email addresses in many locations, including schools in Japan. I hope to be able to make use of this in the next few months. Sukegawa school itself is hoping to be connected next year.

In contrast the computer equipment at Toyoura High School was excellent and in remarkably good condition considering that it was two years old. I wasn't sure what they used it for because the computer teacher wasn't available for discussion, but I was assured that the Internet was part of their future development plan.

Kamonourin Senior High School, the Agricultural School, didn't have the Internet either and unfortunately the staff felt that both they and the pupils would need a lot more time to learn the basics of using computers before they brought in the Internet. I hope they change their mind on this one because it would be a very interesting school to communicate with.

The computer equipment at Minokamo East Middle School was quite old and was used to enhance conventional teaching. They did not have the Internet, but did say that Monbusho, the Ministry of Education, was currently looking into ways in which computing facilities in schools could be improved and enhanced.

Fujimi Elementary School was the last school that we visited and, although they didn't have the Internet, they were planning a new computer room with Internet facilities which I found extremely encouraging.

My next task will be to create an Aberdare Girls' School home page on the World Wide Web which will provide access in the first instance to an illustrated copy of this report. As more schools come on line, then the use of email will gradually be introduced into the curriculum too.

Japan's educational system is rigidly controlled and monitored by Monbusho, the Ministry of Education and Science. Schools are inspected by Monbusho about ten times per year, although this covers every aspect of the school from the teaching to the buildings to the meals. Mr Homma, the Director of Lifelong Learning Studies at Monbusho came across as a genuine caring politician who was very concerned about the shortcomings of the Japanese educational system. In particular he was worried about bullying and the rise in the suicide rate that this seems to cause. The Japanese do not appear to have evolved a policy for dealing with this problem yet and were very interested in Bob Waldie's presentation of Blaengwawr School's bullying policy and supporting video.

Mr Homma was also interested in ways to encourage more individuality among school pupils and this led to wider discussions with Japanese teachers about school textbooks. Monbusho currently allows teachers to purchase textbooks from five different publishers and changes the text books every four years. Japanese teachers envied our ability to choose any textbook from any publisher, or even write our own if necessary, and follow any course from any examining board, but clearly lacked the freedom to follow suit. Most Japanese textbooks I saw were almost entirely text based and had little to offer by way of coloured pictures, diagrams and interesting structured questions for pupils.

I thought that school cleaning by pupils was an excellent idea. All pupils participated daily in sweeping, dusting, polishing and even toilet cleaning and appeared to enjoy the work. Even if they didn't like it at the time, then, as adults looking back, they recognised its character building value. Unfortunately, however, I couldn't see this idea catching on in our schools as it would require an impossible cultural change in our society.

Parent Teacher Associations are very active in Japan with all parents taking an active interest in their childrens' schools. They help to raise money for school funds, provide practical help with school refurbishments and even care for the school grounds and gardens. Teachers work very hard in Japanese schools. All of them run extracurricular clubs and societies for several hours after school each night and moreover all of the pupils attend quite willingly. This level of dedication and commitment from teachers, parents and pupils represents yet another cultural difference between our countries.

One unfortunate aspect of Japanese education is that the majority of pupils have to attend juku or crammer schools in the evenings in order to achieve academic success and subsequent entry into university, which must put a great deal of pressure on them. My first reaction to this was that it seemed unfair to expect pupils to have to work so hard for so long just because their conventional daytime education appeared to be inadequate and was thus failing them. However, the Japanese are renowned as a nation of very hard workers and so it could be argued that this system is in fact the breeding ground for the commitment, dedication and competitiveness which has made Japan such a successful country since World War II.

The point was made on a number of occasions that if Western individuality was introduced on a large scale into Japanese schools it could undermine the whole of their society. People would lose pride in their work and their country so that eventually, for example, their fabulous bullet trains would no longer run on time, graffiti would appear unchecked and crime and lawlessness would increase. Personally, I'd prefer to see Japan stay as it is.

My homestay family were lovely people and we all got on really well together. Full marks for whoever matched me to this family. We seemed to have a lot in common and they took great pains to cater for my interest in traditional Japanese crafts and martial arts. I really enjoyed staying with them and wished I could have stayed for longer. Since returning home I have received a letter with some photographs and a parcel full of presents from them. In return I have sent them some photographs, a copy of the video that I took when I stayed with them, a music tape and some more Welshcakes and I look forward to maintaining regular contact with them. I sincerely hope that we can all meet again some day.

Flying to Japan Club Class was a treat which turned the twelve hour non stop flight into a real adventure. We did a lot of travelling within Japan, most of which was in Shinkansen bullet trains which was a very pleasant way to travel. We always arrived at our destinations speedily and in comfort and stress free. Having a travel agent guide, who had always purchased the tickets in advance, made all the difference to these journeys. We saw a lot of wonderful sights when in Japan including shrines, temples, castles and gardens and it was these traditional images of Japan that I personally had come to see. I am still amazed at how much was crammed into such a short space of time.

The purchasing of souvenirs and gifts for my family and friends was something that had really worried me, since our schedule was so full and so tight that I couldn't see when or where I would be able to do any shopping. However, two places in particular are worthy of mention. In Minokamo we stopped at a German restaurant with an attached souvenir shop and during the second week in Kyoto we spent a whole afternoon in the Kyoto Handicraft Centre. Both of these places had a huge range of goods including kimonos, paintings, pottery, swords, fans, chopsticks and toys. In fact between them they more than catered for any souvenir or present that you could think of. I would strongly recommend to Hitachi that both of these places are visited in all future HISTEPs.

The social side of the trip was, I have to admit, very enjoyable, but without it I could not have forged so many international friendships and Internet contacts. Often the most useful discussions and conversations took place over a beer or sake in a bar or hotel room. We were extremely well fed during the tour and enjoyed many meals in Japanese and Chinese restaurants. Nobody was ill as a result of eating strange food. Our hotel accommodation was always first class and the staff were very friendly and helpful and couldn't do enough for us.

I think that future trips need to be advertised a lot earlier and I would suggest at least a term in advance. When I first saw the notice for HISTEP '96 it was a matter of about six weeks away from the departure date. In that time I had to arrange to have a polio booster and injections for typhoid and hepatitis-A, most of which would take six weeks to become fully effective.

I cannot thank Hitachi enough for selecting me for this trip as they have made an impossible dream come true for me. In particular I would like to thank Mr Kazuhisa Nemoto, Mr Norihiro Suzaki, Mr Yushi Akiyama, Mr Martijn Anthonissen and Ms Sabine Lange for looking after us so well. If Hitachi needs a seasoned HISTEP adventurer, who intends teaching himself Japanese, to participate as an adviser on future trips then I'm your man!

Peter Savan

12th September 1996