My Last Picture of 2007: A Cram School
Oops! I forgot to post this. This is the last picture I took in 2007. (But there are some more pictures I haven’t posted yet…)
This is a cram school near Ogikubo Station, in Tokyo.
From left to right, the first character, (無), “Mu,” means “Not~.” The second, (敵), “teki,” means “enemy/rival.” So together, it means, “Unrivalled/invincible” The third character, (塾), “juku,” means “cram school.” Get it? If you go to this cram school, you will be invincible when take your next exam. That is important, because if you can perform better on your tests than other students, you can get into good schools, which will help you get a good job in the future.
What is a cram school? Well, a cram school is a school where students go for extra instruction–usually to pass an exam. Cram schools are not uniquely Japanese. We even have some in the U.S. (Kaplan is a good example.) In Seattle (85th and Greenwood Ave NE, across from Blockbuster Video), I used to pass by Kumon, which is a famous cram school chain in Japan. My first place in Japan was down the street from a Kumon school. I always thought it was sad when I was walking home around 10pm, and I saw tired little children leaving there. We’re talking elementary school kids, here.
I wanted to find out more about the history of cram schools, so I fired up google and found this Japanese site. According to the site, the history of cram schools and home schooling goes back to the Heian Period (794-1185). If you read Japanese and want to find out more than you ever wanted to know about how to choose a cram school in Japan, check it out. I skimmed over several pages, but quickly lost interest. (Did I mention that it’s about 12 pages long?) 
