It's a TV feature about Watanabe no mon, a private school that operated in Japan until the middle of the 1990s. Education there was of the Spartan style - the school's founder was a soldier in the former Imperial Navy. There are a few articles on the school on Corpun. There is also a Japanese Wikipedia article on it which I hope to translate when time permits.
| Wikipedia article | July 11 2010, 2:07 PM |
| From Wikipedia (Japan): "Watanabe no Mon" was a cram school ("juku") located in the City of Nirasaki in Yamanashi Prefecture that existed from 1951 to the middle of the 1990s. Its head was Yuzo Watanabe whose personal history includes enrollment in the Imperial Navys youth flight training corps (translator's note: this was a school for boys in their mid-teens, usually of little academic excellence, many of whom proceeded to be kamikaze pilots). His Spartan education methods were based on the training methods in the Imperial Navy. The schools history spans around 40 years. Its portrayal below focuses mainly on the 1980s and 1990s. Contents: 1. Boarding school 2. Dormitory facilities 3. Daily routine at the school 4. Types of corporal punishment 5. Comparison with the Totsuka Yacht School incident 6. The end of Watanabe no Mon 7. Literature 1. BOARDING SCHOOL When the school was founded, it was a small institution catering for local children. However, with the education methods of its headmaster gaining more supporters, applications started coming in also from other parts of Japan. For this reason, a dormitory was built which hosted students from all Japan and at times also from Taiwan. At peak periods, there were more than 100 boarders. There were no specific rules as to the duration of their stay at the school. Most parents took their children out of the school once they graduated from junior high school or high school, but in rare cases, students stayed in the school until graduation from university. The "Western Dormitory" hosted mainly primary school children from year 1 to year 6, whereas junior high school and high school students were placed in the "Eastern Dormitory". During the day, they attended local schools. In the morning, in the evening and on holidays they received additional education at Watanabe no Mon. The local population of Nirasaki referred to the boarders as "cram school students" or "dorm students". Many of the boarders were forcibly sent to Watanabe no Mon by their parents. The reason was not so much academic education, but the expectation that the Spartan education methods would train "body and spirit". 2. DORMITORY FACILITIES The floor used for lessons and private study was called "dojo" (translator's note: this word, also known in Western languages, is usually used to refer to a martial art training place). Students entering the room had to stand at attention, then bow deeply and salute with a loud "Onegai shimasu!" (translator's note: this means "please" and could be translated here as "I beg for training" - the scene reminds of martial arts training, but also in a normal school setting, students would stand up behind their desk and greet their teacher with this expression at the beginning of class, although the atmosphere is obviously far less chilling). Mr. Watanabe, holding a kendo sword, would check the angle of the bow and the loudness and swiftness of the salute and order any student judged to salute inappropriately to repeat the procedure. The dormitory was composed of two buildings, the "Western" and the "Eastern Dormitory". A martial arts training place was located in the ground floor of the Western Dormitory. The outside wall of the dormitory sported barbed wire to prevent students from escaping. There were no air conditioning and heating devices and no TV and radio. No need to say that the possession of recreational devices was prohibited. 3. DAILY ROUTINE AT THE SCHOOL Weekdays: Getting up at 5.30. Gathering at the dormitory entrance to do push-ups and other warm-up training. After that, running outside the dormitory (a bit more than 1 km). After that, private study in the dojo and, irregularly, "water whacks" (see below "types of corporal punishment"). After that, breakfast and attendance of one of the local schools. Boarders were not allowed to participate in club activities at the local schools and had to come home straight after school to engage in private study or receive lessons dispensed by the headmaster until bedtime at 22.00, interrupted by a 10 minutes break and supper. Kendo lessons were dispensed once a week by a friend of the headmaster nicknamed "Storm". Holidays (Sundays and public holidays): Getting up between 6.00 and 6.30. After that, "toughening the spirit" (see below "types of corporal punishment"). After that, cautionary speech by the headmaster; private study and breakfast in the dojo. Until 12.00, private study and lessons. Between 12.00 and 15.00, lunch and free time. During this time, students went to a sento (communal bath house) as the dormitory had no bathroom with proper bathtubs, did their laundry, spent time with friends, read comics (translator's note: how this matches with the statement above that recreational devices were prohibited I do not know), etc. Until bedtime at 22.00, again private study or lessons with supper in between. 4. TYPES OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT Corporal punishment was dispensed by Mr. Watanabe, although, in his view, his actions did not constitute "punishment", but were akin to superiors whacking dozing monks on their shoulder during Zen meditation, i.e. a means "to promote attention and arouse the spirit, or to motivate and induce the student to concentrate on studying". - "Water whacks" Dispensed irregularly on weekdays after running in the morning and sometimes also during studying time in the evening. Students had to completely undress in the washroom, even in the middle of winter when temperatures were below freezing point, and pour a bucket full of cold water over their entire body to the shouts of "Ey!!". After that, they had to bow to Mr. Watanabe with a salute of "Onegai shimasu!" and place their hands on a washing basin. Arms and legs outstretched and back straightened, they were hit on the back with a bamboo cane by the headmaster standing behind them. After receiving the blow, they had to bow again with a salute of "Thank you!". Students received just one blow, but as they were hit with full force, a loud "Whack!" could be heard and a welt formed where they had been hit on the back. Sometimes, the cane broke. Originally, "water whacks" were part of the beating to "toughen the spirit" (see below) and had no particular name, but later got their special name because of the water and the "Whack!" involved. As the "water whacks" were a unique feature of Watanabe no Mon and made colourful footage, they were often depicted in TV features and in magazine articles. Students had to undergo whacks just to produce the footage. In this case, they wore briefs or swimming trunks or had a towel slung around their waist, although ordinarily, they were completely naked when receiving "water whacks". - "Toughening the spirit" These beatings were carried out early in the morning on Sundays and national holidays when schools were closed. Students had their name called out by the headmaster at the entrance of the dojo and entered the room. Inside, they had to stand at attention, bow, and salute with "I beg for mental training!". Then they had to place their hands on a study desk and adopt an on all fours position to have their bottom beaten with a bamboo sword by the headmaster standing behind them. After the beating, they had to stand at attention again and bow with a salute of Thank you!". Although the beating involved only one stroke and, unlike in the case of "water whacks", students kept their trousers on, the pain was considerable as the bamboo sword called "motivator sword" was reinforced on the inside with an iron rod. - Slaps on the cheeks On weekdays and holidays, students were slapped on the cheeks at the discretion of the headmaster. They called it "broadside slaps". Students were slapped when they failed to solve an exercise posed to them by Mr. Watanabe and for inattentiveness in the dormitory. - "Displaying the head" (translator's note: the term refers to the public display of the severed head of a criminal in feudal times) Mr. Watanabe placed both thumbs in the mouth of the student and pulled in both directions. Sometimes, he pulled until the lips tore and bled. - "100 strokes" (translator's note: this is probably also meant to refer to an ancient criminal punishment, although I do not think that there used to be a punishment in Japan called "100 strokes") Punishment for students who engaged in bad behaviour such as stealing in a shop in town or being violent in school. Students had to take their shirt off and get on all fours as described above ("toughening the spirit") to be beaten with a bamboo cane by the headmaster. For better deterrent effect, the number of strokes was quite high. 5. COMPARISON WITH THE TOTSUKA YACHT SCHOOL INCIDENT (Translator's note: Omitted. The headmaster of Totsuka Yacht School was sentenced to prison because students had died in his care.) 6. THE END OF WATANABE NO MON Despite failing health and the number of students dwindling down to just a few in the beginning of the 1990s, Mr. Watanabe continued to run the school until his death. In his last years, he donated around JPY 50,000,000 (approx. USD 550,000 at the present rate) to the City of Nirasaki as funds for a scholarship. After his death, the school was closed and the dormitory buildings demolished. Presently, only the school gate with the name of the school remind of it. 7. LITERATURE - Books: Spartan Education: Watanabe no Mon (by Noboru Imai, 1971) My Spartan Education Recorded over 20 Years (by Yuzo Watanabe) - Media: "The Spartan School - Watanabe no Mon" (translator's note: seems to be the combination of an article and a comic published in the November 1978 edition of "The Fifth Year Elementary Student", a magazine published by Shogakkan still popular today) "Spartan Education - Watanabe no Mon", newspaper article in the evening edition of Asahi Shimbun on 5 March 1967 |
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