ItalianoGACKT Official Weibo update. Translation below:
Yesterday was an incredible day.
Work up in the morning and leisurely did training, my upper body has already shown great changes. To be able to reach such result by training on my own is also quite shocking.
It should be the result of taking the Metal Muscle HBM.
Compared to previously when I only did push-ups, this is really much more effective. My t-shirts has become tighter, my chest, shoulder, arms has become stronger too.
When I went to America with my friends to meet with the artists and their friends, I was shock to see the differences between our bodies…
The body of Japanese are really small.
Well…
If Japanese only wanted a beautiful body, the current condition will do, there’s no need to build up your body any more. What’s more important is whether you can fully utilize your body.
I had a relaxing afternoon tea. Felt that my cold has completely recovered and feeling refreshed. Then my friend and his family from Japan and my other friend and his family from here came to play.
Although we planned to hang around somewhere near my house, and seeing so many children for the first time I cannot hide my confusion.
The more I think the more I feel these children are really genius… They completely do not listen to explanations, and was able to enjoy playing by using their own special ideas and imagination, touching freely, chasing after Angie…
This is the first time Angie being chased by the children until she’s breathless.
The children’s family said “Let them grow up just like that”, I think so too.
Comparing the world level now, the level has already gone down a lot.
But, every school has different level too, we cannot say the schools overseas are good, or schools in Japan are good.
We shouldn’t compare them like this.
What I notice most is,
The existence of opinions.
Children will repeat their opinions.
It’s not about right or wrong,
but to be able to say their opinions.
But the schools in Japan,
If what you do is different from the people around you, you will be reprimand.
“Why can’t you move together with everybody?”
“why are you different from everybody!”
“Quiet! You are too noisy, don’t you feel embarrassed?”
“Everybody is so polite, you have to be like this too!!”
In this way, compare to your own opinions, team work is the main point, parents and teachers are the same, they teach the students “just like everyone else”.
According to a report by the US agency, wrote “Why Japanese cannot express their own opinions”, also wrote, in actual fact, this was already deeply rooted in their school life.
It can’t be help…
Indeed, during when I’m in school,
I was often being criticized like this.
And so I was the student who was being extremely pointed out as different from everybody.
Of course there’s good and bad for this.
If you are the gear of the company, this kind of education system is not wrong. It’s just like a manufactured strong enterprise soldier.
However, a leader will not be born out of this.
There will not be a powerful leader.
Some time ago, my secretary blurted out something like this.
She and her child were brought up in Singapore.
Due to certain circumstances, they came back to Japan,
and she became my secretary though.
She spoke of an instance in her son’s secondary school.
In Singapore, of course,
education was completely taught in English,
so when he talks to me it would be completely in English.
The first time we met was when he was in primary school but
I admired how well he spoke in English.
However,
when we were talking about his English classes in school,
it appears that her son pretended to be bad at it when reading English sentences.
When I heard that, I asked
「Why do you have to pretend that you’re bad at it?」
and to that, he gave me this answer.
「When I speak English well everyone around me looks at me strange
and they tease me for it.
It’s a big problem. You can’t just be able to speak English…」
I thought, he speaks like an adult, but
somehow I feel like I can understand where he’s coming from.
If it’s an international school
it’s only natural that he will be able to speak English but
in a normal school, those around him will feel disgusted by it.
Indeed,
when I think back on my own school days,
I felt disgusted by those kinds of students.
They’re so full of themselves… was what I would think.
I don’t know if it’s because they’re different from everyone else around them but
it’s unfortunate.
That kid is also now completely accustomed to the environment in Japan…
Or rather, he has adapted.
Well, there’s no country more wondrous than Japan.
Right now, they’ve started English classes for the upper grades in elementary schools.
And until the end of high school, that will be around 7 to 8years.
If we add in the time until they graduate from university, that will make it around 11 to 12 years of English language studies for them.
Especially the level of things like grammar in high school and university,
actually exceeds that of native American’s.
However,
despite that many years
of being taught the English language
only a few percent of Japanese citizens can actually speak English.
An English language education that can’t be used in practice.
Furthermore, when they enter university, there’s even a choice to pick up a second language.
German, French, Chinese, Spanish.
There’s a variety of languages that you can choose from but
I wonder exactly how many people can actually speak them.
This reality has not changed in the past few decades.
No, there’s a reason why it doesn’t change.
But if I write about that here, I think.
It’ll get too long.
Anyway.
It’s the same as being taught, for more than 10 years, self-defense techniques that can’t be used,
and in the end you still can’t protect yourself nor the people precious to you.
This is frustrating.
An education system that doesn’t change
but is naturally questioned by everyone.
Too frustrating…
At the very least,
how about we start from
not excessively saying things like
「Stop it! It’s embarrassing!」 or
「Be a good child like everyone else around you!」
to children when they’re young.
I thought of this yesterday as well but,
children are troves of talent.
They far exceed the imaginations of us adults’,
they’re filled with the talent of possibilities.
I look forward to their future.
Source: GACKT WEIBO
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA