After seeing TJF’s collection ofphotographs The Way We Are, students at Franklin High Schooland Greenfield High School in Wisconsin, U.S. sent us pictures oftheir high school life. You can hearthe responses among their peershere in Japan: “Look, that’s thesame as here.” “You’d never seeanything like that in Japan.” “Asfor me, I’d be more like . . .” Herewe present pairs of photos thatshow American and Japanese highschool students doing the samesorts of things.

How do you see these photos?Does Japanese high school life seemvery different? Quite similar? Actu-ally different when you look closely?What would you write in the blankspeech balloons for the Americanhigh shool students?

Lunch

At school, they huddle togetherchatting, paying no attention to thepeople around them. After classes, theyspend the time in parks and other placeswalking and talking. “Where shall wego today,” he queries.

Masui Kyôko

Jack Chmielewski

“Aa, I’d like to go back to bed!”Hasegawa Takashi

Eating school lunch in thecafeteria. In Japan or the UnitedStates, lunch tastes better when

you’re eating with friends.Joy Rivera

Please share with us snapshots

of how you live!

Under the “The Way We Are”theme, TJF is collecting photo-graphs of high school students’“Life at Home.” Please sharewith us snapshots of how youlive: fun events, how you spendtime with your family, the thingsin your room you are most proudof, how you spend your holidays,etc. Please attach an explanatorycaption to each photograph withyour name, school name, andschool grade and mail them toTJF by September 10. Selectedphotographs from among thosereceived will be published in TheJapan Forum Newsletter, No. 15in December. Those whose photo-graphs are selected will receive afree copy of The Way We Are.We look forward to receivingyour photographs.

The Japan Forum Newsletter No.13 June 1999

The Way We AreSimilar, Yet Different: The Lives of Japanese and American High School

:Photographer

Slow dancing at a party.Joy Rivera

The Way We Are-1

Brushing teeth

Couples

あぁ、

まだ眠ねむ

いなぁ。

今日き ょ う

の放ほう

課か

後ご

は、

どこへ行い

こうか？

When big exams are coming up,

everybody studies before class begins.

Carlane Zepnick

With mid-terms orfinals about tobegin, friends

consult about whatto expect on the

tests in a corner ofthe classroom.

“Look at thisproblem. Senseisaid that kind of

thing would be onthe exam, right?”

NakayamaYoshimitsu

She gets up at 5:30 toput on her makeup and

get ready for school.Carlane Zepnick

The Japan Forum Newsletter No.13 June 1999

Students

Eating lunch while leafing through fashion magazines in theclassroom. Some students bring boxed lunches from home;others buy sandwiches at the school kiosk. “Here, thishairstyle, isn’t it stylish?!” “Yeah, that’s cool.”

Suzuki Satoko

The Way We Are-2

Makeup

Studying for exams

Going home

今日き ょ う

は彼かれ

と会あ

うからきれいにお化

け

粧しょう

しなくちゃ。

この髪型かみがた

っておしゃれだねー。 うん、

それいけてるよ。

駅えき

の売店ばいてん

で、

ジュースでも

飲の

んでいこうよ。

Putting on make-up inpreparation for going out

after school is over. “Gottaget it right. I’m going out

with my boyfriend.”Yamaguchi Naoki

Left: Enjoying the sense of relief,students head home with their

friends. Some walk, othersbicycle, still others go by train,bus, or school bus. “Let’s get

something to drink at the stationshop, okay?

Hirosaka Toshihiko

Right: Boarding the school busafter school.Tony Wood

この問題もんだい

､

テストに出で

るって

先生せんせい

が

言い

ってたよね？