Hello!
My submission was pretty quick since I was somewhat done with the line art quite a while back, I just wanted to finish it somehow, since it was originally an (I don't know what material exactly, but it's synthetic) plate for relief printmaking.
This was from my previous school with the theme of drawing out our thoughts and feelings, so to speak, so I chose this to be my profile picture. This does have a bit of the social issues theme also, as honestly, it hasn't been easy living life for the past couple of years now, especially with COVID coming through and my mental health not being exactly perfect (then again, who is completely and perfectly healthy right now with a pandemic).
Anyways, when I started making this plate in my previous school, I honestly didn't know where I was going with life. It was a REALLY good school, but I didn't really have anything that I wanted to continue for the rest of my life, since what we had was a cycle of sleep deprivation, stress, exams, and more sleep deprivation. Yeah, it wasn't exactly the healthiest place to be in.
Japan has an extremely high suicide rate, not just with the younger generation, but with the older generation too. Our culture keeps us stuck to some traditions that would do better maybe when we were fighting within the country with swords and horses, but now? Not so much. Even if we do want help, some mental hospitals have a three-month-long wait list before meeting for the first time (this was in my area), and there's a high wall of anxiety that comes with deciding to get help for mental health. We are told to suppress our own opinions many times to fit in, and being the nail sticking out isn't exactly the best idea. This leads to people not wanting to get help for something that seems like a 'weakness' that could be the thing that separates them from the group, if the group finds out.
We have elementary school children committing suicide. Elementary. The total number of elementary, junior, and senior high school students committing suicide in 2020 was 499. 499 lives. We have students full of stress about entrance exams for junior high, then senior high, and then university. For whatever reason, some primary schools have entrance exams (at this point, this would be more stressful for the parents than the kids). And yes, there are elementary school entrance exams, though I do believe not as often as the junior high, senior high, and university exams.
Though it is improving with the free access to the internet that we have nowadays, this country has huge mental health issues ingrained into its system. Although I can see why exams may be a good idea for choosing students to come to this school or that school, this ends up with how much of an education the parents can provide for those children financially. These exams and schools decide much of what happens in the child's life, especially after university and getting a job, the better the university's fame (for how smart it is), the better the child's chances. And I've only talked about the kids. There are thousands upon thousands of adults, struggling in our society, and yet not much is done to change it.
I wanted to draw out how trapped I felt in this society, where people have to be out in full force the day of university exams to protect students, because molesters write 'free molesting day' on whatever social media they get their hands on (because no one will try to retaliate or bring them to police since they can't risk being late to exams). Where LGBTQ people mostly aren't accepted by law (parts of society are kind). Where students study their mental health away and still can't be perfect. Where education depends on the carer's financial status and how much they care about their child being 'successful'. Where we have train delays because someone threw themselves on the tracks, because their mind just blanked from the pain they were living in. Where we laugh and compare how sleep deprived we are in school, because for god's sakes we apparently don't have enough homework, not just from regular school, but from cram school too. Where elementary schoolers take their lives because they couldn't bear the pain. Where teachers sometimes ignore us sleeping in class, because who knows how long we were able to sleep at night.
How are young people supposed to grow to be healthy humans? Holding onto hope? Because at least 499 underaged people lost that too.
I always questioned towards Japanese educational system and the high 'expectations' many parents set for youngsters too. Your piece speaks up to Japan's broken society, and I love how you interpreted your thought into it. I have met some people with severe depression who were not even past 13. It is a reality (though many adults do not face it), that had been in the country for years. Japanese families are very strict towards their children's education, like the example you mentioned about the entrance exams for primary schools. And yet, there is a surprisingly low rate of students with Japanese nationality in universities outside of Japan.
Your experiences in Japan, even if they may not have been 'nice', will be extremely helpful in the future! Use what you have learned/felt at the time, and interpret them as much as you like in your upcoming pieces.