[steven]

There is certainly that aspect there. They technically are not supposed to hit kids in class (as far as I know). I have never seen a full blown smack or punch or anything like that (although I think it goes on from time to time quietly by certain teachers), but I'll see teachers smack kids around a little bit. I think it's interesting to note that there is a tinge of humor in doing so too, as many people jokingly do it (friends in bars, comedians on tv, etc). Have you heard of monster parents? Much of the reason why that kind of punishment has been on the decline (and this is from what I can tell... there are probably articles written with more facts or studies) is that parents are more willing to get intolved and complain about it now-a-days. What you see is that there are parents like the ones of that boy who will discipline their children and take what the teachers say very seriously. On the other hand you have parents who don't differ much from their wild children. In between you have parents who discipline their children and think that it's none of the schools business to do it for them. There are also parents who don't do any of that kind of stuff certainly don't want schools doing it either. As teachers/students/parents become more aware of this, it becomes more of a touchy subject.

I think in all cases it depends on the teacher and the student. Teachers know their students quite well (especially the trouble makers) and know if smacking the kid a little bit will get them in trouble or not. Teachers will often call parents and will also sometimes visit the homes of these kids to talk with their parents in person about current problems and such.

The Japanese are definitely aware of their culture, and they go to great lengths teaching cultural studies in the classroom (and elsewhere). Even in my classes the students thank me after each lesson and bow in their seats. It shouldn't be any surprise that these cultural traits still run strong in university students.
Just last week I had dinner with an extremely smart man (a president of a big company in the area). He is probably the most fluent in English Japanese person I've talked to in the area. His accent is also quite incredible. When talking about English education with him I brought up the idea of just showing movies/tv shows to elementary school kids in that they'd probably learn really natural English that way without even having to study. While he recognized its effectiveness, he was very weary of doing so because he felt it would take away from the Japanese cultural identity. He said there is an importance of speaking English as a foreigner-- from a foreigners perspective-- a Japanese perspective. I thought that was quite an interesting take on it. It might not have the most to do with the topic at hand, but I felt as if maybe he was trying to preserve culture in this world of globalization. I definitely saw the merit in his argument... but my beef was that a lot of what Japanese say in English doesn't even translate on English, therefore their communication and transfer of cultural ideas are quite hampered.

When reading any articles, be very careful to note how they have arrived at their conclusions. If they have "data" be certain to look at what kind of data it is. Statistics is a very powerful tool, regardless of whether or not it is done correctly. You often get people, like the guy who wrote this article, who probably have all kinds of preconceived notions about what they're studying and take some really skewed data and draw some cliche conclusions from it. Japan may no longer be the mystical far eastern oriental dream-land that it once was, but there are many of these ideas that have been adapted to modern times. Everyone in Japan is polite. Every student in Japan is perfect. Except the "ijime", or "bullies". Every Japanese person loves the west. Japan is and has always been super clean and tidy. Japanese are respectful (this one will sometimes even infer that Americans or people from other countries are not). Japan is a straight dichotomy of great big super-future cities and beautiful old temples. I'm sure the list goes beyond what I have seen, but I think you get the idea. I feel like i've read so much of the same thing written by different authors that my bullshit alarm goes off straight away. It's like they just recycle the same ideas gathered in the mid-80's. The best part about the guy who wrote this article is that he even warns of these "cliche" ideas:
"But they get almost no real contact with Japanese people. As for those motivated by commerce, most Americans realize soon enough that guidebooks on "how to do business with the Japanese" are cliched, oversimplified and even misleading."
Then he goes on to talk about the same things those "how to do business with the Japanese" books do. Go ahead and research the guy who wrote this article and decide for yourself if this subject matter is anywhere near his field.

But yea, Sangetsu... I admire you. One part of me that I'm afraid will always be westernized is my distaste for natto. I can eat it and do eat it when it's presented to me... but I do not like it in the least. I'm sure psychology plays a part in this, but I swear when I say it triggers my asthma haha.

And PPS: I feel bad for your student who got roughed up by his parents. Is that a normal thing at your school? I've never seen something that severe in my school before and hope I never do.