After elementary school, you see many differences

Age during junior high school
After graduating from elementary school, you throw your randoseru and put an uniform of junior high school when you get 13 years old.

I had a strange feeling when I enrolled the junior high school. One of my friends, who was one year older than me, changed his attitude when I started my junior high school student life. It was totally, so to speak, senpai(means ‘senior’). While we shouldered our randoseru together, we thought ourselves as the same aged friends, however, once he entered the junior high school, he had an atmosphere like ‘Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice.’

gaku ran(for men)
The most defferent part between elementary school and junior high school is to put an uniform or not. We call uniforms in school gakuseihuku or gaku ran(one of slangs). There are many kind of gakuseihuku in Japan. Especially ‘yankee’, who is like a pretty gangster or a bad boy, always like arranging their own gakuseihuku. ‘yankee’, I think the word was originated from America, however, we treat ‘yankee’ as young gangsters or bad boys when we use it in Japan.

gakuseihuku indicates both pants and a jacket. Teachers in junior high school strictly treat us by rules. Under strict rules, ‘yankee’ often put tyou ran or tan ran as a jacket and bon tan as pants.

tyou of tyou ran literally means long. How could I say…the parts around pockets of jackets…If these part are too long, we call jackets tyou ran. If these part are short, we call them tan ran. Incidentally, there is tyuu ran, as a jacket whose the part around pockets is neither short nor too long.

bon tan are pants. I don’t know why they call bon tan, however, we call pants whose the parts from thighs to knees are wide bon tan.

You can see what tyou ran, tan ran and bon tan. Strictly speaking, the character called Toru Nakama put tyuu ran, not tyou ran.

Unfortunately(?), the number of ‘yankee’ in Japan is decreasing. Now that I think you might no longer see them in Tokyo. The film I introduced to you was broadcasted in 1984. The time has changed. After that, chi-ma- or color gang had appeared. Now I don’t know how students these days have their fashion.

You can see what chi-ma- or color gang are like in this film.

In this film, young people putting hip-pop like clothes and each team members put the same colors. This drama was also broadcasted in around 2000, so it might already be old-fashioned.

Life in junior high school
Except of ‘yankee’, mainly students spend their life in junior high school studying and working in clubs. We have also haruyasumi, natsuyasumi and huyuyasumi as well as elementary school days, but during these holidays, we often go to the school and enjoy our own club’s activities. Maybe the word ‘enjoy’ is not really proper. When I was a junior high school student, I played soccer in the club. While training, I felt I was in hell or somewhere. Incidentally, I was a goal keeper.

The extinct tradition(at least in my region)
Now that there is no such a tradition in my region. I had it in my age. That was bouzu(means croppy), to have male student’s hair cropped short. Before I enrolled the junior high school, I had to have my hair cut like an rookie soldier in armies. We call it bouze.
When I was the 3rd grades in the junior high school, the activities appeared among us in order to change the rules of the school. The largest target of changes of the rule was ‘no more bouzes’. Before I graduated, the dream came true.

A romantic action
I don’t know if this tradition still exists, but it sounds romantic for me, so I’ll introduce you it. We have the graduation ceremony every year. At that time, girls try to ask the men they love to give men’s second button of their uniform. It is okay for girls to get nahuda(means a nameplate) from the men. Incidentally, when I was the second grades, I had a girl in the 3rd grades who I was in love. So I asked her to give her nameplate when she graduated. When I graduated, I had my three buttons taken. My glory days had already gone since the moment and never come back…lol

Except of people who took examinations to enroll private junior high schools, we have to face the first examination to enter high schools. Checking our own performance, we have to decide where we should(or can be allowed to) go.

At the end of the 2nd grades’ term, I had an interview about which high schools I should choose with my teacher. He thought I wanted to enroll the best high school in our Peninsula. But I said NO. He asked me why I said No. I explained the reason to him like that; ‘I’m in love with one girl who already graduated. She is in other high school. Actually, although the high school has lower levels than the school you suggested, I’d like to be there. You can study anything wherever you are, can’t you? That’s the high school I want to go.’ Ofcourse it was one-way love, but I really thought like that. But the teacher smiled on his face and said, ‘Hey, HoneyPotter, there are plenty fish in the sea. So you should not choose your high school with such a reason.’ I didn’t think so at that time, however, later I knew I would be able to play the guitar in the high school which the teacher recommended. So I changed my plan.

O.K. I’ll introduce high school lives in the next article. And one more thing, I’ll reply for your comments in another day. Sorry about that.