Kindergarten

Children in Japan begin learning to write hiragana from about age four, and kanji from about age 7. By age 7 or 8, they should be able to write their own names, first and last, in kanji. By about age 9, their skill in writing kanji is good enough that they are able to mock mine.

Comments

[Karla]

Rachel, this particular cat-bus belongs to a kindergarten in my city. It's the only one I know of, but I have seen other kindergarten buses in the shapes of trains and Anpanman (a popular cartoon superhero), and most are at least brightly painted with animated characters, zoo animals, sea creatures, and other themes. A big cat- or train-bus is a hell of a thing to see driving around one's neighborhood first thing in the morning. I wish there were more.

[Rachel]

Very nice photos. :) That bus is super cute!
Are those all over?

[Chan'ad]

Just wanted to tell you that I love your photos. This one of the kid in school is just too good.

Cheers from Bahrain!

[Karla]

Sorry, Victor. I never got a photo of that. Even though I know I should always carry a camera in Japan, sometimes I forget, and I always regret it. I'm afraid the picture in your head will have to hold. I'll bet it's good though.

The no kid pics policy still holds, but like all good policies, there must sometimes be exceptions.

[Victor]

Hey! I though there were no kid pics? If the policy changed, I want to see the flip the bird at the teacher song, though I doubt it would surpass the picture your blog entry created in my head. Still...