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Sat 3 Apr, 2004 06:13 pm
A few years back I was working with some kids who told me they were studying Japan at school. One of the things they told me they had learned was that there is a custom that if a Japanese child feels sad or happy, or any other emotion, they can let this be shown by wearing a coloured rectangle to school - the colour represented the mood, so that, for example, if you noticed someone was wearing a sad colour, you would be kind to them. But you weren't to ask them why they were sad.
Anyway, this struck me as an interesting and good idea! But I have 'Googled' to find out more several times over the years, and can't seem to find out any more information about this. Maybe it has a special name that I don't know!
Have you heard of this custom?
Thanks!!
never heard of it. Ill ask some friends though, hopefully one of them will know
Thanks, K e v i n, that would be great!
Never heard of this either, & I live in Japan. It's still possible that some people do it though...if I remember I'll ask a mom about it.
Thanks Monger! I've asked around on a few other forums too, but noone seems to have heard of it. I wonder if the teacher of these kids simply made this whole thing up, lol! Or maybe they just do it in one school in Japan
Sounds like a hoax. Anyway, it wouldn't work in america. Kids would be made fun of for wearing sad colors. And depressed people might wear the same color every day, or even wear a happy color to trick people. I don't see any useful application. At least, not a realistically useful one.
Well, it wasn't a 'hoax' per se - their teacher really did teach them about it, but where she got the information, I have no idea.
ThinkZinc I live in Japan for two years and my daughter went to a Japanese school while we were their and I never heard of such a thing.
Thanks, JoanneDorel! I guess that clears the matter up, somebody along the line somewhere must have simply made it up! And it is now being taught in schools across Scotland, lol! Oh well, can't trust everything you are taught, of course!
Just for positive confirmation I lived in Japan for many years and also haven't heard of this.
Oh well
It's quite a nice idea, I suppose , lol!
SCoates wrote:Anyway, it wouldn't work in america.
By the way, for the most part it would never work in Japan either.
Thinkzinc, I showed your post to a mom here today & she just laughed.
Methinks your friends' teacher should check his/her sources..
Well, here's another strange Japanese custom my Japanese teacher told me when I was in high school... He said Japanes people don't eat while they walk. Something about disrespecting the food, or the place where the food came from.
Maybe that's like running with scissors. You might fall and poke your eye out with a chopstick. Do Japanese still use chopsticks? I'm not sure.
I understand that in South Korea, having a large tattoo is grounds for being NOT selected for military service. That'd be an easy way to beat the draft. What, a guy with a tattoo is unqualified to carry a rifle?
Equus wrote:
I understand that in South Korea, having a large tattoo is grounds for being NOT selected for military service. That'd be an easy way to beat the draft. What, a guy with a tattoo is unqualified to carry a rifle?
Mmmh:
Quote:Arrest Warrants Sought for Tattooed Draft Dodgers
Kyonggi police yesterday sought arrest warrants for a 21-year-old named Lee and nine others on suspicion of deliberately acquiring tattoos to be exempted from mandatory military duty.
According to police, Lee went to a tattoo artist in August 2002 to get a 30-by-40 centimeter tattoo painted on his body for 500,000 won. He passed a medical examination for conscription the previous year.
He was ordered to serve in public service after being rejected for normal military service due to the tattoo in a reexamination last year.
The state draft law currently states that men with excessively large tattoos can be exempted from regular military service and work in less-demanding posts since their appearances can be deemed offensive to the public.
Source: The Korea Times of 11. July, 2003
Re: Japanese custom?
hmmmmmm........
even i havent heard of this.
i study in a japanese high school.
probably, this would have been a custom in japan, some 20 (or more) years ago.
anyway, i'll try my best to find an answer for this.
I've never visited Japan before but am curious to see it. I'm 1/4 Japanese on my mother's side and would like to see the city where my great-great-grandparents emigrated from (the Yokohama area, but I've also heard they came from Osaka, I'm not sure which one it is), Anyone have any good advice on what to see/do there? Thanks!
I've never heard of such thing... I was born in Japan and lived there 22 years. My guess is that a private school or kindergarden came up with this idea and tried on thier kids, then somehow your friend's teacher found about this and thought that is something all Japanese kids do.
I think it's a good idea. especially for shy japanese kids like I used to be.
You're probably right, moomin623. I agree, it is a nice idea for shy kids
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