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　　迷茫的日本少女

　　3、While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression. "Those things that do not show up in the test scores — personality, ability, courage or humanity are completely ignored," says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education committee. "Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild." Last year Japan experienced 2125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education. Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World War Ⅱ had weakened the "Japanese morality of respect for parents".

　　虽然日本的教育因强调基础知识而经常受到外国人的赞扬，但是它往往强调考试和机械学习，而不重视创造性和自我表现。“在考分中得不到体现的那些东西——个性、能力、勇气或人性——完全被忽视，”执政的自民党教育委员会主席Toshiki Kaifu说，“对这类事情灰心丧气，致使孩子辍学、放荡不羁。”去年日本发生了2125起校园暴力事件，其中包括929起袭击老师事件。在一片抗议声中，许多保守党领导人正在力图回复到战前，强调道德教育；去年，当时任教育大臣的Mitsuo Setoyama就提出责难，他申辩说二战后美国占领当局引进的自由改革削弱了“日本人尊敬父母的道德观”。

　　4、But that may have more to do with Japanese life-styles. "In Japan," says educator Yoko Muro, "it's never a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure." With economic growth has come centralization; fully 76 percent of Japan's 119 million citizens live in cities where community and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, two-generation households. Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work) and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly one-quarter.

　　但是，那也许与日本人的生活方式关系更大。“在日本，”教育家 Yoko Muro说，“问题绝对不是你是否喜欢自己的工作和生活，而仅仅是你能承受多大的负荷。”随着经济的发展，居住集中化也跟着来了，在日本1亿1900万人当中，足有76％住在城市，在那里社区和几世同堂的大家庭已经成为过去，而取而代之的是单门独户的两代之家。城市里的日本人长期忍受着漫长的上下班来回路程和拥挤不堪的居住条件，随着旧的群体家庭道德观的削弱，令人不舒服的结果开始显现出来。在过去10年中，日本的离婚率，尽管仍远在美国之下，已经上升了50％，而自杀事件则上升了近1/4。