Replies

"Actually, Japanese taxes are considerably lighter than American taxes on the middle class. I worked there for 13 years and made the equivalent of $80K. In addition to child exemptions of $3800, there were generous tax credits of $50 per month per preschool child from various local governments (available to legal foreign workers as well as the locals). My total tax bite was never more than 10%."

Don't forget the 5% national sales tax which is imposed on ALL goods and SERVICES including rents , hospital bills , medicine , food ...Ever ride on the expressways ? Talk about outrageous ! Costs over $200 one way to drive from Fukuoka to Tokyo , only 650 miles !!! Loads of " hidden " taxes as well . And in Japan you don't get the services one would get from the government ( national and local ) in the USA . Sure could use a few snow plows around here in winter and some salt on the roads !

The Japanese spend much less per capita on education / schools than the USA . I teach JHS/HS in Kumamoto . We just got hooked up to the internet last year ! No heat in the hallways . No shower rooms for sports teams . Kids have to clean/maintain the school - no custodians . Kids have to serve their own lunches ( food is delivered - no kitchen staff ) . No school buses . I could go on . The government is very stingy with the dough they rake in from the sheeple .

The Japanese spend much less per capita on education / schools than the USA . I teach JHS/HS in Kumamoto . We just got hooked up to the internet last year ! No heat in the hallways . No shower rooms for sports teams . Kids have to clean/maintain the school - no custodians . Kids have to serve their own lunches ( food is delivered - no kitchen staff ) . No school buses . I could go on . The government is very stingy with the dough they rake in from the sheeple .

Is that a bad thing, however? I think a lot of US schools could benefit if the students had to help clean them. For one thing, people are a lot less eager to trash a place if they know the next afternoon they'll just have to clean it again.

Our own district has no school busses. At least in Japan, I understand, the kids can take mass transit to school.

I for one would like to hear more about how Japanese schools are run.