Pretoria - It was back to school for a group of eight foreign journalists visiting Tokyo, Japan, recently.
They were attending the first World Assembly for Women.
Tokyo, one of the world’s large metropolitan cities measured by population (13.18 million) is divided into 23 wards.
The journalists from Asian and African countries had been invited to spend time at the Higashi Shibamata Elementary School in a ward on the eastern fringe of the city.
The well-established school with spacious grounds dates back to the 1960s and is one of 50 public elementary schools in the ward catering for children in Grades 1 to 6, or ages 7 to 12.
It’s unusual in that it is relatively small, with only 228 children in eight classes.
On the surface it seems like any other school. It has classrooms on three floors, a library, music room, computer room and a schoolyard with benches and facilities for sport.
It’s 11am on a Wednesday; teachers are teaching, the children seated quietly and focused on their lessons: Japanese, mathematics, social studies and science, for example.
A younger grade is in art class. The children have before them “cakes” made of boxes and iced. They are being shown how to make dumplings from dough to decorate them.
In a music class children enthusiastically perform a song called Believe for the visitors.
In a culture session, children demonstrate their skills with a traditional toy, the kendama, while outside, another class is doing physical education.
School headmaster Aritoshi Hashiyada is proud to point out what makes this school special: it offers the regular curriculum – but also has a particular focus on food and gender equality.
From day one, boys and girls are treated as equals. They are encouraged not to discriminate against others who are different.
One of the classes visited by the group of journalists is Grade 5 where boys and girls are hand-sewing items such as pencil cases.
Hashiyada says gender equality is very important in Japan – a country which is on a campaign to get women back into the workforce by providing better pre-school and after-school care.
Boys and girls need to receive the same quality education, whether it is mathematics or home economics, and have the same opportunities in life, says Hashiyada.
Also important is fostering an understanding of a good lifestyle, including food – where it comes from and the importance of eating right as part of a healthy lifestyle.
One group of children is growing rice in buckets while photographs on display show children growing tomatoes and shelling peas.
A project board boasts recipes for favourite dishes and international food.
The journalists are invited to stay for school lunch which is served to all the children.
While the lunch of bread, chicken and vegetable broth, a doughnut, grapes and milk, has been prepared in a central kitchen, children help serve it to their classmates, and all are responsible for cleaning up afterwards.
Before they return to their lessons on the day of the journalists’ visit, the children are encouraged to engage with their visitors, and learn something from their home countries: the languages they speak, famous landmarks, iconic people, food, animals or events.
The visit gives the journalists an insight into daily Japanese life and leaves them humbled by the children they have encountered.
It is a school with a vision to live gender equality and encourage children to have a healthy relationship with food as part of their school experience.
Words and pictures by Valerie Bojé, Pretoria News