It dealt with a new phenomenon in Japanese schools known as gakkyu hokai , or classroom collapse. Groups of children walk out abruptly in the middle of class. Some don't even bother to enter the classroom and instead hang around in the corridor. Others continue to talk after lessons begin. Often the chatter is so loud teachers cannot make themselves heard.
Many students read comics or play cards, turning toward the blackboard only when summoned by name.
Entire classes boycott lessons. Some children verbally abuse their teachers. A few beat them up. Little is offered in the way of explanation. The most perceptive remarks are made by Ryu Miri, the author of a book about a Kobe teenager who sent shockwaves through Japan two years ago when he decapitated a fellow student and left his head outside a local school.