Teachers are advised to discourage students from expressing impulsive thoughts and opinions. Harmony and cordiality of all members is more important than fairness or equality. Decisions are made by groups not individuals . The Dotoku books do not end their stories with rewards and punishments but with satisfaction from having done what is right or resoration of relationships. Those with no solution.
Prep school is a pressure cooker.
Expectations are esoteric and degree of mastery extraordinary. Jukus are privately run after-school academies. Academics are highly competitive because virtually all of one's future depends on performance on one set of tests at the end of the Sr. There are about 12 elite universities out of the 420 in Japan. At Tokyo there are over 12,000 applicants annually for 3,075 positions.