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School fields and parks

Supermandarin

後輩
14 Sep 2005
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This question is really starting to irritate, because for the life of me I can't think of a single sensible answer:

Why do Japanese school fields (football pitches) etc. have no grass?
And why, for that matter, is there hardly any grass in the parks too?

I see clumps of the stuff here and there, among a few weeds, moss and whatnot. But where is the real grass?
Can they not afford motorized mowers or something?

I can't help thinking that football is an entirely different game when played on compacted earth - more bounce, for example.
Plus, when it rains, the fields become mudpits, whereas if they were gas, they'd still be usable.
A friend of mine who used to work in a school told me that once a term or whatever, the entire school spent a day scratching and pulling out any evidence of flora and fauna from the school field. No explanation, let alone question, as to why was ever forthcoming. At the end of this momentously well spent day, there'd be a beautiful dry brown rectangle.

I have a theory that the Japanese hate nature. Let me be wrong!
 
I don't live in Japan, and I have no idea why there is no grass etc. in the school fields, but when I was there on a vacation, I saw alot of grass.. not in any school field though. o_O
 
Grass stimulates emotion, emotion stimulates thought and thought stimulates free will, free will is counter revolutionary, it is a disturbance to the parties plan for all japanese.

Nah i dunno why they dont have grass on school playing fields, but nothing beats running across a lush green area of grass in your bare feet on a nice warm day, the japanese dont know what their missing.

If i ever lived in japan ide live in a house in the country with its own suitably large yard, i cant stand the idea of total concrete jungle.

Even if i did live like that, ide green up my home and balcony so much.

I love nature. 😍
 
I agree, the Japanese don't know what they're missing, but it's not without reason. Let's think in the opposite: let's assume that all of those sports grounds were covered in grass. What would happen? First of all, the upkeep would be disasterous. The hundreds of students in school use those grounds for school sports for almost every day sometimes before school, sometimes after, but often both. The sheer amount of use would mean that the grass wouldn't be able to live, and to keep the grass intact would require enormous amounts of reseeding. Also, after you reseed, the grass needs time to grow. What are the students supposed to do for school sports during this time?
Also, potable water has been increasingly becoming a topic of concern in Japan. Especially in summer, when you would need to water the grass most. This year where I live (Aichi Mikawa area), there was concern of water shortages for a while because the rainy season was not as rainy as it could have been. And it wasn't the first time for concern. Could you imagine how much water it would take to keep the grass green in summer if every school's grounds were suddenly covered in grass? Crazy! :)
Finally, although Japan is among the richest countries in the world, they probably don't have the money to buy motorized mowers in the school budget. Keep in mind that one of the reason they have the students pull out all of the flora from the school grounds is that it would cost too much to have someone else do it.

Parks are probably the same kind of thing. (;-;)
 
I think culture and force of habit, rather than lack of budget, probably better explains people out cutting and uprooting by hand rather than by using power equipment.
 
mikecash said:
I think culture and force of habit, rather than lack of budget, probably better explains people out cutting and uprooting by hand rather than by using power equipment.
Yes, I agree with Mike. It is thought to be part of education to participate in the upkeep of school facilities.

I have also heard that Western-style lawn is difficult to maintain in Japan because of the long rainy season and the very humid, subtropical summers that follow huge amount of rain, in Kanto and regions south of it. The entire field of grass dies every year (in fall), without real professional care given to golf courses and stadiums used for professional sports. Even in such venues, the keepers must constantly replace parts that wither. The Japanese are conducting research on developing grass that grows in this climate, but I haven't heard whether they have actually suceeded... 😌
 
Yes, helping with the upkeep of the school does have an educational goal, but I must humbly disagree that not having grass at school is part of the "culture" of Japan. Students could just as easily be made to help in the upkeep of the grass if it was there. Although I would most definately agree that probably most people have never even thought of the idea of planting grass on the sports grounds, I think that if the idea was proposed, it would be turned down almost purely on practical grounds. (Pardon the pun 😊 )

As far as the uprooting by hand issue is concerned, yes, that's definately habitual and educational in nature, but that's a different issue than why there aren't verdant green sports grounds in the first place. :p

But this, too, I think has a financial aspect to it, as well, in the sense that schools have much higher priorties to use their tight budget yen on than power equipment.
 
I got misinterpreted.

I didn't mean that not having grass at the school is part of the culture. I meant that pulling it up or cutting it by hand is.

Again, I think budget has nothing whatsoever to do with it. It isn't only schools that do it this way. I've often seen employees at companies outside pulling weeds and cutting grass around buildings by hand....at places that could well afford to purchase power equipment or contract the job to an outside company.
 
I stand corrected. :)
I certainly agree that pulling weeds by hand as a means to build solidardity and what-not is definately a part of the culture today. Actually, when I first mentioned it, I was thinking of that in connection with why schools don't have grassy fields, not in terms of current actual practice.
 
Mikawa Ossan said:
I agree, the Japanese don't know what they're missing, but it's not without reason. Let's think in the opposite: let's assume that all of those sports grounds were covered in grass. What would happen? First of all, the upkeep would be disasterous. The hundreds of students in school use those grounds for school sports for almost every day sometimes before school, sometimes after, but often both. The sheer amount of use would mean that the grass wouldn't be able to live, and to keep the grass intact would require enormous amounts of reseeding. Also, after you reseed, the grass needs time to grow. What are the students supposed to do for school sports during this time?
Also, potable water has been increasingly becoming a topic of concern in Japan. Especially in summer, when you would need to water the grass most. This year where I live (Aichi Mikawa area), there was concern of water shortages for a while because the rainy season was not as rainy as it could have been. And it wasn't the first time for concern. Could you imagine how much water it would take to keep the grass green in summer if every school's grounds were suddenly covered in grass? Crazy! :)
Finally, although Japan is among the richest countries in the world, they probably don't have the money to buy motorized mowers in the school budget. Keep in mind that one of the reason they have the students pull out all of the flora from the school grounds is that it would cost too much to have someone else do it.

Parks are probably the same kind of thing. (;-;)


Indeed, and thankyou for pointing those out, i knew there were reasons to it, though i didnt think too far into it, it a shame that they cant enjoy grass, but thats what parks are for, ne? :)

An interesting story, my girlfriend wont walk on grass barefoot, ever, she is japanese and flips out when i try and make her experience it, she will literally jump on me and not touch the ground until she is either indoors or is given her sandals.
I thought this odd that she seems so adverse to the idea of setting foot on the grass, barefoot.
She's also adverse to any creepy-crawly that strays within 5 metres of her, lol, then i have to go and gently capture the little fella and send him on his way.
She says "samui" if its a nice sunny day and theres a cool breeze, seriously, i know it could just be her but it sometimes makes me wonder, are the japanese so detached from nature?, do they not have wind and rain and weather in japan?.
She's from Tokyo so, i guess she never spends too long outdoors, but yeah, already she is complaining Japan is too hot and that she misses britain so i guess she's started down the road to becomming Mrs nurizeko, British-asian. 😌

Which from my personal opinion is great because i love the outdoors, i see beauty in even the most rugged windblown overcast landscape...to some it looks miserable and desolate, to me it looks wild and rugged and in anticipation.


Anyway, rant off. :sorry:
 
You're 20 and already on your way to having a missus? Wow, some guys have all the luck! :148:
I guess the degree that people are separated from nature has a lot to do with where they live and grew up. When I lived in Yamaguchi Pref., I was suprised at how close to nature they seemed. Here outside of Nagoya, let's just say I'm not so impressed. ☝
 
I wouldnt say that, i havnt proposed yet, and i dont plan to for a while yet, but were pretty serious, and i dunno, i just take it for granted im going to end up married to her with a kid and a house and stuff.

Well, maybe not that generic but yeah i figure we've got a life together, dont ask me how it just seems the natural progression of things.
 
One of the reason why a famous Japanese photographer known as "Snow Monkey" came back to Japan is that he was asked an innocent question, "Do you have animals in Japan?", so many times...

It is just a YYY problem that no glass is in Japanese school fields, but more schools introduce glass in their fields. I think it's good, I can see fewer kids play the ball game after school now, though.
 
pipokun said:
It is just a YYY problem that no glass is in Japanese school fields, but more schools introduce glass in their fields. I think it's good, I can see fewer kids play the ball game after school now, though.
What do you mean by "a YYY problem"? (Please pardon my ignorance!) Where I am, the Jr High kids, at least, have sports until about 17:30 (or 18:00 in the spring and summer) after school.
 
oh, it was just money ツ??

It was not club activities after school, but I have not seen many kids playing at their school fields after school lately. I was a bit surprised to hear that the school where I went has half classes in number. I went to my elementary school just 15 or 20yrs ago.
 
In Kanagawa Pref.

Off-topic
Mitsuaki Iwago is the photographer known as "snow monkey".
OLYMPUS CO. hosts his official site.
Digital Iwao

As is always the case, the site is written in Japanese, but you can find lots of photos of animals around the world. And after simple membership registration, you can also see his works on ordinary dogs and cats' life in Japan. I suppose the site may break through your stereotype of Japan.
 
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