Why so much depth in Japanese distance running?

Zatopek wrote:

Yes I am teaching in Japan now and have for the past 30 years. I currently teach at one of the top ranked universities in Japan. I am commenting because this is one of the stereotypes I hear often about Japan, especially from Japanese. On a similar note, I have taught many Chinese students here in Japan and in general they are very different from Japanese students. They are much more dedicated and hard working.

I think Japanese universities are like vacation compared to high school and even middle school. Once they get into college the hard work is done and it's time to relax.

That's true, but it is a myth that they study in high school too. I taught high school for six years. They do study the last year before university entrance exams but in general that's it. They like to tell themselves that they are the hardest workers in the world but when you look at actual unbiased stats you discover it isn't true.

Hey Rojo!Hope all is well.To answer your questions:I picked up quite a bit of Japanese while I was over there (heck of a lot easier when you are 9 years old). I even learned all Katakana and Hiragana (the two "easy " alphabets)...the other fancy, more complex characters (Kanji)... not so much.Unfortunately I forgot most of it as my parents only speak English and I never really practiced the langauge after that year-long trip. We were in a small town...a more traditional town. A lot of the kids were eager to learn English and a few could speak quite well so it was easy for me to get along. Again, I can only comment on their educational system (and distance running) from my very limited experience. The other big thing middle school and high school students had to do was memorize thousands of characters in Kanji (the complex characters which each symbol could mean a whole word or more). We practiced with calligraphy sets and every brush stroke was in a certain order and had be be made just right. I always messed it up, and they treated it like an art which took hours of practice and dedication.

But If Chinese and Taiwanese are hard working how come their distance running times are so poor compared with Japanese

runners ?

Ghost in China

Maybe they just don't value distance running, at least not as much as the Japanese do?

I think another element that leads to their depth is the emphasis they put on ekiden clubs/teams both in high school and in university. At both levels and especially at the university level clubs are incredibly important in their life. At university their priorities are usually 1. clubs 2 . part-time job and lastly academics.

At the high school level they train year round, through every vacation. I was always amazed at how much time they spent on their club activity. It was almost as though they treat every club like I imagine a sports high school does in the US.

Lastly while their junior high schools and high schools are not very high quality, as Sage mentioned, their elementary schools are universally considered excellent. It is a bit ironic.

So much depth? Please name one Japanese who broke one hour for half or 2:06 for full.

HardLoper wrote:

Like previous American generations, Japanese don't mind busting their ass to a sub-70 half marathon as an unrecognized 300th-place mid packer. Individualistic, narcissistic, egotistical American Millennials can't fathom this.

Yeah, wasting your life on running a sub-70 is of course not individualistic, narcissistic or egotistical.

When I say depth, I am referring to the race I referenced in my post, where many ran respectable sub elite times, even though no one would consider the winning time to be outstanding.

math person wrote:

St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote:

Do you have any suggestions for math education in the USA? Thanks.

1. Pay math teachers more.

2. Get better parents.

Wrong.

math person wrote:

1. Pay math teachers more.

2. Get better parents.

The link between teacher pay and results is tenous at best. Same thing for general educational spending.

Better parents helps. Cultural does also. Both of those are really hard to change. We have whole segments of america that are proud of being uneducated. That doesn't help the averages. But if you compare top US schools to most of the top international ones (some of the top indian/chinese schools are crazy elite. Not really sure if we have a MIT/CalTech level high school in the US), the results are pretty darn similar.

asdfasdasf wrote:

GulanRapp wrote:

We've all provably heard the story of the half marathon in Japan where the winner ran 62 and 500th place ran 72 minutes, but what is it that explains their astounding depth?

That is easy. Get rid of indoor and outdoor track and make the the NCAA championship some HM race. Every DI school gets to bring 10 guys. You will get fast times and depth.

^This.

They are incredibly thin in 800/1500 (six under 1:47 and six under 3:39), because most mid-d guys are trained to run 20km ekiden legs in college.

Do they have an all-time top 10 list posted somewhere?

S. Canaday wrote:

The other big thing middle school and high school students had to do was memorize thousands of characters in Kanji (the complex characters which each symbol could mean a whole word or more). We practiced with calligraphy sets and every brush stroke was in a certain order and had be be made just right. I always messed it up, and they treated it like an art which took hours of practice and dedication.

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なぜあなたはGoogleだけで練習する

asdfasdasf wrote:

math person wrote:

1. Pay math teachers more.

2. Get better parents.

The link between teacher pay and results is tenous at best. Same thing for general educational spending.

Better parents helps. Cultural does also. Both of those are really hard to change. We have whole segments of america that are proud of being uneducated. That doesn't help the averages. But if you compare top US schools to most of the top international ones (some of the top indian/chinese schools are crazy elite. Not really sure if we have a MIT/CalTech level high school in the US), the results are pretty darn similar.

The Bronx High School of Science is an MIT/CalTech level high school.

Link? wrote:

Do they have an all-time top 10 list posted somewhere?

1 1分45秒75 川元奨 日本大学 2014年5月11日

2 1分46秒16 横田真人 慶應義塾大学 2009年10月18日

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4 1分46秒22 近野義人 ダイエー 1994年6月29日

5 1分46秒52 松本啓典 自衛隊体育学校 2010年10月11日

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