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It seems like every form of Japanese media involving high schools there is always a strong emphasis on joining a club. I like Japanese culture and all, but this is just something I can't get behind. Every time I see in anime I always have to wonder, is this really what the Japanese think is cool, or do they find it just as lame? Can anyone shed some light on this reoccurring phenomenon?

Clubs are important in Japan.

Collectivist society, clubs are a fun way of establishing a social network that may affect your future.

If you aren't in some group in Japan=Insignificant

Japan's culture has a heavy emphasis on community. Joining clubs is just a natural way to meet and socialize, and join a collective group.

I agree with what Hoppy said; If you're anti-social or just not in any clubs, you're a nobody and people will think you are a failure and that you shame your family.

I'm not a big fan of this train of thought, but that's how it is, there. I'd say this mindset became permanently prominent after WWII.

At college I would hang out with people who listened to the same music as me, wear the same fashion as me and like generally the same things as me, we would hang out at the pub, drink, talk about the stuff we had in common. It wasn't so much a ''club'' as being part of something. And being able to Identify people by the way the dress or where they went

Now, the difference in making a club is that you simply create a legitimate place to hang out where you know people will like the same things as you. It's good fun! it helps you become socially mobile, you make friends.

If you are a recluse and anti social loner, then fine. If that's what you like, if that's how you want to live that up to you.

But lets get this clear, MAL is a MASSIVE club, and in it are many other smaller clubs where people meet, talk and enjoy their shared interests.

And if you don't like being in the club, you can always leave. I hear reddit is taking on people.

I seem to be misinterpreting my words. I never said anything about online forums or clubs. I'm talking about, "High School Clubs".

What are you even saying...?

You didn't read the first half of my post, did you.

Well it's to be expected I guess. The last part of the post about MAL being a club was simply there to illustrate that which you do not seem to grasp, People create clubs, it's not a Japanese only thing. It's a social thing that people do, whether it's in school, on-line or elsewhere.

I was part of the chess club, the anime club and the people with no friend who sort of hung around each other even though we weren't friend club. Granted only the chess club was an actual club. But the others were informal clubs. Like hanging out at the local metal bar and talking about Metal and drinking beer was a sort of informal club.

It's just what people do.



What I am saying is, what I am saying.

Wow your a bit of a douche huh?
Why would I quote you if I hadn't read what you said?

Furthermore, it is you who does not seem to grasp what this thread is about. Obviously there is something in the Japanese culture that makes make high school clubs more prevalent. Something must have cased this, and I simply want to find out.

Its not about why people make clubs in general, but rather why its so important to Japanese culture as apposed to other cultures throughout the world.

There are usually a lot of clubs, but it's not like everyone joins them.

The "go home" club is referenced enough in anime as well.

Isn't it obvious that Japan are more demanding than other cultures? Plant a seed early and it'll bloom early.

Here are some common TVtropes with a bit of light on Japanese culture:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JapaneseSchoolClub

Funny read as usual.

Well said.


Most helpful.

Any idea where this originated though? The clubs I mean? Many people think it was post World War II.

Does anyone have any further knowledge of how it started? If it really was post WWII or if it might have existed prior? There's some history behind it, and I'm genuinely curious about it.

From the Curriculum Guideline in Japan, in middle/high school?:

From 1958-2002/3, at least one club is compulsory, classified under Special activities. In addition to that, there are other clubs which are optional.

From ~2002/3 onwards, all club activities are optional, classified under extra-curriculum activities.

It exists before 1958 and even before WWII, but became more formulated after that. Bear in mind that the Guideline is not law too, so there may be some variations in different schools...

There is your problem right here. it's not just a Japanese thing.

Even in America joining many high school clubs or having work experience makes you a better candidate for college and employment.

It's not emphasized as much though. People here don't place as much importance on clubs as people in Asia, in general, do. In Japan, from what I can gather from anime integrating certain real life attitudes, clubs basically define the start of one's social life in high school. I've been to 2 different high schools and I can tell you that it's not true. Only about 8% of my school were in clubs (about 330 people total in clubs out of 4100 students) and in my last school there were about 23 clubs with 410 members total (out of 4800 students).

As for work experience, nobody really cares if you worked in McDonalds or some other place for 7 dollars an hour. Maybe being an intern somewhere like a law office looks good but at that point working somewhere doesn't become a social thing anymore. It just makes you appear more experienced to colleges.



The OP isn't saying why are clubs exclusive to Japan. He's asking why it's so emphasized in Japan. Obviously a club is formed when a group of people with similar interests want to share their joy. But he's asking if there is a drive beyond the simple sharing of similar interests that make people want to join clubs in Japan.

In the anime Moshidora one dude explain it: Because it looks good to companies, and 80 per cent of the jobs there are of that type

When Japanese ends college they get a job in a company and stays there all his life, since they don't have any work experience what they did in school and college it's very important, grades are the most valorate thing by far but if you have been in the club of, let's say, basketball, means you also have an idea of what team work is

And what I'm saying is it's not. It just so happens that that's a theme the animators and directors chose to run with because anime, especially slice of life stuff tends to focus around the whole idea of friendship and shared experiences/interests.

In animation, especially with anime, the focus of a subject is magnified because of the amount of work they put into the medium and story telling. Not to mention when ''club orientated'' anime started to become popular with a few hit shows, there's a trend in anime to suddenly flood the market with hundreds of shows like it because cashing in successful shows is something they do.

As far as Japan itself as a culture being focused on clubs as nation, it's no more club orientated that any other developed country.

When you take your artists eye and bring it on to a subject the details of that subject become magnified. That's all. And anime is already known for being particularly analytically when it comes to a lot of it's genres and works. whatever the subject maybe.

I Do think that the shonen and war type anime is inspired directly from the Bomb attacks on it in WW2, but again, that's not because its more important to them ( its more Painful perhaps) It's just that the story tellers have a war of going into the whole politics of any subject in a really in depth way.

Japan is Known worldwide for holding some of the greatest technological and poetical minds of the world, it's just how they do things as standard. To me, I just see Japanese people doing what Japanese people do, and being deep because they just are.

Long answer short: Asian-culture is more group-oriented than western culture. It's just how the course of history has developed.