Ma Dugong introduced in an issue that schools are standardized to improve the minimum standards of schools. At least, the food in the school cafeteria is not easily criticized. This reminds gledos that the schools in Japanese works have a very high degree of similarity, which shows that Japanese primary and secondary schools are unexpectedly standardized?
In The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Haruhi Suzumiya tried to draw a ground painting to contact aliens on the school playground when she was a child. The tool she used was called a line car (ラインカー), which can use calcium carbonate powder to draw runways. Because Japanese primary and secondary schools are paved with soil or fine sand on the playground, such equipment is needed.
In works involving enrollment, there will be a white sign with “Entrance Ceremony” written on it at the school gate. At graduation, the graduation certificate will be rolled up and placed in a dark tube. These entrance and graduation activities are basically held in the indoor gymnasium.
According to Article 10 of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s 『小学校設置基準』, elementary schools should have (indoor) gymnasiums, unless local conditions or other factors limit the establishment of gymnasiums. Of course, there is also the infirmary that was introduced before, and the school swimming pool that often appears in the works, which together form the Japanese campus familiar to ACG fans.
As of 2021, 87% of elementary schools and 65% of junior high schools in Japan have outdoor swimming pools, which is a very high proportion. However, this is not a facility stipulated in the 『小学校設置基準』, but in the 『学習指導要領』, the curriculum requires teaching swimming and other sports.
Such standardized school facilities and some of the same culture make Japanese schools more equal. Specifically, financially relying on transfer payments and other means to make the financial distribution of schools in rural and urban areas in Japan more balanced. And the teacher rotation system makes the level of teachers equal. And the standardization of infrastructure mentioned above makes the infrastructure of schools not lack or too bad, which makes Japanese primary and secondary schools realize equalization of basic education.