Books: Excerpts

"To understand Japan--its work ethic and its strong identity one must understand these lessons as they are taught in schools," writes Bruce Feiler in Learning to Bow: An American Teacher in a Japanese School. Mr. Feilers book recounts a one-year stint as an English instructor at a junior school in the small city of Sano, north of Tokyo.

In the following excerpt, he describes the importance of the kumi [the homeroom class], in helping students develop a sense of group loyalty. A fellow teacher has invited her American co-worker to join 9-1, her 9th-grade homeroom class, in its annual Trash Day du ties. On the outing, the author begins to realize that the strong alliance built between teacher and students in the kumi is easily transferred later in life to a reliance on corporate co-workers.

Every day we are awakened to our own neighborhood," screamed the headline atop the student handout. "Let's freshen our city today.'' At an outdoor rally just after lunch, each student received a mimeographed map, marked with a route for his or her kumi to follow, and two empty plastic bags: one for paper, the other for aluminum cans. After the guidelines had been explained, the principal took to the pitcher's mound and reiterated...