It's So Different to Australia - Elementary School Graduation in Japan

It's So Different to Australia - Elementary School Graduation in Japan

From Ohazassu Podcast by John

March 24, 2026 · 5 min

About this episode

John discusses the differences between his child's elementary school graduation in Japan and his own experience in Australia, reflecting on the emotional impact of the ceremony and the pandemic's influence on school life.

In this episode, I talk about my child’s elementary school graduation in Japan and how different it was compared to my own upbringing in Australia. From the structure and seriousness of the ceremony to reflecting on how school life began during the pandemic, this was a surprisingly emotional experience for me as a parent. And as always, I also share today’s Japanese Word of the Day at the end. 0:00 Intro 0:25 Attending a Japanese Elementary School Graduation 0:52 A Stark Contrast with an Australian Upbringing 1:15 Reflections on the Seriousness of Japanese Schooling 2:04 This Class Growing Up During COVID 3:06 Life with Restrictions (Masks, No Sports or Swimming) 3:50 Relief Watching the Kids Thrive Again 4:19 Word of the Day Thanks for listening and supporting the Ohazassu channel! ============== Ohazassu Links ============== Website: https://www.ohazassu.com X: https://x.com/ohazassu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohazassu/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ohazassu-podcast--5905520/support .

People in this episode

Host: John

Topics covered

  • elementary school graduation
  • cultural differences
  • parenting
  • Japanese education
  • COVID-19 impact
  • emotional experiences

Keywords

  • Japan
  • Australia
  • graduation
  • elementary school
  • COVID-19
  • parenting
  • cultural differences
  • Japanese education
  • emotional experience

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Australia, Japan

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