The Artistic Expressions Of A Japanese Elementary School Student.

There are countless paintings, drawings and crafts hanging along the halls throughout my school. While most are what you'd expect to find coming from elementary school students, some have stood out more than others. So, I've decided to share some of my favorites with you and give my best guess at just what in the world these first through sixth grade artist were intending to get across.

The Artistic Expressions Of A Japanese Elementary School Student. 

Commentary by Mason

The first two pictures were drawn by some second grade students.  Every picture from their class featured an egg that had been broken and the following two pictures were just super cute. I asked one of my teachers what the deal was with the eggs and he told me of a story the class had read. In the story, a magical egg exists that, when cracked open, contains all the wishes and desires of your heart.  

Apparently, the artist of this drawing really didn't know what she wanted, so she tried to cover as much ground as she could… everything from pencils (very practical) to fish (please, don't stereotype) to Halloween pumpkins and ducks. I especially like the light bulb with the question mark inside… genius. 

I still can't tell what that green curvy thing is in the middle though. 

Same grade, different class. I chose to share this one because it displays the Japanese' peculiar ability to make anything and everything cute. These ghost are so adorable they make Casper look like he belongs in Paranormal Activity 5.

This is what happens when Teletubbies die. 

Next up is a water painting one of my sixth graders did. I'm pretty certain the assignment was "paint what you like doing," and I think this student did an excellent job. It definitely stood out above the rest. All the other pictures that surrounded it were of kids playing sports, practicing music, riding bikes and then there was this one. A lone student, sitting at her desk, on a seemingly nice day, studying. She looks very content and focused on whatever it is she's doing. Perhaps she's not studying, but drawing. Judging by the quality of this picture, I have to assume she likes to paint and draw.

….or she's studying for English class. Yea, that's probably it. 

This third grade peace of work is a stunning statement on the current socioeconomic and political effects that commercialism and marketing places on the individual in the public sphere. Conveyed as a bug, too big to be avoided or ignored, the boy is portrayed as uncomfortable and (more importantly) passive in relation to the rising influence of 'the bug' that is commercialism.

Or it could just be a boy looking at a bug made out of newspaper adds. 

Because of their red eyes, I have to assume that these rabbits are rabid, and therefore must be executed. The three children are probably workers at some facility that deals with such things. The one on the left seems to be enjoying his job while the middle child seems to be suffering from shock, and the one on the right might be wrestling with some form of depression. It's a great sign to see our young ones imagining themselves in the workplace with such enthusiasm.

So that's where all those lucky rabbit feet came from!

I thought this picture was cute. Two students eating lunch and one seems to be less then thrilled about his meal. From my limited knowledge of Japanese I think the boy is thinking "Oh no, there's so much leftover's to eat!" You can see their plates are full and the pot of food is still pretty full as well. There's a sort of semi-obligation in Japanese culture to finish your food and not leave any scraps… The States can be like that too, but it's a much stronger conviction here in Japan.

That's it really. These were just some of the ones that I thought were cute or interesting. Carmon's Junior High School has recently finished writing (in English) letters to Santa about what they want for Christmas. Let me tell you, some of them will break your heart and some will make you laugh out loud. But that's another post for another time. 

Till then, thanks!