Whatever you do, don't say anything nice about your child at parents' meetings
The last hogoshakai (parents' meeting) of the school year is marked on my calendar in black. I dread these gatherings, when the parents of one class of students meet with the classroom teacher. I'm not the only one; my Japanese friends all sigh when the subject of hogoshakai comes up.
My first hogoshakai was a shock. It was shortly after we arrived in Japan, when my older son had just started attending Japanese school as a third-grader.