Here's what mid-April in Japan means to me: The cherry blossoms have come and gone, the kids are back in school and mothers all over the country are suffering writer's cramp from labeling school gear.
Everything, and I do mean everything, that a child takes to school is supposed to be labeled with the child's name. I'm sure that's true in most countries. It is in America, where I come from. But Japanese schoolchildren have far more school gear than American children. They have uwabaki (shoes for indoor use) and gym clothes. They have regulation swimsuits and bathing caps. They have lunch mats, drawing boards, sewing sets and any number of other supplies that American schoolchildren simply don't.
Schools in Japan are also stricter about name labels. You are supposed to label every article of clothing a child ever wears to school, including socks and underwear. I don't go this far. I figure I'd have bigger problems than missing clothing if my kids started losing their underpants at school.