Extracurricular club activities have long been a standard part of junior high and high school life in Japan.
Although officially considered “voluntary,” it has become increasingly clear that club activities can place excessive burdens on both students and teachers, leading to growing calls for reevaluation.
With Japan’s rapidly declining birthrate, some schools now struggle to form teams. To ease the burden on teachers while still providing students with opportunities to take part in sports and cultural activities, the central government is promoting a shift to a system through which community organizations manage clubs at public junior high schools.
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