せっけんさん Sekkensan (Mr Soap) Japanese Kids Song (with subtitles)

Sekkensan (Mr Soap) is a Japanese kids' song that my three-year-old daughter is learning in Japanese preschool. She and my older daughter are singing it on this video. I subtitled it three ways ... in hiragana, romaji, and in English. The song is about the wonderful smells of soap and the association with one's mom! Grammatically, it's more like phrases than sentences, so it's easy for even the youngest children or Japanese beginner student to learn.

What ... these six-year-olds don't clean up their American classrooms? Why Japanese school children clean their schools.

When asked, my Japanese friend told me what surprised her about American elementary schools in America was that the children don't clean. And by clean she means washing desks and shelves with a rag, sweeping the classrooms and hallways with brooms, older kids doing periodic cleaning of bathrooms, etc. In Japan, students clean the school like this starting in elementary school and continuing through their high school years. For about 15 minutes a day, it's おそうじ (o-souji) time, or cleaning time. Students, teachers, even administrators drop everything, pull out the buckets and mops, and give everything a good scrub with soap and water.

The practice comes from Buddhist traditions that associate cleaning with morality. The Japanese school curriculum goes beyond the core subjects and also strives to teach cooperation, a sense of responsibility, and public morality. Doing daily cleaning is seen as contributing to this. If you've ever seen how clean Japan is - the graffiti-free subways, the litter-free streets, the tidy neighborhoods whether rich or poor, you will understand this a little bit more.

My daughter's Japanese school here in Michigan only does a one おおそうじ (oosouji), or big cleaning, before the end of the year.

Big Cleanup

JAPANESE PRESCHOOL: Ahh, December, time for the first snow, fun and parties, right? Yes, but in Japan it's also time for おそうじ, the year-end "Big Cleanup." My daughter's preschool asked parents to send their child with a rag for their big cleanup day this month. The children and teachers will wipe all the surfaces, toys, etc. to get the school extra clean. Japanese people also clean their houses from top to bottom, wash the car, replace the family toothbrushes with new ones, etc. Companies have these cleanups, too, and everyone participates. That way everyone can start the new year fresh and clean and with a good feeling. Let's all try this Japanese おそうじ tradition by cleaning at least one room in our house from top to bottom (including the junk drawer). Throw away expired coupons. Maybe you can turn your keyboard upside down to dump out all the Cheetos crumbs. Remove unused icons from your desktop. Delete old emails. Remove apps you don't use from your iPhone. I could go on and on.