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The story
Businessman Hiroyuki posted on his official X account that parents who send their children to international schools “need to be ready to give up the chance of their kids getting a job at a Japanese company” by stepping outside Japan’s education system. In response, on 5ch’s Geinou/Sports News+ board, arguments flew in multiple directions — counterpoints that international school graduates can still get into Japanese universities, opinions that clinging to today’s Japanese companies (amid a weak yen and a wave of buyouts) is actually the riskier bet, and comments pointing out that kids raised in international schools tend to “not read the room” and develop a different sensibility. The thread ended up split on the very premise of Hiroyuki’s claim.
Sat, Sep 5, 3:10 PM
Businessman Hiroyuki Nishimura (49) updated his official X account by September 5th, commenting on parents who send their children to international schools.
Hiroyuki posted: “Once you go the route of ‘stepping outside Japan’s education system and raising your kid at an international school,’ you need to be prepared to give up your child’s chance of landing a job at a Japanese company.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Well, if your family can afford to send you to international school, you're super rich already — you probably don't even need to work, right?
Not really a place regular people should force themselves to go.
Re: #20
Sure, they can still get into a Japanese university, but going to international school during those formative childhood years really does give you a different mindset from other Japanese people.
Japanese companies probably care about that kind of thing too, and honestly, even if they do get hired, I feel like it'd be rough for them.
My nephew and niece go to international school, and there's just something off about them —
they feel like foreign kids.
Like, they don't read the room… or maybe it's more that they're really assertive?……
Also they're emotional and their body language is weirdly intense.
Yeah, that does sound like a pain (lol)
Right?
Japanese companies are getting bought up and turned into subsidiaries left and right — hard to see a growth future there.
There are actually plenty of people who do that.
Case closed.
When it comes to English, if you can just speak it, the market's saturated — there are too many speakers already.
Being fluent in business English is a different story, but even among native speakers that's rare.
Either way, just going to international school leaves you stuck in a half-baked middle ground.
Has it really gotten this bad?
Let's hear your deep thoughts then.
Go on, say it.
He got drafted by SoftBank though.（Japan's SoftBank Hawks pro baseball team）
So it's like giving up Osaka to get into Tokyo University or Keio. That's definitely also a case of becoming someone with different values.
Yeah, it's a hassle.
When I took them to the park, they talked to a neighborhood kid who either didn't notice or just ignored them, and suddenly they flipped out with something like "You made me angry!"
Also, both of them get mad if you don't praise them.
And they're incredibly loud about showing off any good deed they've done.
It's just exhausting.
So exhausting.
Well, they're cute though.
That's just down to how they were raised at home, isn't it.
The reason Japanese companies hire foreigners is
so they can use them for business in that person's home country.
If a Japanese person just learns English at international school, there's no value in that —
it's just a way to go abroad on your parents' money and end up realizing you're useless.
It's actually rare for someone from a prestigious international school to only be able to speak English.
Just my own assumption, but I feel like the level of other subjects is low.
Their classmates are also international-school kids, so their friends end up being international-school kids too.
If there's actual data on that, I'd like to see it.
Pretty much zero international-school grads end up in retail or food service jobs, right?
Background and Key Points of This Debate
Hiroyuki himself lives in France with his wife and child, having chosen to educate his own kids abroad — this post is seen as a personal opinion coming from that position. The thread split mainly over two points. First was the validity of the premise itself: several commenters pointed out that international school graduates can still go on to Japanese universities, so it’s a stretch to say they’d “completely give up” their chance at employment. Second was the value of sticking with Japanese companies in the first place — pointing to buyouts by foreign capital and slowing growth, a number of opposing voices argued that clinging to Japanese companies alone is actually the riskier choice. One thing readers can easily misunderstand is that international schools in Japan aren’t all the same — some are internationally accredited, others cater to a narrower audience, and the reality of post-graduation paths and English proficiency can’t be judged from a single thread comment. Likewise, “Japanese companies” cover everything from traditional domestic firms to foreign-affiliated global corporations, so how they’re viewed in the job market isn’t uniform either.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Hiroyuki shares his opinion on parents who send their kids to international school: “You need to be ready to give up the chance to get a job at a Japanese company”.”
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