Why Are Anime Characters Always on the School Roof?

Why are Japanese school rooftops so important in anime if students generally aren't allowed on them? The school rooftop is one of the most recognisable settings in anime and manga. Characters eat lunch there, have important conversations, skip class, confess their love, fight, brood dramatically, and occasionally stare wistfully into the distance. There's just one problem: modern Japanese schools generally don't let students freely access the roof. So where did the anime school rooftop trope come from? In this follow-up to my video about the strange similarities between anime schools and real Japanese schools, I take a deeper look at the history of school rules in Japan, the changing role of school rooftops, juvenile delinquency, formative anime, and the different ways Japanese schools actually use their roofs today. The answer turns out to be considerably more complicated than “anime isn't realistic.” School rooftops aren't simply an invented anime cliché. Their use has changed over time, and whether students can access them depends heavily on the school, the building, the rules, and the circumstances. Along the way, I also get unnecessarily philosophical about roofs. Previous video if you haven't seen it:    • Anime Isn't as Unrealistic as You Think   In this video: • The school rooftop trope in anime • Why anime characters are always on school roofs • Can Japanese students actually go on school roofs? • Japanese school rules • The history of school regulations in Japan • School rooftops and juvenile delinquency • How anime helped establish the rooftop trope • Why modern Japanese schools restrict roof access • Examples of Japanese schools that use their rooftops • Anime vs. reality • Cultural context in anime and manga • Why the school rooftop became such an important fictional space Sources: Blog featuring main interview with Miyadai Shinji (JP) - https://notei.hatenablog.com/entry/20... “Why You Can’t Go on the Roof in Japan” (JP) - https://note.com/tokyoalps/n/n33dd07f... “School Roof” document on Ishikawa prefecture teach training website (JP) - https://cms1.ishikawa-c.ed.jp/hokuye/... Overview of School Roofs in Japan (JP) https://tap-biz.jp/lifestyle/learning... “Apartment complex fights image as 'Mecca for Suicides’” - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1980/10/... Shiroyama Elementary School Roof Field Trip Blog (JP) - http://www.ueis.ed.jp/school/shiroyam... Kikuchi Girls’ High School Band Practice (JP) - http://www.kikuchijoshi.ac.jp/archive... Hibiki Gakuen Sports/Club Activites on the Roof (JP) - https://www.hibiki-gakuen.ed.jp/post-... Naniwa High School 1st Grade Lunch Break on Rooftop Garden (JP) - http://naniwahighschool.blogspot.com/... Kunitachi Dainishou Gakkou Rooftop Garden (JP) - http://kunitachi.ed.jp/el02/intro/tei... Juvenile Delinquency and Laws Regarding Juveniles in Japan: Analytical Essay (JP) - https://edubirdie.com/examples/juveni... Japanese School Rules Even Japanese Don't Understand -    • Видео   JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN JAPAN IN THE 198s - https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-lib... Thumbnail BG - https://www.deviantart.com/mclelun/ar... #Anime #AnimeAnalysis #JapaneseSchool #JapaneseSchools #AnimeTropes #AnimeHistory #JapaneseCulture #Manga #CulturalAnalysis #CynicClinic