To visit the Chicago Futabakai Japanese School at 8101 Cumberland Ave. in Niles is to understand what it is like to step into another culture.
With the exception of a few signs left over from the school`s former occupant, Emerson Junior High School, there is no English used at Futabakai. Everything--from the signs on the washroom doors to the books in the library to the language of instruction--is in Japanese.
Perhaps the best way to appreciate the purpose and goals of Futabakai is to picture the adjustment an American 6-year-old would have to make to become part of a Japanese 1st-grade class. For starters, the American would have to get in the habit of bowing to honor his teacher before and after every class session.
Next, he would have to learn to speak, write and read Japanese, which ultimately combines three lettering systems (Katakana, Hiragana, Kanji) to form a total ''alphabet'' of more than 5,000 letters. (Students at Futabakai are expected to know 1,850 of those letters by the end of 9th grade).
Then he would have to learn to turn the pages ''backwards,'' read from right to left, and hold his book at a specified angle while reading in perfect recitation with the rest of the class. Should someone be called on to read aloud, those listening would be expected to applaud the effort at its conclusion.
It is just as difficult for a Japanese child to adjust to an American school. The following rationale for the Futabakai Day School appears in the school`s English-language pamphlet:
''Some children do not adapt quickly to different cultures, in addition to (having) difficulties to learning a new language. A full-time school which offers instruction in the Japanese language provides them with a familiar environment and an easier introduction to another culture that is drastically different from their own.''
When it comes to the course work at Futabakai, says school administrator Hiroshi Okano, people are often surprised at how similar it is to regular American schools.
''People--other teachers--call here all the time because they want their students to see a Japanese school,'' he says. ''We tell them it is the same as their school, only it`s taught in Japanese. We do not offer instruction in tea ceremonies or flower arrangement, those kinds of things.
''The main cultural addition is the Japanese language. Otherwise, we provide the same basics as American schools: language arts, math, social studies and science, plus art, music, p.e., home ec., and industrial arts.''
Also included in the Futabakai coursework are English as a foreign language and American social studies. The only two classes taught in English, they account for a total of five and six periods a week for grades 6 through 9.
''In the classroom, the children study,'' Okano says. ''They are quiet, doing their lessons. We have a high level--80 or 90 percent--of `time on task.` What that means is that 80 or 90 percent of the children`s time is spent doing assigned work.''
According to Okano, ''Futabakai'' means ''bud (representing growing, young children) organization.'' Although Futabakai operates both a Day School and Saturday School at the same location, it was the Saturday School that was established first. The school`s goal is to provide an education in Japanese for Japanese children whose parents have followed short-term job transfers
''overseas'' to American-based Japanese firms.
''Depending on company policy,'' Okano says, ''some families stay only two years. By the time the children get used to the new school and learn a new language well enough to do their studies in that language, it`s time to go back to Japan. What happens is that they`re here long enough to forget Japanese, which makes their re-entry to Japanese schools difficult as well.'' To promote a better readjustment of students to Japanese schools, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago opened the Saturday School division of the Chicago Futabakai Japanese School in a Baptist church on the North Side of Chicago in May, 1966.
Beginning with 50 students and 3 teachers, the Saturday program for children in grades kindergarten through 12 has grown to serve 800 children. It is regarded as one of the best of 40 such Saturday Schools in the United States today, Okano says. (Although Okano did not have exact figures, he estimates that there are 80 to 90 Saturday Schools worldwide).
According to a pamphlet about Futabakai, the objectives for the Saturday School have remained the same in its two decades of existence. They are to help children master the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the Japanese way of life, to develop the initiative to face and solve problems, to recognize their responsibilities as educated people and to realize the importance of cooperation in today`s world.
A recent day at the school demonstrated another trait of Japanese culture. It was one of two semi-annual parents` days at the school. In a 1st- grade language class, there was at least one parent attending for each of the 30 pupils. ''Japanese parents are very interested in their children`s education,'' says Tadashi Chono, Day School principal.
Increasing enrollments eventually brought the Saturday School to the former Kenton School at 4600 Main St., Skokie, in May, 1978. At the same time, Futabakai opened a Monday-through-Friday Day School with 100 pupils in grades 1 through 7, also at Kenton, to provide a full-time education in Japanese. Three years later, a branch Saturday School for junior and senior high school students opened at the former Niles Township High School East, at Lincoln and Niles Avenues, Skokie.
In August, 1984, when Futabakai outgrew the Kenton School, the Saturday and Day Schools moved to the rented Emerson School location. There, 300 students attend the elementary (grades 1 through 6) and junior high (grades 7 through 9) Day School division, one of two Japanese Day Schools in the United States. (The other is in Long Island, N.Y.) The schools are supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
Although Futabakai still offers Saturday School for children in grades kindergarten through 12, the 7th to 12th grade classes were moved from Emerson to rented classrooms at Notre Dame High School, 7655 Dempster St., Niles, in April, 1985, for space reasons.
''Niles was chosen as the site of our school primarily because of its central location for many Japanese parents,'' Okano says. ''In our Day School, we serve children (from an area defined by) Deerfield on the north, Schaumburg on the west, the North Side of Chicago on the south, and east to the lake.
''Once in a while we will have children whose parents have to live downtown in housing provided by their company. In many cases, the children who attend our Saturday School are those who simply reside too far away to commute on a daily basis.''
Though the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry is described as the parent organization, Chicago Futabakai is in charge of operating the Day and Saturday Schools under guidelines provided by the Japanese Ministry of Education. They are private, state-registered schools run on income from tuition, donations from Japanese-related industries in the Chicago area and support from the Japanese government. That support comes in the form of free textbooks and teaching materials, financial assistance for renting the building, and faculty.
Faculty members are assigned by the government to the Day and Saturday Schools for three-year terms. Of the 21 full-time and 2 part-time Day School teachers, 14 are from Japan. As administrator, Okano is considered
''permanent'' and has been with Futabakai since the Day School opened in 1978. In the Saturday School, only 2 of the 32 teachers are from Japan.
Although the Japanese Ministry of Education requires a 40-week, 6-day-a-week school year that begins in April and ends in March, Futabakai is in session 200 rather than 240 days a year. Instead of having a summer vacation, the school has intermittent vacations in the year. The reduction in days is due to the necessity of using the facilities on the sixth day of each week for Saturday School programs. Regular Illinois public schools, by comparison, are only required to be in session 180 days (including teacher institutes) to qualify for state aid.