The classroom of any elementary school in Japan is filled with rows of fresh-faced children seated behind desks. It’s lunchtime, on a chilly March afternoon, in a public elementary school in the affluent Tokyo suburb of Kichijoji. Armed with mops and cleaning rags the children fan out across hallways, staircases, classrooms and the water coolers. Kirei, means clean, but also pretty, while fuketsu, or unclean, means hideous. But for school children, daily cleaning sessions have lessons that go beyond simple hygiene.

Source: The Hindu April 08, 2017 10:18 UTC