This
ijime continues until the victim shows no spontaneity or initiative and becomes completely homogeneous.
Thus translations vary between countries including 'mobbning' in Swedish (Olweus, 1999), '
Ijime' in Japanese (Morita et al., 1999) or 'Schikanieren' in German (Losel & Bliesener, 1999).
The language teacher and Pamela created a lesson in which the students created netsuke an
ijime, ceremonial ornaments for male and female kimono.
Japanese-style classrooms are also plagued by corporal punishment (taibatsu), bullying (
ijime), and teenage suicide, the predictable response, says Reid, to a high-pressure environment where outsiders can easily disturb the Japanese wa, or group harmony.
Even more recently, the problem of supervisors and coworkers bullying their subordinates and peers in the workplace, known as
ijime, has become a major social issue.
According to Der Spiegel, German educators have repeatedly characterized Japanese schools as suffering from gakkyu hokain (collapsing discipline),
ijime (bullying), and juken jigoku (exam hell).
The currently well-publicized incidence of
ijime or bullying (chiefly in middle schools) is said to be the product of high pressure and conformity in schools.
Elbert also confirms the comments of earlier authors that
ijime - bullying - occurs when the object of the bullying is perceived as somehow "different." Elbert rejects the word
ijime, though, saying that kurushime - torturing - is more accurate.
During the year since the Second Bracey Report, other descriptions of Japanese schools emerged, portraying at least the secondary system as something less than a pleasant place.(*) The New York Times featured an article on
ijime, the bullying that takes place in Japanese schools.[33] According to this article, which begins with the bullying death of a middle school student, those most vulnerable are students who are wealthier and brighter, yet fail "to be part of the group in a society that demands conformity."