FicBits

I'm a Greenwood fanfic junkie. Nasu-sensei created a detailed world and
obligingly left several major questions unanswered. It seems only natural
for fans to try to answer them. Luckily for me, Greenwood seems to attract
the kind of thoughtful writer who actually brings a measure of insight to the
characters. In the interests of helping them out (and incidentally feeding my
craving ^_^;;) I've made a short list of trivial facts for fic writers.

The school: Ryokuto Gakuen/Ryokuto Academy. It's a private, all-boys
high school with about 700 students in 3 grades.

The dorm: Ryokurin Ryou, unofficially called "Greenwood" by its
(approximately 200) inhabitants. Greenwood isn't on campus and is run as
an "independent facility". Visitors have to check in with the Dorm Lady,
who overheads whoever it is they've come to see. Female visitors are only
allowed into the visiting room. Greenwood has three floors and contains
its own bath, laundry facilities and cafeteria. Pay phones are located on the
first floor near the Dorm Lady's booth, and possibly at the end of each hall.

The rooms: Rooms in Greenwood are arranged in consecutive order, so
209, 210 and 211 are next to each other. If one is facing the door from the
outside, 211 is to the left of 210. Each room has a bunk bed along the right
wall, extending toward the door from the far right corner. Two desks with
built-in cupboards next to them are along the left wall. The far wall is
taken up by a window, and a kotatsu sits in the center of the room. In 211,
Shinobu has the bottom bunk and the desk next to the window. (Shun has
the same in 210.) Shinobu and Mitsuru have a TV and VCR in their room in
the near right corner. The door opens clockwise when viewed from the top.

The grades: There are three. First Years correspond to our 10th graders and
are usually 15 years old. Second Years are 11th graders. The Dorm Head
of Greenwood is a Second Year. The three most recent Dorm Heads are
Furusawa-sempai, Mitsuru and Hasukawa. Shinobu was Student Council
vice president in his first year, and president in his second year. Third
Years, obviously, are 12th graders.

The groups: Each grade (1-3) is divided into groups, or -gumi (A-G).

At the start of the series Shinobu is in 2A-gumi, Mitsuru in 2C-gumi,
Hasukawa in 1C-gumi and Shun in 1E-gumi. This means they have different
homerooms. Hasukawa and Yoshitake are in the same homeroom.

The Uniform: Two types, winter and summer. The winter uniform, worn
from October 1 to May 31, is a double-breasted blue suit coat with a white
shirt, maroon/reddish tie, greyish slacks and brown shoes. A khaki
trenchcoat is worn on rainy days. The summer uniform, worn from June 1
to September 30, is a short-sleeved white shirt, reddish tie and grey slacks.

Important dates in the Ryokuto school year:

(The dates are from Kazuya's second year. Some are taken *without*
permission from the Here is Greenwood Home Page as I can't get in contact
with the webmaster. I will remove this information at his request.)

First week of April: The start of a new school year

April 30: Ryokuto student council election

June 1: All students in Japan change from winter to summer uniforms no
matter what the weather is like outside.

First week of July: Finals

July 7: Tanabata

July 20 to August 31: Summer vacation (The dorm is OPEN, ~10% stay)

First week of September: New term begins

September 30: Physical Education Festival

October 1: All students in Japan change from summer to winter uniforms.

Last week of October: Culture festival (Devilwood Movie premiere)

First week of December: Finals

December 21 to January 8: Winter vacation (The dorm is CLOSED)

February 14: Valentine's Day (girls give boys chocolate)

February 17: Ryokuto entrance examination

Last week of February: Finals

March 7: Deadline to apply to stay in the dorm

March 14: White Day (boys give girls presents)

March 19: Greenwood Year-end meeting. New Dorm Head appointed.

March 20: Graduation ceremony

March 23: Diploma day

March 24: Dorm departure day (Shinobu and Mitsuru leave. ;_; *sniff*)

Important times in the Greenwood day:

Cafeteria open: 6:30 - 8:15 am, 5:30 - 8 pm

(Kusuno-sempai: You'll be on time for school if you finish eating by 8:15.)

Class: 8:30 am - about 3:30 pm M-F (plus half days on Saturdays?)

Clubs: 4 pm - about 6 or 7 pm

Furo most crowded: 6 - 10 pm

Curfew: 9 pm (The Dorm Lady closes and locks all exits.)

Roll call: 11 pm (The Dorm Head goes around to each room and checks
that the inhabitants are there.)

For more information on high school life in Japan:

http://www.siskiyous.edu/class/geog1b/spring1997/wakayama.htm

http://www.indiana.edu/~japan/digest9.html