For elementary school children in Japan, their weeks-long summer vacation isn't entirely a time for leisure. Instead, it's overshadowed by a stack of homework that features, among other things, an assignment known as jiyū kenkyū (independent project).
As the name suggests, jiyū kenkyū is an opportunity for pupils to pursue a project they're interested in. At the same time, however, it has become something of an ever-present headache for students, many of whom would typically spend a large chunk of their already homework-ridden vacation trying to figure out just what project they should undertake.
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