Among many people, there exists a very “mystical” image about all-girls schools. They are even referred to as the “secret garden” among many Japanese people. Let's take Nogizaka46 as an example.

They are said to be produced with a theme of an all-girls school, and their costumes are made to look like school uniforms. However, since there is often a holy image attached to this kind of school, there seem to be gaps between what we imagine is happening and what’s actually happening inside them.

1. PE class becomes hell

While many Japanese people have a rather biased hope that an all-girls PE class would be gentle and "fluffy," the reality is totally different. Girls are dead serious especially when it comes to the annual sports festival. It becomes a war!

2. Flapping skirts to cool down

In the summer people have many ways to cool down from the heat. School uniforms for girls are skirts and you might think that skirts alone seem cool enough. But, the girls are different. Since there isn’t anybody to worry about watching them, they literally don’t care what they do. The common situation would be girls flapping their skirts to cool down. These rough actions don’t exactly match with the holy image of an all-girls school.

3. It doesn’t have to be a guy

The image of lesbian couples turned out to be slightly true. In most all-girls schools, there is a girl that is very boyish and she becomes very popular among the rest of the girls. Although they may not go out, the boyish girl gets chocolates on Valentine’s Day, and sometimes even confessed to by other girls. Some have fan clubs and they are treated as if they were actually the hottest man on earth.

4. Small lunch boxes don’t exist

There's an image in Japan that girls don’t eat much. But this is obviously a stereotype. Of course some girls eat a lot, some just don’t. Those who don’t eat much simply just can’t fit it in their stomachs. Because there aren’t any boys, they don’t have to worry about keeping any kind of "cute image." Particularly hungry girls do “Hayaben,” which means to eat your lunch earlier than the actual lunch time at school.

5. All men become popular

Since there are only girls in the school, all men, no matter how they look, became quite popular. Even in some schools, there is a fan club for all the male teachers at school. Every guy has a shot at becoming tremendously popular among girls if you work at an all-girls school.

6. Tons of Otaku and Fujoshi

Within society, Otaku and Fujoshi are considered to be a bit “special” even though there are many people that are Otaku and Fujoshi. Some people hesitate to tell others they are one, but within an all-girls school it’s totally different. As nothing in reality gives them the sparks and throbs of love, they end of trying to find them in the 2-dimensional world. They are very open about saying they are one too.

7. Pretty desperate to find love

Of course not all girls are fine with just adoring male teachers and boyish girls. Although we have an image that the students of all-girls schools tend to stay within the all-girls school community, there are actually many girls who take action to find love by themselves. During the school festival season, they go to other all-boys schools and regular schools just to meet guys.

8. No one is hesitant to say dirty jokes

Although many girls pretend not to know anything in front of guys, just so they would have a “pure” image, girls at all-girls schools don’t care. They regularly tell dirty jokes, especially since they are all girls and only girls can understand them. Also, since many girls don’t have experience, half of their talks end up with just using their imagination.

9. Hanging socks in classrooms

Most schools in Japan have school uniforms and girls have to wear high socks for them. On rainy days, I think you have experienced a time when your clothes get all wet and you feel disgusting. The girls feel the same way too. When they get to school, they take off their socks and hang them in the classrooms to dry them off.

10. Too much freedom during class

Japanese girls have an image that they would be very serious about taking classes and of course these kinds of girls exist in all-girls schools too. However some are a bit different. They feel free to do whatever they want to do during class, they go to sleep (without any intention to hide the fact that they are sleeping), they are tweezing their hair from their fingers with their hands (at least use tweezers), and so on.