They might teach manners before knowledge but they still manage to teach a hell of a lot of knowledge.
In 1st grade (6-7 yrs old) they learn 80 kanji (as well as the kana)
in second grade it's 160
In third and 4th it's 200 each year
Plus all the hundreds, maybe thousands of ways those combine together to make actual words.
I suspect if I'd gone to school in Japan I'd have crashed out big time.
