Helena Meyer-Knapp

Students in Japan take part in overtly spiritual rituals at all the memorial sites related to World War II. Considerable international ire arises when Japanese politicians make official visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes every single Japanese soldier killed in war since the 1850s including those adjudged to be war criminals. In November 2008, the Education Ministry lifted the prohibition on school visits to the shrine.  I have never seen a school group at Yasukuni whereas they come by the thousand to Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Okinawa where they

Hang cranes

Sing songs even in the pouring rain

listen to prayers

and write about sadness

At weekends, at the Korean National Cemetery in Seoul, school groups come to clean graves and attend to the decorations. Koreans are encouraged to describe these visits as educational rather than ritual events.

The Seoul National Cemetery Guide describes ritual activities for students at their site. I was not in a position to observe these events myself. 

But I have seen flowers they left

The only students in Washington DC whom I have seen involved in ritual are onn People to People Leadership Tours. During their week long visit, they participate in a minimalist ritual to place wreaths at several of the key memorial sites on the National Mall. 

When schools go to Arlington, the students move as a group to visit the Kennedy grave. This seems to invoke a collective solemnity even though there are no formal rituals.