Bunkasai: A Blend of Music, Art, Culture, Student work and Memories

This past weekend my junior high school had 文化祭, or Culture Day. It was an all-day event with so many things to see around the entire school :) The students and teachers put in countless hours of practice, preparation and planning to ensure that it would be memorable and impressive. Many of the teachers didn't leave until midnight the night before to see that final preparations were finished- lots of dedication right there!

The musical program was held inside the gym and the entire program was done twice- once for the students and a second time for the parents because there was not enough room for all the students and the parents to watch at once. The brass band played various pieces and although I have never been a huge fan of band concerts, I was blown away by the numbers that the students played. Everyone was in sync and there was even a short skit performed by a few of the 3rd year students. Some also had solos and spotlights (directed by students as well) were shown on them when they stood up halfway through the piece to do their solo. After the brass band finished, the 1st and 2nd place winners from each grade level from 音コン (held earlier this week) sang their class song.

音コン is a singing competition where every homeroom sang two songs: the song that their grade level sang and another song that was only done by their homeroom. They were judged based on on numerous criteria and the winners were announced at the end of each grade level. The 1st and 2nd place winners of each grade level went on to sing at Culture Day. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. I have never participated in a singing contest before while I was at school so it was very memorable and exciting to watch :)

The PTA chorus comprised of a handful of mothers had their stage time as well when they sang a few songs and the teachers went onstage to sing the last song with them as a surprise. The students definitely got a kick out of that and really enjoyed seeing their teachers singing :) A play was put on by many of the 3rd year students and their theme for this year was "peace" to coincide with their class trip to Nagasaki. The costumes, stage props and dialogue only added to their spectacular acting. The play was well balanced with humorous lines as well as more serious, somber tones and emotions. It was so much fun to see a different side of the students that I have never seen before :]

 Many classrooms displayed a variety of work that the students had done earlier during the school year as well as during summer vacation.

Newspaper article that the 2 年students created during summer vacation

Drawings of famous people done by 1年 students

Self-portraits by the 3年 students

Cups and memory books made by the 3年 students during and after their trip to Nagasaki

Tsuru made for the play and a school-wide effort. Everyone helped! :) 

Handmade by some of the PTA mothers. I wanted to eat them!! :]

Just one of the many amazing things made by the Home Economics club

Made purely out of colored sand on sticky paper by the art club. I'm left speechless every time I see it. 

A long, but memorable, fun and exciting-filled day! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend :)

Kobe Harbor Land and Nagata Shrine: A Glimpse into Modern Day and Traditional Japan

Happy Monday everyone!

I went for some retail therapy this two weekends ago at Umie, a large shopping complex which is located on the waterfront (did I mention that there's a store that sells everything Studio Ghibli? ^^). I posted night pictures of Harbor Land previously and because I was there again, wanted to take a few daytime pictures.

Because  a truck sticking out of a restaurant is not something you see everyday :]

Apparently Japan is pretty big on Halloween- they have so many decorations in their stores and outside as well! 

There's a boat that can take you around the area on a cruise just to the left of Kobe Port Tower

Attempted to make a panorama picture on Power Point because I don't have one of those panorama makers >.<; 

This weekend, I wanted to explore a different side of Kobe and ended up going to Nagata Shrine in Nagatajinja-mae. It is a Shinto shrine that enshrines a deity named "Kotoshironushi-no-Ohkami" who is famous for successful and flourishing businesses and industries. It has a lot of history as it celebrated its 1800th anniversary in 2001! It is also said that prayers for recovering from diseases would be answered here. This was the first shrine that I visited since coming to Japan so it was very special and meaningful for me. 

Walking towards the shrine after getting through the main entrance

It was quite an impressive sight to see the shrine with the trees behind it. There weren't many people visiting the shrine while I was there so it was very quiet (aside from a Sports Day event going on at a nearby school)

There were many smaller shrines that were placed around the main shrine. People would go to every shrine and pray there as well.

Many people write wishes and prayers on wooden tablets or plaques called 絵馬 (ema). They write their names and wishes on the backside of the tablets  which are hung up in hopes that the deity will answer it. 

Many paper cranes were displayed at the shrine--both old and new. It was interesting to see the contrast of the old, faded tsuru to the bright colors of the newer ones. 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! :) 

Elementary Sports Day

Happy almost-Friday~! :)

I hope everyone's week has been going well so far! Last weekend, I was able to attend the Sports Day for one of my elementary schools and was able to get pictures of the games and activities that they did! It was White vs. Red and needless to say, the entire day was filled with lots of excitement. None of the pictures here will show faces for privacy reasons, but I hope you all enjoy the pictures :) Their Sports Day was not as die-hard competitive as my middle school's one, but it was still so much fun to experience!

The students sat in their chairs around the field while guests sat underneath the white tents.

Standing in straight, uniformed lines before the opening ceremony

The cutest ninja's I will ever see in my life :) 

Jump rope routine with the 4th graders

They made riding a unicycle look incredibly easy. TT.TT

Fancy hula hoop waves :) 

Kibasen: the insanely competitive game where one student tries to grab the hats off each other teams while being held up by their teammates

Relay race between white and red team to roll huge rubber balls around the field first and carry it onto the stand

Tug-of-war! :)

Another relay race where the students had to roll the large rubber balls around a flag and back to their waiting team members 

Best for last: Kumitaisou~ :) 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! If you are ever in Japan and have the opportunity, please attend a Sports Day! It is truly an amazing and wonderful experience :) Thank you so much for reading!