Last week and this past weekend was quite busy so I apologize for a lack of posts. I'll try and squeeze in what I can into this post! This past Saturday was the ever so famous Sports Day for many middle schools. We may have Field Day back home, but Sports Day is in an entirely different category.
Sports Day is called 体育会 (taiikukai) for middle schools and it is usually held on a Saturday or Sunday in Japanese schools. Two or three weeks prior to this eventful day, the students and teachers put in many long, hard-working hours into practicing, rehearsing, creating formations, and much more to perfect what they would like to show their parents. The students at my school had been tirelessly practicing multiple times throughout the days and I was always in awe just to witness the amount of hard work that everyone put in.
The day typically starts off with an opening ceremony where all the students parade in, usually by year and class. Each class at my school had a banner that they made themselves and this was carried by a student as the class marched around the track. The principal gave a short speech and then the games began! The students were divided up into teams by various colors such as purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red and/or by year. There were many relay races and all the teachers participated in it as well! One of the most popular games was "kibasen" where three students held up a fourth student who fought with other teams to see who could grab the hat off the other person first.
Another popular event was 組体操 (kumitaisou) where the male students did a variety of human formations. From balancing on someone's shoulder with their arms out to handstands to human towers and pyramids, these boys did it all in the hot afternoon sun without any complaints. It was truly an amazing experience. The girls had their turn in the spotlight as well with a dance number where they were perfectly synchronized and another number where they used colored scarves to create a rippling, color wave that left the audience and myself breathless. The entire day was one that I will never forget. The countless hours of practices, rehearsals and reviews certainly paid off :) I was so proud of them all.
There was also a festival in Nankimachi this past weekend and I was able to snap a good number of photos from the day. They had a traditional lion dance piece as well as a short play and a large dragon-like puppet throughout the day. I wanted to capture not only the events that occurred, but also the number of people that flooded the streets to soak in the culture, taste the food and leave with a memorable experience.
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| I think that man made the little boy's day :) |
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