Sports Day!

Sports Day today!!! Woke up early at 6:30 today, had a banana and rice for breakfast, then drove to school. I got told off by a grandpa who was on patrol duty for a school (not sure which school) because I think most elementary schools are having their sports day today. I wasn’t supposed to drive on that road because it’s people and bicycles only between 7:00am till 8:30am (except for Sundays) but I’m just so confused because there is literally no way out of my house/neighborhood area, except through those roads? So does that mean I have to leave before 7:00am or after 8:30am? It really doesn't make sense. He seemed a bit annoyed/perplexed at the beginning when he saw me, but let me go in the end. This is a clear disadvantage of being East Asian in Japan – you don't get to play the gaijin card here. I kind of wanted to say that I’m not from here so I’m sorry, but then couldn't be bothered explaining. I’m sure he thinks I’m just a bad Japanese driver now woops.

Arrived at school at 7:30am and parked on the other side instead of the usual under-the-gym parking spot. When I arrived at the teachers’ office they were just finishing up the meeting even though they said the meeting would start at 7:30am? Oh dear, this and the grandpa made this morning a wobbly start! But the weather was super lovely – cloudy and cool, so it was great for Sports Day! The official opening ceremony started at 9:00, so until then I kind of just hung out in the office, talking with the librarian, then went down to the grounds to sit with the broadcasting area, because I was in charge of keeping track of the time! They started on the dot with the opening ceremony at 9:00am. The students marched in (very organized and orderly) in their teams (three teams for the three mountains of Gunma: Akagi = red, Haruna = blue, and Myogi = yellow) and lined up in front of the principal, who made an opening speech. Then a representative came from each team to do some (I guess you would call them) vows? Promises? To participate in the events and try their best etc. etc. kind of thing. Then it was warm up exercises – normally schools do ラジオ体操 but my school has a tradition of doing stretches to this really calming music that sounds like traditional Chinese music. It’s pretty cute – the teachers all do it too including the principal and VP.

First actual event was the 4th graders’ 80m sprint! They are seriously just so organized here. Students are already in place for everything, including those holding the finishing ribbon, and place tags (1st place, 2nd place, etc.). It was very cute seeing the students run their hardest – some of their expressions were so determined, it was absolutely adorable and funny. 2nd graders did a 50m sprint – super super super cute. Nothing more to say. 1st graders have an even cuter game where they roll massive gym balls in their team colours. After that was the 5th graders 100m sprint. I noticed that they separate each heat in terms of similar running ability. I found that really nice – it makes the kid who is usually “last” or “slow” not feel so bad, because they’re not last by a lot. It also makes it more exciting cause all the fast kids are in the same heat so it’s very intense and tight. Next up was the dance performance by the 3rd and 4th graders. They performed to RADWIMPS’ 前前前世 which is a hugely popular song right now because of the success of 君の名は (“Your Name”). That’s another really nice/cute thing about Japanese sports days – it’s not just all sports and athletics stuff (like NZ) but it’s got fun games and dances and music as well. Then it was the 6th graders’ 100m sprint – there was one kid who was legit fast. After that it was the 1st and 2nd graders’ performance! Their performance was adorable because their theme/performance song was やってみよう, and they started with a short speech by a few students saying messages like “We can do it if we try” “You don't know until you try” and just very cute, positive things. It gets a bit lost in the translation to English.

Next up was the cheering battle (応援合戦) which is basically each of the three teams shouting their chants one after the other. Akagi (red) was definitely the loudest – I noticed that they had all the loud cheeky kids in their team though! That definitely helps. It was cute as to see them all shouting into the sky though. We had a short break after this so I quickly ran to the toilet. They had locked all doors except the 1st graders entrance one, so we all had to use those bathrooms on the first floor (they call ground floors first floors here in Japan by the way). Ran back just in time for the next programme, which was the 3rd graders’ 80m sprint. Next was an adorable game for the 2nd graders called 電車でGO! (Let’s go by train!) which is basically a relay in teams, except they’re lined up like a train – they even had a drivers’ hat for the first person, and “customer” tags for the 2nd and 3rd. Too cute. The music teacher had even downloaded the music they use for trains here so it was extra cool! Next was probably the cutest programme of the day – the 1st graders’ 50m sprint. They’re just so tiny and cute so seeing them running super hard like that was just adorable. The round chubby kid with cute eyes in 1-1 who always loves to play tag with everyone was running SO HARD it was SO CUTE. He did end up first in his heat too haha. Next up was the 5th and 6th graders performance! Theirs was honestly the coolest because they danced to Big Bang’s “Bang Bang Bang” (one of the homeroom teachers is a fan haha) and they actually did the dance moves they use in the MV. They even did a few fancy moves on the ground and one girl even did a one handed backflip thing to get up! What pros. After this it was lunch! The 1st and 2nd graders went home since they were finished for the day, but the rest of the students had their bento in their classrooms (or with their families outside I think) and the teachers had their bento in the office. The tea-lady had also prepared bottled green tea and lots of snacks (jellies and cookies) for everyone too, plus 2 grapes each! I love how it’s always 1 or 2 pieces of fruit haha. Lunchtime was funny because the other teachers were saying how the bento was too simple/too little for ¥1000, but I thought it was a great bento (honestly any food in Japan is great compared to the sandwiches and stuff in NZ for lunch) so they thought I was funny haha.

Next up after lunch was the marching band’s performance. They were great! They played (what I think is) the school’s marching song, and then also “Under The Sea”. They even had umbrellas decorated to look like jellyfish! It was just fun programmes one after the other from here. 3rd graders had this game called グルグルグルリンwhere they run around cones in teams of three holding a long noodle like thing. Grade 4 had the bamboo battle (竹取合戦) which was so entertaining to watch – it’s basically bamboo sticks lined up in the middle, two teams on each side, and they run towards the middle to grab the sticks from each other. 5th and 6th graders had Tug of War and I got to fire the starting pistol for these ones!!! It was so fun. The principal was right when he said “Once you fire the starting pistol once, you just want to do it again and again”. Tug of War was the best. I wish that was an event for NZ’s school athletic days. It would’ve been so much more fun and entertaining. It was super cool too because their Tug of War here is not the normal one. For the 1st round they had half the team starting on the rope, and the other half had to run around the track (three legged race) before joining in and pulling the rope. So essentially you could win with speed (complete the three legged race before the other team gets there to pull) instead of strength! Akagi was very strong here and they won almost all their matches. They actually tied with Myogi (yellow) who was just as strong and won an equal number of matches. Poor Haruna (blue)! The 2nd round – no one started on the rope, everyone had to run! That was super exciting and thrilling – it was fun to see who would get there first and start pulling. Akagi (red) had the fast sprinter I mentioned earlier so they always got massive head starts. Each team seriously tried so super hard though – you could see the strain in their facial expressions! The other grades had a great time too cheering away.

Next up were relays which were also super fun. They set it up a bit differently here, but I really like their method. There isn’t the usual 4 runners, but more (depends how many people in each of the three general teams) and the last runner will wear a band or something to indicate they’re the last one. 3rd grade didn’t separate genders so boys and girls were racing together, but they split it for 4th to 6th grades. We finished off with the closing ceremony and the winner was Akagi with 595 points! Second was Myogi (who was last year’s champion) with 520, and 3rd (not last haha) was Haruna with 495 points. We finished on the dot at 14:30, 3rd and 4th graders got to go home straightaway, whilst 5th and 6th graders stayed to help clean up. It was basically putting away the chairs and taking down the flags and stuff. We officially finished everything by the designated 16:00. I had a quick chat with the 3rd grade teachers for Tuesday’s lesson, and then went home.