Monday was another national holiday. This time it was for a festival of movement. The children did have school but not in the regular sense. The morning was dedicated to activities and performances for them and their families.
According to an article in the Japan Times this holiday was established during the Meiji Era when schools switched to a European education system. During a visit to Japan, Adm. A.L. Douglas of Britain’s Royal Navy proposed the sports day whereby participants could compete in various races. It was accepted as part of military training and the first session saw 230 Navy students do pole vault, a three-legged race, a blindfolded race, a race where buckets of water must be carried on athletes' heads, and a pig-chasing race. Then it spread among colleges, and junior schools to the elementary schools. In the beginning these events were held in a nearby field or shrine but in 1904 the government ordered elementary schools to set up gymnastics fields so they began to host undokai on their own.
Corporations also host undokai and they are now favoured as a way to improve communications among employees.
As for our childrens’ undokai, Tim and I arrived at the kindergarten sports grounds and concluded that we were not prepared for our morning. Everyone else was set up with their mats down holding their places, bags of necessities and sun umbrellas were already open. (It reminded me of the Vancouver Folk Festival). Tim and I were going to have to stand for the next three hours in the blazing sun. We didn’t pack our picnic tarp, my fan, a bottle of water or sun protection. Talk about needing to improve communications. Luckily my friend Yasuyo loaned us a small tarp to sit on. Tim did get quite burnt and I kept sneaking up to where Lucas’ class was seated to ask him for a sip of water from his thermos.
Looking around I could tell the school had put a lot of work into this day. The surrounding fences were decorated with all sorts of colourful cardboard creations including Lucas’ rocket. On the grounds sat adult- sized cardboard and wood trees, rabbits, a duck and a frog. The principal and the members of the Board were sitting under tents and a DJ was sending music through big speakers including a brief snippet of Frank Zappa’s ‘Peaches en Regalia’!?
All the kids paraded out. There were two classes of each; the 4 year olds, 5 yr. olds and three classes of 6 year olds. The parents had to join in on the field with the children for a morning prayer and stretches. Then the 4 year olds took their places at some pylons for their races. Four kids ran at a time and had to go across the field to hit one of the tambourines held by some of the older kids. This was so cute to watch and when it came time for Lucas to go he ran at great speed and really gave the tambourine a bang.
The next activity included one family member so Tim participated. Four nets on stands (similar to basket ball) were brought out and set up in the four corners of the playing field. Then quite a number of red, blue, white, and yellow bean bag balls were spread about. The music began and the adults began throwing the balls into the baskets. It was great fun to watch and to play as these balls were flying all over the place and everyone was laughing. The numbers for each team were tallied by the teachers throwing two at a time into the air as the Principal counted over the loudspeaker. Tim’s team came in second. Then it was the children’s turn and the teachers made it a bit easier for them by lowering the baskets and walking around with each classes box decorated for the occasion.
Garbage collection came next. Eleanor’s year competed against each other to see which team could work together to haul tires, hard hats, mats, and other strange objects from a central pile back to their spot. I am proud to say that Eleanor’s group won in part because she spent so much of her time collecting small objects that gave them the highest number of tallied points.
The next game included a family member again and as Tim could understand the directions he went. The cardboard trees and animals were set about and Lucas and Tim had to gather things to feed (oranges, nuts etc.) into the mouths of the animals by following the musical sounds and acting the part for each. There was a lot of hopping going on. Eleanor’s class was helping so Eleanor was inside a rabbit holding it up and collecting the food.
Rope Pull or as we say Tug of War was next. The little kids went first and then Eleanor’s grade. In order to promote harmony the Principal had members of the Board come out and help the team that lost in a second round so that each side would win once and no one would be disappointed.
There was a break where all the kids left the area for snack and to freshen up or cool down, so the adults did the same. When they returned they all carried decorated shakers or flags and other things in their hands as props for a big performance.
This event was an amazingly choreographed performance. Eleanor danced with ribbons along with other girls to represent the butterflies, there was flag movement and boys and girls rocking out on cardboard guitars while others drummed. It was quite a spectacle. Again I was so proud of Eleanor as she danced beautifully and gracefully to Japanese music in front of the huge crowd. I got choked-up and had to hold back tears of happiness.
For the penultimate event Eleanor’s age group did their relay races. The oval course was well marked as the Vice-Principal was really on top of re-chalking the lines. (Tim got quite a kick out of his diligence of keeping a well marked course). The teams were sent out to prepare and they put on their coloured mesh tops. Eleanor’s colour was red and her team began well but fell behind the others. When Eleanor got the ring her team was way behind but she ran her fastest and passed one then the other to get her team caught up. People were cheering about how fast she was (“hayai, hayai”) and I did my typical ‘whooo hooo’ with arms in the air. I was so proud of her. A couple of other kids also stood out for their relatively quick pace so it was quite exciting to watch.
The last activity of the day was for families and children so Tim danced with Eleanor and I danced with Lucas in the Coconut Dance. What a hoot! The dance music was going and two teachers were leading us with directions over the microphone. I didn’t understand a thing but once we got going we followed along and had great fun. It was so nice to see so many adults out having such a good time with their children that I didn’t want that magic to end. But it was really hot and tummies were growling. It was time to go home for a celebratory lunch.
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