sayonara san nensei - graduation ceremony

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last friday, i watched a very emotional and moving graduation ceremony for the san nensei (third grade) students... and i'm sure it would have been even more so had i actually understood what had been said! i suppose it wasn't necessary to understand the language though - the beautiful songs, the tears (from the teachers and students) and the very japanese, formal proceedings made for captivating viewing!

what we consider to be 'formal' events in the west seem disorganised and chaotic when compared to similar events in japan.... they really do take planning to a whole new level here! graduation is an extremely important event - whether the students are leaving kindergarten or university... there is no originality, creative input or change from year to year, for fear of spoiling the memory of the day!

the students practised the ceremony for an entire week beforehand... they practised how to walk into the gym and leave the gym, how to place their hands, how to achieve the perfect bow, how to position their feet and how to stand up and sit down in perfect unison... seriously! i actually timed one practise when they spent 20 minutes JUST trying to stand up and sit down simultaneously! i didn't realise how complicated it was!

before the ceremony, the students had to clean the school from top to bottom and then bring their chairs down to the gym where the ceremony was held. the chairs had to be placed 60cm from the chair in front of them and 16cm from the chair next to them. the chairs, of course, had to be perfectly perpendicular to the stage!

everyone was all dolled up and even the parents who came to the ceremony were wearing suits or kimonos.

the collection of the diploma was a carefully choreographed performance...

1) a student stands up and stands at the bottom of the stage
2) they turn and bow to the very important people (govenors, mayor, PTA etc)
3) they walk up the stairs and stand at the front of the stage
4) when their name is called, they give a loud 'HAI!' and walk to the kyoto sensei (head teacher), taking care to stand with their feet neatly together and facing the right direction.
5) after receiving their certificate, they take one step backwards and left a little and then must bow at the same time as the next person in line who then takes over the position of standing in front of kyoto sensei.
6) they must then walk to the other side of the stage, stand and face the audience and then walk down the stairs
7) then they have to bow to the teachers and walk (along the lines on the floor obviously) back to their seat

the entire performance moves like clockwork... as one student begins their journey at step 1, someone else is at step 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 - it's just unreal!

after speeches from the teachers, board of education, other important people etc. the singing started... the first and second graders sang a farewell song to the third graders and then the third graders responded with a thank you song... this is when the tears started to flow! after that, the graduating students were clapped out by all the teachers and students, whilst the brass band played 'neverending story'... a bizarre choice of song i thought! i read a funny story about one school making the students walk out to frank sinatra's "my way" which is incredibly ironic as they all had to walk out in perfect unison, with their hair and uniform looking exactly the same as the person in front of and behind them!

the ceremony lasted for about 2 hours and i was terrified to move in case i made a noise... it didn't help that i had caught a cold and almost had to choke back my coughs! the students were also sat as stiff as boards, taking care to ensure that their hands and feet didn't move from their carefully placed positions!

the students then came back into the school building and sang their song one more time for the parents... then all the first and second graders and teachers lined up outside the school building and the graduating students and their families had to walk down the middle as everyone clapped... there was lots of photo-taking and cheering and most of the students had dried their tears by this point!

i was too frightened to take photos and felt very uncomfortable standing up to take a video during the ceremony! but... i managed to take a few short video clips of their beautiful singing... i've only put one on here for now as my favourite clip is too large to put on here so i might have to find another place for it and then post a link on my next blog.

overall, the whole event left me absolutely exhausted that i couldn't even face going out on friday night! but what an experience...

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