Sports Day

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Today was the second sports day. That is the best translation I can give, but it encompassed far more than it would in America, containing sports, dance, cheering competitions, and singing. The Japanese sports day required weeks of preparation and practice. The schools regularly canceled entire days of class to devote to practice, not giving a second thought to the lost days of instruction. Apparently, all this practice is factored into the schedule from the beginning because in total they probably spent about a week of class simply rehearsing for the big day.
Sports day is a day of enormous import in Tamagawa. The mayor himself showed up for the festivities and stayed for the entire slate of events. He is a pretty cool guy, but I think he is convinced that I don’t speak any Japanese because he always talks to me through another person. All the members of the Board of Education, the teachers, and other important people in the community also attended. The opening ceremony included speeches from the mayor, the head of the board of education, and the principals of both schools involved. Almost to a man, the speeches consisted of their delight at how wonderfully the weather turned out, how important it is for the students to try as hard as they can, and how teamwork is the most important facet of competition. At that point, a student presented the school flag to the principal. Exercise music began to play, and everyone from the mayor to the three-year old kindergarteners moved their arms and legs in tune to the melody. The Japanese are big believers in symmetry. After all the events were over, they redid their exercises.
After the aerobics, the students divided into two teams, the national colors of red and white (school colors don’t exist here), and began their competitions. The events ranged from tug-of-war, to racing with stilts and unicycles, to relay races. Each commenced with a student shooting off a gun that made a very loud noise; the wielder donned earplugs. Intermittently, there were dance performances. My favorite was the four and five-year olds all dressing up in kimono or traditional Japanese dress and playing the drums in near-perfect rhythm. I did not stay on the sidelines the whole time. I participated in a race for the white team, in which I had to run and jump rope simultaneously. I thought I acquitted myself rather well, but our team lost the event. I also attempted throwing beanbags in a fifteen-foot high basket, with a surprising amount of success. In the cheering program, all the students received blue and purple pompoms and flung them around in perfect coordination. I can just imagine boys in the U.S. gracefully twisting and turning purple pompoms! At the end of six hours, white emerged triumphant, and there were another four or five speeches. Then everyone helped to clean up.
For the adults, that was not really the end. After the sports day, there was an enkai, similar to the one I had for my welcoming. The same people who presented earlier gave more speeches, and then we feasted on copious amounts of food and drink. At enkais, the food tends to be rather upscale: eel, octopus, crab, and other crustaceans. I wasn’t in a particularly non-Kosher mood, so my choices were limited. Luckily, I discovered the karage, which is basically fried chicken without bones, and I was happy. Everyone walked around and refilled everyone’s glasses. It is very hard to tell how much you drank when your drink is getting refilled after you take one sip! I did notice something interesting. The amount I drank was directly proportional with my ease in talking in Japanese. I think the more I imbibed, the more uninhibited I became. Of course, I am sure most of you would not find this to be much of a revelation.

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