運動会 [Undoukai]

Hannah again, and please be warned, this post is incredibly long!

My secondary school recently held one of their annual events. In Japanese, it’s called an undoukai, and in English we often translate it as Sports Day. But there is an important distinction here. If you search something like “Japanese sports day” on Google, you’ll likely get information on Health and Fitness Day, an annual national holiday held in Japan. A standard undoukai has a similar purpose to Health and Fitness Day, but undoukai are organized individually, so the events and date vary from school to school. Usually it’s held sometime in September or October when it’s cooler and the students aren’t going to be subjected to as much heat.

So, undoukai. This kind of event is not specific to Japan, but the closest thing I know of in America is something that my school called Track and Field Day. To be fair, I don’t like sports, or running, or outside, or any of that stuff, so I have repressed my memories of Track and Field Day. That being said, there might be some similarities between the American and Japanese events, but I can’t really point them out! Regardless, I think undoukai are very unique to Japan, and I’ll give you a play-by-play of what my school did.

Firstly, my school is small. I’ve seen pictures of undoukai from other schools where there are banners and cheering squads and a very festive atmosphere. My school didn’t have that, but it was still very fun. The students had been practicing for many days before the undoukai, or at least that is what I’ve heard. I’m not around during that time after school so I can’t say for sure. But all of that preparation pays off on the day of the event. Early in the morning, the multi-purpose athletic field (or the giant dirt area) is chalked up to distinguish the areas where the events will take place. Chairs and canopies are set up on one side of the field for the parents and teachers, and chairs alone are set up on the other side of the field for the students. They even brought out their backpacks and placed them on the chairs, which I thought was a little odd considering it was kinda rainy.

As with most things in Japanese schools, we began with a ceremony. All the students gathered (orderly in their classes I might add) and listened to various speeches from the principal, student council representative, and a member of the PTA. I don’t really know everything they said, but at the end the students returned to their side of the field and the games began.

Here’s how things were organized. As I said, my school is small. Each year (1-3 as is the norm in a Japanese high school) only has two classes, comprising of about 20 students each. For contrast, my main school has four classes per year and about 40 students each. Anyway, each class would have members compete in the various events. The members were distinguished by wearing both their class t-shirt and a colored headband. Points were awarded based on ranking in the events, and each event usually had more than one round. In some events, all ranks got some set of points, usually 12 to first place, but some did not so there were some classes that would score 0 points in an event. All of these points were kept on a large scoreboard that the students could check when not competing. The total points were not tallied until the end.

Event one! Find the thing race! I don’t actually know what it was called, but that’s my name for it. One student from each class would run forward and grab a piece of cardboard that had been placed in a row on the ground. On that cardboard was written...something, which they then had to find and bring to the finish line. For example, in one round, a student had to find a water bottle. Pretty easy, she just grabbed one from one of the teachers. In another round, a student had to find something orange. Apparently this was difficult so he ended up grabbing one of the parents who had a partially orange shirt and bringing them across the line. And in the final round, one of the things was the vice principal, so they had to get him and bring him across the line. It was quite amusing to watch as the students scrambled and the parents tried to offer help!

Other events! There were the standard races, 100m dash for the boys and 60m dash for the girls. Also a high jump contest, but the students were practicing while other events were happening so I don’t actually know when they were practicing and when they were scoring points. There was also team jump rope where the entire class would jump a giant rope. Some classes were very in sync with their jumping….and some got about two jumps before someone hit the rope.

There were also an obstacle course...I think. The first area had one student from each class grab a bat, place their forehead on one end, then place the other end on the ground and spin in circles. After that, they had to run to a chair and sit on a balloon, then run and tag the next person. But that spinning makes you really dizzy and more than one student had trouble actually making it to the chair with the balloon! The other stops in the race were balancing a ball on a racket as you ran, crawling under a net, drinking a protein drink that was hung from a pole,and finally crossing the finish line. I must say, as each student grabbed a protein drink (contained in a squeezable bag) and ran to the finish line, most of them looked like they were going to be sick. Apparently that protein thing didn’t taste very good! Students also competed in a relay-type race. It started with a sack race, and those members then tagged the next group who did a 3-legged dash, who tagged the next and the next until the last group was running, containing 5 students tied together in a line. As with the jump rope, some classes were really in sync as they ran to the finish line...and others shuffled along.

Finally the morning ended with a traditional undoukai game, called tamaire. “Tama” means ball and “ire” means to put in, so as you might guess, the game was to put a ball in a basket. But not just any basket. A wicker basket tied to a pole held up in the air. And the balls were actually little bean bags filled with rice that you had to throw up high in the air and into the basket. I watched the students do it and thought it didn’t look too hard. But that was when I was told I could compete in the final round, where the last two classes and the representatives from the PTA competed. I said sure, joined the PTA group, and gave it a try. It’s harder than it looks. Plus I felt bad for the student holding the basket pole, considering when a bean bag missed the basket, it usually landed on their head. Needless to say, the PTA lost with 20 points. But second place got 21 and first got 22, so it wasn’t a HUGE loss. Then everyone broke for lunch and went inside.

Well, the teachers went inside. The students ate quickly and prepared for the next event. And it was at this time that the clouds decided to dissipate and the sun came out to say hi. It got SO hot suddenly. And the students knew it. Because after lunch they were no longer dressed in their athletic wear of shorts and t-shirts, but rather costumes and uniforms. It was an interesting transformation to see! Apparently this was all in preparation for the club performance relay. Each school club would do something along the relay and attempt to get to the finish line. This event was not awarded points, but rather the most interesting performances were awarded prizes. I must say, I agree with the winners. But first here are some examples. The band club started off playing  music while their drummer waited at the finish/start line, giving them a beat. As they walked around, they acquired more band members and the music became more full, creating a full ensemble by the time they crossed the finish line. The basketball team, all in their jerseys, bounced balls back and forth as they went along the relay, picking up more teammates as they went. The last person at the finish line was held up on someone else’s shoulders and had a hoop and board on their back, so as the students hit this last point, they dunked their balls and crossed the line. I couldn’t tell what all of the teams did, but the most interesting ones won second and first place. Second went to the biology club, who dressed in explorer gear, carried various equipment pieces, and attempted to capture various animals. And by various animals I mean their two teammates who were dressed as a bird and a deer. And by capture I mean catch up to them and hit them with a pole. It was funny to say the least. First place went to the baseball team. Dressed in their uniforms, they ran around the field throwing balls (not baseballs though) at their teammates. Their teammates who were dressed as Diglet from Pokemon. Once they had acquired three Diglet (and more teammates) they headed to the finish line where the last two teammates waited. Dressed as Lucario and Pikachu. Lucario reached the finish line safely, but poor Pikachu was brought down and pummeled with balls. Having “captured” Pikachu, the team ran across the finish line and shouted “Pokemon Get!”, the catchphrase for the franchise in Japan. Everyone got a kick out of it, it was a fantastic performance.  

The rest of the afternoon contained another set of standard races, again 100m and 60m, and some log-grabbing game that I’ve never seen before. Students were spread at either end of the field, and 20 logs were placed in the center in a row. At the gunshot, they all raced forward and tried to grab a log, then drag it back to their side. In the beginning most of the logs are taken quickly to one side or the other. But once those people have deposited their logs, they run back on the field to help their teammates. This usually meant that the game ended when the last log, with about 20 people on either end pulling it both ways, was finally claimed. Or when the teacher blew a whistle to call an end. This was a great game to watch and each round a couple more logs were removed, making it more difficult to avoid getting ganged-up on.

I will now talk about tug-of-war. We all know this game, and the students competed tournament style. However, class 2-2 (2nd year, class 2) was short some females. Apparently they tried to keep the teams even in these events, regarding both number of participants and male to female ratio. As such, myself along with some of the other female teachers were asked to assist 2-2. Now I’m not strong or anything, so I don’t know how much help I was, but in the end our class ended up placing first in the competition! We won all of our matches and took the points. It was great, despite me expecting to only have to participate once instead of seven times (it was best 2 out of 3 each time). I don’t teach second year students, so I didn’t know anyone in the class, but after each victory everyone was giving hi-fives and jumping and yelling, and I was a part of that. I got congratulations from the students, in both English and Japanese. And the best part was the students trying to talk to me in English after the event was over. One of them kept telling me “nice fight!” as a way of congratulating me on being part of the winning team. The day ended with a standard relay race with each student from each class having to run. Once the final student ran, the baton was handed off to their homeroom teacher who finished up the race.

With the events over, another ceremony was held, meaning more speeches, and the winners were announced. The top participants in the club performance relay were announced at this point, followed by the ranking. Classes 3-1 and 2-1 tied for first place with a total of 130 points, and class 2-2, the one I helped in tug-of-war, was awarded third! One thing I noticed was that the classes have a real sense of comradery. Students cheered and screamed for their teams no matter what (usually backed by the parents also screaming and cheering). No student was singled out as being better than the others, and they all won or lost as a team. As I said earlier, I don’t really remember my Track and Field Day events, but I feel like this sense of unity was missing. Even the winning classes were simply awarded a certificate. Not a certificate for each student, just one for the entire class. Simply put, it was a great event to watch, and I’m glad I was able to participate a little (thankfully I didn’t have to run!)

At the end of the day, the chairs and tents were removed, and as I left the school I saw a tractor dragging a bar across the field. As the chalk lines were erased, it was as if the entire undoukai had never happened. Classes would return to normal, students would continue their regular activities, but they would not forget what they accomplished that day.