High School Sports Day

Springtime in Japan brings many things. The cherry blossoms, the new school year, Golden Week (a five day holiday), and, in many places, the school Sports Day. From what I have learned, these events started around WWII. They are a way for Japanese students to show school spirit, athletic fitness, how to follow instructions, and, most importantly, how to be a part of the group. The later of these actions is probably the single most stereotypical characteristic of Japanese society. But, that doesn't mean that there isn't some truth in the stereotype.

For the past few weeks, my students have been practicing for the school Sports Day. Usually, the activities that occur are similar from school to school, including: running (100 m. and relay events), tug of war, a game where large bamboo poles are placed at the center of a field and two teams struggle to take as many poles as possible to their side of the field, cheer leading, and finally the Mass Game.

The Mass Game is a choreographed exercise. Which consists mostly of cheer leading pyramids of various sizes. There are 100's of different poses and the students move around the field to make a large scale design of some kind. This is, by far, my least favorite of all of the events. It is interesting to look at from a crowd perspective, but as a teacher at the school and a person who cherishes individuality, I think that this event is a waste of time and a form of group-think brainwashing.

The Mass Game reminds me of the annual Mass Games that North Korea puts on every year. These Games are a way to control the perception of North Korea, both internally and abroad. North Korea uses the games as an exhibition of national strength and solidarity. To show the country's (purported) strength, and to show the rest of the world the North Korean peoples' appreciation towards their leadership.

Many of these same characteristics are a part of the Mass Games in Japanese high schools. Nationalism, group strength, and doing things to appease parents, teachers, and community leaders.

My biggest problem with the Mass Games event is the overt sexism of the whole event. The boys must participate without shirts on. The girls are sandwiched on either side of the boys, usually performing tasks that are much simpler than the exercises the boys are charged with performing. Usually, the whole event is prefaced by the girls, with pom-pomed hands, dancing and cheering to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend."

I know, as a foreigner, I am not able to understand all of the nuances of the sports day events, but as a conscious human being I can see the cro-magnon, ancient beginning of the event still peppered throughout the whole sports program. As an overweight American, I shouldn't be questioning any kind of event that aggrandizes exercise and sporting events.

There are many redeeming qualities about the event; teamwork, exercise, and traditional games and dancing. One of my favorite events is the ouendan cheer leading. This is a uniquely Japanese type of cheer leading, or dance. The students work very hard to get all of the moves in rhythm to the beat of a taiko drum. And, it is really amazing that the students are able to coordinate these dances in such a short amount of time, especially with the school year just beginning.

It is truly a unique event. I enjoyed the event very much. But, there are some questions of equality that should be pondered and discussed.