Well, now
that it’s almost 3 weeks after the matter, I’m finally blogging about the
Undokai (sports festival) at my larger elementary school. This was my first
(and only) undokai. I’m starting to wish I’d gone to at least part of my small
school’s undokai last year when I had the chance, because this year all the
schools had their undokai on the same day.
First, about
the word Undokai (
運動会). It’s a little hard to translate. “Undo”
（運動）
is used to mean something like exercise, movement, or as a kind of general words
for sports. “Kai”
（会） is a meeting or club, or in some cases a party. The
most common translation of “undokai” I see is sports festival for some reason.
The kanji for festival
（sai
祭） isn’t used at all, so I’m guessing
that’s somehow derived from the rare meaning “party”…. I’ve also seen "field
day". I like to just call is sports day when I need to use English.
So, sports
day! The students and faculty practice for the entire month, causing all sorts
of schedule changes and dropped classes throughout the month as they prepared
for the sports day. Each grade had its own dance/cheer routine. Each grade
played a different game or set of games. It all had a very set order, and the
faculty strove to get everyone in sync.
The morning
of undokai, the weather could not have been more perfect! The sun shone bright
after days of rain, and though it got hot, the humidity wasn’t bad. Families
and friends of the students showed up with blankets, sunscreen, table
umbrellas, and coolers. The sat around the field area at tables, or spread
their blankets on the tarps the faculty set out the previous evening.
 |
| field surrounded by tables and tarps |
 |
| each class had their school chairs under one of these for shade |
 |
| aka-shiro boshi |
It all began
with an opening ceremony (this is what they practiced most!). They carried
the country flag and raised it while singing their anthem. Then everyone
stretched together, followed by the undokai fight song. The school was split in
half, with one half as Red and the other half as White. Red and White competed
against each other in the day’s events. They simply used their school-required
aka-shiro boshi (red-white hats) to signify their color. I happened to sit on the white side, so I
cheered for white!!
 |
| start of the opening ceremony |
 |
| closer - opening ceremony |
 |
| stretching |
I quickly
discovered that my camera was nearly out of batteries, so I ended up needing to
be very careful and choosy while taking pictures. This meant I didn’t wade
through tons of pictures as usual, which was nice, but I really do wish I’d
decided to record the 3
rd years dance routine. It was actually based
on more traditional Japanese dance, which I love! ... Oh, but it seems the videos are going to a pain to upload here. Guess I'll stick to pictures and find somewhere else to put the videos.
Some cheer and dance routines!
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| 5th years waiting. i loved the different kanji on their shirts |
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| nearly their turn! |
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| 6th year's routine |
|
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| 6th years |
 |
| 6th years (notice the teachers nearby ready in case they fall) |
In one of the games, the students stood in parallel lines big enough to fit these huge rubber balls between. They had to give it a push as it traveled past them in line, and the fastest group got the most point for their team.
 |
| game finish |
 |
| awaiting their turn |
At lunch
time, the students joined their families at the table and tarps. The faculty
ate in the nice, air-conditioned teacher’s room.
The final
score!
 |
| and White wins!! |
When undokai
ended, every teacher found several o-miyage (treats) on his or her desk. Things
like senbei (rice crackers), Japanese sweets, Mitsuya Cider (type of soda), a
sports drinks, some strange drinks I “misplaced” somewhere else in the
teacher’s room, as well as a small bag of a tasty frozen sports drink.
In a matter
of minutes the tents, chairs, and tarps were all cleared of the grounds, and
crowds flooded the streets around the school as everyone began their walk home.
My company tells us to stay at school until 4:30 on any given workday, but with
nothing at all to do and everyone insisting that it was time to leave, I left
over an hour early. I took my undokai souvenirs (including a bright red
sunburn!) with me and went home for a well-earned rest.
-----------------------------------------
For those interested....
Soran Bushi done by some professionals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_FeMek7A4I
Some awesome footage from an elementary school's sports day. The description is really good too, explaining some things that I didn't actually catch at my one and only sports day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRGvhQ1r5SY
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