Lesson 24Describing Changes - School Festival -
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School Events
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Explanation through photos
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School
In Japanese high schools, there are various events in each season.
High school events
Let's take a look at the events held in a Japanese high school. There are events such as cultural festivals, sports festivals, and end-of-term ceremonies.
Cultural festival - School main gate 1
This is a cultural festival, also called a school festival. This school's festival is called Kosonju-sai. The school gate is decorated.
Cultural festival - School main gate 2
Banners are hanging on the school wall to let people know what each class is doing and to attract guests.
Cultural festival - In the school
Many people are coming to this festival. Not only students, but also their families, friends, and school neighbors visit. The school becomes a more lively and cheerful place than usual.
Cafe
A cafe or restaurant is one of the main features of a high school cultural festival. Students cook and serve food and drinks. There is a long line of people in front of this cafe.
En-nichi stalls
This classroom has opened an en-nichi market. Usually set up at shrine festivals, en-nichi have lots of stalls where you can buy food or play games. Here, the name is Moe En-nichi. Moe is Japanese slang to describe a keen interest in something.
En-nichi stalls
In this classroom students have replicated an en-nichi, selling sweets and setting up a game corner.
Games
You can play various games. This classroom is decorated in Japanese style using paper and other materials.
Yo-yo tsuri fishing
You can also play a yo-yo tsuri fishing game, one of the most popular games at the festival.
Dance
At the gym, students are performing a dance. It is the Yosakoi Soran dance, an improvisation on the traditional Japanese folksong Soran-bushi. Their performance is very powerful and the movements are totally synchronized.
Koto harp concert
They are performing with koto harps, which are traditional Japanese musical instruments. They are playing in perfect harmony.
Tap-dancing
They are tap-dancing. They selected hats and shirts to match their style of performance. They created an original dance and practiced by themselves.
Relay race
This is a sports festival. They are competing in an exciting relay race. In this festival, students break into several teams and compete in various races and games.
Tug of war
This is a tug of war, a contest that involves pulling on a rope. The team that pulls the rope four meters toward their side wins the match.
Three-legged race
Ninin-sankyaku [three-legged race] is a traditional competition in Japanese sports festivals. In this race, two people with one of their legs tied together make up a team, and teams compete to see which can run the fastest on three legs. These days, anywhere from two to more than 10 people compete as a team, as this picture shows.
End-of-term ceremony 1
This is an end-of-term ceremony on the final day of the second term. All the students are gathered in the gym.
End-of-term ceremony 2
They sit lined up according to class and listen to the principal's speech.
End-of-term ceremony 3
The principal talks about various things, including what the students should keep in mind during the holidays.
Receiving report cards
After the ceremony, teachers hand out report cards to the students. On the report card is written the grade in each subject. Students' hearts beat rapidly as they receive their grades.
Report card 1
This is the report card of Mayumi Kase. On the card, grades and comments from the teacher are written.
Report card 2
The grades of each term, from the first to the third, are recorded on the card. The grades are on a scale of 5, with 5 being the highest grade.
Mayumi Kase
Mayumi got a better grade in modern Japanese and social studies than in the first term. She is very happy.
In the classroom
Some students share their report cards with their friends. When they get home, they show them to their families. The winter break starts the day after the end-of-term ceremony.
