Japan at it's best...: Sports Day

Sports Day's in Japan are a big event. The teachers spend months planning it to perfection, then the kids practice for it for at least a month beforehand. They are out there in the hot hot sun all day. It is not an athletic event like we would expect, but more of a 'games day'. The school is divided up into 2 teams. The red team and the white team. The sports caps the children buy for P.E. at the beginning of the year are reversible, white or red. This year my boys were both on the red team, which was fortunate for me as some families had kids in both teams and they had to run around the field trying to take pictures of all their kids! The events are then divided up by grade level. Each grade has about 4 events that they participate in. So for us, that means 8 events to watch and 2 events to join in as parents. I joined in the 'Tamaire', which is throwing balls into a basket 5 metres overhead. More balls fell on my head than went in the basket I am sure! The team with the most balls wins. We lost one, we won one. Shibby joined the 'tug of war'. They lost...boo hoo....
Jo had to roll an enormous ball along the field and around a cone which looked like fun (??), and I have some pictures of that, but no video as Shibby took the wrong kid! (Nice...). He also had a 50 metre run, where he was more concerned about the kid next to him, like he was asking him, 'Where are we going?? Shall I follow you...?'...! Very cute. He also had a dance he had to do and some other things I forgot already.
Ken had a 'pole pull' where the team has to pick up a pole and carry it over their line, but the other teams tries to pull it over their line and well, it is a lot of fun. Ken just went over to the team that was winning anyway, and when we asked him why he didn't help the teams that were struggling he said, 'They always run away when I get there...', nobody likes to lose. He had a 100 metre race, and he is no longer afraid of the pistol now so he can run without his hands over his ears...we are very proud...?!? He had to do a dance as well, and he was the best I must say.

The whole day took from 9am to 3pm under the hot hot sun.....why they don't have it in November I will never work out! We fell asleep under the tree during lunch time to the horror of my Japanese friends. Serious business this Sports Day.....! It is a really tiring day, but a lot of fun too. They could do without all the boring speeches from the local council members, but the rest was fun. Everyone had to take a packed lunch, and all the women try and compete as to who can make the best lunch box. I used to make everything from scratch too when I was young and impressionable, but now I just buy the goodies and heat them. We had hamburger patties, fried chicken, corn, egg roll and rice with fruit. Yum. It was so hot though that I didn't eat half of mine! The kids went through one litre of water each and I had to keep filling up their bottles.
This year was Jo's first Sports Day at his school, so it was easy for us to only have to go to one! Enjoy the photos.

At the end of the day, the red team lost....boo hoo....but it was a great effort.