In my first week of work I got to
experience a High School Culture Festival. These are annual events put on by
most all schools in Japan in which the students can exhibit their artistic
talents. They can be attended by parents of students, families possibly wanting
to enter a specific school, and the general public. In my case at Izumigaoka (E-zumi-giao-ka) High School, it was a 3-day
event that gave me a taste of the talent and awe-striking abilities of the high
school students I will be teaching.
The best way I can describe the
event is like a fair or carnival put on entirely by the students. At the
opening of day one, there were several performances by various clubs and classes
ranging from brass band numbers, to comedy skits, to break dance performances,
and pre-recorded movies. Though I couldn’t understand much of what was going on,
I was amazed by the talent of these 10th, 11th, and 12th
graders. I knew they had been preparing hard for this, but I didn’t have quite
the idea it would be to this level.
In the courtyard there were
several food tents set up where all the 11th grade students were
responsible for selling a food item. As I walked around these booths I was
amazed at the cooking ability of these kids. They were serving up traditional
treats and culturally iconic foods. I was alone at first so I couldn’t quite
figure out how to pay for the food I wanted. Luckily I ran into two nice girls
whom I had spoken with before, Narumi and Senri. These two little sweethearts
took me under their wing and walked me around the food stalls helping me try
things. Turned out you had to buy tickets for each specific stall at a table
near the entrance so I needed a lot of help with this. They helped me to choose foods to try, based
on their recommendations. Each portion was not large so it was easy to try many
things. All in all I tried: tapioca milk tea, Churros, Oreo Crepe, soy sauce
popcorn, and a few other traditional Japanese foods of which I don’t know the
names. All my selections were incredibly tasty. The students ran the food
stalls with great organization and cleanliness. Again, I can’t tell you how
impressed I am with these students.
On the third floor of the school
many of the classrooms were set up as game rooms or attractions. One attraction
I went in was a dark maze, complete with people popping out to scare you. There
were several life sized games that students built and their attention to detail
in their decorations was immaculate.
I played a very small role in the
festival on day two. The English Speaking Society Club did a quiz show style
skit and my responsibility was to run through the audience with a microphone to
find audience members to answer the questions.
Also on day two, one of my teacher
friends surprised me by taking me to the Japanese Tea Ceremony demonstration.
Mrs. Shimamura and I had already spoken about this and she thought it would be
something I would like. There is a special club that girls can participate in
to learn this traditional art. We went in the small tea ceremony room and were treated
to a special sweet treat followed by Japanese macha tea prepared in certain
steps. It was quite delicious and it was very interesting watching the girls
practice this ancient ritual. Stay tuned for a full post on Japanese Tea
Ceremony at a later time.
On the third day of the festival,
which actually got postponed because of a typhoon, the 12th grade students did
their performances. Their performances, focused on theatre they put on plays
with their individual classes of 40 students. By plays, I mean more like
25-minute live movies complete with hand painted backdrops, props, costumes,
and soundtracks. They even pre-recorded their own voices to play over the
speakers to have the volume audible in the large outdoor space in which they
performed. It was an all day ordeal watching 10 classes perform for 25-minutes
with about 10 minutes break in between to reset. I
understood nothing of what was being said, and only vaguely could follow along
with the context and plots. The very first performance we watched had a Back to the Future theme. I questioned
the connections at first, but when I saw the boy in the red puffy vest I knew
Marty McFly had walked onto the stage.
I keep hearing that the students
in my school are shy. Seeing these kids perform, interact, and show their
talents made them seem far from shy. This school festival is a tradition I am
told. None of what they did these past days will be graded. From what I can see
it was all about fun, bonding, and showing the well-roundedness of their skill
sets. Now it will be back to business, but I’m incredibly pleased that I was
welcomed to Kanazawa by this impressive cultural event.
