Geruma Undoukai

[I want to see an argument for a more beautifully-placed school in Japan(or the world).]

I wrote a few days ago about how this is a good time of year to visit, but I only cited one reason. There is also the nice weather and the chance of seeing an undoukai. Geruma’s undoukai was last weekend. This is my fifth and they’re starting to get old, so here are just some notes:

I came on the early boat (7:45am versus 10am) to help out. But instead of being thanked I was scolded by two people for showing up wearing slippers (zorries, flip-flops). I changed immediately and then questioned why it was an issue. (Because it’s sports day and you should be wearing shoes to be active.) I gave up my ground pretty quickly since nothing was to be gained, but I did need a break so I went on a walk. I was slightly annoyed because (a) I know when I need to put my shoes on to go running and (b) the teachers can be so anal about such small things! But the walk solved all of this emotional distress.

I pay close attention to gender issues. In this picture the students are lined up by class (Aka students standing behind Geruma students): j.h. third, j.h. second, sixth, fourth, third, second, first, kindergarten. There are also lines of high schoolers and adults from Geruma. In every class or group, if there is a male present, he stands at the front of the line and girls line up behind him. The only instance where a girl stands in front is if she is the only student in the class. This replicates class lists, where boys are always listed first, alphabetically, followed by girls, alphabetically. It bothers me for all the regular gender inequality reasons, but also because (a) the girls are introduced to their inferiority in kindergarten(!) and (b) the girls and women in Japan are so resigned about it.

Here are two of the better pictures of the day:

[This is a contest where old guys make ropes from grass. The winner was about 3m long in 3-4 minutes.]