Explore everyday life in Japan
Taikusai, despite not having any sports involved, is generally translated into sports day. This event, which is akin to a massive ‘field day’, is a big deal in Japanese junior high schools. Though it comes at the mid-point of the academic year, it marks a major turning point in the lives of third-grade students (students in their final year of junior high school).
After the taikusai is finished, these third-grade students must focus on studying hard in order to pass the high school entrance exams they will be taking in six months. These entrance exams can have a huge impact on students’ futures. A good high school can lead to a good college, which can lead to a good career. Likewise, a high school with a poor reputation can be regarded as a stain on one’s resume years later when looking for a job. The taikusai, I think it is fair to say, is the pinnacle of the junior high school experience in Japan. Winning, or losing it, creates lasting memories.
More than just a one-day event, taikusai is a major team building and culture indoctrinating activity that starts two to three months before the actual event itself. Students are divided into three mixed-grade teams. Councils are made and leaders are elected for each team. These councils and their leaders are put in charge of creating a team slogan, designing and overseeing the painting of a large mural, which is supposed to embody their team's slogan, writing the words for and choreographing two unique cheer sequences, and overseeing the rehearsal of various athletic events.
In short, this event is a lot of work for students and it requires a lot of preparation time both during and after regular school hours. It also, from what I can tell, gives students a strong introduction to the seniority system that is central to Japanese interactions, that of the senpai (senior) and kouhai (junior). This means that students are conditioned to respect the natural authority of the students in the grades above them, and to play an inferior role when interacting with those students.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting daily updates about life in Japan, please consider following me. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.