Dokkoisho! Dokkoisho! (Heave, ho! Heave, ho!)

Last week—around the time that I would usually be writing my blog post—there was a Taifun that came to my area. I know that it was a serious issue for many other parts of Japan and the region, but other than a precautionary cancellation of afternoon classes on Thursday, all I really experienced was three days of Jumanji-level rainfall. My students, co-teachers, and friends are all safe and unaffected with the exception of a few cases of moldy houses.

Last weekend, I went with two friends to Sendai’s Oktoberfest celebration. As would be expected of premium imports, the food and drinks were staggeringly expensive; but it was worth the trip to see hundreds of Japanese people counting down in German to kick off a lederhosen-clad band of polka-yodellers (sorry, Hella).



This coming weekend, the sports teams have their end-of-the-season tournaments, so on Thursday, we had an assembly in the vein of a pep rally. The teachers (myself included, of course) shuffled into the gym with the uninclined students and awaited the ceremony. The band struck up with fanfare (that I swear was the theme song from Rocky) and the athletes filed in, each team dressed in their sports kits, and sat directly across from the rest of the student body with a 10 ft.(3M) pathway in-between. It was impressive seeing not only Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball, Baseball, and Running, but also Kendo and Judo. The teams then gave a short introduction followed by what I can only describe as a salute of best wishes to the athletes by the non-athletes and teachers. It was a highly fomalised set of call and response shouts lead by drum and accompanied by fluid arm movements. The principal spoke words of encouragement, standing in the middle of the area between the two halves of the school (the linchpin of the school, you might say) and they all finished with the national anthem. If all of that seems incredible, imagine my own surprise as I had only been casually notified of an assembly minutes before.


(Kendo)


(Judo)

As if that wasn’t remarkable enough, today I was asked to watch the 2nd years’ traditional dance practice. The 2nd years are going to perform this dance in front of the student body as a part of an upcoming Autumn festival. The rehearsal took place in the school’s tenshoukan(a traditional-style sports building where Kendo and Judo practice). The Kendo section of the building sports an immaculate hardwood floor. The Judo section has a giant layout of padded, synthetic tatami mats for cushioning falls (think wrestling room). The dance being rehearsed was Nanchyu Soran, a fishing-inspired routine from Hokkaido. The performers wear a type of kimono called hapi and--in addition to a series of call and responses--dance synchronized choreography whose movements reminded me at times of sumo, of archery, and of dramatised net fishing.


(not my students (I think this is an elementary school performance) but this is the dance and the hapi they wore)

I tried to imagine my own (i.e. America, year 2000) middle school class doing something like this (with the necessary cultural conversions) but couldn’t quite picture a comparable level of participation and enthusiasm from every single student(we had a popular choreography-filled annual musical, but many students opted out every year). I am sure there are many reasons for this discrepancy, but one that I would like to mention is the widespread popularity of choreographed dances in relation to the latest pop idols. I’ve heard that not only middle schoolers and high schoolers, but even young adults will learn the dance moves to the latest songs to impress friends, have fun, and maybe even show off at Karaoke. When I first came to Kawasaki Middle School, one male student actually introduced himself with a routine from an AKB48(very popular pop girl band) song. This was neither perceived as effeminate nor overly enthusiastic. Just cool.