Sports Day in Japan

The Japanese have always taken their holidays seriously and Sports Day is another example of that. Sports Day is one of the most awaited holidays in the country. This holiday was established to commemorate the important event that occurred in Japan, specifically in Tokyo, the first ever city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics back in 1964. With its celebration, the holiday seeks to promote the Japanese people’s love for sports, exercise, and good health. It also raises awareness with regards to how important having a healthy mind and body is in their daily lives and what role the sports or exercises play in achieving such goals.

Sports Festivals

Many companies, schools, government institutions, and local communities that organize their own sports-related events to celebrate Japan’s Sports Day. These events, which are known as sports festivals in English, are commonly called as ‘Undokai’ in the Japanese language. These sports festivals (undokai) are like a mini-Olympics kind of event wherein people throughout the country would participate to the various sports/games organized for this day. The participants are of different ages as well. From working adults to those from the kindergarten to the high school groups. A large number of participants to these events are in fact, mostly students.

In Japanese schools, prior to the occurrence of the Undokai (Sports Day/Field Day), the participants would undergo weeks of rigorous training just to prepare for the competitions held during the event. Upon its occurrence (Sports Day), a parade would be observed first, featuring all those who would participate on the various activities within the day. A marching band is also arranged to make the parade livelier. Once all the teams are settled in the grounds/fields (Red and White Teams), speeches follow, which are usually given by the important figures in the local government offices. The purpose of the speeches is to welcome the participants and wish them an enjoyable, exciting, and fun-filled activities for the rest of the day.

Although many companies and local communities would arrange for these sports festivals, the ones held at the Japanese schools are mainly popular. For the Japanese schools, organizing this so-called undokai (sports festival), is one of the biggest events in the institution. Many students ranging from kindergartens to high school students would participate. The families of the participants are even invited, especially the families of those elementary participants. For the elementary participants, it’s not just the parents that are invited, but even the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives, are requested to attend the event. Their attendance is definitely a great way to show their cheers and support to the little kids who are courageously partaking on the events. Once the events begin, the fathers are usually seen with a video camera to capture the important moments of their children’s participation on the games. The mothers, on the other hand, would prepare gorgeous bento boxes (boxed lunches) for the whole family. Dishes found inside the bento are rice, meat, pickles, fish, and vegetables, which are all arranged nicely.

Several sporting events could be observed on this day. From the traditional track and field's events (wherein it is usually done individually), to the exciting ball games (which are usually done in groups). Examples of the traditional track and field games include: the 100m sprinting, 4x100m relay, long jump, high jump, and shot put. Other exciting activities include those which are done in groups, e.g. three-legged races, sack races, rugby-ball dribbling races, ball toss, bean bag toss (which is locally known by the Japanese as ‘tamaire’), cavalry battle, tug of war, scavenger hunts, obstacle course relays, and the otama korogashi. The mentioned events are usually part of the competitive activities held on this day. However, non-competitive events are also observed during the activities. Folk or traditional Japanese dancing performances are examples of these.

In addition, other events like marathons, frisbee, bowling, and others, are also organized by the local communities so that the entire family can join in. There are even specific locations in Japan that offer physical fitness tests on this day as well. Thus, people who are interested on getting some tips to improve their physical condition or health shouldn’t miss out this event. To conclude, majority of the Japanese would definitely involve themselves to many outdoor activities during the celebration of the country’s Sports Day.