In various parts of Japan, School Sports Events (Undokai)

are usually held in September.  However change has come slowly to Japan's Ministry of Education and in Chiba City some specially

 designated school celebrated this event on may 17th.  On a cloudy Saturday morning for Sport's Day at Midorimachi Elementary School, it was red vs. white and these kids seemed to take the art of competition to a whole other level.  Fun and games aside, they kicked, screamed, and pushed just to win.  And sometimes the parent's get to join in the chaos and lose their pride and silver fillings for aka or shiro gumi (red or white team).

Although we have field day in America, it's nothing like this.  Just like Japanese culture is different from American, Sports Day is a reflection of the Japan's society and it's centrally-directed educational system.  Schools al over the country may have scheduled their Sports Days in different seasons, but the games, dances, sports and maybe even the music will the same.  The emphasis on the group versus the individual was evident because the entire team competed and no student could have been singled out for his or her outstanding performance.

I enjoyed watching the kids run like crazy during the relays, tug of war, obstacle races, and some game that required them to dress in strange costumes and then run around the track.  And while I enjoyed being a casual spectator, I watched as grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, the family pets and parents roamed around with their digital cameras and camcorders. 

Apparently Sport's Day is taken so seriously that some father's came to the school at 5:00am that morning just so that they could get a good spot to set up their video cameras.  Yes, there will be many people who will have to suffer through watching Aki or Satoshi run around the track or wave a fan during the dance routine.