Bunkasai

Each year, junior high schools all over Japan have a “school festival” – known as Bunkasai in Japanese. At first I thought that this would be similar to a fete or carnival, with fairy floss, dodgem cars and toffee apples. Then I remembered that I was in Japan, and changed the fairy floss to dried squid, and toffee apples to grilled fish on a stick. It seems that cultural differences run deeper than just foodstuffs though.

The students had been telling me for weeks beforehand how excited they were about the school festival. And it did start out promisingly. So how exactly did a celebration of students’ achievements turn into a grindingly boring Saturday spent at school? Well, let me tell you.

You may think that this is another of Damien’s uncharitable blog posts about Japan because he’s had a bad day etc, but many of the other teachers told me that they also found it excruciatingly boring and I saw a good number of them falling asleep during the proceedings.

In order to prevent this blog post from following in the footsteps of the Bunkasai, I have prepared a synopsis:

- In Japanese style there was an opening ceremony for the opening ceremony

- Then the opening ceremony

- Then the closing of the opening ceremony

- A rousing recitation of the slogan for the festival “Let’s SHINING!”

- Some awesome taiko (Japanese drum) performances

- Choral recitation

- Choral recitation

- Choral recitation

- Choral recitation

- Snooze in chair

- Choral recitation

- Choral recitation

- Get up on pretence of going to the bathroom, just to stretch legs

- Choral recitation

- Choral recitation

- 15 minute lunch break (during which I noticed that ALL the other teachers had been supplied with lunch, yours truly being the only exception)

- Choral recitation

- Choral recitation

- Contemplate faking angina, but conclude that it would probably go unnoticed

- Choral recitation

- etc

Not exactly the event of the year. I’m told that the students enjoyed themselves though. I guess they appreciate tests of endurance more than I do. In any case, I have included some pictures of work that the students did in preparation for the festival. There is also some calligraphy that I drew. It says “genki”, which means energetic or high-spirited.

The 8^th grade students had to compose a piece of writing with the theme “My Dream”. My favourite is as follows:

I want be wife

It is a secret!!!

I can’t say who gets marry with me

Drem$ come true!!

About four other girls copied this idea. Another couple of favourites:

I want to be a bank clerk

I want count money

I like money

And

I want to be a rich person

I want to live easily

I want to be lazy