Graduation Day

I know, I know, so I'm not even going to go there anymore. :-)


I've posted a LOT of photos in this blog, and I'm gonna apologize upfront for the bad quality of most of them. I was trying to be as unobtrusive as possible in taking the photos, hence often did not use flash (when it was obviously needed). Disclaimer #2: Not that most of you will know the difference (I sure didn't when I first arrived in Japan!), but in labelling photos of students, I sometimes used first names, sometimes last names, depending on what was easier for me to remember for any given student. :-P So for those of you who know, there's the reasoning behind the idiosyncrasies. ;-)

Today was Junior High School graduation day in my town. I'm sure I've blogged about this in past years, but I don't remember what I wrote, if anything, so here we go again...maybe. I tried to do a photo journal today of the Japanese graduation process, so I wanna share regardless of repetition. :-)

Let's go back a few days first.

On Tuesday, the 1st and 2nd grade (JHS) students had what they call a good-bye "party" for the 3rd grade (JHS) students (this happens every year). It's more like an interactive assembly. The party goes on all morning until lunch-time. Everyone gathers in the gym, and the 1st and 2nd graders do some sort of performance for/in honor of the 3rd graders. This year the 1st graders sang songs, then did a performance of probably THE most popular and widely known traditional dance in Japan. I guess you could say it's an old fisherman work song (I have no idea what it's really called). The 3rd graders called 'encore' (which they pronounce as 'on-co-ray' over here) at the end of the dance and made the 1st graders do it again. I'd never seen THAT happen before, and it was pretty funny, especially as the 1st graders looked a little out-of-breath after the first round. :-)

1st graders singing

'Fishing' dance: I tried to upload the video here, but couldn't make it work. I'll try to upload it in a different blog.

The second graders also sang a song, then recreated the team cheer performances done at last summer's sports festival.

Next was a farewell message by video from all the school club groups. Following that was a slide show of photos of the 3rd graders from all 3 years of their JHS career. The slide show is usually the most popular part of the party. The students are usually about 12 years old when they start JHS and are 15 years old when they finish, so as you can imagine, they change quite a bit over those 3 years. The photos from their 1st year of JHS always get a huge response. :-)

The 3rd graders always wrap up the party. This year a few of the emcee girls went around and did a bit of a quiz show with the audience. Then the 3rd grade students got up on stage and sang a very commercially popular Japanese song called, "Letters" by Angela Aki, a song and artist I actually know!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jFd8oa-1ms

Today is Saturday the 14th. The JHS graduation ceremony is usually held on the 15th of March, but because it is a Sunday this year, it was held a day early (we get Monday off as a substitute holiday, yay!). The graduation ceremony in Japan always makes me smile, because it's so formal. Even the Elementary School graduation ceremony is formal. There's a set protocol for how you walk to the stage, how you accept the graduation certificate...of course there are multiple days of practice for the ceremony prior to the big day.

The gym was cleaned and decorated by the 2nd grade students over the course of the last 2 hours of the day yesterday (Friday).

Parents and the lower grades filing in before the 3rd graders' entrance.

Mr. Hoshino, the music teacher, guides the 1st and 2nd graders through singing practice 10-minutes before the 3rd graders arrive. The practice is punctuated with reminders from Mr. Hoshino that this is the 3rd graders very last day/memory of junior high school, so the lower grades need to do their best...as well as using the psychology of 'when you are 3rd graders you'll want the lower grades to give their best for you too'. :-D

The local dignitaries arrive.

The stage is set for the 39th annual Tokigawa Junior High School Graduation Ceremony.

Class 3-1 enters behind their homeroom teacher, the "mysterious" Mr. Koyama.

Class 3-2 enters behind Mrs. Iizuka. I've been told that it's tradition for a female 3rd grade homeroom teacher to wear a tradition kimono for the graduation ceremony. But I don't know why, and I don't know why only the female teachers...

First, Mr. Hoshino and a student accompanist lead all those in attendance in singing the Japanese national anthem (but I didn't take a picture because I wasn't sure it would be kosher to be snapping away during the national anthem...). Next, two 3rd graders lead everyone in singing the school song (Youhei Suzuki is directing in the photo below; I couldn't see the pianist from my seat).

Very little time is lost getting underway on handing out diplomas (which, incidentally, are hand-made by the students themselves. Several months prior, local Japanese traditional paper-making professionals come to the school and help the students make their own diploma paper).

Mr. Takagi, the 3rd grade Science teacher, hands the diplomas over to Mr. Takahashi, the principal.

It's a well-oiled machine, the diploma ceremony. The homeroom teacher stands off to the side at the bottom of the stage and reads the students' names into a microphone. There are always at least 5 students up and moving at all times during the process. One student is in front of the podium on the stage accepting their diploma from the principal. As soon as that student steps up to the podium, the next student in line walks up the stairs to the edge of the stage. When student 1 has accepted their diploma (left hand first on the left side of the paper, then the right hand, hold the diploma at head level, bow to the principal, take one step back to join the next student in line...), the two students stand side-by-side, bow together, then student 1 (in military-type fashion) turns to exit the stage, putting the diploma under their arm. Student 2 steps up to the podium. While student 1 and 2 are on the stage, student 3 has walked up to the edge of the stairs below the stage, and student 4 has walked onto the red carpet and stopped about five paces behind student 3. There is a student ahead of student 1 as well, exiting the stage, bowing to the dignitaries or teachers (depending on the side of the stage they exit from), and putting their diploma in a tray with all the other accepted diplomas, before they return to their seat (this is to keep the diplomas clean and safe until the students return to their homeroom class after the ceremony and put them in folders). The boys of class 3-1 went first, then the girls. Then class 3-2 boys and girls. As you can see from other photos, the students are seated separately by gender.

After handing out the diplomas, which actually goes quite quickly, someone from the dignitary section hands a box to a student chosen as a representative for the entire 3rd grade class. I've never figured out (or asked, for that matter) if there is something in the box, or if the box is merely symbolic of something...). Following the mystery box, there is a series of speeches. First, the principal. Next, a representative from the Town Hall. After that, the Mayor (or Vice-Mayor...Deputy Mayor, whatever you call #2). There was another speaker after the Mayor, I think,...maybe someone from the PTA? Second-to-last is the 2nd grader who will is to become the new Student Government President. Last is the outgoing Student Government President. The last two speeches are done to live piano accompaniment, which makes me smile. Milking the emotional moment for all it's worth. By the end of the outgoing SGP's speech, it never fails that half the gymnasium is in tears. My immunity is my language barrier. :-D Pictured below is the outgoing SGP, Yuya Yamaguchi.

Following the wrap-up of the speeches, the 3rd graders sing their farewell song. Mrs. Iizuka (the 3-2 homeroom teacher...also one of the P.E. teachers) represents well the state of half the 3rd grade students (and teachers...and parents...and a surprising number of 1st & 2nd grade students...) by the time they have to sing their song.

Yuuji Takenoya directs the 3rd graders in their farewell song. After the 3rd graders' song, a new director and accompanist from the 3rd grade class take the stage and lead the entire student body in a final song. This final performance is always quite amazing. Regardless of how practices went, by this point in the ceremony, the students find something from the depths to come out sounding like a well-trained church choir. It's really beautiful.

I know nothing about the process of choosing students to act as song directors, but no one is immune from learning this art. Yuuji is the former baseball team captain, played for the JHS All-Stars All-Japan Team in last summer's JHS Asia Cup, and is definitely more the sportsman-type. Yet there he is up on the stage, swaying his arms to the music, guiding harmony and all. I'm still trying to come up with a mental picture of that happening at an American JHS...

After the final all-student body song, the 3rd grade teachers (there were 4 this year, the 2 homeroom teachers already mentioned, plus the teachers for the three special needs students that graduated this year) stand in front of the stage as the 3rd graders call out "Arigato gozaimashita" (thank you very much) in unison and processional out of the gym.

All the students head back to their homerooms for about half-an-hour (during which time, I have no idea what they do). Then comes the time when the graduates leave the school for the last time.

All the 1st graders, 2nd graders and teachers line up along the 'exitway' to say their final good-byes. The graduates sometimes exchange letters and presents with the lower-grade students with whom they were friends/in the same after-school club. It's tradition for the graduates to give away parts of their uniform if the lower-grade students ask for something like the buttons on the boys' jackets or the girls' scarves.

With probably the 2 biggest bookworms of the 3rd graders. Kanae is on the left, Mizuki on the right. I love them because they totally remind me of me at their age! They were pretty darn good at English too. :-)

Three of my favorite 3rd grade boys...well, okay, they were ALL my favorite students to be honest! These 3 were always high energy and talkative. :-) Haruki on the left, Youhei in the middle, Junpei on the right.

Outgoing SGP, Yuya Yamaguchi and Nishida, being happy about the farewell Obama sticker I just gave him (hee hee).

Hiroki, Michiru, Mami, Chitose and Ezawa.

3rd grade class clown, Daiki on the left. His 2nd grade protege, Katsuya on the right. Their equilibrium is in the middle, 2nd grader Sugiuchi.

From here on down are random shots I took during the breaks of the graduation practice session we held yesterday (Friday).

Yuuji Takenoya doing his duty refilling the giant gym space heaters.

Kanae and Makie conversing with English teacher, Mr. Fukushima.

Sugita, Maho, Kanami, Chitose and Miyahara.

Shiori, Sena (English speech contest participant), Nanami and Marina.

Mio (who took me under her wing last winter during a VERY long break at a festival in her neighborhood and invited me back to her house to hang out with her family while we waited for the festival to resume!) and Michiru.

3rd grade boys...described at this evening's post-graduation party by more than one teacher as "mountain monkeys." :-D

3rd grade girls.

2nd grade boys.

2nd grade girls, Arisa (who is literally my neighbor), Narumi and Chinami. I've gone skiing with Narumi and Chinami on the town ski trip 2 years running now (I'm sure, much to their dismay...;-) ).

1st grade boys.

I love this photo simply for the ghost uniform in the middle. ;-)

3rd graders Masaki (in the back on the left), Araki, Yoshimitsu (my adopted little brother ;-) ), and I do believe that would be Youhei again on the right (without a face).

3rd grade girls Yuki, Natsuko and Manayu. Manayu is the town JHS sports stud. She's gone to the All-Japan track tournament 2-years in a row (as a 100-meter and 200-meter sprinter), and made it onto the prefectural relay team this year. She's also come in top 5 the past two years in the prefectural Ski Tournament in the Alpine race. Her father was my ski instructor during the town ski trip this year!

Horse-play. Takao, Kazuki, Shogo and Tokimitsu.

Masaki #2, Kazunobu (a.k.a. Mr. Star Wars) and Yuma.

These poor boys, Negishi and Chiba, have never lived down my labelling of them 2 years ago as the most adorable in their class. When they were 1st graders, they were 2 of the 3 smallest boys in their class, and in the beginning, for the life of me, I could not remember which was which. Of course they look nothing alike to me now (although you can't tell from this picture...).

This group of 3rd graders were stand-out from year 1 as very positively energetic in and out of class, and thank goodness for that! Love 'em all for helping me quickly feel welcome in Tokigawa. Junpei, Hiroki, Yuuhei, Masaya, Akitaka, Takuya and Kenta.

The silent yet engaging group. Asari, Yuudai, Shouhei (one of the special needs students) and Okano (the 3rd of the 'most adorable' boys I couldn't tell apart my first year and a half).

Sayaka (whose family runs one of the Buddhist temples in town), Mio and Miyako.

Takahito, another of the special needs graduates (he has Down's Syndrome). Totally adorable! He did his lion impression for me for this photo.

1st grade students, Ayaka, Reika and Yuki.