25th Birthday in Japan

First published: 23 June 2013

For my 25th birthday this year, I decided to have an intimate birthday celebration with my English club, only a few of my close friends and special people I'd met during my two years in Japan.

25th birthday celebrations!

My birthday luckily landed on a Friday this year (May 31st), we opted to have dinner at 'Sanuki Shoukudou', enjoying an all-you-can-eat feast of various dishes. The restaurant was staffed by many former students who had now graduated; a bit of a surreal experience as they all came over to say hello!

I was joined with my girlfriend Angie, and my good ALT friends Arran, Stephen, and Luke, as well as members of my English club and some teachers, students and their families from my various schools. It was a lovely way to spend an evening, and I was treated to a series of birthday gifts - including a home-baked cake by Hanyama-san!

Birthday bantz!

Making a birthday wish.

The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly when the restaurant staff dimmed the lights and read out a speech my English club had prepared for me... in Japanese! Luckily, there was an English translation provided and was handed to me for me to understand. A lovely gesture. Arran also kept the evening entertainments alive by challenging various competitors to arm wrestles... which he consistently won! 

Major kudos to Stephen Branston (from this video), who cycled all the way from Ayagawa-cho to Kozai over the course of the evening, arriving mid-meal to join the festivities. He had been held up leaving work, and it took him well over an hour to get to us. I really appreciated the effort he made, and he even arrived bearing gifts. What a guy. As a Canadian, I reckon there be something in that maple syrup!

A slice of birthday cake all for me.

After the meal finished, we all stood outside for about an other hour of conversation. For Hiroko and Luke, the next day would be the Shimokasai Junior High School sports day, meaning an early rise despite the copious amount of alcohol. Luckily for me, the next day was a lie-in. Despite intending to get up early (and possibly make it along to the sports day!), I didn't wake until around noon. There was just a bit too much alcohol in my system for that! I also felt fairly sorry for Stephen, who would have another long cycle back home...

A very big thank-you to everyone who came along and gave me such a wonderful birthday evening this year!

Katsuga Junior High Sports Day

School Sports Days in Japan are a very different beast to those we would recognize in the UK. In Japan, the undokai (literally "athletic meeting") is a huge and important event within the school calendar that takes weeks of preparation before the actual event.

Last year, I missed Katsuga Junior High's Sports Day due to a scheduling conflict, but this year I was set to go and very much looking forward to the experience. Attending the event on a Saturday meant that we would have an extra day off of work on Monday, too, as it counted as a work day: a win-win all around!

The events themselves include the usual array of track-and-field sprinting races and relays, etc. However, there were also dances, tugs of war, skipping ropes, and strange races where the students had to carry objects on a wide board without dropping them.

There are also opening and closing ceremonies complete with recitals of the Japanese national anthem (with the Japanese flag being raised and lowered), as well as several marches with flags (which all appear a bit militaristic, truth be told). Speeches from the school principal and the head of the PTA were also held.

One particular highlight was the "novelty" race, where all of the students wore the uniform of their various school clubs. Other events involved racing each other while doing things such as kicking a football and jumping in a sack. It was mind-boggling, but very entertaining.

The entire school participates in the events throughout the day, unlike my own school experiences at high school (where only the athletic kids did the events and the rest of us sat around and enjoyed picnics and ice cream).

One of the most impressive displays are the ones where the students clamber on top of one another to make various shapes and forms; it's something I can't even dream of teenagers back home being able to do.

There was also an obligatory PTA sporting event (I swear, those guys get about everywhere; what the heck are PTA members doing taking part in a sports day?!). Additionally, the third year girls all did a particularly impressive Okinawan dance inspired by their recent field trip to Okinawa. Definitely a highlight.

The turnout of parents was quite unbelievable. Unlike my school experience, where sports day was usually only attended by parents at elementary school, here almost every student had someone from their family there to watch the day-long spectacle. I honestly wouldn't have believed it without seeing it for myself.

I was also lucky enough to witness a small afternoon sports day at Tsuru-Uchi elementary school. The school had unfortunately been subject to an afternoon of rain when they'd attempted to do their sports day on the previous weekend, and as such their afternoon events had been cancelled. Luckily, they were rescheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday 22nd May, so I was able to enjoy watching the final events of their sports day during my weekly visit. I even wore my best Scotland football gear for the occasion.

Another type of activity was held at Tsuru-Uchi was held, where two students in opposing teams sat on their teammates shoulders and attempted to steal the hats off of their competitors. Supposedly these are based on battles in Japanese history, but rather than being a bloodthirsty spectacle of violence, they were probably the highlight of the day for the kids. I was also treated to their own dance routines.

It must be said that the timing of these sports days are very peculiar. The heat is incredibly intense, as we begin moving into the very hot summer months (especially in Kagawa prefecture). The sun was incredibly intense throughout, and despite wearing plenty of sun-screen I still felt absolutely cooked by the end of the day. It was so bad, in fact, that at Angie's school some of the students ended up fainting during a few of the races and had to be carried off of the field via stretcher. Personally, I don't know why this event is scheduled at this time: it would make far more sense to do it earlier in spring or in autumn to avoid this heat fatigue.

Regardless, it made for some very interesting viewing. I took along my Canon 60D on the day, and managed to capture some fantastic shots (although I did get told off on one occasion for apparently getting in the way). It must be said that the kids certainly seemed to enjoy themselves! It's a marked difference from my own sports days back in Kirkcaldy, where we basically used the day as an opportunity to have a massive skive.

Eiji Yoshikawa's 'Rumble in the Jungle' Movie Screening

Eiji Yoshikawa.

Eiji Yoshikawa is a fascinating man. A trained boxer who lives in Kagawa, Eiji has travelled the world on what he calls his quest to "fight for peace". He has lectured internationally and runs a fascinating blog on his website where he shares his views, which I highly recommend. I've been lucky enough to have met Eiji a handful of times, and he really is a lovely guy with a lot to say about modern Japan, international relations and global humanitarian concerns. He also runs an English school in the Ayagawa area.

I recently attended a film screening hosted by Eiji in the Ayagawa area, where I watched a cut of his film "Rumble in the Jungle". You can watch the trailer below.

The film is the story of a boxer Eiji met from the Philippines, named Cirilo Espino. Eiji trained with Cirilo in the Phillipines, and filmed time together over a series of events covered throughout the documentary. The documentary touches upon the poor quality of life for many in the Phillipines, and their struggle to try and improve their quality of life against their adversity.

I can't say too much more for fear of giving away the full story, but it's quite an emotional journey with a few shocking moments where tragic living conditions are spotlighted. It's an inspiring film.

I was thrilled to attend the screening, as an enthusiast of independent film-making myself. I popped along with Stephen Branston and Angela Fukutome, who also gave our feedback following the film. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, and quite a moving and revealing one.

You can find out more about Eiji on his website, here.