18 November 2012 Undoukai
About six weeks ago Genbo had his undoukai, which corresponds to field day in the US but is a much bigger deal. The entire school divides up into three teams, with each class belonging to a team and wearing the team’s colors. Points are awarded for everything, and at the end the team with the most points wins.
Here is Genbo’s team, the Yellows, engaged in their cheer, a several-minute long song/chant in which they assert their inherent superiority over the Blues and the Reds. It’s all very militaristic for a country that considers itself as peace-loving as Japan. Genbo is the one right in front of his teacher, the man in the yellow shirt.
During lunch (the entire
ordealevent takes about six hours), the field is free, so Zoe went running around pretending that she was part of it.
