Undōkai

Every autumn, schools in Japan hold a  school-wide sports day, in which students participate in races and  games.  Our OCG version is a bit smaller, and held in early October, but  still gives our students a sense of what an undōkai is like.

For the undōkai, we divide our  students into four teams, each of which includes younger and older  students.  It is great to see the students cheering each other on, and  in the process developing a team spirit and camaraderie.

Each year we start with tama-ire, in  which students try to throw bean bags into a bucket that is tied to the  top of a tall pole.  We then have some relay races, which in the past  have included a three-legged race, races involving carrying eggs or  balloons, a donut-eating relay race, and others.  We then have a  tug-of-war, and end up with a final relay race in…