School Sports Festivals!!

The video is a chant of "white" group. (silly video got rotated...)

Sports day festivals in Japanese are....serious. They happen once a year, and the students train for weeks in preparation. from 8am - 3pm they compete against one another in the smoldering heat. Some of the games are truly awesome.

Like good ole fashion tug of war...

Yes, that's right... 200 foot rope so that 100 kids can tug their hearts out. They spare no age...everyone participates, and the kindergarteners get stuck at the front.

A battle to the end...

One of the more entertaining games is translated as "Calvary Battle". Three students hoist a classmate on their shoulders, and play the american equivalent of "chicken". These 4-somes of students all meet in the middle of a battlefield, trying to knock the helms (or hats) of the hoisted opponents off their heads. Once a hat is removed, the opponent is out.

They conclude with a team battle. Each side having a king with a samarai helm on his head. Each team has 9 calvary (4-somes of students) whose primary goal is to strategize with one another to defeat the king of the opposing team. It was AWESOME...

It started. RED team was aggressive and charged white immediately...but ended up getting surrounded and 6 of their calvary eliminated (white still had all 9 calvary....). Obviously, white then CHARGED red completely outnumbering them. The 2 remaining red protecting the king occupied 2 white calvary (who were soon defeated) while the red King samurai stood his ground. Surrounded and maneuvering trying to fight all of the white calvary at the same, the red king managed to defeat EVERY white calvary except the king. The last 2 standing...the RED king and the WHITE king...The RED king won. The whole place went bonkers knowing that the red King alone defeated the entire WHITE team...a small bit of heroism, I must say...

(the soon defeated white king)

Surely a day of sporting celebration...