Ohayo. Ohayo. New Jersey.

Well the elementary students were not ones to be stood up by the junior high school’s “bunkasai” and had one of their own.  I don’t go to the elementary school on a regular basis so I didn’t get to see the students prepare for this festival, but after seeing the final product I so wish I had.  The cuteness factor was through the roof.  There were skits, singing, and even orchestras made of little plastic pipe organs and recorders.  Of course all of these skits and songs are in Japanese, so much like watching Japanese shows and movies, I just make up my own plots.  When I walked in, I saw what looked like a choir of kids dressed as vegetables and fruits.  Then they moved into their skit.  The happy potatoes and onions were attacked by the evil tomato children.  Then the garlic warriors swooped in to save the day and rescue the imprisoned veggie children…or something like that.  Oh, there was also another skit, something about monkeys and crabs and persimmons…and there was a kid that played a pile of poo.  Absolutely charming.  My favorite skit was entitled “Super Monkey Goku!”  It was a reenactment of a Dragonball story line and the main characters kept rotating actors.  AND of course there were Totoro songs!  What festival would be complete without at least one reference to a Miyazaki film (one of the middle school choirs’ song of choice was from Spirited Away).  In addition to the Totoro glory, the brass band performed the same selections from Ponyo (the new Miyazaki movie) that I had played several weeks ago for a children’s concert with my orchestra.  This festival was the epitome of cute Japanese kiddies and the machinations of their little creative minds.

For the last month, I noticed that my junior high school classes were having impromptu choir rehearsals about twice a day.  I thought, “Wow.  They sure do spend a lot of time singing.”  Each class was singing the same song for a while there, then I began to notice different tunes as I strolled the halls.  Each class would practice the first song and then break out into their own specific song.  It was actually a pretty neat situation.  I’d peek into the classrooms and watch the kids singing while another student conducted.  Nothing warms this music major’s heart quite like that.  Then, a couple weeks ago, I noticed that the actual number of classes the students had during the day began to shrink (thanks to a schedule I get every week)…yet, they were still staying at the school just as long.  So I ventured out to see what exactly they were doing.  They were folding origami!  They were making hundreds of paper cranes and even had me fold a few.  I thought they were for a student that had been in a car accident the previous week, but noticed that they were also building giant peacocks, pteranadons, and a huge Godzilla.  Now, I know that cranes can be used to wish a sick person well, but giant Godzillas?  Then I noticed another classroom full of students fashioning ghost costumes and monsters out of construction paper and tape.  Now I know those aren’t “Get Well Soon” gifts.  So I asked what was going on and after hearing “bunkasai” dozens of times I looked it up and turns out they were preparing for their school cultural festival. 

There were three components to the festival: choral competition, skits, and crafts.  Aha!  So all that choral practice I had been hearing wasn’t just a sign of music appreciation.  Each class had a compulsory song and then one other song of their choice.  Each grade level also produced a skit.  From what I could gather with my limited language abilities, one was about a student leaving his friends to go to boarding school in England, another was about a ghost school, and yet another was a shadow play of an old folk tale.  All that origami was the third years’ craft exposition.  The second years made scale models of everything from motorcycles to a sultan’s palace.  And the first years made art out of recycled goods, including a huge mural made of milk cartons that had three different pictures depending on what angle you viewed it.  I was impressed, not just by the ingenuity, but also by the fact that the students were given time to work on all this during the school day and the teachers were all heavily involved as well.  What a community! 

Just before the actual weekend of the festival (yes it was held on a weekend after a full week of school…but they had the following two days off to relax), I learned the theme of the festival:  Circle of Sympathy.  Hmm.  Now, to me, the first impression of this theme came off as a bit AA support group-ish, but I didn’t really know how to explain that to the students.  That’s one thing about Japanese English…I find it incredibly difficult to reword and paraphrase.  Much of what they say does make sense in a backwards kind of way, but it just isn’t said/written in a way that sounds normal.  Ah well.  They were excited about the theme, and I looked at it like they all had each other to lean on for support…but not in the addiction intervention type of support.

So when it came time for the “bunkasai” the students were all rushing on last minute rehearsals of songs and skits and putting finishing touches on art projects.  The day of the festival started at the same time as any other day and all the students were there in their formal school uniforms, as opposed to their track suits.  They opened the day with a giant polka…yeah I thought that was a little strange too, but hey, they eat fermented beans here for breakfast so nothing shocks me.  They moved into the requisite speeches by the principal and student president and then transitioned to the class skits.  It was pretty cute.  I was quite impressed with some of the acting skills of the first year students.  In addition to the skits and crafts expo, they had a bazaar and lunch consisting of festival food including udon and okonomiyaki on a stick (!).  At the bazaar I bought a children’s comic book from a series about these different breads and how they prepare for the moment of being purchased and other comical happenings. They sure know how to capture a child’s fancy!  The brass band also performed and they dedicated a song, “The Best Friends’ March,” to me.  Aww!  The next day they finished the skits and had the choral competition.    Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the last day of the festival because of an all day rehearsal and concert I had.  I was bummed that I missed the choral competition, but I heard all about it.  Apparently, the class that had the music teacher as their coach won the competition…go figure.  I’m already looking forward to next year and hope I can participate to a greater extent rather than just observe.  First item on the agenda: selecting a theme that doesn’t sound the least bit like it’s interchangeable with a recovering addicts support group!