Japanese Culture: Sports Day:
A sense of pride in one’s community resounds iannside us and there are numerous outlets to help this shine. Japan has one such day for this: Sports and Health Day. Originating to remember the 1964 Olympics in Japan*, the games taking place from October 10th-24th, 1964, the events now focus on, well, sports and health. It also acts as a memory for youth for it is celebrated in schools, elementary to high school, the purpose is to promote wellness, sportsmanship, teamwork, school spirit, national pride, patience, community, and of course, fun.
*Note: If you want a look at how Japan hosting the 1964 Olympics changed Tokyo’s outlook and economy by generations, I recommend the anime movie from the beloved Studio Ghibli: “From Up on Poppy Hill.”
So what happens during Sports Day? Classes in each grade compete against each other in an array of friendly physical activities. Each class will wear a different color hat, shirt, or headband (you see red versus white often in anime,) and usually their school PE uniforms for the games. Some of the ones I have seen in videos, photos, animes, and mangas include:
- An array of relay races with varying distances, single or team,
- Baton pass race,
- Ball toss,
- Obstacle course,
- Cosplay race,
- Scavenger hunt,
- Tug-of-war,
- Bread eating contest (no hands can be used,)
- Cheering contest,
- Chalivery battle (three people act as a horse, holding one person up as they run around the field, trying to take headbands off the opponent riders’,)
- Big ball pass,
- Spoon in mouth race,
- Large rod run (team game.)
On the second Monday in October (to avoid hot weather and, the goal, typhoon season), Sports Day will commence. The morning consists of half of the events, where parents, guardians, and older siblings can also attend to cheer for their competitors. Then the students can eat with their friends and family, bentos and street food being popular to share together. Then the next half of the events occur. During all races and the such, there are teacher/student announcers (it seems most of them are in the student council or an AV club since yes, all students have to participate, but not every student has to be in every event) and scorekeepers. The class with the most points is the champion. I have seen too that the winning class will get a pole and a flag in their class color when they win an event.
At the end of the festivities, sometimes light puff fireworks are displayed or there is a bonfire with a dance and music (although in most medias, this tends to be an ending ceremony trend with the cultural festival schools have in November.)
Anime has some epically fantastic Sports Day episodes, but they are amped up in the craziness, drama, and flashiness, ha! Some of my favorites are:
- Cardcaptor Sakura (which also has a parents’ relay race. This one is cute,)
- School Rumble (three-parter. This one is chaos,)
- Wallflower (another insane one with an allure of anime logic!)
Sports Day will be this year on Monday, October 13th, 2025. How will you celebrate community, fitness, and sportsmanship? No matter how, GO TEAM GO!
If you want to prepare, you can stretch with the official practice exercises BELOW. They are daily radio exercises. ^_^ I adore this video and how no matter how old you are, you remember them:
Thank you Google and Google Images for the information and images for this post. All credit and appreciation go to their owners.
