Just a few days ago, Rebecca and Anna had their sports festival, but tomorrow another big event would happen.
What's going on tomorrow guys?
Sports day
Sarah's squeezed in under there.
What about Big J?
I'm excited for it. Your guys' sports day, finally! Finally!
[Life in Japan Theme Song]
[Neighborhood sounds]
Morning sounds here are birds and train crossings and trains.
The neighborhood seems calm this morning, but soon our local school would erupt with cheers, music and festival,
for today is sports day!
Sarah and Joshua are gearing up for their first sports day at our new local elementary school.
We know a lot of what to expect, but there are still some surprises in store for today.
We’ve been gearing up for this day for a while, and now it’s go time.
Hi Debbie, it's overwhelming with kids over there already, so my kids are putting on their shoes to go over there right now.
Parents crowd in to find good spots as their students arrive, get organized by team and class, and then line up for the event to start.
This year the sports day has a new name that perfectly reflects a Japanese sports day: the olympics!
And no Olympics would be complete without the opening ceremony and warmups.
Then it’s time for the team cheers, as each team declares their intentions to win to the other team.
The school is divided into two teams, red and white,
and those teams are made up of an equal amount of students from 1st to 6th grade.
Sarah, Joshua and their cousin Izzy are all Red team, which makes things much easier for the parents.
Finally its time for the events to start. A race kicks things off and students cheer their teams on to victory.
Teachers lead their own classes, getting them ready for their events.
Some events are combined and others are only for particular classes.
And some events are just for fanfare.
Soon it was time for 1st graders to take the field for their first participation in the school’s olympics,
and cousin Izzy was excited and ready.
Her cheering section was complete with her parents and older cousins ready to capture the action.
Izzy did great in her first race,
and next up was Joshua with a familiar sport to those who know Japanese sports day activities.
The scores are counted, and the overall winner of the whole competition is awarded a point.
Points continue to be compiled throughout the olympics in order to determine the overall winner.
Becca and Anna followed the whole event, first from the field and then from the perch of our balcony overlooking the school.
The girls loved watching the special performances the classes had prepared,
and soon it was time for a special event that included the entire school.
Red won the first round, but there was still another round to go.
As the day progressed, the sky grew darker and darker, and soon it was time for Sarah’s class to race.
They took a warmup lap, and then Sarah was in the first group to race.
The start happened so fast, I missed it, but I didn’t miss the rest of the race!
Soon after, it was Joshua’s turn.
And then Izzy’s turn to dance.
Well I've come back home because Joshua and Sarah's parts are done,
Ruth is staying with the kids, but from here the girls have been watching.
That house is right in the way.
The house is right where you kind of wish it wasn't?
Um hum. I wish it was like over there.
Hey guess what Becca. Hmm?
There were kids from your school that came up to me
And they were like "Life in Japan! We watch Life in Japan!"
Wait, what kids?
From your school. Boys?
Yea, they were boys.
And they were like "We know Becca and Anna!"
For Becca and Anna's taikusai (sports festival) it was the hottest day of the year.
It was so hot!
But today has been much cooler
Just right.
And it's not called an undoukai (sports day), did you hear that?!
Yeah, it's called [the olympics]
The Olympics
We kept an eye on events from our perch, Becca and Anna cheering on team red.
Go! Go!
Red's winning, Red's winning, Red's winning!
Whoa, that red is fast! Whoa, they really got ahead.
Balcony view, very nice.
Soon, it was time for the announcement of the winner, and the results were surprising to say the least.
So what happened?! It's a tie.
It's a tie.
Now what? They both get 1st?
You guys tied one time too Yeah, we did.
But it's points. It's like a miracle. That was a miracle.
Like 300 and something something to 300 and something something.
For the first time in Life in Japan history, we were able to cover the olympics from the booth and the field both.
Afterwards we got the highly sought after interviews.
Joshua! Dude, you did awesome in your first sports day here at the new school, huh?
What was your favorite part?
The Tama. Like, the Tama thing where you like roll the ball.
And from 4th grade up you need to hold it.
Yes! That was awesome!
And you won both of them!
Yeah! You guys did really good.
You, when you were throwing the little balls up, your dance was so good.
And Aunt Debbie was like "My goodness! He doesn't fall! He holds it so well!"
I saw that too! You held it!
Yeah, look at that!
Did it make you hungry? Are you hungry?
Yep. Yeah?
I'm going to go to the market and buy everyone their own little ice cream.
Oh! Would that be a good treat?
Yeah
This is a good spot to hide in.
It's a good spot to hide for hide and seek at school?
Yea, you know why? Because if someone's coming this way,
You can make a lot of noise
And then you can just go on this side
Soon Sarah’s class was done cleaning up, and she was free to go back home with us.
You ready? Sarah chan!
Good job, Sarah!
Lots of kids said I was 1st!
I think you might have been.
You raced so good Sarah!
They didn't put you in order of winning?
No, it's in the course.
I don't think we'll ever find out. No you'll never find out.
Never! Ever!
We could—because you were taking a video...
We can't really tell on the video.
On the way home, we made plans for dinner.
Tonight we would celebrate another successful sports day in the books with family and friends.
Oh my!
Look at- whoa!
Sarah's already... she said "I'm hungry, dad!"
Next week on Life in Japan,
we begin filming our commercial for Paz Coffee Shop, but some of the shots turn out trickier than we first imagined.
Heh! The ultimate arm workout! Oh man!
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg as things ramp up for summer,
Ready for the rest of this? Ready.
Ben hasn't even broken a sweat yet, look at you! No, I'm sweating!
Look at you, you're a pro!
So subscribe to Life in Japan and don’t miss out!
This is so good. Yeah.
Girlfriend's going to eat it, save the day.