Japanese Kindergarten sports day.

This event was fairly funny (as they all are to someone whose sports days at primary school, never mind NURSERY, constitued a quick dash around the playground for an hour and a half max, involving a few bean bags balanced on heads and rubbery hoops being hurled around towards bored looking parents hovering around the tarmac,) but would have been even funnier had I not got up too late for my usual coffee breakfast.


However, Michiyo, my partner teacher, and I were ushered into a small marquee, which had undoubtedly passed it's finest years, and were given some iced oolong tea in little paper cups. This seemed to keep me awake for the stretch, so, every cloud...


Halfway through the sports events, this woman, who always seems to be EVERYWHERE in the kindergarten grounds at any given time, did that fussy, urgently feigned half-run that people have and sprayed the dusty playground with water from a hose. Why??? Actually, it was to stop the dust blowing into the picnicing parents eyes. Obviously, it dried a few minutes later and the aforementioned people were restored to full gritty-eyed conditions with every fresh sheet of wind. I was expecting the forecast typhoon to merrily open it's powers on the whole thing, but, typical to weather forecast-istry, it never actually arrived in Kokura.


Ah, well. It wasnt such a bad morning. I do have to wonder, though, would "YMCA", which they used during the military-like, but impressive formations have survived the red tape if the Japanese kindergarten teachers knew what the song celebrated? Watch the video, if you're intrigued.