One of the busiest times of the year is during the early spring months. In March, the end-of-year ceremonies occur, followed by a short spring vacation for students. Then, in April, the beginning-of-year ceremonies take place (I actually touched on some of this in my very first blog post a year ago). All levels of schools have similar ceremonies, but for simplicity sake I'm going to focus on those at the junior high school level.
The main ceremonies (in order of occurrence) are included in the following list. The ceremonies in bold (end-of-year ceremonies) are the ones I'll be covering in this post, but I'll be sure to come back to the others in my next entry.
- Sotsugyōshiki (卒業式), Graduation Ceremony
- Shūryoshiki (修了式), Closing Ceremony
- Rininshiki (離任式), Farewell Ceremony
- Shinninshiki (新人式), Welcome Ceremony
- Shigyōshiki (始業式), Opening Ceremony
- Nyūgakushiki (入学式), Entrance Ceremony
Sotsugyōshiki (卒業式), Graduation Ceremony
The first ceremony in March and the first on my list is the Graduation Ceremony, Sotsugyōshiki. This is for students in their third year of junior high school who are graduating and moving on to high school (in most cases). It's a major accomplishment for the young teenagers because of the significant effort they must make to get accepted into their high school of choice.
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| Students bow before and after receiving their diploma |
Unlike the U.S. (from my experience) where we basically entered public high school based on proximity to home, Japanese students have to pass difficult entrance exams to do so. And contrary to general perceptions in the U.S., the high school you go to Japan is much more likely to have a lasting influence on your career. Students who don't pass exams cannot enter public high schools, so often must resort to expensive but (ironically) less-prestigious private schools. Another option for students is to enter a more career-specific school (like trade schools). If none of these options work out, then their life as students will essentially come to a close; Japanese public schools don't allow students to repeat grades.
Preparation for the big day is extensive and the amount of practice still surprises me; when I was a student in their shoes many years ago, we only had one practice. Maybe it's warranted though, as Japanese students have quite a lot of responsibilities in the ceremonies. All students have to memorize and sing several chorus songs; they must know the general timing and parts of the ceremony, and must be able to present themselves properly. Select students also must memorize their own speeches. Teachers even make students practice swiftly standing and sitting in unison. I don't know if all schools are this strict, but I believe the substantial amount of practice is common.
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| All students in the school sing several songs in the ceremony |
Graduation day finally arrives in early March. It begins with a short speech and then goes straight into the diploma conferment ceremony in which students are summoned to the stage and are handed their diploma. This is very similar to the way this is done in other countries; the notable exception being that students bow instead of shaking hands with the principal upon receiving their diploma. Once all students have their diplomas, the graduation ceremony continues with speeches, chorus singing, and the presentation of messages from students. The speeches are pretty standard and consist of the types of language like "you've worked hard", and "good luck". The chorus singing is impressive though; the entire student body must participate actually puts in a great deal of effort. I never listen to this kind of music in my free time, but I love hearing it during these ceremonies and events. I'll admit, the boys' singing can be a little rough on the ears at times but the girls' have always amazed me with their voices. Lastly, groups of students from both the graduations classes and younger grades read aloud "messages" for each other, which can consist of memories, sport club accomplishments, etc. At the end of the ceremony, the graduates walk out of the gymnasium while everyone gives them applause.
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| Japanese JHS Diploma |
Once the ceremony has finished, all students, parents, and teachers gather outside for a final send-off. As students say their goodbyes and depart the school, everyone claps and cheers them on again. Many also take photos with their friends and teachers. In my case, parents call me over so they can take pictures with their children. I'm obviously happy to do this, but it prevents me from getting any pictures with my own camera. So this year I made sure to at least grab a few before they went outside.
Publicly posting photos of students is generally prohibited and some people can be really strict about it. Thankfully I have permission to post this one below and I'm glad to finally put some real faces to the stories I write about (if you've read my blog for awhile, you see I avoid directly or clearly showing any students' individual faces in photos).
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| Posted with permission; picture of me with graduating students, 2014 |
Shūryoshiki (修了式), Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony takes place about two weeks after the graduation. Since the third year students already graduated, only the first- and second-year students are in attendance, along with teachers. It's also shorter and more straightforward than the graduation ceremony. The principal or vice principal gives a quick speech, the students sing the school anthem as well as the Japanese national anthem. At the end of the ceremony, the student affairs chief (教務主任) and/or the student guidance chief (生徒指導主任) come on stage to warn students to behave themselves during the spring vacation. At my schools this often includes yelling to get their point across to the handful of knuckleheads in each class.
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| Students sing the school anthem during the closing ceremony |
Rininshiki (離任式), Farewell Ceremony
The farewell ceremony is specifically for all teachers and staff who are leaving once the current school year has finished. School transfers are the most common reason for this, but occasionally other reasons may exist such as retirement or moving far away. There's a few interesting things I've learned about this.
Work transfers seem to be a pretty dominant characteristic of Japanese work life just as ceremonies are. I'm referring to work transfers in the sense of moving to a new location. From my experience, these seem to be common in many full-time jobs regardless of whether it's a company, public school system, or other working context. Around this time of the year, a number of teachers leave when they are transferred to new schools in the area, who are then replaced by transfers from other schools. How transfers are determined is not an exact formula and there are various reasons why they may occur. Nonetheless, they do not signify anything bad.
Teachers cannot request to be transferred on their own. For example, if a teacher wishes to move to another part of the country, he or she cannot transfer to the public school system in that region. According to my teachers, this still isn't allowed even for the purposes of marriage, taking care of elderly parents, etc. So unfortunately the only option would be to quit, and hope to get hired elsewhere (not an easy task in Japan).
At any rate, the farewell ceremony is for any teachers and staff who are being transferred. The entire school, including the recent graduates, attend this ceremony. The school members are honored by entering the gymnasium to applause, and then they proceed to seats set up on stage. After an opening speech, a student (or several students) approach the group of seated teachers and staff and present memorized messages to each person, thanking them for a job well done and good luck in their future. A bit later, each teacher then individually gives a speech to the whole school, reminiscing on their days at the school and the fond memories they have gained.
Again, students sing several songs. For the leaving teachers, it's the last chance for them to sing the school anthem and the last ceremony in general at that particular school. After another speech, the teachers walk out of the gym to another round of applause. One the ceremony is over, students at my school (divided into three large groups based on grade) meet one more time with the leaving teachers from their respective grades for a less formal, final goodbye.
End of the School Year
After the last ceremony, the school year is officially over and students excitedly run out of the school to freedom (although some have to stay for scheduled club activities). For the teachers, we have a special lunch together. And a few days prior we will have had a big work party (宴会, enkai) to celebrate as well.
The spring vacation gives the students a nice little break, but unfortunately for teachers, we still have to work! Anyway, that's all about the end-of-year ceremonies. In my next post I'll follow up with the beginning-of-year stuff.
