Sports Day Commemorates the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

Sports day both commemorates the Japanese coming out Olympics of 1964 and is a day to celebrate physical and mental health often with Sports Festivals going on at local elementary and junior high schools.

A Sports Day to Remember

When people think of the Summer Olympics, the month of October never comes up because it isn’t in summer. But, because of the rainy and typhoony Japanese summers, October was chosen as the best time to have their Summer Olympics in 1964. There were a lot of calculations for the best day with clear skies according to records and it was found that October 10th year after year just had great weather for open air events. Since the Olympic’s Opening Ceremony would be held in an unroofed stadium and plans had to be solidified a year or two in advance, they chose this day and held their breaths that everything would turn out alright. And it did. The weather in Tokyo was fine and the ceremony was a triumphant celebration of the athletes and a resurgent and more global Japan.

Sports Day Today

Today Sports Day is held on the second Monday and October and only sometimes incidently falls on October 10th. Though most adults do not go out to enjoy physical exercise on this day, across Japan elementry and junior high school children have their ‘Sports Festivals’. A Sports Festival is a tradition in Japan going back to Meiji times (1860 – 1900) when boys were sized up for physical fitness for military service. Today the martial apect of Sports Festivals has almost gone away, but parents coming to see their child perform against their peers in a series of sports like games and events is widely popular and is community event. Since the inclusion of girls in elementary schools since the 1920s young women also take part.

How to Enjoy Sports Day

Sports Day is a time to go outdoors and get some physical exercise. If you teach at an elemenary of juinior high school you might be welcomed or requested to join in at your school’s sports festival. Most schools are open, but going to a Sports Festival as a tourist thing would not be welcomed by the locals and parents of the children involved. Instead, if you are traveling in Japan, many municipal sports facilites such as stadiums, Sports Centers (often with pools), gymnasiums, tennis courts and athletic fields will be open free of charge. Though it is not momiji season just yet, the skies are usually clear and the weather very nice on this day so just enjoying the parks or going for a hike in the countryside are great ways to get some exercise, explore, and enjoy your time in Japan.

References

In English

Sports Day @ Wikipedia

In Japanese

Sports Day Free Things in Bunkyo City Tokyo

Image thanks to Unknown (Asahi Shinbun) – Wikimedia

About the Author

Pjechorin

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I have lived and worked with my family in Japan since 2005. For many years I have been interested in the very practical and creative side of Japanese culture. In my free time I travel around, enjoy hiking in the countryside and cities, and just generally seeing and doing new things. This blog is primarily a way for me to focus my energies and record and teach others about what I have learned by experience constructively. I am interested in urban development, and sustainable micro-economics, especially home-economics, and practical things everyday families can do to survive and thrive through these changing times.

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