Sunday, October 11, 2009

Happy Sports Day!

Tomorrow is Japan's National holiday Health and Sports Day. This day is was established in 1966 as a day to enjoy sports and cultivate a healthy mind and body (a big fat burner day!). Originally held on October 10th to commemorate the anniversary of the opening ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, in 2000 it was changed to the second Monday of October in accordance with the Happy Monday System (this system moved a number of national holidays to Monday to make a "long weekend").

School kids all over Japan take part in sports day. On this day, athletic meets are held to give kids a chance to test their skills and compete with each other in a variety of events in a "mini-Olympics". Businesses close. Our school tomorrow will be hosting its own sports day with lots of fun games and yummy food. I may have to take a peek at the schools near our house to see how they are celebrating sports day.

I am looking forward to our first "sports day" in Japan. Should be interesting!

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