Cultural festivals and sports festivals are two popular annual events held by most middle schools and high schools in Japan. They are open to the public and allow students to showcase their creativity, skills, leadership, and teamwork. Cultural festivals typically take place in September and involve each class preparing a booth, performance, or activity. Sports festivals resemble a combination of field day games and track meets, held in October, where students compete in athletic and recreational events both individually and in groups. However, the traditional group gymnastics portion of sports festivals called kumi taisou has raised safety concerns due to injuries from large student pyramids.

1. Lesson 8
ぶんかさい と たいいくさい Cultural Festival and
Sports Festival
Cultural festivals and sports festivals are two of the most
popular events that are held annually by most middle
schools and high schools in Japan. They are open to the
general public and provide opportunities for students to
demonstrate their creativity, achievement, leadership, and
team spirit. Both types of events are held on the
weekend; cultural festivals often take place in September
when the weather is optimal and sports festivals are
typically held in October to coincide with 体育の日 No Hi).
In the United States, with school starting at the end of
August, we would not have enough time to prepare for
something like this by September, but since Japanese
school starts in April, they are able to spend several

2. For cultural festivals, each homeroom class
prepares a booth, a demonstration, or an
activity. Some examples are: food vendors,
skits, haunted houses, crafts, and many
more. Students spend months deciding
what to do and then working on the
preparations, practicing, and decorating their
classrooms.

3. Sports festivals include athletic competitions and recreational
events. If comparing this to American school activities,
imagine a blend of school-wide Field Day activities with a
track meet. The sports festivals may last all day, so often
times the students and families will take a lunch break by
sitting on tarps on the school grounds and have an obento for
lunch. Students work together with teachers in order to plan
and carry out the events that day. Individual and group scores
may be tallied in order to award prizes to the top homeroom
classes.
After an increasing number of accidents being reported in the
past several years, kumi taisou （くみたいそう）has raised
concerns regarding student safety. Kumi taisou, or group
gymnastics, can be presented in a multitude of ways
depending on the number of students being grouped together.
The activity raising the most concerns is a multi-layered
pyramid of students. For example, some schools are forming
pyramids of 137 students, stacked 10 students high, typically
resulting in several injuries each year.