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8-18
Media,
by 8-18
Media
Young
people keep ancient tradition aloft
Reflections on Japan
Young
people keep ancient tradition aloft
As a gust of wind blows across the dry rock floor of the riverbed,
a drum beats, signaling the time is right. Cheers go up as more than
100 people charge ahead, pulling the rough rope taut. The tempo of
the drums increases as the masses fight to get the behemoth under
control.
No, it’s not Godzilla harassing the citizens of Japan; it’s
the flight of a gigantic kite, or Oodako, as it’s called in Japanese.
Oodako kite flying is one of many facets of Japanese culture that
Marquette delegates experienced when we visited Japan in May as part
of the Marquette-Higashiomi Sister City exchange program. It was an
important event for the delegation to witness because it is a symbol
of the sister city’s rich heritage.
Oodako kite flying has been practiced in the city for more than 300
years. Each year on the fourth Sunday in May, the city hosts the Higashiomi
Oodako Kite Festival. It takes place outside the city in a dry riverbed,
selected for its flat ground and near perfect flying conditions created
by strong winds blowing across nearby Lake Biwa and the low-lying
Koto plains.
It takes a lot of planning to get something as large as an Oodako
off the ground. Months before the festival, organizers choose a theme
that reflects an important aspect of the era. The theme is illustrated
on the front of the kite. This year’s theme was the merger of
the city of Yokaichi and surrounding towns to form Higashiomi.
On average, 250 people work six hours a day for thirty days to build
the kite. Last year’s kite required a huge amount of materials,
including fifty bamboo poles, 360 sheets of paper (thirty-five by
twenty-five inches), about four gallons of glue and large amounts
of thick rope. At the end of production, the kite weighed 1,500 pounds
and took more than 130 people to pull.
A finished kite measures between forty-two by thirty-nine feet to
eighty-four by sixty-eight feet. This year’s kite was the size
of 100 tatami mats, a common unit of Japanese measurement. A tatami,
or reed floor mat, is about three by six feet. A 100-tatami-mat kite
is about forty-two by thirty-nine feet. Though this year’s kite
was large, it would be dwarfed by the kite flown in 1882, a 240-tatami-mat
giant, the largest Oodako ever flew.
Although it takes more than a month to build a kite, the festival
lasts only a few hours. All ages are represented, from chattering
elementary and junior high school students to senior citizens quietly
enjoying the festivities.
Tents are set up to offer refuge from the scorching sun. Inside are
different groups, each with a colorful medium-sized kite to fly. In
the shade of one of the tents was a group of young kite flyers from
three local junior high schools. A boy named Takatsugu Ganse and a
girl named Suzuka Okabe were among the group.
Ganse and Okabe have been coming to this event for longer than they
can remember, but this year was the first time they had come with
their school. In previous years, they came mostly with friends.
“I hold and release the kite,” said Okabe when asked about
her role in the event. Through an interpreter, she explained that
in previous years she held the kite while the runners held the rope.
Then she released it when enough wind blew to lift the kite.
This year, her job, along with Ganse and the others, was to run and
pull the kite. She and Ganse enjoyed the experience. They feel strongly
about continuing the tradition.
“We will take over traditional things and tell our child or grandchild
to take over,” Ganse said.
The Marquette delegates got to run with a twenty tatami kite. It turns
out that it isn’t as simple as it sounds. Flying a giant kite
is an incredible experience, especially when you consider that holding
the rope too long can mean getting lifted off the ground.
Pulling the kite, working together with so many people, and finally
seeing the kite lift into the sky makes it all worth it—a reward
beyond words. To play even the smallest part in something this amazing
is an experience delegates will remember for a lifetime.
—8-18 Media
Editor’s note: Pryce Hadley, fifteen, wrote this story. Gerald
Peterson, seventeen, contributed. Northern Michigan University student
Hiromi Nakamura translated.
Reflections on Japan
Japanese schools embody respect, responsibility
At the door of your school or workplace, do you exchange your tennis
shoes for slippers? Do you bow to your teacher or boss before the start
of class or work? In Japan, it’s considered the norm.
At the private Shiga Gakuen High School in Higashiomi, we noticed many
differences from Upper Peninsula high schools. Unlike most U.P. schools,
many public and private Japanese schools have strict dress codes that
include winter and summer uniforms. Perhaps the most well- known uniform
is the sailor-type outfits featured in popular Japanese cartoons such
as Sailor Moon.
At Shiga Gakuen, students stay in one class all day and instead of students
switching classrooms like they do in the U.S., teachers switch rooms
to accommodate the students.
At Shiga Gakuen, students choose from three high school “paths,”
or study courses. There is a path with an academic curriculum of math,
science, social studies and language classes ,as are common in the United
States. Another path is a sports course with less emphasis on academic
studies, so the students can devote more time to training. Finally,
there is a welfare course in which students learn to take care of the
old and sick. They are taught essential nursing skills such as cleaning,
bathing patients and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Shiga Gakuen also offers a wide variety of sports, including soccer,
baseball, track and field, martial arts, American football and marksmanship.
No matter what path the students choose, they generally seem to like
staying active.
To help support the students’ active lifestyle, there is a food
program, which not only is important for their nutrition, but also teaches
responsibility. Although the staff prepares the food, the students are
responsible for everything else. Students go to a food station or cafeteria
and are served by a group of fellow students. Then they take their food
back to their classrooms to eat.
After their meals, the students completely clean up after themselves.
This carries over to other aspects of the school environment. The school
doesn’t employ janitors, so students are responsible for maintaining
a clean and functioning school environment. Although it may seem like
a burden, the students take pride in their school and their responsibilities—more
so than the average American student.
—8-18 Media
Editor’s note: Gerald Peterson, seventeen, and Pryce Hadley, fifteen,
wrote this story.
Citizens notice few differences with city merger
With this year’s Marquette Sister City delegation trip to Higashiomi,
Japan, some people might wonder, “What happened to that Yokaichi
city that the delegation used to go to? Did they pick out a new sister
city or something?”
The delegation did in fact visit the same location they’ve been
visiting every other year for the past twenty-five years. However, the
city has gotten much bigger and it has a new name.
In February, Yokaichi merged with the nearby towns of Aito, Eigenji,
Gokasho and Koto to form the city of Higashiomi. What used to be a city
of 45,000 became a city of almost 80,000.
The merger was implemented to help the financial situations of these
towns. In Japan, about seventy percent of a city’s revenue has
traditionally come from the national government, with the rest coming
from local sources.
However, in recent years, the Japanese economy has slowed and the government
hasn’t been able to provide as much financial assistance as it
once did. By merging, the communities cut costs by combining services.
Takashi Yamaguchi, the head of the Higashiomi planning department, said
that one of the few challenges citizens have faced since the merger
is the persistence of established rivalries between the communities
that merged. Most of this rivalry is due to competition between local
sports teams. He said it is something that all citizens of Higashiomi
have to work on to make their city even stronger and more unified.
Teenagers from Shiga Gakuen High School in Higashiomi weren’t concerned
about rivalries. They explained that the merger didn’t affect them
apart from a few subtle changes in addresses, and was therefore easily
accepted.
—8-18 Media
Editor’s note: Gerald Peterson, seventeen, wrote this story. Pryce
Hadley, fifteen, contributed.
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