Season of Sakura and Farewells
I said I wanted to write meaningful posts, but other than posting translations lately, I haven't really gotten to doing it. (It doesn't help that I can't post my photo from Instagram here without reuploading because I can't grab the direct link anymore, so I can't post a photo with a blurb.)
Today though (and last week for a bit), I've been discussing this with my colleagues, so I figured I'd make a post about it. This is the right season for it too, so before it's too late.
The topic was graduation.
In my whole life, I have experienced four graduation ceremonies (I only remember three though) of my own, and have attended two more that are not of my own (or maybe three, I can't quite remember). The four graduation ceremonies I experienced were my kindergarten one (the one I don't remember), my elementary one, my high school one, and my university one. I attended a high school ceremony for my senpai because I was part of the choir that was performing, and then last year, I attended my sister's elementary school one.
As background information, where I lived, the majority of the school system is separated into elementary school of 8 years and high school of 4 years. There are very little junior high schools, though they did exist. There were definitely not as many as other cities in the country. I'm not sure if it was a city or province thing though. I attended school in HK too, but having only experienced kindergarten graduation, I obviously don't remember anything about it.
I'm sure, depending on the country, graduation ceremonies are handled very differently. It may also depend on various factors like the size of the school, what the school view as important, and such. Therefore what I write in this post (comparisons and such) are solely based on my own experiences and by no means a general view of things.
I'm sure people who read my journal because of similar interests would already know about how graduation ceremonies are like in Japan. Whether it's through anime or dramas or movies, you see a lot of graduation scenes in them, but they don't cover everything, so I'll try to be as precise as possible.
Let's start off with the preparation.
When I was in school, I don't ever remember doing anything for the ceremonies of my senapi other than when I was in choir and obviously had to rehearse our songs. Both my elementary school (refer to as ES in the rest of the post) and high school (refer to as HS) ceremonies were held outside of the school at an event hall or at a hotel, so obviously the set up of the chairs and decorations of the place were all done by the staff there. The teachers might have overseen things and decided on how some of the decorations should look, but that's about it. As the ceremonies were held outside of the school (and in the evening), we all got to dress up. Guys in suits, girls in party dresses. Only for HS we had graduation gowns to wear over and hats.
At my sister's graduation, a Powerpoint presentation was shown with photos of all graduating students throughout the year. I'm not sure if a teacher made all of that or students helped, but I remember mine was shown separate from the ceremony, and possibly a few graduating students were involved in creating it, but none of the kouhai.
None of the remaining students attended the ceremony unless their siblings were the ones graduating. They were not involved in the ceremony either unless they were in the choir like me for HS.
On the other hand, in Japan, students remaining in the school are heavily involved in the ceremony, both in preparation and the actual ceremony.
For ES and junior high school (JHS), all students are involved in decorating the school. Every single bulletin board in the hallways would be decorated and usually with the words 'Congratulations on graduating' in Japanese. Tissue paper flowers, cut-outs of sakura, other type of flowers, whatever they decide on as a class with the teacher. For JHS, the students are also involved in decorating the classes of the third years as well. In both cases, things are all made beforehand, but none of them are put up until the day before the ceremony.
The set up of the gym, where the ceremony will take place, are also all done by the students. Some teachers help too of course, but mostly things are done by students, following instructions from the teachers. They will first spread mats all over the gym, tape them down, and then set up all the chairs and tables. The reason for the mats is because everyone have indoor shoes they have to wear within the school, and different shoes for the gym (mainly JHS, not so much ES), so the mats are to allow people to walk into the gym with their shoes which have been outside. They also cover the windows/walls of the gym with red and white curtains as red and white are colours of celebration. In the case of ES, teachers are more responsible for this, but students put them up at JHS.
I don't know about other people, but none of my kouhai decorated the school to celebration my and my classmates' graduation. I'm kind of jealous actually. It's always nice to see so much has been done for you, no?
For ES, before the graduation ceremony, on a different day, everyone in the school actually gathers and perform something for the Gr.6s to send them off because not all the students are allowed to participate in the ceremony despite how it's held at school and in the morning of a weekday. They might even play a game as a whole school. (I mean, have you ever played a game with over 500 people!?) I never got anything like that as a graduating student, though it might have to deal with just how many things Japanese students do in mixed age groups within the school (cleaning, playing, picnics, etc). At my school, we had at most reading buddies, sports teams, choir, and a social justice awareness group. For sports teams and social justice, only Gr.7s and 8s were allowed to participate, so it's not as mixed really.
In relation to preparation, the amount of time in Japan they spend on rehearsing is also quite amazing. I remember practicing lining up maybe two or three times at most just so we know the order, but that's about it. There was nothing like dress rehearsals, and I don't ever remember if we practiced how to get our certificates. On the other hand, ES, starting at the beginning of March (or perhaps earlier, it depends on the school), Gr.6s would spend at least one period almost every day rehearsing various parts of the ceremony. One day, they may practice how to process into the gym. One day, they may practice when to stand up, walk up onto the stage and how to get their certificate. During some rehearsals, the Gr.5s would join them so they all know the flow of the ceremony.
Most of the rehearsals are done separately for JHS. Third years do their own, while first and second years rehearse themselves. Both ES and JHS though have a dress rehearsal for the ceremony. For ES, they don't have uniforms, so for the dress rehearsal, they have to wear exactly what they plan to wear on the actual day so teachers can check that they won't be wearing anything inappropriate. They skip the speeches, but they really do go through everything else and time the parts too, so they can make sure the ceremony doesn't drag on for too long.
Like I said, I don't ever remember rehearsing at all, let alone that much, for my graduation ceremonies.
Now for the actual ceremony.
Back home, ES and HS probably went like this. Procession of the graduates → singing of the anthem → introduction of the MCs (who are graduates) → distribution of certificates (HS included honour roll and subject awards here to save time) → awards (subject and community awards for ES, community awards for HS) → word from the principal (and/or teacher representative) → valedictorian speech (not necessarily student with the best marks though. HS was one chosen by graduates) → performances (if any; choir and a graduating student singing solo for HS, my sister's ES one had the Powerpoint) → ending remarks → (throwing of hats for HS) → procession out → (graduation dinner for ES)
This is only from my vague memories, but it should be something like that. Students are lined up in alphabetical order, all classes mixed. When you get your certificate, you shake hands with the principal and the teacher who is handing out the certificates. Two to three teachers were responsible for aloud the graduates' names, depending on the numbers. I don't remember about guests' speeches...(proves how memorable they were?)
In Japan. Procession of the graduates → opening remarks (just one sentence declaring the start of the ceremony) → singing of the anthem → singing of the city's song → distribution of the certificates → principal's speech → guests' speeches (mayor - read by a representative and chairman of the PTA) → (JHS - presenting an item for the school to keep as a memento) → address of farewell (remaining students) → reply to the address of farewell (graduating students) → singing of the school's song → ending remarks (again, just one sentence) → speech of thanks from a representative of the parents/guardians → procession out
Of course, instead of shaking hands with the principal when you get your certificate, you bow at the same time as the principal. When your name is called, you answer with a loud 'Hai!' Students are grouped by their classes, and in Japanese alphabetical order. Names are called out by each class' teacher. For ES, depending on the school, you may have to say what your dream is once you're up on stage.
There are moments the students are expected to stand up and bow, such as to greet the principal, the guests before their speeches, so this is also where rehearsals would come in, so they can all stand, bow, and sit at the same time.
The main role of the remaining students is of course, the address of farewell. For ES, they break up the speech so many students speak a small part before singing a song, but for JHS, they have a representative (the new student council president is usually the case) say the speech on the stage. Depending on the school, one or two songs may be performed, and students are responsible for the accompaniment and conducting as well. They'd rehearse under the music teacher's guidance of course, but for the actual performance, it's all about the students.
The reply to the address is done the same way, except for graduating students. Therefore, the representative for the speech in JHS would be the ex-president of the student council.
For procession out, for ES, the Gr.5s played the music while for JHS, the orchestra club would play the music. The song is that classic graduation song that I never remember the name of. (Ah, Google says Pomp and Circumstance Marches)
Back home, this is pretty much where things end. People would hang around and talk before it's time for the dinner for ES and for HS, people got refreshments. You talk to the people you want to talk to, say goodbye, and then leave.
It is not the end in Japan.
Once all the graduates, guests, parents, and guardians clear out of the gym, the remaining students immediately get to working, clearing and cleaning up the gym because it will be used by club activities late afternoon or by other students the following day. Stack up and put away the chairs, move away the tables and instruments, clear the stage, peel off the tape, roll up the mats, take off the curtains... This all gets done in 30 minutes or so. While cleaning up is happening, the graduates gather in their own classroom and have a final homeroom session. The parents/guardians are invited to watch over that.
Then, the end is finally approaching.
It's another procession, but this time, a more casual one, and one where remaining students and teachers literally see the graduates and their parents/guardians off and out of the school. A song is played for ES from the broadcast room, but JHS, it's the orchestra responsible for the music again. This time, appropriate J-pop songs are usually the choice. JHS students don't have time to make more things, but ES, Gr.5s may be responsible for making arches of tissue paper flowers (or similar) for the graduates to pass through! Again, it depends on the school. Either way, after a whole 90-120 minutes of seriousness in the ceremony, this ending procession is definitely the most relaxing part!
Remaining students then also have their own homeroom session before going home. All students take part in the ceremony for JHS, but since only Gr.5s participate in ES, Gr.1s to 4s basically get a day off. (In some schools, Gr.4s would take part in the ceremony as well, but it mainly depends on how many chairs they can fit in the gym.)
Decorations left in the hallways/classrooms are cleaned up and thrown away the next school day.
If I wasn't so lazy, I'd make a chart to make everything easier to read, but...I'm not sure that would help make my long paragraphs any easier to read. Anyhow, that's what I know about graduation. I would think that a graduation ceremony for HS in Japan wouldn't be too much of a difference. Again though, I only know what I know, so anything I'm not certain about, I might be wrong.
How are graduation ceremonies like in other countries? Anything you do that is drastically different? Share your experiences! I promise I will try to reply to the comments!
Also, if you read every thing I wrote in this long post, I thank you. I'm sorry it's so long-winded!
(How's that for a meaningful post? Hah.)
Today though (and last week for a bit), I've been discussing this with my colleagues, so I figured I'd make a post about it. This is the right season for it too, so before it's too late.
The topic was graduation.
In my whole life, I have experienced four graduation ceremonies (I only remember three though) of my own, and have attended two more that are not of my own (or maybe three, I can't quite remember). The four graduation ceremonies I experienced were my kindergarten one (the one I don't remember), my elementary one, my high school one, and my university one. I attended a high school ceremony for my senpai because I was part of the choir that was performing, and then last year, I attended my sister's elementary school one.
As background information, where I lived, the majority of the school system is separated into elementary school of 8 years and high school of 4 years. There are very little junior high schools, though they did exist. There were definitely not as many as other cities in the country. I'm not sure if it was a city or province thing though. I attended school in HK too, but having only experienced kindergarten graduation, I obviously don't remember anything about it.
I'm sure, depending on the country, graduation ceremonies are handled very differently. It may also depend on various factors like the size of the school, what the school view as important, and such. Therefore what I write in this post (comparisons and such) are solely based on my own experiences and by no means a general view of things.
I'm sure people who read my journal because of similar interests would already know about how graduation ceremonies are like in Japan. Whether it's through anime or dramas or movies, you see a lot of graduation scenes in them, but they don't cover everything, so I'll try to be as precise as possible.
Let's start off with the preparation.
When I was in school, I don't ever remember doing anything for the ceremonies of my senapi other than when I was in choir and obviously had to rehearse our songs. Both my elementary school (refer to as ES in the rest of the post) and high school (refer to as HS) ceremonies were held outside of the school at an event hall or at a hotel, so obviously the set up of the chairs and decorations of the place were all done by the staff there. The teachers might have overseen things and decided on how some of the decorations should look, but that's about it. As the ceremonies were held outside of the school (and in the evening), we all got to dress up. Guys in suits, girls in party dresses. Only for HS we had graduation gowns to wear over and hats.
At my sister's graduation, a Powerpoint presentation was shown with photos of all graduating students throughout the year. I'm not sure if a teacher made all of that or students helped, but I remember mine was shown separate from the ceremony, and possibly a few graduating students were involved in creating it, but none of the kouhai.
None of the remaining students attended the ceremony unless their siblings were the ones graduating. They were not involved in the ceremony either unless they were in the choir like me for HS.
On the other hand, in Japan, students remaining in the school are heavily involved in the ceremony, both in preparation and the actual ceremony.
For ES and junior high school (JHS), all students are involved in decorating the school. Every single bulletin board in the hallways would be decorated and usually with the words 'Congratulations on graduating' in Japanese. Tissue paper flowers, cut-outs of sakura, other type of flowers, whatever they decide on as a class with the teacher. For JHS, the students are also involved in decorating the classes of the third years as well. In both cases, things are all made beforehand, but none of them are put up until the day before the ceremony.
The set up of the gym, where the ceremony will take place, are also all done by the students. Some teachers help too of course, but mostly things are done by students, following instructions from the teachers. They will first spread mats all over the gym, tape them down, and then set up all the chairs and tables. The reason for the mats is because everyone have indoor shoes they have to wear within the school, and different shoes for the gym (mainly JHS, not so much ES), so the mats are to allow people to walk into the gym with their shoes which have been outside. They also cover the windows/walls of the gym with red and white curtains as red and white are colours of celebration. In the case of ES, teachers are more responsible for this, but students put them up at JHS.
I don't know about other people, but none of my kouhai decorated the school to celebration my and my classmates' graduation. I'm kind of jealous actually. It's always nice to see so much has been done for you, no?
For ES, before the graduation ceremony, on a different day, everyone in the school actually gathers and perform something for the Gr.6s to send them off because not all the students are allowed to participate in the ceremony despite how it's held at school and in the morning of a weekday. They might even play a game as a whole school. (I mean, have you ever played a game with over 500 people!?) I never got anything like that as a graduating student, though it might have to deal with just how many things Japanese students do in mixed age groups within the school (cleaning, playing, picnics, etc). At my school, we had at most reading buddies, sports teams, choir, and a social justice awareness group. For sports teams and social justice, only Gr.7s and 8s were allowed to participate, so it's not as mixed really.
In relation to preparation, the amount of time in Japan they spend on rehearsing is also quite amazing. I remember practicing lining up maybe two or three times at most just so we know the order, but that's about it. There was nothing like dress rehearsals, and I don't ever remember if we practiced how to get our certificates. On the other hand, ES, starting at the beginning of March (or perhaps earlier, it depends on the school), Gr.6s would spend at least one period almost every day rehearsing various parts of the ceremony. One day, they may practice how to process into the gym. One day, they may practice when to stand up, walk up onto the stage and how to get their certificate. During some rehearsals, the Gr.5s would join them so they all know the flow of the ceremony.
Most of the rehearsals are done separately for JHS. Third years do their own, while first and second years rehearse themselves. Both ES and JHS though have a dress rehearsal for the ceremony. For ES, they don't have uniforms, so for the dress rehearsal, they have to wear exactly what they plan to wear on the actual day so teachers can check that they won't be wearing anything inappropriate. They skip the speeches, but they really do go through everything else and time the parts too, so they can make sure the ceremony doesn't drag on for too long.
Like I said, I don't ever remember rehearsing at all, let alone that much, for my graduation ceremonies.
Now for the actual ceremony.
Back home, ES and HS probably went like this. Procession of the graduates → singing of the anthem → introduction of the MCs (who are graduates) → distribution of certificates (HS included honour roll and subject awards here to save time) → awards (subject and community awards for ES, community awards for HS) → word from the principal (and/or teacher representative) → valedictorian speech (not necessarily student with the best marks though. HS was one chosen by graduates) → performances (if any; choir and a graduating student singing solo for HS, my sister's ES one had the Powerpoint) → ending remarks → (throwing of hats for HS) → procession out → (graduation dinner for ES)
This is only from my vague memories, but it should be something like that. Students are lined up in alphabetical order, all classes mixed. When you get your certificate, you shake hands with the principal and the teacher who is handing out the certificates. Two to three teachers were responsible for aloud the graduates' names, depending on the numbers. I don't remember about guests' speeches...(proves how memorable they were?)
In Japan. Procession of the graduates → opening remarks (just one sentence declaring the start of the ceremony) → singing of the anthem → singing of the city's song → distribution of the certificates → principal's speech → guests' speeches (mayor - read by a representative and chairman of the PTA) → (JHS - presenting an item for the school to keep as a memento) → address of farewell (remaining students) → reply to the address of farewell (graduating students) → singing of the school's song → ending remarks (again, just one sentence) → speech of thanks from a representative of the parents/guardians → procession out
Of course, instead of shaking hands with the principal when you get your certificate, you bow at the same time as the principal. When your name is called, you answer with a loud 'Hai!' Students are grouped by their classes, and in Japanese alphabetical order. Names are called out by each class' teacher. For ES, depending on the school, you may have to say what your dream is once you're up on stage.
There are moments the students are expected to stand up and bow, such as to greet the principal, the guests before their speeches, so this is also where rehearsals would come in, so they can all stand, bow, and sit at the same time.
The main role of the remaining students is of course, the address of farewell. For ES, they break up the speech so many students speak a small part before singing a song, but for JHS, they have a representative (the new student council president is usually the case) say the speech on the stage. Depending on the school, one or two songs may be performed, and students are responsible for the accompaniment and conducting as well. They'd rehearse under the music teacher's guidance of course, but for the actual performance, it's all about the students.
The reply to the address is done the same way, except for graduating students. Therefore, the representative for the speech in JHS would be the ex-president of the student council.
For procession out, for ES, the Gr.5s played the music while for JHS, the orchestra club would play the music. The song is that classic graduation song that I never remember the name of. (Ah, Google says Pomp and Circumstance Marches)
Back home, this is pretty much where things end. People would hang around and talk before it's time for the dinner for ES and for HS, people got refreshments. You talk to the people you want to talk to, say goodbye, and then leave.
It is not the end in Japan.
Once all the graduates, guests, parents, and guardians clear out of the gym, the remaining students immediately get to working, clearing and cleaning up the gym because it will be used by club activities late afternoon or by other students the following day. Stack up and put away the chairs, move away the tables and instruments, clear the stage, peel off the tape, roll up the mats, take off the curtains... This all gets done in 30 minutes or so. While cleaning up is happening, the graduates gather in their own classroom and have a final homeroom session. The parents/guardians are invited to watch over that.
Then, the end is finally approaching.
It's another procession, but this time, a more casual one, and one where remaining students and teachers literally see the graduates and their parents/guardians off and out of the school. A song is played for ES from the broadcast room, but JHS, it's the orchestra responsible for the music again. This time, appropriate J-pop songs are usually the choice. JHS students don't have time to make more things, but ES, Gr.5s may be responsible for making arches of tissue paper flowers (or similar) for the graduates to pass through! Again, it depends on the school. Either way, after a whole 90-120 minutes of seriousness in the ceremony, this ending procession is definitely the most relaxing part!
Remaining students then also have their own homeroom session before going home. All students take part in the ceremony for JHS, but since only Gr.5s participate in ES, Gr.1s to 4s basically get a day off. (In some schools, Gr.4s would take part in the ceremony as well, but it mainly depends on how many chairs they can fit in the gym.)
Decorations left in the hallways/classrooms are cleaned up and thrown away the next school day.
If I wasn't so lazy, I'd make a chart to make everything easier to read, but...I'm not sure that would help make my long paragraphs any easier to read. Anyhow, that's what I know about graduation. I would think that a graduation ceremony for HS in Japan wouldn't be too much of a difference. Again though, I only know what I know, so anything I'm not certain about, I might be wrong.
How are graduation ceremonies like in other countries? Anything you do that is drastically different? Share your experiences! I promise I will try to reply to the comments!
Also, if you read every thing I wrote in this long post, I thank you. I'm sorry it's so long-winded!
(How's that for a meaningful post? Hah.)