Junior High--Club activities

After the cleaning, students had club activities. Some of the activities offered at this school are softball, baseball, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, gymnastics, debate, swimming, band, art, computers, chorus, kendo, naginata and track and field.

The first activity that I saw was naginata. I had no idea what this was, but found out that it is a martial art which uses a long bamboo pole. We watched the students for a while and then they invited us to join in. They taught us a few moves and it was fun!

Next, we went to the gym to watch kendo, the art of Samurai swordmanship. It was a very warm day (none of the schools were air-conditioned), but these young men were dressed in their outfits (uniforms? costumes?). They gave us some information and a demonstration. It was very impressive! Volleyball and table tennis were taking place in the same gym.