Junior High School entrance ceremony

This April I attended my third ever Junior High School entrance ceremony (as a parent) as my third eldest child entered Junior High School. My oldest had entered during the pandemic and my second oldest while Japan was still being cautious about Covid. This was the first one with things back to 'normal'. Although, sempai parents did mention that its still not quite the same as before the pandemic.

Because my eldest was also entering Senior High School on the same day, I had attended the entrance ceremony for that in the morning. Thankfully the Junior High School Entrance ceremony was in the afternoon. But I did still miss some of it. Not a lot by the sounds of it. 

In our town the children go without the parents for 1 pm. They can cycle or walk to school. The vast majority cycle. She told me when she arrived they gathered in the porch and a teacher came along with the lists for each class and pinned them on the wall. They all excitedly searched for their names on the list. They then went to the relevant classroom and had a brief induction.

Parents were asked to arrive by 1.35 pm and go directly to the school hall and sit in the parent's section. The students entered the hall at 1.35 pm in pairs and walked to the front of the hall. The vice principal officially opened the ceremony with a declaration. The national anthem and school song were sung. After which every single students name was called out. They answered 'hai' (yes) to their name, stood up and then sat back down again.

I was present at this stage, but I honestly don't remember much else, except the students had to stand up bow and sit down again a lot! I also remember that the student body president spoke as did the parent teacher association head. When it was all finished they filed out by class, in the same pairs that they walked in and went to their classrooms. 

At this point most of the parents went home temporarily, as we all live near the school. Most came back, myself included, 50 minutes later when we knew our kids would be finished with their induction in the classrooms and taking photos with the class in the yard. Once the class photos were finished the students got on their bikes and went home and the parents got in their cars (bikes / feet) and went home. 

We hovered with friends for about 30 minutes taking various commemoration photos. Surprisingly there was only about 20 people in total doing that. Overall it was efficient and not too boring. Although, the fact I don't remember most of the ceremony doesn't say much for it! I didn't fall asleep, but several parents did! Apparently, its quite common at a Junior High School entrance ceremonies.