Starting last Monday, the students began practicing for their graduation ceremony. Practice ran from 8:30am-12:30pm Monday through Wednesday. According to the teachers, this was to make sure that everything was perfect. I can't imagine how many things could possibly need to be addressed. The kids walk-in, sit down, stand up, walk to the stage, get a piece of paper and sit down. Apparently it's a lot more complicated than that.
It seems the students need to learn the exact timing of walking in, standing in front of their seats, bowing together for exactly the same duration and the same angle. They then walk to the stage and stand exactly the same distance apart. Stand at the exact same spot on stage, bow at the exact right moment, fold their diplomas exactly the same, walk off exactly the same...I think you get the drift.
Wednesday and Friday the rest of the students also practiced how to sit in the audience and watch. Seriously, they went through the entire ceremony. Practicing over and over, "Stand!" "Not fast enough. SIT!" "Again, STAND!" "SIT!" "STAND!" "BOW! 1-2-3. SIT!" Oh my gosh it was like watching military drills. A kid didn't stand and his homeroom teacher grabbed him by the neck and shoved him out the back doors. Well, first, he shoved his face into the back doors, then opened them and shoved him outside. For the next twenty minutes he yelled at the kid.
Left: Students practicing standing and bowing.
Right: 3rd year student having his uniform straightened out.
Thursday, the underclassmen did a 3 hour presentation (seriously 3 hours) for the 3rd year students. Clubs presented dances and skits and then short speeches about their club sempai. Then the 2nd year students presented and then finally the first year students. I got much of it on video, and once I edit it and upload it, I'll try to post some of the more interesting parts. At the end, the 3rd year students sang a few songs and then spoke to their underclassmen. 
The third year student who I caught singing show tunes. Great voice.
Afterward, the 2nd year students decorated the gym. I offered to help...gosh, big mistake. They literally broke out the ruler to make sure the carpet was straight. The principal was sitting in all the 3rd year chairs and VIP chairs (about 50 invited teachers and school board members from around Saitama...though no teacher actually knew who any of them were). And on top of it, we had to hang curtains around the entire gym...in order and neatly tacked down. It took us 3 tries. At one point I actually found myself arguing with a student that the order didn't matter since every curtain was the EXACT SAME! Finally I won but only because it turned out that curtain number 1 was DIRTY! Still, it was a small but hard earned victory :) Because of all the arguing and going back and forth between teachers to decide if we can IN FACT go out of order, 40 minutes later the first curtain was hung. Yeah, nooo joke. Fortunately another teacher came in and just busted it out and within 20 minutes the rest of the curtains were hung. 2 hours later the students left...for another 30 minutes the teachers went back and "fixed" the student's work. Gah! All I heard was kampeki (perfect). I was starting to wonder what a "perfect" graduation ceremony looked like.
After all the prep work, I headed back to the teacher's room. On my way back, two teachers stopped me to ask me what American graduation is like. All I kept hearing was, "I hear it's free and relaxed. I hear they have a dance party." Haha! WHAT!? They honestly thought kids just did whatever and then partied after. When I told them that practice was about an hour long the day before, they about died. "But doesn't it have to be perfect?!How to you know what you're supposed to do?" What I'm supposed to do? I'm supposed to walk to the front, take a diploma and sit down. What's there to know? 
It seems there's more to it than I had previously thought. Saturday was graduation and it would have been really nice to know that graduation in Japan is like attending a formal wedding in America. I mean people were decked out in their "Sunday" best...though that phrase has absolutely know relevance in Japan. At least I thought to wear a nice jacket over my t-shirt.
Finding a seat with the other teachers, I watched as all the kids were checked and straightened by their homeroom teacher. Then the ceremony began and the students walked the red carpet, the entire time the audience clapped. As the students filed into their rows, the clapping grew louder until the students bowed and the next group walked in. As each group filed into their row the clapping grew louder....seriously? Is this what they were practicing for 3 days? It really amazes me the kinds of details the Japanese consider when planning. I want to try and appreciate the effect it had and the feeling behind it, but couldn't help be kind of annoyed. After this they sang...I'm guessing the National Anthem and the school song. From that point I kind of dazed off. I finally started drawing another teacher's kimono in an attempt not to fall asleep. During the ceremony the students would stand and bow at the start of every speaker (there were 7) and then bow twice on stage and once when bowing before their teachers.
I admit I was somewhat scared when I heard the principal start to read the entire contents of the diploma thinking, "DEAR GOD! please don't tell me he's going to read every kid's diploma. We'll be here all day!" While I'd never have that thought in America, I'd never put that one past the anal Japanese. But thankfully, even they aren't the cruel! The rest of the ceremony was a series of intricate commands. There were many times when the students would stand and bow, sit and then immediately stand and bow again...gosh. At the end, the 3rd year students turned and sang to the underclassmen. I didn't catch the song, but it was actually quite moving scene. This ceremony displayed everything that outsiders tend to dislike about Japan. Students were forced to spend long, seemingly needless, hours preparing. Everyone was focused on perfection, though perfection of a ceremony seems indescribable. Students were yelled at throughout the entire thing to do everything with military precision. There was no creativity, every action had been preformed for decades. After watching the practice, one would have thought that they managed to beat all emotion and joy out of it. And while I don't really agree with the methods, and despite my annoyance at being there on a Saturday to watch this spectacle, I was quite impressed. The whole thing was moving. And for a moment, I thought, wow, we really miss out on this in America. The strong feelings that every action was performed with, whether forced are not, were still felt. The speakers all spoke with stiring passion, some even tears. The students bowing to their teachers and thanking them for what they'd done for them. Turning and singing an inspirational song to their underclassmen. Maybe another observer would have watched with disdain and think it was overly cheesy. But how can I sit and judge whether what they're feeling or not is real? At the very end, the head teacher called each class to dismiss them. Each classes "Gore" (commander) shouted the command, and all at once, as loudly as they could each class said, "Arigatou Gozaimasu." Thank you. The passion in their faces, the excitement to moving on, was contagious.
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