Graduation Day
Saturday was graduation day for all the third year students at Gifu Kita high school. As far as graduations go, many things were the same here as in the U.S. However, many things were also different.
First of all, graduation here is a whole school affair. All students of Gifu Kita attend (first, second and third year students). All teachers attend. And parents are there too. The whole gym (freezing cold and unheated) is filled with people that are there to support the new graduates.
Second, there is no special attire. Graduating students wear the same school uniform that they wear every other day.
Third, graduation in Japan is a very serious affair. There was little room for celebration and excitement. Everyone wore black, almost all black. The principal had on a suit with tails and white gloves. It was quite apparent, with the mood, that despite having made it through the very serious work of high school successfully, these students still have a heavy weight on their shoulders. Most of them, in fact, do not yet know which university they will be attending in another month. Some of them still have substantial entrance exams to pass. The burden hasn’t yet been lifted, and it was obvious.
Finally, as many graduations go, this one was boring. Although, unlike most graduations that I’ve been too, in Japan they are not nearly as reserved about their sleeping. Parents, teachers and students didn’t do much to hide the fact that they were taking a little snooze. Some of the graduates even took a little nap. It wasn’t terribly obvious with the graduates, who tended to do a better job of being discreet, until they were supposed to do a nice, low bow. Then, in the sea of heads you could see a handful of students that didn’t bow. It wasn’t that they were being impolite intentionally, it was just that they were asleep and didn’t hear the command.
I leave you with one of the two photos I took at graduation. The first photo was a decoy shot, I took a picture of the principal giving his speech. Then, once the camera was turned on and ready, I turned it a little to get a good shot of what I really wanted to capture.
This s a group of second year students. As I said, they were not nearly as discreet about their sleeping.