A special class “Let’s experience traditional plays in Japan’s New Year Holidays” was held by the Tuesday class members as the year-end combined cession. The class was opened by an explanatory speech by Ms. Y. Watanabe, saying “We celebrate Oshogatsu, New Year, in January in Japan. Today we wish you would enjoy kids’ plays in the Oshogatsu season.” The program proceeded as follows:
Date/time: Tuesday, December 6, 2016 10:00a.m. to 11:00a.m.
Venue: Mini-Hall, Abista
Participants: 46 in total/22 students, 21 volunteer teachers, 3 child-care volunteers
1. Singing of songs in the New Year Holidays
First all participants sang together a season’s song to the piano of Ms. Masuda. Then Ms. Watanabe explained the lyrics of the song. Listening to the nostalgic song “How many nights count till Oshogatsu is coming?”, the writer imagined those children rejoicing New Year’s specialties such as Otoshidama or money gift, kite flying, top-spinning, ball bouncing, hanetsuki or battledore and shuttlecock play, etc.
2. Learning Japanese by Iroha-Karuta Card Game
All students sprit in six groups with 3 to 4 persons each. Ms. Kubota explained how to play the game that, “Right after proverbs are read loud you start to pick up relative cards where same words of proverb are written.” And the game started.
Explanation on the each proverb was announced as the game went on.
“Uma no mimi ni nenbutsu”, which literally means that a priest is giving sermon to a horse in vain, embodying that even a good advice is meaningless to a man who wouldn’t listen to other’s opinion or advice.
“Kawaii ko niwa tabi wo saseyou”, literally means that let your beloved son challenge for a rough and severe travel. “Spare the rod, and spoil the child.”
“Saru mo ki kara ochiru”, literally means that even an ape slips down from a tree, meaning that even a well-trained person could make a mistake. “Even Homer sometimes nods.”
“Chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru”, literally means that gathered tiny dusts form a heap, meaning that piles of steady efforts are even small things should never be neglected. “Many drops make a flood.”
At the first round, the most numbers of cards taken were around 4 to 6 among the whole groups out of 10 cards read out, but at the second round, around 5 to 11 cards out of 15cards read out were taken. At the third round, the whole subgroups were put together to 3 groups with the highest result of 8 to 11 cards picked up.
Finally an explanation was made to those picture cards left untaken and mistakenly picked up, and thus the severe battle was over in the storm of laughter.
3. Playing of top-spinning and hanetsuki hitting
The whole members were split into two groups; the boys’ play “top-spinning group” was assigned by Ms. Yuasa and Ms. Watanabe, while girls’ play “hanetsuki group” was taken care by Ms. Kubota and Ms. Isogai.
Top-spinning requires fairy hard techniques in every movement such as winding a string around the top, holding the top when drive it, the timing to throw lightly the top forward and pulling firmly toward you. Of all, as the driving the top seemed the hardest for students, many of them threw the top down on the ground. But, gradually they got used to do it and looked pleased when their tops spun nicely. Such sensation of successful spinning could be felt only by those who actually tried it.
The rule of hanetsuki is much easier, namely, two persons hit the shuttlecock alternately and when one person missed hitting back, a black mark is painted on her face as a penalty. This time a black seal was stapled instead of black paint. Loud hitting sounds were heard as students enjoyed hitting quickly moving to the right and left as the shuttlecock dashed.
Nowadays it is rare to see kids who play with those kids plays outdoors as they prefer playing indoors with game devices instead.
The writer nostalgically regrets about such children’s song is going farther away as “Hitome, futame, miyakashi, yomego, etc.”. (No. 16-24 Translated by T. Sugano)
