Liven up with sports day trivia quizzes! Fun facts you’ll be glad to know

herring

The song 'Soran Bushi' was originally sung during herring fishing work. It’s a lively, spirited song that was mainly performed in Hokkaido. Scooping herrings up into the boat was extremely strenuous labor, so the song was sung with the chant 'Soran, soran' to add force and help the workers coordinate their efforts. Singing also served to boost the workers’ morale.

The Genji and the Heike

Depending on the region, school sports festivals in Japan are often divided into red and white teams, aren’t they? It’s said that this tradition was inspired by the Genji and Heike clans being distinguished by red and white. In battles, large numbers of soldiers would get mixed together, making it hard to tell who was friend or foe. To allow instant identification, they used red and white flags. By the way, red was the Heike and white was the Genji.

torch

In the ancient Greek relay race known as the Lampadedromia—the precursor to modern relays—runners carried lit torches instead of batons and passed the torch to the next runner. This also held religious significance, symbolizing the continuous carrying of a sacred fire without letting it go out.

pig

Known as “pig chasing,” it was enjoyed at festivals in Europe and America. It is said to have been a competition where oil or other slippery substances were applied to a pig, and participants would chase it. Records suggest that Japan also had an event called “pig-chasing race” during the Meiji era.

spring

Autumn is often called the season for sports, and many schools hold their sports festivals in the fall. However, in recent years it has also become common to hold them in spring. One reason is that some regions still experience intense lingering heat in autumn. There have even been cases of students being taken to the hospital for heatstroke during sports festivals held in September or October. Another reason is that it’s also the peak typhoon season, so the weather tends to deteriorate. In addition, a new school term is a time to meet new classmates. Holding a sports festival in spring can also help build a stronger sense of unity within the class.

America

Relay races using batons are said to have originated in the United States in the early 1900s. Before that, relays involved simply touching with the hand, but the introduction of batons at sporting events led to a form closer to what we have today. By using batons, the success or failure of the exchange became clear, enabling fairer competition management.

Strength Performance Show

The athletic meet held at Sapporo Agricultural College, famous for Dr. Clark, was called the Strength and Skill Meet. The event said to be Japan’s first athletic meet was the Competitive Games held at the Naval Academy in Tsukiji, Tokyo. Compared with the Competitive Games, the Strength and Skill Meet incorporated events more similar to today’s school sports days, such as stilt races, frog-jump races, and obstacle races. Because it placed strong emphasis on exercise as part of education, some say that the first true athletic meet in Japan was actually the Strength and Skill Meet.