Recommended for junior high school sports days and athletic festivals! A collection of funny slogans

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Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
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I’ve been playing the Electone since I was six, mainly performing Disney music, anime songs, and music from dramas and films. I post performance videos on YouTube and social media, and I also give concerts. Building on my Electone experience, I took up synthesizer and piano during my student years and performed at school-sponsored events. As a writer, I’ve covered not only music-related topics but a wide range of genres, so I hope to draw on my experience to deliver articles that make readers think, “I want to try that!” or “I want to listen to that!”

At sports festivals, we put up slogans to boost everyone’s motivation to give it their all.

Straightforward slogans like “Let’s do our best” or “Let’s aim for victory” are great, of course—but if you’re making one, wouldn’t you like to stand out from other teams with a fun, catchy phrase?

In this article, we’ve gathered ideas for amusing slogans recommended for junior high school sports festivals.

We’ll introduce a variety of phrases, organized by genre, including playful twists on well-known commercial taglines and famous quotes from celebrities and anime characters.

Use these ideas as inspiration when creating your own slogan!

Celebrity jokes and famous phrases (1–10)

Shut up! The winner takes it all.

It’s a slogan that conveys a greedy attitude of trying to seize victory by any means necessary.

Since it’s a line from Gian, a character in the national anime Doraemon, you can feel his plainspoken, straightforward emotion.

The word “Shut up!” (urusee) is striking too, and in the context of a sports festival it feels powerful enough to snap you out of anxiety.

It expresses an obsession with winning while also conveying a strong will to rally and lead one’s teammates.

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If you give up, it’ll be too late to do anything about it.

Here’s a slogan that will make you chuckle yet somehow warm your heart: “If you give up, it’ll be all over but the shouting.” It’s a playful twist on the famous line from the basketball manga SLAM DUNK: “If you give up, the game ends right there.” It carries the nuance of encouraging you to stick with it to the end—or to enjoy it to the very last moment.

The phrase “ato no matsuri” (literally “a festival after it’s over,” meaning “too late”) is originally used differently, which adds to the humor.

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[Name] is insanely awesome!

In the 2018 World Cup, praise for Osako—who scored the brilliant go-ahead goal against Colombia—spread rapidly with the phrase “Osako is insane!” (Osako hanpa nai tte!).

Since then, similar phrases like “___ is insane!” have popped up everywhere, and it’s become a familiar expression.

Adapting that into a slogan like “Class ___ is insane!” could look really cool, too.

Short phrases pack more punch than long ones, and above all, they’re easier to say.

It would also look great as a matching T-shirt logo! Make sure to submit this phrase early so other classes don’t snag it first!

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Taki no namida pin ku

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It’s okay—Class XX is the strongest.

Believing firmly in the efforts we’ve built up so far leads to performing at our best and reaching our goals.

This slogan invites us to look back on our accumulated hard work and renew our resolve.

It’s inspired by a line from Satoru Gojo, a character in Jujutsu Kaisen, and the light, effortless delivery of the line conveys strong confidence.

Rather than representing an individual, if you insert a school or team name, it can also express the bonds within your group.

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When do we win? Right now!

This is a slogan inspired by the signature line of Osamu Hayashi, a teacher at TOSHIN High School who is also active as a TV personality: “When do you do it? Now!” Since the phrase even won the Buzzword of the Year Award, it’s widely known and easy to get across to others.

The words carry the nuance of seizing opportunities and giving your all to the present moment, making it perfect not only for studying but also in sports.

In clutch situations, it might be fun to amp things up by mimicking Hayashi’s distinctive hand gestures and facial expressions to highlight the line.

It’s a famed phrase whose light tone conveys a strong will.

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Power!

A signature phrase of Nakayama Kinnikun, a comedian proud of his robust muscles who also thrives in the bodybuilding world.

He thrusts his arms forward to show off his biceps and cheerfully shouts, “Power!” It may not seem like a phrase loaded with deep meaning, but precisely because it simply expresses energy, the message comes across directly.

Its simplicity conveys a straightforward feeling, giving a positive impression of charging through the moment with vigor.

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kappamaki

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I just normally like winning more than Van Gogh.

A slogan adapted from comedian Nagano’s signature bit with the line “I just plain like Lassen more than Van Gogh.” It’s a sentence that compares two things, like “I just plain like XX more than YY.” For a sports festival, it’s easy to understand if you put the word “victory” in the latter half and compare it to various things.

You can create a fun gap by comparing it to something you dislike, or compare victory to something everyone loves to show your obsession with winning.

It’s also recommended to echo the original bit by juxtaposing things from different categories—like Van Gogh and victory.

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