Graduation

Program for the 46th Uchinada Chu Graduation
my favorite class of boys, 3-7, with me Inada sensei

a student and one of my english teachers, all the female 3rd grade teachers wore kimono





brass band club and conductor



these are the certificates the students got for graduating, they come rolled up the brown tube you'll see in other pictures

the ceremony itself took about 2 hours and was very formal, comeplete with lots, and lots, and lots, of standing, bowing, sitting down and then doing that all again in unison with over 1000 people. Literally about 25 or so times. yikes. we sang the school song, and heard a bunch of speeches from important people and they read off all the names of the 350 or so 3rd graders. Then we all went outside into the sun and took pictures and talked for a bit and students slowly left. This is a big day for these kids, much more so id say than Jr High grad is in the states. From this point on, all of these kids will go on to different specialty high schools both public and private and what school they go to is a huge determining factor in the rest of their lives. Many will go on to trade schools where they will learn a specific skill like plumbing woodworking, or mechanical skills. The high level students will go on to academic schools and continue with a general education and then compete to get into college.