Japanese School Culture Festivals Foster Students' Creativity and Unity Through Fun

In Japanese schools, there is a school event called the "Culture Festival" where students host various events. In a Culture Festival, students work together across classes and grade levels, and through the experience of putting together the event, they learn how to connect with their peers and be good members of society, all while having fun.

By Preparing for the Festival, New Bonds are Formed

Preparing for the Culture Festival is not easy. In many schools, each class and club plans an exhibit or performance, and students work together to contribute ideas for what to present and how to decorate. Since students also decide their own roles, they need to collaborate with people they don’t normally interact with to work towards a common goal. It’s a chance to learn social skills, such as how to behave in relationships with the classmates they happen to be grouped with.

Each time they work together to solve a problem, students gain teamwork and communication skills and deepen their bonds.

For example, one student who was elected as event manager for their grade level learned the importance of comprehending the entire event, bringing together the people in charge of each class, and schedule management and supervision. They said, “I have a completely different outlook after experiencing being a manager. I learned the importance of making adjustments to the daily schedule.” Another student, a performance director, said, "At first, our team was disorganized and didn't know what to do, but when we started moving forward in the same direction, we gained energy and confidence.” When the event managers and performance directors realize the importance of being united, their motivation to work towards their goal improves dramatically.

At Tokyo Metropolitan Aoyama High School, in planning their theatrical performances, students are given the task of checking copyright records. If their decorations or displays contain copyrighted characters or other designs, they need to check with the copyright holders for licensing procedures and find out how the designs can and can’t be used. This gives the students an experience of what it’s like to be a working member of society. Of course they receive support from their teachers, too, but they must keep the law in mind while creating their production.

With Plenty of Variety, the Culture Festival is the Event of the School Year

One of the fun things about Culture Festivals is their variety. Many different spaces in the school are used during the festival. There are usually exhibits in decorated classrooms, large-scale performances in the gymnasium, and food stalls open for business, turning the whole school into an amusement park for the enjoyment of visitors. The exhibits are carefully designed to allow students to show off in various ways what they have learned in their club activities, such as artwork, science experiments and historical research.

The arts clubs in particular stand out for the level of perfection and originality of their works, which draw a lot of attention from visitors and can’t be found in any museum. Some exhibits are interactive, allowing visitors to take part in the fun. When necessary, students can explain their exhibits in a way that even adults will be impressed by.

A Concept Project Made by Each Class

While stage performances such as plays, dance, and live music are an important part of any Culture Festival, the concept projects planned by each class are the highlight. Each school has a theme, and classes are in competition with each other, so the level of enthusiasm is like nothing else.

At Tokyo Metropolitan Aoyama High School, each classroom becomes a small theater for a different play. Can you imagine 21 theaters in one building? There is not enough time to see everything, but the quality of each performance is extremely high, making this a festival that theatergoers will love. Each theater’s facade is also handmade by the students, with great attention to detail, electric lighting, and sometimes even moving parts. These professional-quality displays make every performance look exciting and make visitors eager for the start of the show. Even if you miss the performance, it is worthwhile just to see these elaborate facades. It’s a spectacle of amusement and entertainment.

Naturally, students choose what show to put on after carefully examining scripts. In addition to authentic costumes and makeup, they put a lot of effort into the props, direction, and acting, so that the audience is instantly drawn into the story and forgets the time and becomes immersed in the world. Audiences are moved by the students’ enthusiasm and energy, and in that moment, when the hard work and passion of the students is made clear, they feel a sense of unity that goes beyond the festival. The students experience a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that they cannot experience in regular classes, and they are sure to have a richer school life in the future because of it.

At Toyo High School, each class is free to do what they want with their classroom, and students use their creativity to decide on a theme and transform classrooms normally used for lessons into extraordinary spaces. One class set up an old-fashioned Western-style diner cafe. Naturally, drinks and snacks were served there. There was also a haunted house which drew a huge line of people. It was like an amusement park ride in the way it featured various tricks and gimmicks. Even though it was just their familiar classroom, it really gave people the feeling of being trapped and unable to escape. It contained lots of performance elements, with students playing various roles, making it a big hit.

A Lively Food Stall Area

Some Culture Festivals have a food stall area where students sell handmade food and drinks. The area is lined with shops selling a wide variety of things, such as yakisoba (fried noodles), popcorn, takoyaki (fried octopus dumplings), crepes, and cotton candy. This area is very lively. Students’ voices ring out as they invite people to come try their food, and delicious smells fill the air. The students operate real appliances so skillfully that it’s hard to believe they are not real shops. Like any marketplace, it is a place full of smiles.

The students are responsible for everything from planning the store to preparing the utensils, sourcing the ingredients, cooking the food, and serving customers. Here too, students who do not normally interact learn to work together and create new friendships.

This experience is also very meaningful as it also gives students the skills they need to enter society. Through running a business, they learn about each other’s personalities in ways that they can’t in regular classes, which gives them the opportunity to make new friendships. It is an important experience in learning a sense of responsibility and how to interact with others. Culture Festivals are for more than just the enjoyment of the visitors, and these experiences can also be said to be one of the best parts of the school festival.

Time to Unite! Culture Festivals Become Lifelong Memories

In a Culture Festival, each grade’s students play different roles. First year students often wait for instructions, while second year students are better at acting independently. By the third year, students are like adults, supporting those around them and bringing the whole group together. You can get a glimpse of how each grade progresses step by step in their growth.

A Culture Festival is not just a school event. It is an opportunity for students to experience a sense of accomplishment by achieving a goal through their own efforts, to learn the importance of working together with others, and to show their talent and individuality. By working with their peers and giving it their all to make the Culture Festival a success, each student can create precious school memories and gain maturity and confidence for their future.