Kids Web Japan

Members of the broadcasting club read the lunchtime notices.

There is a wide range of club activities at Tokamachi Elementary, and even outside class time the students can be seen going about their business. Let's take a look at the 13-member broadcasting club, for example. During the lunch break, the club's members are busy reading announcements over the school's public-address system.

At 12:30 today's announcers, Yuki Mizuochi and Tomohiro Izawa, enter the broadcasting room. First they explain today's lunch menu and give the weather forecast, and then they play some music. Next they read the story of "The Ugly Duckling."

"It's hard knowing how to read out the books. But I really like broadcasting," says fifth-grader Tomohiro. The club members seem to like listening to their own voices coming from the speakers around the school.

The Japanese drumming club at practice. They're training for the Snow Festival.

The school's music club performs at the weekly morning assembly.

Three times a week after classes have finished, the school's various clubs practice their activities until about 5:00 p.m. Today, the 17 members of the wadaiko (Japanese drumming) club are practicing in the gym. Even there, where there is no heating, the rhythm made by nine big drums lined up side-by-side as the kids beat them is enough to keep them warm.