Hello again!

Today is the second Monday of October, this means it is time for another Japanese national holiday called Health and Sports Day (Taiiku no Hi – 体育の日). Many people take this day off to enjoy sports events and school usually have a sports day for their students.

This holiday started in 1966 to commemorate the opening of Tokyo Olympic Games of 10 October 1964. Each year the holiday was celebrated on the 10th of October but after the happy Monday system was applied in 2000, the holiday moved to the second Monday of each October. 

Many schools and businesses organise a field day on this day. Many games that are played during these events tend to replicate some games that are held during the Olympic Games. This includes games like 100m sprint, 4 by 100m relay, basketball, football, hockey etc. Many field days also include games like tug-of-war, obstacle course race, sack race and many more.

During sports day it is common for the students to be grouped into teams and compete with each other. The teams consist of kids of the same grade. Popular group sport events are gymnastics (Human pyramid), three-legged race and ball-toss.

 This day is a family day. Many families go to their children’s school to cheer the up during the events. Many families wake up early in the morning, eat breakfast and head out to go to school. It encourages the families to spend time outside with friend and family.

While we’re at it. Make sure to regularly do some exercises and spend some time outside to enjoy a healthy and long life!

Kim

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