Kobayashi Tenjin Undokai

September 14th was the date of the Kobayashi Tenjin Yochien. This was an afternoon of good hearted competition with really no winners or losers, just allot of great fun.

On the night before though was the mad mother's dash to get the best spots on the grade school grounds. They opened the gates at 4pm on Friday night. That's when Anna's friend, Honaka's mother made a dash to get ours and their mat down next to turn one on the race course for 3 an 4 year olds.

I should have gotten a clue that this was going to be video mayhem because of all the video camera adds on TV, the train and billboards everywhere. Everyone buys a new camera here in Japan just for this time of year.

The best spot to shoot was on the straightaway after turn two. There they had an area of about 7x7 feet to hold about 50 fathers with their new cameras. One guy even brought his ladder from home to get above the crowd in the back.

My little one being in the 1st year kindergarten group had a race where they ran across the ground to get hugs from the teachers. All extremely cute.

Then the fathers issued headbands to designate there child's class affiliation. I and Honaka's dad wore orange for the baby chick class. Then we were ushered out onto the grounds like a group of POW's waiting to see what the guards had planned for us next. All the kids were inside a tent where they chanted HIYOKO! HIYOKO! HIYOKO! (Baby Chicks! Baby Chicks! Baby Chicks!). Then a rope was placed in the middle of the two groups.

We were then told to run towards the rope and grab a piece and pull. There were fathers dropping everywhere. Complete chaos. I loved it. The Fearless Baby Chicks won their first "Side Pull Tug of War" but lost to the Kotori Class (Baby Birds) in the second round.

In the picture above you can also see the performance my daughter put on for her "Fish Dance". The music goes something like this "Fish, Fish, Fish, if you say fish then.... Penguin!" That is the literal English translation. Please don't ask me what the English means.

Finally at the end Anna and I were in the "Penguin Relay" where she rode on my feet while I walked to a flag and then back. The Fearless Baby Chicks came in second during a very tough competition. I think Anna and I really need to focus on our Penguin racing techniques for next year.