Sports in Japan: Commitment, Love, and Sacrifice

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Sports in Japan can be compared to a relationship. It requires commitment, love, and sacrifice. That is the biggest difference between playing sports in Japan, and playing sports in my country (Canada).

I played volleyball in Canada at Acton High School for 8 years from elementary school to high school and I was nowhere near prepared for what I experienced when I played with a girls volleyball team at Kashiba High School in Nara, Japan. The biggest differences I found were that at my high school in Canada, different sports rotated throughout the year. This allowed me to play on a different team each season of the year. In Japan, I was only able to choose one club to join and had to stick through with the same team. Second, playing volleyball in Canada, we had 2 morning plactices and 2 afternoon games each week. In Japan, we had practices twice everyday--in the morning and after school. Games were hosted only on weekends (Saturdays). Third, sportsmanship and competitiveness also differed between the two countries. In Canada, it was common to have team members miss practices when it was inconvenient for them, as well as put down other team members when we lost a point. In Japan, it was quite the contrary. Team members were always at practice, unless they had plausable reason to miss it. After every point, regardless of which team was rewarded, the last person to touch the ball received a high-five from each player! In Canada, I was a good player, in Japan... I didn't stand a chance.


I guess you could say that the difference between playing sports in Japan vs. in Canada could be related to how students are disciplined at school. First, in Japan, students commit themselves to one team only. Also, at my high school, it was always stressed that school comes first. If your grades dropped below a certain mark, you were not allowed to continue playing on any sports teams unless your grades improved. In Japan, high school students have different privileges in order to prioritize. For example, in the movie Koshien: Kkoyakyu, the boys on the baseball team had special permission to be excused from class to practice for the tournament. Japanese high school students thus sacrifice a lot to devote themselves to playing on a team. Moreover, in my culture, students in high school tend to be more competitive when playing sports, so much that (as mentioned before) team members will put each other down if a point is awarded to the opposing team. Whereas in Japan, after every point regardless everyone takes the time to high five the last person to touch the ball. This sportsmanship is really genuinely showing that whatever happens, everyone is there to have fun.

Any type of club activity in Japan can be applied to this idea. Anytime I walk through Kansai Gaidai campus I always see students perfecting their skills: band members practicing their march, never missing a beat; countless dancers perfecting their moves in the reflection of the windows around campus; the gym rooms lit exposing a judo match through one window and ballroom dancing through another. At night the entire playing field behind the school is entirely lit as well. You can see a number of sports taking place, lacrosse, baseball, soccer, tennis. In Japan, students willingly commitment and sacrifice for what they love to do. Here you can see a lone student practice their instrument after school into the late hours of the night. This really shows how Japanese students yearn for perfection!