Pictures from Japan: Graduation Ceremony
Graduation Day
Well, the big day has come -- Kazuki, our son, has graduated his "hoikuen" (a kind of Japanese preschool) and will be starting the first grade very soon. Here are some pictures of the big graduation day.
For the past 25 years, Misato Preschool was held in a small, aging building, but during the past half year they've been building a brand new school building. It was completed just in time for the graduation ceremony.
The new school is great, with sprawling hardwood floors, lots of space for the kids, and more.
Aren't these cute little toilets great? This is for the little kids, age 1-2, so they can get used to toilets without having to sit on big, scary seats.
Here is Kazuki's class. Kazuki is the one on the right. The other half-Japanese child in his class is Jomaru-kun, next to Kazuki. He is half Japanese, half Bangladesh.
Kazuki and his best friend Daiki. Daiki loves Back to the Future, and also love rockets. His father took him all the way to Kyushu to see the launch of the H-II, being designed by Japan's space program.
It was time for the ceremony to start. Etsuko-sensei (sensei meaning "teacher") was the MC. She was, incidentally, Kazuki's first love back when he was 2, and he was going to marry her and grow up and be a kindergarten teacher with her.
We often think that Etsuko-sensei looks more than a little like Anpan, aka Bean Paste Bread Man, the Japanese superhero from a children's anime show.
Kazuki was born on April 4, so he's the oldest child in his class (April 2 is the cutoff for the school year). Thus, he went to get his diploma first.
A very Japanese bow...
This is Ami-chan, Kazuki's friend and the 2nd oldest child in the graduating class. She's Kazuki's girlfriend, to hear him talk.
Kurumi-chan, another girl in Kazuku's class. One of my favorites, because she's so cute.
This is Akane-chan, who has a nerve problem in her legs which requires her to walk with crutches and the help of a teacher most of the time. Rather than put her in a special school for disabled children, her mother insisted that she attend a "normal" school like everyone else.
"Everybody had to cry. Not a single eye was dry."
Daughter Rina.
The graduating children made paper mache faces of the directors of the school, which they said they will cherish forever.
posted by Peter in Japan at 2:24 PM
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