Club Sports and Activities

The Clubs

(Sports Teams and Clubs)

"Why are they practicing at 7:00AM?" confused ALT
"Is this a cult?" american exchange student in Japan

Judo via Kanji
Long Ju and Do sounds

*For posts similar to this one, see Being in a Japanese School - Culturally

The clubs. Understanding how the clubs in a Japanese school operate gets you one GIGANTIC step forward in your quest to understand Japanese society as a whole. Clubs are basically anything that we, in the West, would consider an extra-curricular activity. 

The main differences with Japanese clubs/teams is that once you join a club/team, you may as well have joined some sort of militaristic cult. You can NOT quit!!!! Nor can you change clubs.....EVER!!!! (well, except for one day a year) Nor can you do more than one club. 

As a student, you are EXPECTED to be in a club activity. It is highly recommended (wink, wink) to join a club..... not being in a club is highly unusual. 

ASB/Student Council is considered a club, but students can do other things beside being the class president.

The Clubs and Teams

Here are the main clubs that you will find in almost every Japanese junior high/high school of adequate size. Of course, everything depends on the size of the school and student interest. These are simply the most popular and are  in no particular order:

1. Art/Manga (mostly girls participate)

   

   And you think I'm being cheeky calling clubs a militaristic cult?

2. Brass Band (mostly girls participate)
3. Ping-pong (boys/girls team)
4. Badminton (boys/girls team)
5. Basketball (boys/girls team)
6. Swimming (boys/girls team)
7. Boys Soccer
8. Girls Softball
9. Boys Baseball
10. Girls Volleyball
11. Soft Tennis (boys/girls team)
12. Track and Field (boys/girls team)
13. Cheer (HS only)
14. English (mostly girls participate)

Some schools have clubs that are not very popular, but popular enough to see quite often:

Kendo Club

1. Kendo
2. Karate
3. Boys Volleyball
4. Crafts/Home Ec./Cooking, etc.
5. Girls Dance/Jazz Dance
6. Science/Natural Science
7. Library/Reading
8. Rugby
9. American Football (private schools only)
10. Girls Lacrosse

There you have it. Those are the most common clubs. I've seen some strange ones while in Japan though. Flamenco guitar club always sticks in my memory as a strange one.

Practice, Practice, Practice

The clubs practice just about every day of the year (weather permitting) including weekends, summer break, spring break and winter break (except for a few days due to New Year's). Some schools are really bad and make the kids practice before and after school. 

Summary

It still boggles my mind when I think about how serious and strict most of these clubs are. Also, the importance that is given to the club activities in relation to the overall educational experience in Japan is baffling to an outsider. The kind of dedication and commitment that is ingrained through the clubs is something that every Japanese person has in common. It's a HUGE part of  Japanese society and is mostly not known or appreciated fully by anyone who has not spent considerable time at a Japanese school. Anyone interested in learning about Japanese culture should definitely conduct research in this area.

See my blurb about seniority (senpai/kouhai) in school activities here..

I could go on for days on this subject.......... so, as usual I'll cut it short and ask:

Do you have a question about Japan or a topic that you are interested in that you haven't found on this blog? If so, please tell me about it in a comment. I will get a post up about it as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!!