In my days in school I used to watch a lot of Japanese cartoons. I always envied how in those cartoons kids had their sports uniforms, how serious they were about volleyball, basketball, swimming.. what ? A school with a swimming pool ?!!
One of the most popoular anime was Attack No.1 . The story about Kozue Ayuhara (Mimi Ayuhara for the Italian version) and her feats with her school’s volleyball team.
In the anime, volleyball was quite a serious thing. Her coach was very demanding. She trained very seriously, every day. Training was excruciating, physically very painful and sometimes rather unorthodox (hitting the ball with chains around the wrists !!).
Everything was clearly distorted, especially physics had little meaning, as balls would disappear from sight, follow strange paths and deform like melting cheese.
I envied Japanese students because I could see that they actually had some system in place to practice sports at a competitive level. Sure, we all had good laughs at those exaggerations, but I could tell what was true and what was pure fantasy… or could I ?
Recently I learned more about sports in Japanese schools thanks some girl I know that used to be pretty involved in her basketball club.
Along with normal studies, everyone can join a sports club where more or less traditional sports can be practiced.
My source tells me that her coach was very strict indeed, demanding training 3 times per day, including one hour during lunch break. Training had to be done every day. No school on Saturday or Sunday, but clubs are open on weekends, so one basically ends up going on Saturdays and Sundays as well.
She would run and practice so much that her toe nails would go black and sometimes tear off. Sport shoes gave her flat feet and a bone deformation below the knee that apparent is typical of professional soccer players. Last but not least, her coach forbid any girl of the club from shortening the school uniform’s skirt (a common practice here in Japan 8)
I heard stories of strong competition, drama of physical injuries that prevented taking championships.
I think back at those anime and they don’t seem so off anymore !
Posted by Davide Pasca in Japan, Japanese girls