Graduation Ceremony in Japan

Mai Fujii
Seinan Gakuin University, Japan

This past year, I had the chance to live and study in Japan for about 10 months. It’s so unbelievable to me that I was actually there for that long. Time flew by so fast that it feels I’ve only spent just a few weeks there, with everything I’ve learned and experienced crammed into those few weeks. I don’t think I could ever spend enough time in Japan! I’ve had so many great experiences while in Japan but one of my most memorable experiences was the time I attended the graduation ceremony this past spring at my host university Seinan Gakuin Daigaku. A few of my new Japanese friends were graduating so I went to the sotsugyou-shiki (graduation ceremony) that was held. There were so many people there, among them parents, faculty, and other students. Each graduate was dressed up, women in traditional silk kimono and men in expensive suits or kimono. Men and women, families of the graduates, were dressed in formal wear, earnestly sitting in folding chairs, arranged in straight rows in the middle of the gymnasium floor.

More people filled the surrounding area set on the second floor of the gym, looking out over the gym floor and the ceremony was even being viewed by more people via live feed video in another large room of the building. As the faculty spoke to the students and their families, everything was quiet, except for the occasion clicks of camera shutters going off. I was amazed by the traditional way in which they held their modern-day commencement. When the graduates stood up and the audience began to clap, I thought this was the end of the ceremony. Nothing prepared me for what came afterwards. As each graduate exited, they were met outside by enthusiastic cheerleaders chanting their congratulations, loudly accompanied by the school’s band, and crowds of people cheering, holding large signs and wildly looking for their graduate. The graduates’ kouhai (juniors of the graduates who are in the same department, club or circle) rushed up to their respective sempai (the “elders” of the juniors) and hoisted them onto their shoulders, parading across the street from the gym to the main campus while cheering loudly.

The kouhai were dressed in their club jerseys and uniforms and there were some crazy outfits too! The male swim team members were dressed in speedos and diving fins, complete with swim caps and goggles. I saw another guy walking around with a huge yellow afro wig and there was even a guy dressed up in a Borat mankini! It was fun to see the graduates dressed in traditional wear, with their hair done up in intricate styles, hoisted on the shoulders of their friends dressed in club uniforms or outrageous outfits! So many people were dressed up that it felt like more of a festival than a graduation! To be able to experience this totally different ceremony was so much fun! To be able to be a part of all this… It was amazing. I’m just glad I didn’t have to dress up too!