精華町の第37回町民体育大会 / Seika’s 37th Townspeople athletic festival

This past Sunday, Seika town held one of its biggest events of the year, the 37th Townspeople Athletic festival. Figuring that it would be a good way to meet people and get my face out there, I volunteered on a whim. Of course at the time I didn’t realize that the event grounds were 3 miles away from my house, and I’d end up going there by bike at 7 in the morning, but I’m still really glad I got to participate.
先週の日曜日に、精華町の大きいイベント、町民体育大会が行われた。精華町民に会えるようにボランティアとして参加する事にした。その時で､東光小会場は私の家から5キロメートルで、朝7時に自転車で家を出発することになると知らなかったけど､体育大会に参加できてよかった。

I had heard of school athletic festivals in Japan, but this was my first encounter with a town event. The town was broken up into neighborhoods, and although not every district participated in the events, they all came out to cheer. Some groups were clearly very prepared for the event, with matching t-shirts, jerseys and flags, so I was a little sad that I had no one with which to match fashion wise. The events were basically split into two categories, “free” events where anyone could participate, and “team” events, where the winning group got points for their neighborhood. The team with the most points won a fancy trophy and presumably bragging rights for the rest of the year.
学校の体育大会は知っていたけど、町の体育大会は初めてだった。町民の皆さんは自治会ごとに分かれ､全ての自治会が参加したわけではなかったが、たくさん人が応援しに来た。自治会ごとに同じＴシャツやジャージを着たりしていた。ポイントを一番多くとったチームは立派なトロフィーをもらって、勝利を誇ります。

The turnout was amazing, and over 6000 thousand people came, despite the fact that the sun and the dirt area made it feel like death valley. From babies to octogenarians, you could see all ages and all manners of people coming out to compete.
とても盛況で、砂漠ほど暑かったのに､6000人以上いたよ。赤ちゃんから80代ぐらいのご高齢の方まで､本当にいろいろな人が参加した。

The events ran the gamut from serious business to ridiculously silly. Lots of the kids who came competed in a 50-meter dash and the little guys ran their hearts out. Of course there was the ol’ “get the ball in the basket game” and tug-o-war (I really wanted in on that) but some surprises (at least to me) made an appearance as well. There was a team jump rope event, where 10 kids had to jump rope in time to get their count up. Although many teams clocked out around 5 or 10 the best score of the day was 52! 52 consecutive times! I can’t even do that jumping rope alone! My favorite event though was definitely the over 50 ball push. Though the explanation doesn’t do it justice, it was great to see some of Seika town’s older residents playing around and just being kids again.
競争は、とても真面目のからおかしなものまで、幅広くあった。多くの子どもが50メートル走に参加して、心を躍らせた。玉入れと綱引きもあったけど、僕はちょっとびっくりした競争もあった。大なわとびもあって、子ども10人が連続して、同時にジャンプしないといけなかった。ほとんどチームは5回か10回ぐらいしか出来なかったけど、当日の一番いいチームは52回も出来た！52回！僕は一人でもできないとおもう～～。でも、僕の一番好きなイベントは大玉ころがしだった。参加者は50歳以上で、中高年の方が子どもの頃に戻ったように楽しんでいたそうで､本当によかった。

Of course the most serious event was the relay, and the effort of some of the participants was inspiring. Although the fast people were obviously impressive, I was more moved by the people who fell down or bit it hard, and got back up instantly. There was no chance they could win anymore, and no real prize in the end, but they still gave it their all, despite the pain and hurt.
最も真面目な競争はリレーレースだった。本当に参加者の皆さんに感動した。一番早かった人はすごかったけど、転んですぐ起き上がれた人のほうが僕に影響を与えた。勝つのは無理になっても、賞をもらわなくても、痛くても、全力でがんばった。すごかったよ。

Another little plus was the music they had playing. While one would expect a lot of Japanese songs at a Japanese athletic festival, the presence of “Eye of the Tiger,” from Rocky and Kenny Loggin’s “Highway to the Danger Zone” threw me for a bit of curve. I suppose that pump up songs are effective no matter what the language though.
体育大会で使われた音楽も面白かった。僕は日本の体育大会で日本の音楽があるはずだと思ったけど、「ロッキー」と「トップガン」のテーマソングが鳴って、ちょっとびっくりした。熱中させる音楽はどの言語でもいい効果を住むね。

In the end, it was a great day, and I got to meet and talk to some of the residents of Seika town a little more in depth. Despite the heat and the intense sunburn I got (I look like a hairy tomato) I fully intend to volunteer again next year. I’ll just wear a bigger hat next time.
精華町民と会ったり話したりできて、本当にいい日だった。暑くて、僕はとても日焼けしちゃったけど（本当に毛深いトマトみたい）、来年も絶対参加したい！しかし、今度は日焼け止めローションをつけておく。