We were notified via phone call last Friday that the ceremony was going to take place despite school not starting until early May. Traditionally an hour-long ceremony, they shortened it to just 15 minutes, and cut out other traditional activities like visiting the classroom.
We arrived at the school as requested. Outside the gate, there was a large sign that said "Entrance Ceremony" for families and children to take photos in front of. Although people were giving space, it was definitely not the advised 2 meters (6 feet). At least there were only 4 families at the gate when we were there.
Posted outside the door to the building were the class lists, notifying students which class they would be in. We stood there for a bit to review the list. There are 7 students from my son's kindergarten going to his elementary school, so we wanted to see who got placed in which class.
We then entered the school, where we gave our name at the registration desk and proceeded to the area to remove our shoes. Just like the kindergarten, special indoor only shoes are worn inside the elementary school. While the kids wore their uwabaki (ooo-wah-baa-key), parents donned slippers.
As soon as we had switched shoes, we walked to the gymnasium, where the ceremony would be held. There were spray bottles with hand sanitizer outside the large room. Chairs were already set up with names attached to the back of the seats. One parent sat with the student in the front, while the other parent sat in the back of the room. The chairs for each parent and child set were directly next to each other, but each set was distanced from the next one.
Sitting on the seats was a huge stack of gifts from the school and city. Items included textbooks, pastels, glue, a toolbox (to store scissors, color pencils, and so forth), a personal alarm (if triggered, emits a loud noise to attract attention), notebooks, and a randoseru cover. Luckily, they asked us to bring an extra bag to take all this stuff home!
The ceremony flew by. The Principal and Vice Principal said a few words. The national anthem was played. Roll call was taken. Teachers were introduced. That was it! Afterwards my husband commented that all entrance ceremonies should be that short - especially for first graders.
We wrapped up the event with a quick photo outside in the schoolyard. They asked only one parent to be in the photo and once everyone was lined up, masks were removed before the shutter was pressed. Once they got the shot, everyone put their mask back on and left the schoolyard.
We were in an out in less than an hour. Seemed almost silly to get all dressed up for it. But, to my son, this day was very important. So, I'm glad we made the effort. The chaos of Covid-19 is really hard for kids. Since this ceremony has been talked about so much, and really looked forward to, I'm glad they didn't cancel the whole thing. I would have been fine if it had been postponed, but they didn't decide to do that. We practiced restraint when seeing friends, made sure not to touch things if it could be avoided, and got out of there as soon as it was over.
If nothing else, this will be remembered as the strangest entrance ceremony we will ever experience.
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