#247 おまけ「運動会の思い出」

Sports-Day Memory 1: The 7-Meter Human Pyramid and Its Cancellation

Coral-san, a listener from Tokyo, described the kumitaiso (group gymnastics) tradition at her elementary school. Every year the upper grades performed a wave formation involving nearly 100 students and built a human pyramid that reached seven meters in height — a neighborhood landmark that drew spectators from the surrounding community.

By the time Coral-san reached the upper grades and was due to participate, however, the activity was cancelled. Injuries from kumitaiso had become a national issue, and her school, along with many others across the country, discontinued it. "It was painful at times," she said, "but I'm glad I got to take part." The hosts agreed the tradition had largely vanished, noting that smaller formations — a two-person set or a five-person pyramid — might still exist somewhere, but that seven meters was "seriously high and seriously dangerous."

Sports-Day Memory 2: The First Female Cheer Captain in School History

A listener who describes herself as someone who loves being in the spotlight told of standing for cheer captain in sixth grade. She won a majority vote against two male rivals — and the moment the result was announced, the excitement hit so hard that she momentarily forgot how to write her own name in kanji when filling in the sign-up sheet.

She was the first girl to hold the position in the school's entire history. Her family was overjoyed, and a photo of her in a happi coat (法被), cheering at full volume, still hangs in her grandmother's home. The hosts praised her as "a pioneer," joking that she may have been "the first female cheer captain in Japan — or at least in that school, which makes it a world first." "Kids like that, the enthusiastic ones, are the best," one host added.

Sports-Day Memory 3: A Father Caught in the Graduation Album

Megane Kakari-machi-san (メガネかかり町さん) from Osaka Prefecture shared a story about his self-employed craftsman father. Outside of the Bon holiday and New Year's, his father's only consistent day off was sports day — every year, through both elementary and junior high school, he shut the workshop and came to watch.

At the final junior-high sports day, Megane Kakari-machi-san crossed the finish line in first place in the 400-meter race. The photo of that moment was selected for the graduation album. When he looked more closely, he spotted his father standing alone in the background of the frame, silently watching the race. The result: parent and child ended up immortalized side by side in the same graduation album.

The hosts loved this story. They riffed on what the son's expression must look like at full sprint — "his eyes were probably in triangles," one host said, using the Japanese expression for an intense competitive grimace — before conceding that nostalgia might be softening the memory. They also noted that a photo awkward enough to normally be cut must have been genuinely good for the editor to choose it.

The Public Restroom Water-Flicking Problem

The podcast-only segment "Omaemiro Sōdansha-san" (お前見相談屋さん) took up a listener complaint about people who vigorously shake their wet hands after washing in public restrooms, sending droplets onto the person next to them and splattering the mirror.

The listener estimated this happens with over 80 percent of the people they encounter, making mirrors unhygienic as well as annoying. They noted the habit spans a wide age range — high-schoolers through people in their fifties — though older visitors tend to dry their hands properly with paper towels.

The hosts admitted they hadn't personally witnessed quite such aggressive hand-shaking. Their practical suggestions were modest: step sideways if water comes your way, or use the bathroom at home whenever possible. "We can't make everyone in the world listen to this message," one host said, "so there's no real solution." The conversation then drifted to the equally puzzling habit of resting phones and bags on the shelf above urinals.

Manii Mount: Five Everyday Remarks That Didn't Need to Be Said

The regular corner Manii Mount (マニーマウント) — which judges whether an overheard remark counts as needless one-upmanship — delivered five rulings this week.

1. **Calling your father "oyaji" (old man):** Borderline — "that's a personal choice." 2. **"Nobody touched the souvenir you brought."** Immediate verdict: unnecessary, and a clear mount. 3. **"Every LINE sticker you send is one of the free ones, isn't it."** Ruled a mount. 4. **"Can I play guitar when we all go camping?"** Ruled a mount — "you're just announcing that you can play." 5. **"I spotted [a specific person] in Sydney."** Ruled a mount — "you're saying you were there and you saw them — that's a mount."

"This was a heavy round," one host said, laughing. "A lot of people saying unpleasant things."