Of course, the event is extremely organised, with students having pre-selected (or pre-assigned?) their location, and detailed instructions on what to do and when to do it.
The first time my schedule encountered one of these sketch days was whilst I was in Akayu Junior High. The biggest school, and the one that often left me with no clue as to what was going on. I'm pretty certain that on my schedule there was a big white space on that day - no lessons scheduled and the words 'Day to sketch' in the space....I assume I just thought the day hadn't yet been 'sketched out'...ah the beautiful ambiguity of our English language. So on the day, the teachers were rushing about the place whilst I was wondering where the fire was...
Eventually, one of the English teachers explained to me what was going on, and asked me what I was going to do for the day. I rather excitedly said that I'd like to join. The teacher looked a little unprepared for that answer, but he helpfully supplied me with some paper, some brushes, and some paints. Off I went to wander around the various areas where the kids were painting. Unfortunately the sky was cloudy - not the best condition for a nice painting, but I thought i did a rather nice job of the Yoshino river that runs through Akayu. I hung out with a group of 1st grade and 3rd grade kids and the day was really relaxing, calmly painting while going 'sugoi, jouzu' (wow, really good) at each others paintings and having a bit of a laugh.
The next one was at the next school in Miyauchi - a little more prepared, but still a little difficult with my Japanese listening and speaking skills not as well equipped as they are now! Again, I was selective with my 舞台装置 (mise en scène if you will) and whilst the day was still cloudy, it was fun and relaxing.
The view I chose to paint in Sosho Park, Miyauchi
The boys enjoy chatting while they get on with there paintings
...and having the odd joke around, can't remember what was so funny?!
This year I was really prepared - being able to read the Japanese announcing the day and having a clue as to the general schedule of the day. Luckily (I thought) I was at a different school again, Okigo - and even better, the day turned out to be lovely. I chose a spot by the lake by the school, which I've always admired. The spot I wanted to paint only had one quite shy first grader in the same place, so together we painted with the occasional short conversation in a mix of Japanese and English. At lunch, I chatted with some 2nd grade girls (mostly in Japanese!) and tested out a group of 1st grade boys' English with a bombardment of questions. Its so nice that the schools have this day. Often I feel that Japanese schools first priority is sports, followed by education, and then the arts are a little after-thought. But such events like this, and the Nanyo School choir festival make me feel better about the balance.
This was the first one I did - Akayu
This was the second one - Miyauchi. (work in progress!) It was still grey and dull, so I used a bit of creative license to make it more brighter and impressionistic...!
And this is my latest - Okigo. This is my favourite, probably because its so bright and looks most complete out of all of them. The weather started off dull and cloudy, but cleared up completely and became glorious (I got a little bit sunburnt which I didn't expect!)
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