Ceremonies, ceremonies, ceremonies...

Japan is a great lover of the ceremony.

To the right we have the farewell ceremony for departing teachers.

And then, an hour and a half later we have the welcoming ceremony for the new teachers and staff, below.


The band practicing for the next ceremony, two days later, to welcome the brand new first graders to the school.


And of course, once they saw me taking pictures, practicing stopped, students converged and the peace signs come out.


The student welcoming committee above, the parents and officials to the right, and brand spanking new deer-in-the-highlights first graders.

And there was, of course, one more ceremony the next day, where the 2nd and 3rd graders welcomed the 1st graders to the school and all the teachers introduced themselves. Sorry, no pictures from that.