Bukatsu, or extracurricular club activities, are a veritable rite of passage for students at Japan's junior high and high schools.
Although formative experiences that teach camaraderie and hard work, school clubs have also been the focus of criticism in recent years -- requiring students to conform to strict age-based hierarchies and commit precious study time to practices that can be so grueling as to make a drill sergeant blush.
In response to these concerns, the Sports Agency has endorsed the creation of a more recreational alternative at schools for students to get some exercise while still having fun.
Organized without hierarchical relationships and with less emphasis on winning and losing, such flexible clubs have been winning over fans at the nation's schools, particularly in rural areas where dwindling enrollment has been threatening conventional clubs with extinction.
-- Less pain, more gain
In September, about 20 students gyrated in T-shirts and gym shorts in the library of Komatsushima Junior High School in Komatsushima, Tokushima Prefecture.
Members of the school's fitness club, they were rehearsing a dance, following along to choreography in a YouTube video projected on a TV screen.
"This dance is super challenging," said one of the members of the club that filled the library with laughter during the day's 90-minute rehearsal.
Faced with a decline in enrollment, the rural school has not had enough students to field full teams for extramural matches in soccer and other popular sports.
Last year, the school created the fitness club, as a way to provide students with opportunities to exercise in a more casual atmosphere.
The club meets after class on weekdays to work up a sweat while enjoying a variety of activities from dancing to core training, jump rope, and recreational soccer. Activities are planned by the club counselor based on input from club members.
Unlike the strict attendance requirements of a typical club, participation at meetings is voluntary. The club does not meet on weekends or over summer vacation.
This flexibility has even drawn students who formerly did not participate in any school extracurriculars, bringing the club's roster to 27 members.
Second-year student Anzu Hamamatsu, 14, said the club have given her a newfound confidence in sports. In July, she participated in a track and field competition at the prefectural level, achieving a personal best in the 200-meter dash.
"I've been able to test my own abilities," she said. "It's not about winning or losing."
-- 20% non-participation
In March 2018, the Sports Agency formulated guidelines on club activities, calling for the "development of an environment based on the needs of students" -- for example, by offering more flexible alternatives to the traditional hard-hitting sports club.
The move comes amid waning student interest in sports clubs.
According to a survey conducted by the National Institution for Youth Education in fiscal 2019, 47.3% of second-year high schoolers said they had joined a sports club, down 3.3 percentage points from five years earlier.
Over the same period, the percentage of students who said they did not belong to any club -- sports or otherwise -- rose 1.1 percentage points to 20.1%.
The trend has sparked concern within the agency. "At this rate, many children will grow up without getting in the habit of exercising," said an official.
Tokyo's Setagaya Ward has spearheaded efforts to promote unconventional clubs at local schools.
In 2012, Higashifukasawa Junior High School in the ward pioneered a club that promotes the overall physical acumen of students, rather than focusing on a specific sport.
The initiative spread and nine of the ward's 29 junior high schools now have a fitness club of their own.
The ward's Board of Education has received inquiries from school boards and schools nationwide, interested in launching similar programs.
"It's even appealed to students who might not have been so confident in their athletic abilities," said a program coordinator.
In Osaka, two junior high schools have begun offering their own lax clubs. At Tamade Junior High School, yoga club members can limber up at 60-minute sessions twice a week, sharing new poses they have found in books.
The reduced time commitment is also appreciated by the teachers who coach school clubs.
"Coaching clubs used to take up all my time," said Sachi Kuroda, a counselor for Komatsushima Junior High School's fitness club. "But now I can balance the club with my other teaching duties."
-- Free agents
Such flexible arrangements have also helped schools with a small student body keep their club culture alive.
At Kyoto Prefectural Kitakuwada High School in Kyoto's Ukyo Ward, the school's cycling club won this year's national high school championships, and its sports climbing club also competes at the national level. However, with less than 200 students enrolled at the school, it has become more difficult to fill out the rosters for team sports.
In August last year, the school created a "free sports club," which allows members to practice multiple sports of their choosing.
Wachi Junior High -- a school in Kyotamba, Kyoto Prefecture with a total enrollment of about 40 students -- set up its own free sports club in April. "Students can now appreciate the great appeal of sports, even at a school as small as ours," said Principal Kyoko Taniguchi.
According to Taku Kamiya, a professor at Kansai University who specializes in sports education, these lax clubs bear a similarity to extracurricular activities at the university level.
"Unlike conventional [junior high and high school] clubs, where students simply follow orders given by their coaches, these more flexible clubs are expected to help students think for themselves and acquire problem-solving skills," he said. "I think [the initiative] is bound to gain further momentum."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
