Ritsumeikan School Festival 学園祭 2011

 This weekend it was time for another school festival at Ritsumeikan University, more specifically at Kinugasa Campus, where I am studying. The campus had been nicely decorated for the occasion, and the whole place was filled with people. And not just students; there was a lot of kids, and what seemed to be parents or grandparents too. Clearly the festival was popular among all generations.

Ritsumeikan's east school gate decorated for the festival

Some more decorations on campus

Me, Yuki, Asami and Yuji at the school festival

The Rits Fes, the name of this festival, is one of the biggest events at school, especially for people who are active in interest circles (サークル) or or clubs (クラブ). This is the chance for them to show off what they have been practicing the last year or semester, and also a chance for them to earn some money by selling different types of food.

Stands where members of the different activity clubs and circles are selling food 

On the Kinugasa Campus there was small stands everywhere with people selling anything from typical Japanese food such as oden, yakisoba and takoyaki, to more western food such as sausages.

They do also have small flee markets spread around campus, where one for instance can support volunteering groups by buying second-hand products. Some of the volunteer circles also sold products that had been made by locals in countries like Cambodia or the Philippines.

A volunteer circle selling second-hand products

Another special thing about the school festival is all the performances; every thing from live music to various styles of dancing, people who has specialized in jump rope entertainment. The clubs and circles have been practicing really hard for this festival, and it is quite impressive to see them in action.

Traditional Japanese music being performed

On campus you could hear not only traditional Japanese music, but also a vide range of Western music.

Dancers having a show at the main stage

Live wrestling show

..with quite some action..

New of this year was that people had found more creative ways of getting the visitors to use money. One could pay to get a massage, or to play a game of the Chinese board game Mahjong. And with tattoos still being a bit taboo in Japan, it might have seen nice to many of the Japanese to get a henna tattoo instead since it can be easily removed..

Those interested could try a quick game of Mahjong

Or just have a relaxing foot massage.

An overview of the west side of campus

The only bad this about the school festival is that it makes it quite hard to concentrate when you are in the library or the research room to study, because there are so much noise outside! Haha.. Since it was in the weekend I guess it still was a nice excuse to take a brake in the studies though.

I actually went to this festival last year as well, and I wrote about it on this page.

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.