Japanese Women’s Prison Holds Sports Day for Inmates
Posted on November 21st, 2008 by Mike under phenoms, sportsJapan News recently aired this clip of a Japanese Women’s Prison holding a sports day for the inmates.
These Sports Days traditionally take place each Fall in Japanese elementary schools. Called Undokai, they’re held across the country for kids ages K - high school, and features unusual games like pan-kui kyoso, which is a race where competitors must grab a piece of bread hanging at face height without using their hands.
Think MXC without the rope swing pitfalls, and the futile attempts at pillar-hopping, and the moats. Basically, it’s pretty budget. Not necessarily because of the traditions of Japanese sports day, but probably, because it’s jail.
I won’t tell you which team, but get yourself ready to see a phenom emerge (happens at about the 4:30 minute mark, if you want to expedite the process here) and carry her team to glory . Sweet, incarcerated, glory.
Also, like all transcendent timeless tales, one the characters has to convert. So prepare yourself for a security guard to be moved to tears towards the end of this.
According to the source of this video, Japan Probe, that was a “19-year-old prison guard who had recently started working at the facility and had never before seen such an event. She had previously seen the inmates as mainly criminals who deserved imprisonment as punishment for their crimes, but seeing them participate in the event has made her see them more as fellow human beings.”
Sporting meets detainment, bringing people together. Harmony, love it. Special recognition to the commenter who best speculates what that criminally speedy relay champ got sent up the river for.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:53 pm
The Longest Yard 2
November 21st, 2008 at 6:35 pm
[...] Japan has women inmate “Sports Day” < Steady Burn [...]
May 2nd, 2009 at 1:36 am
Nice post! I