Hakodate is a hilly town surrounded by the sea and mountains. Streetcars run through the city, and a mix of Japanese and Western-style buildings can be seen. Hakodate is a picturesque town that has often been used as the setting for movies and TV dramas. Hakodate has as many as 21 municipal junior high schools, each of which is committed to providing a unique educational experience. Recently, based on the "GIGA School" concept, many of the schools have been making progress in introducing tablet terminals for each student, and are eager to take on new challenges, such as writing daily blogs about school life and holding student assemblies via ZOOM. In Hakodate's junior high schools, graduation ceremonies are usually held around March 15, when the snow begins to melt. The standard graduation ceremony is a chorus of graduates, but this year, due to the Corona disaster, we found that "no graduation song was sung," "no current students participated," "only the graduates sang," and "the graduates sang with masks on. I found some "now" of the graduation ceremony that was different from that of past years. The day of the graduation ceremony was a special day with a cold beach breeze. The emotion is with the song. We asked 21 public junior high schools in Hakodate what kind of choral music is sung at graduation ceremonies in Hakodate today!

On the Day of Departure

The number one song is "Tabidachi no Hi ni" (On the Day of Departure), a classic for graduation ceremonies. The song was written in 1991 by the principal and music teacher of Kagemori Junior High School in Chichibu City. At first, the song was sung only at this junior high school, but it gradually spread, and by 2010 it had become the most widely sung graduation song in Japan, surpassing "Aogeba Toutoshi," "Nestle Song," and "Gifts to Give," which had been sung at graduation ceremonies at elementary and junior high schools. Some schools say, "We sing this song at graduation ceremonies every year," and the song is still very popular even 30 years after its creation. The secret of the song's popularity may be that the mezzo and alto parts that follow in the chorus are fun to sing.

Gunsei

In second place is "Gunsei. This choral piece was composed by graduates and music teachers of Odaka Junior High School in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake. While many so-called "reconstruction support songs" were being created at the time, this song was created as a "message song" from the victims of the disaster and has been sung continuously. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Some schools selected this song because they thought it was a good time to sing it. Haruka / Correct / Michi / Letter ~To the 15 year old Kimi~ / Tomo ~Traveling Away ~ / Beyond Time / Dawn The above songs were sung in a tie for third place. Many of the songs were by artists, and some schools had their students vote to decide. We can feel the changing times along with the songs chosen. The top two graduation ceremony songs at Hakodate junior high schools were both choral songs that originated from the schools. Songs that will be a big part of our memories when we look back on our time at the school. I hope for the day when we can all sing these songs together without hesitation!