When an Entire Campus Comes Alive: What I Learned at My First Japanese Festival

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Through UMass abroad, I applied to study at the International Christian University in Japan.

Fall 2025 marked the start of my junior year at UMass Amherst — but instead of spending it in Massachusetts alongside the rest of my peers, I’m be completing it from over 6,700 miles away at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. As a Japanese major, this is something I’ve been working towards since my first semester here!

While fall for American students means the newest academic year has only just begun, schools in Japan officially start all the way back in April. October and November, then, are instead reserved for what some students have been planning for since their first week of mid-spring classes: the School Festival.

Spanning multiple days, often open to the public, and almost entirely student-run, Japanese School Festivals are held every year from middle school all the way through university — and I got the chance to experience one for myself just last month. 

From the food vendors to the performances, everything is student-run (and made).

In middle and high school, each grade is divided up into a smaller class they spend the entire year with, and each section will come up with what event or activity they’d like to put on for the Festival. These can be anything; Class 3-A could decide to put on a play, Class 3-B could turn their room into a haunted house, and Class 3-C could prepare a host of homemade baked goods to sell at their own ‘cafe.’

School Festivals at Universities in Japan

In university, however, the Festival becomes more of an extracurricular activity, and so main groups behind the booths and stands are the clubs. This gives organizations a great chance to make themselves known to potential new members, and earn some extra saved funds along the way. 

My school had over 80 different food stalls!

At my school, with over 80 different student-run food stands spread out across the outside campus alone, any club could find some way to get involved. From the Ski Club selling snowball cookies, to the Spanish Speaking Association selling freshly-made quesadillas, to the Archery Club squeezing out some ‘Bullseye’ lemonade, there was never a lack of something to try! 

Walking around outside amongst a buzzing crowd, passing colorful, handmade signs as eager students call out for you to try what they’ve prepared, really made for such an alive, exciting atmosphere. Across both days of the festival, I had a variety of both Japanese and international foods, and everything was delicious. I think my favorite was the Frisbee Club’s Okonomiyaki, which is a Japanese savory pancake.

The Part You Don’t Want to Miss — Performances at the Festivals

The real highlight of the event, though — and the one I managed to get myself involved in — was the full day’s worth of performances, spanning across three different venues. Having joined the Cheer Dance Club (not to be confused with the Cheerleading Club, who also had their own set!), I got to perform in the auditorium on the first day, and the special outdoor stage on the second! 

My school also had a full set list of performances put on by various clubs. I got to join in with the Cheer Dance Club!

While I was only in one song, since I was new to the club, we had a full, 30-minute set, and I could really tell how hard the other members had been working on it. Being part of a team like this: arriving early, getting ready with some of my friends in their dorm, going in front of the crowd, and exploring all the stands together afterwards, really helped make me feel involved in the event. 

After our performance (and being sure to grab some great food!), the other girls and I were sure to make our way back over to the stage in time for the biggest performance of the day: the Street Dance Club’s nearly hour-long set. 

The crowd for the street dance club!

With over 80 members participating in just the festival alone, they’re one of the largest clubs on campus — and famous for knowing how to really put on a show. The crowd gathered to watch them stretched across the entire outdoor space! Though it’s a club for people with all levels of dance experience, the amount of work they put in means that it’s almost difficult to tell who onstage is doing this for the first time. That’s a level of work ethic I aspire to put forward in my own work and skills. 

If you stuck around until the very end of the final day, the festival was officially wrapped with a closing ceremony complete with dozens of paper lanterns being released into the steadily-darkening sky. Standing in that crowd of students as we all watched each lantern float up and away really made me feel connected to the campus’ community. Given that I’m only here for the year, I’m glad an experience like this was able to help forge that connection so quickly.