The 53rd Hokuryu Town Sunflower Olympics 2024 - Have fun moving your mind and body with a smile!

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

The 53rd Hokuryu Town Sunflower Olympics was held at the Hokuryu Town Rural Environment Improvement Center from 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 10th.

The 53rd Hokuryu Town Sunflower Olympics

Approximately 54 people aged 65 or over from each neighborhood association participated, including students from Hokuryu Town Himawari University and members of the Himawari Longevity Association, and they all energetically moved their bodies and enjoyed the competition.

• Organizer: Hokuryu Town Board of Education
• cooperation: Hokuryu Town Sports Promotion Committee

Main MC: Yoshiki Miyazaki, Hokuryu Town Board of Education

The competition was led by the general host, Yoshiki Miyazaki of the Hokuryu Town Board of Education.

Greetings from the Chairman: Hokuryu Town Board of Education, Superintendent Arima Kazushi

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for participating in the 53rd Sunflower Olympics today.

Exactly 60 years ago, on October 10th, 1964, the Tokyo Olympics were held. Today, October 10th, is the day the Sunflower Olympics will be held, so I hope you will all get very excited.

We have a variety of competitions available today.

I would like to ask not only all of you who have been selected as athletes in each event, but also those who have not been selected to help liven up this tournament with your applause and support.

This is the Sunflower Olympics, so there will be winners and losers, but today I would like you to put the competition aside and just enjoy yourself.

In closing, I would like to express my gratitude to the sports promoters, the members of the Himawari Longevity Association, and everyone at Himawari University for their tremendous cooperation in making this tournament possible today. This concludes my brief opening remarks.

"I hope you all do your best today," said Superintendent Arima in his greeting.

Athlete's oath: Kimiko Yamada, class representative, Himawari University

"We, the athletes who are committed to lifelong learning, pledge to deepen community exchanges at the Sunflower Olympics, stay injury-free, and enjoy this day to the fullest.
October 10, 2020 Player Representative Kimiko Yamada”

Attention Chief Referee: Sports Promotion Committee Vice Chairman Kato Ryo

"It will be cold at the venue, so I hope that everyone will do some exercises before the competition so that they can enjoy themselves and stay healthy and injury-free.

"The explanations for each event will be given to the athletes individually after they have gathered. Please feel free to ask questions about any events you don't understand. Thank you for your cooperation today," said Vice Chairman Kato.

Introduction of each team's manager

• Red Team (Wamachi and Wamotomachi)･････････････････････ Mr. Takao Yamada
• Yellow Group (Itaya, Nishikawa, Sakuraoka, Wa, Watocho, Mitani)Mr. Yoshiharu Yamashita
• White Team (Mibagyu, Iwamura, Hekisui, Kyoei).... Mr. Takeshi Yamamoto

Hokuryu Town Sports Promotion Committee and Committee Members

• Vice-chairman: Ryo Kato
• committee member: Masami Abe
• committee member: Hifumi Shimabayashi

warm-up exercises

Before the competition begins, participants will thoroughly loosen up their bodies with full-body exercises.

Competition begins

1. Ladle relay

• Place a ball on a ladle and pass it from number 1 to number 2, from number 2 to number 3, in a relay race to compete for speed.

2. Bowling

• Each player throws the ball at the pins twice and competes to knock down the most pins.

3. Ladder Getter

• Each person throws three times, and the top of the ladder gets 3 points, the middle gets 2 points, and the bottom gets 1 point. If the ball hits two places, the total points will be added together. If the ball does not hit, the total points will be 0 points.

4. Breaking the Barrier

• The gatekeeper is the coach of each team. They start and play rock-paper-scissors with the gatekeeper. If they win, they go back and pass the baton to the next person. If they lose, they go around the gatekeeper once and play rock-paper-scissors again. If they lose three times, they go around the gatekeeper once and pass the baton to the next person.

5. Ball Toss

• The competition is to see who can put all the balls in the fastest time.

6. Floor curling

• A flocker who passes through the center cone frame will receive 2 points, and a flocker who passes through the edge cone frame will receive 1 point. The team with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, two flockers from each team will compete in the final.

7. Aim for a comeback

• Players throw balls at the numbered targets on the board and compete for the total points they can hit. Five points are added for hitting vertical, horizontal, or diagonal bingo targets.

Closing Ceremony

Announcement of results and awards

• Victory:Yellow group・87 points
• runner-up: Red Team - 64 points
• 3rd placeWhite Team: 54 points

Comments from the conference: Koji Kawada, Chairman of the Hokuryu Town Sunflower Longevity Association

"I'm so glad you all had a great time today.

There is a lot going on in the world right now with the House of Representatives election starting on October 15th. From what I have heard, the issue of regional exhaustion is becoming a major problem for each city, town and village.

Even in our own surroundings, we see the reduction or even discontinuation of public transport services, making life inconvenient and causing great hardship for us elderly people.

We are now entering a long winter, and I think that the elderly will find themselves in a difficult environment due to increasingly poor transportation access and the cold winter weather.

So, I hope that you can deepen your interactions with each other, even just a little, like we did today, and get through this winter.

"Today was a fun day. I sincerely hope that you will continue to participate in various events and that you will all remain healthy elders. Thank you for today," said Chairman Kawada.

Fun big lottery

The prizes were awarded by drawing the numbers shown on the lottery tickets given to participants in advance. The draw was made by Superintendent Arima.

Everyone was smiling after receiving their wonderful prizes!
Those who lost will be awarded a consolation prize, and all participants will receive a prize!

With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers, we offer our heartfelt thanks to the 53rd Hokuryu Town Sunflower Olympics, where energetic seniors gather together, engage in friendly conversation, and have fun moving their bodies and minds with smiles and energy.

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◇ Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editing assistance: Noboru Terauchi)