Hello everyone, Llew here.

It’s time for our December-January edition of the Kei-Sho Chronicle. December is normally an eventful time of year; school finishes for the year and we also celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. However, like many things last year, this end of year was very different due to Covid-19. In previous years, December was a time to travel, visit family members or participate in events, but this year everyone was encouraged to stay at home.

Closing Ceremony:

On December, 19, Kei-Sho held our closing ceremony. School had officially ended for the year 2020. With end of term tests completed and marks and grades handed back to the students, teachers and students had finished a very difficult year.

With a simple ceremony to reduce the time students were in contact, this ceremony ended much faster than previous years. Unfortunately, this meant that we were unable to see students receive awards for their effort throughout the term, but it was a necessary sacrifice.

This Issue:

Closing Ceremony

Winter Holidays in 2020

Restarting School

Winter Holidays in 2020: With the closing ceremony over, the winter holidays started for the students of Kei-Sho. However, like everything in 2020, Covid-19 affected the holidays in a big way. A time where young people normally play and celebrate instead had people asked to stay home. Travel over the new year holidays was also affected with the government asking people to avoid any unnecessary travel, very different to the normal encouragement to visit relatives. Christmas was also affected, the number of illumination events as well as limits to attendance meant that this Christmas was not as exciting as previous years. End of year celebrations were also changed with the popular New Year’s Countdown, that is held in Shibuya every year, being cancelled. People were also asked to make their shrine visits over a series of days, rather than on the first of January to avoid crowds. Of course, some people (like me) decided to spend New Year’s at home by themselves. How did you spend your Christmas and New Year’s? Did you make sure to stay safe? Although it is late, I found some pictures of illuminations from last year and wanted to share them with you.

Restarting School: With Christmas over and the start of the new year, it is time to restart school at Kei-Sho. Amidst a State of Emergency, Kei-Sho will continue running, with stronger protections. One such example is the opening ceremony being held through the announcement system rather than in the gymnasium. The year has only just started but I have hope that this year will involve more fun and excitement for the students and teachers at Kka.

Llew