Unicycles in Japanese schools

When we were in Takayama last October, we were looking for a playground for our young daughter.

We came across a playground attached to a school. It looked like a junior (elementary) school, and we were surprised to see that there were several unicycles (I'm not sure if people are familiar with this word: I mean bicycles with only one wheel. The kind of thing you might see in a circus. Some people call them monocycles.) and also sets of stilts.

My question is whether this is a common thing in Japanese schools. Do Japanese children commonly learn to ride unicycles and walk on stilts, or was this particular school unusual?

I can see how children might be able to learn these skills more easily than adults, and how it would be great fun for them. I've never heard of schools in the UK doing this, but as an adult who has tried to ride a unicycle before, and has found it very difficult, I'm interested to find out more.

Thanks a lot to anyone who can help me.

yes. it seems to be common in elementary schools in Japan.
I search the information in webs.
in 1981, Japan unicycling association started to donate unicycles to schools.
in 1989, monbu-sho(ministry of education) added the subject to learn unicycle riding in 3rd and 4th grades of elementary schools.

Thanks very much, Ken.

How fantastic! What a great idea. Am I right in thinking that 3rd and 4th grade means 7-9 year olds? (That's what it would mean in the UK.)

I'm just going to drag my old unicycle out of retirement and try to refurbish it and see if I can ride it again. Let's hope it might inspire our daughter.

elementary schools start from 6 years old. children become 7 years old during 1st grade.
So, 3rd and 4th are 8-9 and 9-10 years old.

Unicycles or Ichirin-sha is very popular especially among girls.
http://www.bellmark.or.jp/assets/images/img/support/index/2011/hatsush...

Boys also enjoy riding on Ichirin-sha but more popular for girls(don't know why).

Schools won't teach how to ride on, it's not apart of P.E. activities, but girls learn themselves how to ride on.
The most schools organize Ichirin-sha club as apart of school activity(normally held once a week). The majority of the club member is girls.

As girls get mature, they don't ride on Ichirin-sha(don't know why).

Thanks, both. Special thanks for clearing up the age/grade question.

I'm aware that in the UK we make our children start school earlier than a lot of other countries (we start them in the school year during which they become 5, i.e. they start at 4 years old).

As Ken mentioned, unicycle-riding is indeed taught in most elementary schools in Japan as part of Physical Education, to both boys and girls. The aim is to learn how to balance yourself and it could be substituted with other balancing tools such as the traditional take-uma.

However, it's just one of the numerous units of P.E. you get in elementary school. I'm not even sure how many hours they spend on it. Maybe 2 or 3 lessons, just as all the other units are.

Therefore, many students end up barely remembering if they ever did it or not, while others dig into it as a new hobby. And of course, most adults never got to learn it.

Thanks, Uco.

Am I right that take-uma are what I'd call stilts (two poles with a platform on each, about 30 cm above the ground, on which you stand, and then try to walk without falling off)? Google search results come up with all sorts of things - mainly related to graphic design, and I'm sure that's not what we're talking about.

Physical Education in the UK was quite dull. I wish I'd gone to school in Japan ;0)

Yes, that's what takeuma is. (Come to think of it, you do have that in Europe. Why didn't I think of the English word?)
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AB%B9%E9%A6%AC

As for P.E., the Japanese version has its pros and cons, but I guess we can't have everything perfect :)

ichirinsha taikai performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjhdALKu_EA

Teaching how to ride on Ichirin-sha is not compulsory at schools under the ministry of education scheme. Teachers at school may teach how to ride Ichirin-sha outside school activity.

Thanks, everyone. I learn so much from this site.