Autumn in Japan means much more than cooler temperatures and colorful leaves. It means . . . sports!
At least, that is, for one day.
"I used to hate Sports Day," says my wife, speaking not so much about the Oct. 10 holiday, but of the regular sports festivals held by almost every Japanese institution, from kindergartens to prisons, each fall. "I couldn't run. I couldn't jump. I couldn't do anything. Yet for one day each year, I had to prove this in public."