Kyoto University's bizarre carnival-like graduation ceremony

College graduation is one of the most memorable days in the life of anyone who has ever been a student. If you have experienced it, you will surely remember your own graduation ceremony with solemn speeches, joy for the past school years, sadness for saying goodbye to classmates. Especially everyone is neat in formal clothes and wearing bachelor's gowns.

However, Kyoto University, one of the largest and oldest universities in Japan, has a long-standing tradition of allowing its students to wear whatever they want to their graduation ceremony.

Want to be Pikachu or Darth Vader from Star Wars? No problem! Power Rangers, Samurai, Mona Lisa, or even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… It’s all accepted!

Kyoto University's bizarre graduation ceremony like a carnival - 1 — Kyoto University has a long-standing tradition of allowing its students to wear whatever they want to their graduation ceremony. (Photo: Boredpanda)

According to Boredpanda , with the concept that universities have long been the center of creative thinking, Kyoto University encourages graduates to have the opportunity to express themselves in this important ceremony.

Because of this unique tradition, this is also the occasion when not only many friends and relatives of students in the school but also hundreds of photographers and journalists come to attend the graduation ceremony at Kyoto University.

Kyoto University's bizarre graduation ceremony like a carnival - 2 — Whether you want to be Pikachu or Darth Vader from Star Wars, it doesn't matter. (Photo: Boredpanda)

“Our university has a long tradition of anti-authoritarianism,” said David Hajime Kornhauser, director of global communications at Kyoto University. “So the origins of this tradition of freely wearing graduation robes go back a long way, even though the university officially does not condone it.”

"I myself did not wear a gown to my graduation ceremony in the US. So for me, this is actually quite a natural thing. In other words, we respect the students' personal preferences. People can freely wear traditional styles or choose to be different to express their personality."

Kyoto University's bizarre graduation ceremony like a carnival - 3 — A group of students cosplayed as high-ranking officials. (Photo: Boredpanda)

"It seems like for a long time, students at the school have been choosing to dress up as whatever they want. But actually these cases are not a large number, usually less than 10%. These students often stand out because they intentionally sit in the front row. So it looks like there are a lot of people doing this, but it's really only the people sitting in the front row. In the back, the vast majority of graduates mainly choose traditional ceremonial attire," said Mr. David.

Kyoto University's bizarre graduation ceremony like a carnival - 4 — 5 "Samurai warriors" on their graduation day (Photo: Boredpanda)

Commenting on this unique tradition, Ms. Yanislava Goncharenko, Marketing Director at Odessa National Economic University, said that it provides a good opportunity for students to express themselves, to show their individuality and imagination. It is not only a self-expression of the graduates’ personalities, but also helps to attract public attention, thereby contributing to the promotion of the university’s unique brand in the educational services market as an educational institution that encourages students to express their unique and creative thinking.

“Such a pedagogical approach is certainly very successful, both in terms ofeducation and in terms of creating a non-standard image of the university, which has traditions known all over the world,” says Yanislava Goncharenko.

Kyoto University's bizarre graduation ceremony like a carnival - 5 — Many female students choose to transform into Japanese manga characters. (Photo: Boredpanda)

In 2011, Kyoto University administrators attempted to end the tradition by officially warning prospective graduates that only traditional or folk costumes would be permitted for the ceremony. The announcement was met with widespread outrage—not just in Kyoto, but across Japan—and interest in the university plummeted. After several years of unsuccessful attempts to enforce the rule, things went back to normal, with even more creativity.

“Kyoto's president and top executives are all graduates of the school, so they often have more empathy and understanding of how students feel than the school's management,” explains David Hajime Kornhauser.

Kyoto University was founded in 1897 and is the second oldest university in Asia. Despite its long history, Kyoto is not afraid to challenge long-established traditional trends. Such an approach makes perfect sense, after all, it is this bold innovation that has helped the school train outstanding creative figures for humanity, such as Yoshino Akira - who invented the lithium-ion battery for smartphones and won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, or famous Japanese writer Takakura Teru, etc.

Here's a collection of the best, most creative, and funniest costumes from Kyoto University graduation ceremonies over the years.