What Is an Ouendan? Japan's Cheering Squads, Explained
An ouendan is a Japanese school cheering squad known for loud voices, black uniforms, and tightly choreographed yells. Here's what it is, and why comedians love borrowing its style.
So, what is an ouendan?
An ouendan is a cheering squad found at many Japanese high schools and universities. Members often wear a gakuran, the black, high-collared school uniform, and cheer on their teams with booming voices and set, formal movements: arms snapping into position, backs straight, every gesture done the same way each time.
Their signature call is a drawn-out "Furee, furee!" (from the English "hurray"), shouted with total commitment. Some readers might see a distant cousin in American cheerleading, but the feel is quite different: less pom-poms and pyramids, more disciplined, full-throated ceremony. Every school does it a little differently, and the style can range from traditional to relaxed.
Why it works so well in comedy
The ouendan style is instantly recognizable to Japanese audiences: the stance, the voice, the dead-serious face. That makes it a ready-made character a comedian can step into with just a few gestures and a shout.
In our view, the real engine is the mismatch. An ouendan pours maximum intensity into lifting people up, so the comedy comes from pointing that ritual, all-in energy at things nobody would normally cheer for. The more sincerely the performer commits, the wider the gap gets, and that gap is where the laughs live.
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We use AI as part of how we create our articles.
Subtitles on this video: AI translation from the Japanese.