Ōendan

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title: "Ōendan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cheerleading", "high-school-sports-in-japan", "articles-containing-video-clips"] description: "Japanese sports rallying team" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ōendan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Japanese sports rallying team ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Cheerleader_Waseda.jpg" caption="An ''ōendan''"] ::

An ōendan, literally "cheering squad" or "cheering section", is a Japanese sports rallying team similar in purpose and allegedly inspired by the cheerleading squads in the United States, but relies more on making a lot of noise with brass drums or taiko drums, blowing horns and other items, waving flags and banners, and yelling through plastic megaphones in support of their sports team than on acrobatic moves (though some ōendan incorporate pom-pom girls). In addition to cheering for their own teams, ōendan have been known to lead fans in cheers which tease and taunt the other team and its fans. This is usually done in the spirit of good competition, but occasional fights have broken out if the taunting gets too heated. Smaller ōendan are sometimes called ōenbu.

Like in high school and college sports in United States, the Ōendan may be followed by brass bands or by a group of fans playing songs in support for the teams on trumpets. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Sokeisen_spring_2008_-_Keio_University_flag.JPG" caption="Waseda Keio]] rivalry game"] ::

Introduction

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Japenesecheerleaders.jpg" caption="Japanese cheerleaders who are part of the [[Waseda University Cheerleading Club"] ::

Ōendan or ōenbu can be found in high schools, colleges, and universities, as well as in non-academic settings such as industrial league sports clubs (such as the intercity baseball tournament), professional sports fan clubs, and so on. Many schools hold competitions during their sports day events, and students often spend weeks perfecting their presentations after being divided up into teams.

Many members of an ōendan will dress in long happi and wear hachimaki emblazoned with team logos, inspirational sayings, or the names of their favorite players, something adopted by some fans of Japanese idol groups.

Especially with baseball teams, akin to Supporters' groups, the ōendan for each team will sit up in attendance and come up with unique cheers to help the fans become involved. These cheers may change depending on the player in the field or who the opposing team is. On occasion, the fans themselves will come up with a new cheer that is then adopted by other fans and their team's ōendan.

References

References

1. "Japanese Baseball Dictionary". Yakult Swallows Home Plate.
2. Katz, Debby. "Dreams from the Dust Bowl". Toasted-Cheese.com.
3. "Japan's iconic cheer squads? You can thank college football".
4. Whiting, Robert. "The Concept of Wa". P.O.V. (American Documentary).
5. "Yakult Swallows Fans and Oendan: Cheering together . . . usually". Yakult Swallows Home Plate.
6. (2005-08-22). "ハードコアモーヲタ".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::