Students in Japan have held their graduation ceremony in Minecraft as a result of the coronavirus, after COVID-19 forced the cancelation of the event as attendees were placed in quarantine.
Japanese schools have been closed since March 2 due to the coronavirus, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe taking the preventative measure to stop the spread of the potentially deadly virus. This decision has caused many to miss their graduation ceremonies, though some creative students have used Minecraft to celebrate their achievement in a virtual world.
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The Minecraft graduation was posted to Twitter (translated by Sora News), showing elementary school students meeting up in order to “graduate” online.
“‘What are you doing?’
‘We all decided to have a graduation ceremony together!’
Oh? Awesome. The elementary students gathered to start graduation themselves
「何やってんの？」
「みんなで卒業式をやることにした」え？すげえ。
小学生が集まって自分たちで卒業式を始めた。 pic.twitter.com/qqk2XnmK6g— 柏原周平 (@backyennew) March 14, 2020
The Minecraft graduation was organized by students, with them designing the graduation hall and inviting other students along to participate.
A video was shared of the elementary school students enjoying their makeshift ceremony:
一日中オンラインで集まってゲームをやって笑い転げている。楽しそうで良いねぇ。 pic.twitter.com/sYqoJ1zYaj
— 柏原周平 (@backyennew) March 14, 2020
As many are forced into quarantine as a result of the coronavirus, these students’ response to missing out on a big day is heartwarming news amongst a barrage of doom and gloom. Perhaps the students’ inventive workaround will be emulated elsewhere, and we’ll start seeing more digital graduations and celebrations in the near-future.
