- COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, has closed schools and workplaces around the world.
- People have gotten creative with holding virtual gatherings while sheltering at home, from weddings in the Nintendo Switch game "Animal Crossing" to happy hours on Zoom video calls.
- A group of elementary school students organized a graduation ceremony for themselves in the video game "Minecraft" after their school closed.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
"Minecraft" is not only one of the most popular video games in the world, but it's also a place for students to recreate events canceled due to the coronavirus.
The block-building game, which Microsoft bought in 2014 for $2.5 billion, has been one of the most popular games worldwide over the last 10 years. As of September, it had a staggering 112 million active players every month, a number that has reportedly grown to 145 million.
March is typically the end of the Japanese school year, but when Japanese pubic schools closed in February due to COVID-19, many students realized they would likely miss graduation.
A group of eight elementary school students decided that they could still hold the ceremony in Minecraft. Take a look.
SEE ALSO: Activists created a 12.5 million block digital library in 'Minecraft' to bypass censorship laws
Shuhei Kashiwara tweeted a video of his 10-year-old son attending the virtual graduation ceremony.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1238717472867364865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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
The "Minecraft" setup was elaborate.
Students ranging in age from elementary to junior high school coordinated the event, without help from faculty or teachers.
The event was ordered just like a typical graduation ceremony. Graduates processed in in a line...
...and took their seats.
A speaker was invited to the stage to give a commencement address.
Then, a student spoke for the class.
Finally, it was time to give out diplomas. Graduates processed up to the stage.
One by one they crossed the stage and received their diplomas.
Kashiwara told Business Insider that the participants are all good friends, and they spent the day gaming and having fun.
The story and photos even made a local paper.
One of the students also posted a video of the graduation. Take a look here.
//www.youtube.com/embed/_3R3czbmkbk
Width: 560px
Height: 315px