Japan may have little to celebrate with its economic recovery still fragile, so some cheerleaders are hitting the streets and stages to pep up the mood - including one pom-pom squad¹ whose average age is 66.

经济复苏仍很疲软的日本可能没什么值得庆贺的，所以一群啦啦队队员走上街头，登上舞台，提振大家的情绪，其中一支啦啦队的平均年龄达到了66岁。

Members of a seniors' cheerleading group called"Japan Pom Pom" perform on stage at the All Japan Cheerleading and Dance Championship in Chiba, east of Tokyo, last month.

On a recent Saturday, some 20 members of elderly cheerleading club Japan Pom Pom performed at a competition near Tokyo, waving gold pom-poms and dancing to the rhythm（节奏，韵律） in shiny red costumes adored with sequins（亮片） and wearing bobbed（剪短的，短发的） silver wigs²（假发） .

"I started cheerleading when I was 63 and I think I can dance much better and have made some improvements. Anybody can improve, even if you are old," said Fumie Takino, the 78-year-old leader and founder³ of the club.

The club, whose members' ages average 66 and add up to 1,520 years, practices two hours a week and often performs at children's hospitals as well as nursing homes.

Takino said that their main goal is to have fun.

"There is a lot of depressing news and the economy is bad. I must say, I can only do a little to overcome（克服） this problem, but I hope we can provide energy and encourage people by showing how we senior cheerleaders are simply enjoying ourselves," she said.

The group's enthusiasm（热心，热情） appears to be contagious⁴（蔓延的，感染性的） .

In Tokyo's bustling⁵（忙乱的，熙熙攘攘的） business district of Shinjuku, Aya Saito, 33, has been dancing on a street every morning to the 1980s pop song "Mickey" for seven months as commuters rush by to work.

"Are you guys enjoying your job? Let's do our best today, too!" Saito called out on a recent week day, her long ponytail（马尾辫） shaking as she hopped⁶. Some took out their mobile phones to shoot photos while an old woman watched in amazement⁷.

Saito said she started her daily dance routine last August after wondering how she could tell other employees to avoid making the same mistake that she did in her previous job, and which led her to quit - bottling up（隐藏，克制） her frustration⁸.

Her solution? She taught herself cheerleading by watching YouTube clips and hit the street in a $40 red, sleeveless cheerleading costume, purchased at a party goods store.

"One guy said he was going to quit his job but decided⁹ to stay after watching me dance here. That kind of thing makes me feel that my cheerleading is worthwhile," said Saito, now a freelance PR agent when she is not dancing.