21 March 2016
Report: Japanese Language and Culture Week
18 to 20 March 2016 at Times Square
The Embassy of Japan in Brunei, together with the Japan Foundation, Times Square, the Brunei Association of Japan Alumni (BAJA), the Institute of Brunei Technical Education Continuing Education and Training Division (IBTE-CET), Ministry of Education and the Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Programme (SSYEAP) and its alumni association (BERSATU) co-organised the “Japanese Language and Culture Week” from Friday the 18th to Sunday the 20th March 2016 at Times Square. There were many other supporting organisations represented at this event.
The event introduced Japanese traditional culture, modern pop-culture, as well as information on studying in Japan, the youth exchange programme supported by the Government of Japan and other tourism information. The event not only aimed to strengthen Brunei and Japan’s relationship but also to promote the Japanese language and highlight opportunities for studying in Japan. At the event, there were live demonstrations and exhibition booths for Manga (cartoons), Ikebana (traditional Japanese flower arrangement), Japanese cooking, calligraphy, origami (paper folding), Yukata (casual Japanese summer kimonos) dressing-up, Japanese martial arts, songs and dances, quiz shows and many more.
Manga demonstrations and workshops were conducted by the Japanese Manga artist, Ms Manaru Tenkawa, whose panel comics and essay manga are about Arabic culture and calligraphy. She is also a part-time lecturer of comic art at the Nihon Computer Institute. Ms Tenkawa drew and presented a picture combined with Arabic calligraphy live on stage. She also conducted workshops on 18 and 19 March for 30 lucky applicants each day, on the methodology of professional manga drawing. Places were based on a first-come, first-served basis. Ms Tenkawa announced the winners from both workshops and manga related prizes were awarded at the closing ceremony on 20 March for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
The Ikebana demonstration was led by the distinguished Ikebana master, Ms Risho Saito, who is a member of the Sogetsu Teachers’ Association and is the Sogetsu Yamaguchi Branch Master. She came to Brunei again, following the success of last year’s event, where she once again showcased her elegant techniques and artistic sense. She also held try-out session for anyone interested.
Focusing on the Japanese language, some of the co-organisers and supporters introduced basic Japanese, share experiences of studying in Japan, presented the JENESYS programme sponsored by the Government of Japan, and introduced the UBD’s Japanese club activities. In addition, the Japanese residents in Brunei introduced Japanese calligraphy. There was a calligraphy contest, where participants were asked to write a Japanese word using Hiragana (the basic Japanese phonetic script). The calligraphy winners were announced at the closing ceremony, and prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Gorgeous ‘made-in-Japan’ prizes, such as a CANON digital camera (IXUS 255 HS) and a G-shock watch were prepared for the 1st and 2nd places.
