Japanese Language and Culture Festival 2020 (8 - 9 February 2020)

　　The Embassy of Japan in Brunei Darussalam will hold the ‘Japanese Language and Culture Festival 2020’ from 8 to 9 February at Times Square Shopping Centre.

　　The two-day event is open to the public free of charge to introduce traditional and contemporary Japanese culture and lifestyles, as well as promote the Japanese language, through stage performances and booths.

　　The Embassy of Japan will conduct demonstrations of the Japanese tea ceremony and there will be cooking demonstrations by the Ambassador’s chef. The tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea.

　　There will be a special appearance, by 4 musicians from Japan; YAMANAKA Nobuto (Tsugaru-shamisen), KATANO Satoshi (Shinobue), TAKA and TSUKAMOTO Junya (Wadaiko) for “MUSASHI: Music From The East”. They are award-winning musicians specialising in traditional Japanese music, performing locally in Japan and internationally. After Brunei, they will be at REXKL in Kuala Lumpur on 11 February, playing a wide range of Japanese songs from traditional to contemporary while introducing their traditional Japanese music instruments. Tsugaru-shamisen refers to the musical style originating from Tsugaru Peninsula in present-day Aomori prefecture played on the 3-stringed plucked instrument known as the shamisen. Shinobue is a Japanese transverse flute that has a distinctive high-pitched sound and Wadaiko is a traditional Japanese drum.

　　The event is held in cooperation with Times Square, the Japan Foundation, the Continuing Education and Training Division (IBTE CET) of the Ministry of Education, the Brunei Association of Japan Alumni (BAJA), the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Alumni, the Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Programme (SSEAYP) Alumni (BERSATU), and Brunei Japan Friendship Association (BJFA) University Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and University Teknologi Brunei (UTB) Chapters.

　　Performance Schedule

　　8 February 2020 (Saturday)　-　Opening ceremony 8:00pm

　　9 February 2020 (Sunday)
　　　　-　2:15pm – 3:15pm
　　　　-　8:00pm – 9:00pm