September's sessions were focused on team-work; the members got the chance to bond together as a Collective through a range of challenging team-building activities and puzzles!
In September's Japan Lab, we kicked off with more ice-breaker activities before diving into some more challenging team-building tasks. This was an excellent chance to really focus on honing their problem-solving and communication skills, which is something that many of the members of the Collective mentioned they wanted to improve and develop during their time on the programme.
Following this, the members got to listen to an engaging lecture by Dr Monika Hinkel from SOAS, which explored Japanese art throughout history, from the ancient Jomon Period up to the modern day.
To round off the session, the members got to meet alumni from the 2023-2024 JYC cohort! It was an excellent chance for new and old members of the Collective to mingle and get to know one another, as well as find out how the JYC programme has helped them in exploring their future paths at university.
Later on in the month, the members got to meet up for a Catch-Up session. In this session, the members met the Chief Executive of The Japan Society, Dr Michael Rivera King, and learned about his career and journey involving Japan, and how it led him to The Japan Society! The members also were able to meet with more alumni from the 2023-2024 JYC cohort, and had a quick Q&A to learn more about what studying Japanese at university is like, as well as what it was like planning and coordinating the final event at the end of their programme.
After hearing some useful advice from their JYC senpai, the members started to brainstorm some ideas in small groups to consider and discuss what they would like to do for their final project at the end of the programme in April. Whilst it may still be September, the time would soon fly by, so it was important for the members to start thinking of some ideas!
Finally, to round off another successful month, some of the Collective members kindly volunteered to help out at The Japan Society's booth at Japan Matsuri on Sunday 21 September! It was an excellent opportunity for members to share their enthusiasm for Japan with members of the public and even get to talk about the Japan Youth Collective programme itself.
Otsukare sama deshita (お疲れ様でした, "thank you for all your hard work") to all our Collective members! See you next month!
JYC Members' Voices
Reflection by Pavela
For our Friday session we were back at The Japan Society, and once everyone arrived, all of the JYC members had a chance to meet Mike! He explained to us his time on the JET programme and charity-work in Japan, his experiences in studying a masters and PHD at Oxford and how he later became chief executive at The Japan Society; his journey so far is extremely inspiring for everyone, especially in hearing how he could help and impact many lives for the better.
Afterwards, we played the Yamanote Line game, named after the famous underground line circling Tokyo. Each person had to say a word associated with the given theme, keeping up with the beat and not repeating another player’s word- it was definitely a mental-workout!
Just later we were introduced to the senpais. First Ratna introduced herself, explaining how she now studies Philosophy and Psychology in the University of Glasgow. She told us about how being a part of the Japan Youth Collective grew her knowledge about Japanese culture and her overall enjoyment of the programme, especially the final project, where her year had organised and hosted a large event. Ariunna, in the same JYC group, also spoke about the feeling of fulfilment and achievement everyone felt in hosting their event. She was the second senpai, who is now studying at Cambridge Japanese studies; all of us were inspired by both members, and many of us stayed behind to ask the two questions about UCAS and university life.
After hearing their amazing talks, we also got to hear Soraya’s informative speech about the ‘bubble’ of Japan’s economy in the late 20th century; her presentation was extremely intriguing and fun to listen to! After, the JYC split into groups of 4, where each were tasked with discussing possible ideas for our own final project. Once having shared our ideas, it seems that we are leaning towards hosting an event, where we will be involving amazing food.
Japan Matsuri
When arriving, the first stall I saw was The Japan Society one, seeing the familiar faces of the JYC members conducting workshops about beautiful calligraphy and making sumo origami. Following the aroma of delicious smells, all food stalls selling traditional Japanese food could be seen, as they had long, winding queues of visitors waiting for some amazing meals. There was a plethora of choice, from savoury bento boxes, katsu curry, ramen, to the sweet dango, mochi and matcha in drinks and ice cream.
Towards the centre was the stage, where many performed different Japan-related acts, from the energetic happi-adorned dancers to musicians playing a fusion of traditional Japanese instruments and heavy metal. However, the most awaited and largest crowd-gatherer was the cosplay showcase, where we could see many talented cosplayers and their immaculate, detailed costumes -a personal favourite being the dancing ensemble of Sailor Moon cosplayers!
Past the stage, there were more stalls selling anime posters and merchandise. However, my favourite stalls from this section were the two selling exquisitely beautiful accessories. One was about tsumami zaiku, a traditional Japanese craft from the Edo period, where small squares of silk are folded to create detailed and delicate flowers. The other stall specialised in hyotan (gourds) charms, which are used for good fortune and prosperity.
There were also informative stalls, run by many companies, from Nintendo -where everyone went to as to get colourful paper hats- and Japan Airlines. Overall, the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and celebration, as so many could come together in Trafalgar Square to join the Matsuri!
Japan Lab - Reflection by Omar
This week was the first official JYC meet-up at The Japan Society where most of the others will be held too.
To start the day off, we did a game to show how important being able to communicate was. The premise was that we were separated into three groups of 4, given a pack of cards and a rule sheet, and then we were told that we weren't allowed to speak. After reading through the rules and playing for a few minutes, the rule sheet was taken away and people were told to rotate to another group, until only 1 person from the original group remained the same. The trick was, however, that between groups the rules changed, and with no words to communicate, some interesting things happened. Two groups original rules appeared to get overruled once other people came over and started dictating who won, and one managed to keep the original rules just fine. This game taught us that good communication is vital in getting our point across, and helped us realise that we need to be open and direct with what we want to avoid miscommunication.
Then we swiftly headed into the next game, where we all assumed different professions; some people were farmers, others were doctors, etc. The situation was that we were all on a hot air balloon that was losing altitude fast and could only support the weight of one less person, so we all took turns explaining why our profession would be invaluable to the nation if we were to live so that we didn't get thrown off. This game also focused on teaching proper communication skills as well as helping with public speaking skills as we had to present our case to the rest of the group.
The verdict on who will be thrown off has yet to be decided as our guest speaker Dr. Monika Hinkel from SOAS arrived to give her presentation on the history of Japanese art, all the way from BC up until modern day. She also went through the works of famous Japanese woodblock painters named Hokusai and Hiroshige before talking about what her career is like and what opportunities there are for us if we choose to follow the same route, then finally ending her visit with a Q&A. Ultimately she explained to us information that only an expert in that field could while also clearing up any misconceptions about how Japanese art has evolved.
We rounded off the day with 2 JYC alumni from last year joining us to talk about their experiences from the group. This helped us see what the future of our time at the JYC might look like and what events might be in store for us soon.
