The Japanese Conversation Table lives again!

... I hope.

I have decided (just a "tad" late in the semester) to try once again to revive the old Japanese Conversation Table. So who's going to care about speaking Japanese when there aren't any Japanese classes to take? Well, I'm hoping that anyone who's in the area and wants to keep practicing their Japanese over the summer will join in. And for anyone who's not in the area, I'm hoping that they will participate online in the Japanese discussion groups. I'd like to make the new (improved?) JCT as much an online forum as a face-to-face one. At any rate, I've had Morgan make me an admin of the old Facebook group, reworked the "statement of purpose" to reflect the new reality, and started a couple of discussion threads in the hopes of getting something started. We'll see how it goes. Check it out (and join the group) at the GVSU JCT Facebook site.

JCA Genki na Hanami!

In Japan, spring is the season for hanami (花見), or cherry blossom viewing. Groups of friends, coworkers and families lay out tarps on the ground and sit there all day long admiring the blossoms, eating, singing, and usually drinking large quantities of sake. Now the JCA will be honoring this tradition with their very own hanami (minus the sake, I think). This coming Monday, April 12th, from 6-8pm, they will gather in Kirkhof room 1142 to celebrate spring and Japanese culture. There will be examples of origami, calligraphy, and other aspects of Japanese culture and, of course, it wouldn't be a hanami without food. There will be loads of free food there catered by XO Asian Cuisine. Bring your friends!

Arts and Culture of Japan in Saugatuck

The Saugatuck Center for the Arts hosts an annual Global Cultural Festival in which they highlight the arts and culture of a specific region, and this year the topic is Japan. Throughout April they have free lectures on Japanese film, poetry, kimono, etc., performances of of Japanese drumming and kamishibai storytelling and workshops on tea ceremony, kimono, sake tasting, and a variety of topics for kids including origami, calligraphy and fan painting. You can take a look at the full schedule here.

I will be participating in the festivities as well, with a lecture on Japanese poetry on the evening of April 12th and a workshop on composing Japanese poetry on April 17th. I feel like I'm pretty well prepared for the lecture, especially since a lot of it is coming from recent lectures in my premodern Japanese culture and civilization course, but I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about the workshop. I've had my students do exercises in poetry composition before, but I have a lot more experience talking about Japanese poetry than I do teaching how to write English versions of Japanese forms. At any rate, if you can get down to Saugatuck for at least some of the events, I'm sure it will be memorable.