Japanese Culture Week on March 10

THE Japanese Embassy will be holding a Japanese Language and Culture Week that will be open to the public beginning March 10 at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Chancellor Hall.

The event, themed "Culture Fusion (Traditional and Modern)", will be showcasing Japanese culture both from the past and present through its various booths and entertainment.

"It will give the public a chance to re-acquaint with the history of Japanese culture,"said Akira Sato, counsellor from the Japanese Embassy yesterday in a press conference with the media.

Accompanying the counsellor was Minako Keaney, a Japanese language lecturer at UBD who gave a more detailed description of the event.

One of the main highlights of the festival will be the Japanese Tea Ceremony which will be conducted by a member of the Brunei-Japanese Association.

The UBD lecturer also said that there will be a Wadaiko (Japanese drum) performance, whereby three Wadaiko experts brought in from Malaysia will showcase their performance at the event for the entertainment of the public.

There will also be several booths showcasing Japanese culture, and Japanese food will also be served during the event, she said.

A Bonodori performance and workshop will also be held. The Bonodori is a Japanese folk dance and during the event, members of the public are invited to participate.

For those interested in learning the intricacies of Japanese cuisine, there will also be a Japanese cooking demonstration whereby participants will learn to make nigirizushi, a type of sushi that involves compressing meat on a small ball of Japanese rice.

There will also be a Cultural Arts in Clothing Trends Competition in the form of a fashion show where, according to Minako, UBD students will showcase a "fusion fashion" by using both Brunei and Japanese culture to make a costume. Participants of the competition have already been selected.

This year, Minako said that they hope that members of the public will come and visit and are expecting more visitors this year.

The event will end on Saturday, March 13.

The Brunei Times