AISG’s New Japanese Culture Club is Open to Accept Members Next School Year

The Japanese Culture Club (JCC) is a new CCA beginning in AISG’s 2023-2024 school year. It is an opportunity to expand the Japanese community at AISG as well as educate non-Japanese students about the culture and language.

 

When coordinators Meg M. and Emily D. first came to AISG, they noticed that there were other culture clubs, but not a Japanese one. Meg and Emily, both Japanese, thought that this needed to change.

 

“I glanced through the list of clubs and saw that there were Korean and Chinese culture clubs, but not a Japanese culture club,” said Meg M., a sophomore at AISG. “Emily saw this as well and this motivated us to create a Japanese culture club.”

 

JCC’s main objective is to educate students about Japanese culture, language, and history for any student that is interested in learning.

 

“We are striving to teach students who participate to speak and write in Japanese, Japanese history, and aspects of Japanese culture such as origami, calligraphy, kimonos/Yukatas, as well as food,” said Meg. “We are also hoping to expand our Japanese community, since there are so little of us in AISG.”

 

Students that wish to take part can expect to learn new knowledge about the culture and have support to be able to put this knowledge to practical use. The JCC will also participate in school events such as International Day, in which a Japanese stall will be set up.

 

“Our club is a club that spreads Japanese culture, but it does not necessarily mean that you have to somehow be engaged with Japan because we are open to anyone- no matter your nationality, grade, or knowledge of our country,” said Meg. “If you are planning to be involved with Japan educationally or in business in the future, this is an ideal opportunity to get started.”

 

Joanna McCoskey is the teacher supervisor for the JCC. “My role is just to provide some guidance and encouragement and help to see some pitfalls along the way that might not be seen from not having experience with organizing events,” said Ms. McCoskey. “And really I’m here to learn about Japan as much as others might.”

 

Ms. McCoskey encourages anyone who is really interested in learning about Japan to join JCC. “Anyone should join who is really truly interested in learning more about Japan, the language, the food, the culture, and the art,” she said. “Not just interested in anime but really all of Japan. This is a group that really wants to engage with all things Japanese.”

 

“I think this is a great opportunity for students to learn about Japanese culture, but also I think for our students with Japanese backgrounds and ethnicities it’s a great way to get in touch with that,” continued Ms. McCoskey. “The students in charge of it have some brilliant ideas of ways to connect outside of our community and I think it’s going to be super fun to be part of it.”

 

An anonymous student at AISG was asked about how they feel about having JCC next year.

“I think it’s really inclusive,” they said. “I think starting a Japanese culture club will be very helpful to the students here.”

 

Meg M. and Emily D. are enthusiastic about and delighted to be starting JCC. They hope that this will help bring AISG’s diverse community even closer.

 

“This is a great opportunity to expand our Japanese community outside our boundaries,” said Meg M. “I hope that our culture club will contribute to bringing differing communities of diverse nationalities together.”