JAPANDAY Festival at G-Square: Calligraphy and Traditional Japanese musical instruments --- Experience the Japanese culture!

  On Thursday, May 18th, 2023, nearly 30 international and Japanese students gathered to the cross-cultural lounge, G-Square (located at 2nd floor of Hilltop’78 building, Tama Campus) to attend this entertainment. 　
  First, students were entranced by the beautiful tone of traditional Japanese musical instruments played by Yuga Takahashi (junior year at the Faculty of Policy Studies) and Fuishin Ko (junior year at the Faculty of Global Management) of Chikutokai. They played beautiful music with shakuhachi. Chikutokai is a music club which members practice 3 kinds of traditional Japanese musical instruments, shamisen, koto and shakuhachi, to play at recitals. International students listened to the music with great interest and they also had a chance to play shakuhachi at the very end of the festival. 　
  Next, international students experienced calligraphy. They chose their favorite kanji, words or idioms and put brush on hanshi (paper) to write. Many students were trying to write their name in kanji. When they write, some were referring to the calligraphy sites available on smartphone and some were looking around other’s works. Every students worked very hard to complete their distinctive works. Toward the end of the festival, a shakuhachi performance, in concert with Chikutokai's movie, was also given, and some students who seems to be interested in the instrument tried their hand at playing shakuhachi. 　
  Both the International and Japanese students were able to quiet their mind engaging in Japanese spiritual culture. JAPAN DAY surely is a good opportunity to deepen friendships between international and Japanese students.