Established in 1984, the NUS Japanese Studies Society (JSS) is a student-run organization under the auspices of the Department of Japanese Studies that seeks to promote the understanding of Japan and appreciation of Japanese culture. It aims to bring the people of Japan and Singapore closer together by promoting mutual understanding, appreciation and cooperation. JSS is registered with the Registry of Societies, Singapore.
In the JSS family, we also have 5 autonomous sub-clubs: Nihon Buyo Club (Japanese Traditional Dance), Sado Club (Japanese Tea Ceremony), KotoKottoN (Japanese Koto Ensemble), Odoro!! (Contemporary Japanese Dance Covers) and Japanese Music Club. Each sub-club engages their members in a specific area of Japanese culture through regular club activities.
JSS provides invaluable opportunities for exposure to Japanese culture and unites students with a shared passion for Japan’s vibrant traditions, arts and language. Our regular events revolve around various aspects of Japanese traditional and popular culture, and selected topics in Japanese Studies. Recent event themes include Japanese food, coffee culture, voice acting, as well as Japanese language and literature. Every year in June/July, we organise a Freshmen Orientation Camp, open to all incoming first-year students interested in Japan, to welcome them into the university.
We also strengthen bilateral ties through extensive collaboration with Japanese partner universities, companies, and the local Japanese community. Currently, we maintain our engagement with our Japanese counterparts through interaction sessions with partner universities and our Brothers-and-Sisters Programme, both of which are currently held online. In pandemic-free times, we organise a mutual homestay exchange programme with our counterparts from Kyushu University where members get the opportunity to visit Kyushu as well as to host Kyushu University students during their stay in Singapore. We also conduct university visits for incoming students from Japan where Japanese students and JSS members can interact and build new friendships through a mutual cultural exchange.
NUS JSS is also proud to have the following individuals as our sub-committee members.
A traditional Japanese and folk dance club for NUS students, which performs for external organizations and the general public.
The Japanese Music Club (JMC) brings enthusiasts together to create and enjoy a variety of Japanese music, including pop, rock, anime and Vocaloid.
A group of NUS students who wish to spread the love for Odottemita in the community. Join us in spreading the love for 踊ってみた！！
Learn, practice and appreciate traditional Japanese tea ceremony in the Enshuryu style with NUS Sado Club.
A traditional Japanese club which focuses on playing the koto (箏), a handmade stringed music instrument.
Eager to learn to recognise Japan's most famous landmarks? Or maybe you're more on the side of flexing your Nihon-Knowledge? Well, this round we're hosting a mini Geo-Guessr tournament for you and your friends to throw hands (at the buzzers, of course)! As usual, we'll also have our regular set of games at the side for the less competitive among us!
JSS Book Club returns for the third and final installment this semester of our theme "Coming of Age" with Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster (2023), a critically-acclaimed film about growing up and bullying that repeatedly asks an innocuous and terrifying question: "Who is the monster?"
JSS's social event Coffee Chat is back at it again with Round 3! The famed poetry-listening, speed-swiping game Karuta has now arrived at a seminar room near you. Get ready to learn more about this unique yet historically rich game, understanding the different forms of Karuta and trying your hand in an English-accessible version of the game for everyone to enjoy!
JSS Book Club returns with "Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki" for a second installment this semester under the theme "Coming of Age" 16 years after being cast out from his group of best friends in high school, Tsukuru Tazaki’s regretful past still haunts his every thought and action. Not knowing what else to do, Tazaki decides: he will pay each of his friends a visit and slowly, painfully reconstruct their betrayal. Join us as we discuss Tsukuru Tazaki’s journey of self-discovery, realising that maybe none of us are as "colourless" as we think.
A staple souvenir for any tourist visiting Japan’s shrines, have you ever wanted to truly understand the significance behind those small little pouches called omamori? Or maybe you miss Japan a little and want a taste of those lucky souvenirs? Learn more about those mysterious little pouches that must stay sealed forever, and even make your own omamori-style charm to hold your deepest desires and wishes!
Coffee Chat, our regularly scheduled socializing event, is returning with its 2nd instalment! Prepare to be wowed by the fascinations of Fortune in Japan, where we cover the different forms of fortune telling practices from this developed yet superstitious country! From the famed Omikuji to the esoteric Tarot Cards, we're definitely "predicting" a good time there!
Let’s jump into the second semester of AY23/24 with JSS Book Club! Our new theme “Coming of Age” will be kicking off with one of the most well-known books of Japanese Literature, Dazai Osamu’s “No Longer Human”! This masterpiece explores the dark depths of the human condition through Oba Yozo’s struggles to understand the human psyche. We will be guiding discussions on the novel’s form and genre, along with the human ego, the necessity of human connection, and the conditions for social acceptance.
Welcome to JSS' December event, Idol Seekers: Teru Teru Mansion Breakout! After getting past our harsh exams, it's time to escape the semester in our very own Escape Room! Grab your fellow friends and test your mettle against our finest puzzles, and see if you can make it out!
Coffee Chat? You mean that event where JSS members interact with each other in a relaxed setting? Well, it's back again and more regular than ever! Welcome to Coffee Chat #1, the first of many to come! If you want to get to know your fellow JSS members better, these matchup-themed team minigames might just be a match for you!
The Hanafuda event had been a blast! The session commenced with a brief introduction and overview of Hanafuda cards, delving into the history behind the development of Hanafuda, where members learned about the meaning of the cards and months. The highlight was, of course, interacting with members through the teaching and playing of Hana Awase, a simple matching game! Members also had the opportunity to learn the rules of Koikoi Yaku rules and engage in a few rounds of Koikoi.
Hi all, JSS Book Club is back again! In our recent JSS Book Club event, we presented on Wolf Children by Mamoru Hosoda. Participants engaged in meaningful discussions revolving the themes of family and belonging, motherhood and sacrifice, as well as nature and environment, which are key ideas that were present in the film. Many interesting and unique insights were gained from analysing this with respect to the film’s visual and sound elements!
For our last event this summer break, JSS tied things up with Mizuhiki, an ancient Japanese art of decorative cord-tying 🧶. Participants learnt about the significance of mizuhiki in tradition, and tried their hand at making their own mizuhiki keychain that they could bring home!
JSS Book Club is back! Our theme last semester —'Japanese Literature is...' —will continue this summer break as the cycle of deceit does in Quicksand by Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, continually and interminably ⏳. Participants enjoyed discussing about the themes of sexuality, obsession, manipulation and narratorial unreliability in the novel, all against the framework of the archetype of the femme fatale.
QuizRush is JSS' very own quiz show event where members can compete against each other in their knowledge of Japan and Japanese culture. In this latest installment of QuizRush, JSS members competed against each other in four different game modes, and showed off their knowledge on Japan!
Our regular sessions with Kyushu University gave us the opportunity to interact with Japanese students and deepen our understanding of each others culture
May - a month signifying the end of finals and the start of vacation 🎉. However, the ⛈ rainy season - a damper on fun outdoor activities - also beckons. This May, JSS will be holding our first vacation period event, Teru Teru Teatime, where you can learn about the origins, symbolism and traditions behind the teru teru bōzu. Join us on the afternoon of Saturday 20th May from 4.00-5.30pm and bring home your very own teru teru bōzu to ward against rainy days!
Professor Mieko Fujisawa from Kanazawa University is arranged an online interaction session with JSS members, and had a free and easy exchange to understand each other’s culture. JSS members had the opportunity to become friends with the Japanese students from Kanazawa were able to share contacts with Kanazawa students
Back by popular demand, Seiyuu - Say You? Redux edition 📣 aired on the JSS channel on the evening of Friday 10th March from 7.00-9.00pm. Participants got to learn about Japan's voice acting industry, mix and match character voice lines, create their own scenarios and try their hand at bringing anime and manga characters to life!
Continuing with the semesterly theme "Japanese Literature is ...", Book Club's second session this semester covered Yu Miri's Tokyo Ueno Station, which explores inequalities and issues of discursive visibility and invisibility at multiple levels in Japanese society. Our participants enjoyed discussing the various themes in the book together with our guest, A/P Deborah Shamoon!
The JSS Sub-Committee Welcome Tea session was jointly organised by JSS Book Club and JSS QuizRush, for interested participants to learn about each event. The committee members shared their passion for their respective events, and we hope to see our Welcome Tea participants at our future events!
This semester, Book Club will be exploring the theme "Japanese Literature is ...", and what better novel to start of with than Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country! This impressionistic classic uses sparse and subtle prose to bring out the impossible love story of Shimamura, a wealthy dilettante, and Komako, a hot-spring geisha in an isolated mountain-town.
Come join us on the evening of 18 January from 6.30pm to 8.00pm and discuss your thoughts about the book, and how the Sino-Japanese War and Japanese climate philosophies have shaped this novel and Japanese Literature at large!
Note: This event is open to all NUS students. All discussions and extracts used will be in English. You do not need any language proficiency in Japanese to participate in the event.
After a 2 year hiatus, the long anticipated Japanese Cultural Festival 2023 (JCF) is finally back!
JCF is an annual event organised by the NUS Japanese Studies Society (JSS) with a goal to enrich visitors and leave them with a greater appreciation of Japanese culture. This year, the 1-day event will feature many fun festival booths and exciting performances that visitors can look forward to!
The theme for JCF 2023 is 覚醒(kaku sei), meaning “Revival” or “Awakening” in Japanese. Through this theme, we hope to revive the festive spirit by showcasing different aspects of Japanese culture and enabling everyone within our community to experience our love and passion for all things Japan. We want to set alight a newfound passion for our participants by enjoying all things Japanese together.
More importantly, as we walk our participants through the various activities organized throughout the event, we hope to rekindle their existing fervour towards Japanese culture and instil newfound interest in other aspects.
Admission is free. We hope to see you there!
Japanese Cultural Festival 2023 (JCF):
Date & Time: 14 January 2023, 1000-1800hrs
Venue: UTown Plaza
We hold regular sessions with Kumamoto University for free and easy conversations with Japanese students and for an opportunity to make new friends and gain a glimpse into Japanese daily life. This December a small group of us came together and shared our own ways of celebrating the new year. We also talked about our favourite sports in light of the recent world cup that took place.
After 2 years lack of physical activities, we are glad to announce that we will be having a JSS BBQ session for all of our members and alumni for everyone to interact with each other physically!
We are pleased to announce that our ♨️🍗 BBQ Get-Together 🍖♨️ event will be held on 17th December, from 5 to 9pm!
This November we will finally be having a physical interaction Session with Waseda-U!
Interested in learning about language acquisition in Japan? Do come by for some lighthearted interaction and interesting discussions!
Been feeling stressed from incoming submission deadlines? Or maybe midterms have taken too much out of you? Why not come down to JSS Games Night 2022 🎲🌃 and have fun playing traditional Japanese games!
From the infamous Kendama (剣玉) to the traditional Daruma Otoshi (だるま落とし), JSS Games Night 2022 is the perfect avenue to relieve some stress and make some new friends in the process!! Join us at UTown Plaza SR7 & 8 to liven up your Thursday night!
JSS and Chubu University brought their favourite food, drink or snack to share during the interaction session. JSS members got a glimpse into the food culture of Japan. We've learnt that chocolate products are the most popular amongst Japanese snacks, and that tea is greatly appreciated by the Japanese community. It was an informative session and we'd hope to have another session with them soon!
Murata Sayaka’s Convenience Store Woman follows the life of Furukura Keiko, a 36-year-old part-time convenience store worker. The novel has been interpreted by some as a critique of hyper-conformist societies obsessed with (re)productivity. Through captivating narration, we are invited to viscerally face Furukura’s struggle to fit into contexts as varied as her workplace, her family life and her social life.
Kawakami Mieko is a renowned author who has won multiple awards such as the Akutagawa Prize. The 10th iteration of Book Club will be featuring her best-selling novel, Breasts and Eggs.
Reflecting Kawakami's writing, which often focuses on female bodies and ethical or societal issues that women face, Breasts and Eggs follows the lives of three women in contemporary Japan. Featuring women's bodily insecurities and concerns and the desire for bodily autonomy and reproduction, Kawakami brings to the forefront challenges and experiences of Japanese women today.
Gender has always been a widely debated topic throughout history. Ever wondered how Japanese poets approach this theme in their works? In Meditations on Gender Across Time, NUS JSS Book Club explores the works of two Japanese female poets – Makura no Sōshi (The Pillow Book) and Midaregami (Tangled Hair) – who lived in different time periods.
How do their views on gender differ? How was gender conceptualised? Was there even an awareness of gender in the first place? Come discuss these questions in our live session on 25 August!
This is the sixth iteration of JSS' book club series. Participants explored the enigmatic narrative style of Mishima Yukio through one of his most famous works, Confessions of a Mask. The discussion was conducted in relation to his childhood and adolescent years, and helped reveal new angles in which readers can interpret Mishima Yukio's texts.
One of the best ways to start learning Japanese would be reading. However, reading in a non-native language can be very daunting at first. Thankfully, one of our members, Rhys, has come up with a highly educational and interactive event to help JSS members on their Japanese learning journey!
Nara Visitor Center & Inn kindly hosted an online tea ceremony so that participants could learn more about Sado (Japanese Tea Ceremony)! During the event, Yayoi-sensei introduced the interior of an authentic Japanese tea room, beautiful traditional Japanese sweets that can be paired with tea and how to conduct a proper tea ceremony.
In January, we were joined once again for an online interaction session by Kyushu University students from KUIFA (Kyushu University International Friendship Association) and Tandem, Kyushu University's student-run language learning program!
* Although this is a recurring event, participation in previous sessions is not a prerequisite for joining. The event is held with both English and Japanese breakout rooms.
How can one make a gift even more special?
One of our members, Wang Lei, taught participants the basics of Japanese gift-wrapping to better prepare for the holiday season! Participants learned how to wrap their gifts step-by-step, as well as the meanings associated with various Japanese gift wrapping styles!
In December, we were joined by Japanese students from Chubu University for a discussion session on news articles in English! Participants also had the opportunity to learn more about Black Friday sales in Japan whilst sharing their own experiences with sales in Singapore.
In the fourth iteration of Book Club, participants engaged in a discussion of the post-war views and personal feelings presented in Unno Jūza's short story: The World in One Thousand Years. We reflected on how this story, an early Japanese attempt at sci-fi written in 1970s, compares to modern-day sci-fi works. In addition, we discussed how Unno's ideas have influenced Japanese youth of that time, particularly their impacts on Japanese entertainment that followed.
An extension of J-Translation Space, participants tried employing the skills that they have picked up to embark on the challenge of translating longer works of their choice, such as manga and light novels. We shared our progress and discussed creative and novel ways to translate various works.
This event kickstarts a series of translation workshops in which participants become part of a recurring platform to engage in Japanese-to-English translation. Participants are introduced to Japanese-to-English translation through hands-on activities on short works of their choice, such as songs lyrics and poems. Participants also learnt from one another by meeting and working together with new friends they made in the event.
In this event, we had a great time speaking to Dr Chris McMorran, a cultural geographer in the NUS Department of Japanese Studies. He spoke to us about his time and work in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, as well as his observations on the onsen tourism industry there. We hope participants learnt something new about Kumamoto and Japan, and perhaps got to know Dr Chris better as well!
In the third run of Book Club, we discussed how the social roles were depicted and expressed in Mori Ogai’s novel, The Wild Geese. Among other topics, participants were engaged in meaningful discussions on the social positions of women in Meiji Japan as well as the depiction of love in its different forms in that social milieu.
Voice acting is more than reading lines off a script. In this event, members were introduced to the history and practice of voice acting in Japanese anime and games. Everyone had fun voicing lines from anime and manga, even coming up with their own impromptu lines!
Origami is not just an art form, but it is also a lot of fun. Did you know that origami does not require any sort of adhesive? That means that every fold serves a purpose in holding a piece of origami together! Members learnt how to fold a quaint-looking gift box either at the physical venue or the comforts of their home in this hybrid event.
“We are ranked first in Asia, let’s put that to the test.” Quiz Rush is not for the faint hearted as members go head-to-head and compete with one another in teams. From topics such as food to sports, members were simply spoilt for choice at the questions they could choose to answer, with only one team emerging victorious.
Taking a break from schoolwork, members were given an opportunity to befriend students from JWU and chat over topics such as shopping, food, and student life. Amidst the fruitful discussions, cultural exchange from both sides also took place as participants shared about their life in their respective countries.
Due to its successful first run, JSS Book Club is back again this on the theme of Japan’s first modern novel. Particpants engaged in literary discussion of The Drifting Cloud by Futabatei Shimei and its significance in the genbun itchi literary movement.
For our first physical event of AY20/21, members wind down and relax on an evening to reminisce about the coffee culture in Japan. Members learnt about the significance of coffee in Japan, and about the different types of coffee one could get. To top it off, members also got the chance to brew V60 coffee ––a perfect remedy for constant fatigue.
A member-initiated event, participants came together to explore thematic significance in Meiji-era literature. Extracts from Natsume Soseki's Kokoro and Akutagawa Ryunosuke's In A Grove! were used for discussion of the social climate of those times.
A play on words, Mochi-suki lives up to its name of letting our members gain a greater appreciation of mochi. Members were engaged through a brief presentation, followed by an exciting Kahoot Quiz where they could compete with one another and emerge victorious. Combined with history and fun-facts, it is the perfect amalgation of education and enjoyment.
To connect the society with its academic side, JSS hosted an online ‘carnival’ which allowed members to explore different facets of the Japanese Studies major. Whether they were prospective students or just Japanese culture enthusiasts, members were given an opportunity to learn more about Japanese culture in terms of history, food, language and anime.
An enigmatic part of Japanese culture unraveled through storytelling of folklore, this event caught the eye of many Japanese-culture enthusiasts and amateurs alike. Members were engaged with historical anecdotes followed by Kahoot quizzes. With a range of Yōkai –– from greater to lesser ––members could learn something new regardless of their prior knowledge.
Gaining inspiration from our very successful E-FOC 2020, we gave our specially built Minecraft world an overhaul to suit the spooky Halloween theme. Members worked together in teams to find items in order to satiate monsters while making sure that they do not die to larva. New friendships were made, and old bonds were strengthened through this interactive online game which had just the right amount of brain teasers and adventure.
Gaining inspiration from our very successful E-FOC 2020, we gave our specially built Minecraft world an overhaul to suit the spooky Halloween theme. Members worked together in teams to find items in order to satiate monsters while making sure that they do not die to larva. New friendships were made, and old bonds were strengthened through this interactive online game which had just the right amount of brain teasers and adventure.
In light of the evolving Covid-19 situation, we have revamped annual JSS FOC into an all-new online format to welcome the freshmen to JSS and NUS! Participants engaged in exciting activities over Zoom, and finished with a thrilling finale game in Minecraft!
This year, through the theme “旅” (“Journey”), JCF&N took event visitors through a journey of cultural appreciation.
Freshmen Orientation Camp:「七転び八起き」(“Nanakorobi Yaoki”) welcomed many new adventurers aboard our journey and into the JSS family.
JCF&N'18 had the theme 記憶 ‘Memories’, bringing event attendees down through a passage of time with a wide array of games, “memory capsules” and performances from three interconnected segments - Past, Present and Future.
