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 proudly managed by:
Assistant Professor Konrad Kalicki
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.
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.
