Japanese Culture Festival at JWC Campus!

February 11 , 2012

Art connoisseurs can get a lot of inspiration from a country’s culture and traditions – especially when the country we’re talking about happens to be Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun is known for  its unique culture and way of life. We could see that and so much more at the event Bijac no Tanjoiwai 5: Bijac no Matsuri.

It was a part of a series of events organized to commemorate the fifth anniversary of BINUS International Japanese Culture Club (BIJCC). The event took place during the weekend, February 10-12, 2012. The festival, or matsuri in Japanese, was held in the Main Lobby of Joseph Wibowo Center Campus, Senayan, Central Jakarta.

The project leader of Bijac no Matsuri, Vincentius Christopher, explains that BINUS International wants to introduce the theme of diversity, especially from different cultures and countries, within the students’ community. “The event showcases the creativity of Japanese Culture Club BINUS International in introducing Japanese culture to students and also to the public in general,” Vincentius says.

Indeed, the crowd seems to love the event. Hundreds of people swarm on the main lobby of JWC Campus. “We are optimistic to acquire 100 to 200 participants in one day. I would say that this event is different with previous events. We used to create events like this exclusively for internal students, and now we want to try to go public by inviting participants from a bigger community,” Vincentius says.

He explained that for this event his team invites several communities outside BINUS. “There’s Nendonesia, a community for Japanese figure enthusiasts. There’s also an Indonesian game fighting community which intends to organize their own Indonesia Fighting Games Championship,” Vincentius says.

In IFGC, they organize several fighting-game competitions. “We have competitions for Tekken, King of Fighter and Marvel vs Capcom. We have a total of six fighting-game competitions,” Vincentius says. According to Vincentius, the public are quite enthusiastic about participating in these fighting-games. For each game, there are at least 70 participants.

All these communities, Vincentius says, gather in one event, which is Bijac no Matsuri. In addition, the event also comes with its own Japanese Culture Exhibition and Bijac Cafe. “What’s interesting, in JWC’s basement we have the Obake House which is filled with Japanese ghosts. All participants can give it a try,” Vincentius says.

With this event, Vincentius hopes BINUS International Japanese Culture Club can expand and grow. “This is in line with our mission to be one of the most prestigious Japanese culture clubs in Jakarta,” Vincentius concludes. (RA)