THE JAPAN SOCIETY
JAPANESE CONVERSATION GROUP
Meetings - 2009 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001
Thursday, 1st December 2005
December saw a first-to-the-finish, slightly chaotic game of Festive charades! With players acting out and guessing the names of both Christmas and Shogatsu activities, food and events, it took a real team effort to work out the clues. The fastest team to finish and guess all the charades correctly won, but by a very narrow margin.
Photos from the November Peter Parker Awards competition. Click for more photos.
Thursday, 3rd November 2005
In November, we explored the darker side of nursery rhymes from the
UK and Japan, with a game identifying some of the imagery that is used. Humpty
Dumpty for example turns out to be no mere egg, but a cannon used in the civil
war, which fell from its turret and was so badly broken that "all the Kings
horses and all the Kings men" could not repair it. Similarly, Ring a ring
o'roses, (as many knew!) refers not merely to flowers but to the marks appearing
on sufferers of a particularly nasty 17th century disease. The Japanese rhyme
"You may pass" Too-ryan-seh or Toorinasai, was found to refer to a journey
somewhat longer than just a trip to a shrine, while the bubble in Shabondama
still has us mystified!
Thursday, 6th October 2005 -
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Thursday, 1st September 2005 -
September's Conversation Group featured a new kind of origami competition, the 'explain-translate-fold-press - and-make-the-frog-jump' challenge. To begin with, mixed groups of native English speakers and native Japanese speakers received a sheet of blank paper and a set of folding instructions. The English speakers explained these (in Japanese) to the Japanese who on this basis had to make a frog out of it. The triple whammy of translating, explaining how to fold the origami, and actually making the frog, within ten minutes, was not enough to discourage any of the groups. Indeed, after a while we could see almost more frogs than pint glasses around the Mason's Arms, and wondered if we should up-the-ante next time round.
Thursday, 4th August 2005- August saw the finger tapping frenzy of our Kami Sumo (lit: paper sumo) competition return for another bout. On four miniature Dohyo's, contestants placed the paper Sumo Rikishi (penguin, lizard and bear also available) of their choice against that of their opponents, and in the moments that followed beat the mat of the Dohyo until only one figure was left standing. For some it was a chance to settle old scores - for others a chance to grab a drink at the bar while everyone else was occupied. For the winners, a Geisha-sumo competition (same rules - only paper Geisha figures) decided who was Yokozuna, and a certificate was awarded.
Thursday, 2nd June 2005- In June 2005, we were lucky to be able to present something completely different. The short film "People, London, Japan", is a competition entry from Westminster University, and puts the lives of three different Japanese people in London under the spot light. The director visited us, and was available for questions, while our audience watched transfixed. I'm sure everyone was thinking 'I know people just like that!' as they watched.
Thursday, 5th May 2005- In May 2005, the country was caught up in election fever, and we were no exception. Our election based facts and figures game proved both challenging and informative, with true and false questions making things a little easier.
Thursday, 7 April 2005 In April we tested our members geographical abilities: having picked several temples in Japan, and several castles in the UK, our teams had to match the name to the location. The ability of people to distinguish one crumbling monument from another was certainly an impressive feat. Saturday, 23 April also saw our annual Hanami Picnic come and go with a once again impressive turn out. Rain initially threatened to put a dampener on proceedings, but fortunately for us, the Yae-sakura blossom on the trees were so dense that they provided a roof under which we all could sit. If only it had been a bit warmer! After several hours of chatting, drinking and eating on our makeshift Goza mats (no karaoke), we decamped to the local Southside bar to spend what remained of the evening.
Thursday, 3rd February and 3rd March 2005 - February and March saw games based around romance and the Girl's Day Festival of Hina-matsuri respectively. Setting up the Hina-dan, with its arrangement of Hina-ningyoh dolls is a fairly formidable task (there are 15 or so figures, plus accessories). So, to avoid future embarrassment for any would-be parents found lacking in the requisite know-how, we gave our members the chance to practice in the safe environment of the Mason's Arms. Teams put paper replicas of the figures on a paper Hina-Dan and were marked at the end of the exercise for accuracy and speed.
Thursday, 13th Jan 2005 - In January 2005, we were very grateful to have with us Kakushow Sensei, a Rakugo performer of world repute who is now on a year long placement the UK, courtesy of the Cultural Affairs Department of Japan. Rakugo, is the art of Comedic Story Telling, but forewarned of the Conversation Group's propensity to chatter, Kakushow Sensei gave a series of short sketches in Japanese, illustrating the various aspects of the art: - the importance of getting the head and chopstick actions in tandem when miming the eating of noodles (try and imagine them in syncopation for example!); the peculiarities of the Osaka Dialect, and how to deliver punch lines about family relations, for example. Kakushow Sensei's Deshi, or protégEAyako, also gave a turn, demonstrating a blend of traditional ventriloquism with a more contemporary flavour - the rendition of a Franz Ferdinand song for example was a nice touch! If you would like to know more about Rakugo, you can also log onto his website http://www.kakushow.com/
Meetings - 2009 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001