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THE JAPAN SOCIETY

JAPANESE CONVERSATION GROUP

Meetings - 2009 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001

Thursday, 5th October 2006

In October, we hope to have the honour of hosting the Mugensha theatre group. The group is in London to perform, and they have offered to drop in at the Masons' Arms to tell us all about their art. The Mugensha group is unusual, as their script is ad-libbed using the techniques of traditional Japanese culture such as Sado (tea ceremony), Tate (sword fighting), Bunraku (puppet play), and Noh (play). Watch this space for confirmation, and check out. www.mugensha.net

Thursday, 7th September 2006

September's event follows on the heels of our earlier food-related and dancing activities and presents a slightly more intellectual challenge in the form of a competition about the ten most popular English and Japanese names in 2005. Those with "people skills" should have a chance to shine!

Thursday, 3rd August 2006

This month, it's O-bon, when the ghosts of the departed return to the earth to be greeted by O-Bon festivals and Bon Dances. Appropriately, we'll be celebrating by learning the steps of the Coal Miner's Dance or Tanko Bushi. The steps are easy, so don't worry if you have two left feet - if you can manage the Hokey Cokey, you'll be fine. For those who have Yukatas hanging in their closet, but no occasion to wear them, Thursday night is also your chance to get dressed up. Dust off that Yukata and bring it along...

Thursday, 6th July 2006

7月度のミーティングでは、ドイツで開催中のワールドカップにちなんだクイズを行いました。これは、イングランドと日本チームのある試合の先発出場メンバーを当てるものでした。両チームとも特定の試合の先発メンバーを答えなければならず、出場メンバーは覚えていても、先発した選手名までは、ちょっと難しいなという参加者が多かったようです。各参加者の間で、ベッカムは先発だった？ランパードはどう？とか稲本は出場していたかな？中田（英）は？などの会話がはずんでいました。優勝チームは全問正解しており、参加者一同驚いていました。

Thursday, 1st June 2006.
6月度のミーティングでは、5月の日本の恒例行事“こいのぼり”からひらめきを得て、魚に関するクイズを行いました。このクイズは、魚の名前（漢字と英語）とその写真の3点をセットにするというものでした。例えば、鯛・Breamそしてその写真という具合です。参加者は、にぎやかにクイズを楽しんでいました。日本人参加者は、その卓越？した漢字能力で各人のチームに貢献していたようですが、写真に関する部分では、参加者の皆が苦労していたようです。どなたか海洋生物学者の方、いらっしゃいませんか？

June 2006 Sushi Contest PHOTOS ARE HERE!

Thursday, 4th May 2006.
May's conversation group featured a maru-batsu quiz on events in the month of May in the UK and Japan. With CJ as quiz master, there was again a slight Kansai bias (and some slightly off-the-wall questions!) but our eventual winner wasn't to be deterred and won free drinks for their effort.

Saturday, 22nd April 2006, 1PM
Annual Hanami Picnic at Hyde park.
The Japanese Conversation Group Picnic is set for Saturday, and the weather forecast good. Auntie (aka the BBC) predict highs of 17 degrees, with mostly sun and some cloud. We hope you will all still be able to make it, meeting as ever at 1.00pm just by the Cherry Trees to the east side of the Albert Memorial (for those who are 'directionally challenged', this is to the right of the memorial when viewed from the Albert Hall). Please bring food, drink, cups, cutlery, plastic sheets, blankets, Frisbees, balls and whatever else you think we might need. Friends (non-Japanese speaking or otherwise) are welcome.

If the weather does take an unexpected turn for the worst we will be decamping to the nearby Queens Arms at 30 Queen's Gate Mews. This is off Queen's Gate Terrace, which branches off Queen's Gate about a third of the way from Kensington Gore to Cromwell Road. You might also find us in the Queens Arms later for a few evening drinks.

Place: Hyde Park. The Cherry trees are a stone's throw from the North East corner of Albert Memorial.

Thursday, 6th April 2006
In April you won't be able to believe your mince pies, as two mystery guests introduce to you the oddities of Cockney and Osaka dialects. Maybe there are similarities, maybe it will all be all undecipherable, - but whatever it is it should be a Giraffe! . See you in the Bath Tub on Thursday for a few Dame Edna's.

Thursday, 2nd February 2006
In 2005 Cupid's arrow found many a target among the rich and famous. So in February, the month of romance, we checked to see if our members had been paying attention, and if they could match the faces of new celebrity couples from the West and East. Obviously, the many glossy magazine readers in our number tipped the scales, and most people matched the candidates up successfully. Answers:
A Sayako Kuroda -> 2 Yoshiki Kuroda
B David Furnish -> 5 Elton John
C Peter Andre -> 9 Jordan
D Kaho Minami -> 7 Ken Watanabe
E Cheryl Tweedy -> 8 Ashley Cole
F Takashi Fujii -> 10 Otoha
G Kelly Brook -> 4 Billy Zane
H Shidou Nakamura -> 1 Yuiko Takeuchi
I Jun Itoda -> 3 Yumi Adachi
J Prince Charles -> 6 Camilla Parker Bowles

Click on photo for larger image.

2006年１月12日　（木）６時３０分 １月は新年ということで書初め。お正月ということで、伝統的な百人一首も取り入れて筆を使ってみんなが書いて見ました。美しい百人一首の見本は「草書」で書かれていて、芸術としてみるにはいいけれども、読めない。それを現在一般に使われている楷書に書き直していただくものでした。

Meetings - 2009 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001

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