The Japan Youth Collective – Autumn Round-Up and Photos

The Japan Youth Collective have been busy in September and October – here we share what they’ve been up to! 

For the first months of the Japan Youth Collective, our group focused on Teamwork and Communication, getting to know each other and bonding over their shared interest of all things related to Japan! 

During the first Catch-up session, the Collective considered and questioned their existing ideas and opinions about Japan. They worked in small groups to decide to what extent they agreed with statements before discussing their choices with the larger group and hearing other opinions.  

In the longer Japan Lab, the group worked on improving their Teamwork through a taiko drumming session led by Tamashii Taiko. The Collective learnt the importance of matching the group’s rhythm and playing together and also found out Japanese terms for all the equipment, proper etiquette when passing bachi drumsticks to one another, and greetings at the end of class. 

In October, the Collective visited The Embassy of Japan in the UK for the first Catch-up session. They were tasked with finding out about cross-cultural communication and the UK-Japan relationship. Staff at the Embassy introduced their activities, answered questions from our curious Collective and hosted cultural workshops as a taster of the Club Taishikan activities the Embassy runs for schools; participants tried both Japanese calligraphy and yosakoi folk dance - dokoisho! 

During the last session in October, participants worked on expressing themselves effectively with The Speakers Trust. At the end of the session, everyone gave a presentation in front of the whole group reflecting on their experience of the Japan Youth Collective programme so far.  

Otsukare sama deshita (お疲れ様でした, ‘thank you for all your hard work’) to all our Collective participants!  

Find out more about the Japan Youth Collective’s activities and read our Member’s Voices Blog on our Japan Youth Collective page.