The Japan Youth Collective's Discover Japan Day
On Saturday 6 April, The Japan Youth Collective hosted an event at Japan House London to mark the end of the of their time on the programme.
The event, Discover Japan Day, was designed and organised by the Collective themselves with the aim of promoting Japan and giving other young people a chance to experience Japanese culture first-hand.
Discover Japan Day was youth-led, with all the Collective members involved in both the planning and running of the day. Everyone was assigned roles to ensure everything ran smoothly for over 60 guests which included friends, family members, and experts who previously worked with the Collective.
Everything kicked off with a welcome from two MCs, Prince and Evie, followed by presentations from Arjan, Zarah, Josh, and Ariunaa, who explained what the Collective had been up to over the last 8 months and shared personal highlights.
Jigme then introduced the first performance from the Tamashii Dōjō Drummers, who had worked with the Collective back at the start of the programme in September. Our Collective were excited to invite the drummers back and give some attendees an opportunity to take part in a taiko workshop. Other cultural workshops on offer were Design a Kokeshi Doll with Aya Burbanks, or Create a Personal Hanko with Nao Fukumoto.
After a short break with onigiri, guests took part in a second cultural workshop, this time with the option to try a hands-on shamisen experience with Hibiki and Luke Burns. All guests were then treated to a shamisen performance, introduced by the next MC, Jamts.
To bring the event to a close, the audience heard from the Japan Youth Collective members once more. Jigme, Evie and Ratna presented to the audience, sharing their experience and growth on the programme. All our members, including those who worked hard behind the scenes, Aaliyah, Sara, Ainhoa, Hana, Kaya, and Zakaria then joined the presenters on stage for a final message and goodbye.
The Japan Society is extremely proud of the Collective and all they have achieved and would like to thank Japan House London Trust and The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation for their generous support of the initiative.
