Culture Day Potluck

November 3rd is Bunka no Hi (Culture Day) in Japan.
We're going to celebrate by having a potluck and doing some cultural activities.

Saturday, November 3
Noon to 3pm
Laura's house (see facebook event for address, or contact Laura or Hozumi)

Please bring a dish to share.  It doesn't have to be Japanese food.

We'll try these fun cultural activities:
origami
calligraphy
koto lessons
tea ceremony
and more!

Feel free to invite anyone interested in learning about Japan.
See you there!

○○の秋 (~ no aki)

The hot and dry summer has passed and the cold winter is on its way.  And of course there is this beautiful season, fall.  In Japan, fall is considered as the best season to strive for anything you like to do.

○○の秋, which means Autumn of [blank], is a common phrase used around this season in Japan.

There are two circles because you typically fit two kanji characters to make it meaningful for your goal/ambition/hobby/life, etc, but it does not have to be two characters.

The typical phrases used are:

読書の秋 (dokusho no aki) = Autumn of Reading

芸術の秋 (geijyutsu no aki) = Autumn of Art

スポーツの秋 (supootsu no aki) = Autumn of Sports

食欲の秋 (shokuyoku no aki) = Autumn of Appetite

What is your ○○の秋?

Japanese Speaking Table: October

Come out to the Japanese Speaking Table this Saturday (Oct. 13) at 3pm at the Root Note.  We'll chat about fall and perhaps play some Japanese word games to learn new vocabulary.

Feel free to bring any questions you have about Japanese language or Japan as well.  We're always willing to  help out!

How was your moon viewing day?

November 29th was jyuugoya 十五夜, the Harvest Moon. We also call this day otsukimi お月見 , literary meaning "moon viewing".  Due to everybody's schedule, we could not get together for this date, but I hope you had a great night and enjoyed viewing nice full moon.

tag: japanese la crosse wi japanese club cultural group meetup japanese people language culture la crosse wisconsin japan

Japanese Speaking Table: Introductions

Our September Japanese Speaking Table is this weekend!

Saturday, Sept. 8
Root Note (4th Street, La Crosse)
3pm

This week we'll start off by practicing self-introductions.  Come prepared with a few sentences about yourself, or just wing it.  We'll learn new grammar and vocabulary from each other's descriptions of hobbies, jobs, and quirky facts.

If you don't know how to introduce yourself yet, no problem!  We'll teach you the necessary phrases and how to modify them to your own situation.

All levels of Japanese are welcome.

Obon Season - Late-Summer Get Together

We had another nice potluck & movie night, featuring the obon season this time.  Typically in Japan, late summer involves with summer festivals, yukata, yatai (vendor foods), and fireworks. We didn't have fireworks, but some of us wore yukata, and we all enjoyed the foods and watching Japanese documentary.   We also had Shuei's family and friend visiting from Japan. In fact, they just arrived here in Wisconsin on the night before, so I hope the jetlag wasn't getting them too bad. Thank you all coming and hope to see you again soon!

Obon Potluck and Movie, August 25

While the Obon holiday is officially the 15th of August (or July in some parts of Japan), we are going to celebrate on August 25th with a potluck and movie night.

Come dressed in yukata if you have one, and we'll try some bon odori (traditional dance), eat some good food, and watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

Obon Potluck and Movie
Saturday, August 25
6pm
Hozumi's house (see facebook event for address)