みなさん、こんにちは！Good Afternoon everyone!

This JLC meeting, we practiced para-para as a group! Hitomi and Wyatt did a good job as instructors. Many of us seemed to have enjoyed the experience. We also saw that there are several different kinds para-para. For this Sakura Festival, it seems that a form has been selected.

After that we learned many things about arcades in Japan. In the USA, arcades have somewhat dwindled while in Japan, they expanded. Arcades throughout Japan are connected together by an online network that fosters gaming communities. Various interactive forms exists such as DDR or Taiko drums. Also there are card-based games where you can save your progress on a card and there are Gundam pods which the player enters. In the pod, there are various joysticks and a huge display within the pod to create a unique Gundam simulation.

Thursday is the 1st soran bushi practice. For participants, be sure to stretch and eat healthy to do well in training and at the Sakura Festival!

At the 1st week of the Japanese Study Session, few students came, less then what was expected. However, no matter how few, as long as students feel JSS is helpful and JSS is indeed helpful, then it is success! やった！

So kinda random, but I leave with link to a video(music only) of a sega classic. BTW, the guy playing seems really good. So Nostalgic clicky-clicky

またね〜
Jason
jn1209@txstate.edu

P.S. I think there are a few people that come to the meetings and so on, that still don't get weekly e-mails from JLC and would probably like them. If you or anyone you know is like that, please e-mail me so I can add you(or him/her) to the mailing list.

The first meeting for the spring semester was a good meeting. There were many familiar faces like the anime fans, 1st year Japanese students, and the nihonjin students :) It was awesome! There was also a few new faces, I can recall two people that were new to Texas State University. To them, welcome to Texas State University!

Wyatt showed everyone about the Sakura Festival and showed videos of the soran bushi and the para-para performances. Accordingly we then handed out the sign up sheets for this years soran bushi and para-para performances. I was shocked to see so many for para-para! lol

We also played rhythm game. It is a simple Japanese game that works well for meeting new people. Get in a group of people, and then with everyone together, clap your legs(table if sitting), clap your hands, right thumb out right, left thumb out left, and then repeat in a nice flowing beat. When it is your turn, say someone's name fallowed by a number in the rhythm of the beat. Now it is that persons turn. They have to say their name the amount of times of the number you said. If they mess up the flow of the beat while repeating their name, then they must say something about themselves. After that, they say a new name and number and the cycle repeats.

About the Japanese Study Session, the reservation times have been confirmed. The times are every week, on both Tuesday and Wednesday, at the same room as the Tuesday JLC meetings (Lampasas 501), from 3:30 to 5:00. The Japanese study sessions is for anyone to learn Japanese. From the 1st timers to the students that have been at it for years. We will accommodate to your level to give you good practice. This is also a chance to receive help with homework or prepare for test. The most valuable opportunity I think is the chance to practice having a conversation in Japanese! We will start next week, February the 2nd and 3rd.

Jason
jn1209@txstate.edu

Hi everyone and welcome back!!!

I hope everyone had a good break and is recharged for this semester. We will be doing many things including preparing for the Sakura Festival. This coming meeting on Tuesday, the 26th at 5:00pm will be our first meeting back from the vacation. Because we wont be doing much for this meeting, it is a good chance to connect or reconnect with each other.

I think there is a lot of things to learn about Japanese people and their culture that can only be sufficiently understood with experience. It is a rare experience which JLC works towards providing to students that have various interests in Japan.

This blog will keep track of JLC updates and events. Please come back to check it weekly.
Thx for reading!

Jason

Good Evening JLC Members,

I'm sorry for my absence at the last couple of meetings however I assure you they were for a good reason. However, while I was gone, the wheels of the club continued to spin as the lesson for the day consisted of the different genres of Japanese music. Many examples of musicians were given such as for Pop:

Utada (of Kingdom Hearts fame), Morning Musume, Arasha, and B's.

For Akiba:

AKB46

For Visual Kei:

Japan X, and Abingdon

For Hip-Hop:

Dabo and the Teriyaki Boys

Keep in mind these are only some of the genres of music and musicians that were discussed.Feel free to do you own research and discover what your own preference is. Next week we willbe pairing off into small groups and begin to dissect how to properly introduce ones self in Japanese. As always, we will be selling Rice Balls on Wednesday so come out and support the cause! Remember, it has been proven that JLC rice balls cure cancer, reduce risk of getting theflu, AND increase overall beauty...sooooo BUY THEM!

Until Next Time,
Avery, Secretary and Historian of JLCC

Good Morning JLC!

At this past weeks meeting, we entered the world of sound and ettiquette as Taylor-san (aka Wyatt) explained Japanese onomonapeia. So, in the case that you missed it, please do not meso meso however we encourage you to feel free to don don all the way to the next meeting. After the onomonopeias, things became heavy as a discussion over social statuses and faux paux began. Wyatt explained that in Japan, if someone is even one year older than you, they are your senior, or Sempai. Because you are beneath them, you are their junior, or Kouhai. Alongside of this, certain people govern certain titles. Individuals such as teachers and your boss have the suffix -san added to their names to show respect while, in a strange turn of events, a customer at a fast food restaurant has the suffix -sama added to their names to signify they are like royalty!

Wierd, huh?

Besides this, dues will be coming up soon. It will be 15 dollars for the entire year and it will cover your fees to the events that we host as well as your t-shirt. This money does not go to supplementing Wyatt's personal finances as many might believe, instead it goes towards our social events as well as our end of the year extravagenza, the Sakura Festival.

We thank you all for attending another JLC event and encourage that you continue to attend!

Until next week,
Avery Krushall