Report for July activities

• Jul 1, 2022 ~ Jul 31, 2022

Report for July, 2022

Arts and Culture activities at JFYG culture center

After the long break of withholding physical events for 2 years at the culture center because of Covid-19 and political turmoil, starting from July, The Japan Foundation, Yangon has reopened the culture center to public on every Saturday, holding cultural events and activities. Below is the monthly report about arts and cultural activities in the culture center.

(1)Tanabata Program

As July is the month of Tanabata, JFYG curated the series of various activities with Tanabata theme in July. The activities include “Send Your Tanabata Wish” physically and via Telegram, “Making Tanabata Kazari” Origami event, making Tanabata Story short manga: “Love Story across the stars”, and Tanabata festival. The Gallery space is decorated bamboo trees that are fully blooming with Tanabata Kazari made by JFYG staff.

“As Vega and Altair meet across the milky way galaxy, JFYG and Japanese culture lovers reunite physically again on this Tanabata”

(i) “Send Your Tanabata Wish” (throughout whole July)

The first activity of Tanabata program is “Send Your Tanabata Wish” and has online and real modes. For people outside of Yangon and are not available to come, they can send out their Tanabata wishes via JFYG Telegram channel through the whole July and their wishes will be printed on Tanzaku.

For those who wish to come to the culture center, they visited on every Saturday of July, wrote on Tanzaku and physically hung their Tanzaku on the bamboo. We received 200 Tanzaku wishes altogether and they will be sent to a shrine in Japan and prayed to be fulfilled.

(ii) Origami Club: Let’s make Tanabata Kazari (10 am – 12 pm /16 July)

One Tanabata activity is an Origami event of making Tanabata Kazari (hanging decorations) with Origami club members as the instructors to the participants. The instructors taught 3 Tanabata Kazari used in Sendai Tanabata festival: Orizuru (paper cranes), Kamigoromo (Paper Kimono) and Fukinagashi (Kusudama Streamers) to the participants. Because of Covid-19 regulation, the participants were limited and 16 participants joined.

The event was started with welcoming remark to the participants by the director, explanation of Tanabata by the program officer followed by the Origami workshop and lastly, hanging the Tanabata Kazari on the bamboo. The very first physical event of Tanabata ended with Tanabata background music filled in the atmosphere with participants hanging Kazari on bamboo with joy and hopeful wish. AS JFYG have aimed to build up Origami Platform to next level of expertise in terms of educational purpose and fine art, supporting in forming of Origami club and collaborate closely with origami crafter in Myanmar. This Tanabata seasonal craft workshop is also one of these processes.

(iii) Tanabata Festival (10 am – 12 pm, 2 pm – 4 pm/ 30 July)

As the last activity of Tanabata event, Tanabata festival was held on 30 July at the culture center of the Japan Foundation, Yangon. The attendees had to register for the event. The itinerary of the festival include wearing Japanese summer clothing Yukata and Hakama cosplay dress, writing Tanzaku and eating Somen noodles, Tanabata dish. The festival aimed to enhance the full Tanabata experience of Japanese culture lovers.

To align with Covid-19 social distancing and to accommodate many participants, the festival was divided into 2 sessions: morning session and afternoon session.
20 participants participated in each session of Tanabata festival. Before the festival began, the director gave the opening remarks and the program officer explained about the cultural facts about the relation between Tanabata, summer, Yukata and Somen. After that, JFYG staff helped wear the Yukata on the participants followed by their Tanzaku writing, group photo taking and eating Somen.

(iv) Short Manga of Tanabata Story

JFYG has been supporting artists and Japanese cultural clubs by providing venue and facilities, by lending cultural items and resources, and in other means. In July, we collaborated and partially supported the local Myanmar Manga artists group called “Pleiades Art Gallery” in making the short Manga book of Tanabata story about Orihime and Hikoboshi in Burmese language.

50 copies of Manga book were printed and distributed on the days we had Tanabata events. It was great to see that visitors to JFYG culture center and participants of Tanabata events could experience Tanabata to the fullest in all sense of media: food, clothing, writing Tanzaku, decorating, music, and read Manga of Tanabata story.

(2) Kendo Club
As instability and hardship have created so many art & cultural practitioner losing their space. In order to respond that, The Japan Foundation, Yangon have relaunched the program for the Venue Support in order to carry out one of the Japan Foundation Objectives of people-to-people exchange and promotion of Japanese culture. The Inyodo Myanmar Japan Kendo Club have got the grant from JFYG’s Venue Program and carried out for people-to-people exchange between Japanese Senior instructors and Myanmar young enthusiastic Kendo players and exposing the essence of authentic Budo culture of Japan.

(3) Cultural space for Japanese culture lovers on every Saturday

Starting from July, JFYG culture center is open to public on every Saturday from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm for individuals, groups of friends who are interested in Japanese language and culture to read Manga, novels and books about Japan, to study together and to play Japanese traditional games such as Igo, shogi, Karuta etc together with friends. Along with Kendo Club on Saturday, there is exchange of cultural interest between Kendo club members, Origami club members and visitors to our center. Every month, the culture center is decorated with seasonal items. For July, bamboos with Tanzaku were used for decoration and the visitors wrote Tanzaku as Tanabata activity.