We hosted many wonderful events in the past month of August. Not only have we held events at our own JCC, but also at other new venues such as the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station - one of Singapore's historical landmark. The Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) was held at the old railway station (as you can read from the articles below). Click to Read More

JCC Events

A Yukata workshop 2015 was conducted at JCC on 1 August, in collaboration with Jetaa Singapore (The JET Programme Alumni Association) headed by its Vice-President Ms Nathalie Ng. Ms Nathalie started by explaining about the history of Yukata, the difference between Yukata and Kimono, and how to wear Yukata to the participants. Click to Read More

.In support of the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), we had the opportunity to invite Chindonya Tsushinsha from Osaka– a walking Japanese street performance group who musically advertised SIFA’s Dance Marathon: Open with a Punk Spirit! ‘Chindonya’ are a combination of three terms, ‘chin’ – representing the sound of symbols of the Chindon drum (a drum specially crafted and played by the group) Click to Read More

.A Japanese tea ceremony demonstration by Mr Sojitsu Kobori, the 13th Grand Master of the Enshu Sado School, in collaboration with JCC and NUS Sado Club, was conducted at Kranji Secondary School on 20 August 2015. As part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of Enshu Sado School at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Kranji Secondary School was honored to be the chosen. Click to Read More

JCC Cinema 36 screening of My Father is the Grand Master with Sharing Session & Tea Serving was held at JCC on 22 August 2015, as part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of Enshu Sado School at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Mr Naohiro Tsutsumi, Deputy Chief of Mission and Mrs Tsutsumi attended the screening as well.
Click to Read More

The Punk Spirit will always live on with SIFA's artists showcasing their supreme performances on Tuesday, 25th August at the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. The night were graced by Ambassador Takeuchi Haruhisa and Madam; featuring Real Reality by Mikuni Yanaihara, Emi Oyama and Jun Morii as well as Lay/ered by Yukio Suzuki and Fuyuki Yamakawa.

More performances such as Daikoushin (A Grand March) by Zan Yamashita and Some Experiments in a Decade and a Half by Natsuko Tezuko were highlighted as a ‘not to be missed’ due to their unique messages to the audience.
Click to Read More On Yukio Suzuki
Click to Read More On Zan Yamashita

Visits to JCC

On 28th August, Mr Akira Endo, the newly appointed Chief Director of Kochi Prefectural Government, Singapore Representative Office visited Japan Creative Centre (JCC).
Mr Norisato Fukushima, First Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in Singapore and Deputy Director of JCC Mr Masanori Kawabata welcomed and introduced the purpose and facilities of JCC.

Upcoming JCC Events

The Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra (AYJO) is a multinational jazz orchestra that comprises 28 motivated young musicians from Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia through auditions held in Japan and the respective Southeast Asian countries.They have just completed their intensive rehearsal in Japan for about ten days.From mid-September they will commence a performance tour around Southeast Asia.
A concert in Singapore will be held at the Victoria Concert Hall on Sep 30th.

Please see the following links for more details.
Official Website
Official Facebook

Japanese Cultural Fact For September

September 23 or 24 is Autumnal Equinox Day, a national holiday. It's a day not just to mark the changing of seasons but also to pay our respects to our deceased parents, grandparents, and other family members.The months of September, October, November are usually considered the autumn months, but technically speaking, fall is the period between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice.Click to Read More

Science & Technology Information In Japan

The KOUNOTORI5, a regular cargo transporter to space, was launched by the H-IIB Launch Vehicle No.5 (H-IIB F5) at 8:50:49 p.m. on August 19 (Wed.) 2015 (Japan Standard Time, JST) from the Tanegashima Space Center. The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and, at about 14 minutes and 54 seconds after liftoff, the separation of the KOUNOTORI5 was confirmed.

The KOUNOTORI5, a regular cargo transporter to space, was captured by the ISS robotic arm at 7:29 p.m. on August 24 (Japan Standard Time) and berthed at the ISS at 2:28 a.m. on August 25 (JST). ISS astronauts will take cargo out from the Pressurized and Unpressurized Logistic Carriers into the ISS.

What is "KOUNOTORI" The International Space Station (ISS) represents a global partnership of fifteen nations. The ISS is a versatile research institute and a large observation platform in the unique environment of outer space. In this international project, Japan participates with its first manned space facility,Japanese Experiment Module "KIBO". "KIBO" means "hope" in Japanese.

Since 2009, six astronauts are always living in the ISS. For their prolonged stay there, it is imperative to ship food, clothes, and various experiment devices. To date, cargo transport has been carried out by the American Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz and Progress.

Lately, the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) of the ESA (European Space Agency) was launched, and a Japanese transporter, the H-II Transfer Vehicle "KOUNOTORI" (HTV),is also going to start playing a transportation role. Click to Read More.

The Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC), established in 1969, is the largest rocket-launch complex in Japan with a total area of about 9,700,000 square meters. Located in the south of Kagoshima Prefecture, along the southeast coast of Tanegashima, it is known as the most beautiful rocket-launch complex in the world.

On-site facilities include the Yoshinobu Launch Complex, a launch site for large-size rockets, Spacecraft Test and Assembly Buildings, and the Spacecraft and Fairing Assembly Building. Using those facilities, a series of operations are performed from assembling launch vehicles, maintenance, inspections, final checks of satellites, loading satellites onto launch vehicles, launches, and tracking launch vehicles after liftoff.

The TNSC plays a pivotal role for satellite launches among Japan’s space development activities. Click to Read More

The RIKEN Brain Science Institute "Summer Program Click this Link is designed to encourage and further the education of young neuroscientists and emerging researchers as they enter the international neuroscience community.

It offers the choice of a two-month internship within a BSI laboratory, or an intensive two-week lecture course featuring distinguished international faculty. It is a rare and stimulating opportunity for young people from around the world to get together in Japan to advance their scientific knowledge. Click this Video.

Summer Course 2015 was completed succesfully and Riken will start the application of Summer Course 2016 in the beginning of 2016.

Scientists from RIKEN and Sumitomo Riko Company Limited have developed a new experimental nursing care robot, ROBEAR, which is capable of performing tasks such as lifting a patient from a bed into a wheelchair or providing assistance to a patient who is able to stand up but requires help to do so. ROBEAR will provide impetus for research on the creation of robots that can supplement Japan’s need for new approaches to care-giving. This video shows the robot in action. Click to Read More

The RIKEN RI Beam factory, the world's leading accelerator facility is taken up this time. RIBF can accelerate all the elements from hydrogen to uranium up to 70% of the speed of light, and generate about 4000 types of unstable atomic nuclei (RI) as a beam of the world's most powerful ion beam. Research which investigates a nuclear structure and reaction, exploring the origin of the elements, and large-scale experiment facility are introduced by a dynamic images and graphics.Click this Video

The video shows scientific ocean drilling and coring technology.Click this Video.Scientific Deep Sea Drilling Vessel CHIKYU is the state-of-the-art research vessel exploring the deep earth by sampling, measuring and monitoring operated by JAMSTEC. The Earth deep below the seafloor contains a unique record of our planet's evolution and structure. Scientists study the sub-seafloor to better understand Earth's components, history, and phenomena. This research helps us answer questions about fundamental aspects of our planet such as the environment, the biosphere, solid earth cycles, and geodynamics.

00:00 The process of deep sea drilling
04:04 Rotary drilling
05:23 Riser drilling system
07:30 Coring procedure
10:38 Core sample processing

More about the research vessel CHIKYU: Click to Read More