As the memorable year of SJ50 comes to a close, on behalf of my entire staff at JCC, Embassy of Japan, I would like to thank you for your continuous interest and participation in our centre activities, as well as for your kind support extended to the Japanese arts and culture....(Click here to read more)

JCC (Japan Creative Centre) had the pleasure of hosting Mr Naoki Takenouchi's exhibition opening ceremony on 27th October. Mr Takenouchi is a Washi (Japanese paper) and Mokuhanga (Woodblock Printing) artist from Kagoshima Prefecture. His expertise lies in creating enormous hanging expressions with Washi (traditional Japanese paper) and Mokuhanga (traditional Japanese woodblock painting)....(Click here to read more)

Mr Naoki Takenouchi, a Mokuhanga-washi artist, conducted a lecture entitled Woodblock Printing with Lighting at Temasek Polytechnic on 29th October 2015. Mr Takenouchi touched on topics like the history, materials and the different types of Japanese woodblock printing.This lecture and demonstration attracted the Japanese art lovers, as well as staffs and students of Temasek Polytechnic...(Click here to read more)

Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) welcomed a group of five Japan related authors and scholars during its first weekend. Haruki Murakami has a tremendous huge name not only in Singapore but around the world and we had invited Mr Motoyuki Shibata, Ms Mieko Kawakami, Ms Mina Ishikawa, Mr Ted Goossen and Mr Roland Kelts, who are all very close to Haruki in many ways. His Excellency Ambassador Haruhisa Takeuchi attended many talk panels during this festival and had a dialogue with the troupe and the Festival Director, Yeow Kai Chai....(Click here to read more)

Mr.Yota Okuno and Mr.Ryota Morimoto from the Singapore Japanese Secondary School visited JCC and the Embassy of Japan in Singapore on 5th and 6th November for a career experience programme. The Deputy Director of JCC Mr Kawabata Masanori conducted a JCC introductory presentation, which explained the purpose and achievements of the centre...(Click here to read more)

On Saturday 7th November, a group of youth representatives who were part of the JENESYS2015 Programme (JENESYS: Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths) were invited to JCC for their pre departure trip to Kitami, Hokkaido to attend the Asian International Children's Film Festival. During this visit a 3 minute short film entitled "What Makes Me Happy” was screened at JCC. This short movie was created by these students ...(Click here to read more)

JCC Cinema 38: Waterboys was screened at Tampines West Community Club last Saturday, 14 November with great response of about 100 audiences! Our Director Ms Misako Ito introduced the film before screening and shared about next year’s SJ50 with the audiences. Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Masagos Zulkifli dropped by at the event as well....(Click here to read more)

To celebrate the opening of the New Wing of Asian Civilization Museum on 21st November, JCC had invited AUN-J CLASSIC ORCHESTRA, a group of traditional musical instrumentlsts from Japan to perform at its RED CARPET GALA. AUN-J is formed by a twin, Inoue Brothers who used to play at the Ondeko-za and Hide played at Kodo, both are world famous authentic Taiko Drummers, giving dramatic performances. (Click here to view more)

To celebrate the opening of the New Wing of Asian Civilization Museum, Ikebana International SIngapore Chapter 135 ladies, presented a couple of beautiful Ikebana flower arrangements for the Red Carpet Gala. This event was specially graced by His Excellency Ambassador Haruhisa Takeuchi and Madam.

JCC (Japan Creative Centre) had the priviledge of hosting another round of Demonstration by Mr Takenouchi during the exhibition. This event was attended by a group of students from Temasek Polytechnic, Jurong Secondary and NTU. JCC had also welcomed the students from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore who visited JCC to learn more about Japan's soft power and had a short tour of the exhibition ....(Click here to read more)

An opening ceremony was held at JCC for the impressive Yamagata Design Exhibition. The event, collaborated by Yamagata Prefectural Government and JCC saw over 120 invited guests. The night began by a greeting from JCC’s own, Director Ms Misako Ito followed by a warm welcoming speech by His Excellency Ambassador Takeuchi Haruhisa. An opening address was made by the Governor of Yamagata Prefecture, Ms Mieko Yoshimura on the charms of Yamagata such as their amazing production of fruits and geographical features....(Click here to read more)

On 28th November 2015, His Excellency Haruhisa Takeuchi, Ambassador of Japan to Singapore conferred the Japanese Ambassador's Commendation Award to Mr. Shigeyuki Noma, who is a Japanese Paper Drama (KAMISHIBAI) Performer. This commendation was presented to Mr.Shigeyuki Noma for his significant contributions towards promotion of the cultural exchange between Japan and Singapore for past 15 years through his performances of the Japanese Paper Drama (KAMISHIBAI)....(Click here to read more)

On 29th November, Japan Creative Centre (JCC), The Japanese Association Singapore, together with the National Library Board (NLB) organised this year's Kamishibai (紙芝居), the traditional Japanese Paper Drama by Nomarin at Clementi and Bukit Batok Public Library. These sessions were totally captivated by Mr.Shigeyuki Noma's way of storytelling. These sessions were conducted in English...(Click here to read more)

Japan Creative Centre (JCC) and the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) co organised the 26th Singapore International Film Festival SGIFF on 3rd December 2015, The Japanese movie entitled “Happy Hour” was played in The Projector. This movie session started off with an introduction and Q&A by Mr. Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Director of the movie Happy Hour. This festival had a total of 3 movies which were screened as a part of JCC Cinema 39, 40 and 41.(Click here to view more)

H.E. Ambassador Haruhisa Takeuchi and Prof. Katsuhiko Hibino, the executive committee member of the Japan Football Association had a meet up session with regards to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia qualifier match which was played between Singapore and Japan on 12th November at the Singapore Sports Hub - National Stadium .. (Click here to view more)

It may seem comical to the outsider, but for residents of Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the waraiko is a serious affair. On the first Sunday of December, the chief priest of a local Shinto shrine leads 21 parishioners in an ancient ceremony to offer one's heartiest laughter to the gods...(Click here to read more)

The H-IIA F29 with Telstar 12 VANTAGE onboard lifted off at 3:50:00 p.m. on November. 24th, (Japan Standard Time) from the Tanegashima Space Center.

The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and, at about 4 hours and 27 minutes after liftoff, the separation of the Telstar 12 VANTAGE was confirmed.

H-IIA F29 incorporates the outcome of the H-IIA UPGRADE. Following a long coast, the 3rd burn of the upgraded 2nd stage was conducted successfully. Then, Telstar 12 VANTAGE was injected closer to geostationary orbit than previous standard transfer orbit.. (Click to read more: Japanese only)

H-IIA, Japan’s primary large-scale launch vehicle, is designed to meet diverse launch demands, at lower cost and with a high degree of reliability, by making the best use of the H-II launch-vehicle technology. The simplified design and improved efficiency of the manufacturing and launch processes of H-IIA have achieved one of the highest performance to cost ratio of launch system in the world, reducing the cost of launches by a half or more.

H-IIA launch service operations have been transferred to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, LTD. ahead of the launch of H-IIA Flight 13. JAXA is in charge of launch safety management (including ground safety confirmation, flight safety assurance, and overall countdown control and supervision. JAXA is conducting the H-IIA upgrade project to improve the H-IIA launch capability and its global competitiveness. (Click to read more )

Earth Observation Research Center (EORC) of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has developed GSMaP realtime version (GSMaP_NOW) providing rainfall information of current hour, and released those information through a new webpage “JAXA Realtime Rainfall Watch”.

While GSMaP near-real-time version (GSMaP_NRT) is provided with 4-hour data latency, which consists of 3-hour for data gathering and 1-hour for processing, GSMaP_NOW is provided in quasi-realtime and updated every half-hour. For example, hourly GSMaP_NOW image and data during 0930Z and 1029Z is available at around 1030Z through the web site.
(Click to read more)

The Venus Climate Orbiter AKATSUKI will try to enter the orbit of Venus on December. 7th (Mon.) after five years of operation. We are welcoming support messages.

After AKATSUKI’s failure to enter Venus' orbit on December. 7th, 2010, JAXA investigated the cause and considered a second attempt schedule while operating the satellite for a long period. Now, on December. 7th, 2015, coincidentally the same day on the calendar as the previous attempt, we will perform the injection for the second time.

The AKATSUKI is in a good condition and it will take a few days of confirmation to know the result. Your support for the AKATSUKI and its project team members is very much appreciated.

Supercomputer K of RIKEN has achieved many scientific results and this video introduces aerodynamic simulation for automobile. This short video introduces K computer's precise simulation comparing to a simulation by an conventional supercomputer. This video was made to publicize research results using the K computer....(Click here to view video)

Have you ever seen the inside of lithium-ion battery? Using Japanese supercomputer K, the 1st supercomputer which exceeds 10peta FLOPS in the world, scientists observed atomic-scale processes at the electrode of lithium-ion batteries, allowing them to identify a material that could improve the charging time, voltage capacity and reliability of these batteries for long-term and renewable energy storage solutions.

This digest version video quickly introduces how lithium-ion battery works and what kind of challenges the scientists are facing as well as the simulations at the molecular level of the inside of the battery.

The scientists awarded Gottfried Wagener Prize 2015 Energy & Industry....(Click here to view video)

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) is a place where we can understand the things happening in our world today from a scientific point of view, and have discussions while considering the future that awaits us. In addition to permanent displays and exhibitions that provide people with a chance to enjoy hands-on contact with science and technology, Miraikan's colorful line-up of offerings includes experienced based classes, and talks.

While exchanging opinions and ideas with Science Communicators, visitors can experience the technological progress of today, from simple day-to-day questions, to the latest technologies, the global environment, and space exploration....(Click here to view promotional video)

The international symposium entitled “Structural Biological Dynamics: From Molecules to Life with 60 trillion Cells” was held in Tokyo, from November 5th to 6th, 2015 and was organized by JST and supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).

The research team of National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), RIKEN, Kobe Steel and JEOL RESONANCE successfully developed the NMR system equipped with world’s highest magnetic field, 1,020 MHz, supported by the JST-SENTAN program “Development of Systems and Technology for Advanced Measurement and Analysis”.

This research result was published in Journal of Magnetic Resonance on 15 May 2015 (Kenjiro Hashi, Shinobu Ohki, Shinji Matsumoto, Gen Nishijima, Atsushi Goto, Kenzo Deguchi, Kazuhiko Yamada, Takashi Noguchi, Shuji Sakai, Masato Takahashi, Yoshinori Yanagisawa, Seiya Iguchi, Toshio Yamazaki, Hideaki Maeda, Ryoji Tanaka, Takahiro Nemoto, Hiroto Suematsu, Takashi Miki, Kazuyoshi Saito and Tadashi Shimizu, Title:”Achievement of 1,020 MHz NMR”, DOI:10.1016/j.jmr.2015.04.009)...(Click here to read more)

One of the most famous attempts to answer a question "What is Life" is in a book entitled "What is Life?" written by Erwin Schrodinger (1944), where he argued that life is based on the interactions between molecules. Molecular imaging (MI) is a research field created to investigate and visualize the molecular and cellular processes in biological systems, and positron emission tomography (PET) is considered to be the key technology of clinical molecular imaging.

The Molecular Imaging Center at National Institute of Radiological Sciences (MIC-NIRS) utilizes state-of-the-art MI research facilities, especially PET, and plays a major role in MI research in Japan. The people at MIC-NIRS are working on a various projects ranging from basic to clinical research, striving to become a major center promoting translational research in the MI community and related areas....(Click here to read more)

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
（MEXT） compiles figures for the number of Japanese nationals studying overseas, based on statistics published by the OECD and other organizations. The statistics for 2012 were recently compiled and can be found in Annex 1.

In addition, the results of the Annual Survey of International Students in Japan 2014, Annual Status Survey on Short-term Study by International Students for Fiscal Year 2013, and Status Survey of Students Enrolled in Short-term Educational Programs for Fiscal Year 2013, which are all conducted by the Japan Student Services Organization （JASSO）, have been compiled and can be found in Annex 2.. (Click here to read more)

On December 22, 2014, the Central Council for Education compiled “On Building Flexible and Effective Education Systems Tailored to Children’s Development and the Aspirations/Abilities, etc. of Learners (Report).”

The report proposes strategies that will serve the needs of future generations and expand institutional options by making school systems more flexible and effective in tailoring themselves to children’s development and the aspirations/abilities, etc. of learners.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will diligently take onboard the report’s proposals; and, in addition to swiftly paving the way with the necessary legislation and ordinances, will put its full strength into the promotion of related measures. (Click here to read more)

On December 22, 2014, the Central Council for Education compiled “On Integrated Reforms in High School and University Education and University Entrance Examination Aimed at Realizing a High School and University Articulation System Appropriate for a New Era (Report).”

This report proposes policies for bringing about for the first time reforms in high school/university articulation (high school and university education and university entrance examination reforms).

After clarifying what sort of future Japan is aspiring for, this has been the biggest issue in educational reforms; however, it has been something difficult to make a reality...(Click here to read more)