JCC E-Magazine March 2021

Director's Message

Konnichiwa!

February marked the transition of winter into spring. In Japan, early spring flowers like plum and peach blossoms start to bloom. While there are no blossoms heralding the arrival of spring here in Singapore, I was happy to be able to celebrate the Lunar New Year here. There were many delicious treats and unique dishes like yusheng that I was able to try for the first time!

Spring is definitely in the air at JCC, where we hosted “Spring Blossoms ~An Exhibition by Ikebana International Singapore Chapter 135 in special collaboration with NAKED, INC. ~”. This exhibition was our first Ikebana exhibition since our reopening and it was nice to see our premises brightened up by the multi-coloured blooms. It was also great to see our visitors having fun with the augmented reality (AR) features of NAKED, INC.’s app to bring flowers and plants to life alongside these arrangements.

More springtime events are to come this March, with “Sakura featuring Hello Kitty” at Gardens by the Bay. This annual display of cherry trees at the Gardens was previously known as “Sakura Matsuri,” and this year’s edition will feature cultural performances and workshops, albeit on a smaller scale to ensure the safety of all visitors. Those who miss travelling to Japan to see cherry blossoms in bloom can now indulge in the sight of these flowers here in Singapore!

JCC Cinema is also returning this March – this time with online screenings! The film chosen for this edition of JCC Cinema, “Care Nin – Thank God You’re Here –“, is a meaningful one that focuses on care work. I believe that its theme of ageing and caring for the elderly is one that is relevant to both Japanese and Singaporeans. We are honoured to be able to collaborate with NUS Department of Japanese Studies to present this screening, and to have their support in holding an online Q&A session with the film’s executive director and panel discussion with an expert on community ageing. We hope that our Friends of JCC will participate in these events!

To keep up with JCC and the Embassy of Japan’s activities, please do follow us on our Facebook pages! Do follow us as well on our Instagram page (@japancreativecentre) for more interesting content about Japan. If you have read the latest edition of our printed e-magazine, we’d appreciate it if you could give us some feedback and tell us what you liked about it here: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07ehlwrveokl90ljtu/start.

Toru Furugori
Director, Japan Creative Centre (JCC)
Embassy of Japan in Singapore
4th March 2021

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