Director's greeting message

JCC Director Kawabe Akiko during her visit to the Singapore Pavilion at the EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, where paper-cut installations by Melissa Tan and Ashley Yeo illustrate Singapore's evolution as a City in Nature.

Dear Friends of JCC,

Konnichiwa!

Last month, we were thrilled to celebrate the launch of the book "The Land of the Rising Sun and the Lion City - The Story of Japan and Singapore". As the title suggests, the book explores the deep and multifaceted friendship between our two countries. Co-edited by Professor Tommy Koh and Ambassador Ishikawa Hiroshi, it features 68 essays contributed by over 80 individuals from various fields, including diplomacy, business, and culture. I also had the privilege to contribute an essay reflecting on JCC's activities for the past 15 years and its role in nurturing bilateral friendship. The book is available from The Straits Times Press and Kinokuniya Singapore among other major retailers, so please don't hesitate to pick up a copy for yourself!

April also witnessed the long-anticipated opening of EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai. I had the opportunity to visit during my brief stay in Japan and was delighted to have been among the first wave of visitors to experience the Singapore Pavilion. With the guidance of the colleagues from the Singapore Tourism Board, I was able to explore the Dream Sphere which was filled with exhibits and artworks expressing the visions for the future of Singapore. It also offered a unique experience where visitors could write down their dreams and have them projected onto the dome ceiling. It was exciting to see my handwritten words 「日星友好」(Japan-Singapore friendship) appear on the dome of the Singapore Pavilion. My experience at the Dream Sphere is posted in JCC's social media, which is introduced in this E-magazine as well.

The Pavilion, including the local food served at its Shiok Café, is a colourful showcase of the Little Red Dot. I'm sure that visitors were, and will be, equally impressed as I was, and that they would be tempted to visit Singapore for themselves! I also had the chance to visit some other pavilions, including that of Japan, and I plan to share some more scenes from my visit to the EXPO on our social media, so please check it out! EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, will run until 13 October.

While the latter half of my brief homecoming to Japan focused on the EXPO, the first half was a trip to Tendo in Yamagata Prefecture. I chose Tendo because the cherry blossom forecast indicated it would be in full bloom during the specific dates I could travel, and because it is just three hours from Tokyo by Shinkansen with hot spring inns nearby. It was also an ideal destination for me because Tendo is historically associated with shogi (将棋), the traditional Japanese board game. As some of you might know, the big title match of shogi, the Ouza-sen (王座戦), is scheduled to take place in Singapore in September this year, with the current champion Fujii Sota (藤井聡太), and the challenger to be determined in a few months. Leading up to the title match, JCC aims to build excitement around shogi!

To stay up-to-date with any information regarding our upcoming events, please follow us on our Facebook and Instagram! You may also follow the Embassy of Japan in Singapore on their Facebook page as well as their X account for the latest news and updates from Japan.

Kawabe Akiko
Director, Japan Creative Centre (JCC)

5th May 2025