Cultural and human exchanges between Japan and Singapore (30 September, 2008)

  
  Cultural cooperation between Japan and Singapore has an enormous potential towards the future. There is a whole set of reasons to believe in this potential. Since my arrival in Singapore a year ago, I have been convinced that the Japanese culture is not only popular and commonly accepted among Singaporeans, but it also constitutes an important part of Singapore’s multicultural society. Based upon this popularity, there are some new and upcoming initiatives that will contribute to further interaction between Japan and Singapore. In this letter, I would like to explore how enormous a potential the current trend holds for future collaboration between our two countries.

Popularity of Japanese Culture in Singapore
Since I arrived in Singapore in October last year, I have attended many events which demonstrated high popularity of Japanese culture among many Singaporeans. One good example should be the official light-up and opening ceremony of Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2008 on Sunday, 31st August. At the ceremony, Akita Kanto Kai (a traditional lantern festive performing group from Japan’s Akita Prefecture) performed at the invitation of the Festival Organising Committee. I was very much impressed to see the Akita festival performance being featured in one of the most traditional Singapore festivals, and welcomed by the Singapore audience with full of cheers.

Another recent event was the annual Summer Festival organised by the Japanese Association of Singapore (JAS) at the Japanese Primary School Changi Campus. The venue was packed with approximately 7,000 participants, most of whom were young Singaporeans. They enjoyed shopping and played little games at the stalls, and joined in the Bon Odori, Japan’s traditional folk dance during summer festivals. JAS organises many other programmes which facilitate cultural exchange between Japan and Singapore. A colourful example is the participation in the Chingay Parade by the more than 300-member JAS team. This JAS participation proves a spectacular addition to the magnificent and culturally diversified parade in Singapore every year.

Japanese food is also very popular in Singapore. One can find Japanese restaurants everywhere here, offering such dishes as high-end sushi kaiseki to the everyday ramen noodle. Anime and Manga are attracting widespread popularity over generations in Singapore too. With Singapore joining the World Cosplay (costume play) Summit in Japan since 2006, cosplay is becoming an increasingly popular new trend among Singaporeans. Japan Hour, a more than 15-year long-running TV programme on Channel NewsAsia also plays a significant role in introducing the regional charms of Japan. It is now broadcasted in 21 countries and areas, starting from last year. Singapore has now become a hub for popularising Japanese culture in the region.

This trend is reflected in some statistics. The Japanese language is the most popular foreign language to learn in Singapore, with 12,076 learners in 2007 from MOE Language School, Polytechnics, universities, JCS and other language schools and community centres. 4,166 sat for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) among them, up 12.3% from the previous year. Tourism flow from Singapore to Japan is also robust with a growing number of Singaporeans visiting Japan. The number was 151,800 in 2007, increased by 31.0% from that of 2006.

New Initiatives
Due to those factors above, Singapore has cultivated a rich soil for wider interchange with Japan. We should not let this trend end in a mere transient boom, but rather strive to create and nurture a more solid and more productive relationship upon this fertile soil.
(1) Japan Creative Centre
The ongoing flagship project of such an initiative is the Japan Creative Centre (JCC or Centre). Based on the agreement reached in 2007 between Prime Ministers of both countries, the governments of Japan and Singapore are pushing for the Centre’s establishment by working closely on renovating and transforming a strategically located building near Orchard Road (4 Nassim Road) into the JCC.

When talking about Japan’s “soft power,” it is not enough just to mention existing or static popular culture. The Japanese pop-culture is always moving and evolving very rapidly. There are always new variations and inventions. Even traditional art and music, such as Noh, Kabuki and Taiko drums, are often transformed into contemporary art forms to gain popularity among younger generations. Tokyo is not the only transmitter of Japan’s soft power to the world. Many local regions in Japan have their own unique and attractive characters. The Akita Kanto Festival, which I mentioned above, is one of such cases.

The role of JCC will be to introduce these less-known aspects of Japanese culture, and to invite people to enjoy the dynamic J-pop experience. The contents of the Centre are available not only to Singaporeans but also to the people of other Southeast Asian countries. As the promotion of “soft power” should be undertaken better by private sectors than by public sectors, we are inviting private sectors to do their part, i.e. to enrich and enliven the JCC’s contents and programmes.

There are several JCC pre-events, prior to the opening of the JCC. Please check out the JCC website (http://www.sg.emb-japan.go.jp/JCC) for its contents and event schedule. Through JCC activities, I hope the people of Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries can be kept informed and updated with Japan’s “now.”

(2) JENESYS
People-to-people exchange is also essential in encouraging cooperation between Japan and Singapore. In this context, the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the JENESYS (Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths) Programme at the 2nd East Asia Summit in January 2007. The programme aims to invite 6,000 youths to Japan annually for five years. Under this programme, 100 students and teachers of Singapore were invited to Japan in December 2007.

The number of Singapore schools which choose Japan as the destination of their overseas educational trips is increasing year by year. Students are also highly interested in visiting Japan for their educational trip. However, there are still many students here who have given up joining the trip due to the relatively higher costs of travelling to Japan as compared to other countries in this region.

Responding to these circumstances, we have upgraded the scheme to subsidise each student S$1,000 for schools that organise educational trips to Japan. Approximately 300 students can be subsidised under this scheme this year. Singapore schools seem to welcome the new scheme. We have received more applications from Singapore schools than we originally expected. I hope Singapore schools will take advantage of this scheme to provide more students with the opportunities to visit Japan, meet and interact with the Japanese people, and get to know their culture and lifestyle better.

Based on broad knowledge on Japanese culture and robust human exchange, there is a strong and exciting possibility for further collaboration between Japan and Singapore. Singapore Biennale 2008, of which I attended the opening ceremony, is a forerunner of such collaboration. Mr Fumio Nanjo, Japanese Artistic Director, curates both the 1st and 2nd Biennale and Mr Shigeru Ban, an up-and-coming Japanese architect, designed a unique pavilion for the 2nd Biennale this year. As in Singapore Biennale, I see plenty of room for further cooperation between Japan and Singapore in leading the world of art, culture and creative business.

Future
There are some new initiatives in which Japan and Singapore are working together in the most progressive areas of creativity. I would like to introduce initiatives in Media Art and Interactive Digital Media.

The upcoming Japan Media Arts Festival in Singapore 2008 from 22nd November to 14th December, co-organised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, Singapore Art Museum and CG-ARTS Society, is to raise awareness of the cutting-edge culture of new media arts, animation, manga and entertainment with a strong focus on Japanese culture. Promotion of this new type of art is a new challenge, and Singapore, being a multi-ethnic country with varied cultures that meet and mingle together, is an ideal location to undertake such a challenge.

Interactive Digital Media is another field where Singapore and Japan can build a closer partnership. Based on a strategy in the area of interactive digital media designed by the Media Development Agency, Japan’s Keio University has been invited to be a partner in establishing a creativity industry in Singapore. Keio University and NUS signed an MOU to establish two research centres called Keio-NUS CUTE Centre, in both Keio and NUS Campuses. Development of interactive digital media would have a considerable impact on our daily lifestyle. I hope to see an innovative breakthrough coming out of such a joint venture between Japan and Singapore.

The Japan Creative Centre is also seeking initiatives in new and dynamic areas of culture and human exchange. The JENESYS Programme will also cultivate a firm platform of interaction between Japan and Singapore through youth exchange. As such, there should be plenty of opportunities and bright prospects for the two countries to collaborate more closely in the future. Your comments, feedbacks, ideas and initiatives in this endeavour are always welcome for further cultural interaction and cooperation between our two countries.


Sincerely,
Makoto Yamanaka
Ambassador of Japan