Hello everyone! We are Japan SIG, or Special Interest Group. We organise several cultural events and a Japan trek every MBA year at Cambridge Judge. This time, we would like to report on Japan Night, which was held on November 24th during Michaelmas Term in 2023.

What is Japan Night?

Japan Night is an experiential event organised by students from Japan SIG every year, with the aim of directly conveying Japanese culture to our respective cohorts from around the world. About 10 Japanese students with their own unique skills were in charge of each activity. This year’s activities included, sake tasting, calligraphy experience, takoyaki making, sushi making, and video game experiences. Through these diverse activities, our purpose is to attract our cohorts to Japanese culture and to provide them with an opportunity to interact with and get to know each other.

On the day of the event, we used the John Bradfield Court in Darwin College. About 50 MBA and MFin students participated across the Cambridge Judge Business School community, making it a great success.

Sharing some of our participants’ voices:

From the USA:

“I think the most fun part for me was the participation in making things. Instead of just eating, we had a part in making the sushi and the takoyaki. That along with learning directly about things like sake differences, and connecting to the Kanji for calligraphy, made it all very personal and interesting. The video games were also a lot of fun for some friendly competition.”

From Indonesia:

“Overall I think the event is great at introducing Japanese culture in a fun way!”

“Calligraphy section was engaging, interesting, and fun.”

“Sushi (my Japanese burrito*) was delicious. Would be fun as well if we were taught how to roll it properly. I think the people in the sushi stand looked overwhelmed haha.”

(*This time, due to hygiene issues, we provided temaki-sushi with participants. (Temaki Sushi (Hand Roll) 手巻き寿司 • Just One Cookbook))

From Singapore:

“I really liked all the stations there were a lot of different activities to try, I liked the miso soup and sushi the best. Also felt like we understood our Japanese classmates more and could really appreciate the diversity of cultures in our class.”

From Taipei:

“Japan Night was undoubtedly one of the most fascinating cultural-immersive events I have experienced in Cambridge. The sushi and takoyaki were delicious, and there was a variety of sake (Japanese alcohol) for tasting. The most interesting part was writing calligraphy; Sensei (teacher) put a lot of effort into coaching everyone to write their names in Japanese, and everyone enjoyed it a great deal. I truly appreciate everyone from the Japan SIG for giving us such an unforgettable night.”

We believe that the participants of the event enjoyed themselves very much. For those who were unable to participate, please do not worry. We will continue to hold similar events across the year ahead at Cambridge Judge Business School in the future.

Written by Hiro Matsunami (Co-Chair of Japan SIG/Cambridge Japan Business Club)

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