Assistant Director Noriyuki Shiba (from Wakayama Prefecture) gave a special lecture on the many charming aspects of Japan to students learning Advanced Japanese at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) School of Humanities & Languages.
The lecture sought to convey the many instances of Japanese culture one may not readily find in Australia, such as Japanese food featuring regional characteristics, regional dialects with a focus on Kansai-ben (dialect from Japan’s Midwest), and celebrations accompanying the four seasons. This lecture was especially focused on Japanese regional aspects. Students looked like they were most interested in Kansai-ben.
Some of them have been to Japan. However it seemed like few of them have even been to rural areas in Japan such as Wakayama as well. According to their questionnaires, they were interested in the lecture.
We hope that more will go to regional areas in Japan and discover a Japan they yet have.
From the 3rd to the 13th of December, eight selected swimmers from the Fukuoka Swimming Association visited NSW, where they participated in joint training sessions with a local school and competed in the 2024-25 Speedo NSW Senior State Age Championships.
