LEARN Report for Class
What's ‘in’ in Japan 06: Bilingual Exchange Session "Social Norms"
::::: Class Report on February 23rd, 2016 ::::: Thank you very much to all participants including new comers from Italy and Korea who attended "What's ‘in’ in Japan 06" last night! We did a great and open discussion with the topic Japanese "Social Norms" as follows; ・Being quiet on the train ・Young marrying age ・"Shy" personality ・Train oshiya "pushers" ・Not walking while eating/drinking ・Toilet slippers ・Not pouring your own glass ・Loitering in bookstores ・Counting one hand ・Receiving things with two hands Luckily, the man from Milano jumped in our session and shared the social norms of Italy based on "Latin culture", "Making noise - childish", "Never exchanging business cards", "Beautiful design but break easily" and so on with other members. Similarities between Korea and Japan, which are "Respect for the elderly" and "Emphasis on hard work more than efficiency". Again, thank you for sharing your input and experiences, and we look forward to seeing you all next month. Written by Jojo |
What's ‘in’ in Japan 05: Bilingual Exchange Session "Open Discussion"
::::: Class Report on January 26th, 2016 ::::: Great time with hot and active discussions! Thank you so much to all participants who attended "What's ‘in’ in Japan 05" last night! It was an open discussion for sharing your input on what to discuss for future What's 'in' sessions. We really enjoyed talking with all of you, and we are sure to incorporate your ideas into next What's 'in' in Japan. Here are great ideas for next topics as follows; - University Systems (e.g. life, cost etc) - Business and Language Study - Habits of young people - Bubble Impact - Customs - Manners/Politeness - Travels - Museums from around the world - Online Services - Social Networking Service (e.g. uber, airbnb etc) - Super Toilets - Class Systems and Hierarchy in work - Social Norms (e.g. quiet in public) Again, thank you for sharing your input and experiences, and we look forward to seeing you all at next session on Tuesday, February 23. Written by Jojo |
【学LEARN】What's ‘in’ in Japan 04 : Bilingual Exchange Session "City Living"
::::: Class Report on December 8th, 2015::::: Thank you so much to all participants who attended "What's ‘in’ in Japan 04" last Tuesday! We enjoyed talking about the difference of "City Living" (e.g. furniture, futon vs. bed, bathroom, trash system, storage dilemma, balcony etiquette and so on ) between city and country side. Here are a few topics we talked as follows; - About the separate trash in Tokyo (23 wards), a new comer, Kenny from Canada can't remember which day is burnable, unburnable, bottles, cans, plastic bottles, papers and... some Japanese members have a same experience that Kenny still sleeps during the time a garbage car comes before 9am so he misses to throw away trash. - As in common with all members, Japanese kotatsu is a very unique furniture but it makes us lazy not getting out. - Wearing 3, 4 clothes plus knit cap, globes and thick socks to keep warm even at home (inside the room is cold). - Some members from countryside not in Tokyo sometimes feel uneasy to make a relationship with their neighbors because everyone knows everyone. Thanks so much for joining! Look forward to seeing you all next month. If you wish to spend more events with us please go ahead and check out our upcoming events! Written by Jojo |
【学LEARN】 Business Culture Class (BCC) 08 "The World’s Most Popular Brand: Japan!"
::::: Class Report on November 14th, 2015::::: We held our "Business Culture Class (BCC) 08" on Saturday, November 14th, and discussed 3 main points linked to "Japan-brand" after talking our image of Japan from both Japanese and foreigners slides.
About the second point above - "Which do you think has the best international appeal?", we came up with some attractive aspects of Japan such as traditional (history), high technology, game, Kawaii, safe which suit the best international appeal. The most exciting part is to make a poster in Japanese style for promoting "made in Japan". One of our members had a unique idea making a poster (for a moving company) with carton boxes printed on names and logos of famous Japanese companies/brands. Hope you enjoyed a great Saturday afternoon, and we are looking forward to seeing you at next BCC class! |
【学LEARN】What's ‘in’ in Japan 03 : Bilingual Exchange Session "Money - The Mystery of "Cash in Japan"-
::::: Class Report on October 27th, 2015:::::  Kristen (USA) and Jessica (Jamaica) feel uncomfortable to carry cash but they got something new for Japanese culture keeping harmonious relationships through cash (縁 and 円). Look forward to seeing you all next month. A big thank-you to everyone!! Written by Jojo |
【学LEARN】What's ‘in’ in Japan 02 : Bilingual Exchange Session "Unique Japanese Fashion"
::::: Class Report on September 15th, 2015:::::  We held Bilingual Exchange Session “What's ‘in’ in Japan 02” on September 15, where we had a very fun night and deep discussion with the topic Japanese fashion bursting out laughing! We enjoyed talking a variety of topics such as unique Japanese woman fashion (Kawaii, Kasanegi, No sexy, high heels etc), Japanese salaryman wearing SAME suits, SAME shoulder bags, Color variation, Fast fashion, T-shirts printed on funny words/sentences in English, No sunglasses for Japanese? and so on.. Thank you so much for all participants attending our class. The next TCC class will be held at the end of October, and the topic will be MONEY. We look forward to seeing you next month! Written by Jojo |
【学LEARN】Business Culture Class (BCC) 07 "Working in a Mixed Culture Office"
::::: Class Report on September 12th, 2015::::: We held our "Business Culture Class (BCC) 07" with the topic “Working in a Mixed Culture Office" last Saturday. We all enjoyed active and deep discission as follows with watching 3 videos for 2hours
Thank you for all the particionats joining our class! All members shared your unique stories and ideas based on experiences with us! We are looking forward to seeing you at next BCC class in October! |
【学LEARN】What's ‘in’ in Japan 01 : Bilingual Exchange Session "FOOD"
::::: Class Report on July 28th, 2015:::::  At Trend Culture Class (TCC) “What's ‘in’ in Japan 01” held on July 28th 2015, we had a very fun night with the topic Japanese food, especially “Onigiri”. 12 participants including 5 people from overseas (from USA, Jamaica, India and Slovakia) came to join us! We enjoyed talking a variety of topics such as Onigiri fillings (which are not limited to plum, Salmon and Okaka but Sh...iso, Tenmusu and Konbu), new trend of Onigiri (e.g “Onigirazu”), the images of Onigiri in abroad and a bad combination of food “食べ合わせ” (e.g. watermelon and Tempura, plum and eels) ....
 
At the end of the class, all participants enjoyed eating Onigiri! Thank you so much for attending our class. We had a super great time with laughs! The next TCC class will be held at the end of August, and the topic will be Fashion. We look forward to seeing you there again, and we welcome new comers always! Written by Yoko and Jojo |
【学LEARN】 Business Culture Class (BCC) 06 "Gender equality in the workplace"
::::: Class Report on July 11th, 2015:::::
We all enjoyed playing opening activity “Who is more
likely to do a specific action: men or women?” (e.g. chasing a speeding police
car – men, get lost in a maze – women, get hit by lightning – men and so on),
and then we discussed the topics as follows after watching 2 videos – the Gender
Gap in Japan and Gender Equality for Jobs in Japan; •What do you think the main factors are behind the gender gap? •What are some reasons that women make up a majority of part-time and temporary workers? •Why do many Japanese women stop working after having babies? •Prime Minister Abe aims to put women into 30% of leadership
positions by 2020. Do you think this will work?
We are very thankful to all attendees for contributing to
the discussion and sharing your great ideas with us! We are looking forward to
seeing you at next BCC class in August! Written by Jojo |
【学LEARN】Business Culture Class (BCC) 05 "Work Ethic: What is in a good day's work?"
::::: Class Report on June 13th, 2015:::::
【学LEARN】Business Culture Class (BCC) 05 "Work Ethic: What is in a good day's work?"
All
participants enjoyed playing “Salaryman Showdown” game and we moved on the
discussion part, where we talked about as follows; •What things indicate that a person is a diligent worker / employee / professional? •What is considered “a good day’s work”? •How is Japan (or your country) unique in its values?
 From primary school on, Japanese society encourages community spirit and voluntary service, such as when children clean their schools and help junior students. Individualism is discouraged. In school sports, group competition is the rule. In the workplace, there are regular consultations on how to improve company performance. Organizations try to create a community of workers of one for all and all for one.
However, our ethics are getting changed to the things we do what we want to do, we love what we do although a few of us can do what we love at work. What do you work for? You would say that salary, job satisfactions, promotions…
 We are looking
forward to seeing you at next BCC class on Saturday July 11th! Written by Jojo
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