Fun cultural activities and free Japanese language lessons welcomed visitors to this year’s Nihongo Center Foundation (NCF) Open House. Held last October 8 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Makati Campus, NCF students and guests participated and enjoyed activities like karaoke, cosplay, origami, and even got a chance to show off their drawing skills through the event’s annual drawing contest.

After the morning registration for visitors, the Open House kicked-off with the Kana Writing contest where participants displayed their writing skills in Hiragana. It was followed by the open-theme Drawing contest where the contestants’ artworks were judged based on neatness and the creative use of colors and shades.

In the afternoon, the much-awaited Karaoke contest drew an excited audience as 10 hopefuls tried to deliver their best renditions of their favorite Japanese songs. Songstress, Ms. Ruu Kurosawa, took the top prize for her performance of the song “Sandpiper.”

Also a major yearly activity in the NCF Open House was the Cosplay contest where participants dressed up in elaborate costumes and detailed make-up based on different popular Anime and video game characters. Pictures of the contestants were taken in the morning and posted for voting. Attendees of the Open House all had a chance to vote for their favorite cosplayer and winners were announced at the end of the day.

Aside from the cultural activities and contests, there were also games and booths from NCF’s partners in spreading Japanese Language and Culture like Heart International Corporation, Jellyfish Education Consultancy, Chikyujin, and Anizone. All visitors were also invited to posts their photos enjoying the activities on their Facebook account. Guests who got the most number of likes for their picture took home some cool prizes and gift certificates courtesy of NCF, The Philippine Institute of Japanese Language and Culture (PIJLC), and Kake Educational Institution.

Other activities that were lined up throughout the day included:

Kirigami – a variation of Origami where paper is folded and then cut to create different paper artworks.
Furoshiki – traditional Japanese cloth used for wrapping gifts and other goods.
Omikuji – Japanese fortune-telling paper strips
Yukata No Kitsuke – Wearing of Japanese traditional summer kimono called “Yukata.”

Asked about the annual NCF Open House, Japanese language teacher and event organizer, Ms. Frances Mendoza, explained:

“The Open House is held annually to provide a venue, not only for our students but for anyone who is interested, to experience Japanese cultural activities and pop culture. Smaller in scale and scope than Japan Foundation’s event, it has a community feel, a bunka matsuri atmosphere. Nihongo Center aims to foster not only love of language but also culture, which is an integral part of language acquisition.”

For the list of winners and event photos, please refer to the links below.

=============

References:

List of Winners NCF Open House 2017
NCF Open House Photo Album