J Club

Come learn how to make your own Japanese rice balls while also participating in a campaign to bring food to schoolchildren around the world. Free food! Save the world!

Come enjoy delicious Asian food to celebrate the spring semester! 

Taiko is a Japanese style of drumming that’s half music, half performance art—wide, sweeping gestures, dynamic coordination, and expressive drumming. But you don’t have to go to Japan to do it—Burlington Taiko is coming to Middlebury to perform a 40-person workshop, and everyone from young children to older adults is invited! Come join the Japanese Club and work up a sweat while learning two songs! Sponsored by the Middlebury Music Dept.

Come and join the Japanese Club and Japanese Dept. for a collaborative event teaching Okinawan music and dance with Sonny Ochiai, a famous performer from New York City! We will be playing the shamisen, then learning traditional Japanese dance. No knowledge of Japanese is necessary!

The Japanese Dept. and Japanese Club is hosting it’s annual Mochitsuki, or mochi-making, event! Mochi is a soft rice pastry that is made by pounding rice until it turns into a dough, and usually eaten for New Year’s. Come celebrate with us and eat some fresh-made mochi, or try a hand at making it yourself! No knowledge of Japanese is necessary to enjoy great food with us.

Tim Brookes from Champlain College will be joining Middlebury’s Japanese and Calligraphy Club to give a talk about his Endangered Alphabets Project, where he revitalizes dying languages and cultures through beautiful art. Following this talk, attendees will be able to learn how to carve a Japanese character in a plaque of wood under Prof. Brooke’s instruction. Contact japaneseclub@middlebury.edu to RSVP!

Come join the Japanese club for a Halloween-theme onigiri (rice-ball) making event! You’ll be able to make your own onigiri with a variety of fillings and decorations, and eat them while socializing with friends. It’ll promise to be a fun and delicious event :) You don’t have to be a Japanese club member to enjoy, either—anyone can join!

Stop by Atwater Dining Hall for a full-day event hosted by the Japanese Club! Haru Matsuri, or “Spring Festival”, is a huge event that celebrates Japanese culture—featuring programming ranging from flower arrangement, Japanese drumming, and Okinawan dancing, this event is a must-see! Performances, workshops, and booths are held throughout the entire day. Admission is free and open to the public, and snacks will be served.

Interested in J-Club? Want to be on the J-Club board? This May 5th at 6:15 PM in Laforce Seminar Room 121, come and talk with the current board members about open positions for next year!