Rowan University’s different cultural clubs across campus offer an opportunity for students to learn and experience different traditions and cultures without the expenses of travel and in the safety of the campus.
The Japanese Culture Club (JCC) is one of the examples of the opportunities presented on campus.
On Wednesday, Apr. 1, the Japanese Culture club hosted one of its campus events, Calligraphy Night at Robinson Hall.
Calligraphy – or Shodo, which means “way of writing” – is an art form that originated in China around 3,500 years ago. Over time, the writing shifted toward an artistic style that eventually landed in Japan in the sixth century.
Today, Calligraphy has taken a larger role in Japan, becoming a form of discipline and a six-year national curriculum. The teachings look to improve on an individual’s classical literature and to develop mental discipline through the practice it takes.
During the event, club members sat together with brushes and paper, first practicing writing the Kanji for Water before going on to write their own Kanji.
Rowan’s Japanese associate teaching professors and faculty advisor for the JCC, Chie Matsumura Dusk, spoke about what it means to have not only this event on campus, but for students to show up.
“I really appreciate that my students are really interested in Japanese Calligraphy that is very different from their own American penmanship,” said Dusk. “This means a lot because I grew up with Calligraphy activities that my dad [did]. My father in Japan is a Calligraphy Master.”
Numerous students showed off their Calligraphy, including a senior studio art major, Jordan Cravins, who took a lot of liberties in her drawing. Adding different animals and shapes around her Calligraphy.
“I did the Kanji ‘Yuki’, which means snow,” said Cravins. “I picked it because I love the winter and the landscape snow creates.”
Along with the word “Snow” (Yuki) came “dream” (Yume), “Fire” (Ka), and the literal word “happiness” (sachi), which were the different words that people wrote to express themselves.
The president of the JCC, Matthew Jones, a senior computer science major, spoke about the club and Calligraphy night.
“You learn the exact stroke orders and the meanings of the stroke orders and why they are important,” said Jones. “It was very fun and captivating [the first time he tried Calligraphy].”
The JCC does more than just Calligraphy night. Along with Aikido night, the club hosts events such as Bento Box night. This is an event where the club members are separated into multiple groups, where they then compete to make the best bento box, which is then judged by the club’s staff.
Not only do they do stuff on campus, but every year the club visits the Shofuso Japanese Culture Center in Philadelphia to not only help do a little community service, but also to take a tour around to appreciate the scenery and culture.
At the end of the day, the club continues to do its best at what the different culture clubs strive to do: invite and inform people of the traditions and customs of different countries around the world.
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