Japan festival launches UK first

Japan festival launches UK first

Little girls from the area dress up in traditional Japanese dress

It was east meets west in north Wales this weekend as local schoolchildren were introduced to Japanese culture.

Real life Ninjas were among those demonstrating traditional skills during Japan Day at Bangor University on Saturday.

The event marked the launch of a pioneering scheme by the University's Institute of Japanese Studies (IJS) to teach primary schoolchildren about the culture and language of the far east.

The scheme is the first of its kind in the UK and allows primary schools across Wales to opt in to lessons on Japan.

They are given by native Japanese who have been expertly trained by the IJS.

Lee Glenister, Education Officer of the Embassy of Japan, said: "There's never been anything like this before now. It's pretty special".

Teenager James Ballantyne brought his family from Porthmadog to the event because he is "obsessed" with Japanese culture.

James Ballantyne is taken with Japanese culture

He said: "I love the history and culture because it is so different to ours.

"I'm interested in martial arts and the country's ceremonies," said the 15-year-old who has a yellow belt in kick boxing.

"The best thing at the festival was the performance on traditional musical instruments, the origami and the calligraphy."

Although he has not studied Japanese culture at school James said he would definitely like to be involved in a scheme like the IJS's if it was available to him.

It is hoped the programme will help reverse years of decline in the number of pupils learning foreign languages and help Wales keep up in a global community.

Earlier this month, research by Language Network Cymru on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government showed 42% of Welsh companies encountered language and cultural barriers when trading internationally.

Japan's Ambassador Orita launches day with a tea ceremony

At present, just 37% of children in Wales study a modern foreign language to GCSE level, compared with 95% in England.

This figure has fallen markedly since 1995, when 55% of Welsh pupils were learning languages to GCSE standard.

Jingling Hu, Co-ordinator of the Japanese Studies scheme at the IJS, says she feels passionately about the project: "Japanese studies keeps Wales at the forefront of language teaching.

"We are really pleased that Welsh schools are leading by example and showing the rest of the UK what modern languages have to offer."

The Japanese Ambassador to Britain, Masaki Orita, was in Bangor launching the project on Saturday.

The colourful Mini Nihon Matsuri, or Japan Festival, held at John Phillips Hall, had a host of activities - from martial arts to ancient crafts, artistic displays, music, poetry, stories and games.