Aimed at exposing UTAR staff and students to Japanese society and different cultural phenomena from individuals within the culture, a total of 269 staff and students from UTAR and Aichi Gakuin University (AGU) participated in the virtual study tour to AGU on 25 June 2021 via Microsoft Teams.

Titled “Unmasking Japanese Culture”, the virtual study tour was jointly organised by UTAR and AGU. The event was also held as part of an effort to maintain a long-term partnership between the two institutions.

During the event, students from AGU shared two interesting topics that were close to their hearts— “The Half” and “Acculturation of Foreign Food in Japan”. While the former covered challenges faced by children of mixed marriages, the latter touched on the preparation, presentation and consumption of food that were influenced by the native culture.

Using examples of local athletes and celebrities such as Naomi Osaka, Ariana Miyamoto and Rui Hachimura, AGU students who shared on the first topic, “The Half”, noted how these individuals were perceived negatively and their achievements were largely disregarded due to their mixed identities. 

“Hence, we hope to emulate Malaysia’s multicultural society where we accept one another regardless of our ethnicity or background,” said one of the AGU student presenters.   

While discussing the “Acculturation of Foreign Food in Japan”, students of AGU gave several interesting examples of how various native foods of other countries were introduced in Japan and later served, prepared and consumed to suit the local culture.

For example, in Western countries, sponge cakes are made of ingredients that include fruits and fresh cream, but the Japanese-style sponge cake or otherwise known as Daifuku uses only sweet bean as its filling. Other interesting examples that were given include the Japanese curry rice, Cheese Naan, Gyoza and Mayocorn pizza. 

Organising chairperson-cum-lecturer from the Department of Public Relations of UTAR Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Diong Fong Wei said she was glad that the event was a success and most importantly, it provided fruitful insights to UTAR students about the Japanese culture.

“Although we are unable to organise a physical event due to the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to the advancement of technology, we are still able to share and exchange knowledge with one another virtually. We look forward to organising the next event with AGU,” said Diong.

Meanwhile, the person in-charge of AGU, Prof Mariko Takagi-Kitayama also expressed her gratitude to UTAR for the overwhelming response, i.e. the participation of more than 200 students and staff. “It was indeed a very rare opportunity for my students to speak in English online to about 250 people and that was great. They were nervous at the beginning, but they seemed to enjoy their presentations later. Thus, I hope we could organise this event again in fall sometime,” said Mariko.

“I have never been to Japan. When I saw the announcement about this programme, I was quite intrigued because I know I will be able to meet the people from Japan. I am glad to learn interesting facts about Japanese culture and food. It was really a great opportunity to be able to interact with those Japanese students during the event and it was fun that we were exchanging our travelling experiences. Thus, I really hope that I will be able to join the study tour to Japan when the pandemic is over,” said Nabil Daniel bin Abdul Rahim Chan, a first-year student of Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) Psychology.

“Despite the event being virtual, I think it was done well as there were a lot of interactions going on between the AGU and UTAR students in terms of exchanging views, thought-provoking questions, and opinions, and even laughs. It was a very memorable and thoroughly enjoyable event. I am glad that I participated in this virtual study tour. Getting to know a little more about the city of Nagoya, the Japanese culture, and of course, Mariko-Sensei and the AGU students, has inspired me to want to visit the AGU and the city someday, and possibly on another exchange once the pandemic is over,” enthused Pua Wei Yi, a student from Sungai Long Campus majoring in Media and Creative Studies.