Hatsumoude is the custom of offering New Years’ prayers at a temple or shrine in Japan -and this year MSA started the new year by just doing just that! On the 3rd of January, we visited Meiji Shrine in Tokyo - one of the most important shrines in Japan and actually the busiest shrine for … Continue reading Hatsumoude – New Years Prayers at Meiji Shrine
Bonenkai in Hokkaido 2018
On the 28th of December the Hokkaido team of MSA organized a bonenkai and 10 people gathered at "Crazy Spice" in Sapporo to say their last good bye to 2018 with a spicy bowl of Indian Curry and a blast of laughter. We looked back at the whole year of volunteering for MSA and the events … Continue reading Bonenkai in Hokkaido 2018
Kansai Bonenkai Karaoke Meet 2018
On Friday, December 14th, the MSA Kansai team organized the Bonenkai event named "Osaka: International Karaoke End of the Year Party" at Cassie's bar in Namba, Osaka. 19 people joined the event including 11 current or alumni MEXT scholars. Participants were from many different countries including Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, India, Iran, Japan, Libya, Peru, USA and … Continue reading Kansai Bonenkai Karaoke Meet 2018
An Adventure in Arashiyama
On Sunday, December 9th, the MSA Kansai team organized a day trip to Arashiyama in Kyoto. Despite the extremely windy and cold weather, we started from Kyoto Station towards Arashiyama with a group of four people. In Arashiyama, we were lucky enough to get tickets for the famous Arashiyama Scenic Train. Although the timing was quite … Continue reading An Adventure in Arashiyama
Okayama : A day trip to the mountain-top Bitchu-Matsuyama Castle
Okayama offers a perfect blend of city life and countryside, for in this prefecture you can head out to any direction and always find an adventure waiting to unfold. For the first MSA Okayama event we went on a day trip to the mountain-top Bitchu-Matsuyama castle on Saturday, 24thNovember, 2018. Bitchu-Matsuyama castle is the only … Continue reading Okayama : A day trip to the mountain-top Bitchu-Matsuyama Castle
Bricolage Tea Ceremony with Toru Ota Sensei
Serving a simple bowl of tea to the guests with utmost respect has a history of more than 400 years in Japan. In its elegance and fine taste, Cha-no-yu (tea ceremony) integrates almost every aspect of traditional Japanese culture; such as architecture, gardening, clothes, painting, calligraphy, flower arrangement, pottery, lacquerware, cuisine and so on. Therefore, … Continue reading Bricolage Tea Ceremony with Toru Ota Sensei
Reception for MEXT Scholars 2018 in Tokyo
On November 17th, MEXT and JASSO held their annual reception for newly arrived MEXT scholars in Odaiba and MSA was also involved in the organization of this event. The main reception, where the attendees could enjoy a Wadaiko (Japanese drums) performance and listen to inspiring speeches by representatives from MEXT and JASSO as well as two … Continue reading Reception for MEXT Scholars 2018 in Tokyo
MSA Rafting Trip @ Okutama, October 20th 2018
On Saturday, the 20th of October, the MSA Kanto team organized for the first time an exciting outdoors activity: a half-day whitewater rafting trip at Okutama! The idea was to offer an opportunity to our community members to get together and try something fun and energizing, that complements the very insightful job-hunting, research and networking scholarly … Continue reading MSA Rafting Trip @ Okutama, October 20th 2018
MSA Welcome Meet Ups Autumn 2018
From October until November MSA held welcome meet ups in Hokkaido, Kanto, Kansai and Kyushu. We hope that everyone enjoyed the meet ups and made new friends and would like to thank everyone who participated and contributed in making every single one a success! To give you an impression of the events, here are some pictures … Continue reading MSA Welcome Meet Ups Autumn 2018
2018 Autumn Welcome Meet: Kyoto
On Saturday, the 20th of October, the MSA Kansai team organized a welcome meet for the newly arrived international scholars in the Kansai area. It was designed as an interactive event primarily aimed at sharing of experiences from the current scholars and alumni to the newly arrived scholars. The venue was provided by the Graduate … Continue reading 2018 Autumn Welcome Meet: Kyoto