The Japanese Club celebrates Japanese culture with new passions

By Emmett Roman
Staff Reporter

Lansing’s relationship with Japanese culture is very interesting. In 1968, Governor George Romney and Governor Kinichiro Nozaki signed an agreement between the State of Michigan in and Shiga Prefecture in Japan. According to the Michigan-Shiga website, this agreement was made to unite the people of Michigan and the people of Shiga in everlasting bonds of friendship.  In that same year, Lansing became a sister city with Otsu, Japan.

LCC’s Shigematsu Japanese Garden is further testament to Lansing’s relationship with Japan. Created in 2006 on the 25^th anniversary of LCC’s Japan Adventure program, the garden pays tribute to Megumi Shigematsu, a sponsor of LCC’s Japanese programs.

Further nurturing the relationship between Lansing and Japan is LCC’s Japanese Club. The club is open to current LCC students who are looking to share interests in Japan, the Japanese language, Japanese food, Japanese media, etc. Japanese Club provides educational and enrichment opportunities for students, faculty and staff. Students do not need to know Japanese to join the club.

On Aug. 27, the LCC Japanese Club promoted their club at the Campus Resource and Registered Student Organization (RSO) Fair. They had visitors, with one being Shiga representative Keiko Nakajima and her husband, Takashi. Other visitors were Lansing-Otsu Committee members Elizabeth M. and Beth M., as well as four Japanese students from Hosei University.

The club’s meetings are held twice a month online, and the club also offers in-person events and field trips throughout the academic year. According to Japanese Club Advisor Bridget Cooper, “This semester we our planning an in-person event with presentations by some Japanese students who are doing honors option projects,” Cooper said. “[We also] hope to go to a Japanese restaurant.” The Japanese Club also plans to participate in an RSO fundraiser event on Oct. 30, 2025.

Besides being a club for those with interests in Japan and their culture, this club also provides success for the future of students. Many of the Japanese Club alumni have transferred to four-year institutions to earn their bachelor's degrees and continue learning Japanese language and culture. According to Cooper, one recent Japanese Club member has done two Japan Center for Michigan Universities (JCMU) programs in Japan in the past few years. A current member of the club plans to become a Japanese teacher in the future, and is currently working as a Japanese peer tutor.

Interested students can contact the club for meeting times.