The members of the Japan Club are all integrated together through the interest of Japanese language and culture regardless of their differences in various backgrounds, traditions and religious upbringings.

The Japan Club at Sacramento State strives to create cultural awareness and community support between Japanese and American students by educating members on facts of the Japanese culture at club meetings.

The club’s next meeting will be held Monday, October 26, at 4:30 p.m. and feature “Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai” or gathering of 100 tales where club members will take turns telling scary ghost stories as part of the Japanese tradition.

“Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai” is thought to have originated as a test of courage, but is now fashionable amongst Japanese culture.

Ria Fae Caldo, senior accounting major and secretary of the Japan Club, said the club’s meetings usually start out with a Japanese children’s game and then focus on the prefecture cities around Japan like Aoyama, and Ehime. Caldo said the majority of these meetings consist of large presentations that examine a detailed aspect of the Japanese culture, such as general history, pop culture, and traditional art and dance.

Cesar A. Chavez, senior computer science major and president of the Japan Club, said the club is open to all students regardless of their nationality. Chavez said the club does not require fees because he wants to make sure that people who are interested in the Japanese culture attend the club’s meetings.

“The club’s purpose is really to give you more knowledge about (Japan). We try to make it open enough to make sure that people get to know about Japan, even if they just have a small interest,” Chavez said.

Chávez said the club hosts a series of specialized events throughout the year. This semester, the Japan Club will feature a Private Tea Ceremony to demonstrate traditional Japanese tea ceremonies from 3 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 20 in the Library. A Halloween Movie Night, featuring a scary Japanese movie, YokaiDaisenso, will be shown on Oct. 30 at 6 p.m.

The Japan Club will also hold an Origami-a-thon on Nov. 21 from noon to 6 p.m. where club members will make 1,000 paper cranes to send to Japan.

The club’s biggest event, Japanese Culture Night, occurs during the spring semester each year. The Japan Club presents guests with songs, dances, skits and history on Japanese culture.

Caldo said the club gets a lot of exchange students from Japan. “We have a lot of alumni (of the Japan Club) down there (in Japan) who are either working or studying down there. That’s the aspect I like most,” Caldo said.

Miranda Marsalla can be reached at [email protected]