On Thursday, June 4, the Japan-America Society of the State of Washington held it’s Virtual JIS (Japan-in-the School) Festival online to celebrate the JIS program’s 25th year anniversary.
Lisa Maria D’Aquila, the Visit Leader for the JIS Program, served as this virtual festival’s enthusiastic MC. Sarah Sanford, former Chair of JASSW, provided an encouraging message to participants, and Kei Tsukamaki, President of the Washington Association of Teachers of Japanese, helped to bring the Virtual JIS Festival to a start with her welcoming video message.
The Hyogo Business & Cultural Center introduced its office to the audience and revealed the results for this year’s Japanese Speech & Skit Contest (renamed as “RECord Video Japanese Speech & Clip Contest”).
Next, JASSW held a Japan Trivia Kahoot Quiz. Participants went head to head as they competed to answer questions of varying difficulty levels in Japanese, and the top 10 winners of this fun quiz earned prizes.
Virtual JIS Festival participants were then treated to a special appearance by UMI, a Seattle-born singer who congratulated the graduating class of 2020 with a heartfelt message and her warm music video titled “Happy Again.”
Following UMI’s video, the Consulate General of Japan in Seattle introduced a video about the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme. Two JET alumni (Jessica Brooke Record and Maggie Thorpe) from the Japanese Consulate spoke about their own experiences in Japan while on the JET Programme.
Finally, the Virtual JIS Festival came to a close with inspirational closing remarks from the Consul General of Japan, Mr. Yoichiro Yamada.
At its peak, 69 participants joined the Virtual JIS Festival, and approximately 275 viewers watched the live stream of the Festival from JASSW’s Facebook Page.
We would like to sincerely thank all sponsors, partner organizations, teachers, contest participants, and virtual audience members who all made the Virtual JIS Festival and RECord Video Japanese Speech & Clip Contest possible.
If you would like to watch a recording of the virtual JIS Festival live stream, please click here.
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