Calcuttans who love the land of the rising sun and expatriates from Japan came together for an evening titled In-Nichi Bunkasai at a Jadavpur University auditorium last month. 

Jayanta Saha, president of Nihongo Kaiwa Kyookai Society, which organised the programme in association with the consulate of Japan, said: “‘Nichi’ means sun and therefore stands for Nippon (origin of the sun) — Japan. And bunkasai means culture festival.”

The programmes were a melange of India and Japan, but none more so than the skit put up by the members titled Mind Your Japanese Language. The skit had a classroom full of multilingual Indian students valiantly speaking in a mix of their mother tongues, English and Japanese, often going hilariously wrong. The teacher, played by the society’s chief patron Kazuko Nigam, promised to give the best student a free ticket to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, and that’s when the fun began.

Students of Japanese Supplementary School — Ayumi Kawaura, Eimi Yuasa, Sahil and Sarika Khan — put up a spirited dance show.  

The biggest cheers were reserved for the characters from popular Japanese anime series — Tokyo Ghoul, Bleach and Naruto — who appeared on stage during a cosplay titled A Peek Into Modern Japan, held with help from the Kolkata Anime Club. 

Sudeshna Banerjee 
Pictures: Koushik Saha