Financial Aid for Intercultural Exchange Project Report

15 students standing for a group photo wearing their newly finished traditional masks

Japanese Culture Through Mask Making

Date: Nov 12th, 2022

On November 12th, Beyond Borders Plaza (BBP) student staff held a cultural event where students painted and decorated traditional masks, pronounced "o-men" in Japanese, with the support of the Financial Aid for Intercultural Exchange. Beyond the cultural experience aspect of the event, students mixed and mingled as they made their masks, making for a fruitful day of intercultural exchange.

two half-painted kitsune masks on a table

15 students posing in front of the giant orange entrance gate to a Shinto shrine

One of the organizers, BKC BBP Staffer Syoya Yamamoto (College of Life Sciences, freshman), had this to say, “On the day of, students from a wide variety of backgrounds joined, and sitting 3 to 4 a table they each decorated their masks. I'm happy to report that despite the participants all meeting for the first time that day, everyone become fast friends and had a fun time. At only an hour and a half in length it was a short but sweet event, I feel confident in saying that it was well worth the time of all who participated. There were a few instances where those of us running the event could have done better and I apologize for any inconvenience caused to participants, but in any case, thank you for your attendance. Moving forward I'd like to continue to create more opportunities for people with different ideas and ways of thinking to come together and exchange those opinions in a positive way."

Reference:
The BBP Homepage
Financial Aid for Intercultural Exchange
Previous Event