2008 Woodie Awards
WEEKLY FEATURED PROFILE: JAPANESE POP CULTURE CLUB
Kaiulani Kauahi
Issue date: 5/9/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Newly re-founded this year by three freshmen girls, the Japanese Pop Culture (JPop) Club is led by President Erin Bradley, Vice President Mehgan Cochran, and Secretary Stephanie Nguyen-Thi. An effort to found the club and have it sanctioned was attempted by a third party last year, but it was not quite successful.
"There are so many anime nerds that we just wanted to make something for them…we figured we could take music, video, and games too-just encompass everything," said Bradley.
The club focuses mostly on JPop, rather than Korean Pop Culture (KPop) or Chinese Pop Culture. "It's just because the anime isn't as good as JPop anime," said Bradley.
The club revolves around Japan's pop culture, but sometimes dabbles in traditional Japanese culture as well. "In order to understand some of the new things [like anime] you need to understand the old," said Bradley.
The club members look to spread their love of anime, while the goal of the club itself is to increase knowledge of JPop. Meetings consist of club games, activities, event announcements, and then usually watching anime.
Though the club is small (consisting of seven active members and a handful of those who trickle in and out) they have already gotten involved in charitable events such as Carnival 4 Kids.
Next year the club plans to work with the Asian Pacific American Student Association (APASA) on some events, and hopefully get more involved with campus activities.
Being a newer and smaller club, the JPop Club did not have many opportunities for larger events this year. For the future, the club hopes to host a night filled with Japanese scary movies (known to some as Obake), as well as a bake sale and other fundraisers to increase the club budget.
"When we started we had no budget at all, and we had to work really hard out of our own pockets to raise what we have now," said Bradley.
A theme seeming to run strong in the club is community and friendship. "We're accepting of everyone," said Bradley, "I think we may even scare people off with our enthusiasm."
Less than a year old, the Japanese Pop Culture Club has pushed hard to gain the recognition it has. Although not all students have heard of it, the JPop Club is working its way up to the top.
"There are so many anime nerds that we just wanted to make something for them…we figured we could take music, video, and games too-just encompass everything," said Bradley.
The club focuses mostly on JPop, rather than Korean Pop Culture (KPop) or Chinese Pop Culture. "It's just because the anime isn't as good as JPop anime," said Bradley.
The club revolves around Japan's pop culture, but sometimes dabbles in traditional Japanese culture as well. "In order to understand some of the new things [like anime] you need to understand the old," said Bradley.
The club members look to spread their love of anime, while the goal of the club itself is to increase knowledge of JPop. Meetings consist of club games, activities, event announcements, and then usually watching anime.
Though the club is small (consisting of seven active members and a handful of those who trickle in and out) they have already gotten involved in charitable events such as Carnival 4 Kids.
Next year the club plans to work with the Asian Pacific American Student Association (APASA) on some events, and hopefully get more involved with campus activities.
Being a newer and smaller club, the JPop Club did not have many opportunities for larger events this year. For the future, the club hopes to host a night filled with Japanese scary movies (known to some as Obake), as well as a bake sale and other fundraisers to increase the club budget.
"When we started we had no budget at all, and we had to work really hard out of our own pockets to raise what we have now," said Bradley.
A theme seeming to run strong in the club is community and friendship. "We're accepting of everyone," said Bradley, "I think we may even scare people off with our enthusiasm."
Less than a year old, the Japanese Pop Culture Club has pushed hard to gain the recognition it has. Although not all students have heard of it, the JPop Club is working its way up to the top.