Andover Japanese Connection

Contact Information

A. Michelle Mariko (aMariko@andover.edu), Charles Schoener (cSchoener@andover.edu), and faculty advisor Teruyo Shimazu (tshimazu@andover.edu)

Club Description

AJC is the perfect way for people to enjoy Japanese culture, especially at a school so far away from so many students’ cultural backgrounds. Our meetings are open to anybody interested in Japan and we are proud that more than half of our members are actually not Japanese. We educate our members about Japanese traditions, religious celebrations, food, television shows, the language and other cultural activities.

AJC has enjoyed numerous events this past year to share our love for Japan to the entire student body. At the International Festival and Asian Arts Festival, AJC sells traditional Japanese food (this year we sold cooked noodles and vegetables called “yakisoba” and green tea ice cream). We have also been selling t-shirts that say “ichiban” (number one in Japanese) for any students who are interested. Two memories from this school year stand apart from the rest: our tug-of-war contest against Andover Korean Society on the Gelb Lawn and our meeting with Asian Society in 1924 House (taking a break from our stressful schoolwork to watch the movie Rush Hour and eat delicious Chinese and Japanese food). Memorable club meetings include playing DDR, watching Japanese soap operas, walking downtown to eat at Yama, and competing in Sudoku contests. Overall, AJC members get involved in any Japanese-related activities and are always open to teaching the community about Japan.