JAPANESE CULTURE CENTRE | #DelhipediaGuides

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Stepping out of the Moolchand metro station -it’s not just the savoury paranthas that await you, but just in the vicinity of the station is your gateway to the world of anime, mangas and many more within the Japanese Culture Centre. Located on the Ring road in Lajpat Nagar, this is a wonderful place to interact with and learn Japanese culture.The Japan Foundation was established in October 1972 as a special legal entity supervised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In October 2003, it was reorganized as an independent administrative institution.

Library

The tour of the centre begins from the library collection. They store reference services for the collection of research information related to Japan and international cultural exchange. Enjoy more than 1500 manga (including mega-hit titles like “Naruto”, “One Piece”’ “Bleach” etc.) in Japanese & English languages. Besides this, they have a plethora of  CDs, magazines, comics and many more to offer. With the motive of enhancing the wings of the Japanese culture into the world, the centre makes its services easier and hassle-free by accepting requests through telephone, fax and email. These can be issued for a time period of 14 days and extended to another 14 days.

Membership

Acquiring individual membership is an easy task and that too with a very affordable price of just 300/ per year. The membership forms are available on their website. By acquiring membership one can develop/improve their Japanese language proficiency too, by getting themselves enrolled in the regular courses offered by the centre’s language branch. The class tasks include learning and thorough involvement in activities.

Japanese Language Courses

The  levels offered by the centre for learning the Japanese language are the following

  • Introductory Conversation (A1 Katsudo)” – Class 1, 2
  • “Introductory Script and Grammar (A1 Rikai)” – Class 3, 4
  • Elementary Conversation and Grammar (A2-1 Katsudo & Rikai)” – Class 5, 6
  • Elementary Conversation and Grammar (A2-2 Katsudo & Rikai)” – Class 7, 8
  • Pre-Intermediate Conversation and Grammar (A2/ B1)” – Class 9

There is also a theme-based class for those who want to learn more about Japanese culture and current affairs for a duration of one month. The Japan Foundation support program for access to an online resource on Japanese studies only for the higher educational institute (Universities/Colleges).

Culture Section

Another exciting feature is the Chat Room which is conducted once a month on Saturdays from July to April, at the Japan Foundation to enhance one’s communication skills.

For those movie lovers and directors out there, the Japan Foundation New Delhi has another club- Japan Foundation Cinema Club (JFCC) as an active, vibrant and interactive pan-national community of Japanese film aficionados in India. Participation in any of the events or membership of this club is free of cost, just like other programs and one should just be an Indian above the age of 15 years or above to get themselves enrolled.