Japanese National Honor Society hosted its first movie night on Feb 1. The event was put on mainly to raise money for tsunami relief for Japan. The movie played was “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” a family friendly Japanese anime that had English subtitles.
“We’re always trying to come up with ideas to involve more of the community in our activities. The movie night was an idea for something fun that we could do as a club while raising money for a great cause,” said junior Laura Breidenthal. Breidenthal put on the event along with junior Lily LeaVesseur. The movie viewing took place in the library where the club also sold various Japanese ethnic foods such as onigiri (Japanese rice balls), Pocky, and Japanese soda. “There were so many different options, it was great,” said junior and movie goer Katrina Olsen.
To prepare for the night, JNHS started organizing in December. “The movie night took a lot of preparation,” said Breidenthal, “We coordinated with the school staff as well as club members to get everything we needed for the night.” The preparation paid off with about 40 people in attendance and many happy costumers. “It was the most delightful night of my week,” said senior Elliot Horen.
Part of the success lie in the diversity of people in attendance. “It was so much fun to see people who weren’t in a Japanese class or involved with JNHS come to support us and take an interest in Japanese culture,” said Breidenthal. The club is hopeful that the future will hold many more similar nights, said Breidenthal. “We are definitely thinking about planning future events that involve more of the community.”