Japan Society: President

Hi! My name is Kaz running for the President of JSOC. My main goal as president would be to

 「いまの日本を見せる！」

Through participation in JSOC events, I’ve enjoyed seeing people enjoying our culture. It makes me proud as a Japanese person, and I want to give to the community as president. This year’s committee was great, but things can be improved:

1. Very few Japanese members join the events. If more Japanese participate, there’d be more opportunities to practice your Japanese.
2. Most events/lang lessons reflect “traditional” Japanese culture but the “current trends” are less emphasized. In Japan, J-Pop, manga, Maid-Café, 夏祭り(Summer Festival), are popular but are rarely touched upon.

On top of spreading the “traditional” culture, I want you to experience the “current” trends, and I’m sure these would bring more Japanese in the society too.

I fulfill this position as I have a clear vision of how I want the society to look like in the future, from past experiences as president in HS club activities and I organised a pub social for the Japanese members in UCL privately, where more than 30 people attended and was very successful. I’m prepared to take the responsibility and to devote my time for the society.

I promise that I will further vitalise the society so that every member can enjoy and be fascinated by the traditional and modern Japanese culture! Feel free to contact @kazf0208 for any questions!

Hi I’m Dylan, a Natural Sciences student running for president. Though ethnically Japanese and Hong Kongese, I’ve lived in London my whole life. My background helps me identify with both people from Japan who want a sense of home, and people drawn to Japanese culture. I’m running for president as the friends I’ve made through JSoc is the main reason why I can call UCL home and I believe I have the right skills to lead a team that can create the same opportunities for others next year.

As president, I promise to tackle two issues:

- Low participation from Japanese nationals

- Difficulty in finding friendship groups later on in the year

These issues stem from the current focus on cultural events and lack of social events. Therefore, I will increase the number of social events whilst still catering for the varied interests of our society, ranging from more pub nights to a monthly book club.

Leading and motivating a team is such a fulfilling role for me and one that I carry out effectively, exhibited through when I captained chess teams to national finals, delegate work to chess coaches for a weekly club and co-created a manga for the Tezuka Osamu Award. I’ve developed the communication skills required as store supervisor and talent finder at Clime-it Brothers, where I shared the story behind the store and as a trained Census officer for the Office of National Statistics.

Thank you for reading my manifesto and do reach out @_dylanhirotoshi on insta