If you study abroad with JCMU, you can participate in a wide array of activities at our campus and in the Shiga area! To showcase just how much you can do in Hikone, our Student Services Coordinator, Yasuhiko Harada, created a list of events/activities that students participated in this last March. From cherry blossom festivals to curry nights, students shared their cultures with others while immersing themselves in the local Japanese community.

Events at JCMU

March 2nd - 3rd

JCMU Spring Break
- Chance for students to travel to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and many other big cities

March 3rd

Hikone Chamber of Commerce and Industry Party

March 4th

Kawase Junior High and Senior High School English Session

March 8th

Speed Friending
- Students from both the U.S. and Hikone got a chance to speedily meet one another

March 9th

Trip to Omihachiman

March 10th

Weekly Exam 8

Japanese Culture Project
- Introduction to wadaiko (traditional Japanese drum)

March 13th

Hikone Higashi High School English Session

Visiting Showa Valve Corporation
- Part of the Culture & Society JCMU elective course

March 14th

Curry night!
- Japanese and American students made and ate curry at JCMU

March 15th

Movie night
- Sing

March 17th 

Friday Japanese Culture Project
- Introduction to Japanese Sign Language

March 18th

JCMU open Lecture: What will Happen under President Trump?
- Presented By JCMU Resident Director, Ben McCracken

March 20th

Kokunai Ryuugaku C program final presentation
- Kokunai Ryuugaku program is for Japanese students learning English at JCMU

March 24th

Friday Japanese Culture Project
- Mock interviews with Hikone locals

March 29

Wednesday English Night at Apple Hall
- Trivia Night!

Events in the Hikone/Shiga Area

March 11 - 12

Sagicho Festival in Ohmi-Hachiman City

March 19

Seiryoji Zen Practice
- Students given the chance to learn about and practice zen meditation

Hikone farmers market

Hikone teppou (Old style Japanese gun) group performance
- Held at Hikone Castle

Until April 11

Special exhibition of the work of Naosuke Ii at the Hikone Castle Museum

Until April 19

Pieris japonica Tree Exhibition at Daitsuji Temple

March 18 to December

Hikone 410 years Anniversary Festival

https://youtu.be/jagzCx8GlpY

March 22 to April 16

English Garden Rosa & Berry Tawada in Maibara

Pansy and Viola Festival

March 25th to April 20th

Michigan Boat Early Morning Cruise

March 26 and April 9

Sake tasting at breweries in Otsu

From the end of March to early May

Hikone Castle Town Prosperous Market

From the end of March

Ishiyama temple Cherry Blossom Season

Until April 20

Hikone Castle Cherry Blossom Festival