Spotlights

Hello, we are SIED! 

On Thursday, June 4th, we held the SIED event "Original Folding Fan Painting Experience" at the Kyotanabe International Community Lounge, with many international and local students participating, including students from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

At this event, participants experienced the painting of folding fans—a traditional part of Japanese culture—and created their very own one-of-a-kind fan. 

Before the painting began, everyone got to know one another through self-introductions and an icebreaker game called "Picture Shiritori." Next, we introduced the history and culture of folding fans. When we shared that fans were born in Japan around 1,200 years ago during the Heian period, and that the shape of an open fan is called "sue-hirogari"—a symbol of prosperity and good fortune—everyone listened with great interest. 

Then it was finally time to paint! Using traditional Japanese designs such as cherry blossoms, Mt. Fuji, Daruma dolls, and morning glories as inspiration, participants made light pencil sketches before carefully coloring them in with brush pens. Many people were unsure of what to draw at first, but they showed their work to others at their table and encouraged each other with comments like "Nice!" and "That looks great!", and everyone was able to complete their own unique fan by the end. 

Throughout the event, conversations flowed about everyone's home countries and hobbies, and many participants enjoyed connecting with one another in a warm, friendly atmosphere from start to finish. During the sharing time after the fans were finished, each person presented the details they had put effort into, which seemed to make everyone cherish their fans even more. 

Participants shared wonderful feedback, telling us they "had a great time" and "would love to join again." 

We hope all participants had a wonderful experience through our event.
We will host many other intercultural events throughout the semester. We hope to see you at our future events!