A big thank you to the 2,000  visitors who came to the Japan Foundation’s stand at Hyper Japan on the 25^th, 26^th and 27^th July 2014.

HYPER JAPAN is the UK's biggest celebration of Japanese culture, Japanese cuisine, and Japanese cool. The Japan Foundation London’s stand gave visitors a chance to find out more about Japanese arts and culture, and studying Japanese language.

One of the highlights of our stand was our Japan Quiz, which around 1,300 people entered. 

The answers to the quiz were as follows:

1. Japan is in which continent?  a) Europe       b) Asia      c) Oceania
Answer: b) Asia. Japan is in East Asia.

2. What Hollywood film was inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s classic Japanese film ‘Seven Samurai’?  a) The Magnificent Seven   b) King Kong   c) Jurassic Park
Answer: a) Seven Samurai. John Sturges’ 1960 movie The Magnificent Seven was inspired by Kurosawa’s 1954 movie, Shichinin no samurai, called “Seven Samurai” in English.

3. The kanji (Japanese character) 言means “words,” and the kanji 舌 means “tongue.” What do you think their combination, 話, means? a) To taste   b) To read   c) To speak
Answer: c) To speak. The Japanese word to speak is “hanasu” (話す).

4. What is Japan’s famous high-speed train, the Shinkansen, also known as? a) The Bullet-Train      b) The Maglev      c) The TGV
Answer: a) The Bullet-Train. The Maglev is the more recent “magnetic levitation” train, and the TGV is France’s high-speed rail service.

Out of those who answered the quiz correctly, only five people could win the Japan Foundation goody bag. The lucky five were Simon, Kristian and Edward from London,  Roshni from Middlesex and Lynn from Essex. Well done to them!

Don’t forget that the Japan Foundation will be at Alcon (Anime League’s Anime & Gaming convention at De Montford University) on September 6^th and 7^th, and at Japan Matsuri at Trafalgar Square on September 27^th. We hope to see you there!