Author: Peter

Perfect weather, great atmosphere and nothing but happy faces at the 2021 Outdoor Christmas.

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Hiking around Kamakura

Hiking Highlights!

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“Stammtisch” get-together at Gino Sorbillo Artista Pizza Napoletana (Nihonbashi)

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The Culture Section of the Swiss Embassy in Tokyo has released a new event calendar:

Vantage points

This season, our SWISS CULTURE IN JAPAN event calendar introduces some thought-provoking snapshots: an exhibition questioning how far art can go in expressing the concept of “humanity,” a charity concert reminding us of the importance of helping others or even a photography competition highlighting the urgency of the environmental crisis. If you are more inclined towards online gazing, do not miss V/A – Various artists. This new digital magazine initiated by the Pro Helvetia Cultural Foundation presents an innovative form of cultural journalism that contributes to international exchanges and artistic transdisciplinarity through texts, visual media, soundscapes, and more. Ready for new outlooks?

Needless to say that the ongoing situation with Covid-19 makes it rather difficult to plan and organize activities and events. In 2020, we focussed on outdoor activities; and we managed to find outside locations for all our main events (the Annual General Meeting, the 1. August celebration and the Christmas party).

Also, we moved the Stammtisch – our monthly get-together – to a terrace in Nihonbashi, while the freshly introduced hiking outings in fall became an instant hit.

This year, in the first week of March, we went ahead with our traditional ski week in the Shiga Kogen area, which was yet again a lot of fun and a huge success. Please check out the tab with the highlights of our ski holiday! Hopefully, it wets your appetite for next year!

And what’s in store for this year?

I guess we will continue in the same vein – while carefully assessing the situation at hand and adjusting to it.

The first spring hike was fully booked within one day. But no worries – there will be more to come!

Our Annual General Meeting (for members only) is roughly scheduled for the first half of June, and we might be able to use the Garden of the Swiss Residence for the occasion – provided there is no state of emergency at the time. If circumstances should prove to be too severe, an online-meeting (Zoom or similar) is not out of the question.

This year again, we can probably celebrate the 1. August on the proper date, as it falls on a Sunday. As for the venue, we plan to book the Keio Floral Garden Ange like in the last 2 years. The same holds true for our Christmas event with Santa!

We have a few other potential activities in mind, like some “Seaside Fun” at Yokohama Umi no Koen (Seaside Park), a summer experience weekend in the Japanese Alps, etc. etc. However, these are still rough ideas that need quite a bit of work. So, no promises… but we will try our best!

And we could use some help: If you have any ideas and suggestions – or even better – if you would like to play an active role in the Swiss Club, please let us know!

All the best and good health!