PURWOKERTO – Festival Jepang Unsoed or FJU is an annual activity of the Sastra Jepang study programme at Unsoed, which is part of the work program of the Japanese Literature Student Association or HIJASU, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman. Due to the pandemic, offline FJU activities came to a halt for 1 year, while in 2021 it took place entirely online. This festival features a variety of interesting activities centered around anime, J-Pop, cosplay, music, and even competitions with Japanese cultural themes. This event is aimed at Japanese culture enthusiasts throughout Indonesia, particularly in the Barlingmascakeb region.
The festival will be held again this year in two sessions: an educational competition session on October 9, 2022, and a festival session along with general competitions on October 16, 2022, to be held at Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unsoed. The event will feature various musicians, idols, and cosplayers who will help enliven the celebration. There will also be a bazaar selling Japanese snacks and Japanese merchandise at the venue.
The theme chosen for FJU is From Banyumas to Nihon Story, which represents Japanese Literature students’ desire to introduce Japanese culture and apply the knowledge gained during their studies. In addition to introducing Japanese culture, FJU will also showcase Banyumas culture itself, such as kenthongan (traditional percussion instruments) and traditional dances. The subtheme of FJU 2022 is kako kara no dengon or message from the past, which will bring visitors back in time through messages from the past. Besides the festival itself, FJU’s social media will also be decorated with a retro or past theme. FJU has several social media accounts:
- Twitter: @fjunsoed
- Line: @oze7530a
- Email: fjuunsoed@gmail.com
- Facebook: FJU – Festival Jepang Unsoed
FJU 2022 will be implemented in 2 stages. The first stage is the Educational Competition on October 9, 2022, held online via Zoom. It will also be streamed on FJU’s YouTube channel. The Educational Competition is participated by 132 competitors from various regions.
There are four branches of the Educational Competition:
- Infographics
- Japanese Language Presentation
- Japanese Language Storytelling
- Shodou (calligraphy)
The second stage is the Festival Competition on October 16, 2022, held offline at Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unsoed. The festival competition is open to the general public. The target audience has grown year after year, and since FJU 2022 is the first event after the pandemic, public enthusiasm is particularly high.
There are 5 branches of the Festival Competition:
- Karaoke
- Cosplay competition
- Costreet
- Original Character
- Band
Beyond the competitions above, there are also many other game competitions such as onigiri eating contests, ramen, and takoyaki competitions. There will also be additional events such as food stalls, maid café, obake, games zone, photo sessions wearing yukata, and other interesting performances.
Alif, as the committee chair, said that FJU this year will bring a Retro Japan Vibes atmosphere. “The vibes of FJU this year will have a retro feel, with the title ‘kako kara no dengon’. Friends will be able to feel nostalgic about Japanese pop culture from the 80s-90s era, like old anime, retro games, Japanese city pop music, and so on. The hope is that by bringing back FJU after being offline for 2 years, this comeback will be able to revive the longing of Japanese culture enthusiasts in Purwokerto and its surroundings for Japanese cultural events,” he said.
FJU 2022 will feature several famous guest stars such as Meutia Amanda, Noyushimi, Scififall, SRT 48, and Mochiramen. There will also be performances featuring Banyumas traditional culture such as traditional dances and kenthongan music groups, as well as performances from Hijasu odori club.
For this festival event, there are two types of ticket purchase methods available: presale and on-the-spot. Presale tickets have been closed with 1,500 tickets sold out. On-the-spot tickets will be sold during the event at a price of Rp 20,000.