On Dec. 7, Norwin High School’s newest club, the Japanese Club, held its first meeting. The purpose of the Japanese club is to create a safe environment to allow students to connect and appreciate the Japanese culture. Freshmen Roman Ola wanted to start the club to share his passion and interest in Japanese culture and language.

To start a club at the high school, a student needs to find a sponsor, submit a Statement of Purpose, recruit interested students, appoint or elect officers. As of right now, there are 73 members in the Japanese Club Google Classroom.

“Overall, I plan to teach the Japanese language and culture,” said Japanese founder and president Roman Ola. “Activity-wise, I aspire to go on field trips to Japanese restaurants and places, get t-shirts, sing Japanese karaoke, and maybe go to Japan in the future.”

During meetings, students have the opportunity to explore Japanese culture through various activities. Within the club, students plan to go on field trips and learn about the Japanese language.

“The Japanese language and culture resonates with me and I truly appreciate it,” said Ola. “Having discussions with Dr. Polen about his Japanese experiences showed me how cool it was to connect with people through something you both enjoy. I realized creating a Japanese club would make more experiences like this happen, and also let others, who are new to Japanese language and culture, start to explore the excitement I feel towards this topic.”

Japanese Club will hold meetings once a week on Tuesdays, in room 224. All students are welcome, stop by to explore the Japanese language and culture.