Many of us here in Singapore love to visit Japan, but apparently the feeling is mutual because Japan has now come to visit us. Japan Park Singapore is an event that showcases cultural and culinary highlights from across 47 prefectures in one place – Hall 4 of Suntec City.
The event is designed to cater to as many aspects of Japanese culture as possible, and the hall has been divided into 6 zones: WA-Shiok Gourmet Festa, an area for foodies to try out different types of ramen, rice dishes and other delights; Discover Japan, which has loads of information about various hotspots in Japan; Technology & Lifestyle, a place to try out new-fangled consumer products; Omakase Stage, where performances including rock shows, traditional dance and talk shows are happening throughout the day; Kids Sports (self-explanatory) and CharaExpo Mini, where you can purchase and participate in Japanese games and geek culture.
Japan Park Singapore has something to cater to all strains and subcategories of geeks, from trivia challenges at the NHK World booth to train merchandise at the East Japan Railway JR Cafe booth, and that’s not even mentioning the fact that you can try your hand at throwing shuriken at the Koka City booth in the Discover Japan zone.
There are plenty of tables for you to try out the latest Japanese card games at the CharaExpo Mini zone, and there’s even a Samurai room for the cosplayers amongst you (or if you just want to imagine yourself in medieval Japan for a second).
But of course even geeks have to eat, and being Singaporean (or human) you probably want to know the best thing the WA-Shiok Gourmet Festa has to offer. We tried a variety of offerings from piping hot noodles from Keisuke and Menya Sakura to roast beef rice at Ginza Lion to black curry and wagyu beef at Deli’s Kitchen and we are happy to report that none of these will disappoint.
Special mention has to go to the Queen Ramen from Keisuke that has loads of special features that will make your belly happy including a broth that contains 5 types of clams, oysters, mussels and lava egg.
As special events are being held throughout the day, including talks on ‘how to be a robot creator’ and ‘how to be a better cosplayer’ and live rock performances by Sunplaza Nakano Kun and Papala Kawai, you’ll want to check out the programme before heading down so you won’t miss out on anything you like!
Japan Park Singapore is at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, Halls 403 – 404, on Aug 4 (10am to 10pm) and Aug 5 (10am to 9pm), with tickets from S$15.
