On March 6, Carme Feliu, director of Nipponia, received the Merit Award from the Consul General of Japan in Barcelona for Nipponia’s work in promoting the Japanese language and culture for more than 20 years, in a magnificent ceremony held at the Consulate General of Japan in Barcelona.
Carme and the Nipponia team continue working with effort, rigor, humility, and passion to contribute to the dissemination of Japanese language and culture, following the beautiful Japanese tradition of #okaeshi (returning what one has received).
Carme has benefited from several scholarships from the Government of Japan, for which she is very thankful, and which have greatly contributed to her journey.
Comment by Carme Feliu Latorre, on her recent Merit Award from the
Consul General of Japan in Barcelona (2026)
My passion for Japan lead me to take an undergraduate program in Translation
and Interpreting (English and Japanese) at the Autonomous University of
Barcelona, and to study my 4th year at Sophia University, Tokyo, in 1997-98
with a scholarship. In 2000 I was ANL at the SWY13, and four years later, a
participant in the Renaissance Youth Leaders Program. I have always felt in
debt with the Japanese Government for having allowed me to take part in such
life-changing experiences, personally and professionally.
With the desire to contribute -although humbly- to what I had received (a sort of
okaeshi) and to share my passion for Japan with others, I decided to open a
Japanese language and culture center called Nipponia (www.nipponia.cat ) in
my town, Girona, and online. Since 2005 I, along with a committed team of
native-speakers of Japanese, have been teaching Japanese language up to
JLPT1 Level, and offering courses and workshops on Japanese culture
(calligraphy, furoshiki -the art of folding clothes in beautiful packages-, tea
ceremony, story-telling with kamishibai, manga drawing, kimonos, history,
gastronomy and literature) throughout Catalonia, Andorra and the Balearic
islands. It has been a beautiful endeavor which I am passionate to continue for
many more years.I feel truly thankful for this award, and it encourages me to keep working humbly
and passionately in promoting Japanese language and culture, which I love and
admire.
Our SWY batch motto was “To Our Own Ocean” hinting at year 2000 (our
program year), as “To (Two) Our Own Ocean” .
I hope we can expand our own ocean of passion for Japan to many other
people who are curious about its culture.
