Whenever you visit the Japie room, you’re sure to find vigor and action. Students and staff walk in and out, to chat, to buy something or to arrange something. When the phone rings, they answer with their name and the addition ‘.. of T.S.V. ‘Jan Pieter Minckelers’. That mention is also under their e-mail signature and is used in meetings. "We really only use Japie if it is convenient and for fun," says club president Rosa Geveling.

The association has been carrying that name for years, to be precise since 1958. In December 1957, five Chemical Engineering students from back then Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven invited all employees and students of the department to a meeting, where it was unanimously decided to set up a study association. Two months later the name was agreed upon: Jan Pieter Minckelers, named after the physicist who was born in Maastricht and educated in Leuven and who invented gas lighting.

Three to four weeks later, various Japie members travel by train to Maastricht and cycle back to Eindhoven, where a barbecue is waiting for them. One thing is certain: the chairman of that moment must cycle along. Both times the famous Japie song is sung loudly.

The Japie song

It is exceptional, but you will find some ‘eternal’ decisions in the decision lists of the Japie meetings. In other words; no board can ever change anything about those. This also applies to the lyrics of the Japie song, which, coincidentally, was recorded precisely during the hundredth general assembly.

Robert Claasen, Japie board member in the 1987/1988 board year, was one of the writers of the famous song. In the anniversary book published last year, Claasen explains: “We believed the association needed a song. At that time there were enough former board members in the Japie room who were good with words, an ideal breeding ground for the first lyrics. To be honest, I thought the song would soon be forgotten, but to my great surprise it is still very much alive!”

There is a reason the song ends with the phrase "A REAL LAMP IS ... SQUARE!" Minckelers discovered that by heating coal without the presence of oxygen, a gas was released that is lighter than air. He described how the combustible gas is also suitable as a light source. Unfortunately he never got to see these lights burning during his life. Minckelers passed away in 1824 and it wasn't before 1847 that the street lamps came with gas light. And those lamps were, indeed, square.

Nice to know: at parties and special occasions a (much) more extensive version of the song is sung. Since the 39th board, a sentence has been added every year, which says something about the previous chairman. As we have now arrived at the 61st board, you can imagine that that will be long sessions. Fabrice Fontein, education coordinator at the association in 2016/2017, gives an example: "The chairman had broken a few teeth during my board year, so that sentence is about that."

Cantus on the train

If you have to travel to Enschede this Ascension Day, and you want a quiet train journey, make sure that you are not on the train with Japie members. Chances are that your peace and quiet will be disturbed by singing and beer drinking chemists, who dive into the train with a beer keg and cantus songbooks to make the journey as enjoyable as possible - at least for themselves. Like other chemical associations, Japie members have been attending the Open Nederlandse Chemie Sportdagen (a special sports tournament for chemists) for 21 years now, with around one hundred and fifty students. The destination varies from year to year. The reactions to the singing students vary considerably, says Rosa Geveling, who’s the current chairman. "Some people think it's funny, but we've also had comments from conductors and the request to stop singing."