text: Smells of fresh sushi fill the meeting room, and Japanese artwork covers the walls of the house.
  Outside, traditional Japanese plants and water features make it feel more like Japan than Northern Ireland.
  Set up nearly two decades ago, in 1996, the group was formed to help Japanese people new to Northern Ireland to integrate, but its members say the society is about much more than that too.
  On Saturday, the society held its first meeting of the year.
  The society's secretary, Séan Greer, said many members joined because they had lived in Japan for a time.
  "I used to live in Japan, for about nine years in total, and I came back just at the end of 2003," he said.
  "I wanted to keep my contact with Japan, I heard about the society and looked them up. People are interested in Japanese culture for a lot of different reasons.
  "It might be the language, for a lot of people it's food, for a lot of younger people it's the animation and manga (Japanese cartoons). Everything they do seems to be a little bit different or sometimes very different from our own and therefore it's sort of endlessly fascinating."
  There was plenty of culture on show at the meeting, including a performance by a group of Japanese taiko drummers from Londonderry.
  One of the group's founders, Fiona Umetsu, said it was an exciting art form, mixing both music and performance.
  "Taiko is a part of nearly every Japanese festival that you see, and it's a brilliant part of their summer," she said.
  "When I lived there I saw it and thought it was amazing, and was lucky enough to be able to join a local group."
  The society was joined by a very special guest - students visiting Belfast from Rikkyo University in Tokyo joined in the festivities.
  For many of them, it was their first time visiting Belfast and they told me they were keen to stay.
  "Belfast is very fantastic and an exciting city, many students say they want to retire here in Northern Ireland," their professor said.
  The Japan society's chairperson, Junko McNeely, said the group provides a way for people who are learning Japanese to practise with native speakers.
  "The purpose is to introduce Japanese culture, anything like that to get local people interested in Japan, but it's also a place to communicate and have entertainment with Japanese people as well," she said.
  Séan Greer said the society also allows Japanese visitors to find out how the western world views their culture.
  "If you got to Japan the first question a Japanese person will ask you is:  "あなたは、日本どう思いますか", which means, 'what do you think of Japan?' and they're really curious about what others think of them," he said.
  "So when they come here they can learn a little bit more about that, and realise what non-Japanese people find interesting about Japan.
  "We ourselves are interested to know what other people think of Northern Ireland and we're keen to show them that it's a welcoming place as well."
target: Tucked away in a little guest house next to a manufacturing firm in Glengormley, County Antrim, members of the Japan Society of Northern Ireland chat away - some easily switching in and out of Japanese and English.