Events & Programmes Archive

Join us at London Review Bookshop on 22nd February where we will hear from Japanese author Kyoko Nakajima.   

Join the Japan Foundation and SOAS for an evening about Japan's national drink Sake. Five speakers will be discussing sake from historical, cultural, economic and diplomatic aspects. The evening will conclude with sake tasting. 

Japan Now returns this February with a series of events around the UK celebrating the most exciting Japanese literature and culture.

  Love, in all its semblances and dimensions, is a state so universally experienced by humankind that it has provided a perpetual source of inspiration in the long history of global cinema. Japanese cinema is no different. Love and the associated feelings of passion, affection, and destruction, in equal measure have all been channelled into a pivotal driving force behind the rise of many Japanese filmmakers, crystallising in timeless works which form part of the nation’s artistic repertoire. The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2019 features thoughtfully selected works, all focusing on this theme in one way or another. As the conventional binaries defining what it means to love continually give way to new understandings of this sweeping emotion, so too does this year’s curation aim to provide insights into a wider context of love in Japanese society.

For Van Gogh, Japan held great appeal, particularly its woodblock prints. In 1888 he left Paris and headed south, to the city of Arles in Provence. In its clear light, he developed as a landscape artist under the inspiration of Japanese artists. On his arrival, he wrote that “I feel I’m in Japan”. Join Van Gogh specialist, Martin Bailey, author of Starry Night: Van Gogh in the Asylum and co-curator of Tate’s forthcoming Van Gogh exhibition (27 March-11 August 2019), will talk about his discoveries about the artist’s period in Provence—with a particular emphasis on his love for Japanese prints.

Celebrating the UK premier screening of Born Bone Born as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2019, join us for an evening dedicated to Okinawa, Japan’s tropical southern paradise.

In the photographic self-portraits of Mari Katayama, the artist’s body features prominently, surrounded by painstakingly arranged objects, both in intimate settings or set against vast landscapes. The recipient of the Grand Prize at Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi 2012, Katayama was born with various developmental challenges, and had both legs amputated at age nine and has since lived with prosthetics. Using her body as a living sculpture, Katayama photographs herself among intricately embroidered objects, hand-sewn mannequins and her prosthetic legs. Katayama’s photography has been exhibited at museums such as the Gallery J, Arts Maebashi and the Museum of Modern Art in Gunma, Traumaris Gallery in Tokyo and Kitchen Gallery in Paris, and has also featured in group exhibitions at the Metropolitan Art Museum and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo and La Criée in Marseille, amongst others. In conjunction with her solo exhibition at the White Rainbow Gallery, Katayama will be delivering a talk on her artistic process, touching on how her physical difficulty has informed her work and influenced her body images, along with having a conversation with Simon Baker, director of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris.

Yasuhiro Kasamatsu is Japan’s acclaimed composer who has a wide-ranging repertoire from chamber music, to opera, to musicals. However what has made him stand out the most is his involvement in theatre productions, in particular the staging of the works by Yukio Ninagawa who sadly passed away in 2016. Keeping close contact with the theatre giant, Kasamatsu composed music pieces for Ninagawa’s “Hamlet”, “Pericles” and “The Twelfth Night” among many others, which played a significant role towards their stage success. His credits also extend to film and TV dramas such as Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 1998 film “After Life”. In this special talk, Kasamatsu will share his insights into his creative process when composing music, as well as reflecting on the prolific partnership between him and Ninagawa. With representative pieces on board, he will also discuss the way his music attuned to Ninagawa’s spellbinding stages, helping convey the narratives and how it complimented the mood and flow. This will provide a rare opportunity to uncover the hidden stories of the Ninagawa production process from a musical perspective which you might have never witnessed before.

The Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is a test which evaluates and certifies the Japanese-Language proficiency of non-native speakers of Japanese. The test is conducted twice a year in Japan and various locations around the world. More than one million people in 81 countries and areas worldwide registered for the JLPT exam in 2017. Please visit the JLPT website for more information about the test. The next JLPT will take place on Sunday, 2 December 2018 at the three locations in the UK: SOAS, the University of London, the University of Edinburgh, and Cardiff University. Please refer to the university websites for registration details. School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London The University of Edinburgh Cardiff University The deadline for applications will be Friday, 5 October but it may close earlier when the test centre has reached its maximum capacity. You can try sample questions here.

Kyomai is a traditional style of Japanese dance, with its root in 17 Century Imperial Kyoto. Whilst Noh and Kabuki have achieved fairly widespread recognition and regular performances in Europe, Kyomai is still relatively unknown.  For the first time outside of Japan, designated "National Living Treasure" and master of Kyomai, Yahchi Inoue V, will take to the stage to perform her art. She will be joined by her daughter and apprentice to the art, Yauko Inoue, as they perform a total of three separate dances, each accompanied by shamisen and percussion players. In addition to the dances, the event will begin with a short documentary screening on the history of the art, and close with a talk by the master herself. This is a unique opportunity to see first hand a rare and beautiful dance form outside of Japan. 

Join the Japan Foundation for a series of events celebrating the publication of "Tanaka Kinuyo: Nation, Stardom, and Female Subjectivity" a look at the legendary actor and of the first prominent female film directors in Japan.