Events & Programmes Archive

We will be running short language tasters for beginners, inspired by the Pre-Summer Explorers film screening event. These language tasters will run throughout the afternoon on 11 August. We will teach people how to introduce themselves as if they were a Japanese film or anime character! These sessions are completely free and are open to all, especially people who speak no Japanese, so please drop in at any time from 3:30pm to 6:30pm. Have you ever watched a Japanese film or cartoon and caught yourself wondering why all the characters sound so different? In Japanese films, anime (cartoons) and manga (comic books), characters all use a different style of Japanese based on their age, their gender, their job and more! This is a rare opportunity to learn about a more unusual part of the Japanese language, unlike the standard Japanese that is usually taught in the classroom. The topic of the short tasters will be simple self-introductions. Whether you want to introduce yourself like one of Akira Kurosawa's tough samurai characters or you want to know how your favourite anime characters speak, this event is a great opportunity to learn about a really interesting aspect of the Japanese language.

Try your hand at calligraphy with a performance and workshop from artist Maeda Kamari at the National Museum of Wales!

For more information download our e-flyer Join us for our new season of free Japanese film screenings!

Our summer film showings are back! Join us for three weekends of free films in August.

UCL-Japan Youth Challenge 2018 brings together sixth form and high school students from the UK and Japan to take part in an exciting series of activities during which students will learn about each other’s culture, society and language and discuss solutions to global problems. The theme of the 2018 UCL-Japan Youth Challenge is ‘Our Life in an Ageing Society - How the young generation can solve various problems associated with ageing’ and students from a range of backgrounds will discuss this from medical, social and technical points of view. The programme will also include three events open to the public including a symposium examining problems in an ageing society. More information can be found on the UCL-Japan Youth Challenge Website.

Join us for a panel discussion on the influence of Japanese architecture. Panellists include prize-winning Itsuko Hasegawa, Takeshi Hayatsu, Rebecca Salter RA and others...

Applications for the July JLPT exam have now closed. The next Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) will take place on Sunday 1st July 2018. It will be held at SOAS, University of London, and the University of Edinburgh. The deadline for applications will be Friday 6th April at 6:00pm or when the test centre has reached its maximum capacity. For more information about the JLPT please click here to visit the official JLPT website.

A two-day festival exploring the surreal artistic elements of Noh in time and genre-defying collaborations.

Join us for a special lecture by Kengo Kuma as part of the London Festival of Architecture this June!

Starting as a one-day event in Birmingham in 2003, Supersonic Festival is now an internationally renowned experimental music and arts festival curated and produced by Capsule which brings together live performances by some of the world’s most extraordinary artists along with visual art and audience participation. This year’s programme will feature a number of artists from Japan including avant-garde synth wave duo group A, multi-instrumentalist YoshimiO and Osaka based experimental rhythmists  Goat.

This year's UK Association for Buddhist Studies annual conference explores the theme of 'Buddhism and Material Culture' and will feature a keynote address by Japanese Buddhism expert Prof Fabio Rambelli (University of California, Santa Barbara).

To celebrate his first exhibition in the UK, Japanese artist, actor, musician and comedian, Noritake Kinashi will discuss how he draws inspiration from everyday life, and how his art activities influence his acting and comedy performance, and vice versa