Events & Programmes Archive

Bukatsudō (extracurricular sports or cultural  clubs), have played a formative role in the  secondary school experience for school children around Japan for generations

This contest gives students the chance to make their voices heard in Japanese, and win some fantastic prizes including a return air ticket to Japan! 

The Japan Foundation has invited artists from both Japan and the United Kingdom to discuss the current practices related to landscape art, and look at the legacy of this considered medium and its place in contemporary art history

Japanese from Scratch workshops are held by the Japan Foundation for those who are interested in learning Japanese but haven't started yet, or those who have just started learning Japanese. In September’s workshop, you can get a taste of the Japanese language while discovering the fascinating culture of bento – Japanese boxed meals! The culture of making meals in bento boxes has existed for centuries in Japan, and continues to be popular in modern society. In recent years, bento have attracted worldwide attention for their practicality, creativity and attractive nature. In this workshop, you will have the chance to learn: All about Japan’s culture of bento and the characteristics of a typical bento meal How to talk about your favourite food in Japanese   Essential Japanese language skills for dining in Japan We hope this event will give participants a taste for studying more Japanese language, and a craving to visit Japan themselves... When: 8th or 9th September 2015 (Content is the same each day),  19:00 – 20:30    Participation Fee: £5.00 Click here to register your place

In this free workshop, primary school teachers at all levels of Japanese proficiency will share teaching materials and ideas that can inspire their pupils. Resource Sharing: This event will bring together primary teachers of Japanese to share their ideas about what went well with their Japanese teaching over the last year. There will be information about how teachers have used the scheme of work, how they improved the resources, what worked best, as well as introduce other useful resources or ideas that they have tried in their classes. The Japan Foundation Scheme of Work for Primary Schools: This event will also introduce new resources that can be used alongside the Japan Foundation’s Japanese Scheme of Work for Key Stage 2 – for Year 4s.  This will help give teachers of Japanese information and ideas to continue teaching Japanese for the second year. The resources follow the Japan Foundation Japanese Scheme of Work for Primary Schools, which is packed full of lesson plans, resources and exciting and fun ideas for teaching primary-level Japanese to Year 3 and Year 4 pupils. These teaching materials have been created by the Japan Foundation’s Chief Language Advisor Makoto Netsu, and have been tested with two classes of Year 4 pupils at Southfield Primary School. Participants will additionally have access to exclusive draft versions of the resources, and Mr Netsu will give explanations about how he has used them, and how they might be adapted for other primary Japanese classes. The resources themselves include worksheets, plans, activities, games etc. Timetable (provisional and subject to change):10:00 – 10:10  Introduction, greetings10:10 – 11:40  Resource Sharing - Catherine Duke and Yoko Leedham11:40 – 12:00  Differentiation in Primary Japanese lessons - Marina Sereda-Linley12:00 – 13:00  Lunch13:00 – 14:00  Introducing the JF Scheme of Work for Year 414:00 – 14:30  Introduction to support from Japan Foundation14:30 – 15:00  Q&A, Evaluation and extra time to share ideas

The Japan Foundation is pleased to support performances of Japanese playwright Toshiki Okada’s Current Location, performed by the award-winning British company Fellswoop Theatre. The immersive piece of theatre written in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster was originally presented by the company as a work-in-progress performance at the Japan Foundation in early 2014 and has since been performed in London, Bristol and Madrid. The play will next be presented as part at Summerhall, Edinburgh, in a series of performances developed specifically for its 2015 festival.

The next Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) will take place on Sunday, 6th December 2015. 

Reflecting on life back then, the Japan Foundation has put together a selection of rarely screened films set before, during and after the Second World War

This summer the Japan Foundation have organised a day packed full of special anime film screenings, all of which can be enjoyed on the big screen

This is a free, intensive language course for teachers who want to improve their Japanese language teaching skills, as well as their own language ability. The theme for the 2015 course is 「日本の最新事情」- "The Latest from Japan." The aim of the course will be to update your knowledge about Japanese society and culture, while at the same time brushing up your own Japanese language ability. We will also explore various classroom activities and ideas for teaching Japanese. This course will be held at two levels: Intermediate (approx. JLPT N3) and Advanced (approx. JLPT N2 & N1), which will both be held simultaneously in the same classroom, divided into two groups. If you have never passed the JLPT for N3 or above, you will need to take an online placement test within 1 week applying in order to determine which group will be best suited for you; those who cannot take the test online will have the opportunity to take it on the first day of the course before the lessons start. When: 28th, 29th & 30th July 2015, 10:30 - 16:00, with a lunch break between 12:45 - 13:45 Where: River Room, King’s College London, Strand Campus, Strand, London. WC2R 2LS Participation Fee: This course is free, but participants must cover their own travel, accommodation and lunch costs. Open to: This course is for non-native speaking teachers of approximately JLPT N3 level (or JF Standard B1 level) Japanese and above, as well as teachers and PGCE students who have the chance to offer Japanese in future. All the lectures and discussions will be held in Japanese. Please note that spaces are limited. Priority will be given to teachers based at UK schools. Feedback from last year's participants: “Very useful practice. Excellent tips from JF staff, especially on grammar and very resourceful participants.” (Olga Saburova, Rochester Grammar School) “Very good balance of activities: song/dance/manga/grammar etc, targeting a wide range of age groups and abilities.” (Forum Mithani, Westminster Kingsway College) “Overall, this was an excellent course. I would recommend it to all teachers of Japanese.” (Robert Fox, Aston University) Click here to apply

  The coral reefs, white sand beaches and sub-tropical rainforests of Okinawa, a chain of islands stretching over 600 miles of ocean between Southwest Japan and Taiwan, seem a distant world from the misty mountains and lochs of Scotland, but recent political developments in Scotland have brought to light some surprising parallels. Likes Scotland, Okinawa is a smaller, once independent, area incorporated within a far larger entity, which possesses its own distinct history, culture and  political outlook. Debate on the balance between central and local governance has recently taken prominence in political discussion in Okinawa, and last September, intrigued by recent events in Scotland, several Okinawan journalists and researchers, including the founding member of a small but growing Okinawa independence movement, flew to Edinburgh to observe the independence  referendum. Professor Takayoshi Egami (Waseda University), is an expert in regional policy in Okinawa, having worked as a lecturer and researcher at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa for over 26 years. Since last September, he has spent one year as a visiting researcher at the University of Edinburgh to draw lessons from developments in devolution in Scotland post referendum. In this seminar Professor Egami will discuss the complex historical and political background of Okinawa prefecture, which lies behind recent interest in devolution in the region. After his talk he will be joined for a comparative discussion on devolution in the UK and Japan by Professor Paul Cairney, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling, an expert in both Scottish politics and UK-wide comparative public policy. Recent discussion on devolution and regionalisation in the UK and Japan has not been confined to Scotland and Okinawa of course. Recent hot topics in the UK have included devolving more powers to Wales, ‘The Northern Powerhouse’ and the development of London as a city state, while in Japan,  debate was recently ignited  over  plans to devolve more powers to Osaka City. Through exploring some of these issues, Prof Cairney and Prof Egami will discuss what can be learned from the experience of each country and how regionalisation may develop in future years. The seminar will be followed by an opportunity to pose your own devolution-related questions to the experts, and a drinks reception.

The Ikon Gallery present the first major exhibition by Japanese composer and artist Takehisa Kosugi. Kosugi was a pioneer of experimental music in Japan in the early 1960s and is considered to be one of the most influential artists of his generation. The exhibition will feature three of the artist’s…