Events & Programmes Archive

The Japan Foundation are once again delighted to be exhibiting this July at HYPER JAPAN- the UK’s biggest J-Culture event.

Visit the Japan Foundation London Library from 22 July – 29 August to get your stamp card. Every time you visit the library during these dates, you’ll get a stamp!

Artist Macoto Murayama will explore concepts and technological aspects behind his work

Enhance your job prospects by mastering CVs and job interviews in Japanese!

For 2014 Liverpool Biennial, Metal will be exhibiting the work of Macoto Murayama. Based in Tokyo, Murayama spent six months of 2013 living and working at Metal’s space in Southend on Sea, dissecting, recording and rendering in digital form UK indigenous flowers. The resulting works are presented at Metal’s Liverpool base, Edge Hill Station as a series of high definition, animated sequences that reveals the beauty, fragility and architectural structure of flowers. It is the first time that Macoto Murayama’s work has been exhibited in the UK.

Both a documentary on the art form and a rendering of the famousBunraku play, Gross's film captures the beauty of this Bunraku performance

Special event exploring the significance of artist Seiichi Hayashi’s achievements and introduce his multi-faceted work to a UK audience.

The Takarazuka Revue Company, one of the largest theatre groups in Japan, features an all-female cast that specialises in either a “male role” or a “female role” in the musicals, stage dramas and dance revues. Showcasing a wide range of genres, it has attracted a mass audience of mostly female followers, resulting in tickets sales reaching fever pitch levels. But what is the role of Takarazuka in the world of Japanese theatre and what does it signify? This special event commemorating the 100th anniversary of Takarazuka provides an opportunity to cultivate a cross-cultural understanding of the theatre company through discussion. Beginning with a brief talk by Dr Nobuko Anan, a lecturer in Japanese studies at Birkbeck, University of London, regarding the history and characteristics of Takarazuka, she will be joined by Noriko Tosaka (aka Ai Otohara) and Machiko Nakano (aka Reo Kazami), two distinguished former Takarazuka performers, as well as Jano Williams, co-director of the documentary Dream Girls (1994). Tosaka and Nakano will reflect on their past experiences inside the exclusive, fiercely competitive company whose practices have remained largely unchanged for a century. As arguably one the first filmmakers outside of Japan to capture the elite world of Takarazuka, Williams, a British filmmaker, will speak about their motives for making their insightful film, and what they observed through the camera behind the scenes of the dazzling revue. Following the discussion, the former Takarazuka performers will take part in a short demonstration illustrating the distinct form of male and female characterisations that the company is so well known for. This event will extend beyond a simple overview of Takarazuka and together, the speakers, each with their own perspectives, will delve into the impact of Takarazuka, issues associated with Takarazuka, including gender, as well as the societal norms that have created this spectacular scene.

Do you want to use your Japanese skills to inspire UK school children? Find out more at our Japanese Taster for Schools (JTS) Programme Training Day for volunteers!

Journal is an exhibition bringing together international artists who explore both historical events and more gradual social changes in their work. As part of the presentations and live performances taking place at the ICA Galleries and off-site, the exhibition will include Japanese artist Koki Tanaka’s new commission Precarious Tasks #9:…

The last 15 years has seen a proliferation of large-scale international recurrent exhibitions of contemporary art across the globe. Looking at UK only, 2014 sees the presentation of the Liverpool Biennial, third Folkestone Triennial, and in Japan the fifth Yokohama Triennial and inaugural Sapporo International Art Festival. The latest edition to the growing number of periodic arts projects and international exhibitions of contemporary art, Sapporo triennial joins over 150 such projects currently operating internationally. They often share similar objectives, practices and considerations, from curatorial and artistic strategies to political and economic agendas. Many of the exhibitions are focused on the encouragement of public engagement, in the local context to create a site of public participation that is not only periodical, but also permanent. Questioning and reflecting on the circumstances that inform recurrent international exhibitions, Keith Whittle, researcher and Japan Foundation Fellow, will explore and highlight some key strands of a number of periodic exhibitions through specific examples informed by research in Japan and the UK. Followed by a panel discussion to further examine issues related to the projects, Whittle will be joined by two internationally recognised curators, Yuko Hasegawa and Lewis Biggs, both responsible for curating a number of major exhibitions, including in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates and Aichi, Japan respectively, Mark Rappolt, Editor at ArtReview, and Koki Tanaka representative artist, Japan Pavilion, 55th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale. The talk and discussion will also explore amongst other questions, if these arts projects and international exhibitions can expand and democratise access to culture, for a diversified public, creating a meaningful cultural social space for a general public and tourist majority generally less directly engaged with Art?

Playwright and director Toshiki Okada will look back on his company chelfitsch’s productions and his own written works