News and Reports Archive

Please see the document below for a detailed report of our recent events looking at Creative Industries in East and Southeast Asia – an academic conference here at the Japan Foundation on Friday 29th June and a public symposium at Richmix Cinema on Saturday 30th June.

Following his key participation in our event on Climate Change ahead of the Durban COP 17 last November, we are pleased to be able to announce the publication of Climate Change Mitigation, edited by Professor Mitsutsune Yamaguchi. This volume provides perspectives on the Energy Outlook for Japan following the Nuclear…

Over 30 teachers of Japanese language from across the UK attended the Japan Foundation’s most recent Japanese Language Teachers’ Seminar on Friday, July 13th, which focussed on Motto Yomu Chikara – a brand new resource designed to complement the Japan Foundation’s successful Chikara resources for GCSE Japanese. Now in its trial phase,…

「明日テストがあるんやさかい、遊びに行ったらあかん!」 Participants of this term’s Japanese Plus course for advanced Japanese language learners will no doubt understand the above sentence, which means “You can’t go out because you have a test tomorrow” in Kansai-ben , the form of Japanese spoken in and around Osaka. Kansai-ben was one of many different…

On Saturday June 30th 2012, the Japan Foundation and BATJ (the British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Second Language) co-hosted a seminar about developing intercultural competence through language education at the Japan Foundation, London. Around 35 people attended including teachers of Japanese from universities and schools around the UK. The…

The Nihongo Cup Japanese Speech Contest for secondary school students was held at the Embassy of Japan in London on June 16th 2012. The 18 finalists, who had been selected from 162 applicants from 21 different schools across the UK, all demonstrated great creativity, thoughtfulness and outstanding ability in Japanese…

The Japan Foundation is proud to announce that the artist Koki Tanaka will represent Japan for the Japan Pavilion at the 55th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. Based in Los Angeles, Tanaka’s diverse art practices spans many media, revealing the multiple contexts latent in the most simple of…

On May 27th 2012, Seiji Fukushima, the Chief language advisor at the Japan Foundation London presented an online seminar about learning Japanese in countries that do not have much contact with Japan. The seminar was made available via the Japan Foundation Cairo’s Ustream page and allowed teaches of Japanese around…

On May 18th 2012, 22 people attended our Training Day for volunteers of the Japan Foundation’s Japanese Taster for Schools (JTS) Programme, in which native and fluent Japanese speakers conduct free Japanese taster sessions in UK schools. As well as providing new members with basic information about the programme, this month’s JTS…

On the 28th of March, the first workshop from the “Japanese From Scratch” series for beginners in Japanese language studies was held by the Japan Foundation London. Titled “Let’s Eat Japanese food”, the workshop concentrated on Japanese cuisine, table manners and the expressions associated with food and restaurants in Japan.…

「オープラ大統領？」(“Oprah Winfrey for President?”) 「私立学校　コオロギを給食に」(“Private School Includes Crickets on Lunch Menu”) 「ロンドン五輪高速折り紙デビュー？」(“High-Speed Origami to Debut in London Olympics?”) These were just a few of the highly creative and amusing April Fools newspaper articles written by the talented participants of Japan Foundation’s first ever Japanese Plus course, a Japanese language and…

We are delighted to announce that Newstead Wood School in Kent has won £1000 worth of prizes for the Gold Award in the Japan Webpage Contest for Schools 2011-2012. All prizes were announced at an award ceremony and presentation afternoon, held on Saturday 17th March 2012 at the Hotel Russell in…