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November 2018 Issue 
EVENTS
Literature

Courtesy of Bungeishunju Ltd
Sayaka Murata, the 2016 Akutagawa Prize winner and one of Japan's most exciting contemporary writers,  will visit Iowa City and New York this fall. Her novel  Convenience Store Woman portrays contemporary Japan through the eyes of a single woman who fits only too well into the rigidity of its work culture. This is her first book to be translated into English, and it has quickly caught the eye of critics from major newspapers such as The New York Times. The translator of the book,  Ginny Tapley Takemori will also participate in the events and share interesting anecdotes of Japanese-to-English translation.
 
  
Exhibition
November 4, 2018 - January 27, 2019
Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL)

This exhibition from the Roger Weston collection is the first public showing of his comprehensive ukiyo-e painting collection in the U.S. It showcases the sheer beauty of floating world paintings and offers an exclusive view of the urban amusements of early modern Japan. The symposium for this exhibition is supported through the Exhibitions Abroad Support Program. 

  
Image: Keisai Eisen. Two Women and Autumn Plants , 1830/44. Weston Collection. 
November 17, 2018 - January 27, 2019
The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)

This exhibition presents four artists who operate in the liminal realms between the public and the intimate, the concrete and the fantastical, including Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo. This exhibition is supported through the JFNY Grant for Arts and Culture.

  
Film
November 3, 6 PM
Stuart Hall at Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, IL)
 
Photo © 2016 The Japan Foundation
A co-production of the Tokyo International Film Festival and The Japan Foundation Asia Center, the film Asian Three-Fold Mirror 2016: Reflections will be screened at the Illinois Institute of Technology as part of Asian Pop-up Cinema Season Seven. This is the North American premiere for this film, which brings together three globally acclaimed directors: Isao Yukisada (Japan), Brillante Ma. Mendoza (Philippines), and Sotho Kulikar (Cambodia) to co-create omnibus films with a common theme. Under the theme of "Living Together in Asia", cast and crew join forces across national borders to depict the lives of characters who journey between Japan and Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia. This screening is co-organized with The Japan Foundation New York.
 
  
Please note that the venue was listed incorrectly in the October issue. The correct venue is Stuart Hall at IIT. 

November 10, 1 PM
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens (Delray Beach, FL)
 
© 2016 "The Mohican Comes Home" Production Partners, LLC
The Mohican Comes Home will be screened as part of The Morikami Film Series. Directed by Shuichi Okita, the film is a bittersweet family drama set on an island in the Seto Inland Sea. This series will screen one or two films a month through March 2019. The lineup includes Your Name. by Makoto Shinkai, Close-Knit by Naoko Ogigami and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya by legendary Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, who passed away in April 2018. This series is co-presented by The Japan Foundation and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.
 
  
Panel:  November 17, 2:15 PM
Javits Center, Panel Room 4
(New York, NY)
Screening:
November 17, 7 PM
Japan Society (New York, NY)

© 1999 Hisaichi Ishii - Hatake Jimusho - Studio Ghibli - NHD
In remembrance of Isao Takahata, a key figure in the history of Japanese animation and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, The Japan Foundation, New York and Japan Society present a commemorative screening of My Neighbors the Yamadas. Derived from a popular newspaper cartoon strip about an average middle-class Japanese family, Yamadas mines the comedy and unexpected profundity of life's everyday moments. There will also be a panel called Remembering Isao Takahata as part of Anime NYC. Dr. Shige (CJ) Suzuki and Dr. Kathryn Hemmann will unravel some of the enduring themes of Isao Takahata's films and his inspirations.
 
  
Lecture & Conference

© Kenichi Tanaka

In conjunction with the exhibition Earth Manual Project - This Could Save Your Life, which is currently on view at Parsons School of Design, The Japan Foundation will host two public lecture events:

Tackling Disaster Issues Creatively: Cases in Thailand and Indonesia
November 13, 6 PM
University Center, The New School (New York, NY)

Speakers:  Ruttikorn Vuttikorn (Design Director, Club Creative),  Ikaputra (Architect, Urban Designer, Associate Professor of Gadjah Mada University) 

This event is co-organized with the Zolberg Institute of Migration and Mobility at The New School.
  

November 14, 7 PM
Japan Society (New York, NY)

Speakers: Hirokazu Nagata (President, Plus Arts, Vice Director, Design Creative Center Kobe),  Ruttikorn VuttikornIkaputra

Moderator: Robert Kirkbride (Dean, School of Constructed Environments & Associate Professor, Architecture and Product Design, Parsons School of Design)

This event is co-organized with Japan Society, coinciding with World Tsunami Awareness Day (November 5).

   

Earth Manual Project - This Could Save Your Life is on view at Parsons' Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery through December 12. The exhibition and an interview with Hirokazu Nagata was recently 
featured in a video by the United Nations, please click here to see the video.

For more information on the exhibition, please click here To learn more about the Earth Manual Project programming in the U.S., please click here .
 
November 2, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Fashion Institute of Technology (New York, NY)

This new education conference will address instructional innovation and best-practices for educating students about East Asian arts in today's globalized classrooms. The primary focus of this conference will be technology as a means of effectively educating students about traditional arts practices, many of which are diminishing due to economic and environmental changes. Featured will be shibori artisan Hiroshi Murase, who will discuss ways to revive the declining craft through innovative methods. The conference is supported through the Center for Global Partnership's Education Grant program.

  
November 5, 4 PM
Library Special Collections Room at University of North Georgia (Dahlonega, GA)

Dr. Laura Nenzi is a Professor of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research interests include the social and cultural history of early modern Japan. She will present a lecture titled Darkness in a Different Light: The Nighttime in Early Modern and Modern Japan at the University of North Georgia, as part of a guest lecture series supported through the Institutional Project Support (IPS) Grant Program.

November 6 & 27, 12:30 PM
Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)

Dr. Ito Peng
On November 6, Dr. Ito Peng, Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto, will give a talk on "Explaining the Diverse Care and Migration Policies in East and Southeast Asia". On November 27, Dr. Junko Kato, Professor of Political Science at the University of Tokyo, will offer a talk that will be moderated by Dr. Susan Pharr, Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics at Harvard University. More details to come. These lectures are supported by The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.

  
November 15, 1 PM
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)

As disasters become more frequent, it is critical to understand how disaster migration decisions are made and how both home and resettlement communities can best respond to the population flows. This symposium brings together practitioners and academic experts in fields of economics, sociology, planning, safety science, risk analysis and emergency management to exchange their knowledge and experiences on the topic. This event is supported by The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.

  
Performance
November 7 - 10, 7:30 PM
Brooklyn Academy of Music (Brooklyn, NY)
 
Courtesy of
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
Phantom Limb Company and Dai Matsuoka of Sankai Juku will perform Falling Out at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the 2018 Next Wave Festival. Blending puppetry with the distinct Japanese art of Butoh, this performance explores the shared language of Butoh and puppetry to express loss and life afterwards. There will be another performance at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in April 2019. This performance is supported through the Performing Arts Japan (PAJ) program.
 
  
November 10, 7:30 PM
University at Albany Performing Arts Center (Albany, NY)

The UAlbany Performing Arts Center will be presenting a performance by San Jose Taiko. Originally inspired by Japanese traditional drumming, the company utilizes the art form of taiko to promote cross-cultural understanding. The event is open to the University community and the public. This performance is supported through the Center for Global Partnership's Education Grant program. 
 
  
November 12, 2 PM & November 13, 4 PM
Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The CUNY Graduate Center (New York, NY)

Kuro Tanino's  Avidya - No Lights Inn
Photo by Shinsuke Sugino
The Segal Center will present readings of works by the brightest Japanese playwrights chosen by Japanese and American performing arts professionals as part of the Japanese Playwrights Project 2018. Selected pieces were translated into English and will be presented by New York-based directors and actors. The titles include A Question of Faeries and Favonia's Fruitless Fable by Satoko Ichihara, Isla, Isla, Isla! by Yudai Kamisato, Avidya - No Lights Inn by Kuro Tanino, and Sokonaizu by Jun Tsutsui. This performance is supported through the Performing Arts Japan (PAJ) program.
 
  
November 14 - 22
Panama City, Panama & Loja, Ecuador

LA-based taiko performer Isaku Kageyama leads a trio with David Wells and Doug Sakamoto for a series of performances in Panama and Ecuador. In Ecuador, the ensemble will participate in the International Live Arts Festival of Loja to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Japan and Ecuador. This performance tour is co-organized with the Embassies of Japan in Panama and Ecuador. 
November 17, 7:30 PM
Honolulu Museum of Art (Honolulu, HI)
 
© Anthony Thoen
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Gannenmono, the first Japanese immigrants who arrived in Hawai'i. In tribute to the special date, the Gannenmono in Concert series will feature unique collaborations between local and Japanese artists that highlight distinct narratives within Japanese immigration history. For the last performance of this series, world-renowned choreographer and dancer Un Yamada is slated to perform an original choreographed dance piece in collaboration with ukulele virtuoso Taimane. This performance is supported through the Performing Arts Japan (PAJ) program.
 
  
November 23 - December 4
Cochabamba, La Paz, Bolivia & Bogota, Colombia

World-renowned violinist Ryu Goto will perform in Bolivia and Colombia. In Colombia, he will be performing with the National Orchestra to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Japan and Colombia. This performance tour is co-organized with the Embassies of Japan in Bolivia and Colombia.


Photo: Ryu Goto ©  Ayako Yamamoto
Other Event
November 29, 6 PM - 10 PM
Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier (San Diego, CA)

The Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, in collaboration with Azuna Kai and Silk Road Productions, will hold its Annual Ramen Festival this year. The festival will feature ramen from top restaurants in the San Diego area, as well as live entertainment such as taiko and koto performances, kimono demonstrations, and ramen-inspired art from local artists. This event is supported through the Center for Global Partnership's Grassroots Discretionary Grant program.
CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES
Arts & Culture
 
Deadline: October 31
 
This program is designed to provide financial assistance for non-profit organizations in the U.S. and Canada aiming to introduce Japanese performing arts to local audiences.
 
  
 
This program is designed to provide financial assistance for foreign publishers to translate and/or publish Japan-related books in order to promote better understanding of Japanese culture and Japanese Studies outside of Japan.
 
  
Deadline: December 3
 
This program is designed to provide financial assistance to exhibitions introducing Japanese art and culture to audiences outside of Japan in order to deepen global understanding of Japanese art and culture.
 
  
 
This program supports the development of professionals specializing in the study of Japanese art by providing curators and researchers with the opportunity to conduct research in Japan. The aim of the program is to promote the study of the field and the introduction of Japanese art outside of Japan. This fellowship is implemented by The Japan Foundation with generous funding from the Ishibashi Foundation.
 
  
Japanese Studies
 
Deadline: November 1
 
The Japanese Studies Fellowship program provides scholars, researchers, and doctoral candidates with the opportunity to conduct research in Japan. 
 
  
 
This program is designed to encourage innovative and sustained growth of Japanese Studies in the U.S. Grant coverage may include support for faculty, instructor, or staff salaries, travel expenses, honoraria for lecturers, visiting scholar support, graduate and undergraduate support, acquisition of research and teaching materials, conference and seminar expenses, acquisition of library and digital resources. Applications that create tenure or tenure-track positions in Japanese Studies are especially welcome. 
 
  
This program is designed to: (i) support institutions that face difficulties in maintaining current levels of infrastructure for Japanese Studies in the U.S.; (ii) stimulate infrastructural interest in Japanese Studies by small and newer institutions without an established program of Japanese Studies or those that lack personnel or resources; and (iii) provide support for particularly innovative programs that promote Japanese Studies.
 
  
 
This initiative is designed to connect Japan scholars from the U.S., Southeast Asia, and Japan in order to enhance their collective scholarship through collaborative projects and exchanges as well as to advance Japanese Studies in these regions.  
 
  
Japanese-Language Education Overseas
 
 
This program offers  an intensive residential training course for  specialists (researchers, postgraduate students, librarians, museum curators, etc.) who require a good command of Japanese language to conduct their field-related work and research. The program is held at The Japan Foundation Japanese Language Institute, Kansai in Japan. 
 
  
Center for Global Partnership
Deadline: December 3
 
There are two categories of support, the "Intellectual Exchange: Policy-Related Projects" and the "Grassroots Program: Education and Network-Strengthening". Concept papers are not required. 
 
  
PAST EVENTS & REPORTS
October 2 (New York, NY)


Dr. Mari Morimoto's discussion of Japanese and U.S. manga and its history was highly attended, with participants filling the room to full capacity. Dr. Morimoto, who is an experienced translator of manga, such as Naruto, also shared anecdotes on what goes on behind the scenes of manga translation. Thank you to everyone who turned out for this special lecture!

October 6 (New York, NY)


Participants learned basic phrases to navigate simple interactions in Japan, including basic greetings and ordering food at a restaurant. Thank you to all those who were able to join us! This popular and practical course will be back in March 2019!
 
For inquiries regarding Arts & Cultural Exchange, Japanese Studies or Japanese-Language Education, please contact: info@jfny.org


 

For inquiries regarding the Center for Global  Partnership, please contact:  info@cgp.org