What is your Japan?

We have received over 90 videos from a wide range of people since the start of this campaign and we look forward to receiving more videos from all corners of the United States! This month, we will be featuring videos from the individuals below.

Shared Videos (New)

Please help us out by sharing a video of Your Japan with us, following the guidelines below:

How to share Your Japan

• Take a one minute video with your phone/video camera.

• Show something that is a symbol of your Japan, or of your memory related to your story.

• Within one minute, tell your story in English.

• Conclude the video saying “This is My Japan”.

• Send your video to us!

• Take a video with your friends and say “This is My Japan!” all together at the end.

• See the example, below.

The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles will post your video on our Facebook and Instagram.

We look forward to seeing Your Japan!

Contact us: jflainfo@jflalc.org

See All Videos

We are pleased to announce the start of our Fiscal Year 2020-21 grant programs that we organize annually to support Japanese-Language Education in the United States.

 

These include the following:

Grants for Nationwide/Statewide/Regional-level Events and Projects

Japanese Language Learners Event Grant

Deadlines:  March 1 & September 1, 2020

Japanese Language Education Project Grant

Deadline:  Two months prior to the project start date

Grants for Individual Japanese Language Programs

Salary Assistance Grant for Japanese Language Courses

Deadline:  April 10, 2020

Japanese Teaching Material Purchase Grant

Deadlines:  March 15 & September 15, 2020

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Shizuka Kusano, one of the most admired and recognized textile artists in Japan today, showcases contemporary art pieces based on 1500 year-old traditional embroideries inspired by Japanese poetry, literature and art .

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Wellness Wednesdays: We offer Wellness programs on Wednesday at lunchtime!

March 4 is Yoga day! In this program, no need to change clothes or use a yoga mat; you will be seated in a chair receiving relaxing instruction from a bilingual (English and Japanese) instructor. Learn simple Japanese phrases during the instruction and stretch your mind as well as your body.

There will be two free sessions beginning at 12:30pm and 1:00pm. No reservation necessary, all are welcome .

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Akane is a shy, young girl. On the day before her birthday, Akane meets the mysterious and fabled alchemist Hippocrates along with his apprentice Pipo who bring her through a basement and into a fantastical world full of magic and color. He reveals that this world is in danger, and as the "Green Goddess" it is her destiny and responsibility to save this world .

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Mid-week fatigue is a familiar foe to many of us. Why not maximize your relaxation and join us for a Sound Bath at Lunchtime!

The singing bowl used for this program harmoniously combines the healing qualities of the Tibetan singing bowl and its Japanese traditional singing bowl. Relax and feel your stress dissipate into thin air as the sounds of the singing bowl lead you into a meditative state.

There is no charge and no reservation required. All are welcome to come, sit, listen, and refresh!

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Two years after hosting the MIGRATING DREAMSCAPES: NOBUO ANZAI exhibition here at JFLA, we are honored to showcase Anzai’s later paintings this time as we celebrate his infinite creativity and beautiful life.

After losing his son, Tatsuya is anguished by the danger of his ancient family line coming to an end. His mother Haru urges him to embark on a loveless second marriage, and meanwhile he secretly hopes that his daughter Yoshiko will marry a husband willing to adopt the Nikaido name and follow in his footsteps .

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Our popular "Tea Time", conversation cafe is coming back! We will have it Saturday morning this time. Come enjoy Japanese snacks and tea while you chat with native Japanese speakers. All levels are welcome! Japanese language experience is not necessary—this event is open to everyone, ages 18 and up!



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If you missed to take our winter term, we got you covered. Our popular Japanese language classes will be back for Spring term. Register online soon because our beginners class, Everyday Japanese 1 seems to sell out quickly every term.



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Look who’s taking our course

On January 28, 2020, Consul-General Kazuyuki Takeuchi visited the University of Alabama, Birmingham and kindly presented our grant check to Dr. Bob Palazzo (Dean, College of Arts and Sciences) for the expansion of their Japanese language program!

UAB Website Link

Consulate General Website Link

I had a great opportunity to attend CAJLS: California Association of Japanese Language Schools workshop which was held on Saturday, February 15 ^th. For this workshop, the guest speakers were LA Moriage-Kai officers. The LA Moriage-Kai officers who have visited the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles (JFLA) office to hold meetings with other Japanese language teachers to strengthen the community between Japanese language teachers in Los Angeles. The focus of the workshop was to change ideas and perceptions towards traditional Japanese language learning and making language learning more visually and physically approachable for students. It was a great experience for me to learn about TPR (Total Physical Response), which implements visual and auditory learning through physical movement. For example, to teach the verb to read, which is “Yomu” in Japanese, the teacher would use his or her hands to flip open a book. Another way the teachers suggested teaching is teaching Japanese sentence structure and words as simple as possible and using katakana (foreign loan words) they may already know in their daily lives. Having a workshop for teachers to gather, update, and focus on improving Japanese language learning within the classroom is the best way as it shows that teachers are willing to grow with their students to make the classroom better! Everyone who participated were very enthusiastic and the turn out rate was great!

Also, we are working with American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) to gather more information about Japanese heritage learners all over the United States. Our Japanese language surveys generally focus on how many learners, teachers, and institutions but we do not fully understand the state of heritage learners. It’s important for JFLA to understand not only one type of learner but various types of learners who continue to study Japanese. If you could answer our surveys in Japanese or English, we would greatly appreciate the help! Thank you to all of those who have been participating in our surveys and without everyone’s help, these surveys would not be possible.