This program is designed for specialists (Researchers, Postgraduate Students, Librarians, Museum Curators, etc.) who need a strong command of Japanese language for conducting their field-related work and research through an intensive residential training course. The program is held at the Japan Foundation - Japanese Language Institute, Kansai in Japan. There are two sessions including a two-month course from June to August 2018 and a six-month course from October 2018 to April 2019. The two-month course will provide general Japanese language proficiency, and the six-month course will focus on the practical application of Japanese in the participant's field of specialization. For further details, please click here.

Shuji Terayama was a playwright, novelist, filmmaker and cultural agent provocateur who was one of the most influential and innovative figures in the post-WWII Japanese avant-garde. Created over the course of only 20 years, Terayama's body of work as a filmmaker comprises five theatrical features, as well as more than a dozen shorter pieces. Subjects of his films include everything from relatively straightforward narratives, to phantasmagoric memory pieces and expanded cinema works that incorporate multiple projectors and even audience participation. This retrospective represents the most comprehensive survey of Terayama's work to occur in the U.S. in decades.  This film series is co-presented by Harvard Film Archive, Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, Anthology Film Archives, George Eastman Museum, National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and The Japan Foundation.

The next JF Japanese Language Course Conversation Café will be on January 10, 2018 at The Nippon Club. Practice Japanese with native speakers and fellow Japanese learners over a cup of Japanese tea and snacks! All levels are welcome! Space is limited and RSVP is required. For more information, please click here .

The Big Read Holland Area is a community-wide reading program focused on the reading of one book. This year's title is When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka. During the keynote address, she will discuss her own family's experience of internment during WWII, the creative process and how she came to be a writer, as well as the relevance of the Japanese American internment to our contemporary society. The event is supported by the JFNY Grant for Arts and Culture. For more information, please click here.

Recycling: Washi Tales  brings to life in performance the human stories contained in a sheet of Washi paper as it is recycled through time. In a world created by distinguished paper artist, Kyoko Ibe, four tales of paper-making from different periods of Japanese history unfold on stage with an extraordinary ensemble of performers and musicians. The performance was co-presented by Asia Society and The Japan Foundation previously in 2016.

Ibe has created a site-specific installation in Stockton University Art Gallery for the exhibition until November 18, 2017. To complement the exhibition, various Japanese cultural workshops will be held. The event is supported by the Grant Program for Dispatching Artists and Cultural Specialists. For more information, please click here.

Participants tried their hand at dyeing Washi paper with indigo. 

Click  here  for more information.