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The Japan Foundation, New York and CGP

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January 2020 Issue 
NEWS
January 10 - 14
New York Hilton Midtown (New York, NY)

The Japan Foundation will be at the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) Conference from January 10 to 14 at the New York Hilton Midtown. Please stop by our booth #218 in the Expo Hall to learn more about our grant programs!
 
 

The Japan Foundation, New York seeks an Associate Program Officer for the Arts and Cultural Exchange program. This program promotes the introduction of Japanese arts and culture as well as exchanges between Japan and the United States through various fields of arts and culture. For details, please see the job description.
 
 

CGP is pleased to announce our new online application platform for the Intellectual Exchange Discretionary grant. Including the Grassroots Exchange and Education grants, we now have three programs on our online application platform.  If you are interested in applying to these grants, please refer to their respective program pages:

 
EVENTS
Exhibition
February 11 - April 26
Asia Society (New York, NY)


Impermanence is a pervasive subject in Japanese thought and art. Through masterpieces of calligraphy, painting, sculpture, ceramics, lacquers, and textiles drawn from two of America's greatest Japanese art collections, this exhibition examines Japan's unique and nuanced references to transience. Objects span from the Jomon period to the twentieth century. This exhibition is supported through the Exhibitions Abroad Support Program.
 
 
Image: Prince Son'en (1298-1356). Detail of Toshinari's Competition of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets (Toshinari Sanjurokunin utaawase). Japan. Nanbokuchō period, 14th century. Handscroll; ink on kumogami paper decorated with gold and silver birds and butterflies. H. 10 1/3 x W. 449 in. (26.4 x 1140.5 cm). John C. Weber Collection. Photography by John Bigelow Taylor, courtesy of John C. Weber Collection.

February 14 - July 26
Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA)

Painting Edo, one of the largest exhibitions ever presented at the Harvard Art Museums, offers a window onto the supremely rich visual culture of Japan's early modern era. Selected from the collection of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg, the more than 120 works in the exhibition connect visitors with a seminal moment in the history of Japan, as the country settled into an era of peace under the warrior government of the shoguns and opened its doors to greater engagement with the outside world. This exhibition is supported through the Exhibitions Abroad Support Program. 
 
 
Image: Maruyama Ōkyo, Peacock and Peonies , Japanese, Edo period, 1768. Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk. Harvard Art Museums, Promised gift of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg, TL42147.17. Image: John Tsantes and Neil Greentree; © Robert Feinberg.

Through January 26
Japan Society (New York, NY)

New National Stadium, 2017
© Takashi Homma, courtesy of the artist.
Tokyo, like any other city, has experienced a variety of social, economic and political shifts. In response to significant changes, how does architecture embody the city's transition? What role has architecture played in developing Tokyo? This exhibition explores the development of socio-architectural facilities and compares landscapes with art and performance generated from Tokyo between the two seminal worldwide games, in 1964 and 2020. This exhibition is supported through the Exhibitions Abroad Support Program.
 
Film
January 10, 6:30 PM
Rice Cinema - Rice Media Center, Rice University (Houston, TX)

The Japan America Society of Houston will hold a screening of The Garden of Words by acclaimed animator Makoto Shinkai, who is perhaps best known for his smash hit Your Name. To put Shinkai's work into perspective and provide insight into the anime industry in the U.S. and Texas, the screening will be followed by a presentation from Roland Kelts, a Tokyo-based writer, journalist, and scholar who has written extensively on Japanese pop culture. This event is supported through the Grassroots Exchange Network Japan (GEN-J) Program.
 
 
Lecture
January 31, 4 PM
University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)

Dr. Rebecca Copeland
As part of the Print, Power and Parable Speaker Series at the University of Florida, Dr. Rebecca Copeland (University of Washington in St. Louis) will discuss Japanese women authors such as Kurahashi Yumiko, Oba Minako, and Kirino Natsuo who look to mythological mother figures as a lens to consider alternate forms of power, sexuality, and social entitlement. This event is supported through the JFNY Grant for Japanese Studies.
 
 
Performance
January 10 - 14
Japan Society (New York, NY)

© Ryuichiro Suzuki

Suguru Yamamoto
, one of Japan's hottest young playwright-directors and founder of theater company HANCHU-YUEI, returns to Japan Society with his latest one-man dance theater piece. The Unknown Dancer in the Neighborhood features Yamamoto's signature directing style, in which characters' thoughts are conveyed through projected words, alluding to the millennial generation's preferred mode of communication -- texting. This performance is supported through the Grant Program for Dispatching Artists and Cultural Specialists. 
 
 
January 27, 7 PM
Alys Robinson Stephens Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, AL)

Courtesy of the artists

TAO is known for a young and vibrantly modern take on the traditional art form of Taiko drumming, with colorful contemporary costumes and innovative choreography. TAO's stage is created through phenomenal performances and expressions consisting of incomparable "Wadaiko-drums" and the beautiful mesmerizing melody of Japanese flutes and harps. It is the "Japanese entertainment" for a new generation that completely surpasses expectations.


January 30, 7 PM
Charline McCombs Empire Theatre (San Antonio, TX)

Courtesy of the artist

Hiromi
 is an internationally renowned jazz composer and pianist from Japan. She is known for her virtuosic technique, energetic live performances and blend of musical genres such as stride, post-bop, progressive rock, classical and fusion in her compositions. The Gurwitz presents a public competition to discover the next generation of top young pianists from around the world while bringing the art of classical piano with World Music that celebrates cultural diversity. This special concert featuring Hiromi is supported through the JFNY Grant for Arts and Culture.
 
 
Cultural Event
January 19, 2 PM
Novi Public Library (Novi, MI)

The Japan Business Society of Detroit invites you to celebrate the New Year in a Japanese style. Activities will include kakizome (the first calligraphy of the year), kimono showings, origami, Japanese calligraphy performance by Kyoko Fujii and English rakugo (a form of Japanese storytelling) by Eiji Hamaoka. All are welcome to attend this event to learn and experience some Japanese New Year's traditions. This event is supported through the Grassroots Exchange Network Japan (GEN-J) Program.
 
 
CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES
Center for Global Partnership
NEW PROGRAM!
Deadline: Rolling, until January 31, 2020

CGP is excited to announce a new grant program, Case Studies Japan: Research Trip to Japan for Interdisciplinary Scholars and Graduate Students. This program supports travel to Japan for faculty members and graduate students so they may conduct field research in various disciplines of the humanities and social sciences. The objective is to provide participants, especially those who may not be familiar with Japan, with firsthand experiences that will further their understanding, and make connections in Japan, that will be useful in their disciplines after the trip. The program is now accepting applications. 

    
PAST EVENTS & REPORTS



Japan 2019, an initiative to promote Japanese arts and culture in the United States throughout 2019, has successfully concluded. As the secretariat of Japan 2019, we are extremely proud and truly honored that Satoshi Miyagi's Antigone, co-organized by The Japan Foundation, Shizuoka Performing Arts Center and Park Avenue Armory, was chosen as one of the 10 Best Theater Performances of 2019 by TIME magazine. The Life of Animals in Japanese Art, an exhibition co-organized by The Japan Foundation, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, was selected as one of the Best Art of 2019 by The Wall Street Journal and in the same journal was further mentioned as an exemplary museum exhibition in The Decade in Review. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all of our collaborative partners, without whom Japan 2019 would not have been possible, and above all, to all those who attended Japan 2019 programs.
The Factory: Author Hiroko Oyamada's U.S. Book Tour


Award-winning author Hiroko Oyamada visited Boston and New York in November to launch her English-language debut novel The Factory (New Directions Publishing, 2019) with David Boyd, the translator of the book. They participated in a series of talks, readings, and Q&A sessions at Boston University, New York University, 192 Books, and Kinokuniya Bookstore New York. 

Ms. Oyamada explained how she started writing this novella 10 years ago when she was working in a factory. That experience as a temp worker provoked confusion and inspired her to write the book. Dr. Boyd pointed out differences between the original Japanese version and English translation, which are deeply connected to characteristics of the two languages.

The Factory was recently reviewed in The New York Times Book Review. Click here to read the review.
  
Dye Workshop by Shiro Oe: "Exploring the works of Nishijin-kasuri"


CGP invited artisan Shiro Oe to New York to demonstrate and share his work in Nishijin-kasuri, a traditional Japanese weaving technique, from November 19 - 23, 2019.

Master Oe, a third-generation Nishijin-kasuri weave master from Kyoto, is the head representative for Itohen Universe, a nonprofit organization that works to produce everyday clothing made with the Japanese traditional weaving technique, kasuri. To teach the public about Nishijin-kasuri, including the background and history, he led workshops at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the Textile Arts Center, Stony Brook University, and the Noguchi Museum. 

The workshops began with a brief lecture on Nishijin-kasuri followed by sample showings of Master Oe's works, with a hands-on dye workshop to close. The dye workshop attracted a large audience of students and locals interested in the craft. After Master Oe demonstrated some of the binding techniques, considered the most important step in Nishijin-kasuri, attendees applied, and experimented with different binding techniques by dyeing their own scarves. 

We hope these workshops gave participants an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of traditional Japanese textiles through Nishijin-kasuri.

For inquiries, please contact: info@jfny.org