Art Review: Hokusai: Beyond The Great Wave – An Exhibition At The British Museum

Exhibition dates: 25^th May – 13^th August 2017

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/hokusai.aspx

 

Katsushika Hokusai was born Tokitarō in 1760 in Honjo Warigesui, the present-day Kamezawa area of Sumida City. He was adopted by Ise Nakajima, an artisan, who made and supplied metal mirrors to the Shōgun’s court and, according to “Katsushika Hokusai Den” (Biography of Katsushika Hokusai) by Kyoshin Iijima, a mother who was granddaughter to Kobayashi Heihachirō, an expert swordsman and high ranking retainer of

Japan Matsuri 2016 London

Celebrating 125 years of Friendship!

Date: Sunday 25th September

Time: 10:00 – 20:00

Venue: Trafalgar Square

Admission: Free (no tickets)

http://www.japanmatsuri.com

Book Review: Japanese Stone Gardens: Origins, Meaning, Form

Written by Stephen Mansfield with a foreword by Donald Richie!

With a foreword by the formidable Donald Ritchie, in itself a recommendation, the Japanese Stone Gardens is divided into two parts. The first covers the pivotal points during the development of the Japanese dry landscape garden (kare-sansui), often referred to these days as a Zen garden. It explains how this developed from the pre-animistic use of stones as markers of space to their use as connections to the natural world and the landscape, their use as mystical vectors with which to communicate with the Gods, the influence of Korea and China, their eventual

September 2016 Tea Tasting Event At Minamoto London

Sample some of the best high quality Japanese teas available in the UK!

Venue: Minamoto Kitchoan 44 Piccadilly, London

Date: 17 September 2016

Time: 14.00– 18.30

Admission: FREE

Interview: Sebastian Masuda – Art Director and J-Pop Culture Pioneer

Internationally-renowned artist Sebastian Masuda brings global participatory art project to London with NHK WORLD TV for Hyper Japan!

In the run up to Hyper Japan, which took place on July 15 – 17 July, internationally-renowned artist and Japanese pop culture expert Sebastian Masuda – who is art director for Kawaii International  – brought his global art project to London with NHK WORLD TV.

Time After Time Capsule is a five-year participatory artwork in which Masuda, invites people to share their love of kawaii. It has been created in collaboration with NHK WORLD TV to

Event: Sumie Black And Wash Painting Workshop

Learn from a master the art of expressing yourself through the use of brush and ink!

Date: 13th May 2016

Time: 18.30 – 22.00

Venue: Hammersmith, London (Private home – contact for details)

Price: £30.00 – Includes equipment (ink, rice paper and brush) and Japanese dinner.

Event: A Fusion of Asian Culture For All The Family

In Association with Gapura Limited!

Date: 14 May 2016

Venue: Chiltern Hills Academy, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 3AD

Tickets: £2.50 (Children under 2 years FREE)

The South East Asian Community presents an  extravaganza of Asian delights that is sure to seduce your senses. There will be traditional performances, a fashion show, a kids corner, workshops and cooking demos, as well as

Book Review: Japanese Plays – Classic Noh, Kyogen And Kabuki Works

Nothing reflects the beauty of life as much as Japanese theatre!

The original Introduction gives a fairly detailed explanation of Noh, Kyōgen and Kabuki though there isn’t much in the way of explanations of each of the plays’ individual origins, historical context, or development, either in the Introduction or in the rest of the book at the beginning of each play, the intention perhaps to preserve the book in its original form. It would however perhaps have been helpful to provide some sort of reference material in say a selective bibliography, even if only for the most important plays.

Although this isn’t provided in the book’s current form research on the Internet would make it relatively easy to cross reference the plays on line to find more information even if the Internet is something that wasn’t available when the book was originally published in 1934. For example

Hit The Road With NHK WORLD TV This Spring

Japan’s international English-language channel launches travel season

This spring NHK WORLD TV, the 24-hour international English language channel from Japan’s public service provider NHK, presents an exciting season of travel programmes offering unique insights into Japanese culture, both ancient and modern.

Kicking off this April, the season of travel programmes form part of NHK WORLD TV’s extensive resource of materials for anyone studying Japanese, planning a trip, or interested in learning more about the country in the run up to Japan’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Exhibition: Paintings From Hiroshima

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Date: 5 – 13 Aug 2015

Venue: Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent’s Park), London NW1 4QP

This year in August will be the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  An Englishman, Mike Stevenson, has in his possession two collections of art works made by children in Japan in the aftermath of World War II.  The 34 works in one collection were made by students of a Christian girls’ school in Hiroshima, which suffered the deaths of over 300 students.  The school building was destroyed, but it was said to be the first to re-open following the atomic bombing of that city.

Marimo Magic – Little Green Fabulousness

If you take good care of your Marimo, it will make your wishes come true! We all know that Japan has a love for strange and wonderful things we would usually never get to see in the West. But did you ever hear about Marimos? A Marimo, Aegagropila linnaei or 毬藻, is an algae (moss) that has the shape of a ball. They are native to lakes in Iceland, Scotland, Estonia, Australia and, of course, Japan. There, they are to be found in the lake Akan-ko in Hokkaido. The people who live around the lake call the Marimos ‘Torasanpe’ which means ‘lake monster/goblin’ and they hold an annual Marimo festival from

Exhibition: Riusuke Fukahori “Goldfish Salvation 2”

ICN Press Release

Date: 11 – 21 December 2014

Times: Open daily from 12 – 6pm

Venue: 93-95 Sclater Street London E1 6HR

ICN Gallery proudly presents Goldfish Salvation 2 by Riusuke Fukahori, an artist internationally acclaimed for his 2012 video on his creative process. This is his second solo exhibition in the UK. The “Fukahori Goldfish” is a painting yet it grasps the ephemeral beauty of the goldfish captured in a flat plane of resin, and is vibrant and almost three-dimensional.

Press Release: Hyper Japan Christmas Market 2014

Get ready for a pop culture explosion at the UK’s largest J-culture event!

Date: 14-16 November 
Venue; National Hall, Olympia, London

Music, street fashion and cosplay – 3 pillars of Japanese pop culture which have captivated audiences and amassed devoted fans across the globe. At our HYPER JAPAN Christmas Market, we bring together the best of this trendy crowd and offer visitors the rare chance to experience a range of Japanese musical acts (both real and virtual), and to enjoy our HYPER J-style fashion show and

Ningyo: The Art Of The Japanese Doll Competition Closed And The Winner Is…

A winner has been chosen!

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition to win a copy of the book Ningyo: The Art Of The Japanese Doll.

Sadly there can only be one winner.

And the winner is…

WIN NINGYO: The Art Of The Japanese Doll By Alan Scott Pate

Hooray! It’s competition time again!

Famed the world over for their intricate beauty, Japanese dolls (ningyo) have played an important role in Japanese art and culture. Ningyo: The Art of the Japanese Doll (read review here) is the first comprehensive book on antique Japanese dolls and figurines published in English. The book focuses on dolls in six categories:

• GOSHO-NINGYO: Palace Dolls and Auspicious Wishes
• HINA-NINGYO: Dolls for the Girl’s Day Festival
• MUSHA-NINGYO: Warrior Dolls for the Boy’s Day Festival
• ISHO-NINGYO: Fashion Dolls and Popular Culture
• NINGYO IN THE THEATER: Entertaining the Gods and Man
• NINGYO AND HEALTH: Dolls as Talisman and Tool

The Art of the Japanese Sword Competition Now Closed And the Winner Is…

A winner has been chosen!

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition to win a copy of the book The Art of the Japanese Sword.

Sadly there can only be one winner.

And the winner is…

Book Review: NINGYO: The Art Of The Japanese Doll

The first comprehensive book on antique Japanese dolls published in English!

NINGYO: The Art of The Japanese Doll, written by Alan Scott Pate, the leading expert on Japanese dolls in the US, is a stunning hardback coffee-table book published by Tuttle Publishing that focuses on an area of Japanese culture little explored by westerners.

More than a plaything, the Japanese doll is a decorative object that is the central focus of many festivals like the Hina Matsuri (the Girl’s Day Festival) which takes place in Japan every year in March. To the world outside Japan, Hina dolls with their elaborate well-detailed costumes are

WIN The Art Of The Japanese Sword: The Craft Of Swordmaking And Its Appreciation Now Closed!

Hooray! It’s competition time again!

In The Art of the Japanese Sword (Diverse Japan’s review here), master swordsmith Yoshindo Yoshihara offers a detailed look at the entire process of Japanese sword making, including the finishing and appreciation of Japanese blades.

Japanese sword art stands out in many ways: functionality as a weapon, sophisticated metallurgy and metal smithing, the shape of the blade itself—all contribute to the beauty of these remarkable weapons. The Art of the Japanese Sword conveys to the reader Japanese sword history and

Event: Japan Matsuri 2014 London Trafalgar Square

The spectacular annual Japan festival returns for more fun and excitement!

Date: Saturday, 27th September 2014

Location: Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN

Time: 11 am – 9 pm