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BREEZE #84

OCTOBER, 2014: BREEZE ISSUE #84
Like 0ShareA Free E-Newsletter for Friends of Japan & Teachers of Japanese

GREETING FROM THE DIRECTOR

秋来ぬと ⽬にはさやかに ⾒えねども ⾵の⾳にぞ おどろかれぬる( Akikinuto/meniwa sayakani/mienedomo/kazeno otonizo/odorokarenuru : Though the arrival of autumn isnot yet visible anywhere, I suddenly noticed it by the sound of the fluttering breeze.)This poem was written by Fujiwara no Toshiyuki during the 9th Century describing the subtle transition ofthe seasons in Japan. The hot and humid summer gradually ends, and the season of harvest ( minori noaki ), of culture ( bunka no aki ), and of appetite ( shokuyoku no aki ) begins. If you search online using thekeywords “ Aki, autumn leaves, Momiji, ” you will find many beautiful photos of autumnal leaves in Japan.
Here in Los Angeles, the weather is still gorgeous, but in the farmers market, we can no longer findcherries, and they have been replaced with pumpkins. I also feel that the sunshine is softer and the airclearer these days. How can we make the sound of the Breeze bring the beauty of autumn to LA?
Here at JFLA, we are promoting our regular events such as Japanema and our lecture series all monthlong as well as continuing our support of Japanese language education in the United States. Our JF
Nihongo courses, fall term, successfully started last month and will continue through this month. There isalso only a few days remaining to sign up for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, which will be held
at 15 locations nation-wide on December 7, so make to sign up if you plan to take the test this year. Finally,
we will be organizing the tour One-Man Kabuki Storytelling featuring Kunitoshi Kineya at three locations
including Honolulu, Portland, and Los Angeles. Please come out and experience this unique theatrical art
from Japan!
Naomi Takasu, Director
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ONE-MAN KABUKI STORYTELLERKUNITOSHI KINEYA U.S. TOURHONOLULU, HI (10/5), PORTLAND, OR (10/8), LOS ANGELES, CA (10/10)
Kunitoshi Kineya, a one-of-a-kind Nagauta shamisen player, will come to America in October for a US tour.
Nagauta, which literally means “long song” in Japanese, is a classical style of Japanese music which
traditionally accompanies Kabuki Theater. Kunitoshi specializes in performing pieces from the Nagauta
repertoire on the shamisen, a three-stringed fretless lute.
Read MoreJAPANEMA: FREE JAPANESE CINEMA SCREENING
HEARTS TOGETHER (86MINS, 2013)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8 @ 7PM (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
Two-time Grammy Award-winner smooth jazz keyboardist Bob James and Japanese renowned pop singer
Seiko Matsuda performed a charity concert with local jazz band in Ofunato, Iwate, praying for recovery
from the Great East Japan Earthquake. This documentary film portrays the scene behind the concert with afocus on the message in their new song "Put our hearts together."

JFLA LECTURE SERIES 23: ARTIST TALK WITH PHOTOGRAPHER MIKIKO HARA
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9 AT 7PM (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
FREE TO ATTEND, CLICK HERE TO RSVP (REQUIRED)JFLA has the unique opportunity to invite photographer Mikiko Hara whose works are featured in thecurrent exhibition title In Focus: Tokyo at the Getty Center. In this lecture, she will talk about her
photography shot using an old-fashioned 6 x 6 camera to create her distinctive “snapshot style” she Privacy - Terms

adopted and has consistently used since early on in her career. *Please note this lecture will be inJapanese with English interpretation.
Read MoreJAPANEMA: FREE JAPANESE CINEMA SCREENING
ADRIFT IN TOKYO (101MINS, 2007)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22 @ 7PM (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
Takemura is an 8th-year college student in debt. The day before the debt is due, Fukuhara comes toTakemura with an unusual offer: walk with him from Kichijoji to Kasumigaseki, for ¥1 million, paid on
successful completion. Takemura has no choice but to go along...

KIYOTO KUGE: KIRIE EXHIBITIONMONDAY, OCTOBER 27 @ 7:30PM (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
FREE TO ATTEND, NO RESERVATION REQUIREDKiyoto Kuge, award-winning KIRIE (Japanese traditional paper-cutting art) artist from Japan will have anexhibition at JFLA with a guest appearance on opening night when he will open the exhibition and say afew words.

2014 JLPT REGISTRATION DEADLINEREGISTRATION: THROUGH OCTOBER 3, 2014
TEST DATE: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2014

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Registration for the 2014 JLPT will be ending soon. If you plan to take the test this year in the US, please
make sure to visit the link below to register. Late registration will NOT be accepted and the next test will
be in December of 2015.
Read MoreHELLO! EXPLORING THE SUPERCUTE WORLD OF HELLO KITTY
JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUMOCTOBER 11, 2014 - APRIL 26, 2015
Sanrio and the Japanese American National Museum celebrates Hello Kitty’s 40th Anniversary byexploring her colorful history and influence in art and culture. The exhibition combines a product-based,historical and sociological examination of the phenomenon of Hello Kitty with an art exhibitionemphasizing her influence on contemporary art.
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MONKEY BUSINESS FALL 2014 CALIFORNIA TOUROCTOBER 13 - 23 (MULTIPLE LOCATIONS)Tokyo-based literary journal "Monkey Business," which was founded in 2008 by Motoyuki Shibata,launches their West Coast tour. They will visit six cities including San Diego, Los Angeles, Palo Alto,Oakland, San Francisco, and Berkeley. Join Monkey Business founder Motoyuki Shibata, editors Ted
Goossen and Roland Kelts, MONKEY contributors Hideo Furukawa, Tomoka Shibasaki, Hiromi Itoh, andmany more at a stop near you!
Read More

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FIRST ANNUAL JAPAN FAIRJACCC PLAZA, LITTLE TOKYO
SATURDAY, NOV. 1 & SUNDAY, NOV. 2
Japan Fair will promote Japanese and Japanese American culture to the diverse community of Southern
California. It will be filled with specialty vendors, amazing entertainment and an abundance of foods andsake, much of which is imported from Japan just for this event. Entertainment will include taiko
performances, traditional Japanese dancing, koto musicians, and children’s choirs among the many stageshows.
For More Information and Tickets

EITETSU HAYASHIART OF WADAIKO – THE HEARTBEAT OF JAPAN WITH EITETSU FU-UN NO KAI ENSEMBLE
MCKENNA THEATRE, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITYSATURDAY, NOV. 1 AT 8PM & SUNDAY, NOV. 2 AT 3PM
San Francisco debut of the world renowned master of Taiko drumming, Eitetsu Hayashi, along with hisensemble EITETSU FU-UN no KAI. Internationally recognized and highly respected as a pioneering
performer, composer, and teacher, he has toured extensively around the world to share the art of Wadaiko,which epitomizes the essence of beauty and discipline of Japanese culture.

SUPERPOSITION BY RYOJI IKEDAROYCE HALL, UCLAFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7 AT 8PM
Superposition is a performance created by sound artist Ryoji Ikeda exploring the way we understand thereality of nature on an atomic scale— inspired by the mathematical notions of quantum mechanics.
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Employing a spectacular combination of synchronized video screens, real-time content feeds, digitalsound sculptures and—for the first time in Ikeda's work— human performers—superposition explores thethrilling conceptual world opened up by quantum theory.

FISCAL YEAR 2015 PROGRAM GUIDELINES AND APPLICATION FORMS ARE NOWAVAILABLE
DEADLINES: MULTIPLE FOR ARTS AND CULTURE/DECEMBER 1ST FOR JAPANESELANGUAGE
For information on Arts and Culture Programs, please visit our website with additional information on theJF world-wide website!
For information on Japanese Language Programs, please visit Teacher Training Program at the Japanese
Language Institute, Urawa, or Japanese Language Program for Specialists in Cultural and Academic Fields
at the Japanese Language Institute, Kansai. There are multiple programs including long-term, short-term,advanced and graduate for the teacher program and 2-month and 6-month courses for the specialistprogram. Your application must ARRIVE at JFLA on or before the deadline. Please notify us of yourapplication in advance.
Read MoreJAPANESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION UPDATE #11: JFLA ADVOCACY RESOURCES SURVEY
SELECTED RESULTS
We recently conducted a voluntary survey of Japanese language teachers around the country asking them
why and how they promote their Japanese programs. Exactly 200 teachers completed the survey, thanks
to the many teachers associations which spread the word.

Read More

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2014 JET MEMORIAL INVITATION PROGRAM: PARTICIPANT ESSAYS PART 2/8
In July of 2014, 32 US high school students participated in the JET Memorial Invitational Program (JETMIP). They travelled to Japan for a two week study tour of the Tohoku region, focusing on the cities ofRikuzentakata and Ishinomaki (Due to Super Typhoon Neoguri, the trip to Rikuzentakata was cancelled).
These were the cities that Montgomery Dickson and Taylor Anderson were assigned during their tenure as
JET Assistant Language Teachers. Sadly, they lost their lives during the Great East Japan Earthquake andTsunami in March, 2011 and JET-MIP was created to commemorate their work. Participants took part inexchanges with local elementary and high school students as well as local community groups with thepurpose of fostering friendship and goodwill between both countries. Each month, we will feature fouressays written by the participants describing their experiences in Japan. Click below to read about theirunforgettable journey.
Rachel Hirsch
Brianna KnappMichelle Li
Jianjie Liu

J-LEAP REPORTS PART 1/5
For the 2014-2015 school year, we invited nine assistant teachers (AT) to various schools around thecountry as part of the Japanese Language Education Assistant Program (J-LEAP). This is the fourth year of
this program where schools around the country are given the opportunity to invite an AT for up to twoyears to aid in strengthening their Japanese language program. This month, we will feature the reports
from the following ATs detailing their experiences at American schools.
Tomoki Nodo, Chief Sealth International High School (Seattle, WA)
Kaori Nishida, Appoquinimink High School (Middletown, DE)

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JF'S SALARY ASSISTANCE GRANT AWARDED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUISOn Friday, August 29, the Consul General of Japan at Chicago, Masaharu Yoshida, presented the JapanFoundation’s “Salary Assistance Grant for Japanese Language Courses” check in the amount of $30,000
to Dr. Glen Hahn Cope, the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of MissouriSt. Louis. We hope that our grant support will further enhance their Japanese language program which, inthe recent past, started offering a BA in Modern Language with an emphasis in Japanese.

JF'S SALARY ASSISTANCE GRANT AWARDED TO THE SHERIDAN JAPANESE SCHOOLOn Tuesday, September 16, Consul General Hiroshi Furusawa, from the Consular Office of Japan inPortland, visited the Sheridan Japanese School (Sheridan, OR) to present the Japan Foundation’s “2014
Salary Assistance Grant for Japanese Language Courses” check in the amount of $10,000 to the Principal,Mr. Andrew Scott. We sincerely hope that our grant support will have excellent results and will help toensure the long-term stability of their Japanese-language program.
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NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONSThis month, we have several new books related to Japanese language education and the Japanese
language proficiency test at our library for our patrons to study the language or prepare for the test. Make
sure to drop by and apply to become a member if you haven't already done so. Our annual library
membership fee is only $2 and you get a free cloth book bag.

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BUILDING RENOVATION UPDATE: ENTRANCE CHANGE
We were notified that construction around our office to renovate the courtyard will last into late October.
You will need to enter through our employee entrance to access the library. We apologize for theinconvenience and will make another announcement once our new courtyard is complete.
New Entrance Map

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