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BREEZE #101

MARCH, 2016: BREEZE ISSUE #101
Like 0ShareA Free E-Newsletter for Friends of Japan & Teachers of Japanese

GREETING FROM THE DIRECTOR

Spring has come early to LA and we are celebrating it with the display of beautiful Hina-dolls in our library.
Please come and join the traditional Girls' Day celebration and receive a free annual library membershipand our original tote bag.
The arrival of Spring knows no national borders. With our next door neighbor, the Goethe Institute Los
Angeles, we will launch a Japanese-German Risqué Cinema Week in the middle of this month. Anybody
over 18 years old who is interested in the differences (and similarities!) in sensual expressions between
Germany and Japan should not miss this great opportunity to feel the spring.
As the weather encourages us to go outside, now is the best time to start taking our Japanese language
classes. We are currently accepting applications for spring term so if you are still contemplating where andhow to begin, just give us a call and our friendly staff will answer any questions or concerns you mayhave.
Last, but certainly not the least, March 11th will mark the fifth year of the devastating earthquake andtsunami that hit the Tohoku region of Japan in 2011. Last summer, I visited the region for the first time inthree years accompanying 32 American high-school students that we sent on the 2015 JET Memorial
Invitation Program. There, I was struck by how much the region has revived both in terms of its aesthetics
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and spirit. Even though JET-MIP has completed its initial goal of sending more than 150 American students
to Japan in five years, I am now determined to explore other avenues to introduce the region's richcultural history and inspirational resilience in its people. Please stay tuned!
Sincerely,Hideki Hara, Director

FRAMES OF MIND, FRAMES OF BODY:GERMAN AND JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES ON RISQUÉ CINEMAPRESENTATIONS, DISCUSSION AND Q/A AT THE GOETHE-INSTITUT, FOLLOWED BY A
RECEPTION AT THE JAPAN FOUNDATION.
MONDAY, MARCH 14 @ 7PM
FREE ADMISSION, RSVP REQUIRED (RSVP@LOSANGELES.GOETHE.ORG)
Erotic cinema has existed in one form or another as long as the big screen itself, yet the differences in
how eroticism is portrayed in film can vary greatly from country to country, and culture to culture. The
contrast between Japanese and German erotic films offers intriguing insights into their country of origin’s
collective sexual psyche and overall perspective on erotica.
As part of a panel discussion focusing on eroticism in film, Berlin-based Japanese writer Yoko Tawada, andGerman film journalist Carolin Weidner present individual lectures examining Germany and Japan’s
sensual expressions through film and discuss the similarities and differences between each country’s
notions of erotic cinema. This closer examination of Risqué Cinema offers a unique chance to explore,
understand, and compare these two (often taboo) subgenres of film, and to see erotica through a differentlens.
This presentation is part of a week-long series hosted by the Goethe-Institut and the Japan Foundationthat continues with the following screenings. Please note that these events contain adult subject matter;
therefore, we will not admit those who are under 18 years of age.

RELATED EVENTS
Tuesday, March 15 @ 7pm
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles
Eroticism in German Film
German film journalist Carolin Weidner presents a selection of a curated film excerpts that form a survey
and historical overview of German erotic cinema.
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Wednesday, March 16 @ 7pm
JFLA Auditorium"In the Realm of the Senses" (102mins, 1976)
Directed by Nagisa Oshima
In Japanese with English subtitles
Thursday, March 17 @ 7pm
JFLA Auditorium"Snakes and Earrings" (123mins, 2008)
Directed by Yukio Ninagawa
In Japanese with English subtitles
Friday, March 18 @ 7pm
JFLA Auditorium"Underwater Love" (86mins, 2011)
Directed by Shinji Imaoka
In Japanese with English subtitles
Read MoreJAPANESE TRADITIONAL DOLL EXHIBITION
THROUGH FRIDAY, MARCH 4
In celebration of Hinamasturi, also known as Japanese Doll Festival or Girls' Day - held on March 3, we will
be displaying our Hina-ningyo (Japanese doll) set in our library. This custom of displaying dolls began
during the Heian period (8-10th century AD) when people believed that the dolls possessed the power tocontain evil spirits. Hinamatsuri traces its origins to an ancient Japanese custom called hina-nagashi, inwhich straw hina dolls were set afloat on a boat and sent down river to the sea, symbolically taking evil
spirits with them. In Japan, families typically start displaying their dolls in February to pray for young girl's
growth and happiness and take them down immediately after the festival. Superstition says that leaving
the dolls out past March 4 will result in a late marriage for the daughter.

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EXHIBITION: CHROMATIC PASSAGES - 彩時期
CURATED BY KIO GRIFFITH
TUESDAY, JANUARY 26 – FRIDAY, MARCH 4 (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
Chromatic Passages (彩時期) is a three person exhibit of Los Angeles based painters Kaoru Mansour,Shingo Francis and Devon Tsuno each exploring color transitions through time, space, pattern and rhythm.
The opulent quality of these paintings allude to a preternatural sense of place and moment beyond
material boundaries . Using movement of color to evoke the ever-changing character of all landscapes,
the artists exhibit their relationship to space and form inventing different ways of organizing the pictorial
field, carefully constructing the field of vision into a thematic range of light and color.
Read MoreJAPANEMA: FREE JAPANESE CINEMA SCREENING"LOVE'S WHIRLPOOL" (123MINS, 2014)
DIRECTED BY DAISUKE MIURAWEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 @ 7PM (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLESTHIS FILM CONSIDERED AS NC-17 RATING. NO ONE UNDER 18 ADMITTED.
A room in a fancy downtown apartment. The evening orgy kicks off with eight men and women meeting forthe first time, including an unemployed guy (Sosuke Ikematsu) who pays the 20,000 yen party fee withmoney from his parents, and a female college student (Mugi Kadowaki) whose run-of-the-mill appearance
hides a voracious sexual appetite.
Watch Trailer (For those who are 18 years of age or older)JAPANEMA: FREE JAPANESE CINEMA SCREENING"THE KIYOSU CONFERENCE" (138MINS, 2013)
DIRECTED BY KOKI MITANIWEDNESDAY, MARCH 23 @ 7PM (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
After the forced suicide of Nobunaga Oda at the Incident at Honno-ji, powerful figures Katsuie Shibata(Koji Yakusho), Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Yo Oizumi), Nagahide Niwa (Fumiyo Kohinata) and Tsuneoki Ikeda(Koichi Sato) all meet to decide on a successor. The meeting became known as the Kiyosu ConferenceandPrivacy - TermsJapan's first group made political decision. The leaders there become torn between two successors.
Meanwhile, Hideyoshi has plans to simultaneously woo the woman (Kyoka Suzuki) he loves and gain thethrone himself through proxy.
Watch Trailer

SPRING TERM WILL START ON APRIL 23!
REGISTER NOW!
Your potential blooms this spring! We are now accepting registrations for our popular Japanese courses
which will begin on April 23rd. Listen to the voices of our students. They’ll tell you the reasons why they
are learning Japanese, how fun it is, and their favorite Japanese words.
Read More

2016-17 JAPANESE LANGUAGE GRANTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE!
We are accepting applications for the following grants:
1. Japanese Language Learners Event Grant previously known as "Speech Contest Grant" (Deadlines:9/1/2016)
2. Japanese Teaching Material Purchase Grant (Deadlines: 3/15/2016 & 9/15/2016)
3. Salary Assistance Grant for Japanese Language Courses (Deadline: 4/10/2016)
4. Japanese-Language Education Project Grant (Deadline: 2 months prior to project start date)
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NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS
We acquired several new books, DVDs, and CDs during the past few weeks and have included in the link
below. There are also Japanese-language study materials those who are interested in learning thelanguage. Make sure to drop by and apply to become a member if you haven't already done so. Ourannual library membership fee is only $2 and you get a free cloth book bag.

JF SALARY ASSISTANCE GRANT AWARDED TO FALLS CHURCH HIGH SCHOOLOn February 9, 2016, Minister Tamaki Tsukada from the Embassy of Japan presented the JapanFoundation's “Salary Assistance Grant” in the amount of $30,000 to Principal Michael Yohe of Falls Church
High School in Virginia. Students, parents from community, and representatives from Fairfax County Public
Schools enjoyed the presentation about Japanese culture as well. We are grateful to the Embassy ofJapan for supporting our mission to advocate Japanese language education in the United States!!
Read MoreJAPANESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION UPDATE 28:
THIS ARIZONA HIGH SCHOOL HAS A WAITING LIST FOR JAPANESE
Miami Junior/Senior High School in a rural part of Arizona educates fewer than 600 students from grades
7 to 12. Last year, some students discovered that their new English teacher Dan Hill is also licensed toteach Japanese. They asked him to teach it. “Obviously,” Dan Hill stated in an email, “school schedules
are not determined by teachers, so I told them I would be happy to teach it if they could convince theprincipal to put it on the schedule.”
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STAFF UPDATE
We are happy to announce the arrival of our new Deputy Director, Mr. Tomoki Sakuta, from Japan. He will
be taking over for Rei Suzuki who has been here in Los Angeles for the past four years and returned toJapan at the end of February. This is both a happy and sad occasion as we welcome someone new to ourorganization, but at the same time say goodbye to an old colleague. We hope you will come out to one of
our future events to meet Mr. Sakuta as he settled down to his new life here in the US.

2015 JET MEMORIAL INVITATION PROGRAM: PARTICIPANT ESSAYS PART 7/8
In July of 2015, 32 US high school students participated in the final JET Memorial Invitational Program(JET-MIP). They travelled to Japan for a two week study tour of the Tohoku region, focusing on the cities ofRikuzentakata and Ishinomaki. These were the cities that Montgomery Dickson and Taylor Anderson wereassigned during their tenure as JET Assistant Language Teachers. Sadly, they lost their lives during theGreat East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March, 2011 and JET-MIP was created to commemorate theirwork. Participants took part in exchanges with local elementary, middle and high school students as well
as local community groups with the purpose of fostering friendship and goodwill between both countries.
Each month, we will feature four essays written by the participants describing their experiences in Japan.
Click below to read about their memorable journey.
Rachel Resnick
Tulika Srivastava
Jacqueline Tayra
Amy Waldron

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Breeze #110Breeze #109Breeze #108

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Breeze #100Breeze #99

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