The Japan Society Year in Review 2013
Heidi Potter
The celebratory atmosphere of 2012’s Diamond Jubilee and Olympic
events extended into 2013 with the marking of a number of significant
anniversaries in the annals of UK-Japan relations.
Principal amongst these was the four hundredth anniversary of
the first diplomatic, trading and cultural relations established between
the two countries. This was celebrated with a series of inter-related
events running throughout the year. The Japan Society hosted Timon
Screech’s lecture 400 years ago: The English mission to Japan and its
legacy, featured in this volume, exploring the reasons behind the first,
historic voyage undertaken by the Clove, arriving in Japan in 1613. In
June, Britain & Japan - 400 Years: A Voyage Through Words and Music,
marked the date the Clove landed on Japanese shores and took placeat the same church, All Saints Fulham, where the ship’s Captain John
Saris was finally laid to rest some years later.
On Sunday 15 September, in the august surrounds of Whitehall’s
Banqueting House, the Japan Society helped organise an event tocommemorate the delivery of official letters and presents from KingJames I of England and VI of Scotland to Tokugawa Ieyasu and his son
Hidetada; Two Cultures United by Tea. The venue was full to capacityand featured a ceremony officiated by tea master Matsura Akira, adirect descendant of the Lord of Hirado, ruler of the port where theEnglish first landed.
The second major anniversary celebrated in 2013 was that of the‘Chōshū Five.’ The ‘five’ were members of the Chōshū clan in westernJapan who secretly left the country during the turbulent times toward
the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. They departed from Yokohama in
May 1863 and arrived in the UK that November. 2013 marked the 150th
anniversary of their journey.
The five young men studied at University College London.
After returning to Japan, they all contributed in their various ways
to the modernisation of their country. The ‘Chōshū Five’ included Itō
Hirobumi, who became Japan’s first Prime Minister and is otherwise
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known as ‘the Father of the Japanese Constitution’ and ‘the Fatherof parliamentary government in Japan’. The other men were Inoue
Kaoru, who became Japan’s first Foreign Minister and has been called‘the Father of modern Japanese diplomacy’, Yamao Yōzō (‘the Father
of Japanese engineering’), Inoue Masaru (‘the Father of Japanese
railways’) and Endō Kinsuke (‘the Father of the modern Japanese mint’).
One smaller anniversary with a direct connection to the Japan
Society was the centenary celebration of the life of Sir Alfred East, anartist whose tour of Japan in 1889 resulted in a prolific collection ofJapanese landscape paintings. On his return from Japan, East became
one of the seventeen founding members of the Japan Society in 1891.
Paul Johnson’s article Sir Alfred East - a western window on Japan,
also featured in this volume, elaborates on this intriguing figure in thehistory of UK-Japan relations.
2013 was a transitional period for the Japan Society. In December,the Society moved to new offices occupying the top floor of Daiwa
Foundation Japan House. John Swire & Sons, which had since 1996
been a generous landlord, first for Japan 21 but later also for the Japan
Society, required the space for its own business; we remain gratefulto its directors and staff for their support. Thanks to the trustees anddirector-general of the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, the Society
has been able to rent office and library space in Japan House. The
move to Cornwall Terrace involved much preparation and upheaval
for the Society, though efforts were made to ensure there was as little
disruption to the activities as possible.
Sir David Warren’s first year as chairman of the Japan Society wasa busy one, helping to co-ordinate a number of the Japan Society’s
regular events and taking part in panel discussions on Japan-related
themes.
Two years on from the triple disaster that struck Japan in March
2011, the Society’s Tōhoku Earthquake Relief Fund continues tosupport reconstruction projects in Japan through its partnership with
the Sanaburi Foundation. Christopher Purvis, Phillida Purvis and Heidi
Potter went to the region during private visits to Japan in October
2013, where they met with representatives of Sanaburi as well as withNPOs which had been supported by the Fund. A full report from this8

Japan Society Year in Review

visit is included in this volume of Proceedings under the title, Tōhoku:
Two and a Half Years On.
Events overview
The Japan Society exists to educate; to enable a more profoundunderstanding of Japan, its people and culture. By promoting thismission through all aspects of its work, from links with schools to freepublic events, the Society is active in challenging stereotypes andencouraging a deeper interest in all that Japan has to offer.
In 2013, the Society organized seventy-nine different events acrossall areas of its outreach, including Arts & Culture, Lifestyle, Lectures,
Education and Business Events, alongside special Annual fixtures. The
general events programme included: the annual dinner and Christmas
party; eleven business related events; thirteen conversation groupevents; twenty-three events aimed at younger members or families;
five chairman’s events; fifteen lectures and eleven arts and culture
events.
The business year
2013 was another highly successful year for the Japan Society’s corebusiness programme.
The chairman held a series of small lunches in which key figures
based in both the UK and Japan were invited to meet senior membersof the Society. These provided opportunities for decision makers
to share ideas and information, and ensured that those involved inbusiness and government were well informed on topical issues relating
to the UK-Japan relationship in a global context. Subjects in 2013
included international relations (The Rt Hon Hugo Swire, The Rt Hon
David Lidington) UK-Japan business links (The Lord Mayor of London,
Alderman Roger Gifford) and the pharmaceutical industry (The Rt Hon
Jeremy Hunt).
Larger lunchtime business seminars were again generously
hosted by JETRO. These included an overview of the global economy
by Gerard Lyons, economic adviser to the Mayor of London, given
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in the run up to the 2013
G8 summit in the UK. Other
seminars were given by Lori
Henderson, executive director,
British Chamber of Commercein Japan, who briefed
participants on the work of
the Chamber in supporting
recovery in Tohoku; Aidan
Foster-Carter who gave an
overview of developments
in North Korea; and Dr Ken
Koyama, Institute of Energy
Economics, Japan, who led aseminar on the world energy
outlook, including the impactof the shale revolution. The
Society continued to arrange
Sir David Warren addresses members at the JCCI / Japan joint lunches in conjunction
Society joint lunch for the UK-Japan 21st Century Group with the Japanese Chamberof Commerce and Industry in
the UK, which provided opportunities for Japanese and non Japanese to meet
and to hear from guest speakers, who were during the year: Sir John Beddington,
Government chief scientific officer; Charles Grant of the Centre for European
Reform; and Sir Simon Fraser, Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign &Commonwealth Office. A special lunch was also organised with members of the
UK Japan 21st Century Group in advance of its 30th annual meeting.
An enduringly popular event in the business calendar is the annual address
given by the serving British Ambassador to Japan. In January 2013 this was aparticularly special occasion, as Sir David Warren gave the address on the cuspof his transition from diplomatic office to becoming the Society’s new chairman.
Rather than summarise the events of the preceding year, Sir David looked backover his entire four-year tenure in office, providing invaluable insights into theevolving nature of the UK-Japan relationship during this period (the transcript of
this lecture was printed in Proceedings 149).

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Japan Society Year in Review

A diverse programme
As always, the Society’s generalprogramme in 2013 attempted toappeal to as broad a spectrum ofJapan-related interests as possible.
For those with an interestin the arts, the year began with acurator-led tour of an exhibition at
the Ashmolean in Oxford; Threadsof Silk and Gold showcased someof the finest ornamental textiles
The Japan Society Pub Quizfrom Meiji era Japan and the expert
guidance of Dr Clare Pollard made this a memorable outing. Other Arts
& Culture highlights from 2013 included a special guest lecture from
Kanai Yūichirō, the man behind the spectacular set designs of Anjin:
The Shogun and the English Samurai, and a private talk from iconic
Japanese photographer, Ishiuchi Miyako.
The lifestyle calendar in 2013
was a mix of new events alongside
the return of regular fixtures. In April,
members toured Kew Garden’s
unrivalled collection of bonsai trees
in the company of resident specialist,
Richard Kernick, who explained how to
avoid the many pitfalls that plague theamateur enthusiast. April also saw the
return of the Japan Society’s extremely
popular pub quiz after three years inretirement, marking a special visit toLondon by the Japan British Societyof Kagoshima. The competition was
fierce but after an hour of neck-andneck teams at the top, the hardened
journalists from Asahi Shimbun scored
Making sushi at Sozai Cooking Schoola runaway victory in the last round.
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Momotarō confronts the ogres at the Japan Society Family Day onboard the Golden Hinde

Elsewhere there were cooking demonstrations and whisky
tastings, golf tournaments and opera evenings. The highlight of theyear for members with younger families was the Japan Society’s daylong event onboard the Golden Hinde in Southwark. The Golden
Hinde was the replica ship used to film the famous television series
Shogun, charting the voyage of William Adams to Japan. On Sunday
29 September, the Japan Society and the Embassy of Japan organiseda family day to tie in with the Japan 400 anniversary. The sun shone
and visitors enjoyed a wide range of Japanese cultural activities, fromtrying on kimono and armour to watching theatrical performances andlistening to folktales. Over five hundred people boarded the ship during
the course of the day, following the Shogun’s treasure trail through its
different deck levels and emerging to pose with the dockside cut-outsof King James I and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
The Japan Society Book Club had another successful year and twoof its meetings were honoured to have translators of Japanese fiction
and poetry in attendance. In September, Peter MacMillan hosted a
special book club to discuss his translation of Hyakunin Isshu (One12Japan Society Year in Review

Hundred Poets), a collection of classical Japanese poetry. In December,
Angus Turvill led members through the problems and rewards oftranslating Tales from a Mountain Cave by Inoue Hisashi, a review ofwhich is featured in this volume.
Another event with a literary focus was April’s Japanese Fictionin Translation, which featured award-winning translator Michael
Emmerich in conversation with Stephen Dodd, Senior Lecturer inJapanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies. The two
debated theories of world literature alongside a discussion of theirown translations, from Kajii Motojirō to Yoshimoto Banana.
Japan Matsuri was held in Trafalgar Square for the second year
running, taking place on Saturday 5 October. The event provides anunrivalled opportunity for Londoners to come together and enjoy a
day of Japanese activities in a festival atmosphere. All the elements ofprevious matsuri were present; from a mix of food stalls, to martial arts,
live performance and crowd participation. In addition the 2013 event

A performer at Japan Matsuri 2013 in Trafalgar SquareJapan Society Proceedings13hosted some exciting new acts, including Siro-A, a mesmerising groupof mixed-discipline performers, and the electric guitar of Kill Bill theme
composer, Hotei Tomoyasu.
London Lectures
The lectures programme in 2013 covered an eclectic mix of subjects
and new research, from musical history to horticulture. As always,
the monthly academic lecture formed the mainstay of Japan Society
lectures. In addition to those featured in this volume, lectures in 2013
included a talk on curating Mori Mariko’s exhibition Rebirth by Kathleen
Soriano, Director of Exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts; Kimigayo
to Japanoise: 160 years of Japan-UK relations in popular music by
Imamura Akira, Consul General, Embassy of Japan; The youth of things:
an exploration of 1920s Japanese culture through the literature of
Kajii Motojiro by SOAS Senior Lecturer in Japanese, Stephen Dodd;
Ginkgo: An Evolutionary and Cultural Biography by Peter Crane, former
Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew; Love Statues, Shell Fish
and Communist Treachery: Japan’s early postwar responses to the
War Crimes Issue, Barak Kushner, Senior Lecturer in Modern Japanese
History at Cambridge University and Japan’s Family Planning for the
Global War on Population, Homei Aya, Wellcome Trust Fellow at the
University of Manchester.
Once again the Society looked to forge partnerships with otherorganisations in staging our lecture series in 2013. These included, The
British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT), and regular lecture partner
the Japan Research Centre at SOAS. The 2013 Carmen Blacker Lecture,in partnership with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of JapaneseArts and Cultures, was given by Professor Yokoyama and is reprinted
in this volume.
Japan Society Small Grants
An annual sum of up to £30,000 is set aside for grants in support ofsmall-scale projects and events related to Japan. These grants provide
opportunities for people throughout the UK to participate in education
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Japan Society Year in Review

and exchange relating to Japan and thus contribute to raising awarenessand understanding of the country and its culture. Priority is given to
applications for grassroots projects and for activities involving schools
and other educational establishments. In 2013, thirty-three grants weremade averaging approximately £600 each. Of these some seventeen
were organised in schools or provided opportunities for school students
to participate in Japan-related activities. These ranged from Japan Days tocomplement ongoing study of Japan or Japanese language to activities
in preparation for a trip to Japan and workshops in Japanese music
where primary school children learned about shamisen through making
and performing on their own instruments. Grants were also awarded toprojects which allowed people to engage with and learn about Japan.
A family day at the Serpentine Gallery’s Summer Pavilion designed
by Fujimoto Sou explored contemporary Japanese architecture intandem with contemporary Japanese music, while the Russell Cotes Art
Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth engaged in an ambitious familylearning programme drawing from its Japanese collection. Support
was also given to community Japan Days in Cambridge, Glasgow,
London, Leicestershire and Sheffield and school linking activities tocommemorate the 15th Anniversary of the Derbyshire and Toyota City
twinning agreement.
Schools Education
The schools education programme has been developed out of abelief in the value to young people in the UK of growing up with anawareness and understanding of Japan and its culture. In 2013 thisremained central to the Japan Society’s objectives. In spite of proposed
government reforms to the National Curriculum in England, due totake effect from September 2014, Japan, its culture and language, still
have a place within both the primary and secondary classroom.
The Society’s education team had a busy year supporting schools
and individual teachers engaged with Japan-related activities. The
Japan Conference for Schools on 7 March, held at the Embassy ofJapan in partnership with the Japan Foundation, attracted over forty
teachers, and 150 students attended the annual Sixth Form Conference
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on 8 November at SOAS, University of London. The latter saw the Japan
Society’s Chairman, Sir David Warren, give an informative keynote
speech on the current UK-Japan relationship which prompted many
searching questions from the participating students. The event wasalso attended by representatives of a number of leading Russell Groupand Global 30 Universities, who provided students with an insight into
options for developing their interest in Japan further, whether throughsingle or joint degrees in Japanese studies in the UK, or opportunities
to be immersed in Japanese life while studying subjects from marine
biology to international relations in Japan.
During the course of the year the Society’s Japan in Your Classroom
volunteers continued to inspire thousands of children through theirschools visits. Over ninety school visits took place throughout thecountry including Greater London, Brighton, Derby, Manchester,
Nottingham and South Wales. These volunteers are vital in helping tobring Japan to life for schoolchildren nationwide.
As well as providing practical tailor made training courses, run byexperienced tutors, the Society continued to provide loan resources toschools wishing to teach about Japan. The Japan Activity Chests, whichhold a plethora of Japanese cultural and language materials including
yukata, geta and the Japanese soroban, were loaned to approximately
sixty schools.
As more schools move toward achieving the International School
Award offered by the British Council, the Japan Society has maintainedand established new partnerships between British and Japanese
schools. We support schools, helping embed international learning andeducation in their curriculum. Japan UK-LIVE! the Society’s bilingual
web resource, and its translation team, continued to be invaluable forschools in 2013. Without this service the language barrier that exists
between partner schools, particularly in the primary sector, would
prevent meaningful communication.
Existing school partnerships continued to move from strength
to strength. In March 2013 County Upper School in Bury St. Edmunds
hosted a successful homestay exchange from their partner school
Takamatsu Dai-ichi Senior High School, from Kagawa Prefecture, oneof five specialist science colleges in Japan. The visit coincided with the16Japan Society Year in Review

UK National Science and Engineering week where each school took
part in a series of Maths problem-solving challenges during the twoday exchange.
Although a visit to or from a partner school brings an exchange
alive in a way that pen-pal correspondence alone cannot, in today’s
economic climate not all schools have the financial resources to beable to fund visits. As alternatives, schools undertook some innovative
exchange activities including relay stories, sending school mascots
and cultural parcels, and holding video conferences. Shimomura
Elementary School in Toyama Prefecture and Tregarth Primary Schoolin North West Wales held their first video conference in 2013. This
was a challenge due to the time difference that exists between thetwo countries but helped to bring a truly international dimension toclassroom activities. This provided pupils with a first-hand experienceof each other’s language, culture and way of life. It remains a key
ambition for the Japan Society to continue establishing meaningful
and sustainable international school partnerships.

Fourth grade pupils at Amaji Elementary (Hyōgo) send kakizome to their partner school

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