PRESS RELEASE
May 26, 2015

Arts Council Tokyo
Decision to hold Traditional Culture and Performing Arts
Experience Program for Foreigners
Announcement of the Traditional Culture Program Lineup

As a new initiative this year, Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for
History and Culture) has decided to hold accessible short programs that offer foreigners theopportunity to gain first-hand experience of traditional culture and performing arts aroundtourist attractions in Tokyo. In addition, we provide programs, which combine hands-on
experience with the viewing of performances, as well as giving school children throughout
Tokyo the opportunity to come into contact with Japanese traditional culture and performingarts, thereby enabling to deepen their understandings of the value of Japanese culture. Arts
Council Tokyo will also continue the traditional culture and performing arts programs whichhave been held up as before. We welcome you to visit these programs and cover them in themedia.

Traditional Culture and Performing Arts Experience Program
1. Programs for Foreign Visitors Ⅰ
This accessible program allows participants to experience authentic traditional culture andperforming arts in a short period of time. All programs are conducted with explanations in English.

(Handouts in Chinese and Korean are available.)
Organized by: Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Supported and Cooperated by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government《 Engei Workshop 》
Contents: Experience various performing arts that are still popular such as Yose vaudevilleperformances with a professional serving. We plan to hold Engei experiences that willallow participants, for instance, to make simple Kamikiri crafts, paper cutting and to
try Kasamawashi, umbrella rotating.
Period: Every Saturday from April 25, 2015 to March 2016
*Excluding December 26, 2015Venue: Edo-Tokyo Museum (Permanent Exhibition Area)
How to Participate: Participation is on a first-come-first-served basis.
Capacity: 50 for each workshop
Starting Time: 2:45pm / 4:00pm / 5:15pm (30 minutes each)
Admission Fee:Free
*Admission fee is charged for the museum.

Supported by: RAKUGO GEIJYUTSU association“Umbrella Rotating”“Paper Cutting”“Japanese Magic”《 Traditional Japanese Dance Workshop 》
Contents: This program features Nihon Buyo, traditional Japanese dance while wearing
Yukata. Participants can also appreciate a part of Fuji Musume, Wisteria Maiden andtake photos with the instructors at the end.
Period: Every Sunday from May 3, 2015 to March 2016
*Excluding May 24, July 26, and December 13 2015, and January 10,February 14, February 28, and March 13 2016
Starting Time: 11:00am / 1:00pm / 3:00pm (1 hour each)Capacity: 20 for each workshop
Venue: Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center
How to Participate:

Numbered tickets will be distributed 30 minutes in advance of each
workshop, on the day held.

Admission fee: Free
Co-organized by: Taito City
Supported by: The Japanese Classical Dance Association (Tokyo Branch Joto Block)“Nihon Buyo”《 Nagauta Workshop 》
Contents: Appreciate Nagauta, traditional Japanese music and instruments experience
Period: Every Second Saturday and Sunday from December 2015 to March 2016
Starting Time: To be confirmed (Details will be notified on the website.)
Venue: Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center
How to Participate: Numbered tickets will be distributed 30 minutes in advance of each
workshop on the day held.
Admission fee: Free
Co-organized by: Taito City
Supported by: Nagauta Association《 Kado Workshop 》
Contents: A simple explanation of Kado, flower arrangement will be provided along with
an opportunity for hands-on Kado experience. After the workshop, participants
will be able to take the flowers home.
Period: Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, 2015
*Held at the same time as the Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony 2015
Starting Time: To be confirmed (Details will be notified on the website.)
Venue: Hama-rikyu Gardens
How to Participate: Apply on the day of program (Details will be notified on the website.)Admission Fee:Free
*Admission fee is charged for gardens.

Supported by: Tokyo Metropolitan Kado and Sado Association
2. Program for Foreign Visitors ⅡPerformances combine culture, performing arts appreciation and hands-on experience in orderto deepen understanding of Japanese traditional culture and performing arts.
Organized by: Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Supported and Cooperated by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government“Let’s All Enjoy the World of Nihon Buyo”
Fostering an appreciation of Nihon Buyo, traditional Japanese dance, and Hogaku, traditional
Japanese music including Koto music of Nagauta and Sokyoku, this program is comprised ofdemonstrations, lectures easy to understand and valuable hands-on experience. Audiences will beinvited to try their hand playing traditional Japanese musical instruments such as Shamisen, Taikoand Koto. You will learn how to handle a selection of stage props used by dancers. The program
includes a demonstration of Kumadori, women’s style Kabuki makeup and an opportunity forparticipants to try on costumes. At the end of presentation, all elements will come together in astunning Nihon Buyo performance.
Time and Date: December 20, 2015, Sunday from 2:00pm (to be confirmed)
Venue: Shibuya Cultural Center Owada, Densho Hall
How to Participate: To be confirmed (Details will be notified on the website.)
Admission Fee:Free“Noh Theater: Beyond Words, Beyond Borders”
This program consists of a behind-the-scenes “experience corner” combined with special
performances of Noh in both English and Japanese highlighting Noh’s international
accessibility. For foreign visitors to Japan, a hands-on “experience corner” will allow visitors
to try on masks and costumes as well as play instruments before the performance with guidancefrom Noh professionals and Noh specialist English translators. The performance section of thisprogram features Japanese, English and bilingual selections from Noh and its comedic
counterpart, Kyogen. Performers from the Kita School of Noh and performers from Theatre
Nohgaku will present Japanese and English versions of Shimai (short dance selections). This
will be followed by a bilingual Kyogen performance from members of the Shigeyama School ofKyogen. The program culminates with an exciting presentation of the Kita School’s version of

the demon Noh Kurozuka, with a special English Kyogen section. Following the performance,
there will be a question and answer period with featured performers in Japanese and English.
Date: Saturday, November 21, 2015
Venue: Kita Noh Theatre
How to Participate: To be confirmed (Details will be notified on the website.)
Admission Fee: To be confirmed (Details will be notified on the website.)

3. Programs for Children
Within the framework of school education, we will organize programs taught by young
performers, combining hands-on experience with the viewing of performances in order to givechildren the opportunity to come into contact with Japan’s traditional culture and performing arts,
thereby providing them with a deeper and broader understanding of the value of Japanese culture.
Venue: Elementary schools, junior high schools, and seniorhigh schools within Tokyo.
Period: Throughout the year
Organized by: Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Supported and Cooperated by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Produced by: Japan Council of Performing Rights & Performing Arts Organizaions [Geidankyo]
Supported by: Nagauta Association, Nohgaku Performers’ Association,
Japan Sankyoku Association, Japanese Classical Dance Association
Rakugo Association, RAKUGO GEIJYUTSU association(By the order of the Japanese syllabary)

4. Lineup of other programs
We have selected a various type of performances, for instance, Noh, Hogaku, Nihon Buyo, Yoseand Daidengaku so that foreign visitors and young generation become familiar with thoseauthentic

traditional cultures.

Supported and Cooperated by:Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Organized by: Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)“Classical Performing Arts Festival - Memories of Asia - Treasures of Japan”
While Japan has roots in Asia, its classical performing arts have developed together withJapan’s unique culture that has matured and fermented in line with the natural features of Japan.
Visitors to this performance will be able to gain an appreciation for the various classicalperforming arts, such as Bugaku, Noh, Kabuki Buyo and Bunraku, representing classicalperforming arts in one sitting. The program also features Shingigaku that is participated in by thegeneral public, as well as appreciating authentic performances by first-rated instructors.
Date: Sunday, October 25, 2015
Venue: Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Main Hall
“Enjoy Kagurazaka, Have Fun at Kagurazaka”
This program is accessible even for people that feel traditional performing arts may be too
highbrow as it offers two different performing arts, namely Nihon Buyo and Noh Theater thatcan be easily enjoyed as a part of short trip to Kagurazaka. The second half of the dynamic Nihon
Buyo performance Bishamon that features ‘Bishamonten’, One of the Seven Gods of GoodFortune connected with Kagurazaka is performed along with the second half of the Noh Theater
performance ‘Ema’ that features the hiding of Amaterasu Omikami, goddess of the sun in theHeavenly Rock Cave.
Date: Sunday, November 1, 2015
Venue: Yarai Noh Theater“The World of Edo Ito Ayatsuri Ningyo - The Beauty of Onnagata Puppet”
Edo Ito Ayatsuri Ningyo has been designated as an intangible cultural heritage for Tokyo andselected as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan. Explanations will beprovided by a narrator in Japanese and English as we deliver a world with 380 years of tradition
in a format that is easy-to-understand for traditional performing arts beginners. We hope that you
will be able to fully enjoy this world through a performance that uses beautiful Onnagata (female)
Puppets.
Date: Saturday, December 19, 2015
Venue: Koganei Miyajigakki Hall (Koganei Civic Center), Main Hall
“FUJIYAMA - Festival of Japanese Beauty and Traditional Performing Arts”
In the motif of famous characters ‘Yaji and Kita’ from ‘Tokaidochu Hizakurige’ (Shank’s Mare)which is published in Edo era, this travel story featuring two men who explore Japanese beautyand culture is full of Nihon Buyo, Swordfight, Rakugo, and other exciting features. This
entertaining performance enables us to study the past to discover new things through thetraditional performing arts that were born inspired by Fujiyama, Mt. Fuji – symbol of Japanese
beauty - which is always by the side of Yaji and Kita.
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2016
Venue: Meijiza Theater

“Rakugo”, Traditional storytelling and Traditional Geisha DancesPart 1 is a small stage of Yose, a Japanese style vaudeville theater. The main performance will beRakugo, a traditional one-man comic storytelling show. Part 2 is a traditional dance performanceby Geisha from 6 of the entertainment districts in Tokyo. Geisha are traditional, female Japaneseentertainers. They perform traditional dance and music, and are trained the art of conversationand other arts in order to serve guests at private banquets.
Date: Sunday, November 8, 2015
Venue: Tokyo International Forum Hall C○ Kagurazaka Street Stage O-edo Tour (Japanese Traditional Culture Festival)
By providing accessible introductions to Japan’s diverse forms of traditional culture, we will
create opportunities that make it easy for people in a wide range of age brackets to come into
contact with our nation’s traditions. In the Kagurazaka district, where tradition is blended with
cutting-edge modernity, we will hold a variety of events that offer sophisticated, stylish
encounters with traditional performing arts, including a stamp rally (a program in which people
visit a range of locations to collect stamps, in order to get Tenugui) and street-corner traditionalmusic performances on Kagurazaka-dori.
Venue: Kagurazaka area
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2015 (Eve)Sunday, November 15, 2015 (Main Festival)
Organized by: Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Supported and Cooperated by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government○ Tokyo Grand Tea Ceremony 2015
In one of Tokyo’s famous gardens and an open-air museum, we will hold large-scale tea
ceremonies that bring together a number of tea schools to provide guests from both Japan andother countries with an introduction to tea culture and the Edo-Tokyo culture that nurtured it. As
well as conventional indoor tea settings, this event features Nodate outdoor tea ceremony, inwhich guests can enjoy a bowl of tea under the autumn sky, not to mention tea ceremony
workshops for beginners, making the culture of tea more accessible and enjoyable for foreign
visitors and others unfamiliar with the Way of Tea.
Venue ①: Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum
Date ①: Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4, 2015
Venue ②: Hama-rikyu Gardens
Date ②: Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, 2015

Organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)○ Traditional Performing Arts for Kids
This long-term Okeiko program aims to inspire the next generation to cultivate the heart to cherish
the traditional performing arts, through authentic hands-on experience. Okeiko is a traditionallyestablished lesson style that performers and their apprentices respect as an important aspect of
their learning. In this program, children will be taught in the Okeiko style over several months byleading performers from the worlds of Noh theater, Nihon Buyo dance, Sankyoku music andNagauta music and their experience culminates in on-stage performances with professional stagesets. Throughout the program, the focus is children’s encountering and assimilating authentic andprofound cultures of the traditions. There will be classes specially aimed for junior and senior highschool students, as well as community-based short-term Okeiko programs that features the essenceof the long-term program that children can experience during the summer vacation.
Organized by: Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Japan Council of Performing Rights & Performing Arts Organizations [Geidankyo]*All Programs may be subject to change.
Each program is introduced on the following website.
http://www.tokyo-tradition.jp〈 Inquiry 〉
Tokyo Tradition Office, Arts Council Tokyo
Hiroshi Sato
TEL: 03-5369-4541 (10:00 ~ 18:00)
FAX: 03-3225-1006
E-mail: admi1@tokyo-tradition.jp〈 Inquiry from Public〉
Tokyo Tradition Office, Arts Council Tokyo
TEL: 03-5369-4541 (10:00 ~ 18:00)
FAX: 03-3225-1006
E-mail: info@tokyo-tradition.jp

【Notes in Edo-Tokyo Museum】■Please wear “PRESS PASS” at the most visible place when doing news gathering activities suchas interviewing and shooting. “PRESS PASS” will be given at the entrance if you havesubmitted application form in advance.
■If you bring still or movie equipment, please submit “Press Pass Application Form” to Tokyo
Tradition Office, Arts Council Tokyo by FAX, until noon the day before your preferred date.
■Please do not run inside the building as there is a risk to bump into other visitors or exhibits.
■Please do not touch exhibits except models for hands-on experience.
■You are not able to use electricity of the building.
■If you are using a tripod, please pay attention not to interfere with other visitors. Also, pleaserefrain from using when it is congested. You are not allowed to use the stepladder at all.
■During the use of lighting, please do not throw light on the exhibits, except models and disturb
visitors during tour.
■If you wish to park vehicle in parking lot of museum, please let us know the number and type ofthe vehicle, and the vehicle registration number in advance.

【Overview of Edo-Tokyo Museum】
The Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum opened its doors in March 1993 as a space to reflect on
the history and culture of Edo-Tokyo and envision the city and life of the future. The permanentexhibition, showcasing original objects and replicas, offers visitors a journey through the 400-year
history of Edo-Tokyo since Tokugawa Ieyasu entered Edo. In addition to the permanent
exhibition, the museum holds special exhibitions at the first floor gallery five to six times a yearand carries out various other events, including lectures and workshops on the history and cultureof Edo-Tokyo.

《Access》
Address: 1-4-1 Yokoami, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-0015■3-minute walk from West Exit of Ryogoku station, JR Sobu Line
■1-minute walk from Exit A4 of Ryogoku Station (Edo-Tokyo Hakubutsukan-mae), Toei Subway OedoLine■Toei Bus: 錦 27, 両 28, 墨 38 bus routes
Sumida City circulation bus “Sumida-Hyakkei Sumimarukun / Sumirinchan (Southern Route)
Get off at “Toei Ryogoku Eki-mae (Edo-Tokyo Hakubutsukan-mae)” and walk 3 minutes. *This stop
is different from the “Ryogoku Eki” stop.

【Notes in Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center】■Please present “PRESS PASS” when doing news gathering activities such as interviewing andshooting. The pass will be given at the reception.
■If you bring still or movie equipment, please submit “Press Pass Application Form” to Tokyo
Tradition Office, Arts Council Tokyo by FAX, until noon the day before your preferred date.
■You can bring and use a tripod on 6th floor only, according to the provisions of Asakusa
Culture Tourist Information Center. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
■You are not able to use electricity of the building.
■Parking lot is unavailable. Please use public transportation or nearby parking lot such asKaminarimon underground parking, which charges the fee but is the nearest to the Asakusa
Culture Tourist Information Center.

【Overview of Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center】
Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center is located in front of Kaminari-mon and provides
information and services helpful to visitors of Taito City in four languages – Japanese, English,
Chinese and Korean. In addition, terrace in 8th floor commands the view of Tokyo Sky Tree andAsakusa town.
《Access》
2-18-9 Kaminarimon, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0034■5-minute walk from Asakusa Station Tobu Isesaki Line (TOKYO SKYTREE Line)■1-minute walk from Exit 2 of Asakusa Station, Tokyo Metro Ginza Line■2-munute walk from Exit A4 of Asakusa Station, Toei Asakusa Line
■10-minute walk from Exit A1 of Tsukuba Express Asakusa Sation■Toei Bus Asakusa Kaminari-mon (the location of bus stop varies by route.
■Taito City circulation bus “MEGURIN”: Noth MEGURIN
Get off at “1. Asakusa Station” and walk 5 minutes.
■Taito City circulation bus “MEGURIN”: Eastern and Western MEGURIN
Get off at “31. Kaminari-mon mae” and walk 1 minute.

Inquiry from Press and other MediaTokyo Tradition Office, Arts Council Tokyo
Hiroshi Sato (Mobile: 070-1447-5116）
TEL： 03-5369-4541 FAX： 03-3225-1006
E-mail： admi1@tokyo-tradition.jp

Website: http://www.tokyo-tradition.jp/

TO: Hiroshi Sato, Tokyo Tradition Office, Arts Council Tokyo
FAX Number：03-3225-1006“Traditional Culture Experience Program”
Press Pass Application Form
If you schedule to do news gathering activities at the Traditional Culture Experience Program, could
you fill out the necessary information and submit to Tokyo Tradition Office, Arts Council Tokyo byFAX, until noon the day before your preferred date. We welcome you to interview or shoot whenever
the program is held. Please contact us. Thank you for understanding and cooperation.

Name of Company
Name of Media /Department

Number of Visitors:

Contact Person
Contact Number
Emergency Number

Place

Mobile Number：

Asakusa Culture Tourist

Edo-Tokyo Museum

Information Center（ Engei ）（ Nihon-Buyo ）□Sat 30 May Kyokugei
Date of news
gathering activities

Time（What you bring）～（：）

Time（：）～（：））～（：）□Sat 6 June Paper Cutting □ Sun 7 June
Time（Photograph：□ Sun 31 May：）～（□I take photograph：）Time（：□I do not take photograph□Camera（Number of Still:
Number of Movie:□Number of Monopod or Tripod:□Others（））※Please note that you are not able to use stepladder both in Edo-Tokyo Museum and Asakusa Culture
Tourist Information Center.
※We also accept inquiries about other programs. Please contact us.