Performing Arts Japan 2019-2020
List of Awardees

The Japan Foundation is pleased to announce grant awards totaling USD 200,000 to 10
organizations in the United States and Canada through the PAJ Program for the 2019-2020
fiscal year. The grant recipients are listed below. (Please contact the Japan Foundation, NewYork and the Japan Foundation, Toronto for further information and finalized performancedates).

Touring Grant awards
Total projects: 6
Total funds allocated USD 137,000
Grant amounts: USD 12,000 – USD 33,500
ANIKAYA/Akhra, Inc. (Somerville, MA) for Delicateness in Times of Brutality, a tour ofartists Dakei (Japan) and Wendy Jehlen (US), accompanied by three Tokyo-based
musicians, will bring the PAJ Collaboration Grant-supported project to three cities in theUS.
Tour Dates: September 18, 2019 – May 10, 2020
Tour Locations: Bunnell Street Arts Center (Homer, AK); Gallaudet University(Washington, DC); UC Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
Arts Midwest (Minneapolis, MN) for Arts Midwest World Fest 2019 – 2020, a tour of
Nobuto Yamanaka Ensemble to Midwest states. Nobuto Yamanaka is one of Japan's
most celebrated shamisen players. Together with his ensemble, Yamanaka will share themusic, history, and culture of the shamisen with audiences across the Midwestern UnitedStates.
Tour Dates: September 1– December 31, 2019Tour Locations: Holland Theatre (Bellefontaine, OH); Riverside Park (Rushville, IN);
Carbondale Community High School Auditorium (Carbondale, IL); Fisher Theater (Ames,IA)
Blank Forms Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) for Sabu Toyozumi: United States Tour, a tour of thispioneering jazz drummer, his first tour in the country since 1992. Sabu Toyomizu will
perform solo sets, showcasing some of the work he has been doing recently with both
percussion and erhu, yet to be seen by audiences in the western hemisphere.
Tour Dates: September 26 – October 5, 2019Tour Locations: Blank Forms (New York, NY); Ars Nova Workshop (Philadelphia, PA);
Nameless Sound (Houston, TX); Zebulon (Los Angeles, CA); The Lab (San Francisco, CA)
Japan Society, Inc. (New York, NY) for a four-city North American tour of the multimedia
dance piece Fruits Borne Out of Rust, conceived and directed by internationally wellknown Japanese visual artist Tabaimo, in collaboration with award-winning choreographer
Maki Morishita.
Tour Dates: February 17 – March 7, 2020
Tour Locations: REDCAT (Los Angeles, CA); Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT);The Kennedy Center (Washington, DC); Japan Society (New York, NY)
MUTEK: International Festival of Digital Creativity and Electronic Music (Montreal,QC) for Tim Hecker + Konoyo Ensemble, a two-city presentation of a collaborative
performance between electronic composer Tim Hecker and the 4-piece Konoyo
Ensemble, exploring traditional Japanese Gagaku music.
Tour Dates: TBD
Tour Locations: TBD
Ripe Time (Brooklyn, NY) for Sleep, a tour of an immersive physical theater work thattraces the distance between what we appear to be and what we are, inspired by Haruki
Murakami’s shattering 1994 short story, Japanese Hannya myth and horror films.
Tour Dates: TBD
Tour Locations: TBD

Collaboration Grant awards
Total projects: 4
Total funds allocated: USD 63,000
Grant amounts: USD 10,000 – USD 20,000
PAXy, Inc. (Coral Gables, FL) for Cross-pollination in which Japanese dancer Yukio
Suzuki and American composer Juraj Kojs explore sonic and movement using various
sensor technologies.
Project Period: July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020
TaikoArts Midwest (Minneapolis, MN) for HERbeart: Women in Taiko project which willbring together the best North American & Japanese female taiko artists to collaborate andcreate a dynamic and stunning performance. Artists will gather for a two-week residency

culminating with a premiere performance at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts inSt. Paul, MN in February 2020.
Project Period: July 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020
thingNY (Astoria, NY) for shuffleyamamba which is a dance piece created by Japanesechoreographer Yasuko Yokoshi and American composer Gelsey Bell. The piece takes its
inspiration from the classic Noh drama Yamamba. It explores female archetypes in Japaneseculture.
Project Period: July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020
Ukwashin Kabudan (Mililani, HI) for Kumi Odori: Building a Hawaii-Okinawa
Connection which is a collaborative effort between performing artists in Okinawa andHawaii as a means to revitalize this traditional Ryukyuan art form.
Project Period: July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020
PAJ Advisory Committee Members (as of December 2018)


Mr. Ron Berry (Executive & Artistic Director, Fusebox)
Dr. F. John Herbert (Executive Artistic Director, Legion Arts)
Ms. Sherrie Johnson (Executive Producer, Canadian Stage)
Mr. Edgar Miramontes (Associate Director, REDCAT)