Events 2010Programme of events
January 2008- December 2008

Annual Events

21 Jan25 Jan16 June2 Oct
29 Nov

Lecture by the British Ambassador in Tokyo, David Warren at The Cavalry and Guards ClubJapan Society Annual Dinner – featuring a fashion show by young Japanese and Japan-inspired 			designers at Grosvenor House
Annual General Meeting of the Japan Society at the Embassy of Japan. Followed by sake tasting.
Collar Cup Golf Tournament against JCCI, at The Buckinghamshire Golf Club.
Christmas Party at the Embassy of Japan.

Arts & Culture
23 FebScottish Colourists exhibition. Private view at the Fleming Collection.

22 Mar14 JulVisit, Reception and Special Talk at the BADA Antiques and Art Fair: ‘The Golden Age of Japanese 			Okimono’, Laura Bordignon.		
Japan Society Members’ Art Exhibition 2010: Asobi – Play. At the Embassy of Japan, supported by 		Suntory and Rising Star Games.		
An Evening with Miyako Yoshida, Principal Guest Artist with the Royal Ballet. At Asia House
Ninagawa Theatre Company ‘Musashi’, group visit at the Barbican.
Playing With Space: Closing Event and Prize-giving for the Japan Society Members Art Exhibition 			at the Embassy of Japan.		
Kabuki: Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura – featuring Ebizo Ichikawa XI, followed by private reception
Visit to Loseley Park with Ms Rosemary Alexander founder and principal of the English Gardening 		School.		
Treasures of Lambeth Palace Library. Private view for members at Lambeth Palace.		

31 AugExhibition: Lost Villages – Private view and talk with Sam Seager		30 SepNendo: Thin Black Lines + White Blurry Surfaces. Private View and Talk with Dr Sarah Teasley at 			Phillips de Pury.

02 Nov

Furoshiki – The Japanese Way of Wrapping with Hiroaki Koyama. Lecture, demonstration and workshop on 		the art of wrapping with furoshiki, at the Japan Foundation.
Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion. Private view at the Barbican.

20 Apr
27 Apr
7 May
27 May14 Jun14 Jul15 Dec			Business

Lunchtime Lectures Supported by JAL. Venue JETRO unless otherwise stated.
8 Feb‘Prospects for the new Japanese Government’, Paul Carter.

20 Apr‘Japan and the UK: coping with the debt overhang’, Andrew Smithers.

20 May‘The Business of Ageing – Older Workers, Older Consumers, big implications for companies,‘ Dr John 		Llewellyn, Partner, Llewellyn Consulting.

7 July‘The Medium term future of the Euro and of Sterling and the impact on Asia and Japan’, Dr Gerard Lyons 		
Chief Economist and Group Head of Global Research, The Standard Chartered Bank

10 Nov‘How can the UK best attract further Japanese investment?’. A forum by the Japan Society and the Asia PacificTechnology Network:

Joint Lunches with JCCI - Guests of Honour
At The National Liberal Club unless otherwise stated. 		
17 FebDr Bernard Bulkin, Former Vice President for Environment Affairs, BP - ‘Can Technology Save the Planet?’.

27th Apr Alex Williams, Transport for London -’A Strategy for Transport in London’.
14 SepDavid Cairns, former Head of of Trade & Investment at the British Embassy in Tokyo - ‘Shifting economic 		
power – a view from Tokyo’.

18 Nov

The Rt Hon The Lord Howell, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Other
18 MarLunch for members of the Japan Society and British and Japanese members of the UK-Japan 21st Century 		Group at the National Liberal Club.

Chairman’s Lunches - Private, off the record lunches with an informal talk by the guest of honour
12 MaySir Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive of UK Trade and Investment, at KPMG.

14 July

Forum on Hedge Funds, with Michael Alan-Buckley and Stephen Couttie, at Baker and McKenzie LLP.

21 Sep

Nick Anstee, Lord Mayor, at SJ Berwin.

LecturesJapan Society Lectures25 Feb‘Japan in Late Victorian London: The Japanese Village in Knightsbridge and The Mikado, 1885’ by Sir Hugh 		Cortazzi, former British Ambassador to Japan, at the Embassy of Japan

21 Apr‘Fighting for the shogun: the story of a ship, some samurai, nine French officers and the battle for Hokkaido’,
by Lesley Downer, at The Crane & Tortoise.

10 Jun‘Thomas Morland Hocken and his Japanese Experience 1901-1904’, Dr Donald Kerr, University of Otago, at 		Friends House

22 Jun‘A Tale of Two Japans: 10 Years to Pearl Harbor’, Audrey Sansbury Talks, at the Oriental Club

15 & 22 Jul ‘Carmen Blacker and Japan’ by Professor Donald Keene - Inaugural Carmen Blacker Memorial Lecture with the 		Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, at Blackfriars Hall, Norwich and the British Museum.
20 Sep‘Personalities: Britain and Japan’. Book Launch and talk to mark the publication of Biographical Portraits Vol. VII

15 Nov‘Problems Compensating Women – Cultural Images and narratives about the problem of compensating theemotional, domestic and sexual labor of women’. Dr Sharon Kinsella, Lecturer in Japanese Studies, Universityof Manchester at the Oriental Club

22 Nov‘Japanese Leadership in Conflict and Disaster Prevention Diplomacy’, Professor Akiko Yamanaka, Professional
By-Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge at the Oriental Club

13 Dec‘A brief history of Japanese Golf’ by Dr Angus Lockyer, Lecturer in Japanese History and Chair of the Japan 		
Research Centre at SOAS, University of London, at the Oriental ClubWith the Daiwa Anglo- Japanese Foundation
At the Daiwa Foundation unless otherwise stated.		

States in Change: National Identity in the UK and Japan
18 Jan‘Political Change and National Identity in the UK and Japan’, Shingo Yamagami, Prof Andrew Gamble and 		Prof J A A Stockwin (chair).
23 Feb‘Nationhood, Nationalism and Global Citizenship’, Dr Naoko Shimazu, Dr Jan Rueger, Prof Lucy Riall and The
Rt Hon the Lord Howell of Guildford (chair).

22 Mar‘Japan under the DPJ Government’, Hitoshi Tanaka and Dr John Swenson-Wright (chair).

20 Apr‘Education and National Identity in the UK and Japan’, Prof Audrey Osler, Peter Cave and Dr Hugh Starkey (chair).

20 May‘Class, Social Mobility and Social Divides in the UK and Japan’, Prof Daniel Dorling, Prof Takehiko Kariya, Dr 		
Lee Elliot Major (chair).

24 Jun‘Working Lives: Gender and Society in the UK and Japan’, Dr Helen Macnaughtan, Dr Jonathan D Mackintosh,
Dr George Olcott and David Coats (chair).

22 Sep‘Immigrants, Minorities and the Multiculturalism Debate’, Dr Atsuko Abe, Alison Park and Prof Ian Neary (chair).

20 Oct‘Projecting Images: The Role of the Media in the UK and Japan’, Leo Lewis, Hidemitsu Kibe and William Horsley (chair).

17 Nov‘Public Diplomacy and National Identity in the UK and Japan’, Ken Okaniwa, Prof Mike Hardy and Charles Grant (chair).

With the Japan Room
2 Nov

‘Restless Spirits & Bewitching Transformations!’, Lecture on the Japanese tradition of yokai and yurei with 		Rosemary Bandini, expert on Japanese art.

Lifestyle
9 Apr
12 AprTutored Japanese Whisky Tasting and food pairing, with Cask Strength at Tsuru
Travellers’ Social Club – Kyoto at Chutney and Lager

27 MayThe Japan Society Golf Tournament at Donnington Grove Country Club.

29 MayTrooping the Colour; The Major General’s Review, special seats for Japan Society members.

19 JunWorld Cup Screening: Japan vs Holland

4 Nov

Special Reception to celebrate the inaugural Fujitsu Parliamentary Rugby Cup at the House of Commons

6 Nov

The Fujitsu Parliamentary Rugby Cup – The Embassy of Japan & Japan Society XV vs The Commons & Lords RUFC

Book Club
Held on the second Thursday of each month
14 JanThe Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

11 FebKira Kira (‘Twinkle Twinkle’) by Kaori Ekuni

11 MarIn praise of shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki

8 AprReading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

13 May

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima.

08 JulOne by Natsuo Kirino

24 JulSpecial Book Club with talk and discussion about Japanese Literature by Prof Donald Keene.

12 AugKokoro by Natsume Soseki

09 SepSnow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

14 OctDiary of a Mad Old Man by Junichiro Tanizaki

11 Nov

The Wild Geese by Ogai Mori

Japanese Conversation GroupHeld on the first Tuesday of every month at The Old Explorer
24 AprHanami Picnic in Hyde Park

24 JulJapanese Conversation Group Summer Day Trip

20 AugJapanese Conversation Group End of Summer BBQ

Schools Education
Language Classes
At Toray Industries, Inc.
28 Apr - 7 Jul Pre – Intermediate Level
29 Sep -1 Dec Pre – Intermediate Level
Schools
All Year
All Year
All Year
13 Jul
1-4 Nov
1-3 Nov
5 Nov

Japan in Your Classroom school visits. During 2010, 80 visits were made to schools throughout the UK.
School Links. Approximately 15 new links have been created in the year, with over 60 school partnerships 		now using the Japan UK LIVE! website and related services to develop their links. The website has been rebuilt 		with new features to make it easier for schools to use.
Resources. Artefacts and materials for use in the classroom are on loan to schools throughout the year. Ready
Steady NihonGO! language materials for primary schools are available on CD or via the Japan Society website.
University Students’ Seminar with Prof Donald Keene, with Japan Research Centre, SOAS.
Furoshiki – The Japanese Way of Wrapping with Hiroaki Koyama. A series of workshops with 300 pupils at 		schools in London and the South West.
Chinkin workshops with lacquer craftsmen Yoshinori Shibayama (chinkin), Akira Sugimura (maki-e), Takashi 		Wakamiya (maki-e) with 200 pupils at five London schools.
6th Form Japan Day: a global perspective, a door to new opportunities. Day of activities for sixth form 		
students and teachers, organised in association with the Barbican Centre.

Small Grants
All Year

As at 1st September 2010, grants totalling some £23,000 have been awarded through the Japan Society 		
Small Grants programme in support of grass roots activities throughout the UK.

Special Events
12 JanKoshu Wine Tasting at the Embassy of Japan.
15 Feb-12 Mar
Exhibition: In the Footsteps of Isabella Bird – adventures in twin time travel with Professor Kiyonori Kanasaka
at the Royal Geographical Society.
13 AprEast Asian Friendship Charity Event in association with the Islington Chinese Association, the Anglo-Korean 		Society, the British Japanese Law Association, the British Korean Law Association and the Hong Kong Society.
23 MayJapanese Garden Party in Hammersmith Park. A family day out with Taiko, dance, martial arts, family activities
and food stalls.
28 JunThe Japan Societies Forum 2010 with representatives of Japan Societies in all parts of the UK, at the Japan 		Foundation.
18 SepJapan Matsuri 2010 at Spitalfields Market – attended by 50,000+ festival goers. In association with 		the Japanese Residents Association, JCCI UK, Nippon Club and the Embassy of Japan.