Events

January - December 2019
Arts & Culture

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Lectures

LifestyleSpecial Events@JapanSocietyLondon

japan.society.london@japansocietylon

The Japan Society

The Japan Society, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP

tel: 020 7935 0475 email: info@japansociety.org.uk www.japansociety.org.uk
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Japanese Conversation Group
Tuesday 8 January 2019

6.30pmThe Brewmaster
37 Cranbourn Street
London WC2H 7AD
Standard Admission ￡5.50(£1 Discount for: Japan Society members/Students/Regulars)

The Japanese Conversation Group provides
a friendly and informal atmosphere forJapanese speakers of all nationalities to cometogether and speak Japanese. Meetings areheld on the first Tuesday of every month.
They begin at 6.30pm with a pay-as-you-gobar, and finish around 11.00pm.
You will receive all discounts for which you
qualify. The Regular Attendee Discountwill apply if you attended at least 50% of
meetings during the previous calendar
year, or once you attend six meetings in thecurrent year.

Please visit the Japanese Conversation Groupwebsite http://jcg.org.uk for further details
on their programme, which may be subject
to change.
The Japanese Conversation Group is held on
the first Tuesday of the month.

Japan Society Book Club: Convenience Store Woman by
Sayaka Murata
Monday 14 January 2019		

7.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members – booking recommended
The book club is held on the second Monday of every month

Murata Sayaka’s Convenience Store Woman
is a novel of deftly crafted paradoxes set
in a convenience store, a familiar place ofeveryday life in Japan. The protagonist, Keiko
Furukura, is a numb character depicted inbare and swift language, yet is one of themost intriguing personas in recent Japanese
literature. Aged 36, Furukura is single andhas been working at the poignantly named‘Smile Mart’ convenience store for over
18 years, having joined whilst a university
undergraduate. She feels comfortable inher life, but is aware that she is not living up
to society’s expectations and causing her
family to worry about her. When a similarly
alienated but cynical and bitter young man
comes to work in the store, he will upset
Keiko’s contented stasis--but will it be for the
better?
Sayaka Murata was born in Chiba Prefecture
in 1979. She was a fan of manga and novels
for girls and started writing fiction while stillin elementary school. She made her debut
in 2003 with Junyu (Breastfeeding), a shortstory which received a merit award in the

Gunzo Prize for New Writers. In 2013 she
won the Mishima Yukio Prize for Shiro-iro no
machi no, sono hone no taion no (Of Bones,
Of Body Heat, of Whitening City). Konbini
ningen (lit. Convenience Store People) is her
10th novel and was awarded the Akutagawa
Prize in 2016. The novel has sold over 600,000
copies in Japan and it is the first work by
Murata translated in English. Throughout her
writing career Murata has worked part-time
as a convenience store clerk in Tokyo.
The book club is held every month. Thereis no restriction on the nationality of theauthors read, but books should be available
in translation in both Japanese and English.
The discussion is conducted mainly in English,
but you can choose the language in which
you read the book. The intention is simple:
to explore the themes of the book, express
personal opinions on the style and content,
discuss how the book has changed (or not) intranslation and to have a relaxed discussion
with others who have similar interests.

The Importance of Cultural Diversity. A long-term comparative
perspective between prehistoric Japan and Britain
Monday 21 January 2019

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free – booking recommended

The most distinct characteristic of humanbeings is our ability to create various cultures.
While genetic studies have confirmedthat modern humans are biologically a
species which emerged a relatively recent
200,000 years ago and which has a highlevel of genetic homogeneity, humans havedeveloped amazing cultural diversity. We see
this in the rich variety of languages, material
cultures, values and life styles around theworld. Furthermore, studies in archaeology
and history have revealed that throughout
our history these cultures have continuously
been changing.
On the other hand, it is also true that, consideredfrom a long-term historical perspective,
significant similarities can be found in different
cultures which are geographically distant fromeach other. Prehistoric Britain and Japan after
the Last Glacial Period (11,000 to 3,000 yearsago) would be a representative example. Bothinclude stratified social structures, complex
hunting-gathering-based economy, andstone monuments such as Stonehenge andstone circles. Historical parallel phenomena
like these must offer clues to understanding
how people develop their own cultures in thecontext of their environment.

In this paper, focusing on cultural similarities
in prehistoric Britain and Japan, Uchiyama will
first discuss the reasons why human beings
have changed their lifeways throughout thehistory, creating cultural diversity. He will thenturn to the modern world and the tendency
for societies to become inward-looking,which results in an increasing intolerance todifferent cultures. He will consider why sucha tendency could be potentially dangerous
to our future and what actions we could takefrom a long-term historical perspective.
Junzo Uchiyama is an environmentalarchaeologist, who obtained his M.A. from
University of Durham in 1996 and a PhD
from SOKENDAI, the Graduate University for
Advanced Studies, Japan in 2002. Based on
the methodology of zooarchaeology, his main
academic interest has been human historicaladaptation processes to their environments
during “Neolithisation”, the transitional period
from hunting-gathering to agriculture-basedsocieties since the Last Glacial period, using
the Japanese Archipelago during the Jomon
period as a main research field. Uchiyama
is currently a Handa Japanese Archaeology
Research Fellow at the Sainsbury Institutefor the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures,
University of East Anglia

Sir Hugh Cortazzi GCMG Memorial Notice
Monday 11 February 201911.00am (please take seats by 10.45)
OBE Chapel, Crypt, St Paul’s CathedralThose wishing to attend are asked to register by reply toevents@japansociety.org.uk or to telephone 020 3075 1996

A memorial service will be held in the Order of the British Empire Chapel, in the Crypt at
St Paul’s Cathedral at 11am on Monday 11 February 2019 to celebrate the life of Sir HughCortazzi GCMG.
The OBE Chapel at St Paul’s Cathedral holds up to 350 people. In order to obtain an ideaof numbers, the family has asked that those wishing to attend please register by reply toevents@japansociety.org.uk or to telephone 020 3075 1996.
The address is St. Paul’s Churchyard, EC4M 8AD London. Entry is via the North West Crypt
Door (please refer to map here). Doors to the Chapel will open at 10.15am and attendees are
asked to be seated by 10.45am. (Seating will be allocated on a first come, first served basis).
The service will start at 11am and will be concluded by midday.
Please keep hand baggage to a minimum as security is tight and checks will be in place.
There is no parking available. No photography is permitted in the Chapel.
There is disabled and wheelchair access, but please let us know requirements in advance, so
we can ensure assistance is available.
In case you have not already seen them, you may be interested in reading the Japan Society’s
tribute page to Hugh and the obituary by David Warren on our website.

Japan Society Book Club: The Gossamer Years. The Diary of a
Noblewoman of Heian Japan by Michitsuna no Haha
Monday 11 February 2019		

7.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members – booking recommended
The book club is held on the second Monday of every month

The Gossamer Years: The Diary of a
Noblewoman of Heian is the English
translation of Kagerō Nikki (lit. the Mayfly
Diary), a work of classical Japanese literaturethat falls under the genre of nikki bungaku ordiary literature. Written around 974, Kagerō
Nikki is considered the first extant work inJapanese prose written by a woman. The
author was a court lady known only as the‘Mother of Michitsuna’ (Michitsuna no Haha).
It focuses on the development of theauthor’s relationship with Fujiwara no Kaneie(“the Prince”) and how these experiences
affect her. The diary entries detail events ofparticular emotional significance as well as
the Mother of Michitsuna’s deep feelings
for Kaneie. Using a combination of waka
poems and prose, she conveys the life of anoblewoman during the Heian period.

Scholars concurs that the Genji monogatariby Murasaki Shikibu is indebted to Kagerō
Nikki. Written a few decades later, Genjimonogatari depicts the same world andreflects the same social code and patternsof thinking than Kagerō Nikki using a similar
language.
The book club is held every month. Thereis no restriction on the nationality of theauthors read, but books should be available
in translation in both Japanese and English.
The discussion is conducted mainly in English,
but you can choose the language in which
you read the book. The intention is simple:
to explore the themes of the book, express
personal opinions on the style and content,
discuss how the book has changed (or not) intranslation and to have a relaxed discussion
with others who have similar interests

Translating Yukio Mishima’s The Frolic of the Beasts
Monday 18 February 2019

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free – booking recommended

The Frolic of the Beasts (Kemono no
tawamure) is a gripping short novel from theacclaimed Japanese author Yukio Mishima(1925-1970). Set in rural Japan shortly afterWorld War II, it tells the story of a strange
and utterly absorbing love triangle between
a former university student, Koji, his wouldbe mentor, the eminent literary critic Ippei
Kusakado, and Ippei’s beautiful, enigmatic
wife, Yuko. Originally published in 1961 andnow available in English for the first time, The
Frolic of the Beasts is a haunting examinationof the various guises we assume throughout
our lives, and a tale of psychological selfentrapment,
seductionandmurder.
In this lecture, British translator Andrew Clare
will discuss the challenges of translating
this work exploring Mishima’s writing styleand particular issues involving the Japanese
language. He will also position the book in theMishima canon analysing the main themes
and features of The Frolic of the Beasts incomparison with Mishima’s other work andcommenting on its critical reception in Japanand abroad. Finally, through a comparisonof the cover art in the US and UK editions,
Andrew will examine the marketing strategies
regarding Japanese literature in translation.
Andrew Clare is a British translator andlawyer. After graduating in Japanese studies
at the University of Sheffield he obtained amaster’s degree in political science from Kobe
University in Japan. Andrew has developed
a successful career as a lawyer working inlegal and financial companies in the UK
and Japan. As a translator, he has translated
several short stories and novels such as Pro
Bono (2012) by Seicho Matsumoto and Noma
Prize winner Toward Dusk and Other Stories(2011) by Junnosuke Yoshiyuki. Andrew is also
an expert practitioner of Japanese archery(kyudo) and participated in the Kyudo WorldChampionships in Tokyo in 2018.

‘Come and Sing’ Japan Society Choral Workshop
Sunday 24 February 2019			

2.00pmGrosvenor Chapel
24 South Audley Street
London W1K 2PA
Members of the Japan Society and UK Japan Choir: £7 per head
Non Members: £10 per head
Booking deadline: Thursday 21 February

Following a popular and successful event in2015, the Japan Society is delighted to present‘Come and Sing’, a second Japan Society
Choral Workshop led by Jonathan Gregory,Director of the UK-Japan Choir and Orchestra
and Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.
The event is a fantastic opportunity for Japan
Society members to meet and sing British
and Japanese choral music in a relaxedenvironment. No particular musical ability isrequired; the workshop is suitable for both
beginners and more experienced singers.
Preparation will not be necessary, but foranyone who does wish to practice prior to theworkshop, music can be sent out on request
by email shortly before the event.
We will start with singing warm ups, including
pitching and Japanese counting games,
before tackling arrangements of traditional
Japanese songs (written phonetically), andBritish madrigals such as John Dowland’s Fine
Knacks for Ladies.

Jonathan Gregory founded the UK-Japan
Music Society and UK-Japan Choir in 1992
to promote cross cultural understanding
between Japan and Britain through music. In
2017 Jonathan created UK-Japan Consort topromote young professional musicians fromJapan and UK to work together and support
their early careers.
Currently Jonathan is an ABRSM examiner,
working in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia
regularly as well as in UK, and he is also an
associate organist for London churches.
Previously, he was organist at Leicester
Cathedral, Great St Mary’s, Cambridge andBelfast Cathedral. He has worked extensively
in Britain and Ireland, conducting the Bachpassions, Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah,
Britten’s War Requiem, also released a numberof CDs and made BBC Radio 3 broadcasts.
Jonathan is an Associate of the Royal Academyof Music, a Fellow of the Royal College ofOrganists and a graduate of Clare College
Cambridge where he was Organ Scholar. He
was given the distinguished Honour of theOrder of the Rising Sun by His Imperial Majesty,
the Emperor of Japan in 2011.

Lecture by Paul Madden CMG, British Ambassador to Japan
Tuesday 26 February 2019 			(reception afterwards until 8.30pm)

6.00 for 6.30pm

Nomura International plc
One Angel Lane
London EC4R 3AB
Free - booking essential
Members of the Japan Society and their guests only.
Booking deadline: Thursday 21 February
We are delighted to welcome the British
Ambassador to Japan, HE Mr Paul Madden,
to address the Japan Society at the end of
his second year in post. In this lecture, Paul
Madden will share his views on the political,
diplomatic and business situation in Japan
from his unique perspective as the UK’srepresentative in Tokyo.
The Society’s annual lecture by the current
British Ambassador is always relevant,thought-provoking a nd useful to people
from across its membership, as well as being
extremely well attended. The Ambassador
will speak for 30-40 minutes, after which there
will be time for off-the-record discussion andquestions.
There will be a reception immediately after
the lecture. The Japan Society is extremely
grateful to leading Corporate Member,
Nomura International plc, for hosting thisevent.

Paul Madden CMG became British
Ambassador to Japan in January 2017. He
was previously British High Commissioner
to Australia (2011-15) and British HighCommissioner to Singapore (2007-11). He was
Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO
in 2015 and Managing Director at UK Tradeand Investment (2005-7). As Assistant Directorof Information at the FCO (2003-2004) hewas responsible for public diplomacy policy,
including managing the FCO funding of the
BBC World Service, the British Council and theChevening Scholarships programme.
He led the team responsible for theawardwinning UK pavilion at the Aichi Expoin Japan 2005. He has an MA in Economic
Geography from Cambridge University,
an MBA from Durham University, studied
Japanese at London University’s School ofOriental and African Studies, and is a Fellowof the Royal Geographical Society.

Hosted by:Rosetsu’s One-Inch Square Picture and the Culture of Exhibitionsin 18th Century Kyoto - with Matthew McKelway
Thursday 28 February 2019

6.30pmRudolf Steiner House
35 Park Road
London NW1 6XTFree – booking recommended

In 1798 the painter Nagasawa Rosetsu
painted an image of five hundred disciplesof the Buddha (arhats) on a piece of paper
approximately one-inch square. The painting,which was rediscovered in the last decadeand recently featured in the first retrospective
exhibition of Rosetsu’s works held outside
Japan, “Rosetsu: Ferocious Brush” (Museum
Rietberg, Zürich – 6 September to 4 November2018), was itself originally created for an
exhibition of contemporary paintings, part ofa series held biannually in Kyoto in the 1790s.
In this lecture, Professor Matthew McKelway
will explore Rosetsu’s reasons for producing
this remarkable image within the context ofcompetition and collaboration in late 18th
century Kyoto.

Matthew McKelway is the Atsumi Professorof Japanese Art History and Director of the
Mary Griggs Burke Center for Japanese Art
at Columbia University. He specializes in thehistory of Japanese painting. His studies
initially focused on urban representation inscreen paintings of Kyoto (rakuchū rakugaizu) and the development of genre painting
in early modern Japan, but have extended
to Kano school painting, Rimpa, individualist
painters in eighteenth-century Kyoto, andpaintings on folding fans. In his publications he
has sought to understand Japanese paintings
according to the physical and culturalcontexts of their creators in order to discover
the motivations, whether political, personal,
literary, or philosophical, that drove them tomake pictures in particular ways. He has held
visiting professorships at the Free Universityof Berlin, the University of Heidelberg, andUniversité Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. In 2017he was awarded the Lenfest DistinguishedFaculty Award.

In association with:

Japan Securities Summit
Monday 4 March 2019

1.00pm to 7.00pm

The Mansion House
Walbrook
London EC4N 8BHFree – to register visit www.icmagroup.org

The 11th Japan Securities Summit on 4
March 2019 will provide an opportunity for
European institutional investors and othermarket professionals to better understandJapan’s economy and securities market,
focusing on the challenges facing Japan aswell as the possibilities for future collaborative
relationships between London and Tokyo
beyond Brexit. It will also highlight Japan’s
attractiveness as an investment choice amida financial environment of uncertainties.
In addition, it will make reference to theinitiatives for financial and capital markets tocontribute to sustainability by facilitating theexchange of information on the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) and sustainablefinance.
The event is particularly aimed at
European institutional investors, banks,
securities firms, legal and financial experts,

academic experts, government regulators,
information and data vendors, and media.
The Japan Society is delighted to be
associated with this event which is hosted
by the Japan Securities Dealers Association(JSDA) and the International Capital Market
Association (ICMA), with the support ofJapan Exchange Group (JPX). The event will
host a range of senior representatives fromindustries, financial market professionals, andregulators in the United Kingdom and Japan.
The distinguished array of speakers joining us
this year include Mr. John McFarlane, Group
Chairman, Barclays Plc, as well as Mr. Koichiro
Miyahara, President & CEO of the Tokyo Stock
Exchange, Inc., Alderman Sir Roger Gifford,
UK Head, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken(SEB), and Dr. Motoshige Ito, Member of theCouncil on Economic and Fiscal Policy fromthe Cabinet Office of Japan.

Presented by:

Joint Lunch with the JCCI – Sir Simon Fraser
Wednesday 6 March 2019		

12.30 for 1.00pm

Drapers’ Hall
Throgmorton Avenue
London EC2N 2AN£70 per head - booking essential
Members of the Japan Society, the JCCI and their guests only
Booking deadline: Wednesday 27 February
The guest of honour at the Japan Society and
the Japanese Chamber of Commerce andIndustry in the UK’s first joint lunch of 2019,will be Founder and Managing Partner of Flint
and the Former Head of the UK Foreign Officeand Diplomatic Service, Sir Simon Fraser.
We are delighted to welcome Sir Simon toshare his views on the challenges of Brexit
and implications facing companies in the UK,drawn from his extensive experience at thehighest levels of government decision-making.
Sir Simon’s speech will provide an insider’sview of ongoing Brexit negotiations and thevarious options open to the UK government.
Sir Simon Fraser is a founder and Managing
Partner of Flint. He supports clients managing
complex European and international policy
issues. Simon leads teams which are helping
clients respond to the challenges of Brexit.
He is a respected policy commentator andadviser of senior corporate leaders.

From 2010 to 2015 Simon was Permanent
Under-Secretary and head of the Diplomatic
Service at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office. In this role, he was responsible
for advising the Foreign Secretary andthe ministerial team on foreign policy.
He has also led the UK Department for
Business. Prior to that he was Chief of Staff
to the European Trade Commissioner inBrussels, and Director General for European
Policy at the Foreign Office. Simon is
Deputy Chairman of the Royal Institute ofInternational Affairs (Chatham House) and is
a Visiting Professor at King’s College London.

Sir Simon Fraser will speak following a twocourse lunch, after which there will be timefor questions until 2.30pm.

Co-organised by:Japan Society Book Club: The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro by
Edogawa Rampo
Monday 11 March 2019		

7.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members – booking recommended
The book club is held on the second Monday of every month

The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro presents
four stories by Edogawa Rampo’s recurringcharacter, the great detective Akechi Kogoro.
Akechi first appeared in the story ‘The Caseof the Murder on D. Hill’ in January 1925 andRanpo never intended to make further use of
the character. However the positive reactionsof friends and colleagues prompted him to
make Akechi the protagonist of his detective
fiction for a quarter of a century. Inspired by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes,
this celebrated character has been the heroof Japanese children for generations, andstarred in a host of movies. The Early Cases of
Akechi Kogoro also includes ‘The Black Hand
Gang’, ‘The Ghost’ and ‘The Dwarf’.

Edogawa Rampo (pseudonym of Hirai Tarō,
1894-1965) is one of the founding fathers ofJapanese detective novels. A prolific writer,
he wrote over one hundred and fifty shortstories and novels in his long career and is
the acknowledged grand master of Japan’s
golden age of crime and mystery fiction.
He attended Waseda University but studied
economics rather than English Literature.
Influenced by early translations of Arthur
Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe, he becamefond of the gritty, dark nature of westernmurder mysteries.

Can a ‘Religion’ Be Translated through ‘Culture’? Tenrikyō’s
Cultural Approach in France - with Masato Kato
Monday 18 March 2019

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free – booking recommended

In this talk, Masato Kato will discuss a Japanesereligion known as Tenrikyō as it operates inFrance to explore the question of translatinga religion through ‘culture’. Tenrikyō traces its
origin to a movement that centered on theteaching and practice of a woman named
Nakayama Miki (1798–1887) and developed
into a religious organisation during the periodof Japan’s modernisation. As with the casewith many other Japanese ‘new religions’(shinshūkyō), Tenrikyō has spread to different
parts of the world including Europe, withthree missionaries arriving in London as early
as in 1910. After several decades following theintial attempt, Tenrikyō has formally resumed
its propagation in Europe in the early 1970s by
establishing its organisations in France.
Tenrikyō’s propagation in France ischaracterised by its two-tier yet legally
separate institutional structure involving‘religious’ and ‘cultural’ associations—aninstitutional demarcation necessitated by the
French legal framework relating to the 1901
and 1905 laws. In the course of promoting
cultural activities as a way to increase thevisibility and legitimacy of the name Tenri in
the French public, Tenrikyō has at times used
representations and activities associated withJapan in ways that allow religious messages
and representations be translated into culturalcounterparts. This paper will consider the
implications of using cultural resources topresent a religious tradition like Tenrikyō inlight of the ambiguous cultural identity that it
has constructed in the decades after 1945.
Masato Kato is currently a Postdoctoral
Research Associate at the Centre for the Studyof Japanese Religions, SOAS University of
London. He received a PhD (2018) from SOAS
upon completing his doctoral research on thenegotiation of cultural identity of Tenrikyo in
relation to its propagation in France.

Private View: Jake Tilson, Finding Tsukiji
Wednesday 27 March 2019		

6.00 - 7.00pm

White Conduit Projects
1 White Conduit Street
London N1 9EL
Free - priority booking for members and their guests
Booking opens to non-members from Monday 18 MarchBooking deadline: 12 noon, Friday 21 March
London-based artist Jake Tilson is presenting
a series of new works from an ongoingproject about Tokyo’s famous fish market,
Tsukiji, at White Conduit Projects. Finding
Tsukiji showcases a large display of ten photobooks – a visual encyclopaedia of the market,
which the artist produced after travelling toJapan regularly over the past 10 years.
We are delighted to welcome Japan Society
members to a special private view of Jake
Tilson’s exhibition Finding Tsukiji. Over a periodof seven years, Tilson has visited the Tsukiji
fish market many times, making drawings,
photographs, videos, audio and collecting
objects. This exhibition is his artistic archive of
the final years of the legendary Tsukiji Market
before it moved to its new location in Toyosu
in October 2018 after 83 years of operation.
The art works capture the extraordinary
vibrant place with its noise, carts and forklifts,
temporal fit-outs, signs and bustling auctions,and using QR codes, viewers can also listen to
the sound of the market.

Jake Tilson is an artist, graphic designer andauthor. His obsession with typography andarchitecture extends into his design work.
Rooted in everyday culture with a pervading
sense of place, Tilson’s practice spans
collage, publishing, cultural commentary,
photography and audio work and often
focuses on the unremarkable and theeveryday whilst purposefully avoiding any
sense of spectacle. His work celebrates thesurvival of the particular in the face of thegeneric.
Post-event dinner (optional)
We are planning to make a group booking fordinner with the artist at Japanese restaurant
Zen Mondo after the private view. The cost
for a three course meal is approximately £18,
excluding drinks and service charge; youcan find the menus and location at www.
zenmondo.co.uk; please bring cash with you
for group payment.
If you would like to join the dinner, please let
us know in your booking.

In association with:

Private View: Explore the Japanese collection at the British
Library
Wednesday 3 April 2019		

5.45 for 6.00pm – 8.00pm

British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB£10 per head - booking essential
Members of the Japan Society only
Please note that places are limited and early booking is recommended
Did you know that British Library is thehome of more than 400 manuscripts and
4,000 printed works created before the
Meiji Restoration? Among the highlightsof the Japanese collection are the 8thcentury Hyakumantō darani, the oldest
example of printing in Japan, lavishly
illustrated Nara ehon manuscripts and16th century works printed by the Jesuits.
From mediaeval materials to modern
calligraphic works, from books andmanuscripts in the Okinawan and Ainu
languages to the latest Japan-related
publications, journals, newspapers andelectronic resources, the Japanese collection
at the British Library is an invaluable resource
for researchers, teachers and anyone
interested in Japan.

The Japan Society is pleased to invite
members to a special tour to explore theJapanese collection at the British Library with
Hamish Todd, Head of East Asian Collections.
We are grateful to Hamish and his colleagues
for arranging this exciting opportunity.
Members are asked to arrive at 5.45pm fora prompt 6pm start. After a 30 minute tourof the British Library building, we will betaken to the Asian & African Studies Reading
Room for a private view of highlights of theJapanese collection in a variety of formats,books, manuscripts and maps. The event willend at about 7.45pm.
Cancellation policy
A full refund will be given where notice ofcancellation is received by Friday 29 March.
In other cases, refunds will be given at thediscretion of the Japan Society and event
partners.

In association with:

Japan Society Book Club: No Longer Human / A Shameful Life
by Osamu Dazai
Monday 8 April 2019		

7.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members – booking recommended
The book club is held on the second Monday of every month

Ningen Shikkaku is considered Dazai’s
masterpiece and ranks as the second-best
selling novel in Japan, behind Natsume
Sōseki’s Kokoro. It is told in the form ofnotebooks left by Oba Yozo, a troubled man
incapable of revealing his true self to others.
The novel is composed of three chapterswhich chronicle the life of Oba from earlychildhood to late twenties.
This novel, despite being serialized as a workof fiction in 1948, is narrated in the first person
and contains several elements which betray
an autobiographical basis, such as suicide—
Dazai’s took his own life shortly after the lastpart of the book was published. According
to The Japan Times, ‘the novel has a timelessquality: The struggle of the individual to fit
into a normalizing society remains just as
relevant today as it was at the time of writing’.

Dazai’s novel has been translated twice, one
by Donald Keene under the title No Longer
Human, and other recently by Mark Gibeau
titled A Shameful Life.
Osamu Dazai (1909–1948) was a novelist andmaster storyteller, who became at the end ofWorld War II the literary voice and hero of his
generation. His own life ended in a doublesuicide with his married mistress. In many
books Dazai used biographical material
from his own family background, making
his self-destructive life the main subject. His
daughter, Yuko Tsushima, has gone on toforge a highly successful literary career of herown.

Threats and Opportunities in Today’s Middle East – Lt Gen(Retd) Sir Tom Beckett
Tuesday 9 April 20196.30 – 8.00pm

IISS
Arundel House
6 Temple Place
London WC2R 2PG
Free – Japan Society members and their guests only
Booking deadline: 12.30pm, Monday 8 April

We are delighted to welcome Lieutenant
General (Retired) Sir Tom Beckett, Executive
Director of IISS–Middle East , to brief
members of the Japan Society on current
developments in the Middle East and theopportunities and challenges these present.
This timely briefing will be of particular
relevance to Japan Society members with an
EMEA responsibility as well as to all with aninterest in this strategically important region.
This event will be chaired by Bill Emmott,
Chairman of the Japan Society and Chairmanof the IISS Trustees.

Lieutenant General (Retired) Sir Tom
Beckett is Executive Director of IISS–Middle
East. He plays a leading role in organising theannual IISS Manama Dialogue, the Dialogue
Sherpa Meeting, as well as lectures androundtables in the IISS-Middle East office.
He also contributes to the Institute’s researchon the Middle East and North Africa. Sir Tom
enjoyed a 34-year career in the British Army,
focusing on policy and operations. Before
joining the IISS, his most recent government
appointment was as the Defence Senior
Adviser to the Middle East and North Africa.
He was also the Prime Minister’s Security
Envoy to Iraq including the Kurdistan Region.
The Japan Society is very grateful to IISS forkindly hosting this important meeting at its
headquarters.

“C“Like Bombs”: Narrative, Memory, and Linguistic Terrorism inContemporary Okinawan Fiction - Vicky Young
Monday 15 April 2019		

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free Lecture – booking recommended

In 2002, one year after 9.11, the Okinawan
writer Sakiyama Tami published one ofher most provocative essays, entitled“Shimakotoba de kachāshī” (“Inciting with
Island Words”). Split into three parts, the essay
targets standard Japanese (hyōjungo) as amonolithic language symbolic of hegemonic
oppression and assimilation before settingout the agenda for Sakiyama’s own literature:
to turn the hybrid tongues of Okinawa into asite of radical difference and resistance.
Sakiyama’s essay, and the works of fictionthat followed it, exemplify this approach tolanguage through their conflicted narratives
written in multiple scripts. Scholars argue
that these narratives develop the writing
strategies of “linguistic terrorism” as definedwithin Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands:
La Frontera. However, Sakiyama’s essay
invokes terroristic tropes directly, describing
the writer as a “suicide bomber” who ispoised to plant Okinawa’s vernaculars into
the Japanese language “like bombs”. The
destructive implications of such language
are problematic and have limited the broader

readability of Sakiyama’s work. Yet, they also
illustrate the ongoing crises of language,
memory, and resistance that inform postwar
Okinawan creativity. By tracing contexts ofimposed linguistic assimilation in Okinawa
and right-wing historical revisionism in Japanthat inform these works, this paper reads
Sakiyama’s fiction both as a call to resist theforces that threaten Okinawa’s individual
voices, and as a an attempt to engage withthe region’s unspeakable histories of its
traumatic wartime past.
Vicky Young is the Kawashima Lecturer inJapanese Literature and Culture at the Facultyof Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES)
in the University of Cambridge. Her Ph.D
thesis focused on the ways in which literaryworks by Sakiyama Tami, Yi Yang-ji, andTawada Yōko, both occupy and challenge
various borders of Japanese literature. Vicky iscurrently revising her thesis for publication asa book, while seeking to develop her interestin the intersections between Japanese
literature and transnational discussions oftranslation and translatability.

Japanese Garden Community Picnic
Saturday 11 May 2019		

12.00 – 5.00pm

Hammersmith Park – Japanese Garden
60 Batman Close, Shepherd’s Bush
London W12 7NUFree
No booking required – just turn up on the day!

Join us for a spring afternoon of family fun andentertainment in the peaceful surroundingsof Hammersmith Park’s Japanese garden.
Bring your family, friends and your own
supplies for a picnic under a tree or on
the grass field and enjoy live music andperformances. You can participate in atreasure trail, learn to write haiku or try yourhand at folding origami animals or at writing
your name in Japanese. Or just idly enjoy
your food and drinks admiring the Japanesegarden and (hopefully!) the nice spring
weather.
Happy Sky Bakery will be joining us witha selection of delicious Japanese breadand snacks and An-An Wagashi will bedemonstrating how to make traditional
Japanese sweets.

The organisers are searching for performers
to take part in the open mic stage at theJapanese Garden Community Picnic.
Interested parties should submit proposals
including:• A description of act or group, including
performance history (if applicable)• Preferred length of performance• Links to website, online videos, social media
content
to culture@ld.mofa.go.jp by 6.00pm, Tuesday
30 April

Please note that this is a community event
which relies on the efforts of volunteers and
we are unable to provide performance feesor costs.

Co-organised with:

Japan Society Book Club: The Hunting Gun by Yasushi Inoue
Monday 13 May 20197.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members

Yasushi Inoue’s The Hunting Gun is a poised,
unsentimental novella and a powerful talewith universal resonance. Written fromdifferent points of view, the story revolves
around four characters, Mitsugi, the huband,
his wife, his lover and his lover’s daughter, andexplores the impact of a forbidden passion.
Letters written by each of the womenoffer different perspectives on the loveaffair, each in turn (mis) interpreting events,
conversations and characters. Love, death,truth and loneliness are all intertwined inthis masterpiece from one of Japan’s greatest
writers.

Born in 1907, Yasushi Inoue worked as ajournalist and literary editor for many years,
only beginning his prolific career as an
author in 1949 with Bullfight. He went on
to publish 50 novels and 150 short stories,
both historical and contemporary, his work
making him one of Japan’s major literary
figures. In 1976 Inoue was presented with theOrder of Culture, the highest honour granted
for artistic merit in Japan. He died in 1991.

Artist Talk: Ryohei Kan in conversation with Andrew
Nishiyama Taylor
Friday 17 May 2019		

6.30pmYamamoto Keiko Rochaix
19 Goulston Street
London E1 7TP
Free. Priority booking for Japan Society members and their guests
Please note that spaces are limited and early booking is recommended.
Japan Society is pleased to announce a
special talk by artist Ryohei Kan on theclosing evening of his first UK solo exhibition,
As you see it, at Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix
in Spitalfields, East London. In conversation
with Andrew Nishiyama Taylor, a practicing
architect with experience of working on civic
and cultural projects with artists in Japan,
Kan will discuss his work on show, whichinvestigates the issues concerning ‘void’ and‘reality and conceived reality’.
The works of video, mixed media installation,
photography and other graphic works
portray various facets of empty space withinarchitectural structures. In his work, Kan
explores the boundary between physicalreality and created reality, a reality formulated
according to human concepts or ideals.
As this will be the closing event of theexhibition, anyone wishing to view theexhibition is advised to do so before theevent starts.

Ryohei Kan is an artist from Ehime, Japan,
and currently teaches at Tokyo Universityof the Arts after spending 6 years travelling
between Germany and Japan. Kan holds
Diploma Meisterschüler from the Academyof Fine Arts Munich, Germany under Prof.
Florian Pumhösl, as well as PhD and MFA in
oil painting from the Tokyo University of the
Arts.
Andrew Nishiyama Taylor is a practicing
architect at Make Architects in London, andhas worked on a variety of residential andcommercial projects for the firm since joining
in 2012. Prior to his time at Make, Andrew
worked in the studio of Arata Isozaki in Tokyoon civic and cultural projects, including
the design of a mobile concert hall to tour
Tohoku in collaboration with Anish Kapoor.
Outside of practice, Andrew has been a guest
tutor in architecture studios of Central SaintMartins in London and the Welsh School ofArchitecture in Cardiff.

Co-organised with:T
IThe Emperor System in Japan. Origins, Evolution and the New
Imperial Era
Thursday 23 May 2019		

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free Lecture – booking recommended**Please note this month’s lecture will be held on a Thursday**
Emperor Akihito’s abdication in favour of his son
Crown Prince Naruhito has re-ignited a manysided debate about the fundamental valuesof Japanese society and the state itself. Some
commentators see Emperor Akihito’s attempt tomodernise the image of the Imperial family andpresent a liberal face on peace and reconciliation
issues as at odds with Prime Minister Abe’s desire
to amend the postwar Constitution and assert
Japan’s national interests more forcefully. Others
see this as a more natural progression in linewith that of other monarchies.
At this moment of transition to a new imperial
era — Reiwa or ‘auspicious peace’ — William
Horsley considers the evolution of the ‘emperor
system’ from its early origins through the Meiji
constitution’s designation of the emperor as‘sacred and inviolable’, the Emperor-based
propaganda of the Pacific war period andthe establishment of a quasi-permanentconservative polity after Japan’s defeat in 1945.
William will argue that the long, unbroken
tradition of the Japanese monarchy has helped
shape the distinctive characteristics of today’s
nation – loyal respect for authority, the exerciseof real power from behind-the-scenes, anapolitical society, and the enduring wish ofsome conservative nationalists to restore a more
native Japanese value system.

©Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

William Horsley studied modern Japanese
history under the respected historian Richard
Storry and took a degree in Japanese Studies
from Oxford University in 1971. He joined
the BBC and from 1983-1990 worked as theBBC’s Tokyo correspondent and bureau chief,reporting on Japan’s meteoric rise as an
economic superpower and numerous politicalscandals as well as political convulsions across
East Asia, including the aftermath of theevents of Tian An Men Square in 1989. Later hereturned to Japan often for special coverageof World War Two anniversaries and to makeprogrammes on the new challenges facing
Japan: economic stagnation, an ageing society
and the geo-political rise of China. William also
reported widely from Europe for many years
on the radical re-shaping of the continent in
the wake of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. He leftthe BBC in 2007 and co-founded the Centre
for Freedom of the Media at the University of
Sheffield to counter threats to press freedom
and freedom of expression worldwide. He is
the UK chairman of the Association of European
Journalists (AEJ) and the co-author, with Roger
Buckley, of Nippon: New Superpower (BBCBooks, 1990).

Love and Desire Between Women in Girls’ Manga – withProfessor Yukari Fujimoto
Saturday 25 May 2019		

2.30pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way
London WC1A 2TH
Free – booking recommended
Please note that spaces are limited

Manga, or Japanese comic books, is a 4 billion
dollar a year industry, making up 40% of thecountry’s published works. Yet, contrary toWestern comic books which often focus ontargeting male readers, in Japan, a particularly
prominent and developed genre of manga
is shojo manga (girls’ manga), with womenacross the nation’s demographic making
up a large percentage of target readershipdue to its reflection of female desires andaspirations.
Celebrating the UK’s biggest manga
exhibition at the British Museum (23 May26 August 2019), the Japan Foundation
and Japan Society are proud to welcome
Professor Yukari Fujimoto, manga expert
from Meiji University specialising in genderand feminist theory. Overviewing the girls’
manga genre by talking about some notablefeatures, she will discuss how manga has
played a vital role in empowering female
creativities as well as the readership body; inparticular, by contextualising the way female
sexuality and attraction – especially between
same sex – has been drawn as women’svalues continued shifting.
This event will provide you with an insight
into an obscure yet currently relevant terrainof manga, one of Japan’s most renowned
cultural imports.

This event is planned by the JapanFoundation in association with Japan Society.

Japan Room Lecture: A Glimpse into East-West Relations in the
Antiquarian Book Trade
Tuesday 28 May 2019

6.30pmLodge Room No 11
The Freemasons’ HallGreat Queen Street
London WC2B 5AZ
Free for Japan Society members
Non-members: £12
Booking essential - booking deadline: Friday 24 May

Sokol Books has a history with Japan goingback some forty years and this has been
at times exciting, frustrating but always
enjoyable. Japan is a unique, challenging
but serious market in the book trade and ourguest speaker will enlighten us about thisboth generally and from personal experience.
The lecture will commence with a brief historyof East-West book relations, which has existed
much longer than one may think. Next, thespeaker will touch upon the present-day
situation, in terms of both East-West andWest-East as well as a quick glance at what
the future may hold in this eclectic arena.
Finally, a couple of items will be presented forthe enjoyment of all attendees as we moveto present the publication of the host’s firstbook of a series of ten books planned, The
Sphinxing Rabbit: Her Sovereign Majesty.

Christopher Sokol is the Founder & Proprietorof Sokol Books Ltd. For four decades, Sokol
Books has delighted collectors of rare andprized items specialising in early books andmanuscripts (roughly pre-1650). They havecustomers all over the world, including Japanand they exhibit at many international book
fairs, including sometimes Tokyo. Sokol Books
has retail outlets at their Chelsea shop and theWorld Antiquarian Book Plaza in Tokyo.

Please let us know if you would like to takean optional tour of the Freemasons’ Hall at
5.15 for 5.30pm.

In association with:

Japan Society Book Club: Floating Clouds by Fumiko Hayashi
Monday 10 June 20197.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members

Considered one of Hayashi’s masterpieces,
Floating Clouds adopts a nihilistic perspective
in its scrutiny of the essential nature of humanbeings. Yukiko Koda, a young typist, andKengo Tomioka, a technical officer, had fallen
in love with each other in Japanese-occupied
Indochina during the war. However, when
Tomioka comes into Yukiko’s life again in postwar
Japan, he is a completely changed man. Yukiko
is dragged into a destructive relationship with
Tomioka, and they unsuccessfully attempt adouble suicide. Fleeing from subsequent failed
affairs, Tomioka goes off to the remote islandof Yakushima to work, and Yukiko desperately
follows him.

Fumiko Hayashi (1903–1951) was a novelist
and poet born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi
Prefecture. She was the illegitimate daughterof an itinerant peddler, and experienced abject
poverty as a child. In her lonely childhood
she grew to love literature, and after finishingschool she moved to Tokyo to write, butbarely managed to support herself there andstruggled in a series of unhappy relationships.
These experiences and unconventional earlylife influenced her works, especially Horoki(tr. Vagabond’s Diary, 1930), her first semiautobiographical novel. She reached thepeak of her popularity after World War II andcontinued to write about the sufferings caused
by war and poverty, and the misery of rootless
women. She died suddenly of heart strain fromoverwork.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – The Role of thePrivate Sector
Wednesday 12 June 20196.00 for 6.15pm start

Mitsubishi Corporation International (Europe) Plc
Mid City Place
71 High Holborn
London WC1V 6BA
Free – booking essential
Booking deadline: Monday 10 June2019 marks four years since the United
Nations (UN) member states unanimously
agreed on the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint for peace andprosperity for people and planet by 2030.
Otherwise known as the Global Goals, theSDGs are a universal call to action to end
poverty, protect the planet and ensurethat all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
These 17 Goals build on the successes ofthe Millennium Development Goals, while
including new areas such as climate change,
economic inequality, innovation, sustainableconsumption, peace and justice, among
other priorities.
Although the SDGs represent an agenda that
ultimately will need to be implemented bygovernments around the world, the private
sector also has a critical role to play in therealization of the transformative ambitionsof these goals. Through a series of linked
seminars throughout 2019, the Japan
Society will explore the role of business incontributing to this critical global frameworkand showcase efforts that a number ofleading Japanese companies are taking tointegrate this agenda into their strategic
considerations.

The first seminar in our series will incorporate
insight from the World Business Council
for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
on the implications of the SDGs and thebusiness case for private sector engagement.
In addition, we will hear how Fujitsu isleveraging the SDGs to explore new business
opportunities and how the Goals are
influencing the company’s efforts when it
comes to strategy, training and innovation.
Following an open session for questions anddiscussion, the evening will conclude with aninformal networking reception.
We are extremely grateful to Mitsubishi
Corporation for generously hosting thisseminar.

The series will continue with further seminars,
each one focusing on a different aspect of
the Sustainable Development Goals.

In association with:

Dorozome (mud dyeing) Talk & Workshop with Dye Garden
Tour
Saturday 15 June 2019 			

2.00pmThe Pavilion
The Horniman Museum
100 London Road
Forest Hill
London SE23 3PQ
Free – booking essential
Priority booking for Japan Society members and their guests
Places are limited and early booking is recommended
Amami Oshima is an island in the Ryūkyūarchipelago, southern Japan. It is renowned
for Oshima tsumugi, a kimono cloth dyedby dorozome (mud-dyeing), an ancienttechnique that gives a unique black colour
to textiles. The dyeing workshop KANAIKOUGEI specializes in dorozome for Oshima
tsumugi. Alongside their own products dyedusing plant materials sourced from Amami’s
unique natural environment, KANAI KOUGEI
also dye fashion and interior objects forinternational contemporary designers. Thisis a rare opportunity to see the process ofDorozome by Japanese practitioners using
actual materials from Amami Oshima in the
UK.
This talk and workshop are initiated bydesigner and anthropologist Charlotte
Linton, University of Oxford, who has invited
Yukihito Kanai (vice-president/dyer) andAkiyo Shidama (maker/dyer) from KANAIKOUGEI to present with her a lecture about
Amamian traditional textiles.

Following the talk, there will be a tour of the
Dye Garden with Wesley Shaw, the Head of
Horticulture at the Horniman Museum.
Workshop - In addition, a small number ofparticipants will be able to dye a furoshiki(wrapping cloth) using dorozome materials
brought from Amami.
Due to limited
materials and supervision, the workshop
numbers are necessarily small. Lectureattendees are welcome to stay and watch
the workshop.

When booking, please specify if you would
like to observe or participate in the workshop.
Places are limited and the participants for theworkshop will be selected by a ballot. Those
who are selected will be contacted on Friday
7 June.
Please note that this event is only suitable forchildren over 16.

FmFamily Firms as Institutions: Cultural reproduction and status
maintenance among multicentenary shinise in Kyoto
Monday 17 June 2019		

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free Lecture – booking recommended

Shinise are firms that have survived for morethan a century (often for three or four), haveretained ownership within the family, and focus
on traditional line of business such as sakebrewing, confectionery, temple ornamentsor textiles. In Japan, Kyoto is the city with thehighest proportion of century-old firms which
maintain a high social status in the community.
While similar firms are also located in otherprefectures, the prominent standing thatshinise possess in the community of Kyoto
confers upon them (and the owning families)
distinctive social and economic benefits.
In this lecture, we will explore the sociocultural processes that shape and allow themaintenance of the high social status of shinise
in Kyoto. Our analysis will unlock the ongoinginteractions through which the social order isre-enacted and reproduced, ascribing shinisea distinct social standing in exchange for theircontinued commitment to practices andstructures that help the community preserve
its cultural integrity and collective identity. By
doing so, we will trace a connection between
status maintenance and the expressive functionthat a category of firms performs within acommunity. At the same time, we will reveal
a dark side of high status, by showing how
their commitments lock shinise in a position of‘benign entrapment’ that may impose sacrifices
on family members and severe limitations totheir personal freedom.
Innan Sasaki is Assistant Professor of Strategic
Management at Lancaster University, UK andalso holds an appointment at the Universityof Turku, Finland. She is interested in how
marginalized actors (such as endangered craft,indigenous people and refugees) manage touphold their traditions and culturally survive.
More specifically, her research interests include
tradition, history, and time in organizations,organizational culture and institutional theory(with the focus on marginalized actors andlegitimacy).
Davide Ravasi is Professor of Strategy and
Entrepreneurship at the UCL School ofManagement, University College London.
His research examines interrelations amongorganizational identity, culture and strategy
in times of change, and socio-cognitive
processes shaping entrepreneurship, design
and innovation. He is a co-editor of the Oxford
Handbook of Organizational Identity.

Britain and Europe – Post-European Union Elections Analysis,
Lunchtime Lecture with Professor Anand Menon
Wednesday 19 June 201912.30pm sandwich lunch / 1.00pm start

Presentation Suite
Mizuho House
30 Old Bailey
London EC4M 7AU£7 per head - Members of the Japan Society and their guests
Booking essential
Booking deadline: Friday 14 June

Please note that spaces are limited and this is
likely to be a very popular event.
We are delighted to welcome Professor Anand
Menon, to brief Japan Society members in thisextremely timely event. Following the European
Union elections held between 23 – 26 May,
Anand Menon will share his views on the futureof Brexit and the wider European Union. In lightof recent political events, such as the launch of
the UK Brexit Party, Theresa May’s resignationas leader of the Conservative Party, and the riseof populist parties in pro-EU nations, Professor
Menon’s speech will investigate the relationshipbetween the Britain and the EU, in the midst ofa changing Europe.

Professor Anand Menon is Professor ofEuropean Politics and Foreign Affairs at King’s
College London. He directs the Economic andSocial Research Council Initiative The UK in a
Changing Europe and has held positions at
Sciences Po, Columbia University and NYU. He
is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of theEuropean Union (OUP, 2012), author of Europe:
The State of the Union (Atlantic Books 2008)
and co-author of Brexit and British Politics(Polity, 2017). Professor Menon has also written
on many aspects of contemporary Europe for
the Financial Times, Prospect, The Guardian,
The Daily Telegraph, The Times and Le Monde.
He is a frequent commentator on national andinternational broadcast media and has madeseveral radio documentaries on contemporary
politics. He is a member of the Council of theEuropean Council on Foreign Relations and an
associate fellow of Chatham House.

The talk will be preceded by a sandwich lunch
from 12.30pm.
We are very grateful to Mizuho for kindly
hosting this event.

In association with:

The Japan Society Annual General Meeting 2019
Wednesday 19 June 20196.00pm (AGM) / 6.40pm (Book launch)

Embassy of Japan
101-104 Piccadilly
London W1J 7JT
Japan Society Members Only
Booking deadline: Monday 17 June

The Japan Society Annual General Meeting2019 will be held on Wednesday 19 June at
6.00pm at the Embassy of Japan, London.
We hope to see many members at this year’s
AGM. Papers for the meeting will be available
from our website at the beginning of June, orby post on request.
Following the formal business of the AGM
there will be a special launch event andreception for British Royal and Imperial
Relations, 1868-2018: 150 Years of Association,
Engagement and Celebration, which anyone
is welcome to attend. The event will featuretalks by Professor Peter Kornicki and Dr
Antony Best, editors of the volume with Sir
Hugh Cortazzi.

We are delighted to be able to offer copiesof the book free of charge to members of
the Japan Society. Moreover, thanks to thegenerous donation by Sir Hugh Cortazzi, theSociety is also able to offer free copies of the
new paperback edition of The Thames And I:A Memoir of Two Years at Oxford. Copies of
the two volumes will be available to collect on
the night, while stocks last. If you are unable
to attend the event, please contact info@
japansociety.org.uk for further information on
how to obtain your copies.
Please remember that the Embassy ofJapan’s security policy means that you needto let us know in advance if you are planning
to attend
Please also bring with you to the meeting aform of photographic ID together with theconfirmation email we will send you.

Japan Society Annual Dinner
Friday 28 June 2019
Spirit of Rugby Suite
Twickenham Stadium
Whitton Rd, Twickenham TW2 7BA
Package 1 – Starting time: 6.00pm (see details below)
Package 2 – Starting time: 7.00pm (see details below)
Booking essential – deadline Monday 24 June

The Japan Society invites members andguests to join us for a special Annual Dinner
in Rugby World Cup year at the home ofEngland Rugby, Twickenham Stadium. We
are delighted to welcome Eddie Jones, headcoach of the England national rugby team, as
our special guest to give his insights on what
to expect this autumn in Japan.
Guests opting for Package 1 will start theevening in the World Rugby Museum,
including the special exhibition Brave
Blossoms: the history of rugby in Japan,
where curator Phil McGowan will be on handto share highlights of the museum including
the Calcutta Cup and World Cup. You willthen move through the tunnel to the pitch
side area, to absorb the stadium atmosphereon your way to dinner.
Those opting for Package 2 will go straight to
the Spirit of Rugby Suite for a drinks reception,
before taking their seats for dinner.
Cancellation Policy
A full refund will be given where notice ofcancellation is received at least 72 hours prior to theevent. In other cases, refunds will be given at thediscretion of the Japan Society and event partners.

Package 1 – Starting time: 6.00pm
Members under 30*: £50
Members (& guests): £90 per person (max. 3
guests)Non-Members: £125 per person
The cost includes drinks reception in the World
Rugby Museum, pitch side view of the Stadium,
three course dinner, wine and coffee.

Package 2 – Starting time: 7.00pm
Members under 30*: £40
Members (& guests): £75 per person (max. 3
guests)Non-Members: £110 per person
The cost includes drinks reception in the Spirit of
Rugby Suite, three course dinner, wine and coffee.
* Special price tickets for members under 30 are
limited to the first 30 members to apply.
We are very grateful to JTI for their support
which enables us to offer discounted tickets toall members and a further discount to members
under 30, ensuring that the event can be enjoyedby everyone.

This event is kindly supported by:Japan Society Book Club: Beasts Head for Home by Kobo Abe
Monday 8 July 20197.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members

Beasts Head for Home is an acute novel ofidentity, belonging, and the vagaries of humanbehaviour from an exceptional modern
Japanese author. It is an excellent entry point
into Abe’s writing, with much of his signature
tone and style. He is a master of controlling thereader’s emotional investment while crafting an
increasingly suffocating atmosphere of dread,
resulting in a devastating reading experience. It
tells the story of Kuki Kyuzo, a Japanese young
man raised in the puppet state of Manchuria. In
the aftermath of World War II, Kyuzo struggles toreturn home to Japan, an ancestral homeland
he has “only ever imagined from his textbooks”.
What follows is a wild journey involving drugs,
smuggling, chases, and capture.

Kobo Abe (1924–1993) was one of Japan’s
greatest post-war writers, widely recognizedfor his imaginative fiction and plays of theabsurd. Following a childhood in Manchuria,
he enrolled in a medical college on returning toJapan, but abandoned his career as physician
to become a writer. Over the following decades
Abe collected all of Japan’s major literary
awards, including the Akutagawa, Yomiuri andTanizaki Prizes. He was nominated for the Nobel
Prize for Literature several times but neverwon. His novels often have surrealist qualities,
evoking nightmarish dystopias and focusing
on the dislocation of an individual from society.
A number of these novels have been adapted
into films, most notably in collaboration withrenowned director, Hiroshi Teshigahara.

Carmen Blacker Lecture 2019: Some ArchaeologicalObservations on Traditional Japanese Religion
Monday 22 July 2019

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free – booking recommended

The Carmen Blacker Lecture Series honours thememory and scholarship of Carmen Blacker (19242009) and is organised jointly by the Sainsbury
Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts andCultures and the Japan Society. Each year a seniorscholar is invited to speak on a theme related toBlacker’s research in the area of Japanese religion
and folklore. For this year’s tenth lecture we aredelighted to welcome Simon Kaner, Executive
Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study ofJapanese Arts and Cultures.
The 2019 Carmen Blacker lecture will consider the
relationship between myth and archaeology inJapan through two case studies: a thrilling festival
in Nagano and a Museum in Shimane.
The onbashira festival takes place every six
years in the area around Lake Suwa in Nagano
prefecture. It involves the cutting down of hugecedar trees which are then ridden down the steep
mountain slopes, eventually being set up in thesacred precincts of the Suwa Grand Shrine. It is
one of the most exciting and more perilous of
the Japanese festivals. Aspects of the festival areused in the interpretation of prehistoric wooden
circles from the Jomon period. We will consider
the rationale behind these analogies.

The second example is from the Izumo region, aland full of myths and legends that feature large
in the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters). A visit to
the Ancient Izumo Museum indicates that myth
and archaeological interpretation are closelyintertwined. Once again we will give some carefulconsideration to the relationship between mythand sacred heritage with a few comparative
examples from other parts of the world. We
will end with some thoughts on the perceived
need for contemporary beliefs to be legitimatedthrough the use of history and archaeology, and abrief visit to the mounded tomb at Miyajigadakein Fukuoka prefecture.
Professor Simon Kaner is Director of the Centre forJapanese Studies at the University of East Anglia andExecutive Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the
Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, where he is also
Head of the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage. He
is an archaeologist specialising in the prehistory ofJapan. His recent publications include An Illustrated
Companion to Japanese Archaeology (edited, with
Werner Steinhaus) (Oxford, Archaeopress, 2016) andhe is currently editing the Oxford Handbook of theArchaeology of Korea and Japan. He is Co-Editorof the Japanese Journal of Archaeology and Series
Editor for the Archaeopress series Comparative
Perspectives on Japanese Archaeology.

Co-organised by:

Ainu Othello – Special Talk & Dinner plus Theatre
Performance
Tuesday 6 & Thursday 8 August 2019		

7.30pm(see below for further details)
Price (all-inclusive price for the talk & dinner as well as theatre
performance)£43 for members and their guests£50 for non-members
Book essential – Booking deadline: Thursday 1 August 2019

The Japan Society is delighted to welcome
Shimodate Kazumi, Artistic Director of The
Shakespeare Company Japan, and Jatinder Verma,
Artistic Director at Tara Theatre, for a special talk in
conjunction with the forthcoming performanceof Ainu Othello at Tara Theatre.

Ainu Othello is a stage adaptation of the
Shakespearean tragedy Othello, which is set in1860 in northern island of Hokkaido. The title
character is transformed into an indigenous Ainu,
who falls in love with a Japanese woman and is
betrayed by a friend (Iago) of mixed Ainu andJapanese heritage.
See all details on www.tara-arts.com

Ainu Othello special talk & dinner
Tuesday 6 August 2019, 7.30pm
Thenga Café (120 Cromer St, Kings Cross, London
WC1H 8BS)
Guests will enjoy the talk over comforting
European/Indian dinner with a drink. Thenga
specialises in vegetarian / vegan dishes, butplease let us know in advance if you have any
specific dietary requirements.
Ainu Othello performance & post-performancemeeting with cast and crewThursday 8 August 2019, 7.30pm
Tara Theatre (356 Garratt Lane, London, SW18 4ES)
After the performance, guests will have a chance
to meet the casts and crew including the Dance
Group Piricap.

*If you cannot attend the show on 8 August,you can select an alternative performance time/date, subject to availability (performances will beheld from August 7 to 10 – see all details on Tara
Theatre’s website).
Please specify which show you would like toattend when booking.

In association with:

Tanabata: Celebrate the Japanese Star Festival at Kew
Gardens
Wednesday 7 & Thursday 8 August 201910.30am – 3.30pm

Bamboo Garden and Minka House
Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew​Richmond
Surrey TW9 3AB
Standard Kew admission fee
No booking required – just turn up on the day!

Tanabata is all about celebrating the coming
together of two stars, Orihime and Hikoboshi,
who are in love but can only meet once a year.
Join us at Kew Gardens and discover the story
behind Tanabata and take part in the traditionof writing your wish on colourful tanzaku
strips and hanging them from the bamboo,
to mark this much loved summer festival.
There will be plenty to keep the whole family
entertained with playful and intuitive Saori
weaving workshops, trying on a type ofkimono called yukata, calligraphy, origami,
and traditional Japanese toys and games.
Or why not follow the Tanabata Treasure
Trail: hunting for clues to discover the storyof Orihime and Hikoboshi. We shall also be
joined by A Thousand Cranes who will reveal
the fascinating story of Tanabata throughkamishibai (Japanese storyboard theatre)
performances in the historical Minka House.
Bamboo expert and Arboretum Manager at
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Ray Townsend
will be giving tours of the bamboo garden
through the day; many of which he collected
himself on expeditions to Japan. Come anddiscover the unknown stories behind thiswonderful collection of bamboo!
In association with:

Don’t miss out on taking part in the Tanabata
story!

Tanabata Festival Programme
EventsTimes (provisional)

Tanabata Story Trail

All day (drop-in)

Origami workshops

All day (drop-in)

Calligraphy workshops

All day (drop-in)

Japanese Toys & GamesAll day (drop-in)

Saori weaving workshops

All day (drop-in)

Try on a yukata• 10.30am – 12.30pm;• 1.30pm – 4.00pm

Bamboo tour

• Wednesday 7 August:
11.00am & 2.00pm;• Thursday 8 August:12.00pm & 3.00pm

Tanabata kamishibaistorytelling• Wednesday 7 August:
1.00pm & 3.00pm;• Thursday 8 August:
11.30am & 2.00pm

Japan Society Book Club: In the Woods of Memory by Shun
Medoruma
Monday 12 August 20197.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members

In the Woods of Memory is a powerful,
thought-provoking novel that focuses on
two incidents during the Battle of Okinawa,
1945: the sexual assault on Sayoko, 17, by four
US soldiers and her friend Seiji’s attempt atrevenge. Narrations through nine points ofview, Japanese and American, from 1945 to
the present day, reveal the full complexityof events and how war trauma inevitably
ripples through the generations.

Shun Medoruma was born in Okinawa in
1960. After graduating from the Universityof Ryukyu, he worked as a guard and later
as a teacher until 2003. He has written
novels based on Okinawan nature, history,
and climate, focusing especially on the
Battle of Okinawa and memories of that
war experience and the impact of the US
military bases on contemporary Okinawa.
Another element of Medoruma’s fiction is his
use of uchina-guchi or Okinawan language.
He won the Akutagawa Prize in 1997 for his
short story ‘A Drop of Water’ (Suiteki).

MANGA in a global society: the origins and development of a genre –Special Lecture with Fusanosuke Natsume, Manga Critic and Columnist
Monday 19 August 2019

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free – booking recommended

In partnership with the British Museum City
Exhibition Manga マンガ, we are delighted towelcome Professor Fusanosuke Natsume togive the Japan Society’s August lecture.
The term manga originated in China; it
was first employed in Japan in the Edo
period (1608-1868). The most representative
example of its use in Japan is Hokusaimanga (fifteen volumes issued seriallybetween 1814 and 1819 and then in 1830s
and 1840s with the final volume appearing
in 1878), however, the meaning of the wordin the Edo period was not the same as themeaning of manga today. In the Meiji period(1868-1912), in response to the shock ofwestern culture, the printing technologies,
distribution and production processes were
all modernized. Aware of its connections
with Japan’s traditional culture, the word
manga was redefined as a new genre. After
that, under the influence of European andAmerican caricatures and cartoons, manga,

as a medium, came to include aspects ofboth. Today, when we use the word ‘manga’,in most of cases, we mean MANGA createdafter 1980s. Are the manga in Japan andmanga read by a global audience the same?
Or are they different?
Known in Japan as a manga critic andcolumnist, Professor Fusanosuke Natsume
teaches critical studies on manga andanimation at Gakushuin University. He wasawarded the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizein 1999. During the course of his career, he
has engaged in debates surrounding mangaas ‘anti-art’ seen many attempts to create
exhibitions of manga, and explored theboundaries between manga in Japan andgraphic novels, bande dessinée and comics
from other parts of the world.
This event is planned by the Japan Society inassociation with the British Museum and theJapan Foundation

In association with:

The Citi exhibition Manga マンガ– private view of the British
Museum exhibition with curators (Japanese or English)
Thursday 22 August 20198.45am for 9.00am

British Museum (Room 30)
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
Free – booking essential - booking deadline: 15 August 2019Japan Society members (+one guest)
Please indicate if you would prefer to do the visit in English or
Japanese.

The Citi exhibition Manga マンガ at the British
Museum (23 May – 26 August 2019) has been theJapanese art sensation of the summer in London
and beyond, with thousands of visitors and afull public programme of events (including ourmonthly lecture with manga critic Fusanosuke
Natsume on Monday 19 August and the Manga
Symposium at the British Library on Friday 23
August). The Japan Society is delighted to invite
its members to a private view of the exhibition
with British Museum curators Nicole Coolidge
Rousmaniere and Uchida Hiromi. In the last
week of the exhibition, which will close on
26th August, this event is a great opportunity
for a second view of the exhibition or for a lastminute visit illuminated by the insights and final
considerations of its curators.
The private view will be held in two groups(one in English and one in Japanese), so whenbooking, please let us know your preferredlanguage.
The world’s largest exhibition of manga to
be held outside of Japan, the British Museum
exhibition brings to life the art of manga, looking
at how it emerged in Japan and grew to be aworldwide cultural phenomenon. It explores

manga’s enduring appeal and cultural crossover,showcasing original Japanese manga and its
enormous influence, from anime to gaming to‘cosplay’ performance art.
With its world-renowned Japanese collections
and expertise, and working in partnership withmanga artists, editors, publishing houses andspecialists in Japan, the British Museum is uniquelyplaced to take visitors on a journey through thephenomenon of manga. From earlier forms suchas the comic or dramatic designs by famous
Japanese artists such as Katsushika Hokusai(1760-1849), Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889) andothers through to the 21st century, today there isa manga for everyone. Including unprecedented
loans from across Japan, the exhibition reveals
the inner-workings of this billion-dollar industry.

Please note there are limited places for thisevent. We anticipate that it will be very
popular, so should the number of people
who have requested tickets by 15 August
exceed the number of tickets available, wewill allocate places by ballot. Any places stillavailable after 15 August will be offered on afirst come, first served basis.

In celebration of the Citi exhibition Manga:

An Analysis of the Abe Administration’s Policy on Russia –Evening Lecture with James D.J. Brown
Tuesday
Monday 27
9 September
August 20192019

7.00pm
6.30pmPresentation
The Japan Society
Suite
Mizuho13 / 14 Cornwall
House Terrace
30
LondonOld Bailey
NW1 4QP
London EC4M 7AU
Free for Japan Society members
Free for Japan Society Members
Non members: £5
Booking essential - Booking deadline: Friday 23 August

We are delighted to welcome James D.J.
Brown to brief Japan Society members on
Japan’s cooperation with Russia against thebackground of the growing threat from China
and North Korea and amidst heightened
concerns of the long-term reliability of the US.
On most international issues, Japan’s foreign
policy broadly tracks that of its U.S. ally andother Western partners. However, withregard to Russia, Japan under Prime Minister
Abe has become an outlier within the G-7 ashighlighted by the recent Putin-Abe summit
in Osaka. While most Western countries
applied tough sanctions after Russia’s
annexation of Crimea, Japan introduced only
token measures and continued with a policyof close cooperation. Abe also describes
Russian President Vladimir Putin as someone
who is “dear to me as a partner”. James
Brown will describe the features of the Abeadministration’s distinctive Russia policy andanalyse its underlying causes. He will alsooffer conclusions about what this says more
broadly regarding Japan as a contemporaryinternational actor.
We are very grateful to Mizuho for kindly
hosting this event.

Dr James D.J. Brown is an associate professorof Political Science at Temple University, Japan
Campus. He holds a PhD from the Universityof Aberdeen, as well as postgraduate degrees
from the universities of Edinburgh andGlasgow. His undergraduate degree is fromthe University of York. He was a recipientof a Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Scholarship in 2011.
Dr Brown has published widely on the
topic of Japan-Russia relations, includingin the journals of International Affairs, Asia
Policy, International Politics, and EuropeAsia Studies. His two most recent books are
Japan, Russia and their Territorial Dispute:
The Northern Delusion (Routledge 2017) andJapan’s Foreign Relations in Asia, edited with
Jeff Kingston (Routledge 2018). He writes opeds for The Nikkei Asian Review, The Japan
Times, and The Diplomat, and he is regularly
quoted in the media, including by The
Financial Times, The New York Times, The
Economist, and The Wall Street Journal. He
has lived in Japan since 2011.
The talk will be followed by a drinks reception
from 7:30pm.

In association with:

Bilingual Public Speaking Club – Pilot session
Wednesday 28 August 2019

7:00pmDaiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
13/14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free – booking essential
Please note that spaces are limited and early booking is
recommended.

The Japan Society and the Associationof Speakers Clubs (ASC) are delighted toorganise the first bilingual Japanese-English
public speaking club in the UK. The club isopen to all people who would like to improvetheir skills at speaking in Japanese or English
and to learn techniques and tricks to expand
their communication and presentation
abilities. Good knowledge of Japaneseand English is desirable but all levels arewelcome to join us. Japanese native speakers
and students of Japanese or English areencouraged to participate!

Different roles are required (speakers,
evaluators, helpers) both in English andJapanese, so please let us know if you would
like to be considered for any of these roles(more information will be provided in thiscase). Or you can just come and observe theevent and participate in future sessions.
We are grateful to Graham Street, andmembers of the ASC public speaking
club at Nomura International for theirencouragement and assistance in setting up
this group.

In this pilot session, we will explain anddemonstrate the ASC method and its step bystep programme to develop the confidence
and skills to succeed in speaking in public.
The first part will be in English and after ashort break the second part will follow inJapanese. Participants will follow the ASC
Speakers Guide introductory programme,
which
involves
progressing
throughspeech construction, using gestures andbody language, using your voice and using
humour to effectively get your point across,in addition to getting detailed feedback from
evaluators at each step.

Co-organised by:Rakugo Perfomances and Workshop with the Canary English Rakugo
Company
Friday 30 and Saturday 31 August 2019(see below for further details)
Japan House London
101-111 Kensington High Street
London W8 5SAFree – booking recommended

Rakugo Performance: The Art of Japanese
Comic Storytelling
Session 1: Friday 30 August 2019 – 6.30pm*
Session 2: Saturday 31 August 2019 – 4.30pm*Session 1 is followed by a drinks reception
Rakugo Workshop: Learn the Art ofJapanese Comic Storytelling
Saturday 31 August 2.00pm – 3.30pm
Join us for an evening of Japanese comedy
with master storyteller, Kanariya Eiraku andmembers of the Canary English Rakugo
Company. Rakugo comic monologues havea long history in Japan, and have grown in
popularity in recent years.
The evening’s entertainment includes anintroduction to rakugo, a selection of tales
and a tamasudare performance. Though
the humour is timeless, many stories takeus back in atmosphere to earlier periods inJapanese history, with stories of masters andservants, children at school and descriptionsof disappearing lifestyles. It perfectly
complements the Japan House exhibitionof works by Anno Mitsumasa, one of Japan’s
greatest children’s book illustrators.

Perfomance Content (subject to change):
Session 1: What is Rakugo? / Miso Beans /Praising a Child / Tamasudare Show / Tenshiki/ Otanoshimi
Session 2: What is Rakugo? / Gombei and a
Raccoon Dog / Chiritotechin / TamasudareShow / Pot Math / Otanoshimi
On Saturday 31 August, a special workshop
with master storyteller, Kanariya Eiraku andmembers of the Canary English Rakugo
Company will give you the chance to learn
rakugo storytelling skills. Learn how to
conjure up a complete world and cast of
characters with just a few simple props, andpractice your technique in telling simple
stories and jokes.
Kanariya Eiraku has been performing rakugo
for over 30 years. He started teaching English
rakugo classes in Tokyo in 2007. Since thenhe has performed rakugo in English both inJapan and abroad, including the US, Denmarkand Laos. He also introduces Japanese songs
in English using the ukulele. He teaches
English performance at universities in Japan.

In association with Canary English Rakugo Company and Japan House London

J
GJoint Lunch with the JCCI: The UK-Japan 21st Century
Group’s 36th Annual Meeting
Thursday 5 September 201912.00 for 12.30pm

National Liberal ClubWhitehall Place
London SW1A 2HE£60 per person for members of the Japan Society, the JCCI and theirguests.
Booking deadline: Monday 2 September

The guests at the next Japan Society and JCCI
Joint Lunch will be the co-Chairmen of the
UK-Japan 21st Century Group, Mr Yasuhisa
Shiozaki and The Rt Hon the Lord Lansley,
together with other British and Japanese
members of the Group.
The 21st Century Group is a nonGovernmental forum. It was set up in 1984
to help cement closer links between British
and Japanese politicians, business andmedia figures, and academics. It meets
each year, alternating between Japan andthe UK, to discuss issues of mutual national
interest, reporting direct after each meeting
to the British and Japanese Prime Ministers.
Membership of the group varies from year
to year but includes Members of the UK
Parliament and of the Diet, experts on theissues being discussed, senior business
representatives and well-known media
commentators.

For this lunch, members of the 21st Century
Group will be spread through tables of ten, tofacilitate conversations with members of theJapan Society and of the JCCI; all attendees
will be allocated seats. The co-Chairmen will
make brief speeches, but the aim of the lunch
will be to enable the members of the Society
and the Chamber to discuss current issues ofinterest in UK/Japan relations directly withthe members of the Group. There will be
designated rapporteurs on each table, who
can feed back any specific points after thelunch as necessary.
This is an important event: dialogue with theparliamentary and other delegates who will
be going straight on to debate the same issues
over the weekend will give our membersa chance to provide input to key questions
and also to ensure that the members of theGroup are aware of the issues faced by those
involved in UK-Japan relations here in the UK.

In association with:

Japan Society Book Club: Go by Kazuki Kaneshiro
Monday 9 September 2019 				7.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members

Go follows the story of Sugihara, who is azainichi chosenjin (North Korean national in
Japan), who falls in love with a Japanese girl. The
story revolves around Korean/Chinese racism inJapan with Sugihara changing his Korean nameand moving to a Japanese school. As a Korean
student, Sugihara has had to defend himself
against all kinds of bullies. But nothing could
have prepared him for the heartache he feels
when he falls hopelessly in love with a Japanese
girl named Sakurai. Torn between a chanceat self-discovery that he’s ready to seize andthe prejudices of others that he can’t control,
Sugihara must decide who he wants to be andwhere he wants to go next.

Kaneshiro Kazuki (b. 1968) is a zainichi Korean
novelist who was born in Kawaguchi, Saitama.
He studied in North and South Korea connectedschools in Japan and graduated in Law at Keio
University. He started his professional writing
career in 1998 by winning the Shōsetsu Gendai
Prize for New Writers for Revoryūshon No. 3
Along with Furai, dadi, furai and Speed, thenovel is part of the “Zombies” series, named
after a group of teenagers in a high school forunderachievers. In 2000, Kaneshiro won the
Naoki Prize for Go, which was extremely popularamong younger readers and was later adapted
for film.

Saori Freestyle Weaving Workshop
Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 September 2019(see below for further details)
Craft Central
397-411 Westferry Road
London E143AE£35 per person - booking essential
Booking deadline: Thursday 5 September

The Japan Society is delighted to present
Saori freestyle weaving workshop, led by
Ena Janine, who has kindly offered theseworkshops to Japan Society members at
a significantly discounted price. During
this special three-hour workshop, you will
be introduced to the intuitive art of Saori
weaving.
Developed in Japan during the late Sixties by
Misao Jo (1913-2018) Saori weaving is uniqueand different from other traditional styles ofhand weaving. Whilst commercial factories
are only eager to produce “flawless” fabric,
the irregular selvage and accidental skip ofthread add the unprogrammed character tothe Saori cloth.
Using sustainable yarns and working in asmall group under Janine’s supervision,
the participants will explore the creative
possibilities offered by the relatively simple
wooden floor looms. The looms are prethreaded so all participants need do is choose
the colours and textures for your own uniquecloth. This workshop is suitable for beginners,
no previous weaving experience needed.

Erna Janine has been involved with natural
textiles for over 20 years. She studied handspinning with animal and plant fibres,botanical dyes and Viking age textile
construction: warp weighted looms, tablet
weaving, nalbinding etc. at the Icelandic
College for Traditional Handcrafts inReykjavik. For the last four years she has
been visiting Japan regularly to study Saori
freeweaving. Janine has been running the
Freeweaver Saori Studio in London since2017 where people can use floor looms to
make simple garments of art pieces fromrecycled and natural yarns.
Tuesday, 10 September 10.30am -1.30pm
Tuesday, 10 September 2.00pm-5.00pm
Wednesday, 11 September 10.30am-1.30 pm
Wednesday, 11 September 2.00pm-5.00pm*Please specify which date/time you would
like to participate when booking.

In association with:

The Art of Culinary Diplomacy in the Mid-19th Century.
Britain and Japan at the Table with Yoshiko Goto
Monday 16 September 2019

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free – booking recommended

National food and cuisine are important
aspects of cultural diplomacy and hospitality.
Celebratory banquets and feasts havealways been part of the life of politicians,
ambassadors, and monarchs, who often sharedelicacies and elaborate dishes representing
national culinary excellence while discussing
political matters and international affairs.
In this lecture, Professor Yoshiko Goto will
explore the history of culinary exchanges
between Japan and the UK focusing on aparticular episode dating back to the late
Edo period.
On 3 February 1867, a meeting was heldat Mitajiri in Western Japan between theleaders of the Choshu Domain (modernday Yamaguchi Prefecture), Mori Takachika
and his son Mori Motonori, and Vice-Admiral
George King, commander-in-chief of theRoyal Navy’s China Station. On the following
day, Vice-Admiral King entertained the
Choshu leaders aboard H.M.S. Princess Royal,anchored in Mitajiri Bay. Records survive of
the food served on these two occasions. The
menu served by the Choshu side included awide variety of seafood and vegetables, while
the food prepared by the British included
meat dishes and puddings.

Professor Goto took on the challenge ofrecreating the dishes listed on the menus forthese banquets. In this lecture she will offer
insights into Japanese and British cooking
styles in the mid-nineteenth century,
studying the transformation of eating
habits between then and now. In the 1860s
Japan was basically self-sufficient in foodproduction and the diet of most Japanesepeople consisted mainly of domestically
produced grain. After the Meiji Restoration,
many new ingredients and foods came into
Japan from other countries, stimulating asudden change in the eating habits.
Professor Yoshiko Gotō, is a Professor in the
Faculty of Education at Yamaguchi University.
Born in Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture,
Professor Goto completed a master’s
degree and a doctorate on Food Scienceand Nutrition at Nara Women’s University.
Her field of expertise is food science andnutrition, with a particular research interestin the region of the Choshu Domain at theend of the Edo era.

J

Japan Matsuri 2019
Sunday 29 September 201910.00am – 8.00pm

Trafalgar Square
Westminster
LondonWC2N 5DNFree - no booking required, just turn up on the day!

London’s very own festival of Japaneseculture – Japan Matsuri – returns on Sunday,
29 September 2019 in Trafalgar Square in thecentre of the city. A regular fixture now in
the London calendar, this free annual festival
brings people together to enjoy Japanese
food, music, dance, and activities for all thefamily.
Everything kicks off at 10.00am and runs
through till 8.00pm. With two stages, thereis plenty to see all day. The programme ofstage performances for this year is still being
finalised and will feature exciting new acts aswell as the return of favourites from previous
Matsuri.
On the main stage, expect performancesfrom Joji Hirota & The London Taiko
Drummers and the ‘Hilarious & Bonkers &Brilliant’ Ichi with his one man band! Special
performance from Japan for 2019 is the Otsu
Kagura Troupe, bringing the enthralling taleof Orochi the Giant Serpent.
See the Japan Matsuri website for more
information - www.japanmatsuri.com

As usual, Japan Matsuri will offer a range ofauthentic festival flavours, including takoyaki,
yakisoba, kara-age, kakigori and much more.
Special for 2019 sees the first tasting in
London of MOS burger, who will be serving
two of their most popular dishes – Yakiniku
rice burger and Teriyaki chicken burger!
Come and meet Japan Society staff at ourstall on the north terrace in front of the
National Gallery (opposite St. Martin in the
Fields), to find out more about the Society
and to take part in our activities.
Japan Matsuri is organised jointly by theJapan Association, Japanese Chamber ofCommerce and Industry, Japan Foundation,
the Japan Society and Nippon Club, withsupport from the Embassy of Japan.

Bilingual Public Speaking Club
Wednesday 2 October 2019

7:00pmCivil Service Club
13-15 Great Scotland Yard
London SW1A 2HJFree – booking essential
Please note that spaces are limited and early booking is
recommended.

Following a very successful pilot event
in August, the Japan Society and the
Association of Speakers Clubs (ASC) aredelighted to announce the formal inaugural
meeting of a new bilingual Japanese-English
public speaking club in the UK. All are
welcome, whether or not you were able tojoin us for the pilot, to what we hope will bea regular monthly event. The club is open
to anyone who would like to improve theirskills at speaking in Japanese or English andto learn techniques and tricks to expand theircommunication and presentation abilities.
Good knowledge of Japanese and English
is desirable but all levels are welcome to join
us. Japanese native speakers and students
of Japanese or English are encouraged toparticipate!
The Bilingual Public Speaking Club is basedon the ASC method and its step by step
programme to develop the confidence andskills to succeed in speaking in public. The
first part of the session will be in English andafter a short break the second part will follow
in Japanese. Participants will follow the ASC
Speakers Guide introductory programme,
which
involves
progressing
throughspeech construction, using gestures andbody language, using your voice and using

humour to effectively get your point across,in addition to getting detailed feedback from
evaluators at each step.
Different roles are required (speakers,
evaluators, helpers) both in English andJapanese, so please let us know if you would
like to be considered for any of these roles(more information will be provided in thiscase). Or you can just come and observe theevent and participate in future sessions.
We are grateful to Graham Street, andmembers of the ASC public speaking
club at Nomura International for theirencouragement and assistance in setting up
this group.
You can find more information and details
about public speaking clubs in the ASC
website - www.speakersclubs.uk

Co-organised by:Japan Society Book Club: The Girl I Left Behind by Shusaku Endo
Monday 14 October 2019 				7.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members

An early novel written some 50 years ago,
The Girl I Left Behind tells of the choices
made by young adults who are learning
who they are and what they want in life,
prefiguring themes of Endo’s later works. The
protagonist, Yoshioka Tsutomu, is a student,
not much interested in his studies, short on
cash and long on sexual desire. Eventually
he will settle down in a career and marry his
boss’s niece. Yet he begins to hear a voice inhis head that sparks a memory of Mitsu, thecredulous village girl whom he once seduced
and abandoned–and whose path continues
to cross his long years.

Shusaku Endo (1923-1996), was raised byhis mother and an aunt in Kobe where heconverted to Roman Catholicism at theage of eleven. At Tokyo’s Keio University hemajored in French literature, graduating in
1949, before furthering his studies in French
Catholic literature at the University of Lyon
from 1950 to 1953. Endo is often comparedto Graham Greene; many of his charactersstruggle in some way with the Catholic
faith, and all of them face complex moral
dilemmas, their choices often producing
tragic results. Endo was the recipient of manyof the top Japanese literary awards, including
the Akutagawa Prize, the Mainichi Cultural
Prize, the Shincho Prize, and the Tanizaki
Prize.

Saori Freestyle Weaving Workshop
Sunday 20 and Monday 21 October 2019(see below for further details)
Craft Central
397-411 Westferry Road
London E143AE
Booking essential
Members: £35
Non-members: £45
Booking deadline: Thursday 17 October
The Japan Society is delighted to present
the second series of Saori freestyle weaving
workshops, led by Janine, who has kindly
offered these workshops to Japan Society
members at a significantly discounted price.
During this special three-hour workshop,
you will be introduced to the intuitive art ofSaori weaving.
Developed in Japan during the late Sixties by
Misao Jo (1913-2018) Saori weaving is uniqueand different from other traditional styles ofhand weaving. Whilst commercial factories
are only eager to produce “flawless” fabric,
the irregular selvage and accidental skip ofthread add the unprogrammed character tothe Saori cloth.
Using sustainable yarns and working in asmall group under Janine’s supervision,
the participants will explore the creative
possibilities offered by the relatively simple
wooden floor looms. The looms are prethreaded so all participants need do is choose
the colours and textures for your own uniquecloth. This workshop is suitable for beginners,
no previous weaving experience needed.

Erna Janine has been involved with natural
textiles for over 20 years. She studied handspinning with animal and plant fibres,botanical dyes and Viking age textile
construction: warp weighted looms, tablet
weaving, nalbinding etc. at the Icelandic
College for Traditional Handcrafts inReykjavik. For the last four years she has
been visiting Japan regularly to study Saori
freeweaving. Janine has been running the
Freeweaver Saori Studio in London since2017 where people can use floor looms to
make simple garments of art pieces fromrecycled and natural yarns.
WORKSHOPS(a) Sunday 20 October – 10.30am-1.30pm(b) Sunday 20 October – 2.00pm-5.00pm(c) Monday 21 October – 2.00pm-5.00pm(d) Monday 21 October – 6.00pm-9.00pm*Please specify which date/time you would
like to participate when booking.

In association with:

Japan Room Lecture: Nazani Tea Time from Ancient Greece to
MugichaTuesday 29 October 2019				

6.30pmLodge Room No 11
The Freemasons’ HallGreat Queen Street
London WC2B 5AZ
Free for Japan Society members
Non-members: £12
Booking essential - Booking deadline: Friday 25 October
Guest Speaker: Arleen Ouzounian, Founderof Nazani Tea
Book Presentation: The Sphinxing Rabbit by
Pauline Chakmakjian, MA
For all tea lovers, Nazani Tea will host an
evening bridging the tea and infusion
traditions of the East and West. Though
Nazani Tea has a wide award-winning range
of infusions, the evening will focus on Kykeon(both modern and traditional recipes), an
ancient Greek blend commonly drunk 2,500
years ago, resurrected and sold for the firsttime in modern history, as well as Nazani
Tea’s roasted spring barley, also originallyfrom ancient Greece but now well-known
as mugicha in Japan. The health benefits
and the importance of herbal infusions andflowers will also be covered. Nazani Tea willgift tea samples for the enjoyment of allattendees to take away with them as wemove to present the publication of the host’s
first book of a series of ten books planned,
The Sphinxing Rabbit: Her Sovereign Majesty.

Nazani Tea is based on the three principles
of luxury, integrity and elegance. Nazani Tea
is focused on resurrecting ancient herbal
blends and bringing new concepts to the UK
such as colour-changing infusions and a new
type of mint. Nazani Tea’s wild mountainmint (from Armenia), organic olive leaf (fromNaxos, Greece), organic chamomile (from
Scotland) and both Kykeon™ blends havewon Great Taste Awards from the Guild ofFine Food.
Please let us know if you would like to takean optional tour of the Freemasons’ Hall at
5.15 for 5.30pm.
Host: Pauline Chakmakjian, Visit Kyoto
Ambassador.

In association with The Japan Room and Nazani TeaSixth Form Japan Day 2019
Thursday 7 November 2019(Registration from 10.00am)

10.20am to 4.00pm

SOAS University of London
Russell Square Campus
London WC1H 0XG
Free of charge to schools
Booking deadline: Monday 28 October 2019
The Japan Society’s Sixth Form Japan Day
will be returning to SOAS this autumn on
Thursday 7 November.
The Japan Society, in association with
Ritsumeikan University (UK) and SOAS, ispleased once again to invite Sixth Form
students to attend its popular FREE one-day
course about Japan, its culture and its role in
the global community.
The day is designed to give an insight into
aspects of Japan, traditional and modern,through lectures and practical workshops. It isaimed at students who are studying Japanese,
but will also be of interest to those who have
not had the opportunity to do so formally at
school, but who are considering Japanesestudies at universities in the UK, or applying
to do other subjects at universities in Japan.
Students will also have the chance to speak
one on one with representatives from a rangeof universities offering Japanese studies.
The course will feature a keynote address by
Fumio Obata, London-based graphic novelist/
illustrator and author of Just So Happens, ahighly acclaimed graphic novel which has now

In association with

been translated and published in 8 different
countries. The day will also include a lecture
by a special guest speaker from Ritsumeikan
University and a talk by Dr Jennifer Coatesfrom University of Sheffield.
Elective practical workshops in small groups
will allow students to take part in a rangeof activities, including: Calligraphy, Cookery(Sushi), Oekakinden (Smart Wearable Sports
Technology), Manga (Drawing), Martial Arts
(Aikido), Japanese Taiko (drumming), and alanguage focused workshop led by the JapanFoundation exploring the use of Kanji ineveryday Japanese conversation.
Booking information
Places will be issued on a first-come-firstserved basis. Students may attend on theirown or be accompanied by a member of staff.
For more information about the workshops
and to apply, please visit our website
anddownload
thebooking
form:
www.japansociety.org.uk /schools/sixthform-japan-day/Japan Society Book Club: The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi
Kawakami
Monday 11 November 2019 				7.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members

The Nakano Thrift Shop tells a funny, heartwarming story about love, life, and humanrelationships that features a delightfully
offbeat cast of characters. The protagonist
is Hitomi, an inexperienced shop assistant
who works the register at Mr. Nakano’s
thrift shop. She has fallen for her coworker, the oddly reserved Takeo. Unsureof how to attract his attention, she seeks
advice from her employer’s sister, Masayo,
whose sentimental entanglements makeher a somewhat unconventional guide.
Animating Kawakami’s playful novel is Mr.
Nakano himself, an original, entertaining,and enigmatic creation whose compulsive
mannerisms, secretive love life, and impulsive
behaviour defy all expectations.

Hiromi Kawakami (b. 1958) is a Japanesewriter known for her off-beat fiction. Bornin Tokyo, she first began submitting stories
to science-fiction magazines and taking on
editorial work while majoring in biology at
Ochanomizu University. Her literary comingof age arrived in 1994, when she won the
Pascal Short Story Award for New Writers,
an all-online competition, for Kamisama(God Bless You). In 1996, she received the
Akutagawa Prize for her short story Hebi ofumu (tr. Record of a Night Too Brief ), which
established her among the standard bearersof the Japanese literary world.

Minyo Crusaders at Jazz Café – Pre-show Talk
Monday 11 November 20198:00pm (Doors open 7.00pm)

The Jazz Cafe
5 Parkway
London NW1 7PG
A valid ticket for Minyo Crusaders at Jazz Café entitles the holder toattend the event.
Discount for Japan Society members - see below for details

To celebrate their first show in the UK, themembers of Minyo Crusaders in conversation
with Professor Dr David W Hughes, specialist
in the field of Japanese music, particularly
its folk traditions, will discuss how they
developed their unique music style.
Minyo Crusaders rework traditional Japanesefolk songs (minyō) with Latin, African and
Caribbean rhythms to create some of themost infectious music anywhere between
Latin America and Japan. The punchy andinventive arrangements of this ten-piece
big band seamlessly blend Afro-Cuban
and Caribbean rhythms with old Japaneseminyōto create a compellingly modern
sound. Since label Mais Um released the
band’s debut album Echoes of Japan in April
the acclaim has been universal.
The band’s sound could be described ashaving a retro Japanese feel influenced by ahefty dose of worldwide music. Otemoyan,
a well-known folk song from southern
Kumamoto Prefecture about a young
maiden marrying a man with a pockmarked
face, is reshaped into a reggae track with dub
sensibilities. Akita Nikata Bushi from northern
Akita Prefecture takes its cue from Ethiopian
funk, while Fukuoka Prefecture’s Tanko Bushiswings to the sound of boogaloo. All thewhile, however, minyō’s distinctive stylised
form of singing is maintained, providing a
sense of authenticity despite the melange ofrhythms.
For more information visit:www.comono.co.uk/live/minyo-crusaders/
www.thejazzcafelondon.com/event/minyocrusaders/**Japan Society members and friends canreceive £3 off £18 tickets by entering thecode ‘JSOC’ when booking at the following
address:
www.ticketweb.uk/event/minyo-crusadersjazz-cafe-tickets/9624235?pl=JC

Panel Discussion: Art and Political Censorship in Japan
Tuesday 12 November 2019		

6.30pmThenga Café
120 Cromer Street
Kings Cross
London WC1H 8BS
Japan Society members: £7 (Select ‘concession’ when booking)Non-members: £10
Booking essential

Join us for a panel discussion where special
guests will discuss the issues of freedom of
expression, censorship and self-censorshipin the arts in Japan, in response to the
shutdown, earlier this summer, of the After‘Freedom of Expression?’ section of the
Aichi Triennale. Ironically, this section of theexhibition looked at the history of censorshipof artworks in Japan and, although it reopened during the triennale, the question ofcensorship remains as the government andcity of Nagoya both withdrew previously
approved funding.
In this event, Art Action UK 2019 ResidencyAward winner Satoshi Hashimoto will bringfresh insights from Japan, and sociologist
Dr Yoshitaka Mori will share his analysis of
the current situation in videoconference
from Japan. Hashimoto and artist, curator
and writer Morgan Quaintance will thendiscuss their perspectives on the issues. The
discussion will be chaired by Jenny White,head of Head of Visual Arts Programme at
the British Council.

Since 2011, Art Action UK has been supporting
artists, who have been affected by natural andmanmade disasters, and many of its artists
and associates are directly affected by the
shutdown. International artists have stoodwith local artists; some protested against thiscensorship by withdrawing their exhibit fromthe Triennale, while others modified theirexhibition by setting up alternative projects
and coordinating demonstrations on thestreet.
Vegan canapé and drinks will be provided
by Thenga Café, and this will also be an
opportunity to meet and exchange views
with Art Action UK artists and other guests.
Art Action UK is a collective of artists,
curators, gallerists and writers who are
exploring various means to show solidarity
and support for artists who have been
affected by natural and manmade disasters.
The 2011 Japanese earthquake, tsunami
and subsequent Fukushima nuclear fallout
has been the catalyst for Art Action UK.
AAUK has been awarding artists residency
opportunities in the UK and delivering awide range of events.

This event is organised by Art Action UK in association with Japan Society.

Farewell Reception for Ambassador & Madame Tsuruoka
Tuesday 12 November 2019			

7.00pm – 9.00pm

Barber-Surgeons’ Hall
Monkwell Square
Wood Street
BarbicanLondon EC2Y 5BL£60 per person - Japan Society members and their guests only
Booking essential

Ambassador and Madame Tsuruoka will
shortly be returning to Japan and the Japan
Society will hold a drinks reception to thankthem for their support over the past three
years and to give members the chance to say
farewell.

Ambassador Tsuruoka has been an active andcommitted President of the Society during
his tenure in London, and we have many
memories of enjoyable times spent together.
We will be partnering with the JapaneseChamber of Commerce and Industry andNippon Club on this event and do hope as
many members as possible will be able tocome. Ambassador and Madame Tsuruoka
have been staunch supporters of the Society
and its activities and we will miss them.

Bilingual Public Speaking Club
Wednesday 13 November 20197.00pm – 9.00pm

Nomura International plc
One Angel Lane
London EC4R 3AB£5 per person
Booking essential

Following the successful events in Augustand October, the Japan Society and the
Association of Speakers Clubs (ASC) aredelighted to invite you to another sessionof the first bilingual Japanese-English public
speaking club in the UK. All are welcome,regardless of whether you were able tojoin us before, to what we hope will be a
regular monthly event. The club is open toanyone who would like to improve their skills
at speaking in Japanese or English and tolearn techniques and tricks to expand theircommunication and presentation abilities.
Good knowledge of Japanese and English
is desirable but all levels are welcome to join
us. Japanese native speakers and students
of Japanese or English are encouraged toparticipate!
The Bilingual Public Speaking Club is basedon the ASC method and its step by step
programme to develop the confidence andskills to succeed in speaking in public. The
first part of the session will be in English andafter a short break the second part will follow
in Japanese. Participants will follow the ASC
Speakers Guide introductory programme,
which
involves
progressing
throughspeech construction, using gestures andbody language, using your voice and using
Co-organised by:humour to effectively get your point across,in addition to getting detailed feedback from
evaluators at each step.
Different roles are required (speakers,
evaluators, helpers) both in English andJapanese, so please let us know if you would
like to be considered for any of these roles(more information will be provided in thiscase). Those wishing to attend and simply
observe are also welcome.
Light refreshments will be provided.
We are grateful to Graham Street, andmembers of the ASC public speaking
club at Nomura International for theirencouragement and assistance in setting up
this group. You can find more informationand details about public speaking clubs in
the ASC website http://speakersclubs.uk/

In association with:

Why Does Japan Still Use ‘Orphanages’ Rather Than FamilyBased Foster Care and Adoption? – with Michael Rivera King
Monday 18 November 2019				

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free Lecture – booking recommended

In contemporary Japan, approximately 85 percent of children in alternative care are placedin large institutions. This contrasts with global
discourse, encapsulated in the UN Guidelines
for the Alternative Care of Children, and withpractice in most OECD countries, which use
family-based foster care more extensively.
Explanations for Japan’s outlier status often
focus on a homogenous national culture, yetthere is significant regional variation between
local authorities in how policy is implemented,
most readily visible in the percentage of thoseentering care who are placed into foster care.
To understand this puzzle Dr Michael Rivera
King spent one year conducting ethnographic
research in child guidance centres in Japan. In
these centres the decision is made on whether
or not to remove the child from the family
and, if so, on whether they will enter foster
care or institutional care. There is significant
regional variation in policy implementation
here, explained by differences in resources,
norms, and the organisational cultures of thechild guidance centres.
Despite these differences one value wasfound to be universal: the construction of
the family-bond, between child and ‘parent’.

Michael argues that this is central to ourunderstanding of why institutions are usedover family-based foster care.
This is a ‘hot topic’ in welfare at present, with
politicians and the Ministry of Health, Labour,and Welfare urging change on national andlocal levels. In this lecture, Michael will argue
that these efforts are likely to have a limited
impact unless they take this construction of
the family-bond into account and focus on
redefining the function of foster care.
Dr Michael Rivera King is the CEO of
Ashinaga Association in the UK (registeredcharity number: 1183750). During his timeon JET (2006-2011) Michael set up Smile Kids
Japan, a volunteer group that saw over 3,000
people volunteer sustainably in their local‘orphanages’. Following the 2011 Tohoku
earthquake and tsunami Michael raisedover $900,000 for those affected. Michaelcontributed to the 2016 revision to the Child
Welfare Act, on foster care and adoption, andcompleted his doctorate at the Universityof Oxford in 2017. His book ‘Child GuidanceCentres in Japan: Alternative Care and theFamily’ will be published by Nissan Routledge
next year.

Saori Freestyle Weaving Workshop
Sunday 8 and Monday 9 December 2019(see below for further details)
Craft Central
397-411 Westferry Road
London E143AE
Booking essential
Japan Society members: £35
Non-members: £45
Booking deadline: Wednesday 4 December
Following the successful sessions in
September and October, the Japan Society isdelighted to present the third Saori freestyleweaving workshop, led by Erna Janine.
During this special three-hour workshop,
you will be introduced to the intuitive art ofSaori weaving.
Developed in Japan during the late Sixties by
Misao Jo (1913-2018) Saori weaving is uniqueand different from other traditional styles ofhand weaving. Whilst commercial factories
are only eager to produce “flawless” fabric,
the irregular selvage and accidental skip ofthread add the unprogrammed character tothe Saori cloth.
Using sustainable yarns, the participants will
explore the creative possibilities offered by
the relatively simple wooden floor looms. Alllooms are pre-threaded so all you will haveto do is choose your colours and textures
for your own unique cloth. This workshop is
suitable for beginners, no previous weaving
experience needed.

Erna Janine has been involved with natural
textiles for over 20 years. She studied handspinning with animal and plant fibres,botanical dyes and Viking age textile
construction: warp weighted looms, tablet
weaving, nalbinding etc. at the Icelandic
College for Traditional Handcrafts inReykjavik. For the last four years she has
been visiting Japan regularly to study Saori
freeweaving. Janine has been running the
Freeweaver Saori Studio in London since2017 where people can use floor looms to
make simple garments of art pieces fromrecycled and natural yarns.
WORKSHOPS(a) Sunday 8 December – 10.30am-1.30 pm(b) Sunday 8 December – 2.00pm-5.00pm(c) Monday 9 December – 2.00am-5.00 pm(d) Monday 9 December – 6.00pm-9.00pm*Please specify which date/time you would
like to participate when booking.

In association with:

Japan Society Book Club: Sweet Bean Paste by Durian
Sukegawa
Monday 9 December 2019 				7.00pmThe Japan Society
13 / 14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP
Free for Japan Society Members

Sweet Bean Paste is a moving novel about
the burden of the past and the redemptive
power of friendship. Its protagonist Sentaro
spends his days in a tiny confectionery
shop selling dorayaki. He has a criminal
record, drinks too much, and his dream of
becoming a writer is just a distant memory.
But everything changes when he meets
Tokue, an elderly woman with a troubled
past who teaches him how to make the best
sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. As
their friendship flourishes, social pressures
become impossible to escape and Tokue’s
dark secret is revealed.
Durian Sukegawa (b. 1962) is a Japanesewriter, poet and musician born in Tokyo. Hegrew up in Kobe and Nagoya and studiedoriental philosophy at Waseda University,
before going on to work as a reporter inBerlin and Cambodia in the early 1990s. He
has written a number of books and essays,
TV programmes and films.

The book club is held every month. Thereis no restriction on the nationality of theauthors read, but books should be available
in translation in both Japanese and English.
The discussion is conducted mainly in English,
but you can choose the language in which
you read the book. The intention is simple:
to explore the themes of the book, express
personal opinions on the style and content,
discuss how the book has changed (or not) intranslation and to have a relaxed discussion
with others who have similar interests.

Japan Society Christmas Party
Tuesday 10 December 20196.30 to 8.00pm

Embassy of Japan
101-104 Piccadilly
London W1J 7JT£25 per head
Japan Society members and their guests only
Booking essential – deadline Friday 6 December 2019

This year’s Christmas Party will once again
be held in the Ballroom of the Japanese
Embassy, by courtesy of The Ambassador.
We hope that many members will join us forthis festive occasion. This annual gathering
provides members with a great opportunity
to catch up with friends at the close of the year
and start thinking ahead to new challenges
in 2020. Members may bring guests but
space may well be limited, so early booking
is advised; places will be allocated on a firstcome-first-served basis.
We are extremely grateful to our host the
Embassy of Japan.

Names are required for the Embassy security
in advance therefore early booking is advised.
You will be sent a confirmation of yourbooking to print out and show on arrival.
Please note that guests will not be
admitted without a form of photographic
identification (passport, driving licence etc).
Cancellation policy
A full refund will be given where notice ofcancellation is received by Friday 6 December
2019. In other cases, refunds will be given at
the discretion of the Japan Society and event
partners.

This event is kindly supported by:Colin Alexander McVean, a Scottish engineer in early Meiji
Japan – with Colin Houston
Monday 16 December 2019				

6.45pmThe Swedenborg Society
20-21 Bloomsbury Way (Hall entrance on Barter St)
London WC1A 2TH
Free Lecture – booking recommended

Colin Alexander McVean (1838-1912) was theson of a Free Church minister on the islandof Iona, on the western coast of Scotland.
He trained as a civil engineer and following
some time with the Admiralty survey and thebuilding of railways in Bulgaria and parts of
the Ottoman Empire, he headed to Japan as
one of the first civil engineers from Scotland at
the time of the Meiji restoration. McVean was
involved in the construction of lighthouses,
had his own foundry business for a periodof time and latterly was then appointed
Surveyor in Chief to the Emperor of Japan.
He was responsible for the first nationwide
triangular surveys of Japan as well as publicbuildings in early Meiji period, including
redevelopment scheme of burned Ginza
district and construction of the first technicalcollege buildings (the Imperial College ofEngineering). He founded the meteorologicaland astronomical section in the Survey Office,brought in the latest observation instruments
including seismographs and in his spare time,
as a keen bird watcher, published some works
on the ornithology of ‘Yedo’ (aka Edo, thecurrent Tokyo). In total, McVean spent 8 years
in Japan, from 1868 to 1876, and achieved anenormous amount in that time, passing on
his skill and enthusiasm to a young team ofJapanese recruits in the survey department.
Never forgetting his Scottish roots, he took
every opportunity to celebrate Scotland andshare with others his traditions and culture.
In this lecture, his great-grandson, Colin
Houston, will explore the fascinating history of
his ancestor in the context of Anglo-ScottishJapanese relations in Meiji Japan. He will
examine personal and archival documents
and photos by Colin Alexander McVean
revealing a little-known aspect of Japanesemodernisation in the late 19th century.
Colin Houston has worked in tourism in
Scotland for over 37 years. He is currently
an international tourism consultant and cofounder of Aurora Spirit Distillery, situatedin Arctic Norway. Colin has a keen interestin genealogy and tracing his family history.
When his aunt died in 1998 he discoveredboxes of diaries, papers and also a uniquephoto album from his Great -Grandfathers
time in Japan. Colin has set about transcribing
and digitising much of this archive material.