Events 2013Annual & Special Events
10 Jan		Looking back on Japan – Sir David Warren, Former Ambassador to Japan (2008 - 2012)18 Feb		Book Launch – Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII, Sir Hugh Cortazzi

27 Jun		Annual General Meeting of the Japan Society at the Embassy of Japan

4 Nov		

Japan Society Annual Dinner at One Great George Street, supported by JTI

5 Oct		

Japan Matsuri 2013 at Trafalgar Square, with JCCI, Japan Association and the Nippon Club

5 Dec		

Japan Society Christmas Party at the Embassy of Japan, supported by the Japan CentreArts & Culture
12 Jan		Threads of Silk and Gold – Japan Society Tour with Curator Clare Pollard, The Ashmolean Museum

28 Jan		Special Guest Lecture: Yuichiro Kanai, Set Designer for ANJIN

3 Feb		

Zero Focus film screening and reception with director Isshin Inudo

17 Mar		Visit, Tea and Special Talk at the BADA Antiques and Fine Art Fair

23 Mar		Curator-led tour of the Fan Museum Archives

18 Apr		

Japanese Fiction in Translation: Michael Emmerich and Stephen Dodd in conversation

15 May		East Asian Friendship Event 2013: Gala Opera Evening at St Giles’ Church

11 Jun		Britain & Japan – 400 Years: A Voyage Through Words and Music, Japan400 event with the Japan Society

14 Sep		

Private brunch and artist’s talk with Miyako Ishiuchi at Michael Hoppen gallery

1 Oct		

Private view of Creation: An Exhibition of Japanese Armour ‘Miyako Yoroi’

15 Oct				Artists and their World: The view from contemporary Japan ― a discussion with members of the 		Dandans collectiveBusiness
Lunchtime Lectures At JETRO
5 Jun		A pre-G8 overview – Dr Gerard Lyons, Economic Advisor to the Mayor of London

11 Jun		

The Road to Recovery – Lori Henderson, Executive Director, British Chamber of Commerce in Japan

2 Oct				Current Developments in North Korea – Aidan Foster-Carter, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at 		Leeds University

21 Nov				

A Japanese View on World Energy Future: The Impact of the Shale Revolution - Dr Ken Koyama, 		Managing Director of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan

Joint Lunches with JCCI - Guests of Honour
At the National Liberal Club unless otherwise stated. 		
22 Feb		

UK-Japan Nuclear Cooperation – Sir John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Adviser

2 May				Special lunch to coincide with the UK-Japan 21st Century Group’s 30th Annual Meeting,supported by Nikko AM (at the Cavalry and Guards Club)

30 Jul		Can the UK remain part of the EU? – Charles Grant, Centre for European Reform

16 Dec				Why the UK’s relationship with Japan matters – Sir Simon ­Fraser, Permanent Under-Secretary of the 		UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Other5 Feb		2013 Japanese Securities Summit with the Japanese Securities Dealers Association24 Oct		The Potential of the Japanese Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Market with UKTI & JETRO

12 Nov		

Charles Beazley, President of Nikko AM, at the House of Commons

Chairman’s Events - Private, off the record meetings with an informal talk by the guest of honour
10 Jan		Dinner with Sir David Warren, Former Ambassador to Japan (2008 - 2012)

9 May		

Working Breakfast - Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Roger Gifford at The Mansion House

9 Jul		The UK-Japan Relationship - The Rt Hon Hugo Swire at PricewaterhouseCoopers

10 Sept		

UK-EU relations - The Rt Hon David Lidington at Nomura International plc

22 Oct		Overview of the NHS and global pharmaceuticals - The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt at SJ Berwin

LecturesJapan Society Lectures
At the Swedenborg Society.
21 Jan		Curating Mariko Mori’s ‘Rebirth’, Kathleen Soriano

20 Feb		

Into the Mountain Greenery: Early Western climbers in the Japanese Alps, Hamish Ion

18 Mar		

Sir Alfred East (1844-1913): A Centenary Talk, Paul Johnson

15 Apr		

The Tokaido Road, Nigel Caple

22 May		Jomon Revelations: What the prehistoric Japanese did for us, Simon Kaner

17 Jun		

400 years ago: The English mission to Japan and its legacy, Timon Screech

15 & 18 Jul				Carmen Blacker Lecture 2013 – A Glimpse of the Modestly Literate Picnic Lovers of Old Japan, 		Toshio Yokoyama (18 July at SISJAC, Norwich)

19 Aug		

Kimigayo to Japanoise: 160 years of Japan-UK relations in popular music, Akira Imamura

16 Sep				The youth of things: an exploration of 1920s Japanese culture through the literature of Kajii 		
Motojiro, Stephen Dodd

21 Oct		Ginkgo: An Evolutionary and Cultural Biography, Peter Crane

18 Nov 				Love Statues, Shell Fish and Communist Treachery: Japan’s early postwar responses to the War 		
Crimes Issue, Barak Kushner

16 Dec		Japan’s Family Planning for the Global War on Population, Aya Homei

With the Japan Foundation
10 Oct		A Short Introduction to R. H. Blyth, Kuniyoshi Ueda

With Japan Room
29 Oct		

The Medieval Fan Game -Tosenkyo

Lifestyle
24 Apr		Special Tour of the Bonsai Collection – Kew Gardens

30 Apr		

Japan Society Pub Quiz at the Prince of Wales

16 May		The Power of the Vegetable – A cooking demonstration with Toshio Tanahashi

1 Jun		

Trooping the Colour – Special seats at the Major General’s Review on Horse Guards Parade12 Jun		The Japan Society Golf Tournament 2013, supported by BDO LLP

4 Jul		

Strains of Odyssey (天心の譜) – Oguri Ken’ichi: Special Talk & Film Screening

26 Jul		Japanese Whisky Tasting at Tsuru

9 Aug		

Dinner Party Sushi – Special Class at Sozai Cooking School

15 Sep		Two Cultures United by Tea, Japan400 event with the Japan Society

21 Sept		Collar Cup Golf Tournament against JCCI, at Buckinghamshire Golf Club, supported by BDO LLP

29 Sep		

Japan Society Family Day at the Golden Hinde with the Embassy of Japan

Japanese Conversation Group - held on the first Tuesday of every month at The Old Explorer. An opportunity forJapanese speakers of all nationalities to come together and speak Japanese.
Book Club (Held on the second Monday of each month)
7 Jan		

Back Roads to Far Towns by Matsuo Basho

11 Feb		

The Box Man by Kobo Abe

11 Mar		Some Prefer Nettles by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki

8 Apr		

Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

13 May		

Crackling Mountain and Other Stories by Osamu Dazai

10 Jun		

The Briefcase by Hiromi Kawakami

8 Jul		
12 Aug		
9 Sep		14 Oct		
11 Nov		
9 Dec		The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
Evening Clouds by Junzo ShonOne Hundred Poets with translator Peter MacMillan
Milky Way Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa
Masks by Fumiko Enchi
Tales from a Mountain Cave by Inoue Hisashi with translator Angus Turvill

Earthquake-Related Events
As at 20 November 2013 the Japan Society Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund (Rose Fund) has raised £755,000 from 1715
donors. The fund is being disbursed in association with the Sanaburi Foundation, Sendai to support projects plannedand managed by local NPOs for the long-term recovery of the region. The Society also continues to organise andparticipate in events to aid awareness and recovery in Tohoku. In 2013 these included:
6 March		
14 March		
16 April		
17 Nov		

Connecting the Last Mile: The Role of Communications in the Great East Japan Earthquake
Earthquake Charity Live: Revive Concert
Informal meeting & discussion with Ryo Ijichi, Director, On the Road
HOPE Charity Concert for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan

Schools Education
Reaching over 7,000 school children annually
All Year						Japan in Your Classroom School visits. During 2013, 80 visits were made to schools throughout theUK including visits by Kimie Markarian who taught both students and teachers how to 		use soroban.								School links. Establishing new partnerships and strengthening existing links through UK-Japan 		
exchange trips. During 2013 Kobe University Fuzoku Junior High School brought 150 students totheir new partner school, Cirencester Deer Park School, and Cropwell Bishop Primary School inNottingham had another successful visit from their partner school, Komaki Elementary School in Nagano.						Japan UK LIVE! Encouraging exchange between young people in Japan and the UK. A bilingual 		
website that removes the language barrier, allowing participants to concentrate on what they 		want to say, rather than what they know how to say.				

Loan Resources: Artefacts and materials for use in the classroom are on loan to schools throughout
the year including; the Japan Activity Chest, calligraphy brushes and soroban.				

Ready Steady NihonGo! A KS2 language resource for primary schools, accessed via the Japan 		Society website and also available on CD.

8 March										Japan Conference for Schools Day with the Japan Foundation at the Embassy of Japan, London. 		
An annual event, this year involved over fifty schools. The day encompassed a series of primary 		and secondary language and school linking workshops, along with a key note speech 			by Bernadette Holmes, from Languages First at the University of Cambridge, on the new National
Curriculum.

19 April 				Discover Japan at Havering Learning and Development Centre: a free one day course for teachers
looking at Japan in Secondary Art and in the Primary Classroom.

8 Nov								Sixth Form Japan Day at SOAS: a global perspective, a door to new opportunities, giving sixth form
students throughout the UK an opportunity to experience Japanese culture and learn more about
Japanese university courses. The event was attended by representatives from both British and 		Japanese institutions; including Ritsumeikan, Tsukuba, Dōshisha, Cambridge and Leeds University.

Small Grants
During 2013, £16,890 worth of funds were awarded to thirty grass roots level projects throughout the UK, introducing
Japan, its language and culture to a wide audience including schools and universities students. The Japan Society
Grants Committee continued to support education projects, which this year included; school linking activities tocommemorate the 15th Anniversary of the Derbyshire and Toyota City twinning agreement, the establishment ofJapanese language teaching at Great Malvern Primary School in Worcestershire, and a Japan Day at Slater Primary
School in Leicestershire, involving workshops on soroban and on haiku by British haiku poet Paul Conneally.