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BREEZE #77

MARCH, 2014: BREEZE ISSUE #77
Like 0ShareA Free E-Newsletter for Friends of Japan & Teachers of Japanese

GREETING FROM THE DIRECTOR

March is here, and with it comes that tragic memory of the earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan'sTohoku area in 2011, and the resulting loss of 18,500 people.
I was in Tokyo on that day, March 11th, and eleven days later I came to Los Angeles to be the director ofJFLA. Three years have passed, and the time has come for me to return to Tokyo.
I started my job here wanting to show our deep gratitude to our American friends who open-heartedlyextended their warm hands to us when we were in turmoil. All programs we started since 2011 were ways
to say Arigato (Thank you!) to you. Though it seemed nearly impossible at the time, we even relocated ouroffice so that we could better serve the community.
Together with the four years I served in Washington DC, I have spent seven years in the US and it has
become my second home. Now just like when I came here, I am bidding farewell to you with lots of Arigato
for your kind support of the Japan Foundation for years to come as well. Thank you!
Misako Ito, DirectorPrivacy - Terms

JFLA LECTURE SERIES 16: ARTIST TALK WITH KOKI TANAKA - 55TH VENICE BIENNALE
INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION AWARD RECIPIENTTUESDAY, MARCH 11 AT 7PM
VENUE: JFLA AUDITORIUM
Artist Koki Tanaka and curator Gabriel Ritter will discuss the ability to unlock human potential throughcollaboration and its relation to disaster recovery, like the Great East Japan Earthquake. Tanaka'sexhibition, abstract speaking – sharing uncertainty and collective acts, explores the relationship between
creation and collaboration.
Read MoreTOMORROW NIGHT!!
"THE GREAT PASSAGE" SCREENINGWEDNESDAY, MARCH 5 AT 7PM
VENUE: EGYPTIAN THEATRE, LOS ANGELES
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS
JFLA in collaboration with the Japan Business Association (JBA) and American Cinematheque presents thescreening of "The Great Passage," which was selected as Japan's entry for the Best Foreign Language Filmat the 86th Academy Awards. Details and ticket information will be available on the JFLA website soon.
Read More

JFLA LECTURE SERIES 17: NOH THEATRE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
THURSDAY, MARCH 13 AT 7:30PMVENUE: JFLA AUDITORIUM
A lecture and demonstration of Japanese traditional Noh theatre will be given by professional Noh actors
Tatsushige Udaka and Haruna Tanaka. They will perform a short dance and chant to showcase thedistinctive features of Noh body movements while introducing the role of Noh masks and costumes. The
lecture will discuss Noh's continued status as live performance art and how Noh actors of the 21st century
connect to the traditional theatre form.
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JAPANEMA: FREE JAPANESE CINEMA DOUBLE SCREENING"5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND" AND "THE GARDEN OF WORDS"WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26 AT 7PM
VENUE: JFLA AUDITORIUM
5 Centimeters Per Second is told in three interconnected segments: we follow a young man named Takaki
through his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge
to test the delicate petals of love.
The Garden of Words tells the story of Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school andis sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older thanhim. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainydays.

PHOTO EXHIBITION: THE WORLD HERITAGE IN JAPANPART 2: FEBRUARY 25 (TUE) – MARCH 22 (SAT)VENUE: JFLA AUDITORIUM
From historical monuments to beautiful natural environments, currently, there are a total of 17 cultural andnatural sites in Japan registered as UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Over 60 beautiful photographs ofthese sites were taken by renowned photographer, Kazuyoshi Miyoshi, is currently on display as a two-partexhibition at JFLA through March 22nd during normal library hours.
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JFLA DISPLAY: HINAMATSURI (JAPANESE DOLL FESTIVAL)
THROUGH MARCH 28
In celebration of Hinamatsuri, also known as Japanese Doll Festival or Girls' Day, which is held on March3, we will be displaying our Hina-ningyo (Japanese dolls) set in our library for the month of March. The
custom of displaying dolls began during the Heian period (8-10th century AD) when people believed thatthe dolls possessed the power to contain evil spirits. Make sure to visit this annual exhibit.

FISCAL YEAR 2014-2015 JAPANESE LANGUAGE GRANTS
We are pleased to announce the start of our Fiscal Year 2014-2015 grant programs that we organize
annually in support of Japanese-Language Education in the United States. These include the following:

1. Japanese Language Learners Event Grant previously known as "Speech Contest Grant" (Deadline:9/1/2014)
2. Japanese Teaching Material Purchase Grant (Deadlines: 3/15/2014 & 9/15/2014)
3. Salary Assistance Grant for Japanese Language Courses (Deadline: 4/10/2014)
4. Japanese-Language Education Project Grant (Deadline: 2 months prior to project start date).
Read MoreJFNY IS SEEKING A PART-TIME JAPANESE-LANGUAGE LECTURER
The Japan Foundation, New York (JFNY) invites applicants for a part-time lecturer position in Japaneselanguage. The position will be effective July/August 2014, with teaching duties beginning in September
2014. With our many years of experience and achievements in Japanese-Language Education, we, incooperation with The Nippon Club, offer an original Japanese language and culture course, JF Japanese
Language Course. Our course is based on "JF Standard" which our Headquarters in Japan havedeveloped. We seek applicants who are committed to Japanese-language education and open to "JFStandard."
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2013 JLPT RESULTS UPDATE
We have been notified by AATJ that hard copies of all score reports for those who took the 2013 JLPT inDecember were mailed out by the end of February. Please note that the website to view your scores
online will only be available until March 31 at 5pm (JAPAN TIME). All test taker data will also be deleted
from the JLPT Online Account at that time.
Read MoreJAPANESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION UPDATE #4: ADVOCACY - CALL FOR IDEAS ANDEXAMPLES
Let's strengthen the Japanese program at your school! Advocacy leads to student recruitment,
administration pride, and parent interest. The more people know how fun Japanese is, the more they'll
want to learn it, and the more students you'll have! These are big goals, so it's best to break them down
into simple, clear activity plans. That's where JFLA's upcoming Advocacy Activities page comes in. We arecompiling a list of things teachers can do to spread the word about the Japanese language.
Read More

TALK: THE ART OF THE FUTURE - ITŌ JAKUCHŪ'S COLORFUL REALM
SATURDAY, MARCH 8 AT 2PM
FREE TO THE PUBLIC
The past 20 years have witnessed a meteoric rise in the acclaim of the painter Itō Jakuchū (Japan, 1716–1800), which is owed in no small part to the Price Collection, which includes many important works bythe artist. Yukio Lippit, Harris K. Weston Associate Professor of the Humanities and professor of history ofPrivacy - Terms

art and architecture at Harvard University, explores the remarkable artistry of Jakuchū through hiscelebrated set of 33 nature scrolls, Colorful Realm of Living Beings , widely believed to be the greatest
work of bird-and-flower painting in Japan.

LOVE TO NIPPON
3.11 MEMORIAL EVENTSATURDAY, MARCH 8 @ LAPD HEADQUARTERS
People in Los Angeles will never forget the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster in Tohoku,
Japan on March 11, 2011. Along the coastline, thousands of people lost their lives with many of thesurvivors still living in temporary pre-fabricated houses. They are also waiting for their missing loved ones
and family members. It will take a long time before their community-oriented way of life is restored, one
filled with smiles and vitality. We would like to ask for your continued prayers and support for the children,
the elderly, the farmers, the fishermen and all the people in Tohoku.

J-LEAP REPORT PART 6/6
For the 2013-2014 school year, we have 11 assistant teachers (AT) at various schools around the country as
part of the Japanese Language Education Assistant Program (J-LEAP). This is the third year of this program
where assistant teachers are invited for up to two years to aid in strengthening the Japanese language
program at their respective schools. This month, we will feature the report from the following AT, who will
describe his experiences at American high schools.
Taku Okamoto, Redmond High School (Redmond, WA)

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2013 JET MEMORIAL INVITATION PROGRAM: PARTICIPANT ESSAYS PART 7/8
In July of 2013, 32 US high school students participated in the JET Memorial Invitational Program (JETMIP). They travelled to Japan for a two week study tour of the Tohoku region, focusing on the cities ofRikuzentakata and Ishonomaki. These were the cities that Montgomery Dickson and Taylor Anderson wereassigned during their tenure as JET Assistant Language Teachers. Sadly, they lost their lives during theGreat East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in March, 2011 and JET-MIP was created to commemorate theirwork. Participants took part in exchanges with local elementary, middle and high school students as well
as local community groups with the purpose of fostering friendship and goodwill between both countries.
Each month, we will feature four essays written by the participants describing their experiences in Japan.
Click below to read about their unforgettable journey.
Sean TruongAlessandra Tuel
Jacob Wolter
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