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BREEZE #100

FEBRUARY, 2016: BREEZE ISSUE #100
Like 0ShareA Free E-Newsletter for Friends of Japan & Teachers of Japanese

GREETING FROM THE DIRECTOR

Let me extend my warmest “Thank You” to the readers of Breeze for enjoying this e-newsletter everymonth. So many people have sent in wonderful congratulatory messages with their memorable pictures ofJapan to our “Japan Found Me” campaign to commemorate the publication’s 100th issue. I enjoyed every
one of your comments and pictures and reaffirmed my commitment to bringing the best culturalexperience of Japan to you.
In the last issue of Breeze, we announced Cinema Kabuki in Little Tokyo and two other locations in LA. If
you have not checked our website on this rare opportunity to enjoy Japanese traditional theater up close,
please do so as some of the venues require early reservations. We also have two art exhibitions currently
going on in LA; Ishiuchi Miyako’s ‘Postwar Shadows’ at the Getty Museum, and ‘Chromatic Passage,’ acollection of three local artists’ artworks at our auditorium in mid-Wilshire.
Japanese language teachers in the United States should take a look at our 2016-2017 grant programs
announcement. We are planning to ‘beef up’ our programs to serve you even better during our next fiscal
year. And lastly but not the least, our biggest congratulations to the four Japanese language teachers who
received Japanese Foreign Minister’s commendations! Our efforts to promote the Japanese language
mean nothing without such dedicated teachers like you.
Sincerely,

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Hideki Hara, Director

A NEW STYLE OF KABUKI THEATRE EXPERIENCE IN HD WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLESCINEMA KABUKI
Kabuki Theatre, with origins dating back to the 1600s, has remained steeped in tradition while constantlyinnovating. Live productions, featuring some of today's greatest Kabuki stars, are now being filmed withthe highest resolution cameras for screening in theatres around the world on state-of-the-art digitalprojection systems and six-channel sound.
Saturday, February 6 @7:30pm
Little Tokyo / Aratani Theatre“Lion Dance (Kagamijishi)”Thursday, February 11 @7:30pm
Westwood / Hammer Museum“The Haunted Sword (Kagotsurube)”
Saturday, February 13 @7:30pm
Torrance / AMC Rolling Hills 20“Togitatsu no Utare: Noda Version”Admission: Free
Read More

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JAPAN FOUND ME CAMPAIGN
We want to thank everyone who submitted a photo for our Japan Found Me Campaign celebrating the100th issue of our online newsletter Breeze! We received many pictures from individuals all across thecountry and we want to share everyone's story with all our readers. Make sure to click the link below tosee a full size collage of all the entries and to read about how these individuals Found Japan through ourprograms.
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EXHIBITION: CHROMATIC PASSAGES - 彩時期
CURATED BY KIO GRIFFITHTUESDAY, JANUARY 26 – FRIDAY, MARCH 4 (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
Chromatic Passages (彩時期) is a three person exhibit of Los Angeles based painters Kaoru Mansour,Shingo Francis and Devon Tsuno each exploring color transitions through time, space, pattern and rhythm.
The opulent quality of these paintings allude to a preternatural sense of place and moment beyond
material boundaries . Using movement of color to evoke the ever-changing character of all landscapes,
the artists exhibit their relationship to space and form inventing different ways of organizing the pictorialfield, carefully constructing the field of vision into a thematic range of light and color.
Read MoreJAPANEMA: FREE JAPANESE CINEMA SCREENING
HEARTFELT MOVIE THAT SINGS THE SONG OF THE UNHEROIC HERO"A STORY OF YONOSUKE" (160MINS, 2012)
DIRECTED BY SHUICHI OKITAWEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 @ 7PM (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

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Yonosuke arrives at university in the late 1980s, a time when Japan is booming and the economy is rainingcash. Hopelessly naive, and hopelessly self-confident, he comes to the big city and annoying andcharming everyone in equal measure, but his good nature brings him romance and a loyal group offriends. The next 20 years finds him following the winding road of contemporary Japanese history, filledwith twists and turns.
Watch Trailer

JAPANEMA: FREE JAPANESE CINEMA SCREENINGONE OF THE KAWASE’S MASTERPIECE FILM
"STILL THE WATER" (121MINS, 2014)
DIRECTED BY NAOMI KAWASE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 @ 7PM (JFLA AUDITORIUM)
IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
On the subtropical Japanese island of Amami, traditions about nature remain eternal. During the full-moonnight of traditional dances in August, 16-year-old Kaito discovers a dead body floating in the sea. His
girlfriend Kyoko will attempt to help him understand this mysterious discovery. Together, Kaito and Kyoko
will learn to become adults by experiencing the interwoven cycles of life, death and love.
Watch Trailer

JF NIHONGO TEA TIME
LET'S CHAT IN JAPANESE!
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 6-8PM
REGISTER NOW!
Come join our casual conversation café! Stop by anytime! At this popular event, you'll enjoy conversation
with native Japanese speakers while having Japanese tea & snacks! All levels are welcome! Bring yourfriends with you! Japanese language experience is not necessary—this event is open to everyone, ages
18 and up! If you are interested in our JF Nihongo language courses, this is a good opportunity to see ourinformation center and classroom, and to meet our staff.

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ISHIUCHI MIYAKO: POSTWAR SHADOWSTHROUGH FEBRUARY 21, 2016 (GETTY CENTER)
In the 1970s Ishiuchi Miyako shocked Japan's male-dominated photography establishment with Yokosuka
Story , a gritty, deeply personal project about the city where she spent her childhood and where the UnitedStates established a naval base in 1945. Working prodigiously ever since, Ishiuchi has consistently fused
the personal and political in her photographs, interweaving her own identity with the complex history ofpostwar Japan that emerged from the shadows cast by American occupation.
This exhibition is the first in the United States to survey Ishiuchi's prolific career and will include
photographs, books, and objects from her personal archive. Beginning with Yokosuka Story (1977-78), theshow traces her extended investigation of life in postwar Japan and culminates with her current series ひろしま /hiroshima , on view seventy years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
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2016-17 JAPANESE LANGUAGE GRANTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE!
We are pleased to announce the start of our Fiscal Year 2016-17 grant programs that we organize annuallyin 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" (Deadlines:
3/1/2016 & 9/1/2016)
2. Japanese Teaching Material Purchase Grant (Deadlines: 3/15/2016 & 9/15/2016)
3. Salary Assistance Grant for Japanese Language Courses (Deadline: 4/10/2016)
4. Japanese-Language Education Project Grant (Deadline: 2 months prior to project start date)
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NEW LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS
We acquired several new books in English and Japanese during the past few months and below is a list ofwhat we added. There are books in English focusing on upcoming events we are organizing such asCinema Kabuki, as well as new Japanese language study materials for those interested in learning thelanguage. Make sure to drop by and apply to become a member if you haven't already done so. Ourannual library membership fee is only $2 and you get a free cloth book bag.

THE FOREIGN MINISTER'S COMMENDATIONS IN HONOR OF THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF
THE END OF THE WAR
On December 9th, 2015, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the Foreign Minister's Commendationin Honor of the 70th Anniversary of the End of the War to 28 individuals and 14 groups with outstandingachievements in the promotion of friendship between Japan and the United States. Out of the 28
individuals, there were four Japanese language teachers listed in alphabetical order including Associate
Professor of Japanese Dr. Fumie Kato of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Mamiya Sahara
Worland formerly of Great Falls Elementary School, Miyuki Johnson of Elkins Pointe Middle School(pictured), and Yukiyo Moorman of Walt Whitman High School. We congratulate them all on this wonderfulachievement and for supporting Japanese language education in the United States.
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2015-2016 J-LEAP REPORTS
For the 2015-2016 school year, we invited ten assistant teachers (AT) to various schools around thecountry as part of the Japanese Language Education Assistant Program (J-LEAP). This is the fifth year of
this program where schools around the country are given the opportunity to invite an AT for up to twoyears to aid in strengthening their Japanese language program. This month, we will feature the reports
from the following ATs detailing their experiences at American schools. There are also two reports written
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by Leslie Okada about the follow up training in San Diego as well as the importance of this program.

Mihoko Tsujino, Castro Valley High School (Castro Valley, CA)
Yukihiro Sakamoto, Alisal High School (Salinas, CA)2015 J-LEAP Follow up Training in San Diego
What Is J-LEAP and What Does It Have to Do with Me?

JAPANESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION UPDATE 27:
OVERVIEW OF JFLA JAPANESE TEACHING RESOURCESJFLA supports teachers who are teaching the Japanese language in classrooms across the US. To do that,
we connect teachers to each other and spread the word about useful information and resources via JFLA’s
Teacher Page and JFLA’s Library.
Read More2015 JET MEMORIAL INVITATION PROGRAM: PARTICIPANT ESSAYS PART 6/8
In July of 2015, 32 US high school students participated in the final JET Memorial Invitational Program(JET-MIP). They travelled to Japan for a two week study tour of the Tohoku region, focusing on the cities ofRikuzentakata and Ishinomaki. 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 memorable journey.
Gardelio Mantuhac
Nina Mei

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Megan Ngai
Jacquelyn O'Connell

Past Issues (2020)

Past Issues (2019)

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Past Issues (2018)

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Past Issues (2017)

Past Issues (2016)

Breeze #110Breeze #109

Breeze #108

Breeze #107

Breeze #106

Breeze #105

Breeze #104

Breeze #103

Breeze #102Breeze #101

Breeze #100

Breeze #99

Breeze Past Issues

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