Newsletter
To members of the media

Japan Arts Council
July 29, 2022

Arts and Culture that Captures Everyone’s Attention!

Rediscover the Beauty of Japanthrough Cultural Experiences this Summer—Japan Cultural Expo programs presented across Japan—
子どもから大人まで楽しめる参加型イベントから、静かに作品と向き合う美術展まで

In recent years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people have refrained from various activities andopportunities to have contact with diverse cultures, such as traveling and attending events, have drasticallydecreased. However, because people still look forward to traveling and events, this summer might see manypeople traveling domestically, having taken measures against infections. In a survey about traveling that wasconducted during the pandemic, “history and culture tourism” was among top 10 tourism activities in whichpeople are interested (JTBF Traveler Survey), demonstrating that people have a renewed interest in culture in
Japan. In addition, in an international World Economic Forum survey, Japan was selected as the most attractive
country as a tourism destination, with its convenient transportation infrastructure and richness of nature andculture as highly evaluated elements, signifying a rising demand for cultural experiences at travel destinations.
Throughout the year, Japan Cultural Expo is presenting diverse programs for first-hand experiences of Japan’s
beauty, such as art exhibitions, theatrical performances, and art festivals. Programs this summer will cover many
genres across Japan, ranging from a participatory event for all generations, to the Bon Dance festival for enjoying
music, to an art exhibition for contemplating works of a renowned contemporary artist.
This newsletter features summer vacation programs for all generations, be it an experience at a summer
travel destination or your kids’ summer vacation research project. It would be a wonderful opportunity torediscover the beauty of Japan through cultural experiences, which had been rather rare under the pandemic.

TNM Kids Day

Nishimonai Bon Dance (Japan Bon Dance Festival 2022)

Lee Ufan Exhibition

Newsletter Summary

Participatory programs for all generations to enjoy together
Featured here are programs for everyone, such as TNM Kids Day, offering the experience of original
writing box paper crafting and rakugo, among other activities, at Tokyo National Museum, which iscelebrating its 150th anniversary, as well as a festival featuring Bon Dance, one embodiment of Japaneseculture.

Art exhibition programs to reflect on and appreciate art
Featured here are programs for contemplating art and enjoying the charm of Japanese culture, such as alarge-scale retrospective exhibition of world-renowned contemporary artist Lee Ufan, an exhibition thatlets you feel Japan’s four seasons through masterpieces, and an exhibition featuring a water motif.

1Message from Tanihara Shosuke, a Japan Cultural Expo Official Supporter, about charm of Japan’sarts and culture
Tanihara Shosuke talks about finding one’s way to experience Japanese culture and enjoy Japan’s beauty.

Participatory programs for all generations to enjoy together
Although the general perception is that we should quietly appreciate arts and culture, they also create aspace for many people to exchange, connect, resonate, and sympathize with others. Therefore, Japan Cultural
Expo will present programs for everyone to enjoy, regardless of their age.

TNM Kids Day! Once Every Month!
Paper craft, rakugo experience, and workshops for parents and children to enjoy together
At Tokyo National Museum, which is celebrating its 150thanniversary, TNM Kids Day is held every fourth Sunday of the month,from April this year to March 2023. This program aims to offer
parents and children the opportunity to experience the fun that themuseum can offer, while fostering deep interaction with Japaneseculture and performing arts. Programs include reading books toparticipants in front of the related artwork and printing out paper
craft sheets which participants can design. Another program isWorkshop at TNM Kids Day

YOSE—Show RAKUZA—at TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM, in which
parents and children will not only appreciate rakugo, but also
experience doing it firsthand. Show RAKUZA will also be held atother venues where people can enjoy it while sightseeing, including
Tokyo Tower.
At the Family Gallery: Introducing Traditional Techniques ofJapanese Art V, which is held on the 2nd floor of the Japanese Gallery(Honkan), attention is directed not to cultural properties, but also

Show RAKUZA at TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM

materials and techniques used for lacquerware, pottery, and kimono,
offering a new perspective on enjoying Japanese art.
[Dates and Venues]
TNM Kids Day
Sunday, August 28, 2022, at Tokyo National Museum (Taito City, Tokyo)
Family Gallery: Introducing Traditional Techniques of Japanese Art V
Wednesday, July 20–Sunday, August 28, 2022 at Tokyo National Museum (Taito City, Tokyo)
YOSE—Show RAKUZA—at TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM
Sunday, August 28, 2022, at Tokyo National Museum (Taito City, Tokyo)*Tokyo Tower Show RAKUZA: Saturday, August 27, 2022, at Tokyo Tower (Minato City, Tokyo)

2Japan Bon Dance Festival 2022
Presenting a new Bon Dance culture by fusing Japanese culture and world music
Japan Bon Dance Festival 2022 is Japan Cultural Expo’s firstparticipatory Bon Dance festival. Koshino Junko, a world renownedfashion designer and a Person of Cultural Merit, has produced thisprogram, making it an embodiment of a “new Bon Dance culture.”
Fusing Bon Dance—a more than one-thousand-year-old tradition inJapan—and music across the globe, this festival offers an entirely
new experience.
The program consists of a Day Part and Night Part. In the Day Part,Bon Dance from across Japan will be presented onstage with video
and actual performance. Audiences will be invited to experience Bon
Dance with instructions.
In the Night Part, the special stage will be lit up brightly to present diverse Bon Dance from across Japan in anatmosphere distinct from the Day Part. The special performance stage will feature a fusion of Japanese BonDance and world music such as salsa, which will also feature participatory content for audience members todance together.

[Date and Venue]
Date: Sunday, August 21, 2022
Venue: Ikebukuro West Exist Park Open-Air Theatre Global Ring Theatre (Toshima City, Tokyo)

Enjoy a Ballet Performance Featuring Cute Dancing Penguins at the New National Theatre, while
Learning about Environmental Issues
Ballet for Children
In the summer vacation period, Ballet for Children at the New National Theatre
will present ‘ Still Life ’ at the Penguin Café, a popular work by the UK’s
renowned ballet dancer/choreographer David Bintley.

‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café is a work with deep meaning, which in contrast
to the animals’ cute dance, delivers fierce messages that critique civilization.
The penguins and other animals that dance to pop music are actuallyendangered or already extinct species. Prior to the performance, a pre-show
talk about animals and the environment will be given. English simultaneousinterpretation service will be available on July 27, 30 and 31.

Photo by SHIKAMA Takashi[Date and Venue]
Date: Wednesday, July 27–Sunday, July 31, 2022
Venue: New National Theatre, Tokyo (Shibuya City, Tokyo)

3Art and art exhibition programs to reflect on artworks and appreciate art
Japan Cultural Expo has organized opportunities to contemplate artworks, reflect on oneself, and discover anew perspective as well as the charm of Japanese culture, such as the retrospective exhibition of works by LeeUfan, a world-renowned contemporary artist, and an exhibition that allows one to feel Japan’s four seasons
through masterpieces.
Retrospective of Lee Ufan, a leading figure in Mono-ha
The National Art Center, Tokyo
This summer, The National Art Center, Tokyo will host a large-scale
retrospective of works by Lee Ufan, a contemporary artist who is a leading
figure of Mono-ha, one of the most important art movements in postwar Japan.
He spearheaded Mono-ha, in which natural and artificial materials are
combined in temperate manner. His works raise questions about therelationship between things as well as between things and people. The
exhibition allows viewers to appreciate Lee’s representative works thoroughly,
including his earliest pre-Mono-ha pieces and Relatum series, which changed
the concept of sculpture.
[Date and Venue]
Date: Wednesday, August 10–Monday, November 7, 2022
Venue: The National Art Center, Tokyo (Minato City, Tokyo)
Appreciate the Beauty of Japan’s Four Seasons through Masterpieces!
Okada Museum of Art

The Beauty of Nature—Japan’s Four Seasons inMasterpieces, currently running at Okada Museumof Art, is a special exhibition where visitors can feelthe four seasons of Japan through Japanese classic
paintings.

Alongwithpaintings,

craftworks

including ceramics and lacquerwares totaling 100
objects from both Part I and Part II, are on display,

Chrysanthemums
Ogata Kōrin
Early Edo period, beginning of the 18th century

inviting visitors to enjoy Japan’s four seasons
depicted on each work.
Since ancient times, Japanese people with an affinity for nature have cherished the features of the fourseasons, expressing their scenic beauty and bursting emotions in paintings and poems. The Part II(Autumn/Winter) of the exhibition features artworks that represent profound seasonal themes, such as autumn
leaves and chrysanthemums—autumn plants that have long been loved—as well as snowy landscapes. Locatedamidst Hakone’s abundant natural environment, the museum offers an experience of appreciating such artworks
together with the actual transition of seasons.
[Date and Venue]
Date: Part II (Autumn/Winter) Saturday, July 16–Sunday, December 18, 2022
Venue: Okada Museum of Art (Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture)4

Yamatane Museum of Art Holds an Exhibition with the Theme of Water
A refreshing exhibition fitting for summer
At the exhibition currently running at Yamatane Museum ofArt, The Shape of Water—From the War Between the Genji andHeike Clans to Senju Hiroshi’s Waterfalls Series, various
Japanese artworks are exhibited under the theme of water. Forpeople living on the island of Japan, water has been a familiar
presence since ancient times. In nihonga, from landscapepaintings featuring the sea, lakes, rivers, or waterfalls as their
themes to historical paintings depicting waterside scenes, aSenju Hiroshi Waterfall
Yamatane Museum of Art

broad range of works with water as a central motif can be found,regardless of period or genre.
This exhibition presents masterworks impressively depicting the many faces of water. War Between Genji and

Heike Clans (from the Tale of the Heike), produced during the Edo period, is set at the seashore. Utagawa
Hiroshige’s pictures of famous places on display include A Hundred Famous Views of Edo: Evening Shower atŌhashi Bridge, famed as a masterly depiction of rain. Kawabata Ryūshi’s The Black Current presents the ocean
though a lavish use of azurite blue pigment. The exhibition also includes Senju Hiroshi’s Waterfalls Series, which
has become synonymous with that artist.
Date and Venue
Date: Saturday, July 9–Sunday, September 25, 2022
Venue: Yamatane Museum of Art (Shibuya City, Tokyo)

For inquiries about this newsletter, please contact:
Japan Cultural Expo Secretariat
TEL： 03-3265-6041（main） MAIL： nihonhaku@ntj.jac.go.jp

5[Other Japan Cultural Expo programs scheduled for this summer]
Program titles

PrefectureVenueDates
Kyogen for Families
August 6 (Sat)National Theatre Summer Vacation Family

National Noh Theatre (Tokyo)

Program
Noh for Families*Some performances have only a small

Tokyo

National Noh Theatre

August 27 (Sat)number of tickets left. For details, please

Osaka

National Bunraku Theatre

National Noh Theatre (Tokyo)

check the National Theatre Ticket CenterWebsite.

Summer Vacation Bunraku Performancehttps://ticket.ntj.jac.go.jp/

Part 1: Family Summer Holiday Show
July 16 (Sat)–August 4 (Thu)National Bunraku Theatre (Osaka)

NNT Drama Studio Reading Performance“Himeyuri”
Tokyo*English subtitles service is available for

New NationalTheatre,Tokyo

August 11 (Thu)–14 (Sun)the performances on 12&13 Aug.
Yoichi Ochiai & Japan PhilharmonicOrchestra Project VOL.6 “Sound ofTokyo

Suntory Hall

August 25 (Thu)

Yamanashi

Gekkōji Temple

August 20 (Sat)

Omnipresence”
Outdoor Opera Performance -Jikukan
Emaki- “Pagliacci”
THE HEROES—Chronicles of the Warriors:
Japanese Swords x Ukiyo-e from theShizuoka

Museum of Fine Arts, BostonShizuoka City Museum ofArt

July 2 (Sat)–August 28 (Sun)Takano Shrine (Kyoto)
ECHO TOMORROW FIELD—Food and Art

Kyoto

Taiza Studio (Kyoto)

HyogoKinosaki Onsen Mikiya

July 22 (Fri)–August 21 (Sun)(Hyogo)Independent Study for Kids & Adults: 〇△☐✕ for Crafting Crafts

Ishikawa

National Crafts Museum

July 5 (Tue)–September 4 (Sun)Promotional Performance
Kumiodori Appreciation Class for Parents
and Children “Manzai Tekiuchi”

Beauty of Ryukyu—Passing On and Promoting Traditional
Performing Arts of Okinawa

Okinawa

National TheatreOkinawa

August 6 (Sat)–7(Sun)Promotional PerformanceTones of Okinawa
Various Okinawa Musical Instruments
August 20 (Sat)6Message from Tanihara Shosuke, a Japan Cultural Expo Official Supporter, about thecharm of Japan’s arts and culture
Having continued from the Jomon period, Japanese culture has produced
various beautiful arts. From sculptures such as statues of the Buddha andtraditional performing arts such as kabuki, through ukiyo-e to kimono,each art form represents a wonderful symbol of Japanese beauty. As aSupporter of Japan Cultural Expo, I’m very happy to contribute to such agreat project to disseminate Japanese beauty.
Although many programs have had to be canceled because of the novel
coronavirus(COVID-19) pandemic, we are seeing that an increasing
number of programs can now be implemented. This summer will see diverse programs happening across Japan,such as Bon Dance, in which everyone is invited to join, workshops for families to make a memory of summer
vacation, and art exhibitions for thoroughly appreciating artworks. “Appreciating Japanese art and culture” maysound intimidating. Yet, I believe your own way is the best way. For the summer vacation season, why not embark
on a journey to rediscover the beauty of Japan and Japanese culture?

Reference
About Japan Cultural Expo
Japan Cultural Expo is project to invite domestic and international audiences
to rediscover the charm of Japanese culture by experiencing “The Beauty ofJapan” through exhibitions, performances, art festivals and so forth acrossJapan.
The Japan Cultural Expo features
・The finest celebration of culture with the best elements from diverse fields

・Programs for rediscovering regional charms by combining regional cultural resources and otherelements such as food culture・

Cutting-edge virtual experience using advanced technologies such as metaverse

・Future-forming programs with young talents by inviting everyone to join

・Programs presented in collaboration with international artists and overseas cultural facilities

Japan Cultural Expo https://japanculturalexpo.bunka.go.jp/en/

Enjoy Japanese Beauty Online! Japan Cultural Expo’s VIRTUAL PLATFORM
In addition to “real” experiences at physical venues across Japan, Japan Cultural Expo presents diverse digitalcontent such as the VIRTUAL PLATFORM, a digital gallery, and YouTube videos. Launched in 2021, the VIRTUAL
PLATFORM allows you to experience “The Beauty of Japan,” represented in diverse forms such as art exhibitions,stage performances, nature, and art festivals, by freely exploring the metaverse and through videos, VR, andimages.
Moreover, we opened a special exhibition in June, in collaboration with Spinning Crocodiles, Tamura Satoru, asolo exhibition of contemporary artist Tamura Satoru running at the National Art Center, Tokyo. The crocodile
monument appears at the Japan Cultural Expo’s virtual space and visitors can appreciate actual works’ 3D CG.
Japan Cultural Expo VIRTUAL PLATFORM https://japanculturalexpo.bunka.go.jp/en/vp/

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