Directed by Jason Chan, Christian Lee
A Chinese Singaporean chef, formerly working in Tokyo, finds himself in Okinawa begging a disgruntled old chef to teach him traditional Okinawan food. A top Japanese food critic finds herself in Singapore on an eye opening discovery of SEA cuisine.
(GON, THE LITTLE FOX) This stop-motion animated short film is one of the contenders for 2019 Academy Award. Original story from Nankichi Niimi’s masterpiece children’s story.
(Orphans' Blues) Winner of Pia Film Festival’s 2018 Grand Prize, director Riho Kudo’s debut is an arthouse drama marked by beautifully expressive cinematography and daring narrative experimentation.
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles invites world famous Butoh dance maestro, Mushimaru Fujieda from Japan and has the Butoh workshop. Workshop contains movements with BREATH, changing energy forces, facial expressions, movements from traditional Japanese arts and performance as a group. All levels welcome.
Shinto is a religion indigenous to Japan, which has been kept as a part of Japanese life for more than a few thousand years. Shinto priests from Meiji Jingu will come to Los Angeles and give an introductory talk about Shinto. They will also perform Gagaku –traditional music- with three musical instruments. You will have a great chance to try playing the instruments yourself with their guidance.
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles presents dynamic lecture and demonstration with a celebrated Onnagata (actor specializing in female roles), Kyozo Nakamura. Kabuki is known for elaborate characters played by an all-male cast. The program includes a short lecture introducing the basics of male and female acting in Kabuki by Mr. Nakamura and professor Ryuichi Kodama (Waseda University) and there will be a demonstration of Kabuki dance classics such as “Fuji Musume” (Wisteria Maiden).
Ogasawara Kiyomoto will discuss the 850-year history of the Ogasawara school of Archery, Horse Archery and Etiquette. He will show the beautiful equipment and clothing used in ceremonial demonstrations in Japan, and he will explain about the practices of his school and how they pertain to daily life in the modern era.
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles is proud to support TABLE FOR TWO 2019 Onigiri Action campaign. This year, we are teaming up with Sylvia Gunde (Instagrammer/food blogger) to show you pro-tips on how to take yummy and Instagram worthy food photos with your smart phone. Afterwards, you will be able to create unique and delicious onigiri (rice balls) with healthy ingredients and also participate in #OnigiriAction, which is a campaign that will donate school meals all around the world to children in need.
Photography Exhibition
"Yameru Maihime (Ailing Dancer)"
November 5 - November 27, 2019
Six well-known Japanese Butoh dancers brought to life the ghosts rising out of the legendary essay “Yameru Maihime (Ailing Dancer)”, written by Tatsumi Hijikata in Akita, where the story developed during the years 1935-1938.
Japanese “shakuhachi” flute master and subject of a new documentary, John Kaizan Neptune will be performing in Los Angeles. He will be performing his greatest hits that span decades and transcend any one genre of music.
By playing a role, using gestures and facial expressions, acting is a fun way to learn natural Japanese!
In this workshop, Japanese actor, Naoyuki Ikeda, will teach you how to react like Japanese people in natural settings, and how to speak spontaneously using basic Japanese phrases as well as quoting actual phrases from popular Japanese movies.. This workshop is designed for beginning Japanese learners and we welcome those who have no experience at all!
Celebrating its third year anniversary, we will offer an evening version of “Wellness Wednesdays”. Usually we offer either yoga or meditation during the lunchtime biweekly on Wednesdays. For this special program, both instructors will join together and you will experience both Yoga and Meditation in one session! Japanese Incense will be provided by Nippon Kodo.
Put your Halloween costume on and join our Halloween themed conversation café, Tea Time! You will enjoy Japanese snacks and tea while you chat with native Japanese speakers. All levels are welcome! Japanese language experience is not necessary—this event is open to everyone, ages 18 and up !
Directed by Akira Yamamoto
This film depicts a man and woman who cannot draw their vision with unarticulated anxiety of future. Sara and Ryo, a young, unmarried couple in their late twenties, leave Tokyo to spend a few days of their paid holidays in Atami, a tourist town of faded splendor.
Directed by Yoko Yamanaka
Born in 1997, Yoko Yamanaka's debut film was achieved through her own efforts at the end of her teen years. Assembling the cast and staff through social media, the witty story of a complicated girl's romantic escapade created a stir. Invited to the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, the film has also played at festivals all over the world.
Directed by Toru Kamei
A film adaptation of the TV series which depicts the journey of a middle aged man with a two-month old puppy in search of his mother who has run away from home. The film has a rich lineup of established actors from TV dramas, films and stage performances under their belts, including Jiro Sato who stars in this film.
Mon-Fri: 10am-7pm, Sat: Noon-5pm
11/12, 13: 10am-3pm
Closed on Sundays and Veteran's Day(11/11)
Venue:The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles
Admission: FREE
Six well-known Japanese Butoh dancers brought to life the ghosts rising out of the legendary essay “Yameru Maihime (Ailing Dancer)”, written by Tatsumi Hijikata in Akita, where the story developed during the years 1935-1938.The photo book was published in Japan last year in order to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Hijikata's birth and to pay tribute to his unprecedented work. The photos were taken by Masahiko Taniguchi who has worked closely with many Butoh dancers in Japan. This exhibition will feature a selection from Taniguchi’s photo book, which has never been shown in the U.S. before as well as some of archival images of Hijikata.
Directed by Ryoichi Kimizuka
Through December 8, 2019, LACMA hosts an exhibition entitled, Every Living Thing: Animals in Japanese Art. On display, animal imagery dating from the 6th to the 21st centuries treats themes such as zodiac animals, animals from nature, the supernatural, and religion, myth and folklore, work or leisure. In turn, this lecture will explore the broad application of animal themes to express ideas ranging from sacred power, geomantic direction, virtue or vice, seasons and poetry, then empirical observation and contemporary expression.
Our popular event "Tea Time" is coming to Torrance! Let's get together and chat with native Japanese speakers. All levels are welcome! Japanese language experience is not necessary- this event is open to everyone. After this event, please enjoy the Japanese cinema screening "MIRAI" at the same location.
Directed by Mamoru Hosoda
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Directed by Yui Kiyohara
In this thriller, two different storylines about a girl who has lost her father and a woman who loses her memory intersect in the same house. Yui Kiyohara made this graduation film at Tokyo University of the Art's graduate school with mentorship from directors Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Nobuhiro Suwa.
Directed by Naoki Miyahara
Young girls stand up to face a global crisis in this fantasy anime commemorating the sixteenth anniversary of Toei Animation. Miyahara Naoki, who has worked on the "Pretty Cure" series among others, directs.
Directed by Koichiro Miki
Wednesday, September 11 @7PM
Road movie adaptation of the bestselling novel by author Hiro Arikawa, whose works "Library Wars" and "Evergreen Love" have already been turned into movies. Evergreen Love and Anonymous Noise director Koichiro Miki depicts the journey of a boy and cat who share a strong bond.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019 7pm-8:30pm
Portland Japanese Garden (611 SW Kingston Ave., Portland, OR)
SOLD OUT
Thursday, September 5, 2019 2:15pm-3:35pm
Santa Monica College, Main Stage, Theatre Bldg.
(1900 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica)
Admission: FREE
Thursday, September 5, 2019 4:30pm-5:30pm
Santa Monica Pier
Free Public Event
Thursday, September 5, 2019 7pm-9pm
Edgemar Center for the Arts (2437 Main St., Santa Monica)
full
Friday, September 6, 2019 1:45pm-4pm
SuihoEn Japanese Garden (6100 Woodley Ave., Van Nuys)
FULL
Friday, September 6, 2019 6pm-9pm
Storrier Sterns Japanese Garden (270 Arlington Dr., Pasadena)
*Admission: $100 General, $90 Garden Members
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles proudly presents three authentic geisha performers from Kyoto, Japan, along with geisha expert Peter MacIntosh for a series of extraordinary cultural events during their inaugural U.S. West Coast tour. Through dance, music, lectures and film, they will be introducing the beauty and mystery of Kyoto's "flower and willow world." This will be a rare opportunity to meet with real geisha and learn the history and continuing traditions of ancient Japan.
Every Living Thing: Animals in Japanese Art celebrates one of the most distinctive and compelling aspects of Japanese art: the depiction of animals. Underpinned by Japan's unique spiritual heritage of Shintō and Buddhism, the Japanese reverence for nature—and the place of animals within that realm—is expressed in sculpture, painting, lacquer-work, ceramics, metalwork, cloisonné, and woodblock prints.
This exhibition is co-organized by the Japan Foundation, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington with special cooperation from the Tokyo National Museum. This exhibition is part of Japan 2019, a series of events highlighting Japanese arts and culture in the U.S. throughout 2019.
For more information, please visit the LACMA’s website.
Directed by Masaaki Yuasa
Wednesday, August 28 @7PM
From the visionary mind of director Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game, Adventure Time‘s “Food Chain”) directs this animated film adapting Morimi Tomihiko's identically titled novel, a comedy about one epic night in Kyoto.
KOKA, a Japanese calligrapher based in New York, will have performance at the Japan Foundation, Los Angels. She has cross country trip from New York and Los Angels is the last destination.
Do you have plans to go to Japan in the near future? If so, we will get you prepared! You will learn helpful travel tips from a tourism specialist from a JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization) tourism specialist, and essential Japanese phrases from our Japanese language course instructor. We will demonstrate Japanese social etiquette, too, so you won't be just a "stranger" in Japan. This workshop is suitable for beginners and those with no experience at all.
We are having our ever popular “Tea Time” event at UCLA for the first time! Please enjoy and explore the beautiful campus as well as getting to meet new people! Have some coffee while practicing Japanese with native Japanese speakers. All levels are welcome! Japanese language is not necessary; this event is open to everyone, ages 18 and up. 日本語のネイティブスピーカーも募集しています。お気軽にご参加ください。
Interested in a grant opportunity which brings a young assistant teacher from Japan to help strengthen and enhance your Japanese language program? J-LEAP (Japanese-Language Education Assistant Program), co-administered by Laurasian Institution and Japan Foundation, is currently in its tenth year and is now accepting applications from host schools for the 2022 cycle!
Read more about it here!
Directed by Shinsuke Sato
Wednesday, August 14 @7PM
This film is an adaptation of popular manga series of the same name, created by Yasuhisa Hara. The film portrays the life of Li Xin, a former general of Qin, from his childhood as an orphan through his military career during the Warring States period of ancient China.
"Möwe (Mehve)" is an imaginary aircraft which appears in Japanese comic/animated film "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" created by Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki drafted the Mehve as a "non-flying airplane." In 2003, artist Kazuhiko Hachiya, due to his continuous obsession with Mehve, began creating a real airplane that utilizes micro-jet engine. After years of trial and error, his airplane finally had a successful maiden flight in 2013.
*We accept donation for Kyoto Animation during these screenings.
Kyoto Animation, which has been produced animated works that inspired and influenced many anime fans around the world. They were viciously and senselessly attacked and many of their staff lost their lives or deeply injured. People around the world has sent their hearts and prayers to them. The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles will have 3 days of film screening showing their recent works to cheer and pray for them.
Application for Performing Arts Japan (PAJ) touring and collaboratrion grants for the 2020 – 2021 fiscal year is now open. Application deadline is 5:00 p.m. EST, October 31, 2019.
We are happy to offer this popular fun crafty workshop co-presented with Hiromi Paper Inc.once again!
In this workshop held in conjunction with our Manga Hokusai Manga exhibition, you will learn classic Japanese bookbinding technique using fine quality washi (Japanese paper) and linen thread from book artist Rachel Curry.
Outdoor Movie Night at The Source presents Japanese Cinema Month! Every Friday in July, we will be showcasing popular Japanese films, anime and Kaiju films. Movies will start at 8PM and will be screened at the 1st floor Step Plaza at The Source.
There are plenty of funny faces on display for you to see right now at our Manga Hokusai Manga exhibition, but how about learning to do them for real at our upcoming Face Yoga workshop? Los Angeles-based Face Yoga (yes, it’s a real thing) Instructor Koko Hayashi will teach you how to stretch and tone up your face muscles for a more healthy and youthful look while having fun along the way. Don’t miss this one-night-only fun exercise event!
We will be offering a nighttime version of one of our popular lunchtime programs, “Meditation with Japanese Singing Bowl”! Experience a sound bath in the quiet space of our ongoing “Manga, Hokusai Manga” exhibition after viewing hours. Relax and feel your stress dissipate into thin air as the sounds of the singing bowl lead you into a meditative state.
Directed by Keiichi Hara
From award-winning director Keiichi Hara (Colorful) and Japanese powerhouse Production I.G (creators of Ghost in the Shell) comes a remarkable story of the daughter behind one of history’s most famous artists.
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 7pm-9pm
In this workshop held in conjunction with our Manga Hokusai Manga exhibition, you will learn classic Japanese bookbinding technique using fine quality washi (Japanese paper) and linen thread from a book artist and graphic designer Tania Baban. She will teach a basic technique called Yotsume-toji or four-hole binding and how to create simple yet beautiful one-of-a-kind notebook that you will be able to take home after the workshop. All materials and tools will be provided. Please note participants will use sharp tools so it is suitable for those ages 18 and up.
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles's (JFLA's) popular video series, Go Mike-san! (Ganbare Mike-san!), is now in its 3rd season!
In these entertaining educational videos, Mike-san tries his best to navigate the ambiguous Japanese cultural and language-related situations he finds himself in working at JFLA. You can always find new episodes on our Facebook and Instagram. Now all past episodes are listed and available to view on our website. Let’s check it out!
What is your Japan? We think Japanese culture no longer belongs only to the Japanese nation, but has become a global asset that anybody in the world is entitled to enjoy on their own terms. So many different aspects of Japanese culture are here to inspire your senses, enlighten your mind, engage your own creativity, and encourage your learning. In other words, Japan is yours. Please tell us about your Japan!
Hakuho Foundation is now accepting applications for the 15th Hakuho Japanese Research Fellowship.
The Fellowship invites leading international researchers of the Japanese language, Japanese language education, Japanese literature and Japanese culture to Japan to conduct residential research.
In providing residential research opportunities, the Fellowship aims to further strengthen the base of international research into Japan and to deepen the understanding of Japan.
1. Fellowship period:
Long-term (12 months): September 1, 2020 - August 31, 2021
Short-term (6 months): September 1, 2020 - February 28, 2021 (Round 1), or
Short-term (6 months): March 1, 2021 - August 31, 2021 (Round 2)
2. Schedule:
Application period: June 3 - October 31, 2019
Notification: late March 2020
Applications will be accepted online beginning with the 15th Fellowship.
For further details, please visit our website or contact us at the address below.
Application Guide/ Online Application Form:
https://www.hakuhofoundation.or.jp/en/program/
Activity Report [Yokogao]
- providing an introduction to the research and daily life of our Fellows
https://www.hakuhofoundation.or.jp/yokogao
Mon-Fri: 10am-7pm, Sat: Noon-5pm
Closed on Sundays
Venue:The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles
Admission: FREE
This exhibition approaches the Hokusai Manga from the perspective of contemporary Japanese comics, focusing on genre, pictorial storytelling and participatory culture rather than the integration ofword and image or the role of popular characters. And instead of aiming at a historiographic verification of influences, the exhibition invites viewers to ponder their own notions about manga by comparing works from different periods while exploring the diversity therein.
(*Special Grant for School Visits to JFLA available!*)
*Light Refreshments will be served.
Before the formal opening of the exhibition on May 2, we invite everyone to preview and celebrate it together. We will have two short lectures, "Old Man Mad About Painting: An Introduction to the Art of Katsushika Hokusai" with Japanese art historian, Meher McArthur (Academic Curator, Scripps College, Claremont and Creative Director of the Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden, Pasadena) to help us understand the world of Hokusai art. You will be one of the first people to watch and enjoy this wonderful exhibition.
Cherry blossoms are symbols of beauty. They originated in Japan more than 2,000 years ago and can now be seen all over the world. But the role of sakura in Japanese history has been checkered and not always positive.
Directed by Hiroyasu Ishida
*Seating is on a first come first serve basis and subject to capacity. Please arrive early for best seating.
An animated sci-fi fantasy adapting Tomihiko Morimi's identically titled novel. Budding genius Aoyama is only in the 4th grade, but already lives his life like a scientist. He has a great rapport with The Lady at his dentist's office.
A demonstration of both classical Japanese dance and innovative unique “Buyo” will be given by Dance Master Umekawa Ichinosuke. In his performance, he will showcase the distinctive features and nuances of each dance move. Not only will participants witness two forms of art merge together, forming a cultural bridge between East and West, they will also be able to see the magical and musical flow of energy. At the workshop, Master Umekawa will show movements and techniques to master basic performance.
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
*Seating is on a first come first serve basis and subject to capacity. Please arrive early for best seating.
Drama interweaving emotional ties that transcend family, directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu. Won the Palme d'Or in competition at the 71st Cannes International Film Festival and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards.
Learn natural Japanese through acting
Tuesday, March 26 at 7pm
By playing a role, using gestures and facial expressions, acting is a fun way to learn natural Japanese!
In this workshop, Japanese actor, Naoyuki Ikeda, will teach you how to react like Japanese people in natural settings, and how to speak spontaneously using basic Japanese phrases.
He will also share his cross-cultural experiences as a Japanese actor working in movies and theaters in the US.
Awa-Hop is a dance performance show double-featuring the twin street dance unit from Japan, Hilty & Bosch and the Awaodori Entertainment Troupe, TAKARABUNE. Hilty & Bosch's phenomenal dance performances have astonished not only Japanese dancers but also dancers around the world. On YouTube, their videos have had over 35 million views, further increasing their popularity internationally. TAKARABUNE pushes the limits of Awaodori, a 400 year-old traditional art form. TAKARABUNE’s signature dance style is so aggressive and vigorous that it has been characterized as ‘dance beyond awaodori’.
Click Here to Watch Teaser Trailer!
March is Cherry Blossom Time in Japan and Los Angeles. The word “Matsuri” means joyful festival. Please join us, in conjunction with Friends of Shoseian, to enjoy a full day of many exciting activities, including: Taiko drums, tea ceremony, Awa Odori dance, music of Koto & Shamisen and Japanese food trucks!
In this lecture, the members of Takarabune will share their life stories, their original inspiration behind becoming the first professional Awa-Odori dancers, how they maintain the delicate balance of keeping the tradition while breaking out of it, and most importantly, how they envision changing the world as ‘Dancing Mavericks.’ Toward the end of the lecture, the audience will be taught by the troupe how to move like mavericks and have crazy fun!
The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, The Consulates General of Mexico & Japan in Los Angeles cerebrate a week of Japan-Mexico cultural exchange events: On March 13, as an opening night, The Art of Shinzaburo Takeda (Documentary Screening & Lecture); on March 14, film screening of "Homie Kei"; on March 15, urban dance performance show featuring Hilty & Bosch and DJ Tianguis; and on March 18, as an closing night, Japan-Mexico Business Seminar.
Directed by Naoko Yamada
*Seating is on a first come first serve basis and subject to capacity. Please arrive early for best seating.
Students and best friends Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki prepare to play a complex musical duet, "Liz and the Blue Bird," for oboe and flute. Though they play beautifully together and have been friends since childhood, Mizore and Nozomi find that with graduation looming and the duet proving difficult, their friendship begins to buckle under the pressure.
The Buddhist practice of Shabutsu, transcribing Buddha is a means of spreading the Buddha Way among people through transcribing. It is also a way of praying for the fulfillment of one’s greatest wish. This workshop instructed by Rev. Shumyo Kojima from Zenshuji Soto Mission, Los Angeles doesn't require previous experience. All materials for Shabutsu includes the Myo-o drawings by artist Takuma Kamine from the current exhibition "Myo-o in the Shell".
Directed by Mamoru Hosoda
*Seating is on a first come first serve basis and subject to capacity. Please arrive early for best seating.
2019 Academy Award Nominee for Best Animated Film, and the epic capstone of director Mamoru Hosoda’s career, Mirai is a sumptuous, magical, and emotionally soaring adventure about the ties that bring families together and make us who we are.
Directed by Wes Anderson
*Seating is on a first come first serve basis and subject to capacity. Please arrive early for best seating.
In this stop-motion-animated film from writer/director Wes Anderson, Isle of Dogs tells the story of ATARI KOBAYASHI, 12-year-old ward to corrupt Mayor Kobayashi. When, by Executive Decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to a vast garbage-dump, Atari sets off alone in a miniature Junior-Turbo Prop and flies to Trash Island in search of his bodyguard-dog, Spots.
In this lavishly illustrated talk Dr. Ellis TINIOS will introduce illustrated popular fiction produced for a mass audience in Japan in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—a varied body of printed material worthy of wider appreciation.
Directed by Kosai Sekine
*Seating is on a first come first serve basis and subject to capacity. Please arrive early for best seating.
Romance film adaptation of the novel from Akutagawa Prize-winning author Motoya Yukiko. Moving depiction of the growing distance between a woman dealing with isolation and a vacuous guy. Feature film debut from video director Sekine Kosai.
When Takuma Kamine first encountered the images of Buddhist guardian deities as a child, he was filled with awe and fear. As a working artist now, Kamine has crystallized those initial emotions into figures which borrow elements from Japanese animation and comics. The exhibition will feature a selection of Kamine’s sculptures including representations of the Five Great Wisdom Kings (J: Godai Myo-o) and of his drawings which include the Five and add three more to round out the Eight Great Wisdom Kings (J: Hachidai Myo-o) grouping.
Directed by Gen Takahashi
The inspiring true story of a rural Japanese high school teacher's lifelong quest to create the very first artificially pollinated hybrid cherry blossom, to fulfill a promise he made to his beloved students before they were sent off to the battlefields to fight in World War II.
Directed by Mamoru Hosoda
*Seating is on a first come first serve basis and subject to capacity. Please arrive early for best seating.
An official selection at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, and the epic capstone of director Mamoru Hosoda’s career, Mirai is a sumptuous, magical, and emotionally soaring adventure about the ties that bring families together and make us who we are.
Lecturer: Ms. Leslie Buck
Tuesday, January 22, 7pm
Ms. Leslie Buck is the author of the New York Time’s reviewed Japanese garden memoir "Cutting Back-My Apprenticeship In The Gardens Of Kyoto" (Timber Press) about a California gardener who works with traditional garden craftsmen of Kyoto in private homes, monasteries and an emperor’s villa. Leslie will talk about her experience being employed by one of the most historic landscaping companies of Kyoto as a foreigner for three seasons and show various garden photos from her book. Q&A session follows the lecture.
As we celebrate the beginning of the new year, JFLA will host an exhibition featuring photographs from a selection of works by Hiroki Ohara, artist and fifth-generation Headmaster of the Ohara School of Ikebana.
Directed by Gen Takahashi
The inspiring true story of a rural Japanese high school teacher's lifelong quest to create the very first artificially pollinated hybrid cherry blossom, to fulfill a promise he made to his beloved students before they were sent off to the battlefields to fight in World War II.
5700 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90036-
jflainfo@jpf.go.jp
323.761.7510
