Events by year: 2019

28 March 2019

What Brexit Means for Japan

As Brexit day on March 29th approaches, Japanese companies based in the UK have started preparing for a no-deal scenario. The trend of shifting some operations out of the UK seems to be gaining momentum among Japanese companies, which may have a long-term effect on UK-Japan commercial relations. In this seminar, Professor Ken Endo of Hokkaido University analysed the impact of Brexit on UK-Japan relations and EU-Japan relations. Grant Lewis, of Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Ltd, then explained the economic impact of Brexit from a UK perspective.

Fully bookedMore info

22 March 2019

The Englishman who saved the Japanese cherry

In this book launch, Naoko Abe introduced her latest book “‘Cherry’ Ingram: The Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms”. Collingwood Ingram, known as ‘Cherry’, visited Japan in the early twentieth century and fell in love with cherry blossoms. He dedicated much of his life to their cultivation and preservation, becoming a leading expert on the subject. This book is a portrait of ‘Cherry’ Ingram, a story of Britain and Japan in the twentieth century and an exploration of cherry blossoms.

Fully bookedMore info

20 March 2019

Sustainable Development Goals: Japanese and UK approaches

Since their adoption by the United Nations in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals have been embraced with remarkable enthusiasm by the Japanese government and institutions. In this seminar, Fumie Imabayashi of the Japan Science and Technology Agency explained the background to this stance. Her talk was followed by a presentation by Dr Chris Anastasi who has over 30 years’ experience of encouraging longer-term strategic thinking on global development issues.

More info

19 March 2019

Artist Talk: Shuhei Yamada in conversation with Jeremy Millar

Shuhei Yamada will be discussing his work which is on display at the Foundation. In his early works, Yamada focuses on eliminating from images the key objects that enable the viewer to easily understand them. Yamada suggests that viewers should read various meanings into his art. After the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, he became interested in exploring the absurdities of the society that surrounds us. In recent years, his work has included not only photography and videos, but also 3D art and installations.

More info

14 March 2019

Foreign Refugee Flows into Japan: Asylum Seekers’ Circuitous Path

This seminar attempted to explore the paradoxical ways that Japan has positioned itself on the issue of refugees. The speaker used video clips from extended narrative interviews with current asylum seekers in the Tokyo area to discuss these paradoxes. The video clips allowed the asylum seekers to speak for themselves and showed us the circuitous path taken by asylum seekers, as they navigate Japan’s arcane immigration and support systems, try to find and keep work, endure incarceration in detention centres, and struggle with the vagaries of community connections and political positionality.

More info

13 March 2019

Prevention of Recidivism: Trends in Japanese Criminal Policy

One of the most serious current issues in criminal policy in Japan is the prevention of recidivism. In this talk Andrew Watson discussed the basics of the Japanese probation system and the challenges it faces, with comparisons to probation in England and Wales. Taichi Yoshikai then discussed the 2016 “Act to Promote Prevention of Recidivism,” and the current plan which was drawn up in 2017 by the Cabinet in response to the Act, with consideration of key characteristics of the Japanese criminal justice system.

More info

5 March 2019

Private View: 'untitled yet' by Shuhei Yamada

The Private View was an opportunity to have a first look at Shuhei Yamada’s exhibition “untitled yet”. In his early works, Yamada focuses on eliminating from images the key objects that enable the viewer to easily understand them. Yamada suggests that viewers should read various meanings into his art. After the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, he became interested in exploring the absurdities of the society that surrounds us. In recent years, his work has included not only photography and videos, but also 3D art and installations.

More info

28 February 2019

Bodyscapes - New films by Japanese artists

Bodyscapes is a collection of new films by Japanese artists whose use of the body is central to their work – either as a landscape, a political metaphor or method of expression – the body acts as a vehicle and subject to communicate ideas. In this event, five films were shown for the first time in the UK. The screening was followed by a Q&A session with the Director and Curator of video club.

More info

22 February 2019

Re-imagining Akutagawa

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa was one of Japan’s great writers – author of the stories ‘Rashōmon’ and ‘In a Bamboo Grove’, most famously – who lived through Japan’s turbulent Taishō period, including the devastating 1923 Earthquake, only to take his own life at the age of thirty-five in 1927. In this talk, David Peace read from his novel ‘Patient X’ and discussed the life and work of Akutagawa with Damian Flanagan.

More info

20 February 2019

The Unmaking of An American

“The Unmaking of an American” is Roger Pulvers’ cross-cultural memoir spanning decades of history on four continents. He explores the nature of memory through connections created from people and places, both past and present. In this book launch, Roger introduced his memoir and talked about the changes he has observed over the past half-century in Japan, Britain, the United States and Russia.

More info

29 January 2019

Private View and Artist Talk: Susumu Matsuura in conversation with Dr Lee Campbell

This event provided the opportunity to have a first look at the work of Susumu Matsuura and hear him discuss the ideas and inspiration behind his work with Dr Lee Campbell. Susumu’s work has “humans” as its main theme, and most of his work expresses human emotions. He is interested in exploring the two-sided nature of human beings, who harbour both positive feelings and greed. Works on display at the Foundation include: symmetrical portraits inspired by the Rorschach test; works inspired by the feelings of depression that the artist himself has experienced; and the series Caress a Cat.

More info

28 January 2019

Portland Japanese Garden: An American Interpretation of a Japanese Artform

In this talk, Steve Bloom, Chief Executive Officer of the Portland Japanese Garden, explored the past, present, and future of the Portland Japanese Garden. He looked at how it is leading a global dialog about the Japanese Garden as a platform for spreading the ideals of peace and mutual understanding between peoples. The talk was chaired by the radio broadcaster Nick Luscombe.

Fully bookedMore info
Toggle navigation