Events by year: 2018

20 March 2018

Private View: Emergence of Order by Goro Murayama

Goro Murayama expresses self-organising processes and patterns through painting and drawings. He is particularly interested in fundamental theories of life systems, namely autopoiesis (self-creation), and the diverse life-like patterns implemented in computer-simulated cellular automata (discrete models studied in science).
Murayama’s works attain a unique expression by introducing these self-organising processes into them. For Murayama, painting is a mandala of emergences that appears when the mind, affected by forms and shapes, reiterates and amasses actions.

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15 March 2018

Photograph of speakers

Challenges of Regional Revitalisation in Japan

Japan’s population is shrinking at an alarming rate, and is expected to decrease from 127 million to 90 million people by 2060. In order to tackle this challenge, in 2014 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe created the Headquarter for Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalising Local Economy, which aims to promote regional revitalisation by implementing new policy and law. In this talk, Ueki Imaoka from Ministry of Finance will give a brief summary of Japanese Regional Revitalisation at the national level, while Takashi Hiranaka from the Embassy of Japan in the UK and Ichiro Oshiro, Mayor of Yawatahama will present several activities at the local level.

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27 February 2018

Hands of Goze: the Tactile Culture of Visually Impaired People in Modern Japan

In this talk, Professor Kojiro Hirose discussed “the hands of Goze” and approach the relevance and the possibility of Goze culture from three different angles: “touching the sound”, “touching the colour”, and “touching the heart”. Referencing Goze folk songs, which Goze created and spread as their own oral traditions, Professor Hirose clarified the role that tactile culture of visually impaired people should play in today’s society.

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23 February 2018

Artist Talk: Setsuko Ono

Alongside her debut solo UK exhibition at Japan House Gallery, Japanese artist Setsuko Ono gave a talk at the foundation on the 23rd February, 6pm. Ono discussed the concepts behind her paintings, sculptures, and her two public sculptures in Japan, Ocean and Dreams. She also described her progression into steel working, which she took up in 1995, and the techniques she uses – making spontaneous sculptures, drawing directly onto the metal without a blueprint or a plan.

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21 February 2018

The Origins of Shouzoku

In this special event, Hisashi Yoshida, Director of a Shinto ceremony company, discussed the origins of ‘Shouzoku’, garments worn by Shinto priests, which was followed by a musical performance by Tokiko Ihara, a Shō flute player, and a display of Shouzoku garments. Outside of Japan, not much is known about this element of Japanese society, and in his talk, Yoshida spread Japanese culture and knowledge.

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19 February 2018

LIV

Liv Grimstad is riding on a suburban train in Sydney, Australia in 1975 when she takes notice of the old man sitting opposite her. Though his features are different, she recognizes that man by the piercing look in his cornflower-blue eyes. Set in Australia in 1975 and Tokyo in 1945, “LIV” is a personal detective story and thrilling historical mystery that tells a universal tale about how the past bears on our present … and future. In this event, author Roger Pulvers spoke about “LIV”, as well as his previous novel, “Star Sand”, and showed parts of the film “Star Sand” that was released in Japan last year.

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15 February 2018

Private View: Setsuko Ono

In 2018 Japanese artist Setsuko Ono will bring her work to London for the first time.
Ono creates steel sculptures characterised by their cut-out shapes, forming open and closed figures and designs. The cut-out silhouettes are bent in an animated way, while the cut-out negatives let sunlight and views of nature through.
The exhibition will include sculpture and mixed media paintings that reflect the artist’s interest in international politics; visitors will be able to use virtual reality goggles to experience Ono’s permanent installations in Japan.

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8 February 2018

Classical Guitar Recital by Sean Shibe: J.S. Bach and Villa-Lobos

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation hosted a recital by internationally acclaimed classical guitarist, Sean Shibe. This recital followed Shibe’s debut tour of Japan in January 2018, featuring performances and masterclasses in Takasaki City Core Hall (Tokyo), Musashino Shimin Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo) and Munetsugu Hall (Nagoya), organised by the Musashino Cultural Foundation. In this concert, Shibe performed Lute Suite No.2 in A minor (originally in C minor) BWV 997 by J.S. Bach, and a selection of Etudes and Preludes by Villa-Lobos.

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6 February 2018

21st Century Shinto Studies

This event launched two books, “A Social History of the Ise Shrines: Divine Capital” by Mark Teeuwen and John Breen, and “Shinto, Nature and Ideology in Contemporary Japan: Making Sacred Forests” by Aike Rots. Mark Teeuwen addressed the topic of “The ever-changing Ise Shrines: Studying Ise’s history through the lens of its agents”, while John Breen focussed on the radical modern transformation of the Ise shrines. Aike Rots took a critical look at the new Shinto discourse on nature and the environment, as it came to the fore at the start of the 21st century.

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23 January 2018

The Extraordinary Untold Story of James Bond and Japan

For a James Bond locale, exotic Japan fits the bill nicely with sliding doors and ninjas, high-tech gadgetry and interesting options for expendable henchmen. Yet for Ian Fleming Japan offered more than literary background colour. Grab your Beretta, put on your tuxedo and fire up the Bentley… In this talk, Dr Damian Flanagan took us on a thrilling spy adventure, showing us Japan in a way we had never imagined before – the extraordinary untold true story of Bond, James Bond and Japan.

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16 January 2018

Japanese Corporate Governance – The Inside Story

In this talk, Gerhard Fasol is joined by Sir Stephen Gomersall to discuss the reforms to Japanese corporate governance made in recent years, based on their direct experiences as non-Japanese Directors of Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Japanese companies. The speakers will also discuss issues of diversity and its importance for the quality of management in Japanese corporations.

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11 January 2018

Private View and Artist Talk: Bridge by Toshio Shibata

Bridges are one of the main subjects of the work of Toshio Shibata, one of Japan’s preeminent landscape photographers, and known for exploring the delicate balance between man-made structures and nature. This exhibition does not only display many of Shibata’s bridges, but also “bridges” Shibata’s forty-year career. The artist was joined in conversation by Dr Phillip Prodger, Head of Photographs, National Portrait Gallery.

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