Events by year: 2015

7 December 2015

Woman Who Brings the Rain: A Memoir of Hokkaido, Japan By Eluned Gramich

As precise and nuanced as Japanese calligraphy, this memoir of Eluned Gramich’s stay on the remote Hokkaido island in the far north of Japan, has at its heart the mountain, Yotei-San, the region’s iconic equivalent to Mount Fuji. Dan Bradley joins Eluned in conversation to discuss her experience of living in the shadow of the omnipresent Yotei-San, and how this time in rural Hokkaido inspired her writings of the natural world.

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3 December 2015

Mindful Design of Japan

Mindful Design of Japan: 40 Modern Tea-Ceremony Rooms

The Japanese tea-ceremony, or Way of Tea, is one of the most profound manifestations of mindfulness. The ceremony, with its roots in Zen Buddhism, dates as far back as the 15th century and takes place within a traditional tea-ceremony room. Author and acclaimed photographer, Michael Freeman, will give a talk about his experiences in visiting and photographing the modern tea ceremony rooms featured in his book “Mindful Design of Japan: 40 Modern Tea-Ceremony Rooms”.

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26 November 2015

SHIFT Presents: The DOTMOV Festival 2015

Japanese online magazine SHIFT presents the DOTMOV Festival 2015, premiering in the UK at the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. We screened a selection of 12 short films to showcase emerging international talent in film and the visual arts.

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17 November 2015

Cool Japan? A Curatorial Practice after Fukushima

The Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 had a devastating impact on the Japanese art scene. In this talk, Mizuki Takahashi, senior curator at Art Tower Mito, reflected on her experience and curatorial journey, addressing popular constructs of Japanese cultural identity in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

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29 October 2015

Wings, Paws and Claws by Keiji Ishida

Drawing away from the conventions of story books, Keiji Ishida’s works explore the significance of images when they are set free from the written word. The image, reconstructed as a new point of departure, invites the viewer into a space in which the decontextualised illustrations can narrate alternative stories.

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20 October 2015

Kimono Now

From the refined homes of Tokyo to the nightclubs of Kyoto; from gangster chic to Harajuku street style; from ateliers and catwalks to city sidewalks and religious festivals–this book shows how the kimono has continued to be one of Japan’s most exciting wardrobe elements.

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16 October 2015

Sexual Diversity in the UK and Japan

Japan has a long history of sexual diversity, but during modern times the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community has for the most part kept itself out of the limelight. Although there are some signs of change, Japanese society appears less tolerant of sexual diversity than the UK. This seminar discussed the experiences faced by LGBT individuals in both countries, and how LGBT rights may develop in the future.

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8 October 2015

The Inaugural Daiwa Ichiban Lecture: Sir Paul Nurse on" Trust in Science"

The inaugural Daiwa Ichiban Lecture was held on Thursday 8th October, in collaboration with the British Embassy in Tokyo, at Ambassador Tim Hitchen’s Residence. Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society and a Nobel Prize laureate, spoke on the subject of “Trust in Science”. In his lecture, he stressed the enormous benefits that science has delivered to mankind, but argued that trust between scientists and the broader community is vital in maximising both the speed of scientific progress and its value to society.

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5 October 2015

The Story of the Satsuma Students

In 1865, nineteen Japanese students set off by ship from the Satsuma Domain (present day Kagoshima Prefecture) to the UK, with the brief to learn about western society and technologies. This development was an important factor in the lead up to the Meiji Restoration.

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1 October 2015

Princes of the Yen

Princes of the Yen reveals how Japanese society was transformed to suit the agenda and desire of powerful interest groups, and how citizens were kept entirely in the dark about this. Central banks are some of the most secretive and misunderstood institutions in the world. What powers do they wield? Whose interests do they serve? How do their actions affect our everyday lives?

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