15 December 2016
This event looked at the impact of Brexit on some of the UK’s key trading partners in Asia. How has the Brexit vote been perceived in the region and what are the hopes of the UK’s Asian allies from the forthcoming negotiations with the EU?
Invitation onlyMore info13 December 2016
In this talk, novelist Lesley Downer will describe the life, luxury and intrigue of Ooku, the Women’s Palace at Edo Castle which was home to hundreds of women – mother, wife and concubine, but only one man, the shogun. Weaving her talk around the story of Princess Atsu, the Satsuma girl sent at the age of twenty to be the shogun’s bride, Downer will recount some of the scandalous events that took place in the Women’s Palace and the extraordinary women who resided there.
Fully bookedMore info5 December 2016
Successful female Japanese entrepreneur Junko Kemi will discuss the challenges she faced in establishing her business in Japan and expanding overseas, and explore the similarities and differences between British and Japanese business practices.
More info29 November 2016
DOTMOV is a digital film festival which aims to discover gifted filmmakers who are as yet unknown, providing them with an opportunity to exhibit their works on the global stage. Join us for the UK premiere of DOTMOV 2016 to explore the possibilities and potential of a new generation of digital artists.
More info25 November 2016
Immigration was one of the key campaign issues leading up to the UK’s “Brexit” referendum in June. Japan continues to control immigration tightly, but its rapidly ageing society is putting the government under pressure to allow for more importation of foreign labour. This seminar will discuss the immigration issues currently facing both nations and possible future directions for each.
More info22 November 2016
The artist will be joined in conversation by ArtReview and ArtReview Asia editor-in-chief Mark Rappolt, to discuss his practice and his current exhibition “Stella Maris was a name I found in a dream”, on show at the Daiwa Foundation Japan House until 15 December.
The discussion will be chaired by independent curator Eiko Honda.
17 November 2016
Sociologist Volker Grassmuck will give an illustrated talk about his visit to Tokyo in 1989 and the experiences which resulted in his popular and influential essay “I’m Alone, But Not Lonely”. The essay focuses on the emergence of the Otaku phenomenon. The essay’s enduring relevance and popularity today points to the implicit proposition ‘Are we not all Otaku now?’
Fully bookedMore info9 November 2016
Stella Maris was a name I found in a dream is a new exhibition by the Spanish-born Japanese artist Yoi Kawakubo. This exhibition is the latest in a series of shows presenting works that Kawakubo has developed over the past two years. Shedding light into remote corners of history, these works deliver an experience that undoubtedly will transport the visitor to an archipelago of musings, mysteries and rumination on the history of mankind.
More info7 November 2016
Japanese society faces not only a “marriage crisis” but also a “relationship crisis”. It is estimated that there are over 10 million adults without a spouse or a partner; many of these continue to live with their parents late into their working lives, often termed ‘Parasite Singles’. How are these people’s feelings of intimacy and relationship satisfied? In this talk, Professor Masahiro Yamada and Professor Adrian Favell will discuss the rise of unmarried adults, and how these relationship crises have led to the development of virtual relationships in Japan.
More info20 October 2016
In this event, author Jayne Joso will talk us through the essential elements of the Japanese wood and paper house, and how one of these enigmatic spaces came to settle itself as a character in its own right in her critically acclaimed novel, My Falling Down House.
More info12 October 2016
The 2015 Daiwa Art Prize shortlisted artist Julie Brook’s practice involves making sculptural work inspired by the specific environments she inhabits using materials found to hand such as earth, pigment and stone. Her work is transient, temporal, and ephemeral; her sculptures are made of the fabric of the landscape itself. This talk will give a brief introduction to the work the artist has made in wild landscapes in Libya, Namibia and Scotland and how her recent visit to Japan is influencing her future projects.
Fully bookedMore info10 October 2016
This talk explores the idea of traditional Japanese painting (Nihonga) through the theme of the exhibition “Contemporary Botanical Art from Japan: Kusabana-zu”, serving as a forum for participating artists to explore the dichotomy and interrelationship between the traditional and the contemporary in Nihonga and how this impacts on their own individual art. It also aims to introduce a London audience to traditional Japanese painting media and materials used in Nihonga. In particular, it presents leading academic research into the conservation and restoration of Japanese handmade paper or washi, one of the key materials used in Nihonga painting.
More info
