Past Events

23 April 2015

organism of control 1 keita miyazaki

Private View: Post-Apocalypse by Keita Miyazaki

Keita Miyazaki, a young Japanese artist, works on creating sculpture series and installations which evoke a sense of the post-apocalyptic. He is an artist exploring the supposedly polar notions of orderliness and fantasy. His installations select materials for their capacity to suggest ambiguity: traditional like metal, light and fragile like paper, invisible like sound. These juxtaposing techniques avoid concrete description, instead suspending forms in a state of uncertainty.

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16 April 2015

Miso: A Versatile Ingredient

Thanks to the ever growing popularity of Japanese cuisine worldwide, miso soup is well-known- however, the real value of miso is still not very much appreciated yet in the UK. Miso (a fermented paste made from soybeans), is so versatile that it can be used as a base seasoning in variety of dishes- not just in soup- as a sauce, dressing and even marinade.

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7 April 2015

The Anime Encyclopedia: A Century of Japanese Animation

This third edition of The Anime Encyclopedia brings the landmark reference work up to date with six additional years of information on Japanese animation, its practitioners and products, as well as incisive thematic entries on anime history and culture. Helen McCarthy summarised the book’s genesis, its main aims, and share some of the stories it has accumulated along the way to its third shelf-shattering edition of over a million words.

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12 March 2015

Glenn Gould and Natsume Soseki

2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Three Cornered World, Alan Turney’s award-winning translation of Kusamakura by Japan’s great literary maestro Natsume Soseki (1867-1916). Two years after it was published, the translation was read by the world’s most famous pianist Glenn Gould (1932-82). The Three Cornered World was not only to become Gould’s favourite book, but also one that would obsess Gould for the last 15 years of his life.

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5 March 2015

祈りInori/Spiritual Journey – Sengu

“The art of sculpture photography is to let the sculpture speak. My photography made Bourdelle’s works move and Rodin’s spin. In retrospect the crying agony of the images might have been a reflection of my personal struggles around that time. I used only my camera and natural light in dark churches. When I had almost given up hope, the light played a miracle each time and produced three providential works. Through photography I discovered the existence of the ‘Invisible World’. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to record Sengu shrine restoration and ceremonies – a culture symbolising Japanese spirituality. This exhibition is to express my wishes for a peaceful world.”

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5 March 2015

祈りInori/Spiritual Journey – Sengu

This exhibition introduces some of Yukihito Masuura’s works in his eight-year quest to capture Michelangelo’s sculptural oeuvre and the bronze works of Rodin and Bourdelle. Masuura has also documented the ceremonial practices of Sengu in Japan, such as the restoration of Japan’s most revered Shinto locations: Ise Jingu and Izumo Taisha. The Christian and Shinto images exhibited here explore the relationship between religion and art and the cultural differences between Japan and the West.

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24 February 2015

Men to Devils, Devils to Men: Japanese War Crimes and Chinese Justice

The Japanese Army committed numerous atrocities during its pitiless campaigns in China from 1931 to 1945. When the Chinese emerged victorious with the Allies at the end of World War II, many seemed ready to exact retribution for these crimes. Rather than resort to violence, however, they chose to deal with their former enemy through legal and diplomatic means. Focusing on the trials of, and policies toward, Japanese war criminals in the post-war period, Men to Devils, Devils to Men analyses the complex political manoeuvring between China and Japan that shaped East Asian realpolitik during the Cold War.

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19 February 2015

The Great Transformation of Japanese Capitalism

In the 1980s the performance of Japan’s economy was an international success story, and led many economists to suggest that the 1990s would be a Japanese decade. Today, however, the dominant view is that Japan is inescapably on a downward slope. Rather than focusing on the evolution of the performance of Japanese capitalism, this book reflects on the changes that it has experienced over the past 30 years, and presents a comprehensive analysis of the great transformation of Japanese capitalism from the heights of the 1980s, through the lost decades of the 1990s, and well into the 21st century.

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18 February 2015

Japan’s Foreign Policy: Challenges and Prospects in Japan-China Relations

Japan and China have cultivated a very close relationship. Because of this close relationship, it is inevitable that frictions and confrontations should sometimes occur. Ambassador Yamagami will present his unique perspectives on these issues, and talks about recent developments between the two countries, including the Japan-China Summit Meeting.

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17 February 2015

'Remembering Absence' by Kirk Palmer

Kirk Palmer’s work explores the existential nature of human relationships with the world through an exploration of the temporal landscape and sense of place using still and moving images. Centred upon Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Yakushima, the works exhibited here examine how historical events manifest in the present-day physical substance of place, where the pall of the atomic bombings remains a latent, unifying presence.

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12 February 2015

Report From Fukushima: Health Issues After the 2011 Nuclear Incident

Dr Tsubokura and Dr Morita are medical doctors based at Minamisoma General Municipal Hospital and Soma Central Hospital, located in coastal cities of Fukushima Prefecture (Minamisoma City and Soma City, 15-40km north of the nuclear plant). They gave a talk on the current local situation in the context of radiation issues and other public health problems that have arisen after the incident.

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