Past Events

Art x Ecology x Japan

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for paradigm shifts pulling together societies to get through hard times. Founded during the pandemic, in Japan, “art for all” was initiated to broaden the understanding of diverse cultural and artistic activities and to discuss how contemporary art contributes to our society through enlightening and investigating, creating dialogue and supporting social reforms.

This first talk, in a series of three, explores some case studies in Japan. Ms Wakabayashi Tomoko, Dr Justin Jesty, Yoi Kawakubo and Towa Takaya explained how “art for all” began, why it was needed, what its current activities are, what forms of support currently exist in the art world and their respective visions for the future.

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Reaching Net-Zero Emissions with Ocean Renewable Energies, and Japan's ocean wave energy potential and stability

The energy crisis, climate change impacts, and hence, commitments to net-zero emission have brought renewable energies into focus. Ocean renewable energies have been considered a promising alternative to fossil fuels in areas exposed to open water bodies. However, climate change may alter the available resources and suitable locations for energy extraction. In this seminar, we focused on the wave energy potential in Northeast Asia and Japan and its stability under a changing climate, and discussed the suitable areas for future planning considering the long-term change of resources in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Artist Talk: Yukako Tanaka in conversation with Fatoş Üstek

In this Artist Talk, Yukako Tanaka and curator & writer Fatos Ustek, discussed the artist’s practice through visiting each component of the exhibition and drawing overarching thematic framework that lies at the heart of Tanaka’s artworks.

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Guided Exhibition Tour with the Artist: Yukako Tanaka’s Fluctuating Fluctuations: now＝then here＝elsewhere

The artist Yukako Tanaka led a guided tour of her exhibition, Fluctuating Fluctuations: now＝then here＝elsewhere. This was an excellent chance to view the exhibition with the artist herself providing an explanation and commentary on the works on show.

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Eleven Winters of Discontent: The Siberian Internment and the Making of a New Japan

In August 1945 the Soviet Union seized the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo and the colony of Southern Sakhalin, capturing more than 600,000 Japanese soldiers, who were transported to labour camps across the Soviet Union but primarily concentrated in Siberia and the Far East. The Japanese prisoners became a workforce for the rebuilding Soviets, as well as pawns in the Cold War. In Eleven Winters of Discontent, Sherzod Muminov draws on extensive Japanese, Russian, and English archives, memoirs and survivor interviews, to piece together a portrait of life in Siberia and, for those who survived, life in Japan afterward.

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Supporting older people in the community in England and Japan

Demographic ageing is forcing many developed countries to abandon generous public welfare services. But this change does not mean giving up on welfare provision and adopting libertarian policies that leave almost everything to self-help. Many countries are making more positive use of welfare provision by residents and charitable organisations to support the lives of older people in the community. Looking at the cases of England and Japan in this seminar, Dr Daisuke Watanabe introduced the background, current situation, and challenges for contemporary pluralistic welfare services for older people. He also discussed the costs and other burdens of community-based mutual aid activities, and their sustainability.

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Hokusai: What makes him so popular?

In this webinar, Alfred Haft, a curator at The British Museum, considered the reasons for Hokusai’s popularity in connection with the Museum’s rediscovery of a group of more than 100 rare Hokusai drawings, and their display in the Museum’s current exhibition, Hokusai—The Great Picture Book of Everything.  Tane Tsuyoshi, a Paris-based Japanese architect, talked about the Hokusai exhibitions he has curated in Paris and Tokyo, creatively deploying a combination of immersive installations and digital art. We hoped to shed new light on Hokusai’s multifarious talent.

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Fluctuating Fluctuations: now＝then here＝elsewhere

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is proud to present the first solo exhibition of award-winning artist Yukako Tanaka, who currently lives and works in London. Tanaka’s practice spans a range of media from video and sound installations to the use of the latest viewing technologies including holographic visualisation and tactile 3D modeling. These modes of creation culminate in a fusion of art, science and philosophy where her art is positioned as a potential vessel that contains and informs disciplinary processes and their varying approaches to knowledge production.

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Japan Stories

Japan Stories is an absolutely spellbinding collection of short fiction and poetry. Meet the sinister museum curator, a son caring for his dementia- struck father, a young woman who returns to haunt her killer, and a curious homeless man intent on cleaning your home with lemons. This captivating work also includes Joso’s stories, ‘I’m not David Bowie’ and ‘Maru-chan’ an homage to Yayoi Kusama. The book is illustrated by Manga artist, NAMIKO. At this book launch, Joso introduced Japan Stories, discussing the inspirations behind it. She also read from the book and took questions from the audience. 

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Domestic AI in the UK and in Japan

Workplace digitalisation and automation have attracted substantial academic and policy attention in recent years. In contrast, the digitalisation of households and the rising automation of housework and care work has received limited attention. The value of unpaid domestic labour is not included in GDP or other national income accounting indicators, making it largely invisible. Yet unpaid work is important, with housework and care work making an important contribution to total welfare and economic output. Domestic digitalisation and automation may have evaded scholarly attention, but these trends have not evaded consumers.  With the rise of digitalisation and predictive automation, our homes are currently undergoing a major transformation. In this webinar we explored the implications for households in Japan and the UK. 

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Astronauts as the Origin of Space Society

Space exploration is becoming more accessible than ever, and an increasing number of people are expected to travel to space in the near future. The idea of humans travelling to and living in space is certainly fascinating, but how is it likely to develop from here? In this seminar, we looked at human forays into space in the past, present and future. Our special guest, astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, talked about her motivations in becoming an astronaut and her experiences of travelling and living in space. She also shared her thoughts about how space travel and living might change in the future.

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Gene Technology and Climate Change

Gene technology has enormous potential to bolster our response to climate change. In this webinar, two experts will present on the use of innovative genetic technologies in both animals and plants to address climate change challenges and mitigate some of the consequences for humanity. Professor Kentaro Shimizu talked about his study of wheat in the framework of the 10+ genome international consortium aiming to contribute to “the second green revolution”. Professor George Church then explained how gene technology could be used to bring back long-extinct species, presenting his fascinating project of reviving and restoring the woolly mammoth.

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