26 September 2017
In April 2016, Kumamoto Prefecture was hit by two massive earthquakes in two successive nights. The Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto, was damaged, but most of the artworks were saved, and it was able to reopen within a month as a cultural hub. Director of the Museum Takeshi Sakurai talked about his work there both before and after the earthquake, as well as the progress of reconstruction in Kumamoto more broadly.
詳細29 June 2017
In this talk at the University of Cambridge, Professor Akio Takahara approached the bilateral relations in a comprehensive way and explore four areas of factors in the relationship, namely, domestic politics, economic interests, international environment and security, and people’s perceptions and identity.
詳細20 June 2017
Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat based in the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1940, went against his superiors and granted more than 2,000 transit visas to Jewish refugees looking to escape Europe by travelling to Japan, helping as many as 6,000 Jews to flee. In this event, Akira Kitade shared the stories of the fateful encounters between Japanese civilians and Jewish refugees at a time of life and death during the Second World War.
詳細1 June 2017
The House of Illustration hosted the UK’s first ever exhibition of handmade background illustrations for classic sci-fi anime films. It featured drawings and paintings from some of the most influential productions in the genre’s 1990s heyday, including Production I.G’s phenomenally influential 1995 film Ghost in the Shell. In this talk, House of Illustration curator Olivia Ahmad, was joined in conversation by the exhibition’s curator Stefan Riekeles and Helen McCarthy, author of The Anime Encyclopaedia.
詳細10 March 2017
The Hiruzen Plateau in Maniwa City, Okayama Prefecture, is visited by over 2 million tourists per year. Gobara, a small village hidden away in one of the plateau’s corners, is home to Gobara lacquerware, a type of lacquerware that is made for everyday use. Join artisan Kunimitsu Takatsuki to discover more about the history and techniques of this unique urushi.
満席詳細14 March 2017
In this talk, Dr Damian Flanagan explored the shifting sexual norms of Japan’s literary history from the Edo Period to the present. How have the great writers of Japan from Ihara Saikaku and Natsume Soseki to Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami responded to the challenge of these shifting sexual norms and how does understanding the sexuality of the age change our understanding of their works?
満席詳細26 January 2017
Since the September 2013 selection of Tokyo as host of the 2020 Olympic Games, the Japanese have put increased emphasis on cybersecurity and Internet of Things (IoT) security to make sure the Games are a success. 2015-16 was particularly packed with developments. Mihoko Matsubara, Chief Security Officer for Japan at Palo Alto Networks, talked about Japan’s cybersecurity efforts in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and what they mean for the rest of the world.
満席詳細13 January 2017
Japan has and continues to produce world class ballet dancers. Dancing at The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden is the pinnacle of a dancer’s career, and young Japanese ballet dancers dream of joining the world-famous Royal Ballet company. In this talk, Miyako Yoshida, who has performed in numerous leading roles at the Royal Ballet, shared her love of dancing with us.
満席詳細5 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.
詳細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?’
満席詳細
