14 July 2016
At any one moment, the National Portrait Gallery proudly displays around 1,400 paintings and on the 13th July 2016, which happened to be the day I visited, 15 of these portraits were painted by former Daiwa Scholar Carl Randall.
Read on29 April 2015
The Faculty of Letters of the University of Tokyo, in conjunction with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, invites applications from undergraduate students who are not of Japanese nationality and interested in Japanese archaeology and heritage to take part in a two-week Summer School program in Japan from 1st to 15th August 2015. Participants will spend the whole period with undergraduate students from the University of Tokyo and learn together about Japanese culture and history. Application deadline: 15 May 2015.
Read on10 September 2014
Dr Jonathan Mackintosh, Lecturer in World History at the School of Humanities and Performing Arts (Faculty of Arts & Humanities) took up his post in Plymouth in September 2012. Recently he has been busily involved with Japan400 Plymouth which will take place from 26 September to 1 October 2014. Here he tells us all about it.
Read on9 September 2014
The Embassy of Japan is currently hosting ‘Found in Translation’ until the 26th September 2014.
Read on15 July 2014
Hyper Japan returns to Earl’s Court this summer with an exciting line up of events, covering all aspects of popular and traditional Japanese culture. Ranging from food, gaming, anime and technology, the unmissable event opens its doors on the 25th of July and runs through the weekend to the 27th.
Read on27 June 2014
Eluned Gramich completed a BA at the University of Oxford, and an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. She participated on the Daiwa Scholarship 2012 programme, to explore Japan’s literature and culture. Her first published short story, Oku Hanafu was published in ‘Rarebit’, edited by Susie Wild in 2014.
Read on2 June 2014
Tanabata is the Japanese ‘star festival’ which occurs on the seventh day of the seventh month each year. The festival is said to originate from a Chinese tale (The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd) of two lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi. Their love disrupted their work, angering the king who sent them each to opposite ends of the Amanogawa – the Milky Way. He allowed them to meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month. Some believe that if it is raining on Tanabata, Orihime and Hikoboshi cannot meet.
Read on26 July 2013
Labelled as the biggest J-Pop culture event of the year, Hyper Japan certainly didn’t disappoint. Thousands of people of all ages, backgrounds and interests gathered for three days of action in what was an insight into current Japanese pop culture. Some, who felt an urge to really make an effort, came dressed in all kinds
Read on25 June 2013
Tomoko Yoneda, a Japanese photographer from Akashi and now residing in London, has featured in many exhibitions all over the world from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to La Maison Européene de la Photographe in Paris.
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