Warabi-za ensemble from Akita prefecture to perform traditional Japanese folk dance and music, Feb. 18
Topic: Folk Ensemble
Japan’s renowned folk dance ensemble Warabi-za makes a return appearance at the Aratani/Japan America Theatre at Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, Little Tokyo, on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. as part of its 2006 U.S. tour. The company, based in the Akita prefecture, presents a program of traditional Japanese folk performing arts. They are recognized for its energetic dance, music and taiko.

The program will showcase works from various prefectures in Japan. Dances that celebrate the joy of life (Aomori) the daily life of fishermen (Hokkaido and Kumamoto), farmers' prayers for rain (Ishikawa) and rice planting (Hiroshima). Dances from traditional Japanese festivals that celebrate a good harvest (Miyagi), festivities from a night festival (Saitama) and an ancient performing art piece of the Tohoku region of Iwate prefecture.

Highlights include a creative dance piece as a prayer for children's growth through hardships danced in the disguise of mother lioness and her cub (Kagawa prefecture) and a traditional dance characterized by wave-like movements in Sado Island (home of the famed Kodo group) (Niigata prefecture).

Warabi-za was founded in February 1951 and has created many works based on traditional music and dance throughout Japan for 55 years. Performing throughout Japan, the company has appeared in many parts of the world, including two tours to the U.S. in 1997 and 2002.

Folk performing arts have been handed down for centuries from ancestors, providing a zest for living. A characteristics of Japanese folk performing arts is that many of them have been germinated from daily life work and resulting in strengthening of the bond of the people. Another characteristic is the appreciation for the beauty of nature or the expression of life or wishes through animals -in other words, these works depict our live-and-let-live attitude with nature. (The program of Feb. 18 performance is lasted in page 5.)

The 2006 U.S. Warabi-za tour is under the direction of Hiroshi Kuriki, with composition and choreography by Kenji Osakake and music direction by Masaru Iijima. The tour coordinated by An Creative Inc. and is sponsored by The Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japanese government.

Tickets are available for $30 orchestra, $27 balcony and $ 27 and $25 for JACCC Members and groups of 10 or more. Call the Aratani/Japan America Theatre Box office at (213) 680-3700, open Monday - Saturday from 12 noon to 5pm. The Japan America Theatre is located at 244 S. San Pedro Street in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. Convenient parking is located on San Pedro Street across from the Theatre.

Photo
Warabi-za ensemble from Akita prefecture has been performing traditional Japanese folk dance and music for 55 years throughout Japan.

Manga Symposium at Pomona College, Feb. 17
Topic: Manga
Marauding Rabbits, Starry-Eyed Girls, Battling Boys, 'Ordinary Ladies':Japanese (American) Manga in Review

Friday, February 17, 2006

Pomona College
Pacific Basin Institute, Hahn 101

420 N Harvard Ave, Claremont, CA 91711
Cost: Free, Time: 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Lynne Miyake Tel: (909) 621-8931

www.pomona.edu/pbi

Providing the plenary address will be Frederik L. Schodt, the premier scholar on manga in English and author of the seminal, Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics and Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. Also featured will be Stanley Sakai, the creator of the long running and highly successful samurai rabbit Usagi Yojimbo series, providing a step-by-step demonstration of how a manga story is written and drawn. Kinko Ito, professor of sociology at the University of Arkansas, will speak to the genre of ladies comics, its emergence in the 1980s to its newest trends in the 21st century. Matthew A. Thorn, associate professor at Japan?s only Department of Comic Art in the School of Cartoon and Comic Art at Kyoto Seika University and an expert on girls sh?jo manga, will round out the program.

1:30PM
Introductory Remarks: Lynne K. Miyake (Department of Asian Languages & Literatures, Pomona College)

1:40PM
Introduction: Mage Macchione (Classics Major, Pomona College)

1:45-2:30PM
Frederik L. Schodt (Conference Interpreter, Translator, and Free Lance Writer)
“The Manga Way”

2:30PM
Introduction: Tom Bayles (Japanese Major, Pomona College)

2:35-3:10PM
Stan Sakai (Comics Artist and National Cartoonists Society Award Winner)
“Creating Comics, Making Manga”

3:10PM
Introduction: Chen Jiang (International Relations Major, Pomona College)

3:15-3:50PM
Kinko Ito (Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Gerontology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock)
“Japanese Ladies' Comics: Now and Then”

3:50PM
Introduction: Julia Fields (Asian Studies Major, Pomona College)

3:55-4:30PM
Matthew A. Thorn (School of Cartoon & Comic Art, Kyoto Seika University)

4:30-5:30PM
Open Discussion

5:30PM
Buffet Dinner (hall outside room 101)

Taiko Fest at Biola University, Feb. 11
Topic: Taiko
Biola University in La Mirada presents Taiko Fest on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. at 13800 Biola Ave., La Mirada, CA 90639. This year the festival will be featuring Koshin Taiko and Kishin Daiko.

Taiko Fest is an event that was originally started on the campus to expose students and the community who are not familiar with Taiko to it's beauty and energy. It is now an event open to the public. For more info call (562) 944-0351 ext 5832.

The 8th Annual Shikishi Exhibit Extended
Topic: Event
The 8th Annual Shikishi (Japanese Greeting Card) exhibit at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) is being extended through Sunday, February 26, 2006.

The exhibit in the JACCC's George J. Doizaki Gallery includes work from of a former Prime Minister of Japan to school children in America, and everything in-between. The theme for this year's exhibit is Hatsu-hanashi (First Story).

Seen as a way to ring in the New Year (2006, Year of the Dog), the exhibit includes over 70 Shikishi from Japan and Korea, making the total on exhibit over two-hundred Shikishi. The exhibit also includes a colorful variety of Japanese kites and tops.

8th Annual Shikishi Exhibit
George J. Doizaki Gallery (JACCC)
244 So. San Pedro St., L.A., CA 90012
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 12 noon-5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Jan. 8, 2006-Feb. 26, 2006
Admission: Free

California Association of Japanese Language School Conference, Feb. 18
At East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Communty Center.
ESGVJCC Gakuen: 626-337-6174

New Year's Dance by Wakana Hanayagi Conservatory, Feb. 11
Topic: Buyo
Free admission

Saturday, Feb. 11, 1:30PM

Maryknoll Catholic Center
222 South Hewitt Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Mme. Wakana Hanayagi: (310) 822-9193

LACMA: Contemporary Project 9
Topic: Art
Los Angeles County Museum, Oct 27 – Feb. 12

Contemporary Project 9: Gajin Fujita and Pablo Vargas Lugo


Ride or Die by Gajin Fujita. 2005. 83 x 126 in.

Gajin Fujita’s vibrant paintings are inhabited by fearsome warriors, lusty geishas, and others legendary figures that derive from his interest in Japanese tattoos, screen paintings from the Edo period (1603-1867), nineteenth century erotic ukiyo-e woodblock prints and cartoons.

This exhibition also features for the first time several of the artist’s preparatory drawings for his large-scale paintings.

Born in Los Angeles of Japanese parents, Gajin Fujita grew up in Boyle Heights, a predominantly Latino section of East Los Angeles. A member of the West Coast graffiti crew K2S (Kill to Succeed), in the 1980s, Fujita did numerous “taggings” and murals in downtown Los Angeles.

His smooth surfaces are the result of a painstaking process. After priming the panels with gesso and polishing them, he covers the surfaces with gold leaf, following traditional Japanese methods.

Some of his large-scale paintings are based on screens with several partitions, a format that he also borrows from Japanese art.

Fujita then invites friends from his graffiti crew to tag the shiny surfaces. By bringing graffiti into the studio, Fujita attempts to validate this form of guerrilla street art, which he views as creative and nonviolent.

In Fujita’s works, the urban chaos of L.A. and the imaginary world of the Far East collide and somehow miraculously coexist.

According to the artist, “I kind of look at myself as a hip-hopper, the way of a DJ would sample all sorts of great music from the past – sounds and beats. I’m just doing it with visuals.”

Museum Hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday noon - 8 pm; Friday noon - 9 pm; Saturday and Sunday 11 am - 8 pm; closed Wednesday. Call (323) 857-6000, or visit our web site at www.lacma.org for more information.

Tickets: General LACMA Admission: Adults $9; students 18+ with ID and senior citizens 62+ $5; children 17 and under are admitted free. Admission (except to specially ticketed exhibitions) is free the second Tuesday of every month, and evenings after 5 pm.

Peruvian Japanese band to perform for Okinawan benefit, Jan. 22
Topic: Okinawa
The Okinawa Association of America, Inc. will sponsor Alberto Shiroma and the Diamantes Benefit Concert in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2:00 p.m. at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Theater, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Redondo Beach. Tickets are $25. All general seating.

This will benefit the OAA Elevator Fund for senior citizens and disabled members and to celebrate Peru’s 100th Anniversary of Japanese Immigration. The Diamantes will go to Peru to participate in the 100th Anniversary Celebration after this concert in Los Angeles.

Alberto Shiroma and the Diamantes are third generation of Peru-born Japanese who sing in Japanese and Spanish. They currently live and perform their music in Japan.

In 1985, Shiroma won the best vocalist award in Peru’s singing competition with a prize of a trip to Japan. A year later, he started to perform his music in Japan. In 1991, he formed his group “Diamentes” (diamonds in Spanish). In 1993, they debuted with their first album and have since released 6 albums through 1999.

Shiroma received his Grand Prix award with his “Kono Aoi Sora O Kimini” at Manila International Music Festival in the Philippines.

In August 2000, Shiroma released his first solo album in the U.S. His second solo album was recorded in New York in collaboration with Latin artist Marc Anthony.

Shiroma’s popularity grew when he composed the theme song “Kata Teni Sanshin Wo” for the Second and Third Worldwide Okinawan Festival in Okinawa which was attended by thousands of Okinawans who came from overseas.

He has gained his popularity among all ages because his songs bring powerful messages of love, dreams and encouragement.

Tickets are sold at: OAA Office, Gardena (310) 532-1929; Restaurant Kotosh at Kamiyama, Lomita (310) 257-1363; Mickey Seki Jewelry, Little Tokyo (213) 617-2662; Mario Peruvian Sea Food Restaurant, Hollywood (323) 466-4181; Uyehara Travel, Little Tokyo (213) 680-2499.

For more information about the concert, call OAA Office at (310) 532-1929 or Helene Shimane at (310) 323-7965.

(Photo)
Third generation of Peruvian Japanese “Alberto Shiroma and the Diamantes”

Kotohajie, celebration for beginning of new year, Jan 8
Topic: New Year's Day
Both solemn and festive, the closing of an old year and the beginning of a new one are viewed as a time of reflection as well as festivity. Kotohajime is the annual celebration of traditional and contemporary performances in observance of the New Year, presented by Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles.

This year's celebration includes the performance "Messengers from Forbidden Mountain" on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2006 from 1 p.m. at JACCC Plaza and a Shikishi (card) exhibition at Doizaki Gallery in the JACCC Building. This year's Shikishi theme is Hatsu-hanashi (First-story) will be exhibit from Jan. 8 through Jan. 29. The celebration is open to public and free admission. Shikishi exhibition is also free admission.

Viewing Los Angeles as the contemporary Silk Road: where the routes for commerce, culture, language, and arts, intermingle as they migrate, "The
Messenger from Forbidden Mountain" performance features an eclectic blend of traditional and contemporary arts.

"Messenger" features Masakazu Yoshizawa's expertise with Japanese wind instruments, Shakuhachi and Nohkan, Yuval Ron's unique mix of traditional
and contemporary Middle Eastern music, and the Japanese archery group Ikkyu.

Yoshizawa, along with his group Kokingumi, set a strong foundation with their blend traditional and contemporary Japanese music for this performance. Joining Yoshizawa in Kokingumi are Hiromi Hashibe on the Koto and Takeo Takahashi on the Tsugaru Shamisen.

Ron is an international composer, performer, educator and record producer. His ensemble includes Arabic, Israeli and Jewish musicians as well as
Christian Armenian artists. Ron is dedicated to building musical bridges between people of Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths.

The Shikishi exhibit, running from Jan 8 through Jan 29th at Doizaki Gallery, will feature works from all walks of life: from dignitaries on both sides of the Pacific to children, from Prime Ministers
to teachers. The only guideline imposed were the Hatsu-hanashi theme and the use of ones' imagination.

Fist fire rite according to Esoteric Buddhism at Koyasan Temple, Jan. 1
Topic: New Year's Day
Visiting a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine to offer a prayer on New Year’s Day is called hatsu-mode in Japanese and it refers the New Year’s Day service (Shusho-e) according to the Buddhist tradition in Japan.

Koyasan Buddhist Temple of Los Angeles will hold the annual Hatsu-goma ritual, the first fire rite of the New Year at 10:00 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 1, 2005 at the Koyasan Temple, 342 East First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Bishop Taisen Miyata officiates the rite of the New Year, the year of the Dog (inu) according to the Shingon esoteric Buddhist tradition.

The fire ceremony of the New Year starts with chanting mantras and beating a taiko drum and concludes with toasting sake (otoso). The distribution of mochi to those who were born in the year of the Dog will follow.

Omikuji (fortune telling slip), hama-ya (good luck arrows), oma-mori (amulets), ema (picture tablet) and consecrated ofuda (charm) are available for visitors on the occasion of hatsu-mode. The Koyasan Temple opens 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for the first three days of the New Year. A few thousands people are expected to visit the temple. For further information, call Koyasan Temple at (213) 624-1267

(Photo Caption)
Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo will hold Hatsu-goma, the first fire rite of the New Year on Sunday, Jan 1. Bishop Taisen Miyata conducts the annual ritual. (Photo courtesy of Koyasan Buddhist Temple)

Japanese New Year's Day Celebration in Little Tokyo, Jan 1
Topic: New Year's Day
A very colorful New Year’s Day (Oshogatsu) celebration is coming to Little Tokyo very soon. Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Southern California has sponsored the 8th annual New Year’s Day event in Little Tokyo, in conjunction with the similar gala events also held at the Hotel New Otani and Japanese Village Plaza.

The New Year’s Day events will take place on Sunday, January 1 from 11 a.m. through 3 p.m. at Weller Court Shopping Center at the corner of Second and San Pedro Streets in Little Tokyo. Admission free.

The celebration starts with the powerful beating of taiko drums, followed by lion dance, Japanese calligraphy demonstration, koto performance, Japanese karuta-card playing and mochi-pounding.

Also planned for presentation are the Samurai Action Show which is very popular to children and the demonstrations of martial arts such as Swordsmanship, Kendo and Shorinji Kempo. Colorful New Year’s Kimono Show is also presented by L.A. Kimono Club at 2 p.m. at Weller Court Shopping Center.

Tables will be set up to teach children and adults the Japanese arts of paper-folding, kite-making and other cultural handicrafts. The day’s event will conclude with the opportunity drawing of many prizes including a grand prize roundtrip economy class ticket to Japan.

Some traditional New Year’s Day activities such as mochi-pounding and karuta-card playing are no long practiced commonly in modern day Japan. But the New Year’s Day event in Little Tokyo will give Japanese children and Americans an excellent opportunity to experience the old-time New Year’s day traditions still kept alive here in the United States.

The events in New Otani Hotel, 120 South Los Angeles Street, start at 7 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Japanese Village Plaza, located between First and Second Streets, presents stage shows from noon to 4 p.m.

For more information, call Japanese Chamber of Commerce at (213) 626-3067 or check www.jccsc.org.

(Photo Caption)
Japanese New Year’s Day Celebration will take place in Little Tokyo on Sunday, Jan. 1. Various entertainments are scheduled at Weller Court Shopping Center, Japanese Village Plaza and New Otani Hotel. All outdoor events are free. (Cultural News Photo)

"Let's go to Kyoto" Campaign Poster Exhibit, Dec. 20-31
Topic: Geisha
“Let’s go to Kyoto” Campaign Poster Exhibit at North Gallery of Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, Little Tokyo.
Tuesday –Friday Noon to 5 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission Free.

Eight mural size photographs (three feet by nine feet) from Katsuji Takasaki’s Japan Rail Tokai “Let’s go to Kyoto” campaign posters including: Gion, Yasakajija, Ryoanji, Kinkakuji, Kotoin, Sanju Sangendo, Shokokuji and Shorenin.

LACMA: Pavilion for Japanese Art
Pavilion for Japanese ArtLos Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Boulevard
for further information call (323) 857-6565

Japanese Painting: The Landscape
through January 31, 2006

Scrolls and screens from LACMA’s permanent collection featuring landscape paintings created between the 16th and 20th centuries, showing the proliferation of patrons and painting types that occurred during that time span.


Japanese Prints: Defining the Land
through January 31, 2006

Focusing on prints from the 18th to the 20th centuries which show the shifting priorities of collections. Landscape prints through time show a slow shift from famous sites of literature or history, to popular tourist destinations, to curious and beautiful locations with no prior associations. In the twentieth century one witnessed a strange m?lange of all these locales in landscape prints.


Netsuke of the Meiji Period, 1868-1912: Carvings in Transition
through December 6, 2005

Beginning the middle of the 19th century, Japan’s increasing interaction with the West and its participation in the world expositions had a great influence on the art of netsuke carving.

The expanding Western market and the diminishing use of netsuke by the Japanese themselves prompted a shift from functional to decorative; from forms suitable for wear to work designed for Western tastes.

On display are examples of favored subjects, designs, and decorative techniques used.

In addition, throughout the installation are a number of 18th century works whose juxtaposition with later pieces shows the marked differences in similar subjects created one hundred years apart.

Bushell Netsuke: The Allure of China
December 9, 2005 through February 7, 2006

Raymond and Frances Bushell Netsuke Gallery
The netsuke as an art form was derived from the roots worn by Chinese Daoists to counterweight gourds suspended from the belt and filled with elixir. The curative association with materials and subject of netsuke gradually waned, but fascination with China as the source for great knowledge remained.

Lecture and film screening to reveal real world of Geisha, Dec. 18
Topic: Geisha
Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles presents The World of Geisha, lecture and film screening event on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. at Aratani/Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo.

Andrew Maske, lead author of the book Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile, will give his talk entitled, "Behind Teahouse Walls: Geisha and Japan's Traditional Entertainment Culture." This lecture is sponsored by the Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office.

Maske has held positions at the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Harvard University. The lecture begins at 1 p.m.

Following the lecture, classic Japanese film Gion Festival Music will be screened in Japanese with English subtitles at 3 p.m.

Set in Kyoto and Tokyo in the early 1950's, Mizoguchi Kenji's Gion Festival Music (Gion Bayashi) stars Wakao Ayako as a young geisha, training in traditional Japanese arts and challenged by the culture she enters.

General admission is $7 for one ticket covering the lecture and the screening. For JACCC members, tickets are $5. For reservations, call Box Office at (213) 680-3700.

Geisha evokes wrong images
For more than a century, the word "geisha" has evoked for Americans tantalizing images of the Exotic East. Nevertheless, ask someone on a street corner in the U.S. what a geisha is, and the person probably will be hard-pressed to answer.

Most may agree that a geisha is an Asian female who provides some kind of services for men. What those services might be is an issue that is less clear. Some will assert that she is a prostitute, pure and simple, but dressed in traditional clothes and makeup. Others are sure that she is a highly trained performer of Japanese traditional arts who sings or dances for an elite clientel, but never has an intimate relationship with a customer.

The truth, of course, is somewhere between the two extremes, and like other people, no two geisha are exactly alike.

Andrew Maske was an art history student in Fukuoka when he was introduced to an elderly former geisha who eventually became his teacher in kouta singing and shamisen playing. Inspired by the story of her life and by the traditional arts she practiced, Maske set out to explore the role of geisha within Japan's entertainment culture.

"It's important for people to realize that geisha were very different from the licensed prostitutes who practiced legally in Japan until the 1950s. A geisha is first and foremost a performing artist, and her status and reputation is based primarily upon her artistic skill," Maske explains.

According to Maske, a geisha who is beautiful may well be popular with customers. However, if she does not strive to perfect her performance abilities or sleeps around with customers, her reputation within her geisha community will suffer. Such women usually quit the geisha life and become bar hostesses, since that profession offers more freedom and does not require the intensive, life-long training undergone by geisha.

Gion Festival Music

Gion Festival Music (Gion Bayashi) B&W / Standard / 1953 / 84 min / Daiei
Cast: Kogure Michiyo as Miyoharu, a geisha; Wakao Ayako as Eiko, a young geisha; Shindo Eitaro as Sawamoto, Eiko's father; Kawazu Seizaburo as Kusuda, a businessman; Sugai Ichiro as Saeki, Kusuda's employee; Koshiba Kanji as Kanzaki, a bureaucrat.

The film explores the clash of pre-war traditionalism in the pleasure quarters with the new atmosphere of individual liberty and equal rights for women in post-war Japan.

After her mother's death 16 year-old Eiko (Wakao) seeks out the help of a family friend to become a geisha. This beautifully shot black and white film follows the difficult life of a geisha by focusing in on Eiko and her mentor Miyoharu, played by Kogure Michiyo, as the two battle societal and inner-pressures.

While based on a different source, Mizoguchi Kenji's Gion Festival Music is for all intents and purposes a remake of his own 1936 classic, Sisters of the Gion (Gion no kyodai), the two in fact written by the same screenwriter, Yoda Yoshikata, Mizoguchi's frequent collaborator.

The first film was a revolutionary realist condemnation of the place of women in Japanese society, but the second, perhaps due to the market abroad opened up for Mizoguchi's films by his success in international film festivals, too often seems like a tourist guide to the Gion district. A solid work supported by Mizoguchi's masterful camerawork and excellent acting.

(Japanese family names appear first in this article.)

(Photo Caption)
Historian Andrew Maske

(Photo Caption)
A scene of Gion Festival Music (Gion Bayashi) ? 1953 Kadakawa Pictures, Inc.

Dec 9 Harmonic Concert, Anaheim
Topic: Event
Japanese and American developmentally-challenged people will perform music and dance at the first Harmonic Concert on Friday, Dec. 9, 1:00 p.m. –6:00 p.m.

The first collaborative show by developmentally-challenged individuals from Japan and the U.S. will be held at Heritage Forum, 201 East Broadway Ave., Anaheim, CA 92805, (714) 776-7776 on Friday, Dec. 9 from 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. Admission free.

“The Japan - U.S. Harmonic Concert ~ Crossing the Ocean Through Harmony” will be a showcase of performances by disabled and handicapped performers form the U.S. and Japan. The show will include songs and dances which Japanese performers practice so many times for their American counterparts.

By exchanging their artistic achievements, the U.S. and Japanese groups are hoping to grow their friendship as their personal experiences.

The programs includes “Taisho Koto” string music by the Sunnies, dances, physical expressions and flute music by the Crystal Troupe of Tokyo, the Hanagasa Odori by the Potato House of Shimane prefecture.

The Fifth Kibo no Tsubasa of Yamagata prefecture will join in the Japanese delegation.

From the U.S., the Hope Choral Group and the Hi Hopes 9 from Hope University will perform; The Hope High School Choir will sing; The Pride group of the Creative Identity will perform songs and music; The Burbank Center for the Retarded will dance.

In the lobby, pictures, crafts, and arts that were created by the participants will be exhibited.

The Harmonic Concert is sponsored by Kinki Nippon Tourist travel agency of Japan as its 50th anniversary project. The concert is supported by Anaheim / Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau and endorsed by Cultural News.

The Harmonic Concert is open to public and free of charge. For more information, contact Ritsuko Powell or Katie Conlon at (310) 525-1670, Kintetsu International Express (USA), Inc. in Gardena.

Dec 3 Cancelled Iwami Kagura & Zuiho Taiko
Topic: Event
Iwami Kagura & Zuiho Taiko Concert at Aratani/Japan America Theatre in Little Tokyo on Saturday, Dec. 3, is cancelled.

Japan Expo: Sushi Sushi Competition
Topic: Sushi
Sunday, Nov. 20, 2:00 PM

There’s so much happening across the country and Los Angeles this month in the Japanese Food world that it’s hard to pick just one thing to focus on. But with all that’s happening, you really can’t get any bigger than the 26th Annual Japan Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday, Nov. 20.

So, what is The Sushi Chef Institute doing this year for its part in the Japan Expo? Well outside of serving up some California Rolls, Inari Sushi, Spicy Tuna and a Spam Roll, we’ll be conducting a Sushi Roll Match on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Participants on the winning team will get prizes from our sponsors.

What exactly is this Sushi Roll Match, you ask. Simple. Two teams, Maguro and Hamachi - each with a mere 50 members (each “roller” get their own hachi-maki-banner) - square off in rolling a 24-yard sushi roll. It’s so big we had to get clearance from fire and police departments.

Once the rolls are completed, the chefs from the Sushi Chef Institute will cut up the roll and make a sushi tower that’ll probably be close to 10 feet tall.

There’s only space for 100 participants, so, if you want to come out and show us your sushi rolling techniques, you’ll need to register by going to www.japanexpo.org. Once registered, participants will need to confirm their spot by 1 p.m. on Nov. 20.

So even if spaces fill up before the expo, there may still be a chance for a few walk-ins. Otherwise, even if you don’t get to participate, it’ll be a great show, so come on by and check it out.

(By Andy Matsuda, founder and Chief Instructor of the Sushi Chef Institute located at Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.)

Woman as Art / Woman as Artist, Sept. 6 - Dec. 3
Topic: Art
HANFORD, Calif. - This fall the Ruth and Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art presents an exhibition on women in Japanese art that is not just a series of pretty faces. The exhibition Woman as Art / Woman as Artist: Two sides to the female figure in later Japanese painting runs from Sep. 6 to Dec. 3.

Of course, these stunning paintings from the 16th through the 20th centuries feature some of the most stylish and decadent representations of women from the world-class permanent collection of this small rural museum, but the exhibition also includes images of female ghosts, paintings of women at work, and humorous parodies of women in unconventional settings.

Most of the paintings in this exhibition were produced in the Edo period (1615-1868), during an era of very strict government regulation of everything from where different classes of people were allowed to conduct their daily activities to the type of clothes they were allowed to wear.

The current exhibition explores the ways in which paintings of women served not only to establish models of style and beauty for the visual pleasure of a male viewer but also reinforced ideals of model behavior expected of women during this period for their female audience.

Familiar types of images of beauties of the pleasure quarters stylishly coiffed and dressed in elaborate kimonos stand alongside idealized figures of peasant women picking tea and gathering firewood.

Supplementing such images of women primarily by prominent male artists, the exhibition also includes paintings by female artists, most of whom followed closely in the tradition of their male teachers and mentors.

Highlights of the exhibition include an early screen painting of the legendary Chinese beauty Yang Guifei from the late 16th century, images of unconventional beauties of the Osaka-area pleasure quarters by a rare artist of the early 19th century, and calligraphies and paintings by female artists of the literati-style Nanga School.

The Lee Institute is located 6 miles south of downtown Hanford at 15770 Tenth Avenue. The gallery and extensive reference library are wheelchair accessible and open to the public Tuesday-Saturday from 1:00–5:00 pm during the exhibition period. The gallery will be closed on Nov. 24 and 25.

Entrance fees are $5 for adults, $3 for students with valid ID and children under 12 are free. Docent tours of the exhibition are held every Saturday at 1:00 pm and special pre-arranged group tours are available for an additional fee.

For more information, see the website at www.shermanleeinstitute.org or call (559) 582-4915.

UCLA Colloquium: Half-Century of Minamata Disease
Topic: Social Issues
UCLA Center for Japanese Studies Colloquium
Monday, Nov. 21, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Faculty Center Hacienda Room

Keiko Kanai, Japanese Literature, Waseda University

Questioning the “Compensation”: Half-Century of Minamata Disease and Ishimure Michiko’s Kugai Jodo (Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow)

Free and open to UCLA students, faculty, staff, and invited guests.
Parking available at Lot 2 for $8.

Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble East Meets West
Topic: Taiko
Nov. 17 (Thu) 4:15 –5:30 p.m. Pomona College in Claremont, Lyman Hall
Nov. 20 (Sat) 4:00 p.m. Aratani Japan America Theatre, Little Tokyo

Nov. 17 (Thu) 4:15 –5:30 p.m. Pomona College in Claremont, Lyman Hall
“Tradition is a basis for innovation,” says Kenny Endo, a world-acclaimed American musician of Japanese taiko music. He is one of the very few non-Japanese musicians to have earned the Japanese natori title of “master.”

The Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble East & West combines musicians from the U. S. and Tokyo to form a group that is as high-caliber as it is eclectic.

In this lecture-demonstration, they will play not only original compositions for taiko (drums), koto (zither), and bamboo flutes, but also percussion instruments from other parts of the world, highlighting the new dimensions of Endo’s creativity, combining the musical traditions and innovations of East and West.

This concert is open to the public and free of charge.

The concert is organized by Asian Studies Program, and co-sponsored by the departments of Music and Theatre/Dance, and Pacific Basin Institute in Pomona College.

For information about the program, contact Prof. Kyoko Kurita at (909) 621-8933 or Pacific Basin Institute at (909) 607-8065 or lucy.chang@pomona.edu


Nov. 20 (Sat) 4:00 p.m. Aratani Japan America Theatre, Little Tokyo
In a true fusion of musical styles, Kenny Endo and featured members of his three taiko ensembles spanning the globe from Honolulu to Los Angeles and Tokyo will celebrate his 30 years of taiko drumming with a nationwide tour.

The “East Meets West” tour features some of the world’s most innovative and talented musicians and artists playing original compositions for taiko, koto, bamboo flutes, vibraphones and Latin, world and Japanese percussion instruments.

The program represents Endo’s interest in contemporary taiko performance, combining Japanese classical drumming with world music and western jazz styles.
Guest Artists: Masakazu Yoshizawa, bamboo flutes, taiko, percussion; Yoshinori Nomi, Latin & Japanese percussion; Eric Chang, taiko and percussion; Hitoshi Hamada, vibraphones; Shoko Hikage, koto; Hiroshi Tanaka, taiko.

Tickets are $35 orchestra, $32 balcony and for JACCC members and groups of 10 or more $30, $27. Box office (213) 680-3700. www.jaccc.org