Reflections of Beauty: Women from Japan's Floating World at Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, Mar.10 - June 18
Topic: Art
Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena will present the exhibition Reflections of Beauty: Women from Japan’s Floating World, curated by Kendall H. Brown, Associate Professor of Art History at California State University, Long Beach, from March 10 through June 18.

The exhibition consists of nearly 75 works that explore how representations of these artistically accomplished and aesthetically enticing women have been utilized not to capture the reality of their existence but to express a range of attitudes towards sex, culture, class and nation.

The exhibition features paintings, woodblock prints, ceramics, textiles and personal ornaments, most coming from the museum’s large but rarely seen collection of Edo-period (1616-1868) art. It also features rare objects and photos from private collections as well as paintings by contemporary artists that play with now stereotypical ukiyo-e forms.
At the broadest level Reflections of Beauty invites the audience to question its own assumptions about Japanese art, female identity and even Asian culture at a time when Westerners are confronted with appealing but potentially misleading images in popular culture.

In most cultures, images of women are laden with symbolism and associations far beyond those of men. In Japan, beginning in the Edo period (17th century), depictions of women were particularly complex in their meanings as bijinga (“pictures of beauties”) and comprised the most popular and dynamic subject in ukiyo-e, “pictures of the floating world.”

Paintings and woodblock prints alike express the values and fantasies of a society in which women, particularly courtesans (y?jo) and artistic entertainers (geisha), were veritable cultural heroes. These images have accumulated layers of significance in Europe and America where, from the publication of Madame Butterfly in 1898 to Memoirs of a Geisha a century later, Westerners have been fascinated with the mystique of Japanese femininity.

Distinguishing between painted ladies and painted lads

The first part of the exhibition elucidates the basic physical and functional differences between various beauties, first distinguishing between painted ladies and painted lads—the latter including young male prostitutes and onnagata, the kabuki actors who played female roles.

One critical goal of the exhibition is to educate viewers about the differences between the appearance, activities and cultural roles of courtesans, geisha, apprentice geisha (maiko), and even the merchant-class married women who often adapted elements of style from women of the floating world. This introductory display also shows the standard dress, hairstyle and ornament of courtesans and geisha, providing an introduction to the aesthetics of feminine beauty and suggesting how pictorial images provoked new fashion trends.

The show’s second section examines various themes in the representation of women that disclose in part the physical and psychological lives of these women as well as their social roles, both actual and symbolic.

Themes range from the descriptive and poetic—including “Celebrating the Seasons”(flower viewing), “Auspicious Performances” (dance), “Beauty on Parade,” (processions), “Entertaining Clients” (eating, drinking and carousing) “Private Moments”(bathing, resting, sewing, raising children), and “Thoughts of Love” (reading and writing letters)—to the political, where the satirical transpositions and juxtapositions between these merchant-class Japanese icons and Chinese patriarchs are evident in themes including “Literature and Lore” (transpositions of geisha into fiction and history), and “Subverting the Patriarchy” (parodies of establishment themes).

A diverse program of films, lectures and gallery talks will accompany the exhibition and expands upon the core concepts of the show.

Pacific Asia Museum is located at 46 North Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Fridays. Free parking is located adjacent to the museum. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Children under 12 are admitted free. For more information call 626-449-2742 or visit www.pacificasiamuseum.org.

(Photo)
Anonymous, Meiji-era photo of Geisha writing, Dawn Frazier Collection, dimensions 991 x 1724. (Courtesy of Pacific Asia Museum)

Surface, Line and Color: The Spirit of Design in Japanese Art, April 4 - July 29
Topic: Art
HANFORD, California - Although the Lee Institute collection is famous for its rich Edo period paintings, the collection also includes Japanese art objects from a variety of periods and medium. The upcoming spring exhibition “Surface, Line and Color: The Spirit of Design in Japan,” will be a perfect opportunity to acknowledge this fact, where the viewers will find a selection of art works highlighted by their design quality rather than their categories.

Over the years, Japanese artists have established a reputation for their acute sense of design in enhancing any surface, whether large or small, two- or three-dimensional, and no matter how banal or regal an object. Art connoisseurs have also long discussed issues surrounding design in Japanese art. Design can be regarded as an overall plan for something, a basic scheme or pattern, or the elements to organize a work of art.

This exhibition focuses on three elements of design in Japanese art—surface, line, and color—as they are expressed in a selection of paintings and sculptural ceramic and bamboo works from the Lee Institute collection.

“Surface” can constitute the composition of a painting or the textural aspects of a three-dimensional object. “Lines” are powerful expressions of the inner spirit, but they also create rhythm, movement, patterns, and designs in art.

And “Color” is the essential element in Japanese art; it not only compliments linework, but it actually embodies Japanese aesthetics.

This exhibition will illustrate how the spirit of Japanese design can be observed in many situations, sometimes bold and clear and other times in more subtle manners. It is the curator’s hope that students and visitors from all walks of life will visit and discuss what they see while learning something new about Japanese art.

For this particular show, the institute welcomes Midori Oka, museum educator at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, as guest curator. In 1997, Midori came to the institute as its first curatorial intern and was subsequently hired by the institute, on completion of her internship in 1998, as its first curator. Interestingly, most of the objects she has chosen for this exhibition were acquired after she left the institute in 2000.

The Lee Institute is a public museum gallery and library study center dedicated to Japanese art located 6 miles south of Highway 198 in Hanford between Jackson and Jersey Avenues at 15770 Tenth Avenue.

The gallery hosts regular exhibitions of Japanese art of various styles and media ranging from the 12th to the 21st centuries. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday 1-5 p.m. with a docent-led tour every Saturday at 1 p.m.
For more information, visit the website at www.shermanleeinstitute.org or call (559) 582-4915.


(Photo Caption)
Ueda Kōchū (1819-1911), Boys on a Bull, hanging scroll, ink and colors. Lee Institute Permanent Collection.

(Photo Caption)
Mimura Chikuhō (b.1973), Hope, bamboo sculpture, lacquered madake bamboo and rattan. Clark Family Collection, on loan to the Lee Institute.

Out of ordinary/extraordinary, May 13 through June 18
Topic: Photo
Out of ordinary/extraordinary: Japanese contemporary photography at the JACCC Doizaki Gallery, May 13 through June 18

The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, present Out of ordinary/extraordinary: Japanese contemporary photography, an exhibition featuring the work of eleven different exciting Japanese artists.

The exhibition, which is sponsored in part by The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, will be in the George J. Doizaki Gallery, on the main floor of the JACCC from Saturday May 13 and runs through Sunday June 18.

The exhibit’s opening on Saturday, May 13, also marks the 23rd Annual Children’s Day or “Kodomo no Hi” Celebration. The Family FunFest features free performances, games, crafts, delicious food, hand-crafted items for sale. This year will offer Discovery Workshops series, designed to give children and adults special hands-on cultural experiences led by professional artists and cultural teachers.

Out of ordinary/extraordinary features images that are fun, insightful, sometimes disturbing and intriguing: Out of the ordinary/extraordinary: Japanese contemporary photography shows a new collective voice by examining cultural and societal norms.

An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, May 13, 2006, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
The Exhibition runs Saturday, May 13 through June 18, 2006.
The gallery is open Tuesday-Friday 12 noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Admission is free. For information call the Aratani/Japan America Theatre Box office at 213. 680-3700, open Monday - Saturday from 12 noon to 5pm. The George J. Doizaki Gallery is located in the JACCC 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 JACCC.

This is an API/2 event, which is supported by grants from The James Irvine Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

The JACCC launched the Asian and Pacific Islander Artist Presenting Initiative (API/2) in Fall 2003 to support the creative process of API performing and visual artists who are developing work for presentation to the public. With initial three-year funding from The James Irvine Foundation, the goal of API/2 is to strengthen the artistic capacity of exemplary Asian and Pacific Islander artists, and to deepen public understanding and appreciation of API arts and cultural heritage.

UCLA Center for Japanese Studies, Calendar of Events 2006
Topic: University Programs
Colloquium talks are held 3-5 pm Mondays at Hacienda Room at the UCLA Faculty Center unless otherwise noted.

WINTER 06

Jan 9: Colloquium with Janet R. Goodwin, Independent Scholar
Selling Songs and Smiles: Sexual Entertainment in Heian and Kamakura Japan.

Jan 30: Colloquium with Carol Gluck, History, Columbia University
After the Shipwreck: New Horizons in History Writing

Feb 6: Colloquium with Mizuko Ito, Communication, University of Southern California
Anime Fandom and Amateur Cultural Production

Feb 13: Colloquium with Thomas Rimer, 2005-2006 Paul Terasaki Chair, UCLA
Berlin in Tokyo: Senda Koreya, Brecht, Shakespeare

Senda Koreya (1904-1994) during the span of his long and active life, witnessed every vicissitude in the growing pains of the modern Japanese theatre, and his contributions did much to insure its ultimate success. His years in Germany in the 1920s led him to Marxist commitments and imprisonment in Japan during the war years, and his postwar company the Actor?s Theatre (the Haiy?za) remained in the forefront of theatrical experiments in the early decades of the postwar period.


Feb 27: Colloquium with Akiko Hashimoto, Sociology, University of Pittsburgh
Japan in the Shadow of War Memory

Mar 13: Colloquium with Max Moerman, Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard Coll.
Cartographic Piety: India in the Japanese Buddhist Imagination

Mar 20: Colloquium with John Maraldo, Asian and Comparative Philosophy, University of North Florida
Philosophy in Traditional Japan - Is there Such a Thing? The Early Meiji Debate and Beyond

SPRING 06

April 3: Colloquium with Michael Como, Religion, Columbia
Disease and Astrology in Heian Japan

April 10: Nikkei Bruin Workshop “Japanese Colonial Sensibility: Bodies, Style, Korea”
9 am – 4 pm. Organized by Miriam Silverberg. Details to be announced

April 21 at Royce Hall: International Conference “ The Making of an Ancient Capital: Nara”
9 am – 5 pm. Organized by Michael Marra. Details to be announced.

April 22 at Covel Common: 12th Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Japanese Studies “Transcultural and National Signifiers: ‘Japan’ In, After, and Via Diaspora and Return” 9 am – 5 pm.

May 1: Colloquium with Alexis Dudden, History, Connecticut College
"Illegal Korea: Code to Empire"

May 8: Colloquium with Ethan Scheiner, Political Science, UC Davis
"Democracy Without Competition in Japan: Opposition Failure in One-Party Dominant State"

May 22: Colloquium with Melissa McCormick, Japanese Art and Culture, Harvard University
"Pictorial Commentary and the Medieval reception of The Tale of Genji"

June 5: Colloquium with Aaron Gerow, Film Studies, Yale University
Framing the Clown: Manzai, Violence and the Nation in Kitano Takeshi

June 12: Colloquium with David Matsumoto, Psychology, San Francisco State University
Recent Psychological Research on Japanese Culture and Personality

Vintage photographs capturing post-war Japan at Hammer Museum, Mar. 5- Jun. 4
Topic: Photo
A Letter from Japan: The Photographs of John Swope (1908-1979) on view at the UCLA Hammer Museum in Westwood from March 5 through June 4,
is the first in-depth presentation of vintage prints from the late Los Angeles photographer’s 1945 journey through post-war Japan. Shot during a three-and-a-half-week period, Swope’s photographs vividly document the impact of World War II on the local population of Japan as well as on the Allied soldiers and prisoners of war.

The exhibition presents over 115 prints, and gives insight into Swope’s larger pursuit of capturing the universal human experience by also including highlights of his work as a renowned Hollywood photographer and his international travels from the 1930s through 1970s.

Early on, Swope became best known for his insider views of Hollywood in which he captured both the glamorous and the mundane sides of life through intimate portraits of celebrities and behind-the-scenes views of movie and theatrical productions. He went on to have a successful career as a freelance Life magazine photographer, where he frequently covered similar stories on Hollywood.

The exhibition includes significant loans from the John Swope Trust, Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts in Yanamashi prefecture, Craig Krull Gallery, Ben Stiller, and other private collections.

Capturing post-war Japan

In 1945, John Swope was chosen by the influential photographer and subsequent Museum of Modern Art curator Edward Steichen to join an elite group of U.S. Navy photographers assigned to tell the story of World War II from the perspective of the average sailor.

The photographs, which would ultimately be disseminated in military and popular national publications, were intended to reinforce American patriotic ideals.

Swope’s three-and-a-half-week Japan assignment lasted from August 28 through September 19, 1945—a time of limbo between war and peace—during which Swope was assigned to document the release of Allied prisoners of war on a journey throughout Japan.

Challenging the Navy’s rules about fraternizing with the Japanese civilians, Swope widened his artistic focus beyond his official assignment to explore another side of the military struggle—the personal, moving moments of individuals and families struggling in the aftermath of war.

His poignant photographs of Japanese people going about their daily lives in harsh post-war conditions include timeless, poetic images capturing such moments as a mother pushing her child in a carriage through a desolate street, a farm worker wearing a typical bamboo hat walking in the rice fields, and the beautiful landscape of Ohashi reminiscent of traditional Japanese woodblock prints.

Throughout Swope’s Japan tour, he wrote an emotional and insightful 144-page letter to his wife, Dorothy McGuire. In his letter, he articulates his conflicted feelings about the war and his position as a representative of the victors.

Swope was particularly sensitive to how much the war had impacted the local population as he had visited Japan 15 years earlier as a young man. His letter notes these changes and tells personal stories about the prisoners and Japanese people whom he encounters and photographs. Swope begins the letter on August 30, 1945 while anchored in Tokyo Bay:

Public programs

The Hammer Museum presents several free public programs related to A Letter from Japan, including gallery talks, screenings, discussions, and lectures: Discussion on WWII Prisons of War, Date to be determined, John A. Glusman, editor-in-chief and executive vice president of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, with William Barrette, artist and writer; Propaganda Film Night, Thursday, April 6, 7 p.m., Screenings of Japanese and American World War II propaganda films; Lecture, May 4, 7 p.m., Anne Wilkes Tucker, curator of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Gallery Talk, Saturday, June 3, 2 p.m., Carolyn Peter, Letter from Japan exhibition curator.

The Hammer Museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, at Westwood Boulevard. Parking is available under the Museum. Rates are $3 for the first two hours with the museum validation, $1.50 for each additional 20 minutes.

For current museum information, visit www.hammer.ucla.edu or call (310) 443-7000. Museum hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 11a.m.–7 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed Mondays. General admission is $5. The Museum is free for everyone on Thursdays.

(Photo)
John Swope. Arai, September 5, 1945. John Swope Collection, ? John Swope Trust.

Temecula to present Children's Matsuri, Jun. 4
Topic: Festival
The Temecula Sister City Association proudly presents its Fourth Annual Children’s Matsuri, Sunday, June 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Temecula Community Recreation Center on 30875 Rancho Vista Road in Temecula.

The theme is "Food & Family." In addition to the usual excitement of traditional Japanese dance, music, taiko and martial arts, there will be a Family “Iron Chef” Contest” where contestants will make creations based on Japanese food ingredients.

In addition, gyotaku (fish painting) the art where dead fish are creatively painted and then placed on paper to make a work of art, will return due to popular demand.

Children will learn about Japanese culture, traditions, and way of life through activities and games. Now a tradition, a number of guests from the sister city, Daisen-Nakayama, Tottori prefecture, will make a trip to Southern California and participate in the festival.

Admission is free and there will be plenty of prizes from the games and drawing opportunities.

The Temecula Sister City Association established the “Children’s Matsuri” in 2003. Due to the uniqueness of this event, the number of attendees has surpassed all expectations to well over 1400 in three short years. People have traveled from as far as Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

Mervyn’s is the presenting sponsor with Target and Tenkobushi Temple Martial Arts as other major sponsors. Kirin has been the Haiku Contest sponsor since 2004.

For more information about the festivities, visit the website at www.TemeculaSisterCityAssociation.org.

Photo: Mr. Munetaka Miyagawa of Daisen-Nakayama, Tottori prefecture, teaches the calligraphy Sheldon Reynolds. (Photo courtesy of Temecula Sister City Assoicaton)

Annual Okinawan variety show, May 21
From the delicate, graceful movements of elegant court ladies in luxuriant bingata kimonos, to the lively, joyful drumbeats of the young exuberant taiko dancers, this annual Okinawan variety show will entertain the audiences with the beauty and charm of the Okinawan performing arts.

The Okinawa Association of America, Inc. Geino-Bu (Performing Arts Division) presents its 14th Annual Utayabira Wuduyabira (Let’s Sing, Let’s Dance) at Armstrong Theater, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance on Sunday, May 21 at 2:00 p.m.

The 2 hour program will showcase the talents of dancers, singers and musicians representing 25 schools of Okinawan music and dance in southern California. Koten ongaku (classical sanshin), minyo (folk) sanshin, koto, taiko, and Ryukyu buyo (dance) will be featured, from the traditional to the contemporary style.

Tickets are on sale for $15. This popular event was sold out last year. For purchase tickets, call the OAA Center at (310) 532-1929.

Yukiko Matsuyama Koto Concert, May 20
Topic: Music
Koto artist, Yukiko Matsuyama, will perform in concert on Saturday, May
20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Sozenji Buddhist Temple in Montebello. The
concert theme is “Universe”.

Osaka-born, Ms. Matsuyama was classically trained in the Ikuta School of Koto from age 9 and received her professional certification teaching credential in 1986. She came to Los Angeles in 1993 and began composing original music, blending the traditional sound of the koto and contemporary music. The results were a unique combination jazz, new age, and world music. Ms. Matsuyama has performed at the Japan America Theatre, John Anson Ford Theatre and many music festivals, cultural and community events, universities and schools.

Also performing in the concert with Ms. Matsuyama are John York on guitar, vocals and shakuhachi, Diana Dentino on keyboards, Gary St. Germain on drums and Rev. Tom Kurai on the taiko.

John York is a singer, composer and instrumentalist welll known as a former member of the 1960’s rock band, the Byrds. Diana Dentino has performed with recording artists such as James Ingram, Jeffrey Osborne, Daniel Ho and Kitaro. She is currently the lead keyboardist for the Grammy Award winning vocalist, Peabo Bryson. Gary St. Germain is a music teacher in the San Bernardino School District and a member of Satori Daiko. Rev. Kurai is the director of the Taiko Center of Los Angeles.

Ms. Matsuyama will perform original contemporary songs from her previous recordings “Blossom” and “Koto” as well as other new collaborative compositions at the concert. Her last concert in February of 2004 sold out, so please order tickets early.

Sozenji Temple is located at 3020 W. Beverly Blvd. in Montebello near the corner of Beverly Blvd. and Garfield Ave. Tickets are $15.00 in advance and $18.00 at the door. For tickets and information, call (626) 307-3839 or (323) 724-6866. Log on to Ms. Matsuyama’s website at www.kotoyuki.com

2006 US National Sumo Championships, Jun. 10
Topic: Sumo
The United States Sumo Federation presents the 2006 US National Sumo Championships on Saturday, June 10 at 11:30 a.m.at Pomona College.

Where: Rains Center Memorial Gymnasium in Pomona College, 220 East 6th Street, Claremont, CA 92841.

Cost: All seats $15, non-reserved.

Contact: Harry "Tonkatsu" Dudrow at hdudrow@aol.com,
(562)428-3831, www.sumoshimpo.com

West Covina Cherry Blossom Festival
Topic: Event
Saturday, May 6, 2006
12 noon to 7:00 p.m.

Presented by the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center

West Covina Civic Center Courtyard
1444 W. Garvey Ave.
West Covina, CA 91793
Free Parking at Civic Center

For more information, please contact the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center at 626-960-2566.

LA as Offshore Japan, May 12, 13
Topic: University Programs
LA as offshore Japan
Transnational Networks and Cultural Entrepreneurship across the Pacific Rim

A two-day event to launch the project
?Made In Translation: LA-Tokyo Mobility Networks and the Emergence of Offshore Japanese Cultural Industries in Art, Fashion and Food?

Funded by SSRC/Japan Foundation Abe Fellowship, UCLA Center for Japanese Studies, and International Institute

Info: Adrian Favell (afavell@soc.ucla.edu) or Misako Nukaga (mnukaga@ucla.edu)
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/favell/TokyoLA.htm



Friday 12th May LECTURE
11am-1pm Bunche 10383 (International Institute)
LAURA MILLER, Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago
?Writing Gone Wild: Japanese Girls' Orthographic Rebellion?

This talk will introduce contemporary Japanese "Girl Characters" (gyaru moji), a writing practice that originated in cell phone text messaging and email, but is now found in other girls' media. Girl Characters are a straightforward syllabic graph substitution system combined with the use of deconstructed characters. Girls are awash in script overabundance, but rather than be overwhelmed by it, it is technological bounty they exploit and embrace.

When girls play with their writing system in this way, they are doing three things. One, they are refusing to be the caretakers of beautiful calligraphy and are rejecting their role as custodians of "correct" language.

Two, their use of Girl Characters also extends the boundary of what is considered written Japanese, thereby challenging the notion of written language as a standardized and shared system.

Last, by redefining the borders of linguistic possibility, girls are demonstrating resistance to the uniformity and predictability of standardized writing and print media.

Open to public




Saturday 13th May
PROJECT WORKSHOP
"LA as Offshore Japan"
Public Policy 5391 (5th Floor Lounge)

9.30 Coffee & Donuts
9.45 Welcome
10.00 Introduction to Project ADRIAN FAVELL & MISAKO NUKAGA
10.30 Japanese LA: Demographic & Social Profile MISAKO NUKUGA
11.00 Hypotheses and Methods ADRIAN FAVELL

12.00 Lunch
2.00 The New Young Japanese LA FUMINORI MINAMIKAWA, American Studies, Kobe City University
2.45 Tea and Gender in Translation KRISTIN SURAK, Sociology, UCLA
3.30 Japanese Children in LA Schools MISAKO NUKAGA, Sociology, UCLA

Afternoon Discussants:
LAURA MILLER (Anthropology, Loyola), MIZUKO ITO (Communication, USC), TAKEYUKI TSUDA (Political Science, UCSD)

4.30 Close

All interested welcome, but please register with afavell@soc.ucla.edu

In conjunction with the International Institute Working Group: The Human Face of Global Mobility: International Highly Skilled Migration in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific

Now out as a book edited by Michael Peter Smith and Adrian Favell (New Brunswick: Transaction 2006)

Japanese art-theme festival in Central Valley, Apr. 30
Topic: Festival
HANFORD, California - The Ruth and Sherman Lee Institute for Japanese Art invites the public to its sixth annual Spring Festival on Sunday, April 30. The event will feature a wide variety of activities including tours of the new exhibition, Art Show & Sale featuring 18 California artists, bonsai demonstration by Bonsai Master Kenji Miyata, music performance by the Japan America Chamber Ensemble of Southern California.

There will also be a number of special ticketed activities including tours of the private garden, Japanese tea ceremonies, bonsai workshops by Hanford Bonsai Society, sushi demonstration by Chef Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles, sashiko (Japanese embroidery technique) workshops by mixed media artist Lucy Arai, and a lecture by internationally acclaimed Fresno architect Arthur Dyson.

Refreshments and bento box (picnic style) lunches will be available for purchase (reservation recommended).

Starting at 10 a.m. and running through the afternoon until 5 p.m., the institute gallery, library, and outdoor courtyard will be bustling with Japanese cultural activities. Admission to the Spring Festival is $7 per person for non-members in advance and $10 on the day of the event. Lee Institute members and children under 12 are admitted free.


Special ticketed activities: Reservations are required.

Sashiko (embroidery technique) Workshop
2 sessions: 10:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Tent A
Sashiko is a traditional Japanese embroidery technique based upon running-stitch designs of geometric patterns, and it flourished among the agrarian commoners during Edo period (1615-1868). The hand-sewn designs are complex geometric patterns borrowed from nature: waves of water, flowers, and birds. Participants will create two coasters using this sashiko technique. (120 minutes)
$20 for members: $25 for non-members (Fee includes material.)

Bonsai Workshop for kids
Noon in Tent B
Hanford Bonsai Society will conduct a bonsai workshop just for kids, ages 6 to 12. Explore the art of bonsai! (60 minutes)
$15 for members: $20 for non-members (Fee includes a bonsai tree.)

Bonsai Workshop
2 sessions: 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in Tent B
Participants will learn the fundamentals of bonsai and leave the workshop with an actual bonsai they have created. Hanford Bonsai Society will conduct this workshop. (90 minutes)
$20 for members: $25 for non-members
(Fee includes a bonsai tree.)

?Drinking from the Cup of Humanity? Lecture by Arthur Dyson
4 p.m. in the Gallery
Internationally acclaimed Fresno architect Arthur Dyson who has received over one hundred and thirty professional design awards and honors, will share his distinctive approach to creative architecture for the 21st century. In this talk Dyson discusses the influence of Japanese aesthetics and philosophy, and traces the evolution of his work. Dyson makes a compelling case for multi-cultural modernism as a vital and flexible architectural language for our time. Always controversial, Dyson?s work was recently described as a ?fusion of Japanese Zen artistry and Star Wars technology?. (60 minutes)
$5 for members: $7 for non-members

?Art of Sushi and Japanese Cuisine?
Demonstration by Chef Andy Matsuda
2 sessions: 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. in the Library
Chef Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles will demonstrate how to make sushi and talk about Japanese cuisine. This is a great opportunity to gain knowledge in Japanese food. (60 minutes)
$7 for members: $10 for non-members

Tea Ceremony
2 sessions: Noon and 3:15pm
Enjoy the art of tea in the private garden. Kay Tokumoto, a master of the Ura Senke School, will perform a tea ceremony. Observe the graceful movements of Mrs. Tokumoto preparing and serving the tea in the serene setting of the Japanese garden. (45 minutes)
$5 for members: $7 for non-members

Garden Tours
8 tours: 10:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.
Landscape architect Bob Boro and docents will take you on a tour of the beautiful private Japanese garden. (30 minutes)
$7 for members: $10 for non-members


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

This event is sponsored by Land O'Lakes Foundation, The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable Foundation, and Valley Public Television.

The Lee Institute is a public museum gallery and library study center dedicated to Japanese art located 6 miles south of Highway 198 in Hanford between Jackson and Jersey Avenues at 15770 Tenth Avenue.

(Photo)
Bonsai displays by Hanford Bonsai Society (Photo courtesy of Lee Institute)

Renowned Japanese Biogeneticist to Speak: Your Hidden Potential Lies Within Your Genes, May 17 & 18
Topic: Lecture
Dr. Kazuo Murakami will hold two public speaking events in Los Angeles as part of a U.S. tour in support of his new book, “The Divine Code of Life.”

Dr. Murakami is one of the top geneticist in the world, and Professor Emeritus at Tsukuba University, one of Japan’s leading research universities.

May 17 at Mokichi Okada Association
8564 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 657-7200
Free admission
Time: 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)

May 18 at Tenrikyo Mission Headquarters in America
2727 East First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 261-3379
Free admission
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)

UCLA Graduate Student Symposium, April 22
Topic: University Programs
UCLA Center for Japanese Studies presents
The 12th Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Japanese Studies

Transculturation and National Signifiers:
"Japan" In, After, and Via Diaspora and Return

Saturday, April 22, 2006
8am -5pm
Covel Commons West Coast Room

Late Yuji Ichioka, Apr. 22
Topic: University Programs
Late Yuji Ichioka, Asian American Professor of UCLA will be honored by scholars on Saturday, Apr. 22 at Senshin Buddhist Temple, 1311 W. 37th Street, Los Angeles. Contact: aascrsvp@aasc.ucla.edu, (310) 825-2974.

International symposium on the city of Nara, Apr. 21
Topic: University Programs
On Friday April 21, an international symposium on the city of Nara will be held at UCLA. The symposium with the title of “The Making of an Ancient Capital: Nara” will take place in the Downstairs Lounge at the UCLA Faculty Center from 9:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Organized by Prof. Michael F. Marra of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, the event is sponsored by the UCLA Center for Japanese Studies and the Association for Commemorative Events of the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heij?-ky? Capital.

Among the speakers are Mr. Tanigawa Masatsugu (executive director of the Nara Prefectural Government office), Prof. Nakanishi Susumu (President of the Kyoto City University of Arts), Prof. Terasawa Yukitada of Kei? University, and Prof. Kaya Noriko of Osaka Ky?iku Daigaku. Mr. Tanigawa and Mr. Yamashita Yasunori, project group leader of the committee celebrating the 1300th anniversary of the capital in 2010, will represent at the conference Mr. Kakimoto Yoshiya, Governor of the Nara Prefecture, who has recently bestowed on Prof. Marra the title of Goodwill Ambassador for Nara-Mahoroba.

For further information, e-mail to marra@humnet.ucla.edu.

(Japanese names appear in family name and given name order.)

City of Monterey Park Cherry Blossom Festival, Apr. 22, 23
Topic: Festival
The City of Monterey Park’s 9th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival will be held on April 22 and 23 at Barnes Park, 350 S. McPherrin Ave, Monterey Park. The festival will feature a wide array of Japanese cultural arts and entertainment, food, crafts, and games.

Among the highlights of the festival are renowned contemporary jazz musician, Keiko Matsui, KABC Channel 7 News Anchor David Ono, famed Koto player June Kuramoto and award winning Taiko group TAIKOPROJECT.

Admission to the Festival is free.

The Monterey Park Cherry Blossom Festival is a local community oriented celebration, which has a long history of being held in the City of Monterey Park, since the early 1970's.

Initially started as a fundraising endeavor by the Veterans for Foreign Wars Post as a carnival in the old Atlantic Square Shopping Center, it changed to include cultural promotion of the Japanese culture in the 1980s.

Discontinued shortly after, the Cherry Blossom Festival was resurrected by a group of community volunteers whose efforts were realized through the successful re-establishment of the Cherry Blossom Festival in April 1998.

The festival, which had over 8,000 attendees in 2005, coincides with the Nation’s annual Festival held in Washington, D.C. every spring to celebrate the 1912 gift to the city of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo.

This gift was to enhance the growing friendship between the U.S. and Japan and celebrate the continued close relationship between these two countries. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson accepted three thousand, eight hundred more trees in 1965.

In 1981 the cycle of giving came full circle when Japanese horticulturalists came to take cuttings from the trees growing in Washington, D.C. to replace some Yoshino cherry trees in Japan which had been destroyed in a flood.

This year’s Monterey Park Cherry Blossom Committee is led by Karen Ogawa and Dale Higashi.

Performances are scheduled to begin Saturday April 22, at 11:00 a.m. Additional information regarding this year’s festival is available on the festival website http://ci.monterey-park.ca.us

(Photo)
A taiko performance at Monterey Park Cherry Blossom Festival (Courtesy of Monterey Park Cherry Blossom Festival Committee)

Isamu Noguchi's Sculptural Design exhibition, Through May 14
Topic: Art
Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, presents Isamu Noguchi –Sculptural Design exhibition from Feb. 4 through May 14.

In a career that spanned six decades, Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) produced a groundbreaking body of work that encompassed multiple disciplines to break down the barriers between sculptural art and functional design.

Isamu Noguchi – Sculptural Design celebrates this legacy by integrating more than 75 of Noguchi’s works into a series of dramatic installations conceptualized by renowned theater designer and artist Robert Wilson.

The exhibition includes Noguchi’s portrait busts, unique stone sculptures, and set designs for the Martha Graham Dance Company as well his iconic furniture designs and Akari lamps, all arranged in thematic settings with bold lighting, visually striking tableaux, and evocative sounds.

This is the second exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum exploring the complex career of Isamu Noguchi.

Isamu Noguchi – Sculptural Design was organized by the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany, in cooperation with the Isamu Noguchi Foundation Inc., New York. The exhibition design and visual concept by Robert Wilson were developed at the Watermill Center on Long Island, New York. The Japanese American National Museum is the only California venue after showings in London, Weil am Rhein, Madrid, Paris, Cologne, Rotterdam, Berlin, New York, and Seattle.

The Los Angeles presentation of Isamu Noguchi – Sculptural Design is made possible, in part, by the generous support of Ray Inouye, Chris Inouye, Steve Inouye, and Deena (Inouye) Lew; The James Irvine Foundation; Karen & Michael Schneickert; Prudential Financial, Inc.; George Takei & Brad Altman; and Gordon Yamate & Deborah Shiba, DDS.

Special ticket prices are $12 for adults, $9 seniors (62 years old over), $8 for students and youth (6-17 years old), free for children 5 years old and under and the museum member. Thursday evenings from 5–8 p.m. and all day on Feb. 18, March 16, and April 20: Adults, seniors, students, and youth are $4. During these times, admission to all other museum exhibitions is free.

The Japanese American National Museum is located at 369 East First Street in the historic Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. For more information, call (213) 625-0414 or visit www.janm.org.

Photo
Isamu Noguchi with Tsuneko San (Head of Japanese Girl), 1931, plaster, mid-1960s.
(Copyright 2005 The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)

US Sumo Open, April 9
Topic: Sumo
Sumo originated over 1,500 years ago in Japan as an oracular ritual connected with prayers for the harvest. In spite of the fact that foreigners like Americans, Mongolians, and Bulgarians become top professional sumo wrestlers, including the current yokozuna (grand champion), professional sumo maintains most traditions, such as not allowing women to enter or even to touch the dohyo (sumo ring) in Japan.

Just like other Japanese martial arts spreading throughout the world, sumo is gaining popularity amongst an American audience.

The Sixth Annual US Sumo Open tournament will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Petree Hall on Sunday, April 9 from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Athletes are coming from Japan, Eastern and Northern Europe, Mongolia and from around the U.S., including a large portion from Southern California. Athletes from all walks of life, large and small, male and female face off at the yearly event.

The US Sumo Open was founded and organized by Andrew Freund, an English teacher to foreign students at Santa Monica College and UCLA Extension. The first US Sumo Open was held in 2001 at UCLA’s John Wooden Center gymnasium with former top-ranked professional sumo wrestler Konishiki and Japanese university champions.

It was 15 years ago when Freund was introduced to Sumo for his first time when he was teaching English in Tokyo. After coming across an advertisement in a local journal for a sumo tournament, Freund bought a ticket in the nosebleed section and spent the entire day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., watching the professional sumo wrestlers go at it.

Upon returning to Japan in 1994 to again teach English, Freund was exposed to more sumo, but it wasn’t until he was living in Los Angeles in 1997 when he urged a friend to compete in a sumo exhibition at the Japan Expo that Freund got hooked. “He was a big guy, and I pushed him to try it,” Freund explained. “He said ‘I’ll do it if you do it.’”

After participating in the exhibition, Freund started the California Sumo Association at UCLA. CSA had three to four participants at the time and would practice from one to three times a week.

“In 2000, I ran into (Bulgarian) Svetoslav Binev, who won the ‘98 and ‘99 World Sumo Championships,” Freund said. “I got his input and philosophy in the club.” With Binev’s input, Freund organized the first US Sumo Open in 2001 at UCLA.

“Our first year, we had only 25 athletes and the level of competition was not very high,” Freund explained. “but Konishiki had such a big heart and was very energetic, so the event was a big success.” Each subsequent US Sumo Open has seen top-ranked guests from the world of sumo, including former Yokozuna Akebono, Yokozuna Musashimaru and the Japanese teams.

From the first US Sumo Open at a UCLA gymnasium to this year’s Los Angeles Convention Center, things have changed. With more foreign teams participating and the level of U.S.-based sumo athletes increasing with each passing year, Freund is looking for this to be the best tournament yet.

“Every year we’re trying to improve our level. Foreign teams are a big part of that. Athletes from Mongolia, maybe a team from Japan, European teams including teams from Bulgaria, Norway, and Germany all add to the quality,” Freund explained. “It’s really a step up when you bring over the foreign teams.”

In the past, Freund has recruited many teams from overseas to participate. While he has had success, there were visa issues for many of the invitees who ended up not being able to make it over. But this year, it was Freund who was approached by a team of Mongolian sumo athletes, who were already in Los Angeles, and who are also helping to invite more top sumo athletes from Mongolia.

“The Mongolians will be a very interesting story. Many are students here in the U.S. learning English,” Freund said. “Like the Japanese, their speed and techniques are great.”

But it’s not just the new foreign talent that sets the Sixth Annual US Sumo Open apart. According to Freund, it’s been the constant strong showing from Los Angeles and U.S.-based athletes. For example, 39 year-old LAPD officer Troy Collins, who has medaled in both the middle and open weight classes every year since 2002, will compete in this year’s US Sumo Open. “He’s been a really positive influence and a role model,” said Freund.

According to Freund, most of the U.S.-based sumo athletes practice and participate for fun, but with time, some learn about the tradition and the culture. “Most of the guys in the club (California Sumo Association), don’t watch sumo regularly,” Freund explained. “Most are guys with football or wrestling backgrounds who just like to compete.”

Another differentiating factor over the years has been the officiating. Last year, two officials came from the Shizuoka Sumo Federation, and played important roles as referees and judges in the tournament. According to Freund, their expertise on sumo brought more authenticity to the US Open.

“Japanese officiating is a big deal,” said Freund. “These guys have decades and decades of experience.” He is currently working to get last year’s officials to return.

Freund sees the tournament as changing the image of sumo wrestlers that the novice might hold. “One of the biggest comments that fans tell me is ‘Wow, that wasn’t what I was expecting at all’ or ‘They really are athletes.’”

The US Sumo Open tournament for both the men and women is broken into three different weight classes: lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight, along with an open weight selection, where all are able participate against each other. Those who wish to participate in this year’s competition can get more information by calling (310) 288-3641 or by logging onto www.usasumo.com.

Freund went on to explain that while he’s made mistakes in the past, and that the tournament has not always made money, particularly in the first few years, with each passing year the turnout has been getting larger, hence the move from UCLA to the L.A. Convention Center last year, and now to a larger hall this year, that can sit twice as many as last year.

“We want to make it (US Sumo Open) a standard, like the L.A. Marathon, as THE sumo tournament every year. We bring over the best from around the world every year,” explained Freund. “and we are building a good fan base.”

This year, ticket prices range from $15 for general admission to $45 for V.I.P. seating. For tickets, call (310) 617-3343. A free preview event will be held on Saturday, April 8 at Noguchi Plaza in the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, Little Tokyo. This event will run from 11 a.m.- 3 p.m.

Sogetsu 80th Anniversary Ikebana Display, April 1, 2
Topic: Ikebana
Sogetsu Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) presents 80th anniversary display at Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo on April 1 and 2 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Sogetsu Display is free with paid admission to the museum

Japanese American National Museum
369 East First Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 625-0414
www.janm.org