The Takarazuka Revue Company, one of the largest theatre groups in Japan, features an all-female cast that specialises in either a “male role” or a “female role” in the musicals, stage dramas and dance revues. Showcasing a wide range of genres, it has attracted a mass audience of mostly female followers, resulting in tickets sales reaching fever pitch levels. But what is the role of Takarazuka in the world of Japanese theatre and what does it signify?

This special event commemorating the 100^th anniversary of Takarazuka provides an opportunity to cultivate a cross-cultural understanding of the theatre company through discussion. Beginning with a brief talk by Dr Nobuko Anan, a lecturer in Japanese studies at Birkbeck, University of London, regarding the history and characteristics of Takarazuka, she will be joined by Noriko Tosaka (aka Ai Otohara) and Machiko Nakano (aka Reo Kazami), two distinguished former Takarazuka performers, as well as Jano Williams, co-director of the documentary Dream Girls (1994). Tosaka and Nakano will reflect on their past experiences inside the exclusive, fiercely competitive company whose practices have remained largely unchanged for a century. As arguably one the first filmmakers outside of Japan to capture the elite world of Takarazuka, Williams, a British filmmaker, will speak about their motives for making their insightful film, and what they observed through the camera behind the scenes of the dazzling revue.

Following the discussion, the former Takarazuka performers will take part in a short demonstration illustrating the distinct form of male and female characterisations that the company is so well known for.

This event will extend beyond a simple overview of Takarazuka and together, the speakers, each with their own perspectives, will delve into the impact of Takarazuka, issues associated with Takarazuka, including gender, as well as the societal norms that have created this spectacular scene.

In celebration of Japanese literature in the UK, join us this March for this rare talk event with multiple award-winning author SHIBASAKI Tomoka and renowned Japanese literary translator Polly Barton. Fluently changing subject between third-person and first-person, SHIBASAKI’s first English-translated book, Spring Garden, is a poetic but foreboding narrative of Taro and his neighbour, NISHI, who holds an obsessive interest towards the old house next door.

In this special talk, Tomoka and Polly will discuss the dazzling novels Spring Garden and the newly translated A Hundred Years and a Day.

'A master class in novel writing… Tomoka Shibasaki rightly won the Akutagawa Prize in 2014 for this sublime novella of dislocation and regret, and Polly Barton’s light, understated translation does it immense justice' - Japan Times

SHIBASAKI Tomoka

SHIBASAKI Tomoka is a Japanese novelist. Her debut novel Kyō no dekigoto (A Day on the Planet) was adapted into a film by YUKISADA Isao in 2004. Her 2007 novel Sono machi no ima wa (That Town, Today) received multiple awards including the Geijutsu Sensho Newcomers Prize. In 2010, her novel Netemo sametemo (Whether Asleep or Awake) received the Noma Literary New Face Prize; the book was subsequently adapted for the screen by HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke as Asako I & II and screened at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2014, SHIBASAKI won the Akutagawa Award for Spring Garden, translated into English by Polly Barton and published by Pushkin Press. Her 2023 novel Tsuzuki to hajimari (Continuing and Beginning) received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize and the Tanizaki Junichiro Prize. Her 2018 work A Hundred Years and a Day was translated into English by Polly Barton and published by Stone Bridge Press in 2025. Her latest novel is Kaerenai tantei (The Detective Who Couldn't Go Home), published in 2025.

Polly Barton

Polly Barton is a writer and Japanese literary translator. Her translations include A Hundred Years and a Day and Spring Garden by SHIBASAKI Tomoka, Butter by YUZUKI Asako, Hunchback by ICHIKAWA Saou, Where the Wild Ladies Are by MATSUDA Aoko, and Mild Vertigo by KANAI Mieko. She is the author of Fifty Sounds, Porn: An Oral History. Her debut novel What Am I, A Deer? comes out in April.

YAGI Emi Photo: © ABE Mayumi 

Japanese literature has never been so popular in the UK!

Following the successful talk tour by YUZUKI Asako and TSUJIMURA Mizuki, the Japan Foundation is delighted to present two authors from Japan whom you should watch out for: YAGISAWA Satoshi, the author of the worldwide best-selling novel Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and its sequel, as well as our previous guest YAGI Emi (Diary of a Void) whose new book When the Museum is Closed is now available in English.

Although the two authors have different writing styles and storylines, both sincerely face and examine in their books the lives of women in a complex modern world and their journeys of coping with relatable personal issues.

They will talk about their own books in London and Manchester.

YAGISAWA Satoshi

Debuted in 2010 with Morisaki Shoten no hibi (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop), which was adapted into a hit film and followed up with a sequel publication. His Morisaki Bookshop series has since been translated worldwide, become an international bestseller and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. His other works include the Junkissa Torunka (Torunka Cafe) series. His hobbies include playing the guitar and he loves coffee and cats.

YAGI Emi

Born in Nagano in 1988, is the award-winning author of Diary of a Void and When the Museum is Closed. Her work has been translated into 25 languages and acclaimed internationally. Her first novel, Diary of a Void, won the Osamu Dazai Prize. She lives in Tokyo and is an editor at a leading women’s magazine.

Do we really know who we are and who others are? This is the main theme for the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026. Because of the complex nature of our minds and emotions, many filmmakers have employed the theme through various forms and narratives. Arguably, examples can be seen in KUROSAWA Akira’s Rashomon and our screening last year of Ichiko by TODA Akihiro, to name only a few. Recently, advanced technologies, widespread social networking services, as well as greater gender diversity, seem to bring fascinating new stories of self-images.

In this wrap-up online talk, we have invited experts who have long-standing careers in the film industries of Japan and the UK, to explore the theme of the true self by illustrating some concrete examples of their choices. Together, they will discuss the narratives, voices, and approaches of filmmakers to this theme by examining the course of film in the past and future.

This online talk is free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book your place on Eventbrite.

We've added an extra screening to our bumper day in Cambridge this November, and this time, it's accompanied by a director Q&A session! Join us, together with director YAKUWA Shinnosuke, for a very special screening of Totto-chan the Movie: The Little Girl at the Window (2023).

Totto-chan (ONO Liliana) is an energetic young girl, filled with enthusiasm for the world around her. However, her overwhelming vitality is viewed negatively by her school, which expels her, and Totto-chan is instead enrolled at Tomoe School, an institution founded by headmaster KOBAYASHI Sosaku (YAKUSHO Koji). KOBAYASHI's values differ strongly from those of Totto-chan's previous school: he is a firm believer in the importance of children's independence, and in their freedom to act as they wish and express themselves in their own ways. It is at his school that Totto-chan truly begins to flourish, but in the background, the shadow of impending hardship looms: war is on the horizon.

To book your ticket,
click here to visit the Panorama Journal website.

The Japan Foundation is proud to partner with London Metropolitan University's Centre for Creative Arts, Cultures & Engagement (CREATURE) as they present this insightful roundtable discussion exploring the intersection of film and fabric within a Japanese context.

Moderated by Professor Wessie Ling, Rachal Bradley, Dr Nicolas Cambridge, Dr Nathalie Khan, and Professor NARUMI Hiroshi will examine the connections and exchanges between the textile history of northwest England and the Japanese avant-garde fashion of Yohji YAMAMOTO, KAWAKUBO Rei, and Issey MIYAKE, seeking to understand fashion on film as a broader register of cultural exchange and to investigate how subcultures emerge.

The discussion is centred around the ongoing work of Rachal Bradley's feature-length non-fiction film, FOLD襞, which is scheduled for national and international distribution in late 2025. The film takes an anthropological look at these iconic Japanese avant-garde fashion designers, and explores how their work resonates beyond Japan, particularly in the northwest of England.

This event is free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book your place on Eventbrite.

Three childhood friends now find themselves in their 50s. When one of them stops answering the phone after a break-up with her boyfriend, the others decide to pay a visit to her apartment. Upon their arrival, they discover the place is full to the brim with clutter, and in a comically escalating (yet ultimately fruitless) attempt to create order from this chaos, they lay bare the messes that have been building up within their own lives...

Featuring a new translation, these readings of leading female playwright NAGAI Ai's ambitious best-seller Women Who Want To Tidy Up mark the first ever British takes on this laugh-out-loud script, exploring relationships, hoarding, aging, menopause, and many more issues most women will relate to at some point in their lives.

Directed by Ria Parry, each of these readings in Oxford and London will also be followed by a post-performance talk with NAGAI Ai herself!

- Oxford -
The North Wall
Tuesday 11 March, 14:00
FREE but booking required
Click here to book

- London -
Arcola Theatre
Friday 14 March, 14:00
£3 per person
SOLD OUT - returns only!
Click for more details

The #JFTFP26 official programme is now live!

Dates: Friday 6 February to Tuesday 31 March 2026

Venue: Cinemas nationwide

Get your tickets for the UK’s biggest Japanese film festival, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme, starting in February!

From one of the most talked-about social dramas by TAKASHI Miike, Sham, to The Hotel of My Dream, a light comedy based on the novel by the YUZUKI Asako (Butter), our diverse programme offers something for everyone.

We have even invited three filmmakers from Japan to visit various cities – do not miss our exclusive Q&A sessions!

Are you ready?

Directors Q&A Sessions:

IIZUKA Kasho (Director, Blue Boy Trial) 12 Feb: HOME, Manchester 13 Feb: Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London 14 Feb: Chapter, Cardiff	YOSHIDA Daihachi (Director, Teki Cometh) 14 Feb: Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London 15 Feb: QUAD, Derby 16 Feb: Showroom, Sheffield 17 Feb: The Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP), Oxford	KAI Sayaka (Director, Adabana) 25 Feb: Storyhouse, Chester 26 Feb: Riverside Studios, London 27 Feb: Queen’s Film Theatre (QFT), Belfast 3 Mar: Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds

View our full exciting line-up at our official website:

https://www.jpf-film.org.uk/ 

Justice (along with the closely-aligned concept of fairness) is one of the fundamental rights of the human being. Sadly though, history and current affairs prove that this right is not always available to all, causing unresolved issues in society. Many creators have expressed themselves through the arts in response to these issues, and cinema is no exception. In Japan KORE-EDA Hirokazu stormed the world with his breath-taking social film Nobody Knows, but, as seen in the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025 (JFTFP25), he was not the last or even the first to bring social voices into films.

But what is it that inspires filmmakers to explore the concepts of criminal, social and moral justice in their cinematic narratives, and can films contribute to a public refocusing on the problems citizens might have long turned a blind eye to?

Reflecting the theme of the JFTFP25, Am I Right? Justice, Justification and Judgement, and focusing on non-documentary films, a panel of six film professionals from Japan and the UK will discuss how cinema now and then corresponds to the world we live in, while contemplating the role of cinema in changing society.

This online talk is free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book your place on Eventbrite.

Originally, the Japanese tea ceremony (sado) was simply the practice of preparing and enjoying tea (chanoyu), but it evolved into a unique discipline that emphasised spiritual cultivation and aesthetic refinement. The form of chanoyu perfected by master Sen no Rikyu involved a small group of close acquaintances gathering in an intimate tea room to share food, sake, and tea while engaging in discussions about art and culture removed from worldly concerns. During the era of civil war, this practice aimed to rebuild human bonds that transcended social status.

In the 17th century, with the restoration of peace, samurai tea masters such as FURUTA Oribe and KOBORI Enshu brought significant changes and diversification to architecture, gardens, and tea utensils such as ceramics, and both the boldness and the refined elegance of their styles continue to be cherished by many today.

Together with the Japan Society, we are delighted to present a fascinating talk featuring KOZU Asao, a cultural historian specialising in the history of the tea ceremony, who will explore the evolution of chanoyu across three generations - Rikyu, Oribe, and Enshu - linked by a lineage of master and disciple.

This event is now fully booked; tickets are returns only.
Click here to join the waitlist on the Japan Society website.

Step into the world of Kabuki with six stunning kimonos worn by the legendary actor BANDO Tamasaburo V, known for his renowned onnagata roles (male actor who performs female roles). Experience the intricate artistry of these garments, highlighting a diverse range of complex textile techniques, encompassing weaving, dyeing, embroidery, and hand-painting. We are delighted to collaborate with the Ashmolean Museum.

Date: 14 December 2024 - 9 November 2025

Venue: The Ashmolean Museum

Click here for details

Photo: ©Naoto Otsubo/Kodansha Ltd.

We are delighted to be bringing one of Japan's bestselling authors, TSUJIMURA Mizuki (known for Lonely Castle in the Mirror) to the UK in October, in celebration of her newly English translated book Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon (『ツナグ』).

Much anticipated, award-winning novel: Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon, originally published in Japan in 2011, paints the world of Ayumi, who has the power to bring back the dead to meet the living for one last chance at closure. Each reunion Ayumi oversees reveals clues through which readers can uncover deeply emotional truths in this intensely moving, heart-warming novel.

These talks will provide a rare and limited opportunity to hear directly from TSUJIMURA, the author behind many prominent novels.

Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon (『ツナグ』) now available in English, is supported by the Japan Foundation's Support Program for Translation and Publication.

Praise for Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon:

'Recalls early Murakami. An enchanting read' - Financial Times

‘A beautifully written novel about hope and kindness’ - Big Issue

TSUJIMURA Mizuki

Born 29 February 1980. Debuted in 2004 after winning the 31st Mephisto Prize for A School Frozen in Time. Received the 32nd Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize for New Writers for Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon, along with the 147th Naoki Prize for Kagi no nai yume wo miru (A Dream Without a Key) and first place in the 15th Japan Booksellers' Award for Lonely Castle in the Mirror. Many of her works have been adapted for screen, and several of her works, including A School Frozen in Time, Lonely Castle in the Mirror, and Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon, have been published in translation, reaching readers around the world.

Top image photo credits: © OHTSUKA Yasuo

Numerous Japanese animators have laid the foundation for Japanese animation. Like MIYAZAKI Hayao, some of them even sparked a global sensation, helping to establish the reputation and high standards of Japanese anime as we know it today. However, the list of notable names is by no means exhaustive.

OHTSUKA Yasuo (1931 – 2021) is one such animator whose contributions deserve greater recognition. A leading figure in Japanese animation, OHTSUKA actively contributed to the field from the early 1950s. In the 1960s, he recognised the talents of TAKAHATA Isao and MIYAZAKI Hayao, enthusiastically nurturing them and collaborating on now world-famous works such as Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

As part of Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival, in which the Japan Foundation has been involved as a partner, KANOH Seiji, specially appointed professor at Tokyo Zokei University who has researched OHTSUKA and his achievements for 30 years, will discuss the significance of OHTSUKA’s work and ethos in this exclusive online talk, as well as the lasting impact he has had on anime fans and creators for generations to come.

About Professor KANOH Seiji

A Japanese film scholar, specially appointed professor at Tokyo Zokei University, and representative of the Institute of Isao Takahata & Hayao Miyazaki Films.

As a leading scholar of Japanese animation, Professor KANOH has served as a planning advisor and catalogue contributor for major exhibitions including “Isao Takahata Exhibition: His Legacy to Japanese Animation” (2019, Tokyo); “The Man Who Made Japanese Animation” (2025, Tokyo); and “Isao Takahata: Pioneer of Contemporary Animation, from the Post-War Era to Studio Ghibli” (2025, Paris).

His publications include “The Complete Works of Miyazaki Hayao” and “The People Who Built Japanese Animation: New Edition”.

This event is free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book your place on Eventbrite.

Following the popular London screening this September, the Japan Foundation and Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature are pleased to bring Drops of Heaven to Cambridge this November! This captivating documentary features TATSUMI Yoshiko, Japan’s legendary culinary artist and writer of “Inochi no soup”, (the “soup of life”), a work devoted to using natural, nourishing ingredients.

Framed by the serene beauty of rural Japan, viewers can witness TATSUMI’s thoughtful approach to food and the rhythms of a slower, more connected life.

As conversations around sustainable living and nature-focused wellbeing continue to grow, this quietly powerful 2012 film feels more relevant than ever to our modern life.

Click here for details

As part of the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2024, with which the Japan Foundation is proud to partner, animation director OGAWA Iku is joining us for a very special talk revealing the behind-the-scenes of stop-motion film-making. Giving exclusive insights into the direction and character creation processes of the animated works he has been involved in, such as HIDARI (screened at the 2024 Kotatsu Festival) and Netflix's Pokémon Concierge, OGAWA will discuss what it is like to work in the Japanese animation industry - don't miss this rare opportunity to discover its fascinating inner workings!

For the first time, this talk will be given with British Sign Language interpretation.

This online talk is free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book your place on Eventbrite.

When you think of Japanese woodblock print-making, you likely think of the 18th-and-19th-century greats: KITAGAWA Utamaro, KATSUSHIKA Hokusai, and UTAGAWA Hiroshige are all well-known around the world for their ukiyo-e works, but the art of woodblock printing continued to prosper well beyond their times. In fact, the artform thrived well into the more modern times of the 1920s and 1930s, evolving beyond ukiyo-e along the way, with a number of its artists using it to express their own unique takes on the liveliness of a newly-modernised Tokyo.

In this special talk event, KOYAMA Shuko, curator at the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Tokyo, will give an illustrated talk on hanga (woodblock print) works, with a particular focus on the 1920s and 1930s and the ways in which the artists of this time captured the changing city of Tokyo, while also comparing this more modern hanga to its ukiyo-e predecessors.

This event is organised in celebration of the opening of Tokyo, naissance d'une ville moderne (Tokyo, the Birth of a Modern City) at the Japan Foundation's Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris.

This event is free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book your place on Eventbrite.

The Japan Foundation is proud to partner with theatre company Vanishing Point as their production of Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey, based on the surreal stories by MURAKAMI Haruki and co-produced by Kanagawa Arts Theatre, tours Scotland.

Mizuki is a young woman whose life, job, and husband all seem ordinary, until one day she forgets her name. Disturbed by deepening consequences, she seeks solace in makeshift counsellor Mrs SAKAKI, who leads the two on a journey of discovery through both the tunnels of Tokyo and the annals of SAKAKI's subconscious.
Bathing amidst the mountains of Japan, a traveller is shocked to discover a talking monkey tending the hot spring. Conversation ensues, and the monkey tells of how he learned ‘human language’, came to appreciate the music of Bruckner and Richard Strauss, and now teeters on the edge of a profound, alarming confession.

Featuring performers from Scotland and Japan, human and puppet monkeys, lurking shadows, stunning sound, and a distinctive visual language, Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey will draw you into the inimitable, dream-like domain of one of the world’s best-loved living authors.

Performed in English and Japanese, with full dialogue captioning built into the stage design.

Click here to book your tickets for performances at Tramway in Glasgow.

Click here to book your tickets for performances at Dundee Rep in Dundee.

Japan has fabricated a unique and distinctive fashion culture. In recent years, subcultures like Gothic Lolita ("Goth-loli") and avant-garde fashion designs, such as those by Comme des Garçons, have had a significant impact on global fashion. Why has Japan developed such a unique fashion culture? How is contemporary Japanese fashion connected to Japan's past?

In this talk, Professor NARUMI Hiroshi will explore the evolution of fashion in Japan during the country's 20th-century modernisation. Through key trends such as the Taisho-era Meisen kimono, the rise of the Modern Girl, the westernisation of Japanese clothing, and post-war youth fashion, he will discuss how Japanese fashion reflects the nation’s changing identity, offering a fresh perspective on the complex relationship between clothing and culture.

This event is now fully booked; tickets are returns only.
Click here to join the waitlist on the Japan Society website.

KAWAUCHI Rinko is one of Japan’s most prominent contemporary photographers. Her work is exhibited globally, including a 2006 solo exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, and is often described as poetic, offering an ethereal, dream-like perspective on the everyday world we inhabit without being constrained by any one particular theme.

In celebration of her new exhibition at Arnolfini in Bristol, Rinko Kawauchi: At the edge of the everyday world (supported by the Japan Foundation and opening on 19 October), KAWAUCHI will be visiting London to reflect on her works to date, focusing on the past 10 years. She will introduce the ethos behind them, along with the philosophies that drive her photographic practice, giving an exclusive insight into the enthralling images she produces.

KAWAUCHI Rinko

KAWAUCHI Rinko is an internationally-acclaimed photographer who has appeared in countless group exhibitions, including for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012 at The Photographers' Gallery in London and for the Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 'New Documents' in Brighton. She has published a multitude of photobooks, and has held solo exhibitions near-continuously since 1998, including a 2006 major solo exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery. Her photography utilises even the smallest aspects of everyday life as a vessel by which to capture poetic reflections on themes of care, identity, sustainability, humanity, and nature, and has won her numerous awards and accolades, including an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society in 2012 and an Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award in 2023.

This event is now fully booked.
Click here to join the waiting list on Eventbrite.

We're returning to Cambridge for another special film screening event, and this time we're bringing not just one, but two films!

In collaboration with Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature and Jesus College, University of Cambridge, join us for FREE screenings of Kamome Diner (2005, dir. OGIGAMI Naoko) and Key of Life (2012, dir. UCHIDA Kenji).

These screenings are free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book on the Panorama Journal website.

Screenings

Kamome Diner
dir. OGIGAMI Naoko, 2005, 102 min, English subtitles
Summer arrives in Helsinki, bringing with it the opening of a small Japanese eatery known as Kamome Diner. After a slow start, the shop gradually begins to grow in popularity, yet no-one ever orders the "soul food" rice balls made by its 38-year-old owner, Sachie (KOBAYASHI Satomi).
Screening at 14:30 GMT

Key of Life
dir. UCHIDA Kenji, 2012, 128 min, English subtitles
Failed actor SAKURAI (SAKAI Masato) visits a bathhouse to purify himself before ending it all. When wealthy fellow patron KONDO (KAGAWA Teruyuki) takes an amnesia-inducing fall, SAKURAI spots an opportunity to escape his current struggles and assumes KONDO's identity.
Screening at 17:00 GMT

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme is back for 2025!

From 7 February to 31 March, discover 26 diverse Japanese films at 33 cinemas in 32 cities, spotlighting cinematic ideas of justice, justification, and judgement against today's backdrop of ever-changing values and perspectives.
From cult classics to cutting-edge independent cinema and drama to comedy, there's something for everyone!

Find out what films are showing, and where, on our official website:

https://www.jpf-film.org.uk/

#JFTFP25

MORIIZUMI Takehito is a Japanese manga artist and an illustrator by profession. Having debuted in 2010 with Mary in the Forest, his representative manga works include Serie and Asleep, a post-apocalyptic science fiction tale. His unique technique of drawing initially with just water, then by dropping ink onto the paper and using toothpicks and chopsticks, among other unconventional tools, to fill in the details not only distinguishes him from other manga artists, but also allows him to create very poetic expressions of his highly intellectual story lines.

His professional activities are also characterised by his passionate involvement in literature: he has provided illustrations for Japanese literature publications and produced graphic adaptations of a variety of novels by esteemed authors including Franz Kafka, George Orwell, and MURAKAMI Haruki. Owing to his deep knowledge of and great interest in literature, he was once described by Japanese media as “a manga artist who is more of a literary figure than a novelist”.

In this special talk, MORIIZUMI will showcase his career and his works, explaining his unique creative process as well as the ethos behind his creations. As the son-in-law of late film director OBAYASHI Nobuhiko, and having once worked very closely with him, MORIIZUMI will also touch upon his personal relationship with OBAYASHI.

This event is free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book your place on Eventbrite.

In partnership with The Garden Cinema, we're excited to bring you a rare opportunity to see some of the best independent Japanese animation in recent years on the big screen, featuring an introduction from programme curator Alex Dudok de Wit!

Anime is a global phenomenon. But there is much more to Japanese animation than the franchises and studio productions that get the lion’s share of attention. Filmmakers working independently, sometimes almost alone, are creating some of the wildest, most beautiful animation out there, as they experiment with artistic techniques and ways of telling stories.

Clay waves that speak poetry, pointillist landscapes bursting with colour, a candid documentary about periods, an absurdist conspiracy thriller about small people with hats: the short films in this programme, all made by Japanese directors in the past 12 years, cover a dizzying range of styles and narratives.

Tickets for Tuesday 8 July are now sold out.
To book your ticket for Wednesday 9 July,
click here to visit The Garden Cinema website.

The Japan Foundation is proud to partner with the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London for athese special screening events featuring director ENDO Maiko, including an In Focus series at ICA.

Don't miss this rare opportunity to witness ENDO's profound, thought-provoking experimental films, accompanied by a pair of Q&A sessions with the director herself - see below for more details and to get your tickets.

Screenings

Kuichisan
dir. ENDO Maiko, 2011, 76 min, English subtitles
Screening from a 35mm print and presented in a mixture of colour and monochrome, Kuichisan paints a striking, dreamlike picture of a boy's (played by ISHIHARA Raizo) wanderings through an Okinawan town.
Screening at:
Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow
Tuesday 15 October 2024, 19:30 (with director Q&A)
Concluded - click for more details

Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Tuesday 22 October 2024, 18:30 (with director Q&A)
Concluded - click for more details

Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Saturday 26 October 2024, 12:45
Click to book

Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Sunday 27 October 2024, 13:45
Click to book

Technology
dir. ENDO Maiko, 2016, 73 min, English subtitles
Filmed in Iceland and India, Technology tells the surreal story of the search for a sacred flower and a child from the moon (Bobbi Salvör Menuez) drawn towards the dangerous business of dealing its seeds.
Screening at:
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Saturday 26 October 2024, 14:40
Click to book

Jizai
dir. ENDO Maiko, 2024, 14 min, English subtitles
Based on the real-life INAMI JIZAI BODY PROJECT, Jizai playfully explores what is needed for AI to challenge the limits of human capabilities, and how senses and emotions can interact with robotics.
Screening at:
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Sunday 27 October 2024, 18:00 (followed by Tokyo Telepath 2020)
Click to book

Tokyo Telepath 2020
dir. ENDO Maiko, 2020, 49 min, English subtitles
The year is 2018, and preparations for the Olympics are hiding a programme that will digitise Tokyo's inhabitants and control their minds. Meanwhile, two telepathic girls (Natsuko, Luka) receive a special task.
Screening at:
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Sunday 27 October 2024, 18:00 (preceded by Jizai)
Click to book

This July, we're delighted to bring you an enthralling one-off concert that blends KAWAI Ikuko's globally acclaimed, refined brand of classical violin performance with traditional Japanese accompaniment courtesy of shakuhachi player KOMINATO Akihisa and hand drum player MOCHIZUKI Satasuke.

Set against the awe-inspiring backdrop of London's majestic Actors' Church, the trio will perform a variety of pieces, including KAWAI's original compositions that have enchanted audiences the world over.

Make sure you don't miss this phenomenal fusion of Western classical and Japanese traditional music!

This concert is now fully booked; tickets are returns only.
Click here to join the waitlist on the Actors' Church website.

Oita Prefecture's Kunisaki Peninsula and its Usa area are deemed a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in recognition of their sustainable agricultural traditions, and are home to various local plants, including shiitake mushrooms and shichitoi (a type of tatami grass/soft rush). Shichitoi in particular is unique to the region and is revered for its superior sturdiness and durability; as such, this special plant is widely used for tatami-making, as well as other craftworks.

In this very special event, HAYASHI Hiroaki, President of the Kunisaki Peninsula Usa Area GIAHS Promotion Association, will begin by giving an overview of the importance of agriculture in the region, introducing some of the materials harvested there.

This will be followed by expert craftsperson IWAKIRI Chika demonstrating the making of enza (small, round cushions) using shichitoi, after which workshop ticketholders will have the unique opportunity to get hands-on with this special material as they make their very own miniature shimenawa (a type of traditional rope) and, time permitting, misanga (a type of good luck charm).

This event has limited availability – book now at the link below to secure your place.

Click here to book on the Panorama Journal website.
Please note that this event has a recommended minimum age of 10 years.

The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival is back for 2024, and we're delighted to once again partner with the festival to bring you the very best in Japanese animation past and present!

This year's festival takes place in October, visiting Chapter in Cardiff from 5 to 6 October, and Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Aberystwyth from 25 to 27 October. With a trio of Welsh premieres in Cardiff, and films spanning genres from mecha to drama, there's something for everyone to enjoy!

Click here to book your tickets for screenings at Chapter.

Click here to book your tickets for screenings at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Don't forget to check the Kotatsu website for more details!

We're proud to co-present with the Royal Society of Arts, a special screening of documentary Drops of Heaven.

Featuring TATSUMI Yoshiko, Japan’s legendary culinary artist and writer who is famous for “Inochi no soup”, (the “soup of life”) using natural and nutritious ingredients. Amidst stunning scenery of the Japanese landscape, viewers can witness TATSUMI’s philosophy on slow food and nurturing life.

Japan is renowned for its tea ceremonies. While the more well-known chado uses matcha tea powder, gatherings involving sencha use tea leaves. The origins of sencha, and the way in which the sencha is appreciated, are also unique in that they take place against a backdrop of intellectual gatherings known as "salons", occasions originating in the mid-Edo period that are used primarily to discuss arts and culture.

In this very special event, Sencha Master TSUKUDA Shio, successor to the Issa-an sencha tea school in Osaka, will give an illustrated talk about the history of sencha and the salon culture in which sencha played a key role, while also demonstrating the exquisite manner in which sencha is prepared and how it can be appreciated in daily life.

Participants will even be able to enjoy sencha prepared by TSUKUDA himself!

TSUKUDA Shio

Successor of the Issa-an sencha tea school, which inherits the salon culture of the bunjin (literary figures) of the Edo period.
At the G20 Osaka Summit 2019, he was in charge of the sencha tea gathering held as part of the Partners' Program.
He is also a member of the international research project ‘Creative collaborations: salons and networks in Kyoto and Osaka 1780–1880’ (led jointly by the British Museum and Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto), as well as a part-time lecturer at Kansai University.

This event has limited availability - book now to avoid disappointment.
Click here to book on the Panorama Journal website.

Noh theatre is a major traditional Japanese performing art, recognised as an Important Intangible Cultural Property by the Japanese government and as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Though characterised by the stylised movements and singing of its actors, it would not be complete without the unique, carefully-carved masks they wear as they perform. These allow Noh actors to control their character’s expression by making minute changes to the angle from which the audience sees their mask.

In this special one-off event, organised in celebration of the series of activities Tradition to Modernity: Understanding Noh Theatre from its Establishment 650 Years Ago to Contemporary Times taking place in August and September, KITAZAWA Hideta, master craftsperson and second-generation Noh mask-maker, will introduce the fascinating world of Noh masks, demonstrating the techniques used to make them while offering a rare chance to take a closer look at these wooden works of art. He will also present some of his more recent creations inspired by contemporary characters.

KITAZAWA Hideta

KITAZAWA Hideta is a wood sculptor and Noh mask maker based in Tokyo. He learned traditional wood carving of Buddhist and Shinto statuary from his father, KITAZAWA Ikkyo, and later studied Noh mask carving. He currently produces classical Noh and Kyogen masks and has been designated a master craftsman by the Tokyo Metropolitan government. KITAZAWA has also created numerous shinsaku - “new” - masks for foreign-language Noh productions, notably those of Theatre Nohgaku, as well as for other Noh-influenced plays. He has given workshops and demonstrations in Japan and internationally, and a book on his work entitled Noh and Kyogen Masks will be published by Prestel in September 2024.

This event has limited availability - book now to avoid disappointment.
Click here to book on the Panorama Journal website.

We are proud to collaborate with the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation as they present Life on Planet Earth, photographer NOGUCHI Rika’s first UK solo exhibition since 2004.

Featuring both photographic and video works, the exhibition conveys a sense of wonder at being in the world from various perspectives: though NOGUCHI became known for the human figures her earlier works took up as their subjects, she has since broadened her practice to also explore the ways in which other creatures – birds, mammals, fish, and insects – experience our world. Humanity is not unaccounted for, however, with video works such as The Lucent Sea (2021/2023, commissioned by the Japan Foundation) and To the Night Planet (2015) investigating alienness and alienation among human beings.

Embark on a Japan-UK musical odyssey as Kit Downes on piano harmonises with KIMURA Shunsuke on the shinobue (traverse bamboo flute) and ONO Etsuro on Tsugaru shamisen (three string banjo). In partnership with The Japan Foundation.

Date: 29 February 2024, 20:00 (Doors: 19:30)

Venue: Kings Place 2024

For more details, click here 

This event will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.

The Japan Foundation is delighted to take part in the UK tour of award winning Japanese author MURATA Sayaka, (best known to audiences outside of Japan for her best-selling novel Convenience Store Woman), for a series of enlightening talks on her novel Vanishing World, (『消滅世界』) now available in English. Vanishing World depicts a timeline in which sex between married couples is taboo, and children are born through artificial insemination. Known for her intriguing and off-beat writing style, MURATA's latest novel forces readers to examine the norms of the world around them, in this imagined dystopian reality.

Praise for Vanishing World:

Makes the ordinary world as we see it look strange again... Publishers will continue to seek out imitations of [Sayaka's] vision - but why bother, when the real thing is so good? - Financial Times

An eye-popping plot... It invites us to consider how reproductive gender equality could transform society, with chilling ramifications - New York Times

MURATA Sayaka

Whilst working at a convenience store herself, MURATA debuted Junyu, her first novel in 2003, for which she received the Gunzo Prize for New Writers. Despite her increasing fame as a writer, MURATA continued to work as a convenience store clerk until 2017, throughout which time she also received the Mishima Yukio Prize for Of Bones, Of Body Heat, Of Whitening City in 2013, and the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 2016 for Convenience Store Woman, for which she was also named one of Vogue Japan's Women of the Year.

As part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024, and in view of its theme of Unforgettable: Memories, Times and Reflections in Japanese Cinema, this roundtable discussion reunites a panel of UK- and Japan-based experts in Japanese cinema from last year’s online talk series to reflect on Japanese films that embedded themselves in their minds, and to explore what makes Japanese cinema memorable.

Date: Friday 22 March, 13:00 (GMT) 

Online Webinar hosted on Zoom

Click here to book your place 

Join us in Cambridge for a special FREE screening of Mori, The Artist's Habitat (2017, dir. OKITA Shuichi), in collaboration with Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place, and Nature and Jesus College, University of Cambridge.

94-year-old painter KUMAGAI Morikazu (YAMAZAKI Tsutomu), also known as Mori, has hardly left his property for the last 30 years. Most of his day is spent tirelessly observing his garden and all the living things in it, which he renders into paintings every evening in a studio he calls the "school." While he goes about his business, his wife Hideko (KIKI Kirin) attends to a stream of visitors.
Mori and Hideko live peacefully, surrounded by the things they love, until one day, a group of developers decide to build a condominium next door, putting their small paradise under threat. If the condominium is built, it will block the sun, and the garden will become uninhabitable, so Mori and Hideko decide to take action to protect the garden they cherish...

Mori, The Artist's Habitat is a humorous depiction of a summer day in the life of an old couple who've been together 52 years, set in the more affable social atmosphere of the 1970s.

This screening is free to attend, but booking is essential.
Click here to book on the Panorama Journal website.

We are thrilled to announce that our Senior Arts Programme Officer, Junko Takekawa, will be speaking at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival as part of its free programme.

Join Junko, along with journalist and editor Sarah Shaffi, to learn more about some Japanese literature worth reading.
No ticket is required - just turn up!

ISHIMOTO Yasuhiro (1921-2012) remains one of Japan’s leading photographers. Born in the USA to a pair of Japanese immigrant farmers, ISHIMOTO studied both in Japan and at the Institute of Design in Chicago (also known as the New Bauhaus), where he was taught photographic technology by Aaron Siskind and Harry Callahan. After returning to Japan in the mid-1950s, he photographed the Katsura Rikyu (Katsura Imperial Villa). His work was praised highly, and so ISHIMOTO was pushed into fame, not least because his masterpieces were a breath of fresh air for the world of Japanese photography, employing modernistic expressions of the structural and stylistic power his photographic subjects held.

In celebration of the exhibition Yasuhiro Ishimoto. Lines and Bodies at LE BAL in Paris (19 June to 17 November), the Japan Foundation, London, together with The Photographers’ Gallery, will host a talk by ASAKURA Mei (curator at The Museum of Art, Kochi) exploring the legendary photographer while illustrating the characteristics of his works and the legacy he left. The Museum of Art to which ASAKURA belongs is home to the Ishimoto Yasuhiro Photo Center, a facility that holds almost the entirety of ISHIMOTO’s works, leaving ASAKURA uniquely positioned to share insights unmatched in depth and expertise.

To book your place, please click here to access the booking form.

Please note that the confirmation email system is not automated and is subject to office opening hours.

ISHIMOTO’s exhibition at LE BAL in Paris is supported by the Japan Foundation.

Join TAWADA Yoko, the multi-award-winning author of The Last Children of Tokyo and Scattered All Over the Earth, for an insightful pair of talks celebrating her latest UK release, Spontaneous Acts. TAWADA will visit London’s Libreria bookshop, along with Cheltenham for The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival.

About TAWADA Yoko

TAWADA Yoko was born in Tokyo in 1960, educated at Waseda University and has lived in Germany since 1982, where she received her PhD in German literature. She received the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for The Bridegroom Was a Dog. She writes in both German and Japanese, and in 1996, she won the Adalbert-von-Chamisso Prize, a German award recognizing foreign writers for their contributions to German culture. She also received the Goethe-Medal, an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the prestigious Kleist Prize (2016).

Venues and dates

London
Libreria
65 Hanbury Street
Monday 7 October 2024, 19:00
CONCLUDED - Click for more details

Cheltenham
The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival
The Hive, Montpellier Terrace
Tuesday 8 October 2024, 17:00
Click to book

Don’t forget to grab your copy of Spontaneous Acts before the event – click here to find out more!

In conjunction with MORIIZUMI Takehito and his wife OBAYASHI Chigumi, there will be two special film screenings at the Garden Cinema in London for the films of OBAYASHI Nobuhiko.

OBAYASHI began his career with a largely experimentalist style but ultimately explored different genres throughout his life. His films feature themes of youth, love, and war. 

6 August 18:00 ~ His Motorbike, Her Island. Followed by a Q&A with OBAYASHI Chigumi, the director's daughter, as well as her husband MORIIZUMI Takehito, distinguished manga artist and illustrator. 

9 August 17:00 ~ Hanagatami

Venue: The Garden Cinema London

Attend TANAKA Kotaro's talk on DOMON Ken to discover the renowned photographer. Gain insights about his iconic works and explore his relationship with contemporaries such MORIYAMA Daido and ARAKI Nobuyoshi. Discover how DOMON's photography reflects the society he lived in.

The Photographers' Gallery

Date: 25 July 2023, 18:30 BST

Registration is essential and spaces are limited, so please book your ticket here.

In collaboration with William Morris Gallery, we're proudly presenting the UK's most wide-ranging exhibition dedicated to Mingei, the influential folk-craft movement originating in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s. Showcasing a diverse array of works including ceramics, woodwork, textiles, and more, this exhibition explores Mingei's cultural significance and its enduring relevance in contemporary craft and consumerism.

Date: now on, until 22 September 2024
Venue: William Morris Gallery
Click here for details

Join award-winning author YUZUKI Asako, known for her tantalising thriller Butter, for a series of enlightening talks on the book and its background. YUZUKI will visit 6 cities, including Cheltenham for The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival and Manchester for the Manchester Literature Festival.

About YUZUKI Asako

Born in Tokyo in 1981. Won the All Yomimono Award for New Writers in 2008 for “Forget Me, Not Blue,” which was included in her debut work Shuten no ano ko in 2010. Won the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize in 2015 for Nile Perch no joshikai (Nile Perch Women's Club). Among her many other hit works, BUTTER was published in 2017.

Venues and dates

Cheltenham
The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival
Pillar Room, Cheltenham Town Hall
Saturday 5 October 2024, 18:30
CONCLUDED - Click for more details

Manchester
Manchester Literature Festival
Manchester Central Library
Monday 7 October 2024, 19:00
CONCLUDED - Click for more details

Sheffield
Off the Shelf
The Auditorium, University of Sheffield Students’ Union
Tuesday 8 October 2024, 18:00
CONCLUDED - Click for more details

London
Foyles, London Charing Cross Road
Wednesday 9 October 2024, 19:00
CONCLUDED - Click for more details

Norwich
University of East Anglia
Lecture Theatre 1
Thursday 10 October 2024, 17:30
CONCLUDED - Click for more details

Oxford
University of Oxford
Nissan Lecture Theatre, St Antony’s College
Friday 11 October 2024, 17:30
CONCLUDED - Click for more details

Don’t forget to grab your copy of Butter before the event – click here to find out more!

Have you heard about V&A Dundee’s ongoing kimono exhibition? Perhaps you attended our online talk on kimono back in 2020? The kimono is an object of national pride in Japan, long beloved by Japanese people and influential even within the western world. Yet, unfortunately, kimono in modern Japan have been relegated to a sort of costume, worn only on specific special occasions. Perhaps the kimono, now overshadowed by western attire, is no longer considered a driving force in fashion – indeed, fashion itself is a concept generally considered to have been born in western Europe, from where it spread to the rest of the world, Japan included. But is that really the case?

Keeping this question in mind, sociologist and Japanese fashion theorist Prof. NARUMI Hiroshi will discuss how trends and aesthetics surrounding kimono came into being and changed over the course of the Edo period (1603-1868), a period during which many notable cultures flourished. Paying close attention to the trends seen among the groups active at the time – those in power, industry insiders, creators, performers, and young people – NARUMI will also explore in what ways kimono constituted fashion, and just how trail-blazing a fashion culture emerged.

To book your place, please click here to access the booking form.

Please note that the confirmation email system is not automated and is subject to office opening hours.

Godzilla is an enormous fictional monster created in Japan but hugely popular worldwide. Originating from a scenario by KAYAMA Shigeru (who would later pen a pair of novelisations reinforcing his original vision), the creature evolved as it took cinematic form, reflecting the socio-political fragility and fear of scientific and technological progress of its time.

With this year marking the 70^th anniversary of the first Godzilla film’s release in 1954, and the Barbican Centre's All Kaiju Attack! film season taking place throughout August, this spectacular series of film productions is once again the centre of attention. In this special talk, experts from the worlds of both film and literature will look back on the works that make up the Godzilla series as they explore the creature’s significance and the ways in which the fantasies and messages within the franchise are relevant to real life.

Speakers

Dr. Jeffrey Angles, Professor at Western Michigan University and translator of Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again, the novels by franchise-spawning screenplay writer KAYAMA Shigeru
Steven Sloss, film critic, writer, and lifelong kaiju fan
Alex Davidson (moderator), Cinema Curator at the Barbican Centre

This event is free to attend, but booking is essential.
To book your place, please click here to open our booking form.

This year's Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival will take place throughout September and October in three venues throughout Wales. From The Colors Within to Summer Wars, the festival screens the best in Japanese anime and culture, featuring a BSL interpreter at Chapter (Saturday only) to reach a greater disabled audience. 

Discover the world of Ninja! Join our talk with Prof. YAMADA Yuji and learn how the perception of these iconic figures has evolved over time using some cinematic examples.

Venue: Japan House London

Date: 19 September 2023, 18:30 BST

Registration is essential and spaces are limited, so please book your ticket here.

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024 is the largest ever!  

Starting off on 2 February, the programme visits 30 cities in the UK, including Oxford, Lancaster, Chichester, Liverpool and as far as Orkney, as new stopovers!  

Based on a theme of memories, there are 24 films - from with diverse genres such as human drama, horror, LGBTQ films, comedy, and sci-fi…and most of them are UK premieres. There’s a cinematic treat for everyone! 

For screening dates and times at locations near you, please visit: 

https://www.jpf-film.org.uk/

Following on from the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024 (JFTFP24) in February and March, we are delighted to announce that JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE, first launched in 2020, will now also be held in the UK from 5 June at 4am until 3 July at 4am (all times BST).

For the first two weeks of the festival, 18 Japanese films will be available for streaming, with 2 television drama series that were popular in Japan being made available for the festival’s second half.

Enjoy the diverse world of Japanese cinema in person and also online this year!

DAZAI Osamu, a renowned literary figure in Japan, left a lasting impact despite his short life from 1909 to 1948, through numerous novels now emblematic of modern Japanese literature. Prior to the London performance of Good-Bye at the Coronet Theatre, a round table discussion featuring experts will delve into DAZAI's life, works, and his enduring influence in Japan and beyond, including an overview by Dr. Irena Hayter from the University of Leeds.

The panelists for this roundtable discussion are: Dr. Irena Hayter (Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Leeds), Jagoda Kamov (Theatre director, writer, and actress), MIURA Motoi (Representative and the director of theatre company Chiten), and James Garza (Assistant Professor of Translation Studies at International Christian University)

Date: 1 March 2024, 18:30 (GMT)

Online Webinar

Click here to book your place 

The Mingei Undo was a revolutionary cultural movement in Japan which started in 1926. Grandfathered by YANAGI Soetsu, it intended to identify and treasure the beauty of the hand-made works produced by anonymous craftsmen, each one created amidst the climate of each local region and to its specific daily needs. It was born against the backdrop of an existing notion that only ornately-decorated ornamental pieces had value as works of art. The re-discovery of beauty in Mingei covers media from ceramics to textiles, with the works of HAMADA Shoji regarded as some of the most representative of the movement, including within the UK.

In celebration of the exhibition Art Without Heroes: Mingei at William Morris Gallery in London, the Japan Foundation and Dovecot Studios will host a talk by YOSHIZAWA Tomo, a key partner of the exhibition, that will examine the historical significance of Mingei along with its socio-economic impact. As a granddaughter of MUNEHIRO Rikizo, a Preserver of Important Intangible Cultural Property, Tomo will also delve into Mingei’s influence on contemporary makers and craftsmen, along with the relationship between maker and user, by focusing on MUNEHIRO’s textile works.

To book, please click here for our booking form.
Please note that the confirmation email system is not automated and is subject to office opening hours.

Image credit © KITCHEN MINORU

Diary of a Void – a subversive tale that delves into the complexities of lies, life, and female interiority (co-translated by David Boyd and Lucy North). We are delighted to invite YAGI Emi the author behind this award-winning debut book, to the UK.

She will jointly appear at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival with KAWAGUCHI Toshikazu, the author of the million selling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. Following the festival, YAGI Emi will tour the country, including London.

Date: Sunday 8 Oct 16:30

Venue: Town Hall, Pillar Room, The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival

Book here [Tickets for this event are sold out]

Date: Monday 9 Oct 17:30

Venue: The University of Sheffield, Lecture Theatre 7, The Diamond

Book here

Date: Tuesday 10 Oct 19:00

Venue: The West Kirby Bookshop, West Kirby

Book here

Date: Wednesday 11 Oct 18:30

Venue: National Centre for Writing, Dragon Hall, Norwich

Book here

Date: Thursday 12 Oct 19:00

Venue: Foyles, The Auditorium (Level 6), 107 Charing Cross Road, London

Book here

Join seven kabuki musicians (known as hayashikata) led by TANAKA Denzaemon Xlll and including TANAKA Denjiro VII, for a captivating selection of classic kabuki compositions. Gain deeper insights into kabuki music and its musical instruments through a brief talk by the musicians. 

Dates and Venues

Venue: Frankopan Hall, Jesus College (Cambridge)

Date: 4 March,18:00

For more details, click here 

Venue: St James’s Church, Piccadilly (London)

Date: 5 March, 13:00

For more details, click here  *Free to attend but registration is essential.

Venue: V&A Dundee (Dundee)