Monthly Archives: January 2012

Whose Film Is It Anyway? Contemporary Japanese Auteurs

10 February – 28 March 2012 : 7 venues in 7 cities in the UK

Following last year‟s successful Back To the Future: Japanese Cinema since the mid-90s season, this year‟s Japan Foundation touring film programme looks at narrative creativity in Japanese cinema, showcasing directors both young and emerging, such as Miwa Nishikawa and Takatsugu Naito, and the more established, such as Masayuki Suo (the director best-known for Shall We Dance).

In recent years, Japanese cinema has been dominated by generic spin offs of media such as TV shows and manga, to generate an audience based on a pre-existing market. The nine films that have been chosen for this season however clearly demonstrate in fact the wealth of original writing and creativity evident in recent Japanese cinema.

Having successfully forged and retained their own identities within what is one of the largest film markets in the world, these directors reject the “safe” formulaic film model and instead choose to pursue their own methods of expressing themselves through film. Audiences will be able to hear the individual directors‟ voices, whilst also being exposed to characteristics and techniques of some of the best examples of auteur directors from Japan.

The film season is produced and organised by The Japan Foundation, and supported by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

Programme:

The Dark Harbour (Futoko) When recording a video message for a matchmaking party, solitary fisherman Manzo makes an unusual discovery. Dir: Takatsugu Naito, 2009, 101 mins, English subtitles

Dear Doctor

A young medical graduate opts for a job in a remote mountain village, where everything is not as it seems.

Dir: Miwa Nishikawa, 2009, 127 mins, English subtitles

I Just Didn’t Do It (Soredemo Boku Wa Yattenai) The story of a young man accused of groping a woman on a crowded Tokyo train, and his battle with the Japanese legal system. Dir: Masayuki Suo, 2007, 143 mins, English subtitles

About Her Brother (Ototo) Depiction of a complex relationship between a black sheep of a brother and his long-suffering sister. Dir: Yoji Yamada, 2010, 126 mins, English subtitles

A Stranger of Mine (Unmei Janai Hito) In one long Friday evening, Takeshi Miyata, a straight-arrow businessman, will encounter a number of people who have intertwining fates. Dir: Kenji Uchida, 2005, 98 mins, English subtitles

Sleep (Nemuri Yusurika) The desperate story of a family who have sacrificed everything to bring to account the rapist who changed all their lives. Dir: Katsumi Sakaguchi, 2011, 96 mins, English subtitles

All Around Us (Gururi No Koto) The journey of a married couple after a miscarriage, and how they each begin to come to terms with its reality. Dir: Ryosuke Hashiguchi, 2008, 140 mins, English subtitles

Bad Company (Mabudachi) Teenager Sadamoto is torn between a desire to please his father and a need to rebel against him, as his middle school teacher Dir: Tomoyuki Furumaya, 2001, 98 mins, English subtitles

Heart, Beating In The Dark (Yamiutsu Shinzo) A multi-layered work, this film is half-sequel half-remake, and is the story of a couple on the run after killing their baby. Dir: Shunichi Nagasaki, 2005, 104 mins, English subtitles

For more information click here.


Queer as Queen

Tuesday 7 February from 7.00pm for 8.00pm live performance

Pipeline Bar

94 Middlesex Street
City of London
E1 7DA

Cost: £5 in advance, £7 on the door

Well known in Japan for their storming QUEEN covers, tribute band QUEER will make their European debut in London!

Bulsara as Freddie Mercury
BULA!!!ian M Sato as Brian May
Roger M.T. as Roger Taylor
George Deacon as John Deacon

Find out each band members favourite Queen Album and more at www.queer-web.co.uk.

With its Scandinavian design and excellent mix of drinks from the Nordic region, the Pipeline Bar offers a comfortable gathering place for Japan Society members before, during and after the performance.

To reserve your place, please call the Japan Society office on 020 7828 6330 or email events@japansociety.org.uk or submit the online booking form

Tickets are also available to purchase at the Pipeline Bar before and on the night of the performance.

 


Tokyo is trending: the rise of J-Pop

From the Sweet Lolitas to the anime addicts, expect to see much more of these Japanese fashion tribes across London in the immediate future. We’re heading for a Tokyo takeover. Do you want to know more? Read on….

While the emergence of K-Pop, the South Korean pop music phenomenon, was big news late last year, in 2012 it’s J-Pop that is taking centre stage with London’s teens – and bringing with it a Japanese street-style scene.

As Japan is the world’s second largest music market behind the US, its latest export already has a massive cult youth following and London’s club scene has been quick to embrace the trend.

New Bloomsbury Lanes club night Japan Underground boasts live bands and music from top J-Pop and J-Rock DJs. The launch night, themed on the cult Samurai fighting game Sengoku Basara, sold out and the venue’s next night, on February 4, is set to be a Japanese tribute to the best of the West – with a full DJ set of remixed dance-floor hits and a Queen cover band.

But music is not the only aspect of Japanese culture that has engrossed London’s youth. Current J-Pop icons, such as nine-strong girl group Morning Musume and oshare kei three-piece ALiBi, have found fame as much through their eccentric fashion. Self-confessed queen of kook Kyary Pamyu Pamyu started life as a style blogger before turning to music, while Ayumi Hamasaki – known as Ayu to her fans and the Empress of J-Pop to the media – embodies a constantly changing image which earned her Japanese campaigns with London-based brands Rimmel and Aquascutum last year, as well as becoming the first J-Pop artist to have a number one album for 13 consecutive years since her debut.

Iconic Japanese street fashion, most notably hailing from the Harajuku shopping district of Tokyo, is being adopted by many style tribes, from the black lace grunge of Gothic Lolita to the glam rock aesthetic of Visual Kei and the purveyors of all things cute and fluffy, Kawaii. But, J-Pop artists aside, several Western pop stars have moulded their image in the same quirky way. Style extremist Nicki Minaj and blue-haired chameleon Katy Perry are currently helping to make the look mainstream.

This season the unique Japanese street style has also trickled into high fashion circles. On the spring/summer 2012 catwalks the look was championed by eclectic London Fashion Week designers Meadham Kirchhoff, who layered frilled blouses with teddy bear pinafores and paired knee-high socks with pom-pom Geta sandals. Miu Miu also teamed A-line patchwork skirts, crop tops and off-the-shoulder capes that reflected the doll-like styling favoured by Lolitas.

But for the devoted Londoners – for whom Japanese styling is more than just a fashion trend – there is a Far East fest coming to the capital. Next month, Japanese culture convention Hyper Japan heads to Brompton Hall, celebrating everything from sushi and sake to J-Pop and Harajuku. From the Sweet Lolitas to the anime addicts, expect to see much more of these Japanese fashion tribes across London in the immediate future. We’re heading for a Tokyo takeover.

Article written by Emma McCarthy, published on Evening Standard (23/01/12)

Duelist

Duelist

Screening + Q&A with Director Lee Myung-Se

January 26, 2012

Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus

n the late Chosun dynasty, counterfeits were circulating around. Detective Ahn of Left Security Station and a passionate newcomer, Nam-sun try to trace the source of the counterfeiting. They chase the Secretary of National Security and his man ‘Sad Eye’ as suspects. A predestined battle between the best woman detective in Chosun, Nam-sun, and a mysterious assassin ‘Sad Eye’ is unfolded. A magnificent, chivalric film that showcases Lee’s style.

Booking on Site.

POSTCARDS FROM JAPAN – A Message from Tohoku Artists

12 December 2011 – 31 January 2012
Embassy of Japan, 101/104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT

Admission free; Monday to Friday; 09:30 to 17:30
Visitors are requested to present a form of photographic identification when entering the Embassy.

This month, the Embassy of Japan will host a small exhibition with a rather poignant message.

After the major earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Tohoku region of north-eastern Japan on 11 March 2011, power supplies, telephone land lines and mobile telephone networks were cut and internet access became impossible.

This made it extremely difficult for people to contact family and friends. The Japanese postal service – Japan Post – was, however, quickly up and running again. It was by postcard, in many cases, that people first heard that their loved ones were safe.

Sculptors, Katagiri Hironori and Kate Thomson, share their time between Iwate and Scotland. They were working in their studios in the countryside of Iwate when the immense earthquake of 11 March 2011 struck. Their home and studio inland were not damaged and they were safe, but they were desperately worried about family and friends along the Tohoku coast. In the days after the quake, power and telephone connections slowly returned. Despite the telephone lines’ being restored, however, they could still not get through to anyone.

Inspired by the impact that the receiving of postcards can have, Katagiri and Thomson invited Tohoku-based artists from Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Aomori prefectures to make new work for Postcards From Japan – A Message from Tohoku Artists. Even artists who had lost so much in the tsunami were enthusiastic to celebrate life through art with their communication with the world outside. The results are works made especially for this exhibition and which give an insight into the incredible grace and resilience of the people of North East Japan.

The priority in the devastated regions is to rebuild communities and livelihoods and the recovery will take years. Art and culture will play vital roles in this recovery and in celebrating life itself, helping to nurture imagination, energy and the determination to move on. Many people in Japan have realised that family, friends and communities are their most precious treasures and that they require and deserve the most time and investment. Cherishing the relationships they have, people are re-establishing contact with those with whom they had lost touch.

The project continues and in response, artists from around the world are being invited to make ‘Postcards to Japan’ and post them to Tohoku as tangible messages of support to communities affected by the devastation.

Please see www.postcardproject.org for more information.

Always: Sunset on Third Street 2

Always – Sunset on Third Street 2

Directed by Takashi Yamazaki 山崎貴 / 2007 / 146 mins
Tuesday, 31 January 2012, 18:30
Doors open at 18:00 No admittance after 19:00
Free admission. Prior registration essential.

This film shows off the directional and VFX talents of the director and was nominated in almost every major category at the 2008 Japan Academy Awards. Set in 1959, following the completion of Tokyo Tower a year before, Tokyo wins the race to host the 1964 Olympic Games and Japan is entering a period of rapid economic growth. A heart-warming story of the people living on the lively ‘Third Street’, which triggers nostaligia for the “Showa Era” of Japan.

For more information and booking click here.

Leadership and History in the UK and Japan

24 January 2012

6:00 – 7:45pm, followed by a drinks reception to 8:45pm

Daiwa Foundation Japan House

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

This first seminar in the 2012 series, Leadership: People and Power in the UK and Japan, will draw on examples from history to set the scene for a year-long discussion of leadership issues in both countries. While lack of leadership is a recurring theme in analyses of Japanese politics, the sharing of power in Britain’s coalition government is giving rise to different concerns. The speakers will contextualise such contemporary debates by reflecting on past crises and successes of leadership and the importance of leadership as a force for change. Subsequent seminars will consider the roles that may be played by individuals and organisations in political, corporate and other spheres in influencing the future direction of society.

Chinese New Year Celebrations 2012 in Thailand

Bangkok, January 11, 2012 — The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will mark the 37th Anniversary of Thai-Chinese diplomatic relations between January 19-29, 2012 with a range of lively, colourful Chinese New Year festivities in Bangkok and ten provinces nationwide. This year’s celebrations will be even more special than the previous years as it coincides with three other auspicious occasions that are very significant to the Thai people. These three auspicious occasions are the 84th Birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the 80th Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, and the 60th Birthday of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn.In cooperation with the Chinese Government, various Thai-Chinese associations, government agencies and private companies, the celebrations will be held in Chiang Mai, Nakhon Sawan, Suphan Buri, Ratchaburi, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Chon Buri, Nakhon Ratchasima, Songkhla, Phuket and Trang. Here is the full list:

NAKHON SAWAN CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL 2012, January 16 – 27, 2012,
throughout the city of Nakhon SawanThe province of Nakhon Sawan is known to the locals by its other name — Pak Nam Pho. This is where the Ping, Wang, Yom, and Nan Rivers converge to form the Chao Phraya River — the ‘River of Kings’. Hence, the province is frequently referred to as the ‘gateway’ to the North.

Nakhon Sawan is famous for the Chao Pho-Chao Mae Pak Nam Pho Fair and procession, organised by Thais of Chinese ancestry in Nakhon Sawan province during the Chinese New Year celebrations. The festivities are held in honour of Chao Pho Pak Nam Pho, a highly revered deity; hence, the origin of its name.

Special performance of folk dances from the city of Xinji in Hebei province in northern China will be performed on January 24-26, 2012.

Local residents seek blessings for the 2012 Chinese New Year – the Year of the Dragon – by paying homage to Chao Pho and Chao Mae Pak Nam Pho, the guardian spirits of Nakhon Sawan province. Visitors and residents are invited to take part in merit-making activities at Lan Bun Thepachao, the Garden of Chinese Deities.
SINO-SIAMESE RELATIONSHIP FESTIVAL, January 20 – 22, 2012, 17.00 – 21.00 hrs at the Ayutthaya Tourism Centre (Old Provincial Hall)Ayutthaya provincial authorities have received exceptional cooperation and support from the People’s Republic of China Ministry of Culture in jointly staging a spectacular cultural showcase as part of the province’s Sino-Siamese Relationship Festival – a celebration of Chinese as well as Thai culture.

The cultural showcase sponsored by the Chinese state authorities will be presented by a cast of 180 performers from Inner Mongolia, the city of Xinji in Hebei province in northern China, Qinghai Tibetan (Qingzang) Plateau, and Kansu province.

This includes a performance by the Chinese National Orchestra, a live demonstration of kung fu martial arts and Chinese acrobatics. Visitors will be presented with an opportunity to taste a wide variety of Thai and Chinese delicacies and shop for products from the PRC such as fine Chinese silks and ceramic and porcelain products from Jiangxi province, the home of Chinese porcelain.
NAKHON RATCHASIMA (KORAT) CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL, January 20 – 25, 2012, at the Thao Suranaree Memorial Plaza, Suan Suranaree (Suranaree Park) Suan Anusornstan (Anusornstan Park) in Nakhon Ratchasima provincial centre and town (Amphoe Mueang)The 2012 Chinese New Year celebrations in Nakhon Ratchasima province, also known as Korat, are being staged under the theme “In Search of Chin Shi”. The cultural highlights being presented as part of the festivities pay tribute to the first great emperor of the Chin Dynasty, Chin Shih Huang-ti (also known as Qin Shi Huang or Qin Er Shi).

Festival activities will take place in several dedicated zones such as Chinatown, The Forbidden Palace on the Central Stage, cultural performances and Food Street with a multitude of shops and food stalls offering a great variety of delicious food.
HAT YAI CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL, January 21 – 25, 2012, at Srinakhorn Foundation School, Songkhla province.The festive highlights include 1) a ceremony hosted in honour of His Majesty the King, 2) Chinese acrobatic show from Kansu province, the People’s Republic of China, 3) a spectacular fireworks and light-and-sound show with colourful bursts of fireworks taking the shape of waterfalls, silver dragon and golden dragon, 3) Silver dragon, Golden dragon and Lion Dance show from Nakhon Sawan province, 4) concert by Chinese singers and Nadech and Yaya – both popular local artists representing Thai TV Channel 3, 5) Miss Hatyai Chinese 2012 contest and China Doll 2012 contest, 6) international karaoke singing contest, and 7) local residents and visitors are invited to take part in merit-making activities and pay homage to nine sacred gods in accordance with Chinese customs and traditions.
RATCHABURI CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL, January 22 – 26, 2012, in front of the Ratchaburi National MuseumThe highlight will be a demonstration of Kung fu martial arts from Beijing, PRC. The Ratchaburi Chinatown Procession, water screen and fireworks display and Young Mr & Miss Chinatown contest and Mr and Miss Chinatown contest will be held on January 24 – 26.
BANGKOK CHINATOWN CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL 2012, Grand Opening Ceremony on January 23, 2012, at Chalermphrakiat Gate, Odeon Circle, Yaowarat Road, Sampantawong District, BangkokHer Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will preside at the Bangkok Chinatown Chinese New Year official opening ceremony on January 23. Two shows – one featuring a Thai cultural showcase and the other hosted and presented by the People’s Republic of China Ministry of Culture. This will be followed by a 1.5 hour Yaowaraj Cultural Showcase.
CHIANG MAI CHINATOWN CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL, January 23 – 24, 2012, at Lao Chow Lane, Chiang MaiThe Chiang Mai Chinatown Chinese New Year Festival presents a rare opportunity to enjoy a musical performance by the Chinese National Opera on January 24. Witness the Golden Dragon and Golden Lion Procession and a cultural procession staged by the province’s ethnic Chinese Tai Seua tribes people.
SUPHAN BURI CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL, January 23 – 29, 2012, at the Museum of the Descendants of the Dragon in Suphan BuriThe grand opening ceremony of the Suphan Buri Chinese New Year Festival will be held on January 24 and the cultural performances will be held on January 24 – 29, 2012. The programme of engaging cultural presentations from the People’s Republic of China features the following highlights ; 1) Thousand Arms Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy and Compassion, 2) Chinese acrobatic performance, 3) light and pyrotechnics show and Heavenly Glowing Dragon display, 4) fireworks show, and 5) folk music performance.
AYUTTHAYA ANCIENT CITY CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL 2012, January 24 – 29, 2012, at Naresuan Road from Chao Phrom Market to Chao Ai Chao Yi Chedi.Major highlights include a Dragon Contest, Chinese teng leng lantern displays, Young Miss Chinese contest, the Best of Ayutthaya Food Festival and the Chinese food eating contest.

Dragon contest: The procession staged by the 108 Chinese shrines in the 16 districts of Ayutthaya province presents an opportunity for local residents to pay homage to Chinese deities and guardian spirits who watch over them and ensure their good fortune and well-being.

The Best of Ayutthaya Food Festival and a retro-market are staged to capture the atmosphere of traditional markets in times past. The event is being organised with the support of organisations representing various Chinese family names.
PHUKET CHINESE NEW YEAR FESTIVAL 2012, January 28 – 30, 2012, at Phuket Old Town – Klang Road, Thalang Road, Thepkasatri Road, Phuket.The festive highlights include 1) a procession in honour of His Majesty the King, 2) Baba Yaya Peranakan Procession, 3) journey back in time as Old Phuket turns back the clock and visitors are treated to a rare performance of a Portuguese-style stage play presented by the Thai Peranakan Association based in Phuket town, 4) local cultural showcase with colourful presentations of local culture, traditions and way of life on the tropical island paradise of Phuket, and 5) Phuket residents observe time-honoured traditions and pay homage to the highly revered Goddess Kuan Yin and other Chinese deities and guardian spirits.

For further information on Chinese New Year celebrations in Thailand, please check outhttp://www.tatnews.org/events/events/2012/jan/5775.asp

Over the Parched Field

Private view: Over the Parched Field by Akiko Takizawa

18 January 2012, 6:00 – 8:00pm

Daiwa Foundation Japan House

Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Akiko Takizawa is a Japanese artist based in London. The exhibition, Over the Parched Field, showcases a selection of Takizawa’s photographs since 2006, including new works made especially for the exhibition. This is Takizawa’s first solo show in London.

Her latest series of photographs were taken in a volcanic mountain area, Osorezan in Aomori, where people go to talk to their deceased family members through a medium. Aomori is in the Tohoku area where local people live in a traditional close-knit society to survive in the severe natural environment. Takizawa grew up in a culture with a blurred border between life and death. Since she was young, she felt as if she was observing the world through the eyes of a third person. This sense of detachment to her surroundings adds an intriguing factor to the choice of the motifs in her works. Takizawa says “I feel that my camera acts as an aerial – to detect signals carrying urgent messages”. Some of her images capture the traditional and rapidly disappearing Japanese attitudes towards families and communities. One can see the distinctive switch to a more positive tone in the atmosphere she observes. Takizawa says that Osorezan (which means ‘Fear Mountain’) is one of the few places where her soul feels purely happy, even though the place sharpens her sense of isolation and solitude.

Takizawa’s exhibition at Daiwa Foundation Japan House is supported by the printing company Benrido. Based in Kyoto, Benrido has over a hundred years’ experience in the disappearing art of collotype, which requires skilful craftsmanship. The images in Takizawa’s latest series are printed using the technique of collotype, on specialWashi (traditional Japanese paper).

The artist will be introduced by Dr Simon Baker, Curator of Photography and International Art at the Tate Gallery.

Akiko Takizawa was born in Fukuoka in 1971 and completed her MA in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art in 2006. Her interdisciplinary practices involve not only photography but filming and performing art. Her work was selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2006 and the exhibition toured from Liverpool to London. Her work was shortlisted for the Hitotsubo Award, one of the most prestigious photographic competitions in Japan. She was also awarded the University of Abertay Visual Arts Prize (2002), the Dundee Contemporary Arts Print Studio Residency Prize (2002), the London Print Studio Award (2002) and the Printmaking Today Award (2000).

For more information click here.

Boundaries

Boundaries  

Glen House

125-133 Old Brompton Road

London SW7 3RP

+44 (0) 20 7788 7658

http://www.gazelliarthouse.com

Info@gazelliarthouse.com

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Farid Rasulov    Hyo Myoung   Kim Jane McAdam Freud      Littlewhitehead     Yoonjin   Jung

C99 Art Project, 99 Chamberlayne Road, Kensal Rise, London NW10 3DN

December 2011 – January 2012

Boundaries is a collaboration between Gazelli Art House and C99 Art Project run by the architectural company,  Newman Zieglmeier.  The exhibition looks at the creative limitations (boundaries), if any, imposed through curatorial or architectural briefs. Through context, material and artistic process the exhibition explores the tension between art and architecture. Boundaries focuses on the works exhibited throughout 2011 by Gazelli Art House and tells a story of obstacles the artists had to overcome.

More information here.