This Month's News

This month, we have 20 different items for you. Be sure to scroll all the way down to read them. There's a lot of information about what is going on, not just at the Japan America Society, but also all around town on Japan.

This is the second month for our electronic newsletter, and we appreciate the feedback, which has been very positive. We are still learning the in's and out's of the software we are using. So please bear with us as we continue to make improvements.

Here are some hints about how to get the most out of this newsletter.

(1) The "Recent Posts" list on the left gives only the 10 most recent news items (or "posts"). It is not an index of all of our news items for the month. That's why you need to scroll all the way to the bottom to read them all.

(2) There also is some useful information in our previous months' newsletters. For example, the January newsletter has information on some art exhibitions at the Sackler and Freer Galleries, which are still underway. To read the January newsletter, click on "January 2006" under the heading "Archives."

(3) Finally, under each item, you will see the e-mail icon (symbol). If you click on it, you can send that particular item by email to a friend. For example, if you would like someone to know about an upcoming exhibition on Japan, just click on the icon, type in their email address, and hit the "send" key.

Japan in a Suitcase Program Is Underway

The Society's Japan in a Suitcase program, which introduces elementary school students in grades 1-3 to Japan and Japanese culture, is underway. So far twenty Society volunteers have undergone training on how to present the program in our area schools.

Even before we sent the announcement to over 500 schools in the region, word about the program already had spread, and requests starting flowing in to the Society's office.

Now that we have "officially" informed local schools about the program, we expect a large number of requests. So the need for more volunteers is critical. If you would like to volunteer for the program, please see our website at:
http://www.us-japan.org/dc/education/suitcase.html

Volunteers Needed for the National Japan Bowl

Every spring our Society sponsors the National Japan Bowl, a Japanese language competition for high school students across the nation.

This year's competition will be held at the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26.

The competition depends each year on its many wonderful volunteers, who help the students in a variety of ways. We will soon be sending a general email to our members, looking for volunteers. We hope you will be one of them!

For more information on the Japan Bowl, please see:
http://www.us-japan.org/dc/education/JBpage.html

We Say Sayonara to Aki and Marc

The Japan America Society has lost two of its key staff members. Aki Watanuki, who has been the Society's administrative assistant and membership coordinator, has decided to return to Japan. Marc Hitzig, who has been our programs director and the logistical genius behind the annual Sakura Matsuri, has become the events manager for a Washington DC catering firm, 3Citron.

We all are going to miss Aki and Marc very much and wish them great success in their future endeavors. Aki promises to return to the States someday to attend graduate school; and as for Marc, he continues to be an active member of our Society and a (very important) volunteer for this year's Sakura Matsuri.

Language School Attendance at Record High

Over 130 students are enrolled for the spring semester in the Society's Japanese Language School.

That's an all-time high for our School, which is the oldest Japanese language program for adults in the Washington DC area.

Grandstand Tickets for the Cherry Blossom Parade Now Available

Enjoy the National Cherry Blossom Parade on Saturday, April 8 from the best vantage point -- in grandstand seating. Grandstand seating is located on Constitution Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets, NW.

Individual Tickets (for parties of 9 or less) are now on sale for $15 each with additional taxes and fees. Individual tickets may be purchased through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 202-397-SEAT (DC), 410-547-SEAT (MD), or 703-573-SEAT (VA).

Group Tickets (parties of 10 or more) can be ordered by submitting a group ticket order form along with your payment. To get one, CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD (requires Adobe Acrobat/Reader). Tickets are $15 for each ticket plus shipping and handling.

And don't forget the Japan-America Society's Annual Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival, which will be held right after the parade !

Ikebana in Alexandria

The Art League of Alexandria will host its biennial Ikebana Show in the Torpedo Factory Art Center from Thursday, February 2 to Monday, February 6.

The show is presented by the Washington DC branch of the Sogetsu school of flower arranging and will include an Ikebana flower-arranging demonstration on Saturday, February 4 at 1:30 pm; and a Japanese Tea Ceremony with Stephen Di Girolamo of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, followed by a special musical performance by the Washington Toho Koto Society on Sunday, February 5, at 12:30 pm.

The Torpedo Factory is located at 105 North Union Street, on the Potomac River in Old Town Alexandria.

National Geographic Explores Japan

In connection with its exhibition From Geisha to Diva: The Kimonos of Ichimaru (which will run from Feb 23 - Apr 23), the National Geographic Society Museum will host a series of programs on Japan. These include a discussion of the role of geisha in Japanese culture by scholar Andrew Maske; a personal journey into the world of geisha by artist Shimizu; travel writer Karin Muller's story of a year searching for the soul of Japan; a screening of the classic Japanese film Gion Bayashi; and a sushi and sake tasting.

The dates of each program, which will be at the National Geographic Society's Grosvenor Auditorium at 1600 M St NW, are:

Geisha: Beyond the Painted Smile - Thursday, Feb 23

Geisha: An Artist's Journey - Friday, March 3

Gion Bayashi - Friday, Mar 31

Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa - Tuesday, April 4

Grand Sake and Sushi Tasting - Wednesday, April 5

Ticket prices for each program vary. For further information, see the National Geographic Society's website at: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/nglive/washingtondc/spring2006/japan/index.html

Japanese Game Aids US War on Obesity

A Japanese entertainment company will help children in West Virginia fight the battle of the bulge by getting them to dance along to its video game during gym classes, according to the Financial Times.

All 765 of West Virginia's public schools will incorporate Konami's Dance Dance Revolution video game in the curriculum within the next two years in an effort to fight the state's growing epidemic of childhood obesity.

Konami's interactive video game, which has been hugely popular in Japan, was introduced into the US in 2001. Players dance on a mat connected to the video game console, tapping their feet in tune to symbols that pop up on the screen. Each version of the game has a workout mode that allows users to track the number of calories burned.

Calling All Serious Japanese Gardeners

In October the Research Center for Japanese Garden Art in Kyoto will host an intensive two week course (in English) about the history, design theory, and practice of the Japanese garden. The course provides both lectures plus site visits to some of Japan's greatest gardens in the Kyoto area.

The October 2-14 seminar will be limited to 25 participants. The course fee is 280,000 yen (about $2,500), which includes lecture fees and materials, housing, and medical insurance.

All applications must be received by March 31, 2006.

The application and further information are available at the Center's website, which is:
www.kyoto-art.ac.jp/~j-gar

Last Chance to See Rozome Exhibit

The Textile Museum's exhibit of Japanese rozome fabrics will end on February 12.

Rozome Masters of Japan features the work of 15 contemporary Japanese artists and includes folding screens, scrolls, panels and kimono, all created using rozome, a wax-resist dyeing technique unique to Japan. The exhibition is complemented by a selection of Japanese textiles from The Textile Museum’s own collections.

Rozome has its roots in ancient Japan, dating to the Nara period (645-794), but was eclipsed by other resist-dye techniques after the Heian period (794-1185). The technique experienced a revival of popularity in the early part of the 20th century, when Kyoto-based kimono specialists began to reexamine the possibilities of the wax-resist medium.

Rozome flourished after World War II as artists became interested in the technique as a vehicle for unique image-making and self-expression on cloth. Today, in the hands of these talented artists, rozome is used to create technically breathtaking, complex works whose imagery ranges from traditional botanical and landscape subjects to contemporary abstract compositions.

Admission is free. The Textile Museum is located at 232o S Street, NW.

Japanese Design Today

That's the title of a new exhibit at the Japan Information and Culture Center that focuses on products used in everyday Japanese life. Japanese Design Today 100 is a selection of approximately 100 of the finest examples of Japanese design created between the 1990’s and today. Another 13 objects are included from the early postwar years to show the origin of today’s design.

The exhibit continues through February 17 at the JICC, which is in the Lafayette Center III, 1155 21st Street NW. The Center is open Monday to Friday from 9 to 5. Admission is free.

Japan's Economy Has Turned Around: The Economist

In its first issue of the new year, the Economist says Japan is back:

"Shaking off a long slump, Japan looks to an era of strength. Despite continuing problems, businesses and individuals are ready to realize [the economy's] full potential.

"Fifteen rough and troubled years since the collapse of the infamous asset bubble of the late 1980s, Japan finally seems to have turned itself around. A continuing wave of shake-ups has completely redrawn the political map. In the corporate world, the "survival of the fittest" norm rules more ruthlessly than ever. During the long economic slump and deflation, the weak and unfit were shown the exits and only the strong and innovative survived.

"Now that the economy is back on a recovery track, we can recognize some facets of Japan's underlying power. Although the economy still faces serious problems, such as the declining birthrate and the rising public debt, the year 2006 may open an era of strength for the country, as well as for companies and individuals."

Manga Goes Mainstream in US Papers

The Sunday Funnies are getting a manga makeover.

Beginning in January 2006, the Los Angeles Times, Detroit News, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Oregonian and scores of other newspapers from Sarasota to San Jose are featuring TokyoPop's manga winner Peach Fuzz in their Sunday comics sections.

Peach Fuzz tells the story of an unusual pair - Amanda, an enthusiastic but lonely young girl, and Peach, her pet prissy ferret with a royalty complex. The manga series, aimed at readers 9 years and up, was the winning entry in TokyoPop's second Rising Stars of Manga competition.

The Times They Are A-Changing, Part I

Nikon recently announced that it would discontinue producing most film cameras and change its focus to digital photography.

The decision by Nikon, one of Japan's most famous and prestigious makers of 35mm single-lens reflex camera since its first model “F” was released in 1959, reportedly sent a chilling message to the film market everywhere.

The Times They Are A-Changing, Part 2

The Walkman - whose original model was once Sony's signature product - will no longer be made in Japan.

Sony Corporation announced on January 26 that by the end of March it will close a factory that began producing the Walkman music players in 1979 and shift production of Walkman brand products to plants in Malaysia and China.

The Walkman has sold more than 350 million units worldwide since 1979.

The Freer Celebrates 100 Years of The Book of Tea

As part of a year-long series of exhibitions and programa celebrating the centenary of Charles Lang Freer's gift of his collection of Asian art to the nation, a new exhibition, Freer and Tea: 100 Years of The Book of Tea, takes a fresh look at Mr. Freer's collection of Japanese, Korean, and Chinese ceramics associated with the tea ceremony. This select group of a dozen or so objects represents only a small part of the more than 350 ceramics Freer had amassed by 1906.

In 1906, the same year that Freer gave his gift to the nation, Japanese art historian Okakura Kakuzo published 'The Book of Tea,' the first study in English to explain the philosophical and aesthetic background of the tea ceremony. The book, continuously in print since it first appeared, remains a classic. Okakura, a curator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, set out to create a text that would explain Japanese and to a larger extent Asian culture to the West. Okakura explained that tea is much more than a drink; it is a way of life.

Dueling Samurai, Forbidden Love

The Rorschach Theatre is presenting Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, a dramatization of an 18th century play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who often is described as the "Shakespeare of Japan."

The play, by Peter Oswald, runs through February 19 at the Sanctuary Theatre, Casa Del Pueblo Methodist Church, 1459 Columbia Road, Columbia Heights, Md.

Threatened with death by a jealous and cunning lord, two pairs of young lovers embark on a harrowing adventure through a world of dueling samurai, courtly intrigue and spiritual redemption, a world where love can transform a kingdom.

The Daily Mail of London's review said, "Peter Oswald has created a remarkable fairytale, allegory and martial-arts thriller. Forbidden love between a samurai and a lady-in-waiting unleashes a Shakespearian profusion of mistaken identities and dastardly plots."

More information is available at http://www.rorschachtheatre.com

Koto & Shakuhachi Concert at the Smithsonian

On February 19, the Freer and Sackler Galleries will present A Century of New Music for Koto and Shakuhachi, with Akikazu Nakamura and Michiyo Yagi. The concert will take place at 3 pm in the Meyer Auditorium.

Nakamura and Yagi will explore the fascinating influence of Western music on Japanese composers in the early twentieth century, a process that paralleled the transformative effect of Japanese art on Western painters and collectors, such as Freer. Shakuhachi master Akikazu Nakamura and koto virtuoso Michiyo Yagi will be joined by Anne Prescott, a koto player and ethnomusicologist at Indiana University who specializes in early twentieth-century Japanese composers. Their program will range from Michio Miyagi's 1929 Spring Sea to more recent works by Tadao Sawai, Akira Nishimura, and Masao Endo.

Free tickets are required for most concerts in the Meyer Auditorium. You can reserve up to four tickets by contacting Ticketmaster. Limited tickets (up to two per person) are distributed at the auditorium one hour before the event begins.

A Milestone: Japan's Population Declines

The Economist magazine reports, "Japan's population is in decline. As of last October 1st, Japan's 127m-odd population was 19,000 fewer than a year earlier. Deaths had outstripped births for the first time in a period of peace since records have been kept. A falling population, the Yomiuri Shimbun duly wailed, meant that national survival was at stake. It may have a point: with no change in the current fertility rate - below 1.3 children per woman of child-bearing age - the last Japanese will die as soon as 2800."

The magazine continues, "The more immediate demographic issue, though, is not so much the predicted fall in Japan's population ... but rather a shift in its composition. For as well as a low birth rate, life expectancy continues to lengthen .... Japan is greying at an unprecedented rate. Half a century ago, the proportion of the population over 65 stood at around 5%, well below that in America, Britain, France or Germany. Today, Japan's proportion of elderly, at 19%, is the highest in the world, and is forecast to reach almost 30% by 2025."

Kennedy Center Schedules Two Children's Programs

From March 10-26, the Kennedy Center will present Citizen 13559: The Journal of Ben Uchida, a world premiere original production in its Family Theater. The drama, which is recommended for children 9 years and up, is adapted by Naomi Iizuka from the book by Barry Denenberg, and describes how a young Japanese-American boy's world changes overnight when his family is sent to a California internment camp during World War II.

Through a journal given to him by his father, Ben Uchida reflects on their troubled life in the barracks, his stern new schoolteacher, and the sometimes harsh reactions of other Americans. But key visits by the ghosts of his ancestors show Ben how family, humor, compassion, and even baseball and a telescope can help the human spirit endure in the most challenging of times.

From April 7 to 9, as part of the Kennedy Center Arts of Japan Celebration, the Terrace Theatre will host the Kazenoko Theatre Company's production of Hello Maru-Chan: A World of Paper. In this beautifully told story featuring actors and puppets, a little girl made out of paper is born into an exquisite paper world. As Maru-Chan begins to explore the earth, sea, and sky around her, she meets many fantastic creatures and objects along the way. Kazenoko, one of Japan's best-known children's theater companies, reveals the many exciting possibilities of paper in this performance, presented in collaboration with Australian puppet master Peter Wilson, who directed an Opening Ceremony sequence for Sydney's 2000 Olympic Games. Maru-Chan is recommended for ages 4 & up.

Tickets for both presentations are $15 each. More information is available from the Kennedy Center website at www.kennedy-center.org.