The Japanese American Association will hold its 19th Sakura Matsuri at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Saturday, April 20. The program begins at 11:00 a.m. rain or shine and features performances by taiko drumming group Soh Daiko, the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York, the JAA Chorus with Japan Choral Harmony “TOMO,” and the New York Okinawa Club & Jimpu-Kai New York. In addition, there will be a tea ceremony on the lawn by the Urasenke Tea Ceremony Society. Yours truly is honored to serve as emcee.

Bring a blanket and a bento and enjoy the cherry blossoms!

For more information, please visit JAA’s website.

Cherry trees planted by the Parks Department for JAA in Flushing Meadows Corona Park

JAA’s Honorees

This year a cherry tree will be planted in honor of the late Dr. George and Mrs. Kazuko Nagamatsu for their years of generous support of JAA. Dr. Nagamatsu was a pioneering urologist and engineer who was the first Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) to be named Chairman of Urology at a major U.S. medical school when he took the position at New York Medical College in 1957. As a recipient of JAA’s Project Bento initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mrs. Nagamatsu felt a closeness with the organization and named JAA one of the beneficiaries in her will when she passed away in 2021.

The History of JAA’s Sakura Trees

Symbolizing the friendship between Japan and the U.S., in 1912 Japan gave a gift of sakura trees the Washington, D.C., as well as 2,000 sakura trees to New York City, thirteen of which were planted in Claremont Park, now Sakura Park. JAA’s “21st Century New York Cherry Blossom Project” began on Arbor Day, April 24, 1992, at City Hall Park. Sakura seeds donated by The Cherry Association of Japan were presented by then JAA President Shigeru Inagaki to Betsy Gotbaum, then Commissioner of New York Parks. The seeds were nursed in the greenhouses of Van Cortlandt Park, and JAA volunteers planted 168 trees in a design created by the noted landscape artist Kan Domoto with George Yuzawa in 2001. Working in close cooperation with the Flushing Meadows Corona Park staff, JAA has donated and planted hundreds of sakura trees.

Disclosure: The author is a Vice President of The Japanese American Association of New York, Inc. and the chair of JAA’s Sakura Matsuri committee.

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Susan McCormac 4/13/24 Susan McCormac 4/13/24

George Takei: My Lost Freedom

An Evening with George Takei

Tuesday, April 16 at 8:00 p.m.

Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space – 2537 Broadway at 95th Street

Admission: $32-$48

Embark on an extraordinary evening with esteemed actor, activist, and New York Times bestselling author George Takei! In this captivating Q&A session moderated by BD Wong (Awkwafina is Nora from Queens), Takei delves into his illustrious career, spanning from Star Trek to Broadway, and culminating with the unveiling of his debut picture book, My Lost Freedom.

Purchasing a ticket will ensure admission and an exclusive, autographed copy of My Lost Freedom, which is scheduled for release on the same day as this event, April 16, 2024.

There are a limited number of companion tickets that do not include a book. To purchase a companion ticket, add both a standard ticket and a companion ticket to your cart. The companion ticket will be discounted at checkout. Companion tickets are only available to purchase with a full-price ticket and do not include a copy of the book. All other in-person tickets come with a signed copy of My Lost Freedom. To purchase tickets, please visit Symphony Space’s website.

Please note: There will not be a book signing at this event.

Susan McCormac 4/2/24 Susan McCormac 4/2/24

Japanese German Pianist to Make NY Phil Debut

Alice Sara Ott Performs Ravel

Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 5 at 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, April 6 at 8:00 p.m.

Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall – 10 Lincoln Center Plaza

Admission: $115 to $263 (plus fees)

In her New York Philharmonic debut, Japanese German pianist Alice Sara Ott performs Ravel’s lush, jazz-influenced G-major Piano Concerto. The program, led by Karina Canellakis, who is also making her NY Phil debut, begins with Webern’s remarkably spare, yet haunting Six Pieces. The concert’s two-tone poems look past earthly life: Richard Strauss’s meditation on the death of an artist and Scriabin’s mystical and rhapsodic Poem of Ecstasy.

Program

Webern – Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 (1928 version)
R. Strauss – Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration)
Ravel – Piano Concerto in G major
Scriabin – Le Poème de l’extase (The Poem of Ecstasy)

To purchase tickets, please visit NY Phil’s website.

Star Pianists

This concert is part of NY Phil’s Star Pianists series. Experience breathtaking virtuosity, timeless melodies, and exciting premieres with this season’s star pianists. The series features captivating performances of classical and contemporary works all season long.

About Alice Sara Ott

Thirty-five-year-old Alice Sara Ott was born in Munich. Her father is a German engineer, and her mother is a Japanese pianist. In a 2022 article in music website Interlude, Ott says of her Japanese heritage, “My whole life was spent questioning: Am I German? Am I Japanese? What am I? I found my answer when I became a musician because in music, nationality doesn’t matter at all.” Learn more about Ott through her website and Instagram.

Susan McCormac 3/15/24 Susan McCormac 3/15/24

CELEBRATE ANIME AT JAPAN VILLAGE

Anime Matsuri

Saturday, March 16 from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.

The Loft at Japan Village (2nd Floor) – 934 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn

Admission: Free

A FESTIVAL FOR ANIME LOVERS AND COLLECTORS ALIKE!

Pokémon power couple Tenshi & Zilla teams up with Japan Village to present Anime Matsuri! Experience a full day with vendors selling anime merch; delicious food such as onigiri, ramen, and katsu; a cosplay event; a Pokémon Unite meetup group; networking; and much more!

Doors open at The Loft on the second floor of Japan Village. The cosplay contest runs from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.

The event is free, but RSVP for exclusive giveaways. To register, please visit Anime Matsuri’s website.

Special Guest: Emily Cramer, voice actor/singer

Based in New York City, Emily Cramer is a voice actor and singer with an established performance background as a Broadway character actor. Her voiceover work can be heard internationally in commercials, animated television shows and movies, dark rides, audio dramas, and video games.

Her most notable animation credits come from across the Pokémon franchise in Sun & Moon, Journeys, Paldean Winds, and Cat's Kitchen, the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise in Arc-V, VRAINS, Sevens, Duel Links, and Rush Duel, as well as other titles such as Genshin Impact, Battle Game In 5 Seconds, EDF World Brothers, Bread Barbershop, Snack World, Back to Back, and Dinocore Evolution, and Bloom on season 8 of The Winx Club. To learn more about Emily, please visit her website.

Anime Matsuri is sponsored by Japan Village, Book•Off, and Tenshi & Zilla.

Susan McCormac 2/13/24 Susan McCormac 2/13/24

Explore the Family Dynamic at Japan Society

Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux

Thursday, February 15 through Saturday, February 24

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $16 General | $14 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities | $12 Japan Society Members (unless otherwise noted)

Presented by Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan and Japan Society, Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux examines the shifting dynamics and struggles of the Japanese household in contemporary cinema. Showcasing ten features, including premieres and revivals, Family Portrait confronts the complexities of familial bonds in the face of adversity—from intergenerational gaps to changing mores and traditions—bringing to question what truly defines a family and its values in a modern world.

Series highlights include the U.S. Premiere of Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s Yoko, starring Academy Award-nominated actress Rinko Kikuchi in a bravura performance as a woman hitchhiking more than 400 miles to her father’s funeral; the U.S. Premiere of Keiko Tsuruoka’s Tsugaru Lacquer Girl, the heart-tugging story of a family lacquerware business on the brink of collapse run by Kaoru Kobayashi of Midnight Diner fame and the daughter who strives to carry on its legacy despite deeply held traditional gender beliefs; and a Classics slate featuring a rare 35mm presentation of Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Twilight.

A special spotlight will shine on director Ryota Nakano, who has spent his career keenly capturing the complex feelings of families when faced with adversity. His latest film, The Asadas, centers on the power of family in the aftermath of the Fukushima tragedy and will be presented along with his two previous works, A Long Goodbye and Her Love Boils Bathwater. Nakano will appear in person at Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux to speak during select screenings and take part in a reception.

To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website, and visit IFC Center’s website to purchase tickets to the screening of Yoko on February 22.

© 2008 “Still Walking” Production Committee

Lineup and Schedule

Still Walking
Thursday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda | 2008 | 114 min. | Japanese with English subtitles. |. With Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, Kirin Kiki, Yoshio Harada

The Yokoyama family gathers for an annual commemoration of the eldest son, Junpei, who drowned 15 years ago while saving someone’s life. Over the course of the day, suppressed tensions and resentments are gradually revealed amidst forced pleasantries and shared meals as second son Ryo (Hiroshi Abe) endures feelings of inferiority in front of his curmudgeon father (Yoshio Harada) and passively judgmental mother (Kirin Kiki), both of whom disapprove of his recent marriage to a widow (Yui Natsukawa) with a ten-year-old son. Dedicated to his late mother, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 2008 drama is among his most personal films—a masterfully directed, emotionally nuanced expression of the love, heartbreak, and comfort within family relationships—and a modern classic of Japanese cinema.

Tsugaru Lacquer Girl
Friday, February 16 at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Keiko Tsuruoka | 2023 | 118 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Mayu Hotta, Kaoru Kobayashi
U.S. Premiere

Traditional tsugaru-nuri lacquerwork is the Aoki family’s legacy, but their business is in decline and father Seishiro (Kaoru Kobayashi) doesn’t know if it will continue to the next generation. The family’s only hope is daughter Miyako (Mayu Hotta), but her desire to lead the family business upsets generations of customs, established gender roles, and Seishiro himself. Tsugaru Lacquer Girl vividly celebrates one of Japan’s most traditional arts and asks poignant questions about history, family, and if the past has a place in the future.

Muddy River
Saturday, February 17 at 4:00 p.m.
Dir. Kohei Oguri | 1981 | 105 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Takahiro Tamura, Yumiko Fujita, Mariko Kaga, Nobutaka Asahara

Taking place in working class Osaka eleven years after Japan’s defeat, Kohei Oguri’s naturalistic debut detailing an unforgettable summer friendship between two young boys is tinged with a poetic melancholy. Seen through the eyes of ten-year-old Nobuo, whose world is governed by the riverside traffic of sputtering barges, fishing boats, and a “monstrous carp,” Muddy River dwells on Nobuo’s last days of innocence as he befriends poor river dweller Kiichi, who lives nearby with his sister and mysterious mother (Mariko Kaga) on a ramshackle houseboat. Caught in the lives of its worn-down and impoverished residents—some still living the war, others dreaming of a new life—Oguri’s stunning black-and-white feature remains a heart-wrenching portrait of postwar Japan and its afflictions, the effects of which reverberate deep within the wordless exchanges and crestfallen faces of its downtrodden subjects.

Tokyo Twilight
Saturday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Yasujiro Ozu | 1957 | 140 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Setsuko Hara, Ineko Arima, Chishu Ryu

In the thick of the industrial hums and billowing smokestacks of postwar Tokyo, Yasujiro Ozu’s crepuscular drama concerns the lives of elderly Shukichi’s (Chishu Ryu) two grown-up daughters, each taking lodgings at their father’s Tokyo home. Hemmed in by setbacks and personal troubles, Takako (Setsuko Hara) seeks refuge from her abusive husband while “delinquent” younger sister Akiko (Ineko Arima) faces the shock of an unplanned pregnancy. In delicate strokes, Ozu orchestrates Tokyo Twilight across waystations of contemporary Tokyo—from seedy mahjong parlors and Western-themed bars with Latin beats to desolate shipyards and train crossings. With quiet devastation and lingering regret, Ozu’s final black-and-white feature is one of his unequivocal masterpieces, a woeful melodrama illuminated against the fading light of day.

Hoyaman
Sunday, February 18 at 4:00 p.m.
Dir. Teruaki Shoji | 2023 | 106 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Afro, Kumi Kureshiro, Kodai Kurosaki
U.S. Premiere

A tearful comedy set on a beautiful island, Hoyaman follows the strange adventures of two fisherman brothers and a mysterious artist who drifts onto the island and into their lives. The three are at a crossroads in a deeply human story featuring ramen, superheroes, and tsunamis. Hoyaman tells the story of an unorthodox but modern family and the bonds that challenge us to grow. It’s director Teruaki Shoji’s feature film debut and filmed entirely on Ajishima, an island off the coast of his hometown of Ishinomaki. It features a cast of rising talent lead by Afro from the band MOROHA in his own movie debut.

Tokyo Sonata
Sunday, February 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa | 2008 | 119 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyoko Koizumi, Kai Inowaki., Yu Koyanagi

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s appropriately terrifying take on the domestic drama looks beyond the platitudes of familial values and empty promises of a happy life into the recesses of the human condition. Laid off in a wave of company downsizing, salaryman Ryuhei hides his misfortune, opting instead to deceive his family into thinking he still remains employed. Equally adrift are wife, Megumi (Kyoko Koizumi), yearning for someone to pull her out of her banal routines; teen Takashi, who sees no future living in Japan; and younger son Kenji, who simply desires to play the piano. Searching for catharsis, the family members begin to live out clandestine lives rather than confront their creeping divide. Winner of the Jury Prize of the Un Certain Regard section at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Kurosawa’s cynical look at the subsurface decay and inadequacies of the traditional family points to its inherent breakdown.

Yoko
Thursday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m.
Offsite Screening: IFC Center – 323 6th Avenue
Admission: $18 General | $15 Seniors and Children
To purchase tickets, please visit IFC Center’s website.
Dir. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri | 2023 | 113 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Rinko Kikuchi, Pistol Takehara, Asuka Kurosawa
U.S. Premiere

International star Rinko Kikuchi plays the titular Yoko in an unorthodox road movie that follows an isolated woman’s journey to hitchhike more than 400 miles to her estranged father’s funeral. As she encounters a sweeping range of travelers across her trek, what will Yoko learn from each of them, and what will they learn from her? And in crossing this physical distance, can Yoko mend the emotional distance between her father and herself?

Her Love Boils Bathwater
Friday, February 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Admission: $18 General | $16 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities | $14 Japan
New York Premiere with Director Q&A and Reception
Dir. Ryota Nakano | 2016 | 125 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Rie Miyazawa, Hana Sugisaki, Joe Odagiri

Rie Miyazawa stars as Futaba, a single mother diagnosed with terminal cancer. With little time left, she sets out on a mission to reconnect her family, reuniting with her husband, reassuring her daughter, and bringing both together to save the family business. A popular and critical hit, Her Love Boils Bathwater won Miyazawa Best Actress and Hana Sugisaki Best Supporting Actress at the Japan Academy Awards, and the film was Japan’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

A Long Goodbye
Saturday, February 24 at 4:00 p.m.
Dir. Ryota Nakano | 2019 | 127 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Yu Aoi, Yuko Takeuchi, Tsutomu Yamazaki
New York Premiere

Based on the book by Naoki Prize-winning writer Kyoko Nakajima, A Long Goodbye traces the gradual memory loss of the aging Shohei (Tsutomu Yamazaki) due to Alzheimer’s and the painful challenges and unexpected joys his two daughters experience as they return home to care for him. While Alzheimer’s robs Shohei of his past, his long goodbye brings new memories and a new closeness to his loved ones.

The Asadas
Saturday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Introduction by director Ryota Nakano and Followed by a Talk Session
Dir. Ryota Nakano | 2020 | 127 min. | Japanese with English subtitles | With Kazunari Ninomiya, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Masaki Suda

Inspired by real-life photographer Masashi Asada, director Ryota Nakano’s latest film balances humor and heart in an unexpectedly true story. As an energetic dreamer in a traditional family, Masashi (Kazunari Ninomiya)’s initial artistic endeavors are met with skepticism and little support, but in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, Masashi’s photographic skills are given new purpose, and he embarks on a mission that brings his family—and families across Japan—together.

About the ACA Cinema Project

The ACA Cinema Project is a new initiative organized as part of the “Japan Film Overseas Expansion Enhancement Project,” an ongoing project founded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (ACA) to create opportunities for the increased exposure, development, and appreciation of Japanese cinema overseas through screenings, symposiums, and other events held throughout the year. The ACA Cinema Project introduces a wide range of Japanese films in the United States, a major center of international film culture, together with local partners, such as Japan Society, IFC Center, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Linwood Dunn Theater.

Susan McCormac 2/9/24 Susan McCormac 2/9/24

Find Handmade Crafts at Katagiri This Weekend

Valentine’s Day Craft Fair

Saturday, February 10 from Noon until 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 11 from Noon until 4:00 p.m.

Katagiri – 224 E. 59th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)

Admission: Free

Niji Japanese Artist Pop Up Shop is having its first craft fair at Japanese grocery store Katagiri. At this two-day event, artists will be offering dried flowers, handmade accessories, and kimono bags. Find the perfect gift for your Valentine while shopping for Japanese groceries!

Participating Artists

fancy pop
Cute handmade jewelry and accessories made of resin and air-dry clay including earrings, necklaces, bracelets, hair pins, and more!

Bead Factory Ever Green/ビーズ工房 Ever Green
Origami accessories (earrings and hair ornaments) that can be used for both casual and formal occasions.

水引装飾Twilight
Mizuhiki accessories made from a traditional Japanese paper string used for celebrations and as a decoration to wish for happiness.

ryuroru
ryuroru creates accessories with 925 silver for all ages and all genders. The main concepts behind the brand are sea, space, and simple.

MEINFINITY
Handbags made from Japanese fabrics that let you carry a piece of Japanese culture with you.

Heartfish
Heartfish Press is a creative studio located in Brooklyn, specializing in letterpress printing and floral design. The studio offers a variety of letterpress prints, cards, and custom design services that involve creating floral designs using dried flowers.

About Niji

NYK Marketing, based in New York, is a marketplace that serves as a bridge connecting Japanese artists with people from around the world. It was born from the desire to expand the reach of Japanese artists globally.

Their main platform is the e-commerce site niji, where you can purchase artworks by various artists from around the world. They also organize the Japanese Artist Pop Up Shop events, where customers can meet the artists in person.

About Katagiri

The oldest Asian grocery store in New York, Katagiri has been selling Japanese fish, meats, produce, and snacks since 1907. They have two Manhattan locations: the original store on E. 59th Street and one near Grand Central.

Katagiri 59th Street
224 E. 59th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
Phone: 212-755-3566
Hours: Every day from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Katagiri Grand Central
370 Lexington Avenue, Suite #107
Phone: 917-472-7025
Hours: Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Susan McCormac 2/8/24 Susan McCormac 2/8/24

Fundraiser for Ishikawa Sake Breweries

New Hope: Sake Tasting Fundraiser for Ishikawa Sake Breweries

Monday, February 12 from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Brooklyn Kura – 34 34th Street, Industry City, Brooklyn

Admission: $108.55

The American Sake Association and Brooklyn Kura have teamed up to host New Hope: Sake Tasting Fundraiser for Ishikawa Sake Breweries.

On New Year's Day 2024, Japan was hit with a major earthquake. While several prefectures were affected, the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture was the epicenter. In total, eleven sake breweries were completely destroyed, and several others have lost their entire stock of sake.

To support the Ishikawa sake industry, ASA and Brooklyn Kura are organizing a sake tasting fundraiser to send donations to the Ishikawa Sake Brewer's Association. Assistance from these funds will go directly to the impacted sake brewers.

Event Highlights

Premium Sake Tasting:
Taste sake from dozens of breweries from all over Japan. The sake will be flowing, and the featured brands and varieties being poured will change every hour.

6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: JOTO SAKE | SAKEMAN | SKURNIK | NIIGATA SAKE SELECTIONS | WISMETTEC
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.: DASSAI BLUE | MUTUAL TRADING CO | JFC | HEAVEN SAKE | KATO SAKE WORKS
8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.: WINE OF JAPAN | KOME COLLECTIVE | WORLD SAKE IMPORTS | SOTO | HAKKAISAN

Culinary Delights:
Delicious flavors from a variety of well-known chefs and restaurants will be available. Enjoy a range of tastes with dishes changing throughout the night. (Subject to change)

Chef Abe Hiroki – Miyazaki Wagyu Beef Shabu Shabu
Taka Sakeda and Jihan Lee of Nami Nori – Hand Rolls
Chef Foo Kanegae of Karazishi Botan – Chicken Wings
Chef Masaru Kajihara of Ootoya – Sesame Tofu
Sen Japanese Restaurant – Onigiri Bar
Chef Chika Hanyu of C by C Pastry – Chocolates and Dessert
Assorted Japanese savory snacks for sake sipping

Behind the Bar:
Guest bartender Kenta Goto will provide cocktails throughout the evening.

Music: DJ Aki, Executive Chef of Tokyo Record Bar, will be spinning tunes.

Raffle:
The price of admission grants you one ticket for an exciting sake goods and experiences raffle. Win sake sets, sake cups, carafes, sake classes, tastings, restaurant dinners, artwork, and more! You can purchase additional tickets at the event for only $10 each.

To purchase tickets to the fundraiser, please visit ASA and Brooklyn Kura’s Eventbrite page.

The Impact of Your Donation

Ticket sales will be collected by the American Sake Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All profits from this event will be donated to the Ishikawa Sake Brewers Association, and these funds will directly benefit the impacted sake brewers of Ishikawa.

Ishikawa Breweries Affected by the New Year’s Day Earthquake

Matsuba Shuzo
Sakurada Shuzo
Tsuruno Shuzo
Hiyoshi Shuzo
Sogen Shuzo
Kazuma Shuzo
Shimizu Shuzo
Hakuto Shuzoten
Nakajima Shuzo
Nakano Shuzo

Susan McCormac 1/25/24 Susan McCormac 1/25/24

Duo YUMENO to Pay Tribute to Late Japanese Composer

Music of Changes: Tribute to Toshi Ichiyanagi

Saturday, January 27 from 7:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Tenri Cultural Institute – 43A W. 13th Street (between5th and 6th Avenues)

Admission: $30

Duo YUMENO—Yoko Reikano Kimura on koto and shamisen and Hikaru Tamaki on cello—and special guest pianist Vicky Chow will pay homage to the legendary composer Toshi Ichiyanagi. Ichiyanagi, who passed away in 2022, was a protégé of John Cage during the 1960s and had a profound influence on the post-war Japanese music landscape.

Presented by Duo YUMENO, the program will explore Ichiyanagi’s music, written for both traditional Japanese and Western instruments, and will celebrate his six-decade-long career. Highlights include Paraphrase for shamisen and cello (2019), which was commissioned by the duo; Time Sequence (1976), a dazzling piano solo in the minimalist style; and Linked Poems of Autumn (1990), Ichiyanagi’s tribute to the Japanese koto-song tradition that features texts by the haiku poet Matsuo Bashō. It’s sure to be an evening of provocative and brilliant contemporary music at Tenri Cultural Institute.

To purchase tickets, please visit Eventbrite.com.

Susan McCormac 1/25/24 Susan McCormac 1/25/24

Kurosawa Oscar-Winner at Film at Lincoln Center

Dersu Uzala at Film at Lincoln Center

Sunday, January 28 at 6:15 p.m.
Tuesday, January 30 at 6:30 p.m.

Walter Reade Theater – 165 W. 65th Street

Admission: $17 General Public | $14 Students | $12 JapanCulture•NYC Members (with Discount Code)

In Akira Kurosawa’s storied career, the Japanese director won two Oscars and a 1990 Lifetime Achievement Award. His first Oscar came in 1951 for Rashomon, and his second was for the 1975 Soviet film Dersu Uzala.

Film at Lincoln Center is featuring the film that garnered Kurosawa his second Academy Award as part of its series Never Look Away: Serge Daney’s Radical 1970s, a tribute to the French film critic Serge Daney and the films he championed in his book La Rampe, a collection of essays about cinema. From this lineup, Dersu Uzala captures an endangered way of being in the world, in which the encounter between a Russian military geographer and a Nanai hunter leads to an unexpected friendship. The series runs from Friday, January 26 through Sunday, February 4 with Dersu Uzala screening on both Sunday, January 28 and Tuesday, January 30. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see the film on the big screen! To purchase tickets, please visit Film at Lincoln Center’s website.

Film at Lincoln Center is giving an exclusive opportunity for members of JapanCulture•NYC! Members will receive the discount code to use for $5 off tickets to a screening of Akira Kurosawa’s Dersu Uzala. Not a member? Please click here to register. Your membership fee of $5 a month helps defray the costs of running JapanCulture•NYC and keeps everyone informed about All Things Japanese in New York City.

Dersu Uzala

In Akira Kurosawa’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, an unexpected friendship arises between a Russian military geographer and the Nanai hunter he has hired to guide his expedition across the Siberian taiga. After the baffling fiasco of his previous film, Dodes’ka-den, and his subsequent suicide attempt, Kurosawa experienced an artistic rebirth with this Soviet-produced ode to wilderness, replacing the dynamic montage of his earlier films with stately widescreen compositions that capture the Russian Far East in all its forbidding beauty. In celebrated scenes like the expedition’s encounter with an Amur tiger (no CGI here) and the blizzard in which famed geographer Vladimir Arsenyev is saved by the titular hunter, Kurosawa pays tribute to once-indomitable nature on the verge of being encroached upon by the Trans-Siberian Railroad, capturing an endangered way of being that resonates ever more strongly in our era of climate disaster and rampant capitalism.

Susan McCormac 1/19/24 Susan McCormac 1/19/24

Meet the sake Brewers at Union Square Wines & Spirits

Free Sake Tasting – Meet the Fukushima Sake Brewers

Tuesday, January 23 · 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Union Square Wines & Spirits – 140 4th Avenue (between 13th and 14th Streets)

Admission: Free

Fukushima Prefecture has won the most Gold Prizes at the century-old Japan Sake Awards for nine years in a row. Sake from Fukushima is created with unmatched craftsmanship and the finest taste. While famous in Japan, Fukushima sake is still not well known to the outside world.

To introduce New Yorkers to the delights of Fukushima sake, the Fukushima Trade Promotion Council is hosting two free sake tastings at Union Square Wines & Spirits on January 23 and 24. Nobuhiro Hosoi, Sake Master and President of Kokken Brewery, and Nobuo Shoji, Sake Master and President of Yumegokoro Brewery, are traveling from Fukushima to pour sake for New Yorkers. There will be seven different brands from three different breweries on January 23 and eight brands on January 24 to enjoy.

Featured Sake on January 23

Junmai Kokken from Kokken Brewery
Yamahai Junmai Kokken from Kokken Brewery
Junmai Daiginjo NARAMAN from Yumegokoro Sake Brewery
NARAMAN Junmai-shu Muroka Binhiire from Yumegokoro Sake Brewery
Aizu Chujo – Junmai Ginjo Yumenokaori from Tsurunoe Shuzo
Aizu Chujo – Junmai from Tsurunoe Shuzo
Aizu Chujo – Junmai Ginjo Yuri from Tsurunoe Shuzo

Featured Sake on January 24

Daiginjo Kokken from Kokken Brewery
Tokubetsu Junmai Kokken Yume no Kaori from Kokken Brewery
Uka Black Label Organic Junmai Daiginjo from Ninki Brewery
Uka Dry Organic Junmai Daiginjo from Ninki Brewery
Uka Sparkling Sake Organic Junmai Daiginjo from Ninki Brewery
Masakura Kimoto Junmai Ginjo from Daishichi Sake Brewery
Kimoto Umeshu from Daishichi Sake Brewery
Tenmei Junmai Hi-ire Orange Label from Akebono Sake Brewery

Enjoy a 15% discount on the featured sake that will be poured and 10% discount on all Fukushima sake on the days the tastings.

Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVPs are appreciated. Please visit the Fukushima Trade Promotion Council’s Eventbrite page to RSVP to the January 23 tasting and/or the January 24 tasting.

Susan McCormac 1/9/24 Susan McCormac 1/9/24

DIY Matcha Workshop at a-un Brooklyn

Nina Tea Salon “Matcha Tea DIY Workshop”

Sunday, January 21 at 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 11 at 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 25 at 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.

a-un Brooklyn — 156 Knickerbocker Avenue, Brooklyn

Admission: $35 plus tax

Welcome to Nina Tea Salon 2024

Nina Tea Salon presents a “Matcha Tea DIY Workshop” at a-un Brooklyn, a Japanese restaurant by the owner/chefs of Wasan Brooklyn. Using the finest premium matcha imported directly from Japan, Nina Tea Salon invites you to enjoy the beauty of authentic Japanese culture. Be enchanted by the harmonious pairing of this exquisite tea with handmade, seasonally inspired traditional desserts.

In these 30-minute sessions, Nina will guide participants on how to make a bowl of light matcha tea at home for yourself and your loved ones!

Three Levels of Learning

Level 1 — Preparation and tea-whisking technique
Level 2 — Purifying utensils
Level 3 — Combined techniques of Levels 1 and 2

The serene ambiance, the lingering aroma of freshly whisked matcha, the symphony of flavors, and the atmosphere both tradition and innovation will surely captivate your senses.

Seating is limited, so register by using this Google Form.

About A-un

The phrase "a-un no kokyuu," literally translating to the "breath of a-un," originates from an ancient Japanese idiom. This expression signifies a silent communication between two individuals who understand each other without the need for words.

Sake sommelier Toshi Koizumi and chef Kakusaburo Sakurai opened Wasan East Village in 2010 and Wasan Brooklyn in Park Slope, Brooklyn, five years later. Together they opened a-un Brooklyn last year. Over the years, as restaurant owners, they have found their a-un, strongly reaffirming the sheer joy and importance of serving the local community through their cuisine.

Susan McCormac 1/9/24 Susan McCormac 1/9/24

Japanese Reimagining of HAMLET at Japan Society

HAMLET | TOILET

Wednesday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m. [SOLD OUT]
Friday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. (followed by artist Q&A)
Saturday, January 13 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $35 | $28 Japan Society Members and Persons with Disabilities

Number two or not number two? That is the question in HAMLET | TOILET, a hilariously nonsensical reimagining of William Shakespeare’s classic from Yu Murai, one of Japan’s “most innovative contemporary playwright-directors” (Asian Theatre Journal), and performed by his Kaimaku Pennant Race theater company cast, fearlessly clad in their signature full-body white unisuits.

Kaimaku Pennant Race (KPR) has become known for its antic movement style mixed with profound interpretations of Western masterpieces, weaving scenes from Elizabethan-era tragedy with bursts of Japanese pop culture references in sensational and surprising ways. Following the company’s groundbreaking Romeo and Toilet and 2019’s unpredictable manga-meets-Macbeth Ashita no Ma-Joe, which turned Japan Society’s stage into a boxing ring, this production marks the New York premiere of Murai’s latest madcap Shakespearean innovation. Hamlet | Toilet is performed by KPR members Masayuki Gouke (professionally known as G.K. Masayuki), Yuki Matsuo, and Takuro Takasaki. Performed in Japanese with English supertitles.

The troupe will give four total performances, but please note that the first performance, on Wednesday, January 10, is sold out. There are still tickets available for the remaining three, with an artist Q&A following the performance on Friday, January 12. To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

*HAMLET* | *TOILET* ©photo by Takashi Ikemura

About Kaimaku Pennant Race

Founded by Yu Murai in 2006, Kaimaku Pennant Race (KPR) is a Tokyo-based theater company known for off-the-wall theater work presenting a uniquely contemporary Japanese view, often inspired by Western masterpieces. They have achieved worldwide recognition through their in-demand repertoire pieces such as 1969: A Space Odyssey? Oddity!; Romeo and Toilet, and Ashita no Ma-Joe: Rocky Macbeth, performed in France, Romania, Thailand, South Korea, the US, and Japan. In 2009, the company performed Romeo and Toilet in the New York International Fringe Festival, earning Four Stars from Time Out New York for its “fantastic combination of ingenious movement; surreal story lines; and dynamic, startlingly disciplined performers."

The company’s remarkable sets have also caused quite a stir, with one of their most notable set designs being a large toilet created from 10,000 toilet paper rolls for Romeo and Toilet. 1969: A Space Odyssey? Oddity! had its successful world tour, visiting popular international theater festivals and venues such as Festival d’Avignon (France), BABAL F.A.S.T. (Romania), Carthage Theatre Festival (Tunisia), ST-BOMB festival (South Korea) and Thong Lor Art Space (Thailand) from 2015 through 2018. Audiences around the world have embraced the company’s original approach to physical comedy and Western adaptations, describing their work as “a real artistic experience” (La Provence, France).

Ashita no Ma-Joe: Rocky Macbeth premiered at the Theater Rakuen in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, in February 2017 and was presented by Japan Society in New York in May 2019, garnering rave reviews. Their most recent work, HAMLET | TOILET premiered at Komaba Agora Theater in Tokyo in September 2023.

About Yu Murai

Founder and Director Yu Murai reinterprets a wide variety of classical plays using extreme physicality and over-the-top humor. Known for his bold stage designs and sharp, witty dramas, he is able to convey his original and singular point of view through his meticulous and highly choreographed directing style. Most recently, he has started conducting workshops, lectures, and readings to expose young actors to his quirky and rich methodologies. Of his plays, Theatrorama (France) wrote, “If you see [his] shocking work, you cannot return to earth ever again.” His company’s performances invite audiences to enter surreal, high-octane worlds, through aesthetics and tropes borrowed from Japanese pop culture. Today, the troupe is one of the most promising theater companies in Japan, blending high-art and entertainment.

Susan McCormac 12/12/23 Susan McCormac 12/12/23

JapanCulture•NYC x Japan Society Ticket Giveaway!

🚨🎟️GIVEAWAY ALERT ‼️

We're teaming up with our friends at Japan Society Film for a ticket giveaway to the screening of Dogra Magra on Friday, December 15 at 9:00 p.m.!

Japan Society Film is generously giving five pairs of tickets to this Japanese mystery fiction fantasy extravaganza by Toshio Matsumoto! That means five winners will each take a +1 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Matsumoto's final feature!

DETAILS

🎥 Dogra Magra

📅 Friday, December 15

⏰ 9:00pm

📍 Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

HOW TO ENTER

🎯Follow @japanculturenyc, @jsfilmnyc, and @japansociety on Instagram

🏷️ Tag @japanculturenyc in an Instagram post related to Japanese Culture in New York City (food, drink, film, art, music, books, crafts)

☠️ Deadline: Thursday, December 14 at 12:00pm

🏆 Winners announced Thursday, December 14 by 6:00pm

ABOUT DOGRA MAGRA

Based on one of the Sandaikisho (Three Great Occult Books) of Japanese mystery fiction, Toshio Matsumoto’s fourth and final feature adapts the unadaptable: a filmed version of surrealist 1935 avant-garde classic Dogra Magra written by Kyusaku Yumeno—the famous detective novelist whose pen name fittingly translates to “person who always dreams.”

In Taisho 15, the period’s final year, an amnesiac awakens in a sanatorium without recollection of his name or face. Forced to reconstruct his memory, the patient is accosted by two doctors (including one purported to be deceased) who relate his condition in differing fashions, complicating whether physicians are telling the truth or playing a Fowlesian godgame.

Working with frequent cinematographer Tatsuo Suzuki (Himiko, Pastoral: To Die in the Country), Matsumoto constructs a disorienting Jungian work, overwrought with conspiracies and intermingling tales. Delivering intra-womb fetuses, red herrings, and false revelations, Dogra Magra unfurls a complex tapestry of alternating histories—resulting in a whirlwind tragedy brought on by fantasies of eternal recurrence.

Dir. Toshio Matsumoto, 1988, 109 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with live English subtitles. With Yoji Matsuda, Shijaku Katsura, Hideo Murota, Eri Misawa.

This screening is part of Japan Society’s current series Taisho Roman: Fever Dreams of the Great Rectitude, running through December 16. To see the remaining films and to purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

Huge thanks to Japan Society, Japan Society Film, and Peter Tatara for making this giveaway possible.

Susan McCormac 11/30/23 Susan McCormac 11/30/23

Holiday Sake from Fukushima Prefecture

Fukushima Sake for the Holidays

Friday, December 1 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Minoru’s Sake Shop at Landmark Wine and Spirits – 208 W. 23rd Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues)

Admission: Free

To introduce New Yorkers to the delights of Fukushima sake, the Fukushima Trade Promotion Council is hosting a free holiday sake tasting at Minoru’s Sake Shop at Landmark Wine and Spirits in Chelsea

Tasting session participants will receive a 10% discount for purchases of Fukushima sake.

Enjoy Six Different Brands from Six Different Breweries

Minowamon Kimoto Junmai Daiginjo from Daishichi Sake Brewery
KEN Daiginjo from Suehiro Brewery
Odayaka Junmai Ginjo from Niida-Honke
NARAMAN Junmai-shu Muroka Binhiire from Yumegokoro Sake Brewery
Kokken Yamahai Junmai from Kokken Brewery
Lychee Nigori from Homare Brewery

Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVPs are appreciated. To register, please visit the Fukushima Trade Promotion Council’s Eventbrite page.

Susan McCormac 11/21/23 Susan McCormac 11/21/23

Japan Society Reruns Holiday Cooking Online Workshop

Thanksgiving, Japan Style

Available through November 30

Online Cooking Workshop

Free

Give your Thanksgiving feast a Japanese spin this year with shio koji butter-brined turkey, blistered green beans and shishito peppers, and Japanese sweet potatoes. In this online workshop presented by Japan Society, Maiko Kyogoku, owner of Bessou, a modern Japanese comfort food kiosk at Market 57, will teach a variety of festive recipes that bridge cultural traditions, using ingredients perfect for the season.

This year, dazzle guests at your holiday feast with a menu bursting with the flavors of Japan. Please note: This workshop was recorded on November 2, 2021. Some information may have changed since the time of recording.

To register for YouTube access and the recipe card, please visit Japan Society’s website.

Susan McCormac 11/21/23 Susan McCormac 11/21/23

All AAPI Cast to Perform “Allegiance”

54 Sings Allegiance

Monday, November 27 at 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

54 Below – 254 W. 54th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues)

Admission: $100.50 Premium Seating | $51-$62 Main Dining and Bar Seating

54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club, presents an entirely AAPI cast in 54 Sings Allegiance on November 27 at 7:00 p.m. This celebration is in honor of the London premiere of Allegiance, a musical inspired by the real story of Star Trek icon George Takei’s life with music and lyrics by Jay Kuo and book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo, and Lorenzo Thione. 54 Below invites the audience to enjoy the story of Allegiance through the performances of these incredible AAPI talents.

The show will feature highlights of the score, including “Higher,” “Wishes on the Wind,” “Stronger Than Before,” and more.

Performers

Carol Angeli (Here Lies Love, Miss Saigon)
Sondrine Bontemps (Disney Cruise Line’s Aladdin)
Delphi Borich (Camelot, Into the Woods)
Flynn Jungbin Byun (White Plains Performing Arts Center’s Miss Saigon)
Victoria Chen
Jen Chia (Magic School Bus national tour)
Brayden Co
Bryan Chan
Bryan Freedman
Rose Van Dyne (1776)
Joomin Huang (The Prom, & Juliet)
Yoosep (Joseph) Im (White Plains Performing Arts Center’s Miss Saigon)
Brian Jose (Miss Saigon national tour)
Dongwoo Kong (The King and I national tour)
Joseph Lee
Rina Maejima (National Anthem singer at Citi Field on Japanese Heritage Night)
Clark Mantilla (Musicalized!, TikTok Takes Broadway)
Joowon Shin (Squid Game on Netflix)
Patima Watcharintrawut

The concert is produced and directed by Flynn Jungbin Byun and associate produced by Gyurin Kim, with music direction by Rose Van Dyne.

Representation in the arts is so crucial and becoming more and more important, so please support this unique production.

To purchase tickets, please visit 54 Below’s website. Please note that ticket prices include a 10% ticketing fee and a $1.50 facility fee. There is a $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 p.m. are available only by calling 646-476-3551.

About 54 Below

54 Below, a recipient of the 2022 TONY AWARDS® Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, is a non-profit organization with a mission to preserve the music of Broadway and expand the art of the cabaret while growing opportunities for diverse communities of emerging and established artists and providing unparalleled audience experiences.

It was founded as a place for the Broadway community to celebrate Broadway performers, both established and new, who sing not only the music of Broadway and the Great American Songbook, but also new material intended for Broadway and off-Broadway stages.

Safety Information

54 Below is committed to the health of its performers, staff, and guests and has created a Safety Plan to ensure safe conditions along with optimum performing conditions. 54 Below has installed improved air circulation and filtering systems. Based on CDC and New York State guidelines at the time of performance, safety protocols and seating capacity may change, and policies may be adjusted as is appropriate. Additional information on their safety protocols can be found at their website.

Susan McCormac 11/15/23 Susan McCormac 11/15/23

Discover the tastes of Miyagi at Japan Village

“Tastes of Miyagi”

Friday, November 17 through Sunday, November 19 from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Kuraichi – 267 36th Street, Brooklyn

Admission: Free

The Miyagi Prefectural Government, in collaboration with Kuraichi and Japan Village, will host the “Tastes of Miyagi,” an event that aims to introduce the local sake of Miyagi Prefecture to New Yorkers. This three-day free tasting will feature different sake products each day and take place at Kuraichi, a specialty sake and Japanese spirits shop at Japan Village.

For a limited time, customers who purchase any sake from Miyagi will receive a free furoshiki (Japanese traditional wrapping cloth) and will be eligible to purchase the very rare and precious Date Seven sake.

Featured Sake Products

Katsuyama Junmai Ginjo KEN
Tanaka 1789ｘChartier Blend 001 Vintage 2018
Hoyo “Kura no Hana” Fair Maiden
Hoyo “Manamusume” Farmer’s Daughter
Tokubetsu Honjozo Sake, Atago no Matsu
Tokubetsu Junmai Sake “The Connoisseur” Hakurakusei
Genshu Urakasumi
Himezen Sweet Junmai

Image from @japanvillagebrooklyn on Instagram

“Tastes of Miyagi” Food Booth

November 18 from 12:00 p.m. (one day only!)

In conjunction with this event, there will also be a special one-day “Tastes of Miyagi” food booth inside the Japan Village food court, where customers can purchase Miyagi’s special local cuisine and pair these dishes with Miyagi’s sake.Offerings include harako-meshi, a seasoned rice bowl topped with cooked salmon and roe, and kaki-fry, deep-fried oysters.

For more information, please follow Visit Miyagi on Instagram.

Susan McCormac 11/14/23 Susan McCormac 11/14/23

Film at Lincoln Center to Spotlight Japan’s Cinematic Rebel

The Radical Cinema of Kijū Yoshida

Friday, December 1 through Friday, December 8

Walter Reade Theater – 165 W. 65th Street (unless otherwise noted)

Admission: $17 General Public | $14 Students, Seniors, individuals with disabilities | $12 Members

Film at Lincoln Center presents “The Radical Cinema of Kijū Yoshida,” a retrospective spotlighting the films of one of Japan’s greatest cinematic rebels. Running from December 1 through 8, all 16 films will be presented on 35mm or 16mm at Film at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, and Japan Society.

The retrospective presents the most comprehensive collection of Yoshida’s work ever screened in the United States. Most notably, the series will feature Yoshida’s famed political trilogy, which captures significant moments in 20th century Japanese history: Eros + Massacre (1968), regarded as his masterpiece; Heroic Purgatory (1970), a kaleidoscopic, mazelike memory piece about an atomic engineer whose past as a college-age revolutionary militant erupts into the present; and Coup d’état (1973), a spellbinding portrait of notorious militarist Ikki Kita.

To purchase tickets, please visit Film at Lincoln Center’s website. Use promo code OKADA to enjoy $5 off all ticket purchases.

Lineup

Good-for-Nothing
Friday, December 1 at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 5 at 8:45 p.m.

Yoshida’s debut feature vividly depicts the ennui and intellectual and spiritual restlessness of a generation of bourgeois youth in Tokyo at the dawn of the 1960s.

Blood Is Dry
Friday, December 1 at 4:15 p.m.
Saturday, December 2 at 8:30 p.m.

Yoshida’s satirical second feature again ferociously critiques Japanese society following its postwar reinvention as a capitalist giant.

Eros + Massacre
Friday, December 1 at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 5 at 2:00 p.m.

Among the greatest of all political films and perhaps the work that best embodies the spirit of Yoshida’s artistic project, Eros + Massacre is an epic, historiographic examination of the points of intersection between the domains of desire and politics.

Affair in the Snow
Saturday, December 2 at 1:00 p.m.

A love triangle plays out in the snow in Yoshida’s eleventh feature, a striking deconstruction of the melodrama.

Heroic Purgatory
Saturday, December 2 at 3:15 p.m.

The second film in a trilogy (inaugurated by Eros + Massacre) concerning 20th century Japanese history, Heroic Purgatory is a kaleidoscopic, mazelike memory piece that is perhaps Yoshida’s most recognizably avant-garde work.

The Affair
Saturday, December 2 at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 6 at 1:00 p.m.

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center – 144 W. 65th Street

Again using the melodrama genre as an instrument of oblique social critique, Yoshida’s ninth feature stars Mariko Okada as a woman trapped in a loveless marriage to a philandering businessman who finds herself mysteriously drawn toward an old lover of her deceased mother’s.

Akitsu Springs
Sunday, December 3 at 1:00 p.m.
Thursday, December 7 at 1:00 p.m.

The first great commercial success of his young career, Akitsu Springs is a tear-jerking romance that finds Yoshida working in color and in collaboration with his frequent star and lifelong filmmaking partner Mariko Okada (in her 100th on-screen appearance).

Wuthering Heights
Sunday, December 3 at 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, December 7 at 3:30 p.m.

Emily Brontë’s Gothic romance is transposed to feudal Japan for Yoshida’s powerfully stark, elemental take on the story.

18 Who Cause a Storm
Sunday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 6 at 3:15 p.m.

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center – 144 W. 65th Street

A group of migrant workers fed up with their being ruthlessly exploited by the society around them lash out in Yoshida’s rugged widescreen chronicle of proletarian unrest.

Women in the Mirror
Sunday, December 3 at 9:00 p.m.

In his final fiction feature, Yoshida returned to an old subject in his work: the unfathomable trauma known by Japan due to the United States’s dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Flame and Women
Tuesday, December 5 at 6:30 p.m.

Yoshida returned to the melodrama—this time synthesizing elements of the horror film in the process—with this chronicle of a woman’s suddenly swelling desire for her child’s biological father.

Coup d’état
Wednesday, December 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center – 144 W. 65th Street

The culminating film in the trilogy formed by Eros + Massacre and Heroic Purgatory, Yoshida’s 16th feature is a spellbinding portrait of notorious militarist Ikki Kita, whose 1936 attempt at staging a coup against the Japanese government would later serve as inspiration to the similarly controversial nationalist writer Yukio Mishima some years later.

A Promise
Wednesday, December 6 at 8:45 p.m. – Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
Friday, December 8 at 9:00 p.m. – Japan Society

Yoshida came out of his feature filmmaking retirement with this typically idiosyncratic meditation on what was, at the time, a taboo topic: euthanasia.

Farewell to the Summer Light
Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m.

A fascinating transitional film for Yoshida, Farewell to the Summer Light finds the restless iconoclast heading to Europe to tell the tale of an on-again-off-again romance between Naoko, a married expat who specializes in import-export (Mariko Okada), and Makoto (Tadashi Yokouchi), a Japanese scholar who is searching for a cathedral that served as the architectural inspiration for a church built in Nagasaki by Portuguese missionaries.

Confessions Among Actresses
Thursday, December 7 at 8:45 p.m.

Something like Yoshida’s response to Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, Confessions Among Actresses finds Yoshida teaming up with three prominent Japanese actresses—Mariko Okada, Ruriko Asaoka, and Ineko Arima, each renowned for playing eminently modern women who have been wronged by the men around them—to craft a fragmentary, perpetually shapeshifting work on the relationship between performance and trauma.

A Story Written with Water
Friday, December 8 at 6:00 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street

Bearing a title inspired by John Keats’s epitaph and taken from the Yōjirō Ishizaka novel it adapts, Yoshida’s first independent film is a startling affair, depicting the unbreakable love of mother and child.

For full descriptions of the films and to learn more about Kijū Yoshida, please visit Film at Lincoln Center’s website.

Susan McCormac 11/3/23 Susan McCormac 11/3/23

Tokyo to New York at Bargemusic

Bargemusic: Here and Now Series presents THOMAS PIERCY - TOKYO TO NEW YORK 東京とNY

Friday, November 3 at 7:00 p.m.

Bargemusic – 1 Water Street, Brooklyn (GPS address)

Admission: $35

Bargemusic’s Here and Now Series presents music with Thomas Piercy, clarinet and ohichiriki; Aaron Wolff, cello; and Marina Iwao, piano. Three of the works are world premieres composed for Thomas Piercy by composers Miho Sasaki, Michael Schelle, and Emilio Teubal, and a composition by Dai Fujikura will have its New York premiere. Rounding out the program will be a masterpiece from 1992 from Pulitzer Prize-winner Tania Leon.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit Tonada Productions or Bargemusic.

Program

Dai Fujikura “Hop” for clarinet, cello, and piano (2019) (US Premiere)
Tania Leon “Arenas d’un tiempo” for clarinet, cello, and piano (1992)
Miho Sasaki “黎明-reimei-Dawn” for ohichiriki, cello, and piano (2023) (World Premiere)
Michael Schelle “Kingfish Levinsky” for clarinet, cello, and piano (2023) (World Premiere)
Emilio Teubal “The Offspring of MMXX” for clarinet, cello, and piano (2023) (World Premiere)

Susan McCormac 11/2/23 Susan McCormac 11/2/23

Asia Society to Co-Host NYJCF

New York Japan CineFest 2023

Friday, November 3 from 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. (Opening reception)

Saturday, November 4 from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. (Shodo performance)

Asia Society – 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street

Admission: $15 Adults | $8 Members

New York Japan CineFest, a film festival that introduces Japanese-themed short films, is celebrating its twelfth anniversary this weekend. The two-day event will present a total of16 short films and is co-hosted by Asia Society and Mar Creation in partnership with JICC-Japan Information and Culture Center (Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.), Short Shorts Film Festival, Boston Japan Film Festival, Aichi International Women’s Film Festival, and Tokyo Independent Movie Festival.

Day One features seven short films selected by JICC and NYJCF; Day Two includes two programs: “Japanese Film Festivals” at 1:00 p.m. and “Long Story Short” at 3:30 p.m. “Japanese Film Festivals” consist of six short films in association with five Japanese film festivals such as Short Shorts Film Festival, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. “Long Story to Short” features four shorts that are relatively long, more than 20 minutes.

The 2023 program includes director Daichi Amano’s Don’t Go, in which fragments of the memories of a deceased father can be accessed using a special device; TOKYO ANIMAL by Toshiki Yashiro, a collection of five vignettes about life in Tokyo; Seen, a love story directed by Shinji Hamasaki and based on Ryūnosuke Akutagawa’s short story "The Nose”; and Oshirasama, Takako Saga’s look at a mysterious folk belief in Japan's Tohoku region. This year’s highlight is Shuhari, a documentary that was produced by NYJCF co-founders Kosuke Furukawa and Hiroshi Kono.

For full details and to purchase tickets, please visit Asia Society’s website. Students and Seniors should contact Asia Society’s box office at 212-517-ASIA (2742) for a discounted price. NYJCF is offering a special discount for JapanCulture•NYC members! Not a member? Join today at https://www.japanculture-nyc.com/membership!

*Third Wheel*, Directed by Kevin Haefelin

Day One – Friday, November 3 at 6:30 p.m.

Films selected by NYJCF and the Japan Information & Culture Center organized by Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.

Third Wheel

Dir. Kevin Haefelin | 2023 | 4:50 | comedy, drama, period, fantastic | Switzerland
Edo Period. Following his abrupt death, Gohei, a master carpenter, returns as a ghost to make peace with his wife, Sachi, but finds out he is invisible. He must rely on Sakichi, his once-neglected apprentice, who is gifted with psychic abilities.

What To Do To Be Like You

Dir. Chris Rudz | 2022 | 5:01 | comedy | Japan
Young Natsumi returns to the island of her ancestor to become an Ama-san, a traditional female diver of Japan. She follows her mentor, Reiko, who's the best Ama-san in the area, to discover her secrets.
In association with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia [SSFF & ASIA]

Aufguss

Dir. Daigo Matsui | 2022 | 24:52 | drama | Japan
A sauna spa that has been in business for 50 years is about to reach the very last day but without letting any of its regular customers know. Toji, an aufgussmeister, is preparing for the last aufguss session, and the regular customers are puzzled about why he is so fired up. This is a story about the special night of a small sauna business.
In association with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia [SSFF & ASIA]

The Floating World

Dir. Hiroshi Yokota | 2023 | 15:17 | documentary | Japan
When a university student struggling with an environmental studies assignment searches for inspiration at an art gallery, she is magically transported into a painting and lands in 19th-century Japan. In Edo, today’s Tokyo, she witnesses a range of everyday sustainable practices––using ashes in the dyeing process, fertilizing fields with night soil, repurposing used kimonos into towels and rags––that helped the country overcome environmental collapse.

Shuhari (World Premiere)

Dir. Tatsuya Ino | 2023 | 12:36 | documentary | Japan, USA
Born and raised in Kyoto, Japanese calligrapher Chifumi Niimi teaches students not only how to write characters beautifully but also break through tradition to develop self-esteem and find a new you through shodo (Japanese calligraphy).

The Swamp

Dir. Sorao Sakimura | 2023 | 4:55 | animation | Japan
He, in the painful days of living deep in a shell, picks up a stone. It gains an identity in a moment and becomes a different individual from him. It pulls him up and takes him somewhere he would never imagine. This is written as a record of the writer himself, who has kept creating while feeling the hardness of life.
In association with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia [SSFF & ASIA]

Seen

Dir. Shinji Hamasaki | 2022 | 23:37 | drama | Japan
A love story based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa's short story "The Nose." Tatsuya, a man afflicted with a nose complex, meets Fumi, a reclusive woman with an eye patch. Both burdened with their emotional scars, the two find themselves drawn to each other.
In association with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia [SSFF & ASIA]

*Tokyo Animals*, Directed by Toshiki Yashiro

Day Two – Saturday, November 4 at 1:00 p.m.

“Japanese Film Festivals”

Tokyo Animals

Dir. Toshiki Yashiro | 2022 | 7:58 | drama | Japan
Directed by Toshiki Yashiro, Tokyo Animals is a collection of five scenarios, five vignettes about life in Tokyo. A life where things in the fore fall toward the back, until they circle back again into focus. A circular movement that is often palpable in our crammed little town. Whether it be the rigid rituals of a salaryman, empty gestures by empty people, or the sexualization of all things living or not. Bizarre little things populate the city.
In association with Boston Japan Film Festival (BJFF)

COUNT 100

Dir. Hiroshi Tamaki | 2023 | 20:00 | SciFi | Japan
Professional boxer Mitsuki was once the champion. One day, he was handed a mysterious leaflet on the street.
In association with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia [SSFF & ASIA]

Oshirasama

Dir. Takako Saga | 2023 | 11:47 | animation | Japan
In this folktale of Japan's Tohoku region related to a mysterious folk belief called "Oshirasama,” a girl gets a horse from her father and takes care of it affectionately, then eventually, they fall in (carnal) love with each other. Maddened by the fact, the father kills the horse, but the horse's corpse takes the girl away with it to the other world up in the sky. To her weeping parents in despair, the girl appears in their dream and tells them about silkworms. With threads and cloth from the silkworms they keep, the girl's parents become able to earn their living, and they later make a pair of wooden figures after their daughter and the horse to worship as their gods.
In association With Aichi International Women’s Film Festival (AIWFF)

Minwoo and Rie

Dir. Jinrung Chun | 2022 | 26:19 | drama | Japan
Rie, from Japan, visits Gunsan, Korea, to deliver her grandfather’s unsent letter. With a help of a local boy, Minwoo, she gets closer to the addressee yet acknowledges what her grandpa did during the period of Japanese colonialism.
In association with Tokyo Independent Movie Festival (TIMF)

The Old Young Crow

Dir. Liam LoPinto | 2022 | 12:00 | mystery, thriller, animation | Japan
An Iranian boy befriends an old Japanese woman at a graveyard in Tokyo.
In association with New York Japan CineFest: FilmFreeway

Shuhari

Dir. Tatsuya Ino | 2023 | 12:36 | documentary | Japan, USA
Second screening

Day Two – Saturday, November 4 at 3:30 p.m.

“Long Story to Short”

Blue and White

Dir. Hiroyuki Nishiyama | 2022 | 27:22 | documentary | Japan, USA
Ryusuke, mourning his wife, ceaselessly crafts salt, even during her funeral. Witnessing this, granddaughter Midori probes his motives. Safeguarding the region's unique salt-making legacy is Ryusuke's mission. In conversing with salt, he strives to pass down its ancient flavor. Could Ryusuke's bond with salt link him to his departed wife?

Scabiosa

Dir. Tsuyoshi Takamura | 2022 | 19:47 | drama | Japan
Haruka is unexpectedly asked to attend the memorial service for Instagrammer Hina. At the service, Hina's relatives share their memories of her. Unable to bear the situation any longer, Haruka runs from the scene.
In association with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia [SSFF & ASIA]

Nisei

Dir. Darren Haruo Rae | 2023 | 21:18 | drama, action | USA
Based on stories from Rae’s grandfather, Nisei follows the journey of two Japanese American brothers during World War II, Minoru and John Miyasaki. Stripped of their citizenship and placed in internment camps, they volunteer for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an all-Japanese American unit that sacrificed everything to prove their loyalty to a country that didn’t want them. Torn between country and family, they must face the enemy overseas along with adversity back home.

Don’t Go

Dir. Daichi Amano | 2023 | 24:46 | drama | Japan
Enter a world where fragments of memory of the dead can be accessed using a special device. A father, who lied about his whereabouts, dies in a car accident in a seaside town. His bereaved family dives into his memory to uncover his secret.

About New York Japan CineFest

NYJCF was founded in 2012 by three Japanese producers based in New York: Yasu Suzuki, an actor, dancer, and filmmaker; film director Kosuke Furukawa; and Hiroshi Kono, CEO of Mar Creation, Inc. The festival highlights independent filmmakers who are committed to expressing their voice and vision to the world. Their mission is to explore and find unique talent, supporting filmmakers' work, vision, and causes while providing a playground for creativity in New York City. Since 2015, the film festival has been invited to screen its programs in multiple cities, including Boston; Washington, D.C.; Houston; Los Angeles; and San Francisco. Follow them on Instagram.

JAA 19th Sakura Matsuri

JAA’s Honorees

The History of JAA’s Sakura Trees

An Evening with George Takei

Alice Sara Ott Performs Ravel

Program

Star Pianists

About Alice Sara Ott

Anime Matsuri

A FESTIVAL FOR ANIME LOVERS AND COLLECTORS ALIKE!

Special Guest: Emily Cramer, voice actor/singer

Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux

Lineup and Schedule

About the ACA Cinema Project

Valentine’s Day Craft Fair

Participating Artists

About Niji

About Katagiri

New Hope: Sake Tasting Fundraiser for Ishikawa Sake Breweries

Event Highlights

The Impact of Your Donation

Ishikawa Breweries Affected by the New Year’s Day Earthquake

Music of Changes: Tribute to Toshi Ichiyanagi

Dersu Uzala at Film at Lincoln Center

Dersu Uzala

Free Sake Tasting – Meet the Fukushima Sake Brewers

Featured Sake on January 23

Featured Sake on January 24

Nina Tea Salon “Matcha Tea DIY Workshop”

Welcome to Nina Tea Salon 2024

Three Levels of Learning

About A-un

About Kaimaku Pennant Race

About Yu Murai

🚨🎟️GIVEAWAY ALERT ‼️

DETAILS

HOW TO ENTER

ABOUT DOGRA MAGRA

F﻿ukushima Sake for the Holidays

Enjoy Six Different Brands from Six Different Breweries

Thanksgiving, Japan Style

54 Sings Allegiance

Performers

About 54 Below

Safety Information

“Tastes of Miyagi”

Featured Sake Products

“Tastes of Miyagi” Food Booth

The Radical Cinema of Kijū Yoshida

Lineup

Bargemusic: Here and Now Series presents THOMAS PIERCY - TOKYO TO NEW YORK 東京とNY

Program

New York Japan CineFest 2023

Day One – Friday, November 3 at 6:30 p.m.

Day Two – Saturday, November 4 at 1:00 p.m.

Day Two – Saturday, November 4 at 3:30 p.m.

About New York Japan CineFest

Fukushima Sake for the Holidays