COLD FISH: Directed by Sion Sono (Love Exposure/ Suicide Club)

The latest feature from cult Japanese writer-director Sion Sono (Love Exposure), Cold Fish is “yet another step in Sion Sono's rise as one of Japan's most consistently bold and intriguing film makers… [and] stands as one of the most powerful, punishing works to come out of Japan this year” (Twitch).

Inspired by and loosely based on the real-life exploits of serial killer couple Gen Sekine and his ex-wife Hiroko Kazama (the perpetrators of Tokyo’s notorious 1993 “Saitama serial murders of dog lovers” killings), the film is a psychotic cavalcade of sex, violence and comedy that has been hailed by Variety for its “gleeful humour and dare-you-to-watch aesthetic”.

Shamoto runs a small tropical fish shop. His second wife, Taeko, does not get along with his daughter, Mitsuko, and this worries him. One day Mitsuko is caught shoplifting at a grocery store. There they meet a friendly man named Murata, who helps to settle things between Mitsuko and the store manager. Since Murata also runs a tropical fishshop, Shamoto establishes a bond with him and they become friends; Mitsuko even begins working for Murata and living at his house. What Shamoto doesn’t know, however, is that Murata hides many dark secrets behind his friendly face. He sells cheap fish to his customers for high prices with his artful lies. If anyone detects his fraud or refuses to go along with his moneymaking schemes, they’re murdered and their bodies disposed of by Murata and his wife in grisly ways.........

Japan Relief Night in London

The event will be covered by the media (OK Magazine and Japanese Presses) to raise awareness that Japan still needs help. Mica Paris is attending the event as a special guest, who is a legendary soul singer and TV fashion presenter.
The ticket price is £5,000 (max. 10 people per table) which includes amazing 3 course meal, whiskey, vodka, brandy and wine. The tables will be placed in front of the performers, so you will have great views.

Alternatively,  the tickets for the price of £2,000 per table which only offers 3 course meal and wine are also available.

Venue: The Mayfair Hotel, Stratton Street, Mayfair, London W1J 8LT

Date: Friday 8th of April

Time: 7-8pm (Drinks reception), 8pm (Dinner & Charity auction)
Ticket: http://www.eventelephant.com/japanreliefnight

Dress: Black Tie

For more information: please email: info@japanreliefnight.info or you can call: Anna (07784 428888), Nichola (07909 555927)

AUCTUION

1. Signed T-shirts of Man. U players:

Gary Lineker

Wayne Rooney

Fernando Torres

David Hay

2. 1 week holiday in Dubai (5 star hotel)

PERFORMANCE

Talay Riley - Signed to sony with over 2.5 million views on Youtube. No1 hit with chipmunk 'Look for me'.

Jeremy Lynch - Semi final contestant on Britains Got Talent football freestyler, with a difference.

Suzie Kennedy (host of the event) - Worlds most famous lookalike and tribute artist to Marilyn Monroe... GOOGLE HER!

Suzie has performed for and in the presence of many leading celebrities including Madonna, Kate Moss, Simon Cowell and Personal Happy Birthday tributes include Sir Richard Branson, Frankie Dettori, John Frieda and Eva Longoria.

Shugo Tokumaru w/ Full Band

Shugo Tokumaru began recording his sweet and eccentric lo-fi indie pop songs - songs that nod to artists like Plamo, Lullatone, and PWRFL Power - in the early 2000s. He recorded a ten-track demo CD-R, Fragment, in 2003. The album was never officially released, but it did manage to grab the attention of the U.S. label Music Related, which released Tokumaru's second full-length, Night Piece, in 2004. Tokumaru went on to release a couple more albums over the course of the next few years; L.S.T. followed in 2005 and Exit was released in Japan in 2007. The latter was re-released on the U.S. label Almost Gold in 2008. For 2010's Port Entropy, Tokumaru adopted a slightly more polished, but still playful, approach.

Date: 6 April 2011, 8pm

Venue: Cafe OTO, 18-22 Ashwin Street,London E8 3DL 
Admission: £8.5 adv / £10 on the door

Tel: 020 7923 1231 
Email: info@cafeoto.co.uk
Web: http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/shugo-tokumaru.shtm
Organiser: Cafe OTO

Modern Photography in Japan

Date: 10 March 2011 7:00pm - 7:45pm
Venue: Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP UK
Tel: 020 7486 4348 Fax: 020 7486 2914
Email: office@dajf.org.uk
Web: www.dajf.org.uk
Organiser: Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in association with Tate MadernIn 2010

Tate Modern acquired a substantial group of works of modernist Japanese photography from the collection of Tom Jacobson and Kaori Hashimoto. These works will be exhibited for the first time as part of Tate Modern’s collection displays in Spring 2011. The exhibits will include important works by Iwao Yamawaki, a Japanese architect and photographer who studied at the Bauhaus in the late 1920s, working with the architect Paul Oud. Also displayed will be other key examples of Japanese modernist photography, the work of practitioners from the 1930s to 1950s such as Fusao Hori, Kiyohiko Komura, Ryukichi Shibuya and Shikanosuke Yagaki. This major acquisition was made possible through funds allocated by the Asian Pacific Acquisitions Committee and a gift from a member of Tate Modern’s Photography Acquisition Committee.

To celebrate this significant expansion of its modern Japanese photography collection, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is delighted to announce an event in partnership with Tate Modern. The speakers, Tom Jacobson and Kaori Hashimoto, will discuss their collection and the importance of Japanese photography from this period. They will be in conversation at Daiwa Foundation Japan House with Simon Baker, Curator of Photography and International Art, Tate Modern.

Tom Jacobson has been a vintage photography collector and historian for more than 35 years, with an emphasis upon forgotten master photographers from the first half of the 20th Century. After extensive research on Japanese American West Coast photographers from before the Second World War, he turned to art photographers active in Japan from the 1920s and 1930s. His first trip to Japan in 1985 marked the beginning of his efforts to acquire what little Japanese photography remained from that era due to the effects of war and neglect. By going through numerous vintage photographic magazines and annuals, he compiled a long list of interesting photographers. With his assistant and later partner, Kaori Hashimoto, he assembled an extraordinary collection of some of the rarest pre-war Japanese vintage photography, consisting of over 500 prints by 20 key photographers.

Kaori Hashimoto became Tom Jacobson’s assistant in 1985 and began a research and collecting adventure throughout Japan in search of vintage Japanese pre-war photography. From 1986 through 1988, she worked as chief interpreter and staff member at Gallery MIN, Tokyo, specializing in contemporary Californian photographers. She published monographs and interpreted slide lectures on more than 18 photographers including, among others, Jo Ann Callis, Henry Wessel, Susan Rankaitis. Hashimoto moved to the United States in 1988 to work with Jacobson on the Japanese collection, arranging loans to exhibitions within the United States and overseas.

Thames to Tama Exhibition

Date: 3 - 24 March 2011
Venue: Thames to Tama Exhibition, Unit 6, 34 Star Lane, Great Wakering, Essex SS3 0FF
Email: chalkwell@metalculture.com
Tel: 01702 470 700
Web: http://www.metalculture.com/
Fee: Admission Free
Opening Hours: Monday - Friday, 11am - 2pm

Organiser: Metal

Metal, presents Thames to Tama, an exhibition inspired by the journey of the legendary William Adams, who set sail from the Thames Gateway in 1598 and became the first Briton to set foot in Japan.

His entry into Japanese waters was via the River Tama, a Japanese gateway river important for its trade.

The exhibit is the creation of artist Lee Baker, it consists of 5 huge wall-size line-drawn images based upon both ancient and modern Japanese graphics, paintings, and maps.

Each image is made up of portraits created by pupils from 25 schools in Southend on Sea. Over 4000 pupils have taken part in this town-wide project in association with Southend Education Trust.

Cutting the Cord

Date: 21-26 February 2011 (Mon - Wed: 8pm, Thurs - Sat: 6.30pm and 8.30pm)
Vanue: Tristan Bates Theatre, 1A Tower Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9NP
Box office: 020 7240 6283
Email: info@flyingeye.org.uk
Web: http://www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk/ http://www.flyingeye.org.uk/
Admission: £10/£8(Concession)
Organiser: Flying Eye

Inspired by true stories, Cutting the Cord is an intimate and heart-warming physical theatre piece.

This is the kind of theatre that engages and touches its audience long after they leave the venue. - The Brighton Magazine

Where do you come from?
Where are you going?
When you are miles away from the place of your birth, can you ever feel truly at home?
This one- woman show tells the story of Sachi, a young Japanese woman, and her comedic, yet sincere struggle to find a ‘home’. Set in London and Tokyo, Sachi playfully relates the story of what it means to leave one place and put down roots elsewhere. Accompanied by live music and presented with magical theatricality, Cutting the Cord is a touching and poignant tale that invites people of all backgrounds to celebrate their own journey in finding home.

Cutting the Cord is supported by Arts Council England, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Japan Foundation. Co-produced by The Basement and Brighton Festival.

Keeping Pace with Technology- the Nissan Experience, Professor Andy Palmer, Senior Vice President The Nissan Motor Co.

Date: 28 February 2011, 12:00pm (Please note that the lecture will begin promtly at 12.00pm and guests are asked to arrive by 11.50am)
Venue: JETRO London, Midcity Place, 71 High Holborn, London WC1V 6AL
Tel: 020 7828 6330
Email: events@japansociety.org.uk
Web: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/
Organiser: The Japan Society

Keeping pace with fast-changing technologies, environmental demands and global developments is a challenge for all companies but particularly for those whose markets and manufacturing bases are entirely global. In this business group lecture by a distinguished Japan-based UK citizen, we will hear about Nissan’s experiences. Being responsible for some of the company’s most advanced products, Professor Palmer will be covering topics which have immense relevance for many members.

This is an important topic, particularly for those involved in long-term decision-making on developments and investment. Keeping pace with technology has particular challenge for those countries where the level of manufacture is not as high as it was and where developments are heavily regulated and yet in which competition remains very keen. Professor Palmer will use the Nissan experience to explore these challenges and help us understand how his company has remained a world leader and continues to invest heavily in the UK.

Prof Palmer is one of Nissan’s top 10 executives and sits on the company’s executive committee with global responsibility for its product axis.

He has global responsibility for Planning (Corporate & Product) and Program management; Marketing & Communications; the companies Business Units, such as LCV, Luxury and electric vehicles; and the group IT division. During his distinguished career in Nissan, he personally devised the LCV breakthrough strategy which led to a 5 fold increase in global sales between 2002 and 2010. More recently, he led Nissan’s product launch offensive, launching vehicles such as the new Micra, the Qashqai and the 2011 European Car of the Year, the Nissan LEAF. His experiences have always been along the interface between engineering, and management.

To book your place please contact the Japan Society office on tel: 020 7828 6330 or email: events@japansociety.org.uk. Please remember to state your company position when applying.

Beyond Boundaries: Japanese Performing Arts for a New Generation A Talk by Atsushi Sasaki

Date: 1 February 2011, 6.30pm
Venue: Japan Foundation London, Russell Square House, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5EH
Fee: This event is free to attend but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please email your name and the title of the event you would like to attend to event@jpf.org.uk
Web: www.jpf.org.uk
Organiser: The Japan Foundation

 The contemporary Japanese cultural scene has embraced a drastic change of direction since the beginning of the new millennium, largely due to the upsurge of Otaku culture and its influence upon many art forms including performing arts.

However, while we can observe a marked change in the cultural landscape during the last decade, the current batch of artists are the latest example of a generation in Japan exploring and creating a cultural scene which reflects their current reality.

In this illustrative lecture, Atsushi Sasaki, a Japanese critic whose interests and knowledge easily cross between many disciplines, from music and philosophy to theatre and subculture, will examine the most critical Japanese cultural scenes since the turn of the millennium and introduce the diverse forms and expressions used by Japanese performing artists such as faifai (pictured), an emerging performing arts group which aims to transform the perception of theatre into a type of pop culture.

This event will serve as a guide to the current frontline and emerging trends and players in Japanese performing arts, while also looking to what the future of where these new movements may lead.

BUNKASAI in London

Date: Saturday 5th March 2011
Venue: Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL
The ‘Bunkasai’ is designed to introduce various different aspects of Japanese culture to the UK, appealing to fans of both traditional and modern, as well as to the casual and family visitors, by introducing the Japanese language, culture, food and drink.

This is the first time ‘Bunkasai’ has ever been held although it’s sister event, the
‘Japanese Art Festival’ http://www.japaneseartfestival.com/ has been held for the past 5 times.
In 2010 approximately 2000 people attended this event, check out http://vimeo.com/17101179 and/or http://vimeo.com/1710010
A previous event was held in February 2010, check out
http://vimeo.com/12392343 and/or http://vimeo.com/12596229

‘On Stage’…
• Shamisen
• Shakuhachi
• Martial Arts
• Language panel with Japanese language Teacher
• How to teach Japanese language using Anime song
• Panel by Japanese language students
• How did Anime & Manga give the influence to Japanese study
• Para Para dance,
• Lecture ~ History of Japan, Bushi-do, Shinto, Life style, Kimono & Tea Ceremony
• Kimono fashion show
• Cosplay competition,
• ‘University Challenge’ competition (Anime Club and Japan Society in University)
• Origami table
• Karaoke at night

‘Workshops’ …
• Calligraphy
• Tea Ceremony
• Drawing Manga
• Cooking
• Food tasting of Japanese food (normal,vegetarian courses) & Japanese sweets
• Sake tasting study course
• Okonomi yaki & Dora yaki cooking trial
• Wadaiko (Japanese drum)

Japanese Art Festival August 2010 (Long) from MiNGLED on Vimeo.

AJSW Classical music concert in London

Date: 21 January 2011 from 1:15 to 2:00pm (Miyuki Kato)
Venue: St. James church, 197 Piccadilly, london W1J 9LL
Date: 26 January 2011 from 1:15 to 2:00pm (Emiko Miura)
Venue: St Dunstan-In-The-West, 186A Fleet Street, London EC4 2HD
Tel: 020 72374445
Email: godfreyking316@btinternet.com
Web: www.ajsw.org.uk
Organiser: Anglo-Japanese Society of Wessex

Born in Tokyo, Emiko came to London in 2007 with an entrance scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied solo piano with Kathryn Stott and Ian Fountain. She obtained the Frederick Jackson Award in her second year and graduated as a Master of Arts in 2009. Before coming to London, she studied at Tokyo College of Music.

Emiko has won many prizes including First Prize in the Japanese International League of Arts Competition, First Prize in the American Protégé Music Competition and she received the Janet Duff Prize (Best Performance of Contemporary Music) from the Royal Academy of Music.

She has performed as a soloist in many international venues including Carnegie Hall, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Suntory Hall, Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum, St Dunstan-in-the-west, St Alfege Church and Bristol Cathedral. Since 2007 she has been invited annually to perform in Tokyo at the international music festival “La Folle Journée au Japon” (a Franco-Japanese collaboration organised by the French Embassy).

As well as Classical performance, Emiko has been studying arrangement and jazz performance with Bruce Stark. Her wide scope of interests has also led to many collaborations with artists and dance groups.

Emiko is based in London and Tokyo, works internationally as a pianist and chamber musician.

ProgrammeJ.S.Bach : Fantasia and Fugue BWV904 a-minor
Takashi Yoshimatsu : Tapiola Visions for the left hand op.92　Vignette in Twilight, Commas of Birds
Mendelssohn : Lieder Ohne Worte (Songs Without Words) Op.19, 38, 67
Andante con moto, Hunting Song, Venezianisches Gondellied, Duetto, Spinnerlied
Kapustin : Preludes Op.53

Miyuki was born in Japan and came to the UK in 1997 as an exchange student and met piano teacher, Dr Michael Schreider deciding on the piano for her profession instead of a ballet costume designer her original reason for coming to the UK.

In 1999 she started her musical education at Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. After the first year, she decided to transfer to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) to study with Dr. Schreider, where she graduated in 2003 with BMus first for performance and Ivor Coles Memorial Award. She gained the fourth prize at the International Piano Competition in Gargano, Italy in 2003, and won the First Prize at the National Eisteddfod in 2004. She won a Diploma of the London International Music Competition in August 2005.

In 2005 she graduated from Postgraduate Diploma course at the RWCMD. During her studies at the RWCMD she won the Jacobson Piano Prize, Chamber Music Prizes and Accompaniment Prize. She has also studied at the Royal College of Music with Gordon Fergus-Thompson. Where she was awarded Postgraduate Diploma in Performance in summer 2007 and Master of Music Degree in Advanced Performance in 2008.

Miyuki has given concerts in Wales, England and Japan which includes recitals in St Martin-in-the-Field and the interlude performance in a Service of Thanksgiving of Sir Hardy Amies at the St James’s Church, Piccadilly, London.

ProgrammeMozart: Piano Sonata C major K.330
Tchaikovsky: Romance F major op.51-5
Sibelius: Barcarolle, Valse op.24-10 and 5
Glinka/Balakirev: The Lark
Liszt: Sposalizio

Tokyo Story (after Hiroshige)

Date: 19 January - 11 March 2011
Venue: Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP UK
Tel: 020 7486 4348

Fax: 020 7486 2914
Email: office@dajf.org.uk
Web: http://www.dajf.org.uk/
Organiser: Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Emily Allchurch is a British artist, living and working in London. She creates complex photographic light box images that closely reference old master paintings and prints. Using the original masters as a guide, she carefully reconstructs the scenes by digitally splicing photographs she takes of contemporary architecture and landscape, thus imbuing the work with a modern social context. Tokyo Story is homage to Hiroshige's last great work, 'One Hundred Famous Views of Edo' (1856-58). Transposing his distinctive techniques of abstraction, vivid colouring and composition into photography, Allchurch's recreations are a record of her own journey around Tokyo, revealing a gentle social narrative for the city today.

Emily Allchurch completed an MA at the Royal College of Art in London in 1999. She has since established a reputation for recreations of old master paintings and prints using her distinct digital collage technique. She has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows nationally and internationally. Recent shows include Based on a True Story, Artsway (2010), Perspectives, Candlestar (2010) and Paper City: Urban Utopias, Royal Academy (2009). Her works are in public collections including the Galleria Parmeggiani and the Nouveau Musee National de Monaco. Her last series Urban Chiaroscuro, homage to Giovanni Battista Piranesi's sinister Carceri d'Invenzione (Imaginary Prisons), received wide critical acclaim. The series was published in Portfolio #47 and FMR magazine #5. In 2005 and 2007 she featured in the BBC series A Digital Picture of Britain and Britain in Pictures. www.emilyallchurch.com

Admission free, Monday – Friday, 9.30am-5.00pm

JAPAN UNDERGROUND Returns for February Tour

Venue: 2nd Feb: LONDON, The King Pin Suite / 3rd Feb: BIRMINGHAM, The Victoria / 4th Feb: BRIGHTON, The Hobgoblin / 9th Feb: NOTTINGHAM, The Central
Tickets: £6

The UK’s exclusive Japanese music club night returns, bringing the finest and most exciting rock, pop and dance tunes of Japan to the cities of London, Birmingham, Brighton and Nottingham this February. Expect authentic karaoke, a Japanese style purikura photobooth, Harajuku fashion and the first overseas performance from Tokyo’s urban techno-punk act Hibari!

After its huge success in London, which saw it making the top 101 things to do in the capital before you die, word soon spread across the British Isles and the event’s Facebook page was inundated with requests to bring the party to other cities.

Previously the tunes were supplied by Japanophile, TV star and radio DJ Iain Lee. This time Japanese music journalist Tom Smith will be providing the tracks, incorporating the likes of Mad Capsule Markets, Dir en Grey and Polysics, as well as gaming remixes and pop tracks from Hikaru Utada, T.M. Revolution, Arashi and many more.

Live music will be provided by the electric Hibari, a Japanese double act that captures the energy of Tokyo's famous street performers and delivers it with the punk-rock attitude rarely found in a country that lives by the proverb ‘the nail that sticks out will be hammered down’. Clad in tattoos and piercings, non-conformist Tsutomo (Hibari’s vocalist) refuses to be hammered down and is the epitome of everything the country’s officials fear from its ever growing, rebellious alternative youth.

Couple all this with vibrant fashion styles influenced from the country’s Harajuku, visual kei and Shibuya scenes, a purikura studio from Cosplay Portrait where users can make fun and exciting prints in the style of Japan’s exciting photobooths, merchandise on sale including music CDs, DVDs, video games and an exclusive store at the London show courtesy of sponsors Manga Entertainment, plus karaoke supplied by On Board, tipped as London’s most authentic Japanese karaoke experience with over 60,000 songs available in English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and more!

Get ready to party, Japanese style!
Visit http://japanunderground.wordpress.com/ for further details.

Definitely In My Back Yard: nuclear power and hometown identity in late-twentieth century Japan

Date: 17th January 2011, 6.45pm
Venue: The Garden Room, The Oriental Club, Stratford House, 11 Stratford Place, London W1C 1ES
Email: events@japansociety.org.uk
Tel: 020 7828 6330.
Web: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/events/

Nuclear power stations are widely acknowledged to be among the worst of the so-called ‘public bads’—including airports, dams, and incinerators—that central governments impose on local citizens. Indeed, the planned sites of such ‘bads’ are often the focus of Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) protests. Why, then, did a small Japanese town vote, in 1984, to invite the construction of a nuclear power station in its back yard—a plant that, if built, will be the closest nuclear facility to Hiroshima? This paper explores the reasons for such a decision, and the reasons that construction of the power station has still not begun, even in 2011. It will argue that the whole episode reveals a profound crisis of rural identity in post-war Japan—a crisis that offers important new insights to our understanding of modern Japanese history.

Dr Martin Dusinberre graduated with a DPhil in History from the University of Oxford. Currently a Lecturer in Modern Japanese History at Newcastle University, he is also Director of the MA in East Asian History there. His first book, ‘Hard Times in the Hometown: a microhistory of modern Japan’ will be published by the University of Hawai’i Press in 2011.

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

Lecture by the British Ambassador in Tokyo, Mr David Warren

Date: 25 January 2011, 18:30pm (booking by: Friday, 21st January 2011)
Venue: Cavalry and Guards Club, 127 Piccadilly, London, W1J 7PX

Fee: The event is free but booking is essential. To reserve a seat, please contact
Contact: events@japansociety.org.uk
Tel: 020 7828 6330

Web: http://www.japansociety.org.uk/events/
Dress Code: Please note that Club rules require gentlemen to wear a jacket and tie
Organiser: The Japan Society

Members will be extremely pleased to know that The British Ambassador in Tokyo, Mr David Warren has kindly agreed to give the Ambassador’s annual briefing to the Society during his forthcoming visit to London.

Mr Warren, who has been in post since the summer of 2008, has been asked to give his perceptions of the political, diplomatic and commercial situation in Japan. He has served twice before in the Tokyo Embassy and many of his other appointments have closely involved him in Japan – UK relations.

The annual talks by current British Ambassadors have provided very useful backdrops to the years ahead; they have been both relevant and useful and have always been extremely popular. The Ambassador will speak for about 30-40 minutes, after which there will be time for discussion and questions.

A pay bar will be available from 6.00 p.m. and also for a short time after the lecture. To enable a prompt start, you are asked to arrive at the Club by 6.20 pm. Club rules require gentlemen to wear jackets and ties and for telephones to be switched off.

To book your place please contact the Japan Society office on tel: 020 7828 6330 or email: events@japansociety.org.uk

Excellent Marzemino

Date: 21 January 2011, 7:30pm
Venue: Jacqueline duPre Music Building, St. Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY
Web: http://www.ticketsoxford.com/
Admission: £18. £15. Students £8.
Organiser: Edmund Jones

Edmund Jones – violin
Mami Shikimori – piano

Mozart Sonatas K7. K301. K454. Readings from the Mozart family letters.

Messiaen Theme and variations.
Grieg Sonata No 3 in C minor.

Mami Shikimori graduated from the Royal College of Music in London in 1999 with the Principal’s Special Award and the Hopkinson Gold Medal. She won the Grand Prize in the Ibla International Piano Competition in Italy in 2003 and is one of Japan’s most talented concert pianists performing princpally in Japan and Europe.

Marmezino, Mozart’s favourite wine will be served in the interval and is included in the ticket price.

Output from Japan

Date: 12 - 16 February 2011
Venue: Crypt Gallery, Euston Road, London, NW1 2BA

Fee: Free
E-mail: Yumegiwa6@hotamil.com
Web: http://www.nimo.asia/
Organiser: New Ikebukuro Montparnasse Organization (NIMO)

 New Ikebukuro Montparnasse Organization (NIMO) is NPO group for independent artists established at February 2010. The organization is officially supported by Tosima-ku Tokyo Japan from April 2010, and the members are composed by artist, crater, and musician at any genre. NIMO’s main activity is organizing art event for the members and support each artists to develop and enhance quality of Japanese art culture.

NIMO is inspired by Ikebukuro Montparnasse, artist village existed around 1930s in ikebukuro city Tosima-ku Tokyo. During the 1930s many young artists set up studios in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, and many avant-garde artists worked together and developed Japanese art culture, artists including Saburo Aso, Masaaki Terada, Shunsuke Matsumoto, Iwami Furusawa, Ichiro Fukuzawa, and Kikuji Yamashita. Our activity aim to reproduce the artist village with our artists to contribute enhancement of Japanese artists motivation and development of Japanese art culture.

The concept of our group exhibition would be “out put from Japan”, in the other word, the concept is committed to each participating artists. In this group exhibition, there are almost 30 artists at many genres, such as painting, fin art, sound art, photograph, ceramic art, illustration, calligraphy, and sculpture.

Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion

Date: current - 6 February 2011
Time: Open daily 11am-8pm (Tue and Wed until 6pm), Thu until 10pm
Venue: Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion is the first exhibition in Europe to comprehensively survey avant-garde Japanese fashion, from the early 1980s to the present. Curated by the eminent Japanese fashion historian Akiko Fukai, Director of the Kyoto Costume Institute, the exhibition explores the unique sensibility of Japanese design, and its sense of beauty embodied in clothing.
Japanese fashion made an enormous impact on the world fashion scene in the late 20th century and designers such as Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto redefined the very basis of fashion. Their works will be shown alongside Kawakubo’s protégé, the techno-couturier Junya Watanabe, together with the acclaimed Jun Takahashi, and the new generation of radical designers including Tao Kurihara, Fumito Ganryu, Matohu, Akira Naka, Mina Perhonen and Mintdesigns.

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ‘THE GRUDGE’ COMES J-HORROR’S FIRST EVER LIVE-ACTION 3D SHOCKER

Japanese master of horror Takashi Shimizu, the writer-director and overall creative force behind the nerve-shredding and hugely successful ‘Ju-on/The Grudge’ franchise, takes J-Horror into a brand new era with the spooky and mysterious Shock Labyrinth 3D, which comes to DVD in January 2011 and features both the 2D and 3D versions of Shimizu’s latest spine chiller complete with two pairs of 3D glasses.

Directed by Shimizu and based on the world’s largest walk-through ‘haunted house’, The Haunted Hospital attraction situated at the world famous Fuji-Q Highland theme park, Shock Labyrinth 3D is the first Japanese film shot in HD Digital 3D (and J-Horror’s first ever live action 3D movie) and stars some of Japanese cinema’s hottest acting talents, including Ai Maeda (Death Note: The Last Name), Suzuki Matsuo (Robo-Geisha) and Shoichiro Masumoto (Goemon; Ichi; Tokyo Gore Police).

When a small group of young friends spending the day at a theme park near the foot of Mount Fuji sneak into the park’s haunted house attraction after hours, the innocent children’s escapade results in the mysterious disappearance of one of them, Yuki.

On a rainy evening ten years later, Yuki inexplicably reappears, turning up at the apartment of one of the girls who was present when she disappeared. Yuki is soon reunited with her friends but shortly afterwards collapses and the group rushes her to a nearby hospital where they are unable to find anyone to treat their friend. With little option but to wait in the hospital, they begin to look for help but soon find things are not as they seem. As the night wears on, the friends begin to relive the events from a decade ago and soon come face to face with the terrible truth behind Yuki’s disappearance.

With the highly entertaining Shock Labyrinth 3D, Shimizu expertly combines a series of striking 3D visuals with his trademark filmmaking style to create a foreboding atmosphere and sense of unease that permeates the film until its final, alarming revelation.

Shock Labyrinth 3D (cert. tbc) will be released on DVD (£14.99) by Chelsea Films on 31st January 2011.

The Great Escape (A Borrower’s Tale)

Date: 4- 31 December 2010
Vwnue: Battersea Arts Centre (BAC), Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN
Tel: 020 7223 2223
Web: http://www.bac.org.uk
Organiser: Kazuko Hohki at BAC
Admission: Child £8 (£5 concs), Adults £12 (£8 concs) Tuesdays (11.30am performances) Pay What You Can

This Christmas, explorers aged 6 – 11 are needed to join a secret agency and take part in a special mission.

Using your super sleuth skills, search our building to discover tiny clues for the existence of Borrowers (the small people who live under the floorboards). Will you be successful finding Bob the Borrower and helping him escape the evil clutches of the KBD (Keep Borrowers Down)?

An interactive adventure based on the famous book The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Conceived & Created by Japanese artist Kazuko Hoki. Written & Designed by Kazuko Hoki & Andy Cox.

‘Really really REALLY fun’ Ronelle aged 10

Parents are welcome to leave children for the duration of this fully supervised performance. Relax in our Café over lunch or enjoy a slice of homemade cake, while your children experience this magical show.

MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN -- THE FANTASTIC CINEMA OF ISHIRO HONDA by Peter H. Brothers

For the first time in America, a book has been published on Japan's foremost director of Fantasy Films: “MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN – The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda” (AuthorHouse, ISBN: 978-1-4490-2771-1).

Known primarily for directing such classic Japanese monster movies as Rodan, Mothra, Attack of the Mushroom People and the original Godzilla, Honda has been a much-overlooked figure in mainstream international cinema.

MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN is the first book to cover in English print Honda’s life as well comprehensively evaluates all 25 of his fantasy films. It is also gives objective and critical analysis of Honda's filmmaking methods, themes and relationships with actors and technicians.

Making use of extensive interviews from Honda’s colleagues, as well as a wealth of original source material never before gathered into one volume (including previously-unpublished essays), MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN is an affectionate tribute to the most-prolific and influential director in the history of fantasy films.