Upcoming Events
Special event: Thursday 30 May 2013
Butoh Through the Lens
This film screening and talk, introducing short films about Butoh dance, will be presented by Florencia Guerberof, performer and founder of Asian Performing Arts UK. Firstly, she will show her own film recordings ‘Impressions’ featuring Yoshito Ono and ‘Duration’ which reflect her own impressions during her research on Butoh dance in Japan during 2009. The screening will continue with the documentary ‘Still Move’ by Marieke Schroeder. The film portrays Japanese dancer and choreographer Saburo Teshigawara who creates a fusion of Butoh principles and postmodern elements. The event aims at portraying a different side of Butoh dance.
Talk: Wednesday 5 June 2013
Sake Tasting and Japanese Canapés
This event brings together Natsuki Kikuya, independent sake sommelier, and Masa Noguchi, Chef at luxurious Japanese restaurant Zuma, London. They will discuss their respective fields, exploring the attraction of the Japanese traditional drink, and discussing life in the kitchen of a top-class Japanese restaurant. After the talk, there will be tasting of specially selected sake and a demonstration of how to make exquisite ‘tsumami’ (Japanese-style canapés) with ingredients easily found in supermarkets in the UK. Rie Yoshitake will also introduce sake and her organisation Sake Samurai. Yosuke Kawakami from Embassy of Japan in the UK will act as M/C.
Lecture: Thursday 13 June 2013
Constitutional Reform
From the 1990s on, most observers thought that Japan was developing in the direction of a UK- or US-style political system based on two main parties. However Democratic Party of Japan was beaten in the December 2012 Lower House election. Is Japan entering into a new period of prolonged LDP dominance? Elements within the LDP sense that the party’s current strength may offer an historic opportunity to revise Japan’s Constitution, which was imposed by the victorious Allies after the end of World War II. Professor Kensuke Takayasu is Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Law, Seikei University in Tokyo and will discuss the possibility of constitutional change and the possible effects of this for Japan, its neighbours and the wider world.
Artist talk: Tuesday 25 June 2013
Cross-Cultural Partnerships and Environmental Engagement by Chris Wainwright with Yusaku Imamura
This talk will be given by the artist, Chris Wainwright and Yusaku Imamura, Director, Tokyo Wonder Site. Chris Wainwright works primarily through photography and video as a means of addressing issues related to light and energy, both natural and artificial, in urban and rural environments. The work is made as a direct response to ‘place’ and is often the result of an intervention, a temporary action or construction made for the camera as a unique form of witness for the recording of light.