Japan-America Society of Hawaii's McInerny Foundation Japan Day

Kelsey Soma
Reader Submitted

The Japan-America Society of Hawaii (JASH) is providing four of Hawaii's high schools with the opportunity to experience Japanese culture at its Japan Day on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 (sponsored by McInerny Foundation) at Hawaii Tokai International College (2241 Kapiolani Boulevard, 8th floor classrooms and 9th floor Auditorium) from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Student participants will come from Maryknoll School, Maui High School, St. Andrew's Priory, and St. Louis School for this half-day program, which features expert, community-minded volunteers who donate their time, energy, and supplies to the event.

The program highlights hands-on cultural activities that include bon dance, bonsai, calligraphy, traditional crafts, ikebana (Japanese art of flower arrangement), soroban (Japanese abacus), tea ceremony, and yukata wearing.

The program begins with a taiko demonstration by Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble, under the direction of Mr. Kenny Endo.

Since its inception in 1993, over 4,500 students from 48 public and private high schools have experienced this educational outreach program.

PROGRAM: Wednesday, April 8, 2009, Hawaii Tokai International College
Opening Ceremony w/ Taiko Performance 9:15 am
On-going Activities 9:45 am 12:15 pm
Bon Dance - Room 810 Bonsai Room 802A
Calligraphy - 9th floor Auditorium Crafts - Room 801A
Ikebana Room 802B Soroban Room 801B
Tea Ceremony - 9th floor Auditorium Yukata Room 809
PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES:
*The power and energy of taiko by Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble
*Participation in a traditional tea ceremony performed by Urasenke Foundation
*Honolulu Fukushima Bon Dance Club teaching traditional bon dance
*Creation of Japanese Crafts led by Kikufu Nippon Bunka Kenkyu Kai
*Calligraphy brush lessons by Mrs. Shokyoku Hashiro
*The art of Kimono and Yukata dressing by kimono expert Mrs. Jean Sakihara and students from Kimono Project USA at Education Laboratory School
*Giant Abacus Calculation demonstrations and instruction with Mr. Hideaki Oshima from the Araki Hiroya Soroban School
*Mrs. Jessie Nakata teaching the students the art and aesthetics of ikebana
*Bonsai arrangements led by the Hawaii Bonsai Association

The Japan-America Society of Hawaii is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with the mission of promoting understanding and friendship between the peoples of Japan and the United States through the special and unique perspective of Hawaii. The Society is committed to education and conducts six school programs from kindergarten to grade 12 and at the undergraduate level at no cost for Hawaii's students.

Information: Kelsey Soma, JASH, (808) 469-4646, ksoma@jashawaii.org.

Call: Japan Media Arts Festival 08

The Japan Media Art Festival is now accepting submissions on different categories. It’s the biggest in Japan about media art and definitely worth a try - entries must have been produced or released between October 6th, 2007 and September 26th, 2008, Deadline is September 26th.
http://tagr.tv/2008/call-japan-media-arts-festival-08

Meiji Art from the Khalili Collection

The artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) had a great regard for Japanese prints: ukiyoe colour woodcuts. Indeed, he wrote to his brother, Theo, that looking at them made him feel "much gayer and happier." Van Gogh's early paintings were predominately dark and sombre scenes of peasant life, but when he moved to Paris to live with Theo in 1886, he discovered how much he loved the delightful rich colors of Japanese prints. In his late Paris period Van Gogh admired this graphic art so much that he made three paintings in the style known as japonaiserie, based on prints of Keisai Eisen (1790-1848) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) (Figs. 1 and 2). In 1888 he moved to Arles, from where, on 15 July, he wrote to Theo "All my work is based to some extent on Japanese art." Van Gogh's admiration for Japanese art became something of a religion for him. As he saw it, if modern art were to have a future, it must look toward, and indeed, be totally inspired by, the art of Japan. "For my part I don’t need Japanese pictures here, for I am always telling myself that here I am in Japan," he wrote from Arles. He observed everything around him as if it were "through Japanese eyes," and in this way noticed the tiniest details in the natural setting.

While living in Paris, Van Gogh had only collected Japanese graphic works. He admitted to being a collector of a minimal sort, not a large-scale buyer like the De Goncourt brothers. From Arles he wrote to Theo in 1888, saying that he seemed to have missed out on the fact that there 'was something else besides' the "ordinary print." However, this would not seem to be an entirely accurate report; possibly he was less interested in other genres, for he certainly must have seen other types of Japanese art. In the Parisian shops such as Siegfried Bing's where Japanese woodcuts were on sale, so too were oriental ceramics, enamels, metalwork, and lacquer. Japanese decorative art had designs and motifs encapsulating the emotions inspired by nature and the four seasons; themes that had a profound influence on Van Gogh.

While living in Antwerp Van Gogh had decorated his room with Japanese prints. When he came to Paris japonaiserie was all around in books and in magazines, and real works were in the houses of friends and in shops. Transferring such images into paintings gave Van Gogh the chance to study Japanese art and experiment with strong and contrasting colors. Figure 1 was based on a print Sudden shower on the Great Bridge near Atake (Ôhashi no yûdachi) by the celebrated ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). In it, people walking on a bridge in the rain cross the Sumida river on which, in the distance, a log raft is being poled. Vincent intensified the colors of the original work and added a border with random characters that he copied from prints like Hiroshige’s The Flowering Plum Tree.

http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=662