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Welcome to the March 2015 edition of Friends of Japan Featured in this edition: -

Canberra Diplomacy: Translations in Glass Memorial Service for Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Japan 2015

Burrawang Autumn Tones: Koto and Shakuhachi Concert

Sydney Ken + Julia Yonetani – The Last Supper Exhibition Mono no Aware: The Poignancy of Things (Photography by Brett Boardman) About Music: Japanese Noh in English: the Oppenheimer Project Fukushima 4th Commemoration Japanese Language and Culture Workshop: Japanese through RAKUGO Photographs of women by women, from the Gallery’s collection

Melbourne Australian Institute of International Affairs: Will Abenomics get Japan out of a three-decade slump and what does this mean for Australia? Aftershocks: Experiences of Japan's Great Earthquake Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival 2015 Loving Indigo: The world of Shigeko Asada Japanese Art after Fukushima: Return of Godzilla Takahiro Iwasaki: Itsukushima Reflection Model Japanese Studies Association of Australia Conference 2015

Brisbane Hiraki Sawa: O Yayoi Kusama: The obliteration room Hanga: Modern Japanese prints We can make another future: Japanese art after 1989

Gold Coast Japan & Friends Day: Japanese Festival

Adelaide Brush and Ink: Contemporary Asian Calligraphy at Art Gallery of South Australia Reconstruction: Drawing of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake 2011 Kodomo no Hi Japan Festival 2015 - Celebrating 20 Years

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Perth Mariko Mori: Rebirth Perth Japan Festival 2015 AJS Tomodachi Lunch

Bonsai Society of WA and Bonsai Workshop Inc. Perth Kimono Club

Hobart Anime Island Convention

Canberra

Diplomacy: Translations in Glass Dates: Now showing until 16 April 2015

(10am-4pm from Wednesday to Sunday. Closed on Good Friday.) Venue: Canberra Glassworks (11 Wentworth Ave Kingston ACT) Guest Curator: Ivana Jirasek An exhibition of Australian studio glass that responds to the international glass traditions and cultural influence represented by diplomatic missions in Canberra. Participating artists and their focus country: Helen Aitken-Kuhnen (Japan), Andrew Baldwin (Malta), Erin Conron (Belgium), Ben Edols and Kathy Elliott (Italy), Hannah Gason (France), Elizabeth Kelly (Finland), Klaus Moje (USA), Lienors Torre (Czech Republic) For detailed information, visit here.

Memorial Service for Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Japan 2015 Date and Time: 14 March 2015 (4:30pm-) Venue: Canberra Nara Park (Lennox Garden/ Flynn Drive, Yarralumla, ACT) Four years have passed since Japan was devastated by a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku and northern Kanto regions. Its effects have dealt a massive psychological blow to Japan, as well as imposing an enormous physical and human cost.

Images clockwise from top left. Ben Edols and Kathy Elliott, Helen Aitken-Kuhnen, Andrew Baldwin, Lienors Torre, Elizabeth

Kelly, Klaus Moje, Erin Conron, and Hannah Gason.

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Ken + Julia Yonetani, The Last Supper (detail), 2014.

Commissioned by Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre.

Photography by Silversalt. Image courtesy of the artists and

Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre.

Each year concerned Canberrans, friends of Japan and members of the Japanese community gather at the Canberra-Nara Peace Park to remember the victims and to show their support for those who are recovering from the disaster. This year's service will be held on 14 March. Lighting a candle at the service will be an opportunity to send our prayers and thoughts to the victims and the displaced, and at this gathering we will renew our pledge to support the survivors into the future. Programme: 4:30 Gather at the Canberra-Nara Park; light candles (available at the venue) 4:46 One minute's silence (The time will be 2:46pm in Japan, the time the earthquake struck) 4:50 Shakuhachi performance by Mr. Graham Ranft 5:00 The address by Mr Akira Imamura, Chargés d'Aaires ad interim, Embassy of Japan in Australia 5:10 Speeches by representatives of Japanese and Australia-Japan communities in Canberra • Dr. Keiko Tamura (President, Canberra Japan Club) • Ms. Andrea Carroll (President, JET Alumni Association Canberra) • Ms. Dianne Fitzpatrick* (Vice-President, Australia-Japan Society, ACT)

* Also a special guest speaker for 2015 memorial service For enquiry, contact info@canberrajapanclub.org.au or 02-6140-1427

Burrawang

Autumn Tones: Koto and Shakuhachi Concert Date: 7 March 2015 (5pm-) Venue: 35 Hoddle Street, Burrawang, NSW Tickets: $50 / School Students $25 Burrawang School of Arts Inc presents Koto and Shakuhachi Concert featuring Satsuki Odamura (Koto and Bass Koto), Bronwyn Kirtpatrick (Shakuhachi/bamboo flute) and Satsuki Odamura Koto Ensemble. For booking, visit here or contact 0405 151 651 / 0418 272 500

Sydney

Ken + Julia Yonetani – The Last Supper Exhibition Dates: Now showing until 29 March 2015

(Closed every Tuesday) Venue: Hawkesbury Regional Gallery

The Last Supper is a large-scale sculpture made entirely from groundwater salt, taking the form of a nine metre table laid with a variety of foodstuffs on top. The immersive installation explores the themes of consumption, luxury, vanity and mortality.

Using salt as the single artwork medium brings focus to the environmental cost of agricultural production and connects with the historical associations of salt—as a

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powerful, sacred substance that maintains life by enabling food preservation, but also induces the death of ecosystems and the collapse of empires. Salt becomes a metaphor for the rise and fall of civilizations throughout history, and the issues of environmental decline, climate change, and food security that face us on a global scale today.

The Last Supper is a new sculptural installation by Ken + Julia Yonetani, commissioned by Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre and developed during a two month residency at the Gallery from January 2014. The work will tour to five regional galleries in 2014 and 2015, with thanks to Museums & Galleries of NSW.

For more information visit www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au

Mono no Aware : The Poignancy of Things (Photography by Brett Boardman) Dates: Now showing until April 11 2015 Venue: The Japan Foundation Gallery (Level 4, Central Park, 28 Broadway, Chippendale NSW) [Access via lifts] Gallery Hours: Monday – Thursday: 10am – 8pm / Friday: 10am – 6pm Saturday: 10am – 3pm (except March 7 & April 4) / Closed Sundays & Public Holidays Admission: Free

‘Mono no aware: The Poignancy of Things’ is a series of photographs captured in Kyoto in 2011. The images juxtapose Katsura Rikyu, a 17th-century imperial villa that has long captivated architects across the world, with the makeshift shelter of a homeless person under a bridge nearby. Boardman’s intimate shots transcend the stark social and temporal disparity of these structures, illuminating the ways that they echo each other in response to the human desire for tranquillity, order and dignity. Featuring exhibition design by award-winning architect Andrew Burns.

Talk Event / Tokyo Void: Possibilities in Absence Saturday, March 14 (2pm – 3pm) Admission free/ Bookings essential Landscape architecture and design researcher Dr Heike Rahmann(RMIT University) takes the dense urban environment of Tokyo as a point of departure to explore the role of temporary vacant spaces in cities. For enquiries and booking, contact reception@jpf.org.au or 02 8239 0055.

About Music: Japanese Noh in English: the Oppenheimer Project Date & Time: 9 March 2015 (5pm-) Venue: Recital Hall West (Level 1, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Sydney NSW)

*Free entry, bookings not required.

Oppenheimer is a new Noh play in English by Allan Marett (text) and Richard Emmert (music) that will be performed later in the year at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. This lecture will outline the musical conventions of medieval Japanese Noh drama and will show how Oppenheimer, which focuses on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath, conforms to and exploits these.

Professor Richard Emmert (Musashino University, Tokyo) is a leading authority on classical Japanese Noh drama, which he has been studying, teaching and performing in Japan since 1973. He has composed, directed, and performed in eight English Noh performances, including two previous projects at Sydney University, and has released a CD entitled Noh in English by the Japanese Teichiku Records. He is the founder and artistic director of Theatre Nohgaku, a company dedicated to performing Noh in English, and has led performance tours in several countries.

Allan Marett was Professor of Musicology at The University of Sydney until 2007 and Professor of Music at Hong Kong University from 1993-1997. He has published widely in the fields of Australian

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Aboriginal Music and Japanese music. In the 1980s and 1990s he collaborated with Richard Emmert and Akira Matsuri in two projects on Japanese Noh drama at Sydney University, which resulted in the English Noh play, Eliza. The same team is currently collaborations on a production of another new English Noh play, Oppenheimer.

For more information, visit here.

Fukushima 4th Commemoration Dates & Time: 11 March – 15 March 2015 (10am-5pm)

(※Pre-event is on 7 March 2015 between 10am and 5pm at Corso Manly, Sydney) Venue: Gojyuan (208 Darling Street, Balmain, Sydney)

Pre-Event: 7th March at Corso Manly from 10am to 5pm Markets (6 stalls by supporter groups) Stage JSC Sydney Soran Dance /

Origami Performance: Midori Furze / Lindou Japanese Drum / QP☆Honey! / Makoto Tanaka / Public Speech / Kimono Parade / Sakura Chorus * Program is subject to change without notice Main Event: 11 March – 15 March 2015 at Gojyuan from 10am to 5pm Exhibition of art, craft, photos and short film from Fukushima area Opening Program 11th from 4:00pm to 8:00pm Silent Prayer for Fukushima at 4:46pm / Origami Performance / Tea Ceremony / Calligraphy Performance: Calligrapher Ren Yano / Japanese Court Music / Classical Japanese Dancers / Candle Vigil / Sake Tasting / Special Guest from Fukushima: Takeshi Matsunaga / Japanese Painting: Reika Masuda Markets (6 stalls by supporter groups) Stage JSC Sydney Soran Dance /

Origami Performance: Midori Furze / Lindou Japanese Drum / QP☆Honey! / Makoto Tanaka / Public Speech / Kimono Parade / Sakura Chorus * Program is subject to change without notice *Earnings from this event will provide support for people in the area

For enquiries contact sydneyrainbows@gmail.com or visit here.

Japanese Language and Culture Workshop: Japanese through RAKUGO Date & Time: 21 March 2015 (10am-1pm) Venue: The Japan Foundation Sydney

(Level 4, Central Park, 28 Broadway, Chippendale NSW) Workshop fee: $35.00 ($30.00 for JPF Sydney Members)

Application Deadline: 13 March 2015※20 Max. (First-come, first-served, Min. 6)

〔Note〕 In the case that enrolment does not reach the minimum number of 6, the workshop will be cancelled. Participants: This is a workshop for those who have prior Japanese language learning experience in JLPT N2 or J-Course Pre-Advanced level and above. Participants must be at least 18 years of age.

Rakugo is a humorous form of traditional Japanese entertainment, which involves storytelling using props such as paper fans (sensu) and small cloths (tenugui). In this workshop, you will learn about the history, features, typical characters and setting of rakugo. You will also have the chance to participate in your own short group performance! This workshop will be presented by a Japanese language consultant of The Japan Foundation, Sydney.

There will be a free rakugo performance on Saturday 28 March 2015 at The Japan Foundation, Sydney by a rakugo artist named Katsura Sunshine (details to come). Participants in the rakugo

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Miwa Yanagi Yuka 2000, printed 2007 from the series My grandmothers, type C photograph face-mounted onto Diasec, 160 × 160 cm, purchased with funds provided by Geoff Ainsworth AM 2014 © Miwa Yanagi

workshop will also have access to one priority booking for this show. Please note that priority bookings for this free performance close on Wednesday 4 March.

For more information and to download the application form, please visit here.

Photographs of women by women, from the Gallery’s collection Dates: 25 April – 5 July 2015 Venue: Art Gallery of NSW Admission: Free

Commanding and demanding, this compelling group of works has both a humorous and a dark side. Most have been acquired recently and are being shown for the first time. Artists include Miwa Yanagi, Yvonne Todd and Anne Zahalka, among others.

The exhibition examines the importance of photography as a medium for the construction of personas and the tension between photographic truth and its wilful manipulation.

Featuring works from Australia and overseas, Loud! also celebrates the 40th anniversary of International Women’s Year, 1975.

Melbourne

Australian Institute of International Affairs Talk by Peter Yates: Will Abenomics get Japan out of a three-decade slump and what does this mean for Australia? Date & Time: 5 March 2015 (6pm – 7:30pm) Venue: Dyason House, 124 Jolimont Road East Melbourne VIC Tickets: Members $20/ student members $10/ Non-members $30/ student non-members $15 (Please book at least one day before if you plan to attend this event to assist with catering.)

Japan is one of Australia’s closest partners in Asia. From the ashes of World War II both countries have become remarkably close, both economically, strategically and socially.

However, over the past three decades Japan has experienced zero-to-low growth and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attempt to reinvigorate the economy is a reflection of a struggling Japan. It seems that the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ is beginning to set.

The country’s low-birth rate is beginning to have severe consequences for its demographics and its internal debt spells trouble for its economy. These problems require a major restructuring along with major societal adjustments. So, where is Australia placed in relation to Shinzo Abe’s reforms, termed ‘Abenomics’? And, how will it shape Canberra’s close relationship with Tokyo?

To talk on this topic, the AIIAV is delighted to welcome Mr Peter Yates AM, Deputy Chair of Asialink, Deputy Chair of The Myer Investments Ltd, Chairman of the Royal Institution of Australia and was previously on the Australia-Japan Foundation. In 2011 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for services in the financial services industry, education, and to a range of arts, sciences and charitable organisations.

For enquiries contact events.vic@internationalaffairs.org.au or 9654 7271. AIIA members can register and pay for events via here.

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Aftershocks: Experiences of Japan's Great Earthquake Date: Now showing until 8 March 2015 Venue: the Noel Shaw Gallery, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne Aftershocks: Experiences of Japan’s Great Earthquake explores the impact of Japan’s deadliest natural disaster on everyday lives through objects from the University of Melbourne’s East Asian Rare Materials Collection. In the 1920s, Tokyo was an economic, administrative and political hub. But at two minutes to noon on 1 September 1923, the city was devastated. A massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Kantō region, flattening the cities of Tokyo, and Yokohama, killing approximately 120,000 people and rendering a further 2.5 million homeless, all in one day. This cataclysmic event sent out far-reaching aftershocks that irrevocably altered both the Tokyo skyline and Japanese society. Aftershocks brings together previously unexhibited postcards, diaries and maps with contemporary images and narratives from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami to powerfully communicate the devastating scale and ongoing impact of both natural disasters. Highlights of this bilingual exhibition include historical commemorative postcards, children’s drawings produced in the aftermath of both disasters and prints of the Japanese god of earthquakes, the giant mythical catfish namazu.

For more information, visit here.

Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival 2015 Date & Time: 8 March 2015 (12 noon – 6pm) Venue: Federation Square, (Corner Swanston St & Flinders St) Melbourne

The popular Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival is shaping up to be the biggest ever staged at its new home of Federation Square. Opening up the delights of Japan, this vibrant, action-packed afternoon is filled with traditional and contemporary Japanese culture, food, activities and entertainment.

“The Japanese Festival is a great event in the City of Melbourne summer program, celebrating a vibrant part of our community through a great line up of performances and culinary experiences,” said Lord Mayor Robert Doyle.

Held annually since 2010, the event honours the tradition of Bon Festival in Japan, or giving thanks to one’s ancestors. The highlight of the festival is the traditional Bon Odori, a dance performed in a circle by participants wearing cotton kimono known as yukata. Authentic Japanese food stalls along River Terrace will please even the most discerning palates, from taiyaki and takoyaki to okonomiyaki, bento and traditional sushi.

The festival will showcase cultural performances on the main stage and upper square, including taiko drumming, shamisen, break dancing and martial arts. Family-friendly games and activities such as origami classes, along with some very colourful characters in Japanese Anime costume will charm crowds throughout the afternoon.

For detailed information, visit here.

Loving Indigo: The World of Shigeko Asada Dates and Time: 20 March – 22 March 2015 (10am-4pm) Venue: Millrose Quilting & Gallery (92 Inglis Street, Ballan, VIC) Cost: $5 *All proceeds will go to the Ballan and Yodoe Red Cross.

Shigeko Asada (1934-2005) Over the last 8 years and three months of her life, Shigeko Asada battled cancer and was in and out of hospital. During this time, she created 50 large quilts as well as other small pieces. According to

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Takahiro Iwasaki, Reflection Model (Itsukushima) 2013-2014 Japanese cypress wood, bass wood, wire. ©Takahiro Iwasaki, courtesy of the artist and ARATANIURANO Felton Bequest, 2014

her son Masato, her patchwork became a source of energy to help her live and fight her illness. Many people brought her old cloth to use in her patchwork – the cloth was traditionally dyed material that had been used in family kimonos. Her son promised to look after these precious pieces and when possible to hold exhibitions to allow others to see them.

This is the first time Shigeko Asada’s works will be shown overseas. Her beautiful quilts feature traditional Japanese patterns and pictorial works. Aizome, Indigo dyeing, is centuries old in Japan and still loved today. While the colour blue is often said to be a cold colour, the rich and subtle shades of the traditional indigo blue used in Shigeko Asada’s quilts are warm and inviting.

For enquiries, contact Jacinta Davie at 0403 040 533.

Japanese Art After Fukushima: Return of Godzilla Date & Time: 20 March – 30 May 2015 (9am - 5pm) Venue: RMIT University Gallery Entry: Free

In light of Japan’s nuclear past and present, the threat of atomic annihilation has long influenced Japanese artists.

This exhibition will focus on the work of artists responding to the events at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011 and its environmental implications.

The massive radioactive monster Godzilla looms large in popular culture, originating in a series of live action Japanese (tokusatsu) films in the 1950s, where it emerged from the sea to destroy Japanese cities. The nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were fresh in the Japanese consciousness and the character was seen as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, when a tsunami tore through the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the potent image of Godzilla and his anti-nuclear subtext again forces people to question nuclear power.

Japanese Art After Fukushima: Return of Godzilla is part of the Art + Climate = Change 2015 festival celebrating and identifying Australian and international artists working with environmental ideas. For more details, please visit here.

Takahiro Iwasaki: Itsukushima Reflection Model Date: Now showing until 6 April 2015 (Closed Tuesdays) Venue: Level 1 Mezzanine, 180 St Kilda Road Asian Art Temporary Exhibitions NGV International Entry: Free

Takahiro Iwasaki is recognized as one of Japan’s new generation of emerging young artists, who creates intricately detailed models that reinterpret contemporary cityscapes and iconic historic buildings. In recent years, his artworks have been featured in numerous international art fairs and major exhibitions, with sculptures from his Reflection Model series receiving the greatest attention.

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The Reflection Model series focuses on seven of Japan’s most sacred buildings that all have an intimate visual relationship with the reflections they cast in the water that surrounds them. Playing with this striking visual relationship Iwasaki constructs precise three dimensional models that are exhibited suspended, in a way that combines the actual building with its illusionary reflection to create one complete form.

Commissioned for the National Gallery of Victoria, the third and largest work in the Reflection Model series takes as its subject the Shinto shrine of Itsukushima, located on the tidal flats of Japan’s Inland Sea.

For more information, visit their website.

Japanese Studies Association of Australia Conference 2015 The Japanese Studies Association of Australia (JSAA) Conference is one of the largest gatherings of Japanese Studies scholars and educators in the world, and the Pacific’s premier forum for the presentation of research findings in Japanese Studies and interaction among researchers and educators in this field. The 19th Biennial Conference of the JSAA will be held at La Trobe University’s Melbourne (Bundoora) Campus from 30 June to 3 July 2015, hosted by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences with the support of La Trobe Asia.

Important Dates: Submission of abstracts due (including poster sessions): 9 March 2015 Notification of acceptance of abstracts sent: 23 March 2015 Applications to graduate workshop due: 4 May 2015 (the first 30 applications will be accepted and attendees may have priority when applying for possible scholarships) Applications to teachers workshop due: 4 May 2015 (the first 30 applications will be accepted and attendees may have priority when applying for possible scholarships) Final date for early bird registration: 3 April 2015 Closing date of registration: 17 April 2015 Conference: 30 June – 3 July 2015

For further information, contact jsaa2015@latrobe.edu.au or visit here.

Brisbane

Hiraki Sawa: O Date: Now showing until 15 March 2015 Venue: Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Entry: Free

Hiraki Sawa’s video works are subtle reflections on ideas of time and motion, travel and dislocation. Having lived between London and Japan for many years, cultural mobility has formed a key reference in Sawa’s work, with his narrative sequences often about journeys into real, subconscious or imagined worlds.In recent years, Sawa’s practice has expanded into elaborate multi-screen installations, enabling him to explore multiple narratives and perspectives.

O 2009 is a beautiful and thought-provoking video and sound installation that considers cycles of time and movement through immersive imagery, including the surface of the moon, the interior of an abandoned house, and the landscape of central Australia, accompanied by an evocative soundtrack by Dale Berning.

For more information, visit their website.

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Tetsuro Sawada, Japan b.1933 / (Untitled) 1983 / Screenprint on

woven paper, ed. 88/95 / Purchased 1984 / Collection:

Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

Yayoi Kusama: The obliteration room Dates & Time: Now until 19 April 2015 (10am – 5pm / Closed on Good Friday) Venue: Children’s Art Centre, Park Level, Gallery of Modern Art (Stanley Place, South Brisbane QLD) Admission: Free

When leading contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama was a young girl, she started seeing the world through a screen of tiny dots. They covered everything she saw – the walls, ceilings, and even her own body. In her artwork, Kusama has used dots to cover many different surfaces and fill rooms. She calls this process ‘obliteration’, which means the complete destruction of every trace of something.

Children are invited to enter the world of the artist and ‘obliterate’ an Australian domestic space by adding colourful dot stickers to the white furniture, objects and surfaces in the large-scale interactive installation The obliteration room.

Children and families can also take part in the multimedia interactive Kusama’s World of Dots 2005 – in the exhibition space or online.

The obliteration room revisits the popular interactive children’s project developed by Yayoi Kusama for the Queensland Art Gallery’s fourth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in 2002. Its current installation coincides with the ‘We can make another future: Japanese art after 1989’ exhibition.

The obliteration room is a dynamic artwork transforming over time through the active participation of visitors. The changing nature of the room will be documented through time-lapse photography.

Please be aware that people entering the room over the duration of the exhibition may be photographed. Still or moving images from the time-lapse footage created through this process may be used by QAGOMA and/or the exhibition sponsors for display or promotional purposes.

For detailed information contact childrensartcentre@qagoma.qld.gov.au

Hanga: Modern Japanese prints Date: Now showing until 26 April 2015 Venue: Queensland Art Gallery Entry: Free

This exhibition showcases over sixty works from the Gallery’s collection of Japanese prints created after 1950. It highlights the ongoing importance of the printmaking tradition in Japan, where artists continue to draw from centuries-old techniques and imagery, while innovating and experimenting with new forms and technologies.

‘Hanga: Modern Japanese prints’ features works by some of the leading Japanese printmakers over the past sixty years. These include some of the main proponents of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement, Kiyoshi Saito and Kawano Kauro, who developed processes that diverged from the ukiyo-e and later shin-hanga (new print) traditions, as well as artists who found fresh ways to reconfigure traditional imagery and modes of production. Experiments with abstraction and graphic

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design are also featured, which broadened the established minimalist palette to embrace bold colours and compositions in a range of internationally influenced styles.

The exhibition also includes works by artists who have become important figures in the broader context of contemporary art. Prints by Masami Teraoka, Lee Ufan, Ay-O, Tadanori Yokoo and Tōkō Shinoda provide examples of practices that crossed genres and had great influence outside Japan.

Capturing a range of methods and techniques, ‘Hanga: Modern Japanese prints from the Collection’ celebrates the rich colours, subtle textures and refined designs of an art form that continues to hold an important place in Japanese art, and demonstrates why Japan is a world leader in the innovation of the printmaking medium.

For more information, visit their website here

We can make another future: Japanese art after 1989 Date: Now until 20 September 2015 (10am – 5pm) Venue: Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane Entry: Free ‘We can make another future: Japanese art after 1989’ surveys the art of Heisei, the current era in the Japanese imperial calendar, through the presentation of around 100 works by over 40 contemporary Japanese artists, drawn from the Queensland Art Gallery Collection. Increasingly cosmopolitan in character and operating with an unprecedented level of international mobility, the art of this period offers a sophisticated reflection on the social conditions behind art’s production in Japan and the anxieties that accompany them.

Beginning in 1989, Heisei has seen significant challenges for Japan, as the country has negotiated the collapse of the ‘bubble’ economy and a social uncertainty exacerbated by a series of man-made and natural disasters within a rapidly changing region. But it has also been the period of ‘Cool Japan’, with widespread international interest in Japan’s contemporary cultural production, while opportunities have emerged for closer engagement with its neighbours in the Asia Pacific. As well as 25 years of Heisei, 2014 also marks 25 years of the Gallery’s public engagement with the contemporary art of Japan through the landmark 1989 exhibition ‘Japanese Ways, Western Means’, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art series, and other exhibitions, along with the development of a significant collection of works by some of the period’s most important artists.

‘We can make another future’ draws on the specific composition of the Gallery’s Collection to propose several overlapping frameworks for considering this fascinating period in Japanese history through the art of an extraordinary time. The exhibition explores the emergence of an aesthetic of the digital sublime; responses to the rich field of consumer culture and new technologies of

Sachiko Kazama, Japan b.1972 / Nonhuman crossing 2013 / Woodcut, sumi ink on Japanese paper on wood panel, unique edition /

Two panels / The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2014 with funds from Michael Sidney

Myer through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

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Hiroko Watanabe b. 1970, Nagoya, Japan, Calligraphy installation (ritaisho) 2012, Nagoya, ink on Japanese

paper (washi) Private Collection

representation and communication; and critiques of national and sexual identity, which through figuration and performance attest to the central role of the human body in contemporary social life. Accompanied by a comprehensive exhibition catalogue, ‘We can make another future’ is a view of contemporary Japan from a specific institutional perspective, but one constructed from a deep history of collective research and ongoing engagement.

For more details, please visit here.

Gold Coast

Japan & Friends Day: Japanese Festival Date & Time: 16 March 2015 (10am-) Venue: Albert Waterways Community Centre (Cnr Hooker Blvd & Sunshine Blvd, Mermaid Waters)

Japanese traditional performers including Yosakoi dance teams from Gold Coast and Sydney, Hyottoko performers from Japan, and Japanese traditional Nichibu dancers will be on show. You will also find many great Japanese food stalls as well as a flea market where you can pick up bargains. *Yukata Contest Open to all ages. Register on the day between 10am and 12pm. Prize for the winner! (Please come along wearing a yukata, and sign up for the contest) *Let’s dance Yosakoi! Workshop available. Registration opens on the day.

For more information visit The Japanese Society of Gold Coast or contact 5531-6661 (Tue & Thu 9am –1 pm)/ info@jsgc.org.au

Adelaide

Brush and Ink: Contemporary Asian Calligraphy Date: Now Showing until 29 March 2015 Venue: Gallery 21 at Art Gallery of South Australia, North Terrace Adelaide SA 5000 Brush and ink: Contemporary Asian calligraphy presents recent works from Japan, Mongolia and China portraying a subtle play of words and imagery, depicted in black and white, and imbued with a new sense of energy.

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For the first time in Australia the Art Gallery will present the monumental, calligraphic installations of artist and commercial designer Hiroko Watanabe (b. 1970, Nagoya, Japan). Watanbe’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions throughout the world including The power of expression (The national art centre, Tokyo) in 2012.

Included in Brush and ink are a selection of recent works by Mongolian calligraphers, which evoke the natural landscape and the heart of the Mongolian people as well as calligraphy from some of Shandong’s most well-known calligraphers.

This display is developed in Collaboration with the Embassy of Mongolia and Canberra, the Confucius Institute at The University of Adelaide and features as part of the Oz Asia Festival.

For more details, please visit here.

Reconstruction: Drawing of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake 2011 Date: Now showing until 13 March 2015 Venue: North Adelaide Community Centre Presenter: The Garage International & Keisuke Watanabe

The 100m mural is a work resulting from the 1000 km journey Watanabe took one year after the earthquake along the coast devastated by the earthquake/tsunami. He drew non-stop for 10 days. This masterpiece has been exhibited in various galleries and museums worldwide. A homage to the survivors. A work of love and prayer depicting the strength of the survivors who struggle to pick up bits and pieces of their lives and to recreate and start again.

For more details, please visit here.

Kodomo no Hi Japan Festival 2015 - Celebrating 20 Years Date & Time: 3 May 2015 (11am-4pm) Venue: Cowandilla Primary School (21 Jenkins St, Cowandilla) Cost: $2 per person, $5 per family (Free Parking) *Come in Japanese costume.

JAFA's Kodomo No Hi Japan Festival is the biggest Japan festival in Adelaide. In 2015, the festival is celebrating 20 years. Click here to find out how you can participate and make the 20th anniversary something really special.

The day is filled with Japan-related performances, exhibitions, activities, food and stalls.

Kodomo no Hi Japan Festival has won a number of prestigious community awards. •2013 WINNER - The City of West Torrens Community Event of the Year Award •2013 WINNER - The Australia Day Council of South Australia Community Event of the Year Award Come along for a fun day for the whole family at this unique community event. For more details, please visit here.

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Perth

Mariko Mori: Rebirth Date: Now until 29 June 2015 Venue: Art Gallery of WA, Perth Tickets: Please check prices and more detailed information here. Tokyo-born, New York and London-based Mariko Mori is one of the most important artists of our time. Through an exploration of themes, such as life, death and rebirth, her work resonates with audiences around the world. Rebirth is an immersive, contemplative experience composed of installations, glowing LED sculptures, photographs, drawings and videos. Quiet and beautiful, this thoughtful and absorbing exhibition takes us from a sculpture symbolising the eternal cycle of life to the creation of a pulsing white hole - where stars are born. Emanating positivity and generating wonder, Rebirth celebrates our existing balance with nature and gently places you between the earth and the wider cosmos.

Perth Japan Festival 2015 Date: 7 March 2015 (1pm-8pm) Venue: Forrest Place, Perth CBD In WA, there are many Japanese nationals working and studying and also some are living on a permanent basis bringing up their Australian families. The numbers are growing, reflecting the long history of friendship between Aussie and Japanese people. In Perth, there are several Japanese community based organisations and groups helping hands to people in need. The Japan Festival Association in Perth Inc. (“JFAP”) was established in 2013 as a non-profit organisation with an aim to raise the overall Japanese profile in WA. As part of its activities JFAP reached out to these groups to look for a way to become more closely involved with and to contribute to this beautiful multi-cultural society. After a series of meetings, the idea of Japanese “MATSURI” (meaning “festival” in Japanese) was launched as an opportunity to realise this dream. With the cooperation from City of Perth, Rio Tinto, Woodside, Aussies and Japanese friends, the 1st MATSURI in Perth took place in February 2014 at Forrest Place in the Center of Perth CBD. It attracted an estimated 10,000 people and was hailed as a great success, bringing a distinct Japanese flavour and sense of matsuri to the people of Perth. The matsuri is a free event with lots of fun for kids and families as well as adults, offering a great opportunity for the Perth community to experience one of the most important cultures of Japan. For more details, please visit here.

Mariko Mori Transcircle 1.1 2004

detail. Stone, Corian, LED, Real time

control system, 33.6 cm in diameter:

each stone: 110 x 56 x 34 cm. Courtesy

of Mori Art Collection, Tokyo. Photo

by Richard Learoyd.

Mariko Mori Primal Memory 2004.

Lucite, 25 x 126.8 x 129.6 cm. Courtesy

of SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Tokyo and

Sean Kelly Gallery, New York. Photo by

Richard Learoyd. Mask (part of Primal

Memory installation), 2004. Acrylic

plastic, 12.5 x 13.5 x 6 cm. Collection of

Tokyo University Museum

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AJS Tomodachi Lunch On the first Thursday of every month, the Australia-Japan Society of WA holds a Tomodachi Lunch. The lunch is held at 12:00pm at Jun Restaurant, 568 Hay Street, Perth. See here for more details.

Bonsai Society of WA and Bonsai Workshop Inc. Meetings of the Bonsai Society of WA are held on the last Monday of each month and include demonstrations, lectures, films, advice and a display of members’ tree. The Bonsai Society also holds regular workshops and other events. For more information please click here.

Meetings of the Bonsai Workshop Inc. are held on the last Saturday of each month. Members can bring their trees to work on, receive advice and watch others at work. For more information please click here.

Perth Kimono Club The Perth Kimono Club aims to bring together people living in or visiting Perth who wish to share the joy and beauty of wearing a Japanese kimono. You may have been wearing kimono all your life or you may have never worn one before, either way you are still welcome to join. Click here to find out more about the club and upcoming events.

Hobart

Anime Island Convention Dates: 21 & 22 March 2015 Venue: Wrest Point Convention Centre, Hobart Passes: Please check ticket prices here.

AICon stands for Anime Island Convention and is Tasmania’s longest running pop culture convention, with a focus on the Japanese Anime Industry. The event is held over a weekend in March in Hobart each year and is run by a Not-For-Profit University Society called TasPop (the Tasmanian Pop Culture Society).

The convention features a variety of cultural demonstrations, competitions, theatre sports, costuming, fashion, video game tournaments, panels, a good range of traders, an auction, anime screenings and more! AICon is also a great place to meet new people with similar interests and is known as a friendly and approachable convention.

For more details, please visit here.

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Hinamatsuri, known as Doll’s Day or Girls’ Day, is a special day in Japan, held on March 3rd each year. Girls’ Day is sometimes also referred to as Peach Blossom Festival because it is held during peach blossom season on the old lunar calendar. On Girls’ Day, people decorate their homes with ornamental dolls (Hina Ningyō), which represent the Emperor, Empress, attendants and musicians. These dolls are usually dressed in gorgeous ancient court attire of the Heian period (794 – 1185) and presented on red-carpeted platforms with peach blossoms, rice cake cubes (Hina Arare), diamond-shaped rice cakes (Hishi-mochi) and white, sweet sake (Shiro-zake).