Programs (PDF) - Japan Society Annual Report 2008â09 1

Japan Society Annual Report 2008–09 1

Japan Society 

Annual Report 2008–09 

Contents 

Letter from the President 1 

Directors & Officers 2 

Committees 3 

Special Events 4 

Corporate Program 6 

Policy Projects 11 

Fellowships & Exchanges 15 

Gallery 17 

Performing Arts Program 22 

Film Program 25 

Lecture Programs 28 

Education Programs 31 

Toyota Language Center & 

C.V. Starr Library 36 

Financial Statement 38 

Japan Society Donors 40 

Staff 48 

Founded in 1907, Japan Society is a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization 

that brings the people of Japan and the United States closer together 

through understanding, appreciation and cooperation. Society programs 

in the arts, business, education and public policy offer opportunities 

to experience Japanese culture; to foster sustained and open dialogue 

on issues important to the U.S., Japan and East Asia; and to improve 

access to information on Japan. 

cover: Awaji Puppet Theater Company © Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos. 


Letter from the President 

© Ken Levinson. 

I became president of Japan Society on 

April 7, 2009. In many ways, this was a natural 

transition, as I have been deeply involved 

with the Society for some years now, first as 

a Director of the Society during my various 

capacities with Mitsubishi International 

Corporation and then, until the past spring, 

as Ambassador and Consul General of Japan 

in New York. It is an honor and a privilege 

to be chosen to lead Japan Society at the 

beginning of its second century. 

In these difficult times, the Society’s mission 

to foster a dynamic and productive mutual 

understanding between the people of the 

U.S. and Japan faces new and unprecedented 

economic challenges. The Society’s endowment 

has been greatly affected by the September 

2008 market crash, and income used to support 

programming efforts and administrative 

costs has been reduced proportionally. Corporate 

and foundation gifts, the cornerstone of 

our outstanding and ambitious programming, 

have been reined in as part of the global belttightening 

caused by the recession. Difficult 

times demand innovative, perhaps even 

radical solutions. First, we must redouble our 

efforts at fundraising, from individuals, from 

corporations and from foundations. It is critical 

to our future that we maintain a healthy and 

diverse base of support. At the same time, 

cost-cutting and “green” energy-saving 

measures have been implemented, our staff 

is leaner and we are exploring ways to further 

streamline our operations. 

Japan Society's current programming enjoys 

a very good reputation. Our Gallery, Performing 

Arts, Film Program, Corporate Program, 

U.S.-Japan Innovators Network, Lectures and 

Education programs, and Language Center are 

all outstanding. Future initiatives will broaden 

our programming to match ongoing societal 

shifts in Japan, addressing Japan’s profound 

influence on the food industry, manga and 

anime, and popular music across the world. 

Paramount to the Society’s continued success 

and growth is the need to build younger, more 

diverse audiences through programs such as 

the spring 2009 Japan Society Gallery exhibition, 

KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + 

Manga + Video Games and expanded class 

offerings at the Toyota Language Center that 

build on contemporary Japanese culture. In 

April 2010 we’ll take you on a “J-CATION,” a 

weekend open house at the Society where you 

can experience a vacation in Japan without 

leaving New York City! We hope to welcome 

many new visitors and members to our unique 

facilities—the first Japanese-designed building 

in New York City, completed by architect 

Junzo Yoshimura in 1971. For those unable to 

attend in person, our greatly expanded online 

presence now offers live, interactive webcasts, 

archived program videos and web-only 

interviews covering hot topics in Japan-U.S. 

relations. Our talented staff and directors are 

busy planning these important new projects, 

and many more. 

To our Board, foundation, corporate and 

individual members, friends and staff, we are 

deeply grateful for your support during this 

time, and for our future endeavors. 

It was with great sadness that Japan Society 

learned of the passing of James (Jim) S. 

McDonald on September 13, 2009, at the 

age of 56. He was Chairman of Japan Society, 

and President and CEO of Rockefeller & Co., 

New York. 

Jim, who joined our Board of Directors in 2002 

and served as Chairman from 2005, was 

instrumental in guiding Japan Society through 

our 100th anniversary celebration in 2007–08. 

During his time as Chairman, Jim led Japan 

Society through many of our proudest 

accomplishments, including our centennial 

gala dinner with former President Bill Clinton in 

New York in 2007, and our 100th anniversary 

gala with Their Majesties The Emperor and 

Empress of Japan in Tokyo in 2008. 

Jim was an extraordinary leader who contributed 

greatly to the success of the Japan 

Society during his tenure on our Board. He will 

be missed terribly by all who had the privilege 

to know and work with him over the years. 

We extend deep our condolences to Jim’s wife, 

Karen, and his children at this difficult time. 

Sincerely, 

Motoatsu Sakurai 


Directors & Officers 

Directors 

Kazushi Ambe 

Senior Vice President, Human Resources, 

Sony Corporation of America 

Steve Bernstein 

President, Zenbu Media 

Gregory A. Boyko* 

Retired Chairman and CEO, 

Hartford Life International, Ltd. 

Jonathan E. Colby 

Managing Director, The Carlyle Group 

Henry Cornell* 

Managing Director, Goldman, Sachs & Co. 

Michael E. Daniels 

Senior Vice President, Global Technology 

Services, IBM Corporation 

Richard A. Drucker 

Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell 

Robert E. Fallon 

Adjunct Professor, Columbia 

Business School 

Atsuko Toko Fish 

U.S.-Japan Cross Cultural 

Communication Consultant 

Masaaki Fujita 

President and CEO, Mitsui & Co. 

(U.S.A.), Inc. 

Carol Gluck* 

George Sansom Professor of History, 

Columbia University 

Maurice R. Greenberg 

Chairman and CEO, C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. 

David W. Heleniak* 

Senior Advisor, Investment Banking 

Division, Morgan Stanley 

Nobuhiko Ikura 

President and CEO, Nippon Steel 

U.S.A., Inc. 

Merit E. Janow* 

Professor, International Economic 

Law & International Affairs, 

Columbia University 

Robert A. Karr 

Principal, Joho Capital, LLC 

Shigesuke Kashiwagi 

President and CEO, Nomura Holding 

America Inc. 

Frederick H. Katayama 

Anchor, Thomson Reuters 

Yoshiaki Kawamata 

Senior Managing Executive Officer 

and CEO for the Americas, Bank of 

Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. 

Iwao Kimura 

Senior Vice President, Toyota Motor 

North America, Inc. 

Jonathan B. Kindred 

CEO and Representative Director, 

Morgan Stanley Japan Holdings Co., Ltd. 

Koichi Komatsu 

President and CEO, Mitsubishi 

International Corporation 

Christopher J. LaFleur 

Vice Chairman, JPMorgan Securities 

Japan Co., Ltd. 

Richard S. Lanier* 

President, Asian Cultural Council 

Alan S. MacDonald 

Vice Chairman, Citibank, N.A. 

Jun Makihara 

Chairman, Neoteny Co., Ltd. 

Deryck C. Maughan 

Member, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. 

James S. McDonald* † 

Chairman, Japan Society 

President and CEO, Rockefeller & Co., Inc. 

Henry A. McKinnell, Jr.** 

Chairman, Accordia Global Health 

Foundation 

Former Chairman of the Board and 

CEO, Pfizer Inc 

Koichi Mochizuki 

President and CEO, Marubeni 

America Corporation 

Jiro Murase** 

Managing Partner, Bingham 

McCutchen Murase 

Satoru Murase 

Partner, Bingham McCutchen Murase 

Toby S. Myerson 

Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, 

Wharton & Garrison LLP 

Shinichi Nishimiya*** 

Ambassador and Consul General 

of Japan in New York 

Consulate General of Japan 

Peter G. Peterson** 

Founder and Chairman, Peter G. 

Peterson Foundation 

Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder, 

The Blackstone Group 

James H. Quigley 

Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte 

Touche Tohmatsu 

James G. Wilders Reed 

President and CEO, Mizuho 

Securities USA Inc. 

Justin A. Rockefeller 

Co-Founder, GenerationEngage 

Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. 

Chairman and CEO, WL Ross & Co. LLC 


President, Japan Society 

(Ex officio) 

Timothy Schilt 

Partner, Berens Capital 

Michihisa Shinagawa* 

President and CEO, Sumitomo 

Corporation of America 

Masako H. Shinn 

Partner, Graphis Inc. 

Joshua N. Solomon 

Principal, New York City Department 

of Education 

Michael I. Sovern** 

President Emeritus and Chancellor Kent 

Professor of Law, Columbia University 

Howard Stringer 

Chairman, CEO and President, 

Sony Corporation 

Yoshihisa Suzuki 

President and CEO, ITOCHU 

International Inc. 

Gary M. Talarico 

Former Managing Director, 

Sun Capital Partners 

Paul A. Volcker** 

Former Chairman of the Board of 

Governors, Federal Reserve System 

Officers 

James S. McDonald† 

Chairman 


President 

Lisa Bermudez 

Vice President Finance & Administration 

Daniel A. Rosenblum 

Vice President 

Director, Corporate & Policy Programs 

Susan J. Onuma 

Secretary 

Honorary Patrons 

H.E. Ichiro Fujisaki 

Ambassador of Japan to the 

United States of America 

H.E. Shinichi Nishimiya 

Ambassador and Consul General 

of Japan in New York 

H.E. Yukio Takasu 

Ambassador, Permanent Representative 

of Japan to the United Nations 

Honorary Directors 

Mary Griggs Burke 

Tatsuro Goto 

Robert S. Ingersoll 

William W. Scranton 

*Member of the Executive Committee **Life Director ***Honorary Director † Deceased September 13, 2009 

As of June 30, 2009 


Committees 

Executive Committee 

James S. McDonald † , Chair 

Gregory A. Boyko 

Henry Cornell 

Carol Gluck 

David W. Heleniak 

Merit E. Janow 

Richard S. Lanier 

Michihisa Shinagawa 

Investment Committee 

Henry Cornell, Chair 


Jonathan B. Kindred 

Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. 

Gary M. Talarico 

Finance Committee 

Gregory A. Boyko, Chair 

Alan S. MacDonald 

Jun Makihara 

James H. Quigley 

James G. Wilders Reed 

Nominating & Corporate 

Governance Committee 

David W. Heleniak, Chair 


Merit E. Janow 

Jun Makihara 

Deryck C. Maughan 

Yoshihisa Suzuki 

Audit Committee 

Satoru Murase, Chair 

Nobuhiko Ikura 


Program Committee 

Merit E. Janow, Chair 

Kazushi Ambe 

Masako Shinn 

Atsuko Toko Fish 

Joshua N. Solomon 

Frederick H. Katayama 

Japan Advisory Committee 

Shoichiro Toyoda, Chair 

Kensuke Hotta 

Kazuo Inamori 

Yotaro Kobayashi 

Minoru Makihara 

Fujio Mitarai 

Yoshihiko Miyauchi 

Yuzaburo Mogi 

Minoru Mori 

Ambassador Moriyuki Motono 

Minoru Murofushi 

Yoshio Nakamura 

Takeo Shiina 

Shinjiro Shimizu 

Seiji Tsutsumi 

Jiro Ushio 

Goro Watanabe 

Ambassador Koji Watanabe 

Film Advisory Committee 

Donald Richie, Chair 

Mary Lea Bandy 

Celeste Bartos 

Robert Gottlieb 

Junji Kitadai 

Akira Koike 

Keiko I. McDonald 

Masayo Okada 

Nagisa Oshima 

Richard Pena 

Daniel Talbot 

Performing Arts Advisory 

Committee 

Margaret Lawrence, Chair 

Philip Bither 

John Gillespie 

David G. Goodman 

Stephen Greco 

Laurence Kominz 

Judy Mitoma 

W. Anthony Sheppard 

John Weidman 

Robert Woodruff 

Honorary Members 

James Brandon 

Karen Brazell 

Donald Keene 

Thomas Rimer 

Ralph Samuelson 

Akihiko Senda 

U.S.-Japan Innovators Network 

Board of Advisors 

Susan Dentzer 

Glen Fukushima 

Glenn Hubbard 

Kakutaro Kitashiro 

Joseph Melillo 

Fujio Mitarai 

Wilbur L. Ross 

Shinjiro Shimizu 

Mitsuko Shimomura 

Hirotaka Takeuchi 

Hiroshi Tsukamoto 

Yoshinori Yamaoka 

Masakazu Yamazaki 


Business Advisory Committee 

Jack D. Cogen 

Aron Cramer 

Michael E. Daniels 

Michael Kobori 

Terrie Lloyd 

Oki Matsumoto 

Alicia Ogawa 

Debra van Opstal 

Thierry Porte 

James G. Reed 

Ann Rutledge 

Hiroaki Saito 

Ken Shibusawa 

Hirotaka Takeuchi 

Alan Webber 

Keith Yamashita 


Cultural Advisory Committee 

David d’Heilly 

Thelma Golden 

Yasuki Hamano 

Yuko Hasegawa 

Minoru Iki 

Taneo Kato 

Douglas McGray 

Dominic Molon 

Taeko Nagai 

Fumio Nanjo 

Shigeaki Saegusa 

Ralph Samuelson 

Emily Sano 

Hiroshi Yanai 


Social Advisory Committee 

Ayako Fujii 

Rosanne Haggerty 

Keiko Kiyama 

Megumu Mizuta 

Zenko Oda 

Kensuke Onishi 

Michael Reich 

Yoshinori Yamaoka 


Yoshito Hori 

Joichi Ito 

Shuhei Kishimoto 

As of June 30, 2009 


Special Events 

Japan Society 

2009 Annual Dinner 

1 

The 2009 Annual Dinner was held on June 15 

at the Grand Hyatt New York. Fujio Mitarai, 

Chairman, Nippon Keidanren and Chairman 

and CEO, Canon Inc., delivered the keynote 

address to over 550 guests. Frederick H. 

Katayama, anchor, Reuters Television, 

served as Master of Ceremonies. Sir Deryck 

Maughan, Member, Kolhberg Kravis Roberts 

& Co., presented the Japan Society Award 

to The Hon. Peter G. Peterson, Founder and 

Chairman, Peter G. Peterson Foundation and 

Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder, The 

Blackstone Group. Jake Shimabukuro, the 

ukulele virtuoso hailing from Hawaii, amazed 

guests with his performance of both original 

and classic pieces. The evening concluded as 

chef and restaurateur Nobu Matsuhisa was 

presented with the Japan Society Award 

by Tim and Nina Zagat, Co-Founders and 

Co-Chairs of the Zagat Survey. 

2 

2 3 

4 4 

5 

6 

7 

1 Left to right: Japan 

Society Chairman James S. 

McDonald, President and 

CEO, Rockefeller & Co., Inc.; 

The Hon. Peter G. Peterson, 

Founder and Chairman, Peter 

G. Peterson Foundation; Fujio 

Mitarai, Chairman, Nippon 

Keidanren and Chairman 

and CEO, Canon Inc.; chef 

Nobu Matsuhisa; and Japan 

Society President Motoatsu 

Sakurai. © Satoru Ishikawa. 

2 Left to right: Chef Nobu 

Matsuhisa and Yoko Matsuhisa; 

Tim and Nina Zagat, 

Co-Founders and Co-Chairs, 

Zagat Survey; and Sir Deryck 

C. Maughan, Member, 

Kolhberg Kravis Roberts & 

Co. © Satoru Ishikawa. 

3 Fujio Mitarai, Chairman, 

Nippon Keidanren and Chairman 

and CEO, Canon Inc., 

delivers the keynote address. 

© Satoru Ishikawa. 

4 The Hon. Peter G. Peterson 

(left), Founder and Chairman, 

Peter G. Peterson Foundation 

receives the 2009 Japan 

Society Award from Sir 

Deryck C. Maughan (right), 

Member, Kolhberg Kravis 

Roberts & Co. © Satoru 

Ishikawa. 

5 Nina and Tim Zagat 

(center and right), Co- 

Founders and Co-Chairs, 

Zagat Survey, present the 

2009 Japan Society Award 

to chef and restaurateur 

Nobu Matsuhisa (left). 


6 Fujio Mitarai (left), 

Chairman, Nippon Keidanren 

and Chairman and CEO, 

Canon Inc. and The Hon. 

Peter G. Peterson (right), 

Founder and Chairman, 

Peter G. Peterson Foundation. 


7 Ukulele artist 

Jake Shimabukuro. 



8 A traditional Japanese 

lion dancer playfully teases 

Mr. Yasunori Yokote, 

President and CEO, Mitsui 

& Co. (U.S.A.), Inc., and 

Mrs. Yokote at the annual 

New Year’s celebration. 

© Yoko Suzuki. 

9 Film directors Michel 

Gondry (left) and Leos 

Carax (right) at the 

New York premiere of 

TOKYO! at Japan Society. 

© George Hirose. 

10 Friends of Japan Society 

Gallery gather at the home 

of collector Dr. John C. 

Weber to view his collection 

of Japanese ceramics. 

© Yoko Suzuki. 

11 Left to right: Akiko 

Kawamata; Yoshiaki Kawamata, 

Senior Managing 

Executive Officer and CEO 

for the Americas, The Bank 

of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, 

Ltd.; Alan Gilbert, Music 

Director Designate, New 

York Philharmonic; and 

Nobuhiko Ikura, President 

and CEO, Nippon Steel 

U.S.A., Inc. at a reception 

honoring Mr. Gilbert. 


12 Participants in the firstever 

Cosplay Party, held in 

conjunction with the Japan 

Society Gallery exhibition 

KRAZY! The Delirious World 

of Anime + Manga + Video 

Games. © George Hirose. 

13 Left to right: Motoatsu 

Sakurai, President, Japan 

Society; Departures director 

Yojiro Takita; Nobuko Sakurai; 

and Departures lead actor 

Masahiro Motoki at a 

reception celebrating the 

New York premiere of the 

Academy Award-winning 

film Departures. © Satoru 

Ishikawa. 

14 Sen So’oku, Next 

Grand Tea Master of the 

Mushakouji Senke School of 

Tea, demonstrates “Modern 

Teaism” at a tea gathering. 


9 10 

8 

11 12 

13 14 


Corporate Program 

In September 2008, the Corporate Program season launch 

coincided with political upheaval in Japan. Yasuo Fukuda, 

who had been brought in fewer than 12 months prior to 

replace Shinzo Abe, met stiff resistance from opposition 

parties who stymied his policy initiatives and appointments. 

In replacing Mr. Fukuda, the hawkish Taro Aso raised speculation 

of further strain in Japan’s relations with its neighbors. 

Two other significant factors exacerbated uncertainty in 

U.S.-Japan relations. One was the pending U.S. presidential 

election. The overarching concern, however, was less political 

than economic. With recessionary fears already on the rise, 

global financial markets were thrown into turmoil in mid- 

September when U.S. authorities decided against rescuing 

investment bank Lehman Brothers. For the second time in 

six months, Wall Street saw another of its vaunted investment 

banks collapse, and yet another, Merrill Lynch, sent 

into the arms of Bank of America. 

Against this backdrop, the Corporate Program examined 

the root causes and impact of the financial crisis through 

a series of panel discussions, including one featuring 

Citi Chief Economist Lewis Alexander and Brad Setser 

from the Council on Foreign Relations on the effects of the 

spike and subsequent plunge in world commodity prices. 

Additionally, we looked at the role of rating agencies in the 

crisis and the importance of due diligence for hedge fund 

investors. In search of an upside, we hosted two panels to 

discuss how swooning share prices in the West presented 

M&A opportunities for Japanese firms in banking, and most 

conspicuously, in the health care sector. Japan’s Ambassador 

to the U.S. and the Bank of Japan governor offered their 

thoughts on ways to remove the burden of toxic assets and 

on lessons the U.S. could take from Japan’s 1990s banking 

crisis. Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman and CEO of The 

Blackstone Group, spoke on the global impact of the current 

crisis, while PIMCO’s Paul McCulley provided thoughts on 

the road beyond the deleveraged global economy. 

Barack Obama’s win in November prompted consideration 

of his economic and foreign policy initiatives and their effect 

on U.S.-Japan relations. Chief economists from JPMorgan, 

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Nomura joined two 

January discussions to explore the effectiveness of Obama’s 

announced fiscal and monetary policies in mending the U.S. 

economy, as well as the impact these initiatives would have 

on Asian markets. Japan’s envoy to the United Nations, 

Ambassador Yukio Takasu, examined the Japan’s evolving 

role in the UN and the degree to which the Obama administration 

would support Japan’s push for an expanded Security 

Council that more closely reflects the global political and 

economic order in the 21st century. 

Finally, we embarked on a multidisciplinary look at innovative 

approaches to traditional business. 7-Bank head Takashi 

Anzai discussed his unorthodox approach to banking solely 

through ATM networks, showing that there can be success 

stories even in tough economic times. Creative Commons 

CEO Joichi Ito moved from propriety-based business models 

to open-source software collaborations as he stressed the 

importance of Japan keeping pace with this small companyoriented 

business environment in order to play a meaningful 

role in the new economy. 

In September 2008, we began offering live and archived 

webcasts of many of our programs. We will continue to 

build on this capability in the coming season in addition to 

offering select web-only content featuring influential business 

people, academics and policy-makers. Next season’s 

topics for public programs and web initiatives include the 

effectiveness of sweeping regulatory reforms in the postcrisis 

financial industry; the outcome of Japan’s coming 

general election; and an assessment of regional power shifts 

marking 50 years since the signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty 

of Mutual Cooperation and Security. 

As global capital markets scrambled to attract new listings 

amidst deteriorating economic conditions and increased 

global competition, we invited the heads of NASDAQ OMX, 

the Tokyo Stock Exchange and NYSE Euronext to share 

their views on reevaluating capital markets regulation. In 

addition, we convened a major conference in Tokyo featuring 

11 panelists from Japan, the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore and 

the UK representing government, industry and academia 

to discuss strategies for making Japan’s capital markets 

more accessible to foreign companies. 


2008–09 Programs 

Conferences, Panel Discussions, 

Seminars & Symposia 

Commodities Conundrum: The U.S. & Japan 

Battle a Byproduct of Emerging Market Growth • 

25 September 

With Lewis Alexander, Chief Economist, Citi; 

Brad Setser, Fellow for Geoeconomics, Council 

on Foreign Relations; and Hiroyuki Tarumi, 

Executive Vice President, Mitsubishi International 

Corporation. Jennifer Ablan, Senior Investment 

Correspondent, Reuters, Ltd., moderating. 

Outlook for the U.S. Economy: Distilling the 

Credit Crisis & Lessons from Japan • 2 October 

With Richard Katz, Editor-in-Chief, The Oriental 

Economist Report; Christopher Mayer, Senior Vice 

Dean and Paul Milstein Professor of Real Estate, 

Finance & Economics Division; Research Director, 

Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, Columbia 

Business School; and Ann Rutledge, Founding 

Principal, R&R Consulting. Vincent Truglia, 

Managing Director of Research, NewOak Capital 

LLC, moderating. 

What’s Wrong with Japan Implications for 

Tokyo’s Political Dysfunction • 21 October 

With Charles Pritchard, President, Korea Economic 

Institute; Yuki Tatsumi, Senior Associate, 

Henry L. Stimson Center; and Yoshihiro Tsurumi, 

Professor of International Business, Zicklin School 

of Business, Baruch College, the City University 

of New York. Daniel Rosenblum, Vice President, 

Japan Society, moderating. 

Digital Social Responsibility: Search for a Sound, 

Responsible Information Society • 29 October • 

Sponsored by Institute for International Socio- 

Economic Studies. 

With Charla Griffy-Brown, Associate Professor 

of Information Systems, Graziadio School of 

Business and Management, Pepperdine University; 

Jun Kurihara, Senior Fellow, Ash Institute for 

Democratic Governance and Innovation, John F. 

Kennedy School of Government, Harvard 

University; and Harriet Pearson, Vice President, 

Regulatory Policy and Chief Privacy Officer, IBM 

Corporation. Devin Stewart, Director, Global 

Policy Innovations, Carnegie Council for Ethics 

in International Affairs, moderating. 

Handyman Needed: Incoming Administration 

Strategies for a Struggling Economy • 

2 1 Ja n ua ry 

With Bruce Kasman, Chief Economist and 

Global Head of Economic Research, J.P. Morgan, 

Inc.; Shiro Katsufuji, Chief Economist, Bank of 

Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.; and Alex Pollock, 

Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute. 

Jim McTague, Washington Editor, Barron’s, 

moderating. 

America Has Voted: Impact of New U.S. 

President on Asian Markets • 29 January • 

Co-organized by Women’s Bond Club; Center on 

Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business 

School; and Nomura Holding America Inc. 

With Alicia Ogawa, Director, Program on Alternative 

Investments, Center on Japanese Economy 

and Business, Columbia Business School; David 

Resler, Managing Director and Chief Economist, 

Nomura Securities International, Inc.; and Jeffrey 

Young, Chief Economist, Platinum Grove Asset 

Management. Leslie Norton, Foreign Editor, Asia, 

Barron’s, moderating. 

Capital Market Competitiveness: Burnishing 

Tokyo’s Image in the Face of Global, Asian 

Challengers • 12 February • Co-organized by 

Harvard Law School’s Program on International 

Financial Systems and The University of Tokyo 

Graduate School of Economics. In-kind support 

provided by Mori Building Co. Ltd. Support 

provided by The American Chamber of Commerce 

in Japan. 

Offsite event in Tokyo, Japan. With Robert 

Feldman, Director of Economic Research Department 

and Managing Director, Morgan Stanley 

Japan Securities Co., Ltd.; Alastair Clark, former 

Executive Director of Financial Stability, Bank of 

England; Hideki Ito, Director for Financial Markets 

Operations, Planning and Coordination Division, 

Financial Services Agency; Takatoshi Ito, Professor 

at Graduate School of Economics, University 

of Tokyo; Anthony Neoh, Former Chairman, 

Securities and Futures Commission Hong Kong; 

Barrister-at-Law, Anthony Neoh, SC; Atsushi 

Saito, President and CEO, Tokyo Stock Exchange 

Group, Inc.; Heizo Takenaka, Professor and 

Director, Global Security Research Institute, Keio 

University; David Shuler, Senior Vice President, 

Business Development (Asia), NYSE Euronext, 

Inc.; Paul Speltz, President, Kissinger Associates, 

Inc.; Kotaro Tamura, Member of the House of 

Councilors; Chairman, House of Councilors Committee 

on Land Transport ; former Parliamentary 

Secretary, Cabinet Office of Economic and Fiscal 

Policy; and Frank Wong, Vice Chairman, DBS 

Group Holdings & DBS Bank, Singapore (retired 

August 2008). Hal Scott, Nomura Professor of 

International Financial Systems, Harvard Law 

School, moderating. 

Hedge Fund Due Diligence in the Global Financial 

Crisis Era • 18 March • Support provided by First 

Advantage Investigative Services. 

With Adam Cohen, Vice President and Senior 

Analyst, Citi Global Wealth Management, 

Alternative Investment Advisor Research and 

Randy Shain, Vice President, First Advantage 

Investigative Services; Co-Founder, BackTrack 

Reports. Mikael A. Johnson, Audit Partner; 

Global Lead Partner, Alternative Investments, 

KPMG, moderating. 

Dining Out: Japan Takes its Appetite for M&A 

Overseas • 14 April 

With Michael Braun, Partner, Morrison & Foerster 

LLP; Richard S. Kelly, Jr., Senior Managing Director, 

The Bridgeford Group, Inc.; and Nobuhiko Masuto, 

Managing Director, GCA Savvian Advisors, LLC. 

Herbert Lash, Global Markets Correspondent, 

Reuters, moderating. 

Handling Major Employment Law Challenges 

Sparked by the Economic Downturn • 21 April • 

Sponsored by Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. 

With Peter Altieri, Member of the Firm, Litigation 

and Labor and Employment Practice, Epstein 

Becker & Green, P.C.; John Kosciusko, Vice 

President, Sales and Marketing, New York Region 

Employee Benefits Division, Sumitomo Life Insurance 

Agency America, Inc.. and William Milani, 

Member of the Firm, Labor and Employment 

Practice, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. Michael 

Levine, Member of the Firm; Head of CSR/ 

Sustainability Practice, Epstein Becker & Green 

P.C., presenting and moderating. 

Tipping the Scales: The Evolution of Shareholder 

Rights in Japan • 6 May 

With Kenneth Altman, President, The Altman 

Group; Sarah Lubman, Director, Brunswick Group 

LLC; and Marc Goldstein, RiskMetrics Group 

Governance Research Department. Hajime Matsuura, 

U.S. Correspondent, NIKKEI, moderating. 

Acquisitions of U.S. Pharmaceutical/Health 

Care Companies: A Health Regulatory Focus • 

21 May 

With Scott Minars, Partner, Merger & Acquisition 

Services, Deloitte & Touche LLP and Lynn Shapiro 

Snyder, Member of the Firm; Co-Chair, Health 

Care Fraud Practice Group; Chair, Third Party 

Payment Practice Group, Epstein Becker & Green 

P.C. Michael Levine, Member of the Firm; Head 

of CSR/Sustainability Practice, Epstein Becker & 

Green P.C., moderating. 

Corporate Lectures 

The Meaning of Life: A Message of Encouragement 

to Face these Difficult Times with 

Positivity & Bravery • 1 October • Co-organized 

by Seiwajuku New York. 

With Kazuo Inamori, founder and Chairman 

Emeritus, Kyocera Corporation; Honorary 

Advisor, KDDI Corporation. 

The Politics of International Solidarity • 

11 November • Co-organized by United 

Nations Forum. 

With Jean-Marc Coicaud, Director, United 

Nations University Office at the UN in New York 

(UNU-ONY). Kazuo Tase, Chief, Human Security 

Unit, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian 

Affairs, United Nations, presiding. 


Lessons Learned: Charting a Way Out of the 

Current Economic Crisis • 17 November 

With His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki, Ambassador 

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to 

the United States of America. Gregory Boyko, 

Chairman, Hartford Life Insurance, K.K.; Director, 

Japan Society, presiding. 

Creative Commons & the Sharing Economy • 

20 November • Support provided by Creative 

Commons and Nixon Peabody LLP. 

With Joichi Ito, Chief Executive Officer, Creative 

Commons; Co-Founder and Director, Digital Garage; 

Founder and CEO, Neoteny Co., Ltd. Laurin Mills, 

D.C. Office Managing Partner; Member of the firm’s 

Intellectual Property Department; and Founder and 

Editor of the firm’s NP 2.0 website, Nixon Peabody 

LLP, presiding. 

Japan’s Bid for Security Council Reform & its Role 

in the United Nations • 23 June 

With His Excellency Yukio Takasu, Ambassador 

Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary, Permanent Mission 

of Japan to the United Nations. Michael Green, 

Senior Adviser and Japan Chair, Center for Strategic 

and International Studies; Associate Professor, 

Georgetown University, presiding. 

Corporate Luncheons 

Citi Japan CEO Offers Insights into Japan’s 

Financial Services Transformation in the Face 

of Volatile Global Markets • 16 October 

With Douglas L. Peterson Representative Director 

and CEO, Citigroup Japan Holdings; Chairman, President 

and CEO, Nikko Cordial Corporation. James S. 

McDonald, President and CEO Rockefeller & Co., 

Inc; Chairman, Japan Society, presiding. 

The Paradox of Deleveraging • 20 March 

With Paul McCulley, Managing Director, PIMCO. 

Sir Deryck Maughan, Partner, Kohlberg Kravis 

Roberts & Co.; Chairman, KKR Japan; Director, 


The Way Out of Economic & Financial Crisis: 

Lessons & Actions • 23 April • Co-organized by 

The Institute of International Bankers. 

With Masaaki Shirakawa, Governor, Bank of Japan. 

William R. Rhodes, Chairman and President, 

Citibank; Senior Vice Chairman, Citi, presiding. 

TSE’s Saito Offers Strategies to Challenge Global 

Competition • 28 May 

With Atsushi Saito, President and CEO; Tokyo 

Stock Exchange Group, Inc. Shigesuke Kashiwagi, 

President and CEO, Nomura Holding America Inc.; 

Director, Japan Society, presiding. 

Japan: From Kamikaze Capitalism to Smartpower 

Dynamism • 29 May 

With Jesper Koll, President and CEO; Tantallon 

Research Japan KK. Alicia Ogawa, Adjunct Associate 

Professor, Columbia University School of International 

Affairs; Senior Advisor, Center on Japanese Economy 

and Business, Columbia Business School, presiding. 

NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer Examines 

the Future of Capital Markets • 9 June 

With Duncan Niederauer, Chief Executive Officer 

and Director, NYSE Euronext. James S. McDonald, 

President and CEO Rockefeller & Co., Inc; Chairman, 


Japan Society wishes to thank the following 

corporations for their generous support of the 

Corporate Program: 

Global Leaders: 

Citigroup Inc. 

Continental Airlines 

Deloitte & Touche, LLP 

Mizuho Securities USA 

Toyota Motor North America, Inc. 

Corporate Partners: 

Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc. 

WL Ross & Co. LLC 

Additional support: The American Chamber of 

Commerce in Japan; Center on Japanese Economy 

and Business, Columbia Business School; Creative 

Commons; Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.; First 

Advantage Investigative Services; Harvard Law 

School’s Program on International Financial Systems; 

Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies; 

The Institute of International Bankers; Mori Building 

Co. Ltd.; Nixon Peabody LLP; Nomura Holding 

America Inc.; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP; 

Seiwajuku New York; United Nations Forum; The 

University of Tokyo Graduate School of Economics; 

Women’s Bond Club. 

Japan Society would also like to thank Yoko Makino 

for her generous support of the Corporate Program. 

Seven Bank: Amidst Turmoil, a Publicly-Traded 

Success Story in Banking • 19 November 

With Takashi Anzai, President, Seven Bank Ltd. 

James Reed, President and CEO, Mizuho Securities 

USA Inc., presiding. 

The Future of Global Capital Markets • 

2 December 

With Magnus Bocker, President, NASDAQ OMX. 

Merit Janow, Professor in the Practice of International 

Economic Law and International Affairs, 

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia 

University; Chairwoman, Board of Directors, The 

NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Director, Japan Society, 

presiding. 

The Global Impact of the Financial Crisis • 

10 March 

With Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman and CEO, 

The Blackstone Group. Jeffrey Shafer, Vice Chairman, 

Global Banking; Senior Asia Pacific Representative 

in New York, Citi, presiding. 


1 

5 

2 

6 

3 

4 

1 Masaaki Shirakawa (right), 

Governor, Bank of Japan, 

shares lunch with Yoshiaki 

Kawamata, Senior Managing 

Executive Officer and CEO for 

the Americas, Bank of Tokyo 

Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.; Director, 

Japan Society, prior to the governor’s 

address on the current 

global economic crisis and 

lessons that can be taken from 

Japan’s recent experience. 


2 Heizo Takenaka (center with 

mic), Professor and Director, 

Global Security Research 

Institute, Keio University, is 

joined by 10 other speakers 

from the U.S., Japan, Singapore, 

Hong Kong and the UK 

to discuss ways to boost the 

competitiveness of Tokyo’s 

capital markets at a Socratic 

dialogue hosted in Tokyo. 

© Academyhills. 

3 Before his luncheon talk on 

the future of capital markets, 

Duncan Niederauer (right), 

Chief Executive Officer and 

Director, NYSE Euronext 

is joined by NYSE Euronext 

Director; Rockefeller & Co., 

Inc. President and CEO; and 

Japan Society Chairman 

James McDonald. © Ken 

Levinson. 

4 Stephen Schwarzman, 

Chairman and Chief Executive 

Officer, The Blackstone Group, 

offers his thoughts on the 

global impact of the financial 

crisis and the signs he looks 

for that will point to a recovery. 


5 Atsushi Saito (lower left), 

President and Chief Executive 

Officer, Tokyo Stock Exchange 

Group, Inc., engages (clockwise 

from Mr. Saito) James 

Reed, President and Chief 

Executive Officer, Mizuho 

Securities USA Inc.; Director, 

Japan Society; David Heleniak, 

Vice Chairman, Morgan 

Stanley; Director, Japan 

Society; and program presider 

Shigesuke Kashiwagi, President 

and CEO, Nomura Holding 

America Inc.; Director, Japan 

Society, before his address on 

TSE’s strategy for challenging 

global competition. © Ken 

Levinson. 

6 His Excellency Yukio Takasu, 

Ambassador Extraordinary & 

Plenipotentiary, Permanent 

Mission of Japan to the United 

Nations, fields questions 

following his remarks about 

United Nations Security 

Council reform measures. 

At his right is Michael Green, 

Senior Adviser and Japan 

Chair, Center for Strategic and 

International Studies; Associate 

Professor, Georgetown 

University. © Ken Levinson. 


7 

10 

8 

9 

11 

7 Presider Deryck Maughan 

(right), Partner, Kohlberg Kravis 

Roberts & Co.; Chairman, KKR 

Japan; Director, Japan Society, 

opens the audience Q&A session 

following remarks by Paul 

MCCulley, Managing Director, 

Pacific Investment Management 

Company (PIMCO), on the 

deleveraged global economy. 


8 (L–R) Lewis Alexander, 

Chief Economist, Citi; Hiroyuki 

Tarumi, Executive Vice President, 

Mitsubishi International 

Corporation Brad Setser, Fellow 

for Geoeconomics, Council on 

Foreign Relations and moderator 

Jennifer Ablan, Senior 

Investment Correspondent, 

Reuters, LLC join in a lively 

debate on the causes and effects 

of rapidly fluctuating commodities 

prices. © Ken Levinson. 

9 (L–R) Michael Braun, Partner, 

Morrison & Foerster LLP; 

Richard S. Kelly, Jr., Senior 

Managing Director, The 

Bridgeford Group, Inc.; 

Nobuhiko Masuto, Managing 

Director, GCA Savvian Advisors, 

LLC; and moderator Herbert 

Lash, Global Markets Correspondent, 

Reuters, discuss the 

phenomenon of increased outin 

M7A activity by Japanese 

firms during the economic 

downturn. © Ken Levinson. 

10 Presider James Reed (left), 

President and CEO, Mizuho 

Securities USA Inc.; Director, 

Japan Society, enjoys lunch with 

Takashi Anzai, President, Seven 

Bank Ltd., before Mr. Anzai’s 

talk on the success of his firm’s 

banking model, which relies 

almost exclusively thousands 

of networked ATMs located in 

convenience stores throughout 

Japan. © Ken Levinson. 

11 Joichi Ito, Chief Executive 

Officer, Creative Commons; 

Co-Founder and Director, Digital 

Garage; Founder and Chief Executive 

Officer, Neoteny Co., Ltd., 

discusses Creative Commons and 

the business model for the sharing 

economy. © Ken Levinson. 


Policy Projects 

The U.S.-Japan Innovators Network (IN), co-organized with 

The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, is 

a “place” where creative and innovative people from the 

U.S. and Japan and cutting-edge ideas come together 

for thoughtful dialogue, new ways to think about tough 

problems and collaboration. Through private retreats, public 

symposia and exchange programs, IN works to connect 

people and ideas, provides avenues for collaboration and 

helps catalyze positive change. IN has also expanded its 

web-related activities, including a blog, Twitter, webcasts, 

and video on YouTube and the Society’s website. 

IN has been active in Japan this year, beginning with a 

public program featuring Rosanne Haggerty, President of 

Common Ground Community, who spoke at a well-attended 

public symposium on social entrepreneurship in September. 

Aspiring and established young social entrepreneurs 

attended this sold-out event, which was co-sponsored by 

Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Communities (ETIC), 

Shinsei Bank and the Institute for Strategic Leadership (ISL). 

In addition to the public symposium, other opportunities 

were arranged so that young social entrepreneurs could 

meet with Rosanne in more intimate settings. 

In February, IN co-organized an exchange program and 

public symposium called Social Design: Design + Community 

+ Social Impact, with the Japan Industrial Design Promotion 

Organization in Tokyo. Max Schorr, co-founder and Community 

Director, GOOD Magazine; Casey Caplowe, co-founder 

and Creative Director, GOOD Magazine, and Valerie Casey, 

Leader of the Digital Design Experience at IDEO and Founder, 

the Designers Accord, traveled to Japan to explore the role 

of design in sustainability. At a panel discussion held as part 

of the program’s public symposium, they were joined by 

Masaaki Ikeda, Creative Director, Tokyo Changemakers and 

Eco Plaza, as well as Kazufumi Nagai, Art Director, Hakuhodo 

Design and Soichi Ueda, Producer, Spaceport. 

In April, members of a team of professionals and social 

activists involved in Learning from Disaster: Miyakejima & New 

Orleans finally made it to Tokyo after the exchange program 

was postponed in September due to Hurricane Gustav. 

Joining participants from the first exchange that brought 

eight Japanese to New Orleans a year earlier, participants 

continued their discussions on the problems they faced, 

the knowledge, skills, and experiences gained, evacuation 

and recovery plans, and shared ideas on how to improve 

response operations. A large and well-attended public symposium 

was held at Meiji University. A smaller group of four 

participated in a special trip to Miyakejima organized by the 

City of Miyake and the mayor, Hiroyasu Hirano, to see first 

hand the devastation of the 2000 volcano eruption. 

In New York, IN organized three events highlighting the 

recent publication of books by IN members. In October, 

“Dan Pink’s Adventures in Manga,” featured Daniel Pink, 

author of The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: the Last Career 

Guide You’ll Ever Need (also available in Japanese) and his 

decision to write the first American business book in manga 

format. April brought Alan Webber, co-founder of Fast 

Company Magazine for “Rules of Thumb—A Global Guide 

to Thriving (Not Just Surviving) in Turbulent Times,” which 

focused on his new book, Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning 

at Business Without Losing Your Self. The book should be 

coming out in Japanese soon. And in May, Jacqueline 

Novogratz, founder and President of Acumen Fund, spoke 

about her new book, The Blue Sweater, at a program called 

“The Blue Sweater with Jacqueline Novogratz.” 

Building on a program that took place in Kyoto in November 

of 2008, IN organized the “Machiya Preservation Project,” 

which consisted of workshops and a forum in New York for 

civic organizations we worked with in Kyoto. These civic 

organizations, led by machiya owner Fusae Kojima, and 

supported by such luminaries as Kengo Kuma, Architect & 

Principal, Kengo Kuma Associates, fear that the loss of the 

machiya, traditional wood row houses, will alter the fabric of 

Kyoto and end a centuries-old cultural heritage. As part of 

this project, Ms. Kojima and her group of pioneering Japanese 

preservationists traveled to New York to learn from the 

American preservation experience in an effort to deepen 

and broaden Kyoto’s historic preservation efforts. 

Looking ahead into the next year, IN will facilitate an exchange 

to the U.S. of young Japanese social entrepreneurs from 

regions outside of Tokyo; continue our exploration of design 

and community; look for meaningful ways to highlight the 

work of the members of IN; and much, much more. 



Retreats & Site Visits 

Machiya Preservation Project Workshops • 

3–5 November • Co-organized with Kyoto City 

Center for Community Collaboration. 

With Ruth Abram, Founder, Lower East Side 

Tenement Museum; Lisa Ackerman, Executive 

Vice President, World Monuments Fund; Michael 

Adlerstein, FAIA, Assistant Secretary General, 

Executive Director, Capital Master Plan, UN; 

Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director, Historic 

Districts Council; Adele Chatfield-Taylor, President, 

the American Academy in Rome; Kazumori 

Kaneshiro, President, Zero Corporation; Wendy 

Nicholas, Director, the National Trust Northeast 

Regional Office; Hiroshi Okubo, Vice Chairman, 

Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation; 

Takahiko Otani, Professor, Department of Architecture, 

Mukogawa Women’s University; President, 

Kyomachiya Revitalization Study Group; Kenzo 

Teramoto, Deputy Director, Kyoto Center for 

Community Collaboration; Frank E. Sanchis, Senior 

Vice President, The Municipal Art Society of New 

York; and Anne H. Van Ingen, Director, Architecture, 

Planning and Design Program and Capital 

Projects, New York State Council on the Arts. 

Exchange Programs 

Tokyo Exchange: Design & Sustainability • 

5–9 February • Co-organized with The Japan 

Foundation Center for Global Partnership 

and Japan Industrial Design Promotion 

Organization (JIDPO). 

Offsite event in Tokyo, Japan. With Max Schorr, 

Co-Founder and Community Director, GOOD 

Magazine; Casey Caplowe, Co-Founder and 

Creative Director, GOOD Magazine; and Valerie 

Casey, Leader of the Digital Design Experience, 

IDEO and the Founder of The Designers Accord. 

New York Exchange: Design & Sustainability • 

9–13 March • Co-organized with The Japan 

Foundation Center for Global Partnership. 

With Shiji Yajima, Director, Program Development, 

Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization 

(JIDPO). 

Learning from Disaster: Miyakejima & 

New Orleans, Part 2 • 15–22 April • 

Co-organized with Institute for Urban 

Governance, Meiji University. 

Offsite event in Tokyo, Japan. With Yasushi 

Aoyama, Professor, Graduate School of Governance 

Studies, Meiji University and former Vice 

Governor of Tokyo; Hiroshi Amemiya, Founder 

and CEO, Corporate Citizenship Japan Limited; 

Edward Blakely, Executive Director, Office of 

Development and Recovery Administration, City 

of New Orleans; Yukio Endo, Chairperson, Japan 

Trade Union Confederation, Tokyo Local (Rengo 

Tokyo); Shawn Escoffery, Deputy Director, New 

Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative; 

Rosanne Haggerty, Founder and CEO, Common 

Ground Community; Sukeyasu Hirano, Mayor, 

Miyake Village; Juzo Inose, Managing Director, 

Tokyo Consumer’s Co-Operative Union; Martha 

J. Kegel, Executive Director, UNITY; Vien The 

Nguyen, Pastor, Mary Queen of Viet Mam 

Church; M. von Nkosi, Loaned Executive, Office 

of Recovery & Development Administration, City 

of New Orleans; Richard McCarthy, Founder and 

Executive Director, marketumbella.org; Kathy 

Riedlinger, CEO, Lusher Charter School; Kouichiro 

Sakaue, Director, Miyakejima Volunteer Center; 

Kazuyuki Sasaki, Research Fellow, Research Center 

for Crisis and Contingency Management, Meiji 

University; and Yasuo Uehara, Director General, 

Tokyo Volunteer Network for Disaster Relief. 

Public Programs 

Lessons from a Social Entrepreneur—Using 

Business Methods to Solve Homelessness & 

Revitalize Communities • 12 September • 

Co-organized with Shinsei Bank, Institute for 

Strategic Leadership (ISL) and Entrepreneurial 

Training for Innovative Communities (ETIC). 

Offsite event in Tokyo, Japan. With Rosanne 

Haggerty, Founder and President of Common 

Ground Community. 

Dan Pink’s Adventures in Manga • 6 October • 

With Daniel Pink, Japan Society Media Fellow 

and author of The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: 

The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need. 

A City Under Siege: Saving Kyoto’s Machiya 

from Destruction • 5 November • Co-organized 

with Kyoto City Center for Community Collaboration. 

With Ruth Abram, Founder, Lower Eastside 

Tenement Museum; Fusae Kojima, machiya 

owner, President and Executive Director, 

Kyomachiya Revitalization Study Group; Kengo 

Kuma, Architect and Principal, Kengo Kuma 

Associates; Limbon, Professor, Ritsumeikan 

University; and Hiroshi Mimura, President, Kyoto 

City Center for Community Collaboration. 

Social Design Design + Community + Social 

Impact. The Latest from GOOD Magazine & 

IDEO • 8 February • Co-organized with The 

Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership 

and the Japan Industrial Design Promotion 

Organization (JIDPO). 

Offsite event in Tokyo, Japan. With Max Schorr, 

Co-Founder and Community Director, GOOD 

Magazine; Casey Caplowe, Co-Founder and 

Creative Director, GOOD Magazine; Valerie 

Casey, Leader, Digital Design Experience, IDEO 

and Founder of The Designers Accord; Masaaki 

Ikeda, Creative Director, Tokyo Changemaker 

and Eco Plaza; Soichi Ueda, Producer, Spaceport; 

and Kazufumi Nagai, Art Director, HAKUHODO 

DESIGN. 


New Orleans • 18 April • Co-organized with 

Institute for Urban Governance, Meiji University. 

Offsite event in Tokyo, Japan. With Yasushi 

Aoyama, Professor, Graduate School of Governance 

Studies, Meiji University and former Vice Governor 

of Tokyo; Edward Blakely, Executive Director, 

Office of Development and Recovery Administration, 

City of New Orleans; Shawn Escoffery, 

Deputy Director, New Orleans Neighborhood 

Development Collaborative; Rosanne Haggerty, 

Founder and CEO, Common Ground Community; 

Martha J. Kegel, Executive Director, UNITY; Vien 

The Nguyen, Pastor, Mary Queen of Viet Mam 

Church; M. von Nkosi, Loaned Executive, Office 

of Recovery & Development Administration, City 

of New Orleans; Richard McCarthy, Founder and 

Executive Director, marketumbella.org; and Kathy 

Riedlinger, CEO, Lusher Charter School. 

Rules of Thumb—A Global Guide to Thriving 

(Not Just Surviving) in Turbulent Times • 

22 April • With Alan Webber, Co-Founder of 

Fast Company Magazine and author of Rules 

of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business without 

Losing Yourself. Polly LaBarre, author of Mavericks 

at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business 

Win, moderating. 

The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between 

Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World • 

12 May 

With Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO, the Acumen 

Fund and author of The Blue Sweater: Bridging the 

Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected 

World. Justin Rockefeller, Co-Founder, GenerationEngage; 

Director, Japan Society, moderating. 

The U.S.-Japan Innovators Network was 

co-organized and generously supported by The 

Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. 

Additional support was provided by Jack and 

Susy Wadsworth, R&R Consulting, Inc., and 

Justin A. Rockefeller. 

International transportation was supported by 

Continental Airlines and All Nippon Airways, Ltd. 

The Network was also made possible in part by 

Japan Society’s endowment for policy projects. 


New Orleans was generously funded by The 

Ford Foundation. 

Additional support was provided by Japan Trade 

Union Confederation, Tokyo Local (Rengo Tokyo), 

Tokyo Consumers’ Co-operative Union, and 

Meiji University, Research Center for Crisis 

and Contingency Management. 


2 

3 

1 

1 Alan Webber, co-founder 

of Fast Company Magazine 

and author of Rules of 

Thumb: 52 Truths for 

Winning at Business without 

Losing Yourself, at the 

booksigning following his 

lecture. © Satoru Ishikawa. 

2 Jacqueline Novogratz, 

CEO of the Acumen Fund 

and author of The Blue 

Sweater: Bridging the Gap 

Between Rich and Poor in 

an Interconnected World, 

reacts to a question from 

the audience. To her 

right is moderator Justin 

Rockefeller, Co-Founder, 

GenerationEngage and 

Japan Society Board 

member. © George Hirose. 

3 Casey Caplowe, 

Co-founder and Creative 

Director, GOOD Magazine 

and Max Schorr, Co-founder 

and Community Director, 

GOOD Magazine, participate 

in a panel discussion 

about the designer’s 

mission today at Social 

Design, Design + Community 

+ Social Impact: The Latest 

from GOOD Magazine & 

IDEO, an IN event in Tokyo. 

4 At the IN conference 

A City Under Siege: Saving 

Kyoto’s Machiya from 

Destruction, Fusae Kojima, 

machiya owner, President 

and Executive Director of 

Kyomachiya Revitalization 

Study Group, responds to a 

question from the audience 

as Hiroshi Mimura (center), 

President, Kyoto City Center 

for Community Collaboration 

and Kengo Kuma (right), 

Architect and Principal, 

Kengo Kuma Associates 

look on. © Satoru Ishikawa. 

5 Participants in Learning 

from Disaster: Miyakejima & 

New Orleans meet with staff 

and members of Kaze no 

Ue (House of Wind), the 

Miyake Village mayor and 

other municipal officials 

during a trip to Miyakejima. 

© Kazuyuki Sasaki. 

4 

5 


6 Valerie Casey, Leader 

of the Digital Design 

Experience, IDEO and the 

Founder of The Designers 

Accord, speaks about 

design thinking at Social 

Design Design + Community 

+ Social Impact: The Latest 

from GOOD Magazine 

& IDEO. 

7 Yasushi Aoyama, Professor, 

Graduate School of 

Governance Studies, Meiji 

University and former Vice 

Governor of Tokyo, leads a 

group from New Orleans 

on a site visit in Sumida 

Ward, Tokyo. 

6 

8 Daniel Pink speaks about 

his new book The Adventures 

of Johnny Bunko: The Last 

Career Guide You’ll Ever 

Need. © George Hirose. 

7 

8 


Fellowships & Exchanges 

The U.S.-Japan Media Fellows Program is in its 11th year of 

sending established American journalists to Japan. Working 

closely with the Foreign Press Center and Japan Society, our 

Fellows play a key role in developing their own individually 

tailored six-week programs. The fellowship enables journalists 

to research a topic of their choice in an effort to help 

them better understand the U.S.-Japan relationship. During 

the 2008–09 fiscal year, two Fellows completed their 

fellowships and an alternate, Liza Mundy, Staff Writer, 

Washington Post Magazine, was selected. 

Barry Lynn, freelance journalist and Senior Fellow, New 

America Foundation, went to Japan from July 1–August 12, 

where he researched Japan’s industrial security policy in 

light of the changing global market economy climate, with 

a focus on the automobile industry and food quality and 

safety. His time in Japan was used to research material for 

a chapter on Japan in his book, The Illusion of Choice. He met 

with many government officials, corporate executives, think 

tank scholars and journalists, and visited sites including 

an auto part factory in Niigata and a quarantine station 

in Yokohama. 

The past year saw the participation of several Fellows in 

other Japan Society programs. Most recently, Dana Goodyear 

participated in a public panel discussion on May 5, 

2009 entitled “Lovesick Japan: Stories of Intimacy from 

Courts to Keitai (Cell Phone) Novels,” which enabled her 

to speak about the research she conducted on cell phone 

novels during her fellowship. Two former Japan Society 

Fellows, Alan Webber, co-founder of Fast Company Magazine, 

and Daniel Pink, author of The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: 

the Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need, spoke about their new 

books as part of programs organized through the Society’s 

U.S.-Japan Innovators Network, in April 2009 and October 

2008 respectively. Rosanne Haggerty, founder and President, 

Common Ground Community, participated in the second 

exchange program, Learning from Disaster: Miyakejima & 

New Orleans, which took place in Tokyo in April 2009. On 

February 4, Mark Halperin, Editor-at-Large, Time Magazine, 

participated in a panel discussion titled “The U.S. & East 

Asia Under the Obama Administration.” 

While in Japan from September 10–October 22, Dana 

Goodyear, a Staff Writer for The New Yorker magazine, 

interviewed writers and publishers of cell phone novels, 

as well as academics and others who follow the genre. 

Her research led to an article on cell phone novels called 

I Novels, published in the December 22 & 29, 2008 issue 

of The New Yorker. While in Japan, she visited the city of 

Obama, which was celebrating its connection to the yet to 

be American president and the company that produced the 

eyeglasses that vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin wore 

during her campaign. This resulted in a New Yorker “Talk of 

the Town” piece in the October 20, 2008 issue. More on 

her time in Japan is also available on her blog. 



2 

1 

3 

Fellowship Residency: 2007–08 United States- 

Japan Foundation Media Fellows Program 

1 July–12 August 

Barry Lynn, freelance journalist and Senior Fellow, 

New America Foundation. 

Fellowship Residency: 2007–08 United States- 

Japan Foundation Media Fellows Program 

10 September–22 October 

Dana Goodyear, Staff Writer, The New Yorker. 

The United States-Japan Media Fellows Program 

was generously supported by the United States- 

Japan Foundation. Additional assistance was 

provided by the Foreign Press Center Japan. 

Transportation assistance was provided by 

Japan Airlines. 

1 Dana Goodyear visited 

Obama City in Fukui Prefecture 

and wrote a piece for The 

New Yorker’s “Talk of the 

Town.” Photo courtesy of 

Dana Goodyear. 

2 2007–08 U.S.-Japan 

Media Fellow Dana Goodyear 

over looking Tokyo. © Dana 

Goodyear. 

3 Barry Lynn, 2007–08 U.S.- 

Japan Media Fellow, with his 

wife and two sons at Kinkakuji 

in Kyoto. Photo courtesy of 

Barry Lynn. 


Japan Society Gallery 

Undaunted by a 40 percent budget reduction, last season 

Japan Society Gallery presented not two but three shows, 

starting with the first in a series of summer exhibits looking 

at unexpected subjects and non-traditional media. Tapestry 

in Architecture: Creating Human Spaces (July 10–August 14, 

2008), co-organized with the National Association of 

Japan-American Societies, featured textile artist Mitsuko 

Asakura’s intricately woven works designed to complement 

architectural interiors. 

New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters (October 4, 

2008–January 11, 2009), was the first-ever show focusing 

on the use of bamboo as a sculptural medium, with 93 works 

by 23 innovators ranging in age from 32 to 78. “It’s hard not 

to feel a deep reverence for the sheer genius and dedication 

behind the work,” wrote Christine Kaminsky in American 

Craft, while the Associated Press’s Ann Levin praised the 

artists’ “...impressive...technical accomplishment, invention, 

and genius.” The exhibition drew nearly 9,000 visitors and 

enjoyed significant financial support from American collectors 

who play a vital role in sustaining Japanese artists working 

in bamboo. Despite a very difficult economic environment, 

membership of the Friends of the Gallery—a key group of 

benefactors—actually increased from 2008 to 2009. 

With nearly 17,000 visitors, our spring 2009 exhibition 

KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games 

(March 13–June 14, 2009) was the second most successful 

in Japan Society’s history, contributing to a 60 percent 

year-on-year increase in Gallery attendance. Thanks to its 

unusual selection and the dynamic installation by hot Tokyo 

architects Atelier Bow-Wow, KRAZY!, originally organized 

by the Vancouver Art Gallery, attracted an almost universally 

positive critical reaction which continued until the exhibition’s 

closing fortnight. “Aficionados may have seen it all before, 

but for newbs, the exhibit is likely to dazzle,” enthused The 

Village Voice, and Evan Minto of about.com typified web 

comment when he wrote of “...an astounding variety of works 

[that] provided a nice balance between the fun, irreverent 

style of pop culture and the more literate, serious tone of art 

criticism.” Boosted by a sell-out Cosplay Contest enjoyed 

by over 400 participants, KRAZY! broadened the appeal of 

the Gallery and brought an entirely new demographic into 

Japan Society for the very first time. 

In addition to the exhibitions, the Gallery co-organized, with 

the Japan Foundation, a symposium entitled Japanese Art in 

America: Building the Next Generation. Held at Japan Society 

on March 16, the one-day event gathered leading curators, 

academics, dealers and collectors from all over the U.S., along 

with senior officials from Japan, for an in-depth discussion 

on ways of working together to ensure that Japanese art 

makes a greater contribution to American culture. 

Our program for 2009–10 has already kicked off with 

Buriki: Japanese Tin Toys from the Golden Age of the American 

Automobile (July 9–August 16, 2009), an exhibit of 1950s 

miniature vehicles from the Yoku Tanaka collection, hailed 

as “terrific retro fun” (Time Out New York Kids), “an utterly 

fascinating exhibition” (artnet.com), and “a delightful exhibition” 

(Wall Street Journal). With the aim of providing a mix 

of shows that both appeals to our traditional support base 

and underlines connections between earlier Japanese art 

and the present day, we continue in the fall with Serizawa: 

Master of Japanese Textile Design, celebrating a great 

20th-century artist-craftsman, and next year we present 

Graphic Heroes, Mythic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa 

Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection. The show was 

last season’s surprise hit at London’s Royal Academy, with 

local critics pointing out the resonances between the 19thcentury 

artist’s frenziedly energetic designs and today’s 

manga. We feel confident that it will do just as well in 

New York next spring. 

Installation 

view, KRAZY! 

The Manga 

room with, 

from right to 

left: Takashi 

Okazaki, 

Afro Samurai 

(1994–2008); 

Junko Mizuno, 

Pure Trance 

(1996–98). 

Center: the 

Manga Pod, 

designed by 

exhibition 

architects Atelier 

Bow-Wow. 

© Richard P. 

Goodbody. 



Tapestry in Architecture: 

Creating Human Spaces 

Organized in celebration of the 30th anniversary 

of the National Association of Japan-America 

Societies (NAJAS). 

This exhibition was made possible by Canon Inc. This 

exhibition was also supported by The Tokyo Club. 

Additional funding was provided by Kajima Corporation, 

Takenaka Corporation, and Shimizu Corporation. 

Media sponsorship was provided by WNYC and 

Louise Blouin Media. Transportation assistance at 

Japan Society was provided by Japan Airlines. 

Exhibitions at Japan Society are also made possible 

in part by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment 

Fund and the Friends of the Gallery. Installations 

at Japan Society Gallery are supported by 

a generous gift from Henry Cornell. Japan Society 

also wishes to thank The W.L.S. Spencer Foundation 

for its catalogue support. 

Opening Night Preview & Reception 

9 July 

Exhibition 


An exhibition featuring the work of textile artist 

Mitsuko Asakura, showcasing 12 large-scale 

hanging pieces as well as photographs of installed 

tapestries and a video essay depicting the creation 

process. Several pieces were originally commissioned 

for specific locations in Japan, including 

Hie Shrine in Tokyo, Pfizer Global Research and 

Development in Nagoya, and Resona Bank in 

Osaka. Because these pieces are integral components 

of the buildings where they now hang, 

Asakura painstakingly created exact copies for 

the exhibition, which premiered at Japan Society 

before traveling to Harvard University’s Reischauer 

Institute of Japanese Studies, Cambridge, Mass. 

(September 15–November 14, 2008), the Morikami 

Museum and Gardens, Delray Beach, Fla. 

(December 16, 2008–February 22, 2009), and the 

American Institute of Architects Headquarters 

Gallery, Washington, D.C. (March 12–June 26, 2009). 

The daughter of an artist and dyer, Mitsuko 

Asakura was born and raised in Kyoto, the former 

capital of Japan. Growing up helping her father in 

his dyeing workshop and surrounded by the traditional 

craft artists of Kyoto, Asakura developed 

a passion for weaving. Deeply immersed in the 

traditional textile culture of Japan, she created 

her own original style of textile art by mixing 

traditional fiber dyeing with experimental shapes. 

Asakura’s tapestries are notable for their sensitive 

use of color and unusual forms. All of her 

dyes are handmade, often featuring a combination 

of natural ingredients sourced in the nature 

surrounding Kyoto, along with cutting-edge 

chemical substances. The interplay of the natural 

and man-made materials in the dye creates vibrant 

and subtle colors that distinguish her work. 

New Bamboo: Contemporary 

Japanese Masters 

This exhibition was supported by the Mary 

Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke 

Foundation, Diane and Arthur Abbey, the Arete 

Foundation, the Cotsen Foundation for Academic 

Research, Edward and Anne Studzinski, Chris A. 

Wachenheim, The Japan Foundation, TAI Gallery, 

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., and 

the Leadership Committee for New Bamboo: 

Contemporary Japanese Masters. 

Additional support was provided by the New York 

City Department of Cultural Affairs and the 

New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency. 

Media sponsorship was provided by WNYC and 

Louise Blouin Media. Transportation assistance 

was provided by Japan Airlines. 








Opening Night Preview 

1 October 

Members’ Opening 

3 October 

Exhibition 

4 October–11 January 

This was the first ever exhibition, inside or outside 

Japan, to focus exclusively on non-functional 

bamboo works of art, featuring 23 innovators 

who fully exploit the tension between traditional 

skills and new forms of expression. Ranging from 

ethereal, computer-designed filigrees, through 

dramatic wall pieces to angry-looking, dirtencrusted 

tangles and anthropomorphic, sexually 

charged sculptures, the 93 works on display 

demonstrated awesome technique, meticulous 

attention to detail and extraordinary creativity. 

In contrast to other recent bamboo exhibitions in 

the United States, New Bamboo was devoted to 

living artists and sculptural work, and celebrated 

Japanese bamboo’s emergence as an international 

phenomenon. Offering a comprehensive 

overview of a new wave of artists, it showed 

how they have reached beyond the established 

boundaries of their chosen medium, abandoning 

traditional functionality in favor of a purely 

sculptural approach while creating masterpieces 

that are frequently even more technically accomplished 

than works of the previous generation. 

In their conscious creation of a novel sense of 

“Japan-ness,” often informed by an awareness of 

international trends in sculpture and installation 

art, the works exhibited offered not only aesthetic 

delight but also a new expression of the Japanese 

experience of hybridized modernity. 

Featured Artists 

Fujitsuka Shōsei (b. 1949) Ōiso, Kanagawa Prefecture 

Honda Shōryū (b. 1951) Beppu, Ōita Prefecture 

Honma Hideaki (b. 1959) Sado Island, Niigata 

Prefecture 

Honma Kazuaki (b. 1930) Niigata, Niigata Prefecture 

Ikeda Iwao (b. 1940) Musashino, Tokyo Metropolis 

Kawana Tetsunori (b. 1945) Tokyo Metropolis and 

Union City, New Jersey 

Kawashima Shigeo (b. 1958) Sagamigahara, 

Kanagawa Prefecture 

Matsumoto Hafū (b. 1952) Tateyama, Chiba 

Prefecture 

Mimura Chikuhō (b. 1973) Beppu, Ōita Prefecture 

Morigami Jin (b. 1955) Beppu, Ōita Prefecture 

Nagakura Ken’ichi (b. 1952) Shizuoka, 

Shizuoka Prefecture 

Nakatomi Hajime (b. 1974) Beppu, Ōita Prefecture 

Ōki Toshie (b. 1976) Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture 

Shōno Tokuzō (b. 1942) Ōita, Ōita Prefecture 

Stephen Talasnik (b. 1954) New York City, New York 

Tanabe Mitsuko (b. 1944) Sakai, Osaka Prefecture 

Tanabe Shōchiku III (b. 1973) Sakai, Osaka Prefecture 

Torii Ippō (b. 1930) Nishio, Aichi Prefecture 

Uematsu Chikuyū (b. 1947) Atsugi, Kanagawa 

Prefecture 

Ueno Masao (b. 1949) Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture 

Yako Hōdō (b. 1940) Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture 

Yamaguchi Ryūun (b. 1940) Ōita, Ōita Prefecture 

Yonezawa Jirō (b. 1956) Saiki, Ōita Prefecture 

Exhibition-Related Events 

Gagaku Revolution: New Sounds of 

Ancient Bamboo 

10 October 

See p. 23 for complete program details. 

Konnichiwa Friends Family Tours 

New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters 

1 1 O c to b e r , 1 5 N ov e m b e r , 1 3 D e c e m b e r & 

10 January 


Art Cart: New Bamboo: Contemporary 


19 October 



Robert Coffland on Collecting Bamboo Art 

in America 

28 October 


Contemporary Art, Ancient Materials: 

A Conversation with Tanabe Shōchiku 

6 November 


Japanese Bamboo in the Art Classroom: 

A Hands-On Workshop 

9 November 


Responding to New Bamboo: Japanese 

Contemporary Masters 

14 November 


Lecture programs for New Bamboo: Contemporary 

Japanese Masters were assisted by The 

Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies. 

KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime 

+ Manga + Video Games 

This exhibition was organized by the Vancouver 

Art Gallery. 

Transportation assistance was provided by Japan 

Airlines. Media sponsorship was provided by WNYC 

and Louise Blouin Media. English-language manga 

for the Manga Pod were supplied by VIZ Media. 








Opening Night Preview 

11 March 

Members’ Opening 

12 March 

Exhibition 

13 March–14 June 

Curator: Bruce Grenville, Senior Curator, 

Vancouver Art Gallery 

Co-Curators: Kiyoshi Kusumi and Toshiya Ueno 

(Anime and Manga); Will Wright (Video Games) 

Exhibition Design: Atelier Bow-Wow 

KRAZY! celebrated Japan’s extraordinary 

contributions to contemporary popular culture— 

manga, anime and video games steeped in arresting 

imagery which is understood and appreciated 

with unmatched sophistication and passion. 

Originally conceived by Vancouver Art Gallery as 

an international overview, KRAZY! was presented 

at Japan Society in a specially edited version 

focused on Japan’s unique role as a purveyor of 

new forms of creativity that, for many younger 

Americans, define their idea of what “Japan” is. 

Deliberately omitting world-famous founding 

fathers and superstars such as Osamu Tezuka 

and Hayao Miyazaki, the curators of KRAZY!’s 

Japanese component concentrated on developments 

from the late 1980s onwards, opening the 

door to a younger generation of artists who intentionally 

work across a wide variety of fields— 

manga, anime, illustration, music—and offering 

an insight into the shared purpose and interdependence 

of these diverse forms. To tell this story 

they gathered together original sketches, concept 

drawings, production drawings, digital images, 

models, sculptures, books, films and video games 

that revealed an extraordinary history of production, 

one that is poised to redefine the scope of 

visual culture in the 21st century. 

Featured Artists & Works 

Manga 

Hisashi Eguchi, Stop!! Hibari-kun! 1981–83 

Mamoru Nagano, The Five Star Stories, 1986– 

Taiyo Matsumoto, Tekkon Kinkrito (Black and 

White), 1993–94 

Junko Mizuno, Pure Trance, 1996–98 

Takashi Okazaki, Afro Samurai, 1994–2008 

Moyoco Anno, Sakuran, 2001–03 

Video Games 

Toru Iwatani, Pac-Man, 1980 

Shigeru Miyamoto, Super Mario World, 1990 

Shigeru Miyamoto, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind 

Waker, 2002 

Anime 

Ichiro Itano, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, 

1982–83 

Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira, 1988 

Mamoru Oshii, Patlabor 2: The Movie, 1993 

Masaaki Yuasa, Mind Game, 2004 

Makoto Shinkai, The Place Promised in Our Early 

Days, 2004 

Satoshi Kon, Paprika, 2006 

Soundtracks 

Yoko Kanno, Cowboy Bebop, 1998; Ghost in the 

Shell: Stand Alone Complex, 2002; and Wolf’s 

Rain, 2003 

Anime Film Screenings 

The anime films featured in KRAZY! were shown 

full-length in the Japan Society auditorium on 

most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout 

the run of the exhibition. The films shown were: 

Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira (1988); Masaaki Yuasa, 

Mind Game (2004); Satoshi Kon, Paprika (2006); 

Mamoru Oshii, Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993); Makoto 

Shinkai, The Place Promised in Our Early Days 

(2004); and Ichiro Itano, Super Dimension Fortress 

Macross: Episodes 9 and 27 (1982–83). 

Exhibition-Related Events 

Talking KRAZY! Japan’s Evolving Pop Culture 

12 March 



KRAZY! 

14 March, 11 April 11, 9 May & 13 June 


KRAZY! Cosplay Party 

28 March 

In conjunction with KRAZY!, Japan Society held 

its first-ever cosplay event for local anime and 

manga fans with classic film screenings, competitions 

and genre-related prizes. This sell-out event 

was attended by more than 400 fans and the 

main competition was won by Scout Isensee in 

the role of Ciel Phantomhive from Kuroshitsuji. 

Art Cart: KRAZY! The Delirious World of 

Anime + Manga + Video Games 

29 March 


Get KRAZY! 

15 April 


Responding to KRAZY! The Delirious World of 


19 may 



1 

6 

2 

3 

7 

4 

5 

1 Opening preview and 

reception for KRAZY! 

The “Anime Garden,” 

showing excerpts from 

animated films, from 

right to left: Katsuhiro 

Otomo, Akira (1988); 

Makoto Shinkai, The 

Place Promised in Our 

Early Days (2004); Ichiro 

Itano, Super Dimension 

Fortress Macross (1982– 

84); Satoshi Kon, Paprika 

(2006). © Alan Klein. 

2 Opening reception 

for preview and installation 

view, KRAZY! 

The Video Game room, 

with Toru Iwatani, Pac- 

Man (1980); Shigeru 

Miyamoto, Super Mario 

World (1990); Pac-Man 

chairs designed by 

exhibition architects 

Atelier Bow-Wow. 

© Alan Klein. 

3 Yuichi Yokoyama, 

New Engineering: Dress 

up 1 [pages 54 and 55, 

final drawing], 2004. 

Ink on paper. Collection 

of the artist. Published 

by East Press, Tokyo 

and Picture Box, Inc., 

Brooklyn © Yuichi 

Yokoyama. 

4 Installation view, 

KRAZY! The Manga 

room with, from right 

to left: Moyoco Anno, 

Sakuran (2001–03); 

Takashi Okazaki, Afro 

Samurai (1994–2008); 

the Manga Pod, 

designed by exhibition 

architects Atelier Bow- 

Wow. © Alan Klein. 


KRAZY! Inside the 

Manga Pod, designed 

by exhibition architects 




New Bamboo. Works 

by Honda Shōryū 

(foreground platform); 

Ōki Toshie (right 

background); Nagakura 

Ken’ichi (left background). 

© Richard P. 

Goodbody. 


New Bamboo. Works 

by Yako Hōdō (right 

and center foreground); 

Torii Ippō 

(left foreground); 

Honma Hideaki (far 

room, center and left); 

Honma Kazuaki (back 

wall). © Richard P. 

Goodbody. 


8 Yamaguchi Ryūun, 

White Wave (2006), 

madake bamboo and 

rattan. Elayne and 

Walter Wentz Collection. 

© Susan Einstein, 

Los Angeles. 

9 Uematsu Chikuyū, 

Wind Pattern (2002), 

kurochiku bamboo, 

wood, wire, lacquer 

and clay powder. Clark 

Center for Japanese 

Art and Culture. 

© Susan Einstein, 

Los Angeles. 


KRAZY! The Manga 

room with, from right 

to left foreground: 

Taiyo Matsumoto, 

Tekkon Kinkreet (Black 

& White) (1993–94); 

Mamoru Nagano, The 

Five Star Stories (1986); 

Hisashi Eguchi, Stop!! 

Hibari-kun! (1981–83). 

Background left: 

Junko Mizuno, Pure 

Trance (1996–98); 

background center: the 

Manga Pod, designed 

by exhibition architects 




KRAZY! The “Anime 

Garden,” showing excerpts 

from animated 

films, from right to left: 

Makoto Shinkai, The 

Place Promised in Our 

Early Days (2004); 

Ichiro Itano, Super 

Dimension Fortress 

Macross (1982–84); 

Satoshi Kon, Paprika 

(2006). © Alan Klein. 

12 Mitsuko Asakura, 

Continuum and 

Difference II (detail) 

(1998), silk, linen, 

cotton, and gold leaf. 

From the exhibition 

Tapestry in Architecture. 

Photo courtesy of 

the artist. 

8 

11 

9 

2 

10 12 


Performing Arts 

Japan Society’s Performing Arts Program hailed innovation 

and experimentation in the arts with the year-long season 

theme Beyond Boundaries: Genre-Bending Mavericks. Whether 

melding new technologies with age-old performance 

techniques, marrying the classical with the ultra-modern, 

or weaving text into dance and the fabric of space itself, 

there is much to discover beyond boundaries. This year 

marked a celebration of the Japanese artists whose works 

have reached beyond conventional categorizations to blur 

the boundaries of genre and define parameters on their own 

terms, offering unparalleled surprises as well as true artistry. 

Performances included the U.S. debut of ARICA Performance 

Company’s poignant piece on labor, Kiosk; Gagaku Revolution: 

New Sounds of Ancient Bamboo, featuring world premiere 

performances of Japan Society-commissioned compositions 

from trailblazing American composers—Ken Ueno, Carlos 

Sanchez-Gutierrez and Gene Coleman—written for and 

performed by traditional Japanese bamboo instrumentalists; 

true, the high-technology dance performance from Takayuki 

Fujimoto and Takao Kawaguchi of dumbtype with dancer/ 

choreographer Tsuyoshi Shirai; and as the fourth installment 

of the Tzadik Music Label Series curated by John Zorn, Tribute 

to Teiji Ito, honoring one of the fathers of New York’s downtown 

experimental music scene, featuring Guy Klucevsek 

and Steve Gorn. 

Following the 12th Annual Contemporary Dance Showcase, 

which featured a world premiere from butoh great Ko 

Murobushi for his company Ko & Edge Co., a solo from Yoko 

Higashino with improv-composer Toshio Kajiwara, and the 

award-winning duet Air Conditioner from chelfitsch Theater 

Company as well as Jang Eun Jung Dance Company from 

Korea and Taiwan’s Wind Dance Theatre, Japan Society 

organized and produced two ambitious seven-city North 

American tours. The first was the U.S. debut tour for the 

internationally acclaimed chelfitsch Theater Company and 

its award-winning production of Five Days in March, and the 

second, Awaji Puppet Theater Company—the company’s 

first appearance in the U.S. in 12 years. The season culminated 

with Hiroaki Umeda, a solo dance performer who designs 

his own lights, sound and video for his performances. In conjunction 

with these performances, the Society also pre sented 

an Evening with Basil Twist, the award-winning puppet artist, 

who discussed the influence of Japanese puppetry on his work; 

and Gagaku Workshops for Composers, hands-on opportunities 

for music professionals to work with three unique bamboo 

instruments used in traditional Japanese music. 

For the fall 2009 season Japan Society will take a European 

twist with Japan Transatlantic: Tokio-Berlin. This season will 

focus on Japan-themed performances that were developed 

outside of Japan by artists based in Berlin. From post-butoh 

dance, a multi-sensory theater piece tracking the story of 

Sony, to a world premiere dance-visual art work inspired by 

kawaii culture, the resulting works are truly an international 

hybrid, with unique reflection on their Japanese roots. 

1 

2 

1 Tomoko 

Ando in ARICA 

Performance 

Company’s 

one-woman 

show, Kiosk. © 

Tom DiMauro. 

2 Awaji Puppet 

Theater Company 

in the classical 

dance piece 

Ebisu-Mai (Dance 

of the Fisherman 

God). © Jack 

Vartoogian/ 

FrontRowPhotos. 



Performances 

u.s. debut 

ARICA Performance Company 

Kiosk 

18–20 September 

These performances were supported by the Agency 

for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. 

Known for its Beckettian absurdity and stark 

aesthetic, ARICA Performance Company presented 

its highly conceptual and visually arresting 

one-woman show, following a day in the life of a 

woman working in a humble train station kiosk. 

world premiere commissions 

Gagaku Revolution: New Sounds of 

Ancient Bamboo 

1 0 O c to b e r 

New compositions by Ken Ueno, Carlos Sanchez- 

Gutierrez, and Gene Coleman were commissioned 

by Japan Society and supported by the Jebediah 

Foundation: New Music Commissions. This 

program was funded in part through Meet The 

Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections program. 

The otherworldly sounds of ancient Japanese 

instruments, each made of bamboo and used in 

medieval Japanese gagaku (the oldest form of 

ensemble orchestra music, developed in the 

8th century) were played by Ko Ishikawa (sho), 

Hitomi Nakamura (hichiriki) and Takeshi Sasamoto 

(ryuteki), in an evening featuring works from the 

classical gagaku repertory as well as contemporary 

compositions by Yoshiko Kanda, Mamoru Fujieda 

and the Society’s world premiere commissions 

from three American composers: Ken Ueno, 

Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and Gene Coleman. 

true 

Takayuki Fujimoto (dumb type) µ Takao 

Kawaguchi (dumb type) µ Tsuyoshi Shirai 

1 3 –1 5 N ov e m b e r 

These performances were supported by the 

Metropolitan Government of Tokyo, Toyota Motor 

Corporation, and the Asahi Beer Arts Foundation. 

This spectacular collision of dance and technology 

was created by an extraordinary collaboration 

between three remarkable artists: lighting designer 

Takayuki Fujimoto; performer Takao Kawaguchi 

from the internationally acclaimed multimedia 

performance company dumb type; and Tsuyoshi 

Shirai, choreographer/dancer/video artist and 

winner at the 2006 Toyota Choreography Awards. 

Tzadik Music Label Series IV: Tribute to Teiji Ito 

Featuring Guy Klucevsek & Steve Gorn 

12 December 

This program was presented in association 

with Tzadik. 

The late Japanese American composer Teiji Ito 

(1935–82) was known as the founding composer 

of the experimental new music scene and for his 

scores for the avant-garde films by his former 

wife, Maya Deren. The fourth in the Tzadik Music 

Label series curated by John Zorn, this was the 

first ever large-scale tribute to the music of Ito, in 

an evening honoring his music for theater, film and 

3 

dance, studied, arranged and performed by Guy 

Klucevsek and Steve Gorn and their ensembles. 

12th Annual Contemporary Dance Showcase 

Phase 2: Japan + East Asia 

9 & 1 0 Ja n ua ry 

These performances were supported by the 

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic 

of Korea; Korea Arts Management Service; Korean 

Cultural Service, NY; Council for Cultural Affairs, 

ROC Taiwan; and the Taipei Cultural Center of 

TECO in New York. 

This annual favorite displayed the most cuttingedge 

dance from Japan, Taiwan and Korea. 

Highlights included a world premiere from butoh 

great Ko Murobushi for his company Ko & Edge 

Co.; chelfitsch Theater Company’s dance-theater 

duet Air Conditioner; and the violent and striking 

solo by Yoko Higashino with electric guitar improviser 

Toshio Kajiwara. The evening also featured 

Jang Eun Jung Dance Company from Korea with 

their subtle yet provocative Several Questions 

and Taiwan’s Wind Dance Theatre, led by former 

principal dancer and rehearsal director of Cloud 

Gate Dance Theatre, Wu I-Fang. 

u.s. debut 

chelfitsch theater company 

Five Days in March 

Written & directed by Toshiki Okada 

5 –7 F e b r ua ry 

The seven-city North American tour of chelfitsch 

Theater Company was organized and produced by 

Japan Society and was supported by the Agency for 

Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan; The Japan 

Foundation through the Performing Arts JAPAN 

Program; and The Saison Foundation for the Japan 

Society’s Japanese Theater NOW initiative. 

Characterized by seemingly insubstantial narrative 

accompanied by exaggerated fidgeting gestures-turned-choreography, 

the ground-breaking 

and modern works of chelfitsch Theater Company 

have made them the most talked-about company 

in Japan, recognized as the voice of generation Y. 

The North American tour gave touring partners 

nationwide to present their audiences a window 

into youth culture in Japan. This Kishida Kunio 

Drama Award-winning play by Toshiki Okada 

takes place in the days before the U.S. began its 

war against Iraq in March 2003, when two Japanese 

urban hipsters meet at a post-rock show and 

get swept up into a five-night stand. 

3 Steve Gorn (second from 

right) and the Watermill 

Ensemble performing at 

Tzadik Label Music Series IV: 

Tribute to Teiji Ito. © Tom 

DiMauro. 

4 

4 Tsuyoshi Shirai in true, 

created in collaboration with 

Takayuki Fujimoto and Takao 

Kawaguchi. © Tom DiMauro. 


Awaji Puppet Theater Company 

With live chanting & shamisen music 

accompaniment 

5 –7 M a r c h 

The seven-city North American tour of Awaji 

Puppet Theater Company was organized and 

produced by Japan Society, New York, in partnership 

with the City of Los Angeles Department of 

Cultural Affairs, and was supported by the Agency 

for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan; The 

Japan Foundation through the Performing Arts 

JAPAN program; The Jim Henson Foundation; and 

Awaji Ningyo Shibai Support Group. 

For the first time in 12 years, Awaji Puppet 

Theater Company, designated an Intangible Folk 

Asset by the Japanese government, returned to 

New York with a stunning all-traditional program 

including Ebisu-Mai, Hidaka-gawa Iriaizakura, 

based on the famous folktale of a lovelorn woman 

and her transformation into a serpent, and an 

episode from the traditional drama Tsubosaka 

Reigen-ki about the double suicide of a blind 

masseuse and his wife. All 15 performances in 

seven venues of the tour were sold out, reaching 

over 3,000 theatergoers nationwide. 

Hiroaki Umeda: Solo Dance, Light, 

Sound & Video 

14–16 May 

In a program consisting of a New York premiere 

and a U.S. premiere, Umeda’s extraordinary 

butoh/street dance-inspired choreography 

appeared within an environment of dramatic 

lighting, flashing cyber-imagery, electronic 

beats and crackling digital soundscapes that 

he designed himself. 

Workshops, Lectures & Related Events 

Gagaku Workshop for Composers 

8 O c to b e r 

Presented in association with the Columbia 

University Gagaku Initiative and the Institute 

for Medieval Japanese Studies. 

Gagaku Salon Concert 

8 O c to b e r 

Presented in conjunction with the Japan Society 

Gallery exhibition New Bamboo: Contemporary 

Masters. 

An Evening with Conductor Alan Gilbert 

27 October 

Presented in conjunction with the Metropolitan 

Opera’s new production, Dr. Atomic. 


frank l. ellsworth performing arts 

lecture series 

Inside the Mind of Basil Twist 

3 March 

Presented as a related event of Awaji Puppet 

Theater Company. 

Major support for Japan Society 2008–09 

Performing Arts Programs was provided by the 

Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund; 

The Starr Foundation; the New York City Department 

of Cultural Affairs; and the Endowment for 

the Performing Arts, established with leadership 

gifts from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 

The Globus Family, Kyocera Corporation, The Starr 

Foundation, and Toyota Motor Corporation. 

Additional support was provided by The Globus 

Family, Dr. John K. Gillespie, The Fan Fox and Leslie 

R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., The Peter Jay Sharp 

Foundation and the New York State Council on the 

Arts, a State agency. 

Transportation assistance was provided by 

All Nippon Airways, Ltd. 

Plasma display was provided by Pioneer 

Electronics (USA) Inc. 

5 

5 Solo choreographer/ 

dancer Yoko Higashino 

in E/G: Ego/Geometria, 

at the Contemporary 

Dance Showcase: Japan 

+ East Asia. © Tom 

DiMauro. 

6 

6 chelfitsch Theater 

Company in the awardwinning 

production 

Five Days in March, 

written and directed 

by Toshiki Okada. 

© Tom DiMauro. 


Film Program 

Throughout 2008–09 the Film Program screened a wide 

range of films from Japan, from long-time favorites through 

independent film milestones to current blockbusters and 

art-house hits. More than a dozen films were presented 

with live subtitle projections, in an ongoing effort to present 

rare yet important films and to use the best prints available. 

Commemorating 40 years of Tora-san, the world’s longest 

running film series, director Yoji Yamada hand-selected 

eight of the best episodes for our Monthly Classics series 

Best of Tora-San. The launch screening of Best of Tora-San 

in October was followed by a special live Q&A with Yoji 

Yamada in Tokyo at the studio of Keio University’s Research 

Institute for Digital Media and Content, presented at Japan 

Society via high-speed digital network. 

In February, the Globus Film Series introduced the Art Theatre 

Guild, Japan’s independent filmmaking phenomenon, by 

highlighting 12 art house films from the 1960s and early 

’70s. Titled Shinjuku Ecstasy: Independent Films from the Art 

Theatre Guild of Japan, the series was curated by eminent 

Japanese film scholar Roland Domenig, based in Vienna and 

film historian Go Hirasawa, based in Tokyo. 

For the third consecutive summer, JAPAN CUTS: Festival of 

New Japanese Film brought a sizable slice of Japan’s contemporary 

film scene to New York City. JAPAN CUTS featured 

27 screenings of 18 feature films, one panel discussion and 

10 guest filmmakers. Nearly 4,000 people visited Japan 

Society to attend JAPAN CUTS over the course of 12 days. 

The Film Program also presented special events with internationally 

acclaimed directors, including Michel Gondry and 

Leos Carax in the NY premiere of the omnibus film Tokyo! 

and Takashi Miike, who gave a lecture on his filmmaking 

career. In celebration of the NY premieres at Tribeca Film 

Festival, the Society hosted a reception for director Yojiro 

Takita (Academy Award-winning Departures), director 

Hirokazu Kore-eda (Still Walking), and actor Masahiro 

Motoki (Departures), generously underwritten by The 

Globus Family. 

Double Suicide, part of 

the Globus Film Series, 

Shinjuku Ecstasy: Independent 

Films from the Art 

Theatre Guild of Japan. 

© 1969 Hyogensha/ATG. 



Film Series 

monthly classics 

Best of Tora-san 

17 October–22 May 

This series was supported by the New York State 

Council on the Arts, a State agency. 

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first 

Tora-san film, Tora-san writer/director Yoji Yamada 

hand-picked the top eight films for this long-lasting, 

popular series chronicling the life of an unruly 

salesman traveling through Japan. 

Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp (Episode 1, 1969) 

Tora-san’s Love Call (Episode 8, 1971) 

Tora-san’s Dear Old Home (Episode 9, 1972) 

Tora-san’s Dream-Come-True (Episode 10, 1972) 

Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again 

(Episode 15, 1975) 

Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san (Episode 29, 1982) 

Tora-san Goes Religious (Episode 32, 1983) 

Tora-san, My Uncle (Episode 42, 1989) 

globus film series 

Shinjuku Ecstasy: Independent Films 

from the Art Theatre Guild of Japan 

18 February–1 March 

This series was supported by The Globus Family. 

Additional support was provided by the New York 

State Council on the Arts, a State agency. 

Founded in 1961, the Art Theater Guild (ATG) 

played a decisive role in the development of 

art-house films in Japan as a film distributor and 

production company. This 12-film series curated 

by Roland Domenig and Go Hirasawa focused on 

the first decade of ATG and the Shinjuku Bunka, 

ATG’s flagship theater. 

Throw Away Your Books, Let’s Go into the Street 

(Shuji Terayama, 1971) 

Funeral Parade of Roses (Toshio Matsumoto, 1969) 

Death by Hanging (Nagisa Oshima, 1968) 

Silence Has No Wings (Kazuo Kuroki, 1966) 

Eros plus Massacre (Kiju Yoshida, 1970) 

The Inferno of First Love (Susumu Hani, 1968) 

Double Suicide (Masahiro Shinoda, 1969) 

This Transient Life (Akio Jissoji, 1970) 

A Man Vanishes (Shohei Imamura, 1967) 

Crazy Love (Michio Okabe, 1968) 

Pitfall (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1962) 

Ecstasy of the Angels (Koji Wakamatsu, 1972) 

JAPAN CUTS: 

Festival of New Japanese Film 

30 June–12 July 

This series was funded by grants from The Japan 

Foundation and the New York State Council on 

the Arts, a State agency. Additional support was 

provided by Sapporo USA, Inc. and UNIQLO, USA, 

Inc. Media sponsorship was provided by WNYC. 

Media support was provided by The Village Voice. 

Transportation assistance was provided by Japan 

Airlines. In-kind support was courtesy of Sapporo 

USA, Inc., Sakagura and Pacific International 

Liquor, Inc. 

For the third consecutive summer, the only 

large-scale annual Japanese film festival in North 

America brought 18 feature film premieres from 

Japan’s contemporary film scene to New York 

City, presenting New Yorkers with a first look 

at Japan’s blockbusters and cinematic landmarks 

from cutting-edge independents to highly 

innovative animations. Starred (*) films were 

co-presented with the New York Asian Film 

Festival from July 1–5. 

20th Century Boys: Chapter One* (Yukihiko 

Tsutsumi, 2008) NY Premiere 

20th Century Boys: Chapter Two—The Last Hope* 

(Yukihiko Tsutsumi, 2008) NY Premiere 

Achilles and the Tortoise (Takeshi Kitano, 2008) 

NY Premiere 

Ain’t No Tomorrows (Yuki Tanada, 2008) 

North American Premiere 

All Around Us* (Ryosuke Hashiguchi, 2008) 

NY Premiere 

Be Sure to Share* (Sion Sono, 2009) 

World Premiere 

Buy a Suit (Jun Ichikawa, 2008) U.S. Premiere 

Confessions of a Dog (Gen Takahashi, 2008) 

International Premiere 

Crime or Punishment! (Keralino Sandorovich, 

2008) International Premiere 

Cyborg She (Kwak Jae Yong, 2008) NY Premiere 

Fish Story* (Yoshihiro Nakamura, 2009) North 

American Premiere 

Halfway (Eriko Kitagawa, 2009) International 

Premiere 

Love Exposure* (Sion Sono, 2008) NY Premiere 

The Magic Hour* (Koki Mitani, 2008) 

NY Premiere 

Non-ko (Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, 2008) NY Premiere 

Pride* (Shusuke Kaneko, 2009) North American 

Premiere 

UrumaDelvi Collected Shorts (UrumaDelvi) 

Vacation* (Hajime Kadoi, 2008) NY Premiere 

Special Screenings & Events 

Sneak Preview 

Cherry Blossoms 

13 January 

Co-presented with the Goethe-Institut New York 

and Strand Releasing. 

Lecture 

From Gore to Westerns: An Incisive Afternoon 

with Director Takashi Miike 

7 February 

Presented in association with Subway Cinema. 

Hotel accommodations were provided by The 

Kitano New York. 

Sneak Preview 

TOKYO! 

2 March 

Co-presented with Liberation Entertainment. 

Sneak Preview 

Tokyo Sonata 

10 March 

Co-presented with Regent Releasing. 

Reception celebrating the NY premieres of 

Departures and Still Walking 

29 April 

Co-presented with The Globus Family in association 

with Regent Releasing/Here Media and IFC Films. 

Japan Society 2008–09 Film Programs were 

generously supported by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s 

Digest Endowment Fund. Additional support 

was provided by The Globus Family, Yoshiko and 

Tim Schilt, David S. Howe, Dr. Tatsuji Namba, 

Joshua S. Levine and Nozomi Terao. 

Panel Discussion 

How to Make a Film in Japan & Beyond 

9 July 


1 Tora-san, Our Lovable 

Tramp, part of Monthly 

Classics: Best of Tora-san. 

© Shochiku Co., Ltd. 

2 Crime or Punishment!, 

part of JAPAN CUTS: 

Festival of New Japanese 

Film. © 2008 “Crime or 

Punishment!” Production 

Committee. 

3 Guests at the Exposure 

Party following the screening 

of Love Exposure, part 

of JAPAN CUTS: Festival 

of New Japanese Film. 

© David Hou. 

4 Love Exposure, part of 

JAPAN CUTS: Festival 

of New Japanese Film. 

© 2008 “Love Exposure” 

Film Partners. 

5 Director Kazuyoshi 

Kumakiri (left) and 

producer Keiko Kusakabe 

(right) at the Q&A after 

the screening of Non-ko, 

part of JAPAN CUTS: 

Festival of New Japanese 

Film. © Mike Nogami. 

1 

2 

4 

3 

5 


Lecture Programs 

From the latest trends in Japanese puzzlemaking to an 

analysis of the Obama administration’s impact on East 

Asia, our 2008–09 season presented lectures and panel 

discussions on the most vital issues and trends in Japanese 

culture and society. We continue to offer podcasts and 

webcasts of select programs, providing access to an international 

audience. Particularly popular were events where 

we brought influential Japanese and Americans together 

for an exchange of ideas, including a discussion between 

Pulitzer Prize-winner Steve Reich and Japanese composer 

Nobukazu Takemura, who spoke about the intersections 

between their music, illustrating the truly global nature 

of 21st-century arts. Within the field of classical music, 

Alan Gilbert, Music Director Designate of the New York 

Philharmonic and half-Japanese himself, discussed his life, 

music and role conducting Doctor Atomic, the opera about 

the creation of the atomic bomb. 

Moving from the high arts to mass culture, Maki Kaji, the 

godfather of Sudoku, and Will Shortz, crossword puzzle 

editor for The New York Times, offered an entertaining and 

informative discussion of the trends and themes driving 

the popularity of puzzlemaking around the world today. 

Addressing the key role that Japanese arts and ideas play 

on the global stage, the Society hosted some of the most 

significant artists in contemporary Japan—director Takashi 

Miike spoke about his films to a sold-out audience and 

visual artist Tadanori Yokoo, whose creations include some 

of the most iconic art of recent years, talked about his art 

as well as his interactions with some of the most influential 

artists of the late 20th century. Kazuko Shiraishi, who has 

been described as the Allen Ginsberg of Japan, captivated 

her audience with a dynamic poetry reading in collaboration 

with jazz trumpeter Itaru Oki. 

Continuing the Society’s tradition of dynamic programming 

related to architecture, internationally renowned architects 

César Pelli and Paul Tange came together to consider what 

is causing the transition from the modernist mantra of 

“form follows function” to the fanciful forms of architecture 

today. Our longstanding Authors on Asia series presented 

audiences with the latest scholarship about Japan, from 

Ian Buruma’s discussion of the life of Shirley Yamaguchi 

to Reiko Kinoshita’s exploration of the globalization of the 

Kumon Method of teaching. A series of lectures related 

to each Japan Society Gallery exhibition addressed key 

intellectual themes and explored issues raised by the art 

beyond the context of the exhibitions themselves. Among 

the highlights was a discussion between Tanabe Shochiku III 

and Stephen Talasnik on using ancient materials to create 

contemporary art, followed by a live demonstration of creating 

bamboo art by Tanabe Shochiku III. 

Lecture Programs also hosted events that addressed important 

changes in the world of Japanese policy and society. 

Leading journalists Mark Halperin, John Bussey and Howard 

French analyzed the likely impact of the Obama administration 

on East Asia. University of Michigan Law Professor 

Mark West and New Yorker Staff Writer and Japan Society 

Media Fellow Dana Goodyear considered the intersection 

of love, law and technology in Japan in their discussion of 

“Lovesick Japan: Stories of Intimacy from Courts to Keitai 

(Cell Phone) Novels.” 

Our upcoming season will continue to present a balance of 

lecture programs on both Japanese culture and Japanese 

social policy. Highlights include a series on Green Japan, an 

analysis of the major nations’ positions on climate change, 

a discussion forum for leading artists and thinkers, and 

a look at the next generation of green automobiles. We’ll 

also feature programs on topics from Japanese food to a 

demonstration of Japanese swordsmanship in what is sure 

to be an innovative and exciting year. 

So’oku Sen, 

Mushakoji 

Senke’s next 

grand tea 

master, demonstrates 

the 

tea ceremony 

to moderator 

Ellis Avery 

(left) at a 

program titled 

“Sen So’oku: 

Tea Life.” © 

George Hirose. 



Lecture Series 

Authors on Asia 

The China Lover: The Life of Shirley Yamaguchi/ 

Ri Koran 

16 October 

With Ian Buruma, Henry R. Luce Professor of 

Democracy, Human Rights and Journalism, 

Bard College. Tom Vick, Film Programmer, Freer 

and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution, 

moderating. 

My Floating Mother, City: An Evening 

with Kazuko Shiraishi 

30 January 

With Karuko Shiraishi, poet and Itaru Oki, jazz 

trumpeter. Forrest Gander, Professor of English 

and Comparative Literature, Brown University, 

moderating. 

New Yorker/Nihonjin: Contemporary 

Cross-Cultural Dialogue Series 

Steve Reich & Nobukazu Takemura 

19 March 

With Steve Reich, composer and Nobukazu 

Takemura, musician. John Schaefer, host and 

producer, WNYC’s New Sounds, moderating. 

Architects Forum 

Form Follows Fancy in New Architecture 

23 April 

With César Pelli, Senior Principal, Pelli Clark Pelli 

Architects and Paul Noritaka Tange, President, 

Tange Associates. Geeta Mehta, Associate 

Professor of Architecture, Temple University, 

Japan Campus, Visiting Professor, Columbia 

University, moderating. 

General Lectures 

Revolutionize the Maestro: New Ways 

of Craftsmanship 

11 September 

Co-sponsored by the Kyoto Institute of Technology. 

With Makiko Tada, kumihimo artist; Hiroyuki 

Hamada, Professor of Advanced Fibro-Science, 

Kyoto Institute of Technology. Joe Earle, Vice 

President and Director Japan Society Gallery, 

moderating. 

An Evening with Tadanori Yokoo 

12 September 

Supported by Friedman Benda Gallery. 

With Tadanori Yokoo, artist and designer. 

Eric C. Shiner, Milton Fine Curator, Andy Warhol 

Museum, moderating. 

Japan’s About-Face 

24 September 

With Micah Fink, founder, Common Good Productions 

and Richard J. Samuels, Ford International 

Professor of Political Science and Director, Center 

for International Studies, MIT. 

Puzzling the World: Sudoku & Crosswords 

23 October 

With Will Shortz, Crossword Puzzle Editor, The 

New York Times; Maki Kaji, godfather of Sudoku 

and President, Nikoli Company. Liane Hansen, 

Host, Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR, moderating. 

An Evening with Conductor Alan Gilbert 

27 October 

With Alan Gilbert, Music Director designate, the 

New York Philharmonic and Eric Owens, opera 

singer. W. Anthony Sheppard, Professor of Music, 

Williams College, moderating. 

Robert Coffland on Collecting Bamboo Art 

in America 

28 October 

With Robert Coffland, Japanese bamboo art 

dealer and Joe Earle, Vice President and Director, 

Japan Society Gallery. 

Contemporary Art, Ancient Materials: 

A Conversation with Tanabe Shochiku III 

6 November 

With Tanabe Shochiku III, artist and Stephen 

Talasnik, artist. Joe Earle, Vice President and 

Director, Japan Society Gallery, moderating. 

The U.S. & East Asia Under the 

Obama Administration 

4 February 

With Mark Halperin, Editor-at-Large and Senior 

Policy Analyst, Time Magazine; John Bussey, 

Washington Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal; 

and Howard French, Associate Professor of 

Journalism, Columbia University. Aaron L. Friedberg, 

Professor of Politics, Princeton University, 

moderating. 

From Gore to Westerns: An Incisive Afternoon 

with Director Takashi Miike 

February 7 

With Takashi Miike, film director. Marc Walkow, 

member, Subway Cinema and Co-Director, 

New York Asian Film Festival, moderating. 

Sen So’oku: Tea Life 

10 February 

With Sen So’oku, 14th grand tea master, 

Mushakoji Senke School of Tea. Ellis Avery, 

author of The Teahouse Fire, moderating. 

Learning for Life: The Kumon Way 

26 February 

Co-sponsored by the International House of Japan. 

With Reiko Kinoshita, author. Robert Fish, 

Director, Education and Lecture Programs, 

Japan Society, moderating. 

Talking KRAZY! Japan’s Evolving Pop Culture 

12 March 

With Bruce Grenville, Senior Curator, Vancouver 

Art Gallery; Toshiya Ueno, Professor of Sociology, 

Wako University; and Roland Kelts, Lecturer, 

University of Tokyo. Joe Earle, Vice President and 

Director, Japan Society Gallery, moderating. 

Japanese Art in America: Building the 

Next Generation 

16 March 

Co-sponsored by The Japan Foundation. 

With Hideki Hayashida, Director, the National 

Art Center, Tokyo and former Commissioner for 

Cultural Affairs, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan; 

Joe Earle, Vice President and Director, Japan 

Society Gallery; Yukio Lippit, Harris K. Weston 

Associate Professor of the Humanities, Harvard 

University; and Willard Clark, Founder, Clark 

Center for Japanese Art and Culture. Richard J. 

Wood, President, Japan Society, moderating. 

KRAZY! Chiptune Music 

4 May 

With Marcin Ramocki, filmmaker and Jeremiah 

Johnson, chiptune musician. Ed Halter, art critic 

and curator, moderating. 

Lovesick Japan: Stories of Intimacy from 

Courts to Keitai (Cell Phone) Novels 

5 May 

With Dana Goodyear, Staff Writer, The New Yorker 

and Japan Society Media Fellow, and Mark West, 

Nippon Life Professor of Japanese Law, University 

of Michigan. Kenji Yoshino, The Chief Justice Earl 

Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, New York 

University, moderating. 

Historical and Natural Tourism: 

Rediscovering Lost Japan 

11 May 

With Alex Kerr, author. Robert Fish, Director, 

Education and Lecture Programs, Japan Society, 

moderating. 

Annual Sake Tasting: Without Koji, 

There is No Sake 

19 May 

Co-sponsored by the Sake Export Association. 

With John Gauntner, sake expert and a founding 

member of the Sake Export Association. 

Arts and Culture Lecture Programs were made 

possible by funding from the Lila Wallace-Readers’s 

Digest Endowment Fund. 

Additional support was provided by Chris A. 

Wachenheim, the Sandy Heck Lecture Fund, 

and Ms. Hiroko Onoyama. 


1 

4 

2 

3 

5 

1 Architects César Pelli and 

Paul Tange discuss the current 

state of “Form Follows Function” 

and what its future holds. © 

Satoru Ishikawa. 

2 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner 

Steve Reich and Nobukazu 

Takemura discuss emerging 

trends in contemporary classical 

music as part of a panel with 

John Schaefer. © George Hirose. 

3 Sudoku godfather Maki Kaji 

(left), New York Times puzzle 

editor Will Shortz (middle) and 

Liane Hansen, Host, Weekend 

Edition Sunday, NPR (right) 

talk about the popularity of 

puzzles throughout the world. 

© Ryohei Yamamoto. 

4 New York Philharmonic 

music director designate Alan 

Gilbert talks with opera singer 

Eric Owens about Gilbert’s 

Met Opera debut of Doctor 

Atomic. © George Hirose. 

5 Director Takashi Miike 

answers questions from 

the audience about what 

inspires his film making. 



Education Programs 

Education Programs bring Japan to American classrooms 

and children. During 2008–09, teachers and students 

enhanced their knowledge about Japan through a variety of 

programs, including a three-week study tour to Japan, a series 

of professional development workshops, weekend programs 

for children, and the rapid growth of our interactive website 

for educators, About Japan: A Teacher’s Resource. 

The year began with the 2008 Educators Study Tour to Japan, 

as 10 New York area educators enhanced their ability to 

teach about Japan through a behind-the-scenes journey to 

Japan. Highlights included site visits to multiple schools, a 

homestay in Obu City, Aichi-Prefecture, a meeting with 

Sasaki Masahiro in Hiroshima, as well as visits to numerous 

cultural and historic sites. Upon returning to the United 

States, each educator created a teaching unit, many of which 

are being shared with a wider audience on About Japan. 

As a direct outcome of the Study Tour, Japan Society formed 

a School Partner Alliance with The New York City Museum 

School and The Manhattan East School for Arts and 

Academics. In the upcoming year, we are excited to work 

with Manhattan East faculty as they create new lessons 

about Japan in the sixth grade curriculum. 2009–10 looks to 

be a very Japan-centered year at The NYC Museum School, 

as they initiate an electronic exchange program with the 

Keio Girls Senior High School in Tokyo, 

About Japan: A Teachers Resource (aboutjapan.japansociety. 

org) represents Japan Society’s effort to reach schools 

nationwide with resources ranging from lesson plans about 

utilizing popular culture to teach about postwar Japan to 

videos in which leading experts explain the impact of the 

global economic crisis on Japan. Over 175,000 people 

visited the site this past year. 

Our professional development workshops help improve 

teaching about Japan in K–12 schools as well as creating 

new teaching materials. Thirty-hour workshops included 

Using Popular Culture to Teach about Japan, which attracted 

participants from as far-away as Philadelphia. A series of 

shorter workshops included a practicum on using bamboo 

art in the classroom by leading Japanese bamboo artist 

Tanabe Shochiku III. 2009–10 courses will include From 

Terrorism to the Death Penalty: Using Japan to teach about 

Hot Button Issues, along with presentations by leading policy 

makers such as Satoru Shinomiya, an architect of Japan’s 

newly implemented jury system. 

In cooperation with The Gohan Society and The Astor 

Center, NYC high school students worked with leading chefs 

in the New York area to learn about Japan and its cuisine in 

our two-week summer immersion program, Washoku 101, 

led by Noriyuki Kobayashi, which concluded with a celebratory 

banquet. Numerous one-day programs were offered 

throughout the school year, including a hands-on gagaku 

workshop with the renowned company Reigaku-sha, 

presented in cooperation with Midori & Friends. 

Working in consort with all of Japan Society’s programs, 

Education Programs play an important role in helping the 

many exciting activities at the Society reach a younger and 

broader audience. The Corporate Program, Digital Media 

and Education Programs all worked together to produce 

high quality, annotated excerpts of videos of Corporate 

programs on About Japan and to bring leading thinkers 

about policy and economics to American students. We 

look forward to a significant expansion of this program 

in 2009–10. 

2008–09 featured a rich array of Gallery-related educational 

programming, highlighted by Tanabe Shochiku III, who led 

a workshop for students in the Responding to New Bamboo: 

Contemporary Masters program. KRAZY! The Delirious World 

of Anime + Manga + Video Games featured extensive programming 

for young audiences, including Get KRAZY! for 

teens, a guided discussion of the exhibition followed by an 

animation workshop held at Sony Wonder Technology Lab. 

Throughout the year, Education Programs ran public 

programs for children and families that allowed children to 

learn about and experience Japanese culture. Family program 

highlights included an interactive theater performance 

celebrating Children’s Day, led by Theatre Arts Japan-Kids-, 

and two story-telling events, co-hosted by Kinokuniya 

Bookstore in New York, as well as Art Cart programs, in 

which small groups of children received an intimate, handson 

introduction to the Japanese arts. The 2009–10 season 

looks to be equally exciting on all fronts. 



Programs For Educators 

Educators’ Study Tour 

2008 Educators’ Study Tour to Japan 

for Middle and High School Educators & 

School Administrators 

29 June–19 July 

With Robert Fish, Director, Education & Lectures 

Programs, Japan Society and Kazuko Minamoto, 

Deputy Director, Education & Family Programs, 

Japan Society. 

30-Hour In-House Courses for Educators 

From Anime to Pokémon: Using Pop Culture 

to Teach About Japan 

18–22 August 

In cooperation with the New York City Department 

of Education. 

With Antonia Levi, Portland State University; 

E. Taylor Atkins, Northern Illinois University; and 

Aaron Gerow, Yale University. 

Karate to Tea: A Hands-On Approach 

to Teaching Japan 

17–21 February 

In cooperation with the New York City Department 

of Education. 

With Robert Fish, Japan Society; Tara McGowan; 

H. Paul Varley, University of Hawaii, Emeritus; 

Yoshiro Terazono, Urasenke Chanoyu Center; 

George Solt, New York University; Noriyuki 

Kobayashi, MEGU Midtown; Kazuko Minamoto, 

Japan Society; Gay Merrill Gross; William Kelly, 

Yale University; and Joseph Suozzi, University of 

Bridgeport. 

Early Japanese History: From Ethnogenesis 

through Medieval Times 

15 & 22 March, 5 & 26 April, 31 May 

With Michael Como, Columbia University; 

H. Paul Varley, University of Hawaii, Emeritus; 

Masako Inkyo, calligrapher; Thomas Hare, 

Princeton University; and Nicole Fabricand- 

Person, Lafayette College. 

One-Day Programs for Educators 

From Romance to Robots: Using Japanese 

Short Stories in the Classroom 

20 & 27 October 

With Christopher Hill, Yale University. 

Japanese Bamboo in the Art Classroom: 

A Hands-On Workshop 

9 November 

With Tanabe Shochiku III, bamboo artist and 

David Morss, Dean of Students, Columbia 

Grammar and Preparatory School. 

Programs For Students 

Summer Immersion Workshop 

for High School Students 

Japanese Cuisine 101: Washoku 

4–8 & 11–16 August 

Co-sponsored with The Gohan Society and in 

cooperation with The Astor Center, New York City. 

With Satori Kawano, Founder and President, The 

Gohan Society; Noriyuki Kobayashi, Chef, MEGU 

Midtown; Tadashi Ono, Executive Chef, MATSURI; 

Reverend Nobuyo Otagaki, International Shinto 

Foundation; Hatsuko Otsuka and Miki Takahashi, 

dessert chefs; Yukari Pratt, Chef and Administrative 

Coordinator, Uoriki Fresh; Stefen Ramirez, 

Tea Dealers; Pablo Sandoval, Chief Soba Chef, 

SOBAYA; Taeko Takigami, Executive Director, The 

Gohan Society; Yoshihiro Terazono, Urasenke 

Chanoyu Center; and Makoto Yamauchi, Director, 

Agriculture and Fisheries, JETRO. 

One-Day Workshops for Students 

Gagaku Musical Instrument Workshop 

for Invited Music Students 

8 October 

Offered in collaboration with Midori and Friends. 

With Reigaku-sha. 

Tea Demonstration for Students with 

Tea Master Sen So’Oku 

9 December 

With Sen So’Oku, tea master, Mushakoji-Senke. 

Awaji Puppet Theater Workshop for Students 

6 March 

With Awaji Puppet Theater Troupe. 

Get KRAZY! 

15 April 

With Sony Wonder Technology Lab. 

With Suzanne de Vegh, Program Officer, 

Education & Lecture Programs, Japan Society. 

Programs For Families 

Japan’s Annual Festivities 

Japan’s Star Festival—Legend & Customs: 

Tanabata 

6 July 

With Theatre Arts Japan-KIDS-, dir. Eriko Ogawa. 

Celebratory Rituals for Children: Shichigosan 

(7-5-3) Ceremony 

25 & 26 October 

In cooperation with the International Shinto 

Foundation. 

With members of the International Shinto 

Foundation. 

Meet Japan’s Mystical Folktale Creatures & 

Ghosts through Kamishibai Storytelling 

1 November 

In cooperation with Kinokuniya Bookstore. 

Offsite event at Kinokuniya Bookstore. With 

Nadine Grisar, kamishibai storyteller and 

New York Children’s Cultural Association. 

New Year’s Day Celebration: Oshogatsu 

25 January 

Featuring booths led by over 40 performers, artists, 

specialists, educators and volunteer students from 

Keio Academy of New York and Columbia Grammar 

and Preparatory School. 

Doll Festival (Girls’ Day): Hinamatsuri 

1 March 

With Masayo Ishigure, koto performer and Keiko 

Sawaguchi, educator, NYC Public School. 

Celebrating Japan’s Children’s Day through 

Performance & Crafts-Making: Kodomo no hi 

3 May 

With Theatre Arts Japan-KIDS-, dir. Eriko Ogawa. 

Art Cart Programs 

Art Cart: New Bamboo: Contemporary 


1 9 O c to b e r 

In cooperation with Japan Society Gallery. 

With Suzanne de Vegh, Japan Society; and arts 

educators Petra Pankow and Peter Sebeckis. 

Art Cart: Flowers & Festivities 

in Japanese Culture 

16 November 

In collaboration with New York Botanical Garden. 

With Peter Sebeckis, arts educator. 


Art Cart: KRAZY! The Delirious World of 


29 March 

With Suzanne de Vegh, Japan Society. 

Art Cart: Tea Ceremony for Children 

17 May 

With Sen So’Oku, tea master, Mushakoji-Senke; 

and Suzanne de Vegh, Japan Society. 

Special Family Programs 

Sadako & 1,000 Cranes Storytelling & 

Origami Crane Making 

10 August 

In cooperation with Kinokuniya Bookstore. 

Offsite event at Kinokuniya Bookstore. 

With Fumiko & Friends, NY Children Cultural 

Association; and Teri Gindi, Professional 

Performing Arts School. 

openhousenewyork (OHNY) at Japan Society 

4 & 5 October 


Open House New York Kids! at Japan Society 

4 October 

In cooperation with Center for Architecture 

Foundation. 

With Peter Sebeckis, arts educator. 

Awaji Puppet Theater Family Matinee 

7 March 

With Awaji Puppet Theater Troupe. 

Film Screening & Anime Antics Family Program 

14 June 


Gallery Lessons & Gallery-Related 

Programs 

Docent Tours for Gallery Visitors 

New Bamboo: Japanese Contemporary Masters 



With members of the Japan Society Docent 

Corps. 


Manga + Video Games 



With members of the Japan Society Docent 

Corps. 

Adult & University Group Tours 

Tapestry in Architecture: Creating Human Spaces 













Gallery Lessons Pre-K–Grade 12 

Tapestry in Architecture: Creating Human Spaces 













Responding To... Series 

Responding to New Bamboo: Japanese 

Contemporary Masters 

14 November 


With Tanabe Shochiku III, bamboo master. 

Responding to KRAZY! The Delirious World of 


May 19 


With Suzanne de Vegh, Japan Society and Sony 

Wonder Technology Lab. 


New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters 

1 1 O c to b e r , 1 5 N ov e m b e r , 1 3 D e c e m b e r & 

10 January 


With Petra Pankow, arts educator. 



14 March, 11 April, 9 May & 13 June 


With Petra Pankow and Yoko Ohashi, 

arts educators. 

Education Programs were made possible by 

generous funding from The Freeman Foundation. 

Additional support was provided by The 

Norinchukin Foundation, Inc., Lesley Nan Haberman, 

Joshua N. Solomon, Ms. Hiroko Onoyama, 

Joshua S. Levine, and Nozomi Terao. 

Family Programs were supported by the New York 

City Department of Cultural Affairs. 

About Japan: A Teachers’ Resource was 

supported by The Japan Foundation Center for 

Global Partnership. 

Transportation assistance for the 2008 Educators’ 

Study Tour to Japan was provided by Japan Airlines. 

The Art Carts for New Bamboo: Contemporary 

Japanese Masters and KRAZY! The Delirious 

World of Anime + Manga + Video Games were 

supported by the Milton and Sally Avery Arts 

Foundation. 


1 

4 

5 

2 

1 K–12 educators learn ways to 

use bamboo in the art classroom 

in this one-day workshop 

led by bamboo artist Tanabe 

Shochiku III. © George Hirose. 

2 A family celebrates 

Shichigosan (7-5-3), a Shinto 

ritual to ensure the health and 

happiness of children ages 3, 5 

and 7. © George Hirose. 

3 Study Tour educators 

participate in a geometry class 

in Kyocho Elementary School 

in Obu-city, Japan. © Japan 

Society staff. 

4 Noriyuki Kobayashi, a chef 

at Megu Restaurant, leads 

hands-on sessions about 

Japanese cuisine in the student 

Summer Immersion Workshop. 

© Japan Society staff. 

5 Children enjoy kamishibai 

storytelling, songs and dances 

in this program introducing 

mythical Japanese folktale 

creatures and ghosts held at 

Kinokuniya Bookstore in New 

York. © George Hirose. 

3 


6 

9 

7 

10 

8 

6 Educators’ Study Tour 

participants have lunch with 

kindergarten children at Araike 

Nursery School in Obu-city, 

Japan. © JS staff. 

7 K–6 educators learn about 

and participate in activities 

ranging from tea ceremony 

to martial arts to Japanese 

cooking in a 30-hour professional 

development course. 


8 Educators’ Study Tour 

participants interact with high 

school students during their 

visit to Japan. © JS staff. 

9 Students from School 

Partner Alliance schools 

participate in a hands-on 

workshop with the Awaji 

Puppet Theater troupe. 


10 Children and student 

booth-leaders from Keio 

Academy and Columbia 

Grammar and Preparatory 

School enjoy traditional New 

Year’s activities including 

fukuwarai (funny face game) 

at Oshogatsu, Japan’s New 

Year’s Day Celebration. 


11 Families pose after participating 

in Shichigosan (7-5-3) 

Ceremony. © George Hirose. 

11 


Toyota Language Center 

The Society’s Japanese language education program, which 

began in 1972 with just a single class, has grown into one 

of the largest and most respected in the nation. Today, the 

Toyota Language Center offers 12 comprehensive levels of 

Japanese, as well as a variety of specialized courses and 

workshops including shodo (Japanese calligraphy), ensuring 

that there is a class for any level of Japanese student. In 

addition, the Center caters to native Japanese speakers by 

providing three levels of English conversation (ESL) classes 

and a Japanese Language Teacher Training Program at the 

beginning and intermediate levels. 

C.V. Starr Library 

The C.V. Starr Library houses approximately 14,000 volumes, 

in addition to a language library and an impressive rare 

book collection. Its holdings include a comprehensive 

collection of books (primarily in English) on Japanese art, 

history, culture, society, politics, economics, religion and 

many other subjects. An ideal place for research on Japan 

and Japan-U.S. relations, the library has also become one 

of the favorite attractions of Japan Society visitors. 

Shodo II student. © Satoru Ishikawa. 

2008–09 Language Classes 

Mini-Workshops: Learn to Read Hiragana & 

Katakana 

25, 26 September 

21, 22 January 

28, 29 May 

Enables beginning students to master efficiently 

the reading of hiragana and katakana. 

Japanese Language Courses 

29 September–12 December 

26 January–3 April 

1 June–14 August 

Twelve levels of Japanese, from beginning to 

advanced. 

English Conversation Courses 

2 October–9 December 

3 February–7 April 

5 May–23 June 


Three levels of English as a Second Language 

(ESL) in 30- or 38-hour sessions. 

Kanji I, II, III 




Designed to enable those proficient in Japanese to 

read Japanese newspapers with ease. 

Economics & Business: 

Advanced Reading Course I 


27 January–31 March 


Guides advanced language students in reading the 

Nihon Keizai Shimbun and the Japanese versions of 

Newsweek and Forbes, and also covers important 

business customs. 

Intensive Japanese Weekend Courses 

8, 9, 15 & 16 November 

7, 8, 14 & 15 March 

13, 14, 20 & 21 June 

Total immersion for people who plan to travel or 

move to Japan or for students unable to attend 

regular weekday classes. 

Intensive Practical Japanese: Business & Culture 

27 April–27 May 

Helps students master the fundamentals of 

Japanese conversation, with special emphasis on 

business and social occasions. 

Japanese Language Teacher Training Program 

23 April–26 May 

Teaches essential classroom teaching skills to 

native and fluent speakers of Japanese who have 

had little or no formal training in the teaching of 

Japanese as a second language. 

Japanese Language Teacher Training 

Follow-Up Program 

7 October–9 December 

A continuation of the teacher training program, 

providing the skills necessary to teach Japanese at 

the intermediate level. 

Shodo Workshops I, II, III , IV & 

Advanced Course 



20 April–29 June 

13 July–21 September 

A hands-on workshop on the techniques of shodo, 

a calligraphic art form that uses a brush and 

charcoal ink on paper, wood plaques and fabric. 

Weekend Shodo 

5 October–2 November 

29 March–26 April 

10 May–7 June 


A hands-on workshop on the techniques of shodo 

on Sundays, offered because of the demand for 

these popular courses. 


1 

2 5 

1 Instructor Yuko 

Aizawa and her students. 


2 Level 5 Japanese students 

at the Toyota Language 

Center. © Satoru Ishikawa. 

3 Instructor Masako Inkyo 

works one-on-one with 

a Shodo II student. 


3 

4 Instructor Mami Miyashita. 


5 Japanese level 7 students. 


4

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