JAPAN FOUNDATION WORLDWIDE

The year 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of independence of Malaysia as well as the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Malaysia. The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur held series of commemorative events and activities throughout the year.
The first event to start the memorable Friendship Year was Japanese Drum Concert by HONO-O-DAIKO, a renowned Japanese group of women drummers together with TOKYO DAGEKI DAN, held in Istana Budaya (National Theater) in January. The concert enjoyed the total attendance of more than 4,000 for two days, which was suited to bright opening.
A variety of performances such as “Pinocchio” by Opera Theatre Konnyakuza, “Three Sisters” by Pappa Tarahumara, “We’re Gonna Go Dancing!!” by Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN), “not quite right” by Strange Kinoko Dance Company, RAKUGO in English and the Flute Festival in Malaysia, exhibits including “TOKITSUMUGI - The Grain of Strands from Some Moments” an exhibition of kinetic sculptures by Masato Tanaka at Galeri Petronas, “Sharing Space – Counter photography – Japan’s Artist Today” Exhibition and the 11th Asian Cartoon Exhibition, and Japanese Film Festival were followed. In Japanese Speech Contest, held annually, a new category for learners whose stay in Japan is longer than 90 days and entry was not allowed in the past was added. Fluent speech by the contestants in this new category was so excellent that it served as powerful encouragement for other contestants and audience as well.
Moreover, “Hutan kenangan” performance by Ms. Kim Manri and 9 Malaysian performers to complete the three-year project for physically disabled performers with Performance Troupe TAIHEN was successful.
Japanese Music Month in November completed Japan-Malaysia Friendship Year. Each performance of Okinawa Traditional Dance and Music, SATORU SHIONOYA GROUP JAZZ CONCERT 2007 in Kuala Lumpur and Japanese KOTO Music concert by Sawai Koto Orchestra was very successful to put an end to Japan-Malaysia Friendship Year.
Support and cooperation from many organizations and people made it possible to hold such a variety of events in limited resources. Here we would like to extend our thanks to everybody concerned.

Canada is twenty-seven times larger than Japan, and the Japan Foundation has only one overseas office in Toronto. In this vast country, the Japan Foundation, Toronto presents various activities and programs with the Japanese diplomatic missions in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver in order to develop and promote Japanese culture and studies.
In late January 2008, we invited Mr. Satoshi Kamiya, who is an Origami expert with four consecutive victories at the Origami TV championship. He is participating in activities that promote Origami overseas as part of the Japan Foundation’s cultural presentation abroad program. He had an Origami lecture and demonstration in Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax and Vancouver. In Toronto, the workshops were held at the Japan Foundation, Toronto’s event hall as well as at local schools with the cooperation of Origami Society. This project received a lot of attentions from Canadian people, and became a great opportunity to introduce Origami culture to the public. Various local media interviewed Mr. Kamiya during his visit in Canada.
The overseas traveling exhibition “ The spirit of Budo: The History of Japan’s Martial Arts” is being exhibited at the Japan Foundation, Toronto’s event hall until February 26th. It explores the history of the martial arts in Japan from battlefield technique to international sport. This exhibition displays not only the historical weapons and implements, such as sword mountings, bows and arrows, helmets and suits of armour, but also panels of the contemporary practices of the martial arts. We have already had more than 1000 visitors as of the end of January, and the exhibition continues to be very popular.
In 2008, Japan and Canada are celebrating 80 years of diplomatic relations. In both Japan and Canada, many events will be showcased during the 80th anniversary Japan-Canada Relations from April 2008 to March 2009. We, the Japan Foundation, Toronto, will actively participate in various anniversary projects through implementation and support in diverse ways.

(c) Clement-Olivier MEYLAN

The Japan Cultural Institute in Paris, busy with preparing events and activities commemorating its tenth anniversary in 2007, is now committed to celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of Franco-Japanese relations in 2008. From Seiki Kuroda to Tsuguharu Fujita: Japanese Painters in Paris (10/24/2007-1/26/2008), a milestone exhibit of Japanese oil painters held outside of Japan for the first time, closed successfully on January 26. It gained much attention from various quarters and in spite of the transportation strike and the closure of the nearest station, its total visitors reached as many as 13,477.
Hagoromo: The Legend of the Celestial Cape, a musical based on a folktale told across Japan that combines state-of-the-art computer graphics with theatrical art was performed from Thursday, January 24 through Saturday, January 26. This was a key stage of the special project called “Hagoromo” to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Franco-Japanese relations, started with hands-on activities such as art of folding paper, tea ceremony, Japanese cooking and introductory Japanese class for small kids in France in autumn 2007. The performance is to create a new culture by combining living actors and settings with CG animation projected on 360-inch screen on stage, and attracted wide range of French people.