JAPAN FOUNDATION WORLDWIDE

The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) locates in Mid-ValleyCity, a major and vibrant business area with shopping mall, cinema complex, office buildings, and hotels. Although this area is short distance away from the center of Kuala Lumpur, public transportation provides easy access to our new office.

JFKL Library provides basic publications of Japanese culture and society (mainly in English), books related to Japanese-language education, Japanese magazines and newspapers, and audio-visual materials of theatrical plays and movies. The library also provides various brochures for tourists to Japan, documents for information on study in Japan, and public relation materials by Japanese government-affiliated agencies. There are a variety of areas in the library for users: a “Tatami” area where you can lie around reading book, the Internet booths (free of charge), and the audio-visual area. We hope these facilities encourage anyone in Kuala Lumpur to feel free to visit the library.

In addition to the library, the facilities available at JFKL include the full-fledged tea ceremony room and the mini exhibit space, where we are actively holding events. A variety of Japanese language courses are also available at JFKL.

Please make the maximum use of JFKL as the gateway in Malaysia to information on Japan, and introduce JFKL to your friends in Malaysia who are interested in Japan.

Every year, many cities throughout Mexico hold art festivals, in which performance groups of various genres of art are participating from other countries. Organized by the national government or culturalagencies of local governments with the support of privatecompanies, admission to such festival is free or low, in order to give as many people as possible opportunities to come into contact with foreign cultures.

The Japan Foundation, Mexico, has been making efforts to introduce Japanese theatrical arts to Mexican audiences at these international art festivals. On May 2008, for instance, the Foundation supported Kyogen play performance by Shime Shigeyama and contemporary dance performance by Dance Company BABY-Q at Ollin Kan International Culture Festival in Mexico City. At Kyogen performance, laughter from the theater filled to capacity made evident that the audience was satisfied with the performance without Spanish subtitle. Traditional theatrical art unique to Japan and edgy dance performance received high acclaim from the audience, composed mainly of young people.

In July, the Japan Foundation held a concert of Japanese traditional music by Kifu Mitsuhashi (shakuhachi) and Nanae Yoshimura (koto) at the small hall of the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), the premier hall of classical music in Mexico City. A capacity audience listened enthusiastically to the program composed of Japanese traditional music and contemporary music played on Japanese traditional instruments. Mr. Mitsuhashi remarked that his performance was a great success thanks to the enthusiasm by the audience.

Japanese theatrical art performances, such as music, dance, or play, are held quite often throughout the world. In Mexico, however, opportunities to introduce Japanese theatrical art are scarce due to a number of reasons: inviting Japanese artists to Mexico can be expensive, and information on Japanese theatrical art is not sufficient in Mexico and vice versa. Under such circumstances, support by the Japan Foundation and other public agencies for cultural exchange and promotion plays a significant role.

Witnessing successful performances, we strongly hope that more and more Japanese artists will visit Mexico to introduce their performances to people in Mexico who love theatrical art.

(c)Tokugawa Art Museum

The year 2008 is the Genji Monogatari Sennenki, celebrating a Millennium of the Tale of Genji, and various millennium events are held not only in Japan but throughout the world. Genji Monogatari is already translated in many countries in the world, and in Italy its first complete translation is planned to be published soon. The Japan Cultural Institute in Rome plans a series of millennium events commemorating Genji Monogatari against such a background. The following is a brief summary of them.

Starting with a performance of kyogen and contemporary poetry reading by kyogen actor Doji Shigeyama and a poet chori held in mid September, a performance of gagaku by Ichihime Gagaku-kai of Kyoto Ichihime Shrine will be organized in November. This performance will be held in Florence and Ravenna in addition to Rome. In December, calligraphy demonstration by Prof. Atsuhito Takagi of Daito Bunka University and exhibition of his works and calligraphy works in our collection will be held and a lecture on Genji Monogatari and reading by Prof. Maria Teresa Orsi, University of Rome, will be followed. She is the translator of complete Genji Monogatari mentioned above. In February 2009; moreover, a lecture on picture scroll of Genji Monogatari by Hideki Yotsutsuji, assistant director of Tokugawa Art Museum, will be held in Rome and Florence.

In Italy, people have much interest in contemporary Japanese literature and new works by Yoko Ogawa, Risa Wataya and Hitomi Kanehara are translated and published. Works by Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto, in particular, are so popular that Yoshimoto’s "Chie-chan to watakushi" (Chie-chan and I) and Murakami’s "Kafka on the Shore" are scheculed to be adapted to plays and performed in Rome and Milan in respectively.

We hope these various millennium events will help Italian people familiarize themselves with the excellent classic Japanese literature and understand that Japanese people’s unique sensibility is developed in the thousand-year history from Genji Monogatari to contemporary literature.