JAPAN FOUNDATION WORLDWIDE

Various activities and events were conducted all over the world on October 10, 2010 in celebration of the date “10-10-10”; and, in 10 Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei etc., the tree planting activities were held simultaneously.

The Japan Foundation and Probe Media Foundation organized a four-day study tour in the Philippines for former JENESYS participants (alumni) on June 12-17, 2010. The event was entitled “JENESYS, New Beginnings: Promoting An East Asia Community, Role of Young Leaders in Building A Shared Future.” The gathering was focused to build from the JENESYS Programme and encourage sharing of best practices, provide skills training, plan for concrete and unique collaborative programs and create a wider network of future leaders in Asia and Oceania.

During the follow-up study tour, participants agreed to have simultaneous tree planting events in 10 Southeast Asian countries to raise the awareness of people in the region toward environmental protection.

Participants of the study tour and the JENESYS alumni worked together for the conduct of the event in their respective countries and communities; and, consequently on October 10, 2010, having a shared slogan of “Day 1: Building a Shared Future”, they engaged in tree or coral planting events in Baguio City (Benguet, Philippines), Kalimantan (Indonesia), Sabah (Malaysia), Singapore, Brunei, Japan, etc.

The JENESYS Programme paved the way for the strengthening of peaceful and strong partnership among Southeast Asian countries, and through the joint effort of young leaders throughout the region, new cross-border/cross-cultural projects promoting the exchange of knowledge, information and expertise are currently underway.

The 14th Japanese Film Festival is Coming Soon!
The Japan Foundation, Sydney hosts the 14th Japanese Film Festival in late November. We’ve gone all out for this annual occasion to introduce blockbusters and much-discussed films from Japan to Australian audiences. Special guests for this year’s festival include Mr. Tadao Sato, a film critic who received the Japan Foundation Award for Arts and Culture 2010; Mr. Tsutomu Abe, director of “Kyoto Story”; and Mr. Naoyoshi Shiotani, the renowned animation studio Production I.G’s enfant terrible. Panel discussions and special screenings with these VIP guests are also scheduled.

Glimpses of Japan – 30 years ago and Today: A film and discussion series
Invador, Candies, Takenoko-zoku, and Juken senso are terms that remind Japanese people of the 1970s and 80s. They refer to a video game, a pop idol group, youngsters dancing in tacky uniforms, and fiercely competitive college entrance examinations, respectively. These were the days when Japan’s society and culture were going through drastic changes while its economy was experiencing rapid growth that reached to the “bubble economy”.

Our film library has a collection of short documentary films produced with the intention of introducing Japanese culture and society to overseas audiences. Many of them were produced in the 1970s and 80s to show the “latest” face of Japan at that time. Today, these films provide a valuable insight into Japan three decades ago, and that would be beyond the intention of original producers.
In October, we held a casual film & talk series comprised of the screening of a 30 minute film, followed by a talk session with a leading Japanese studies expert. Four films were selected from our collection: Salary Man (1975), Voices of Young Japan (1979), The Hanawa Family (1980), and Manga: The Cartoon in Contemporary Japanese Life (1982). This event attempted to answer the question of how much, or how little, life in Japan has changed in the 30 years since the films were made. Participants asked many questions in the Q&A sessions with the expert, such as “Is there any change in Japanese corporate culture and group mentality?”, “Has there been any progress in women’s social advancement?” and “What kind of measures are the Japanese government taking to address the issues of the declining birthrate and an aging population?”. These questions and more resulted in lively discussions at each event.

The Japan Foundation, Madrid is the Japan Foundation’s youngest overseas office opened in April 2010. To promote further understanding of Japanese culture in Spain, we already have hosted a variety of events in the first six months.

Among them, we would like to share the report of Hono-O-Daiko performance in Madrid.

Hono-O-Daiko is a group of four female Wadaiko (Japanese drum) performers, and this was their third visit to Spain. In 2007, the Japan Foundation organized their first but extensive Spain tour visiting Madrid, Zaragoza, Calanda, and Barcelona. Their second visit was in 2008 when they had a special performance for Japan Day at Expo Zaragoza. The members said that a twist of fate brought them back in a year to Zaragoza, which was not as popular attraction to Japanese tourists as Madrid or Barcelona.

This October, Hono-O-Daiko came back to Spain for the third time by the invitation from the Medieval Festival (Festival Medieval d’Elx) in Elche, a town in southeast Spain. Hearing this news, the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid that hosted Hono-O-Daiko’s performance in 2007 was very eager to welcome the group back to their theater. The Director of Performance Arts at the Circulo de Bellas Artes saw their performance in 2007 and declared, “This is one of the most impressive performances in my entire career in theater.” He has been a big fan of Hono-O-Daiko since then. This enthusiastic request realized the performance in Madrid.

Their performance in 2010 was held at the same venue as in 2007 for two days while it was only for one day three years ago. This additional quota of seats made both Hono-O-Daiko members and us at the Japan Foundation slightly anxious, but it was needless after all; the theater was packed with the audience up to the gallery for both days. Passionate performance of Hono-O-Daiko thrilled Spanish audience who were famous for their passion. They greeted the performers with a standing ovation and were still flushed with excitement when they left the theater. The Director described above cracked a joke, “We’ve got to make it three days next time.” As their name suggests, Hono-O-Daiko (“hono-o” means flames and “O-daiko” means large Japanese drums), ignited the heart of Madrid.

The Japan Foundation, Madrid will offer more and more cultural and intellectual events to encourage people in Spain to be amigos of Japan.