The Activities of the Japan Foundation

Culture: Arts and Cultural Exchange
Introducing Japan's Rich Arts and Culture to the World

We introduce people around the world to the richness of Japanese arts and culture through a variety of ways in a broad range of areas from traditional to contemporary arts, including exhibitions, stage performances, translation and publication, films and television. While gradually resuming face-to-face exchanges and events where people gather, we also continued to focus on the online initiatives we have expanded, pursuing various forms of exchange appropriate for the era of living with COVID-19.

Toward Cultural and Artistic Exchange in the "New Normal"

We have resumed our previously paused in-person professional exchanges, offering fellowships to experts in Japanese art abroad, hosting international art curators in Japan and dispatching Japanese picture book critics to international children's bookfairs. These initiatives have rekindled face-to-face interactions and the exchange of knowledge and information.

We concurrently launched Doors to Arts of Japan, a portal website showcasing the richness of Japanese arts and culture through multilingual subtitled videos. This, coupled with the STAGE BEYOND BORDERS project that streams Japanese stage performances and has amassed over 18 million views, continues to draw a vast viewership.

Building on our experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will continue to fully leverage online platforms while discerning and combining the use of online and in-person formats. We are committed to enhancing our information dissemination and network building, aiming to establish a foundation for cultural and artistic exchange in this new era.

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Normalization of Japan-China Relations Amid the Lingering Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, we orchestrated an exhibition showcasing the works of 22 distinguished groups of Japanese architects, alongside a theatrical adaptation of an iconic Japanese comic into a musical. Despite the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic, these collaborative endeavors between Japan and China came to fruition and captivated an audience of nearly 50,000, sparking considerable excitement.

Spanning three months from November 2022, the Beyond Borders: Architectures of Japan exhibition of contemporary Japanese architecture took place at the Shenzhen Sea World Culture and Arts Center, which was designed by MAKI Fumihiko. The event showcased major architectural works by Japanese architects in China. Although the exhibition was hosted exclusively in one city, the number of visitors exceeded 20,000, while the virtual symposium held in conjunction saw an attendance of 3,000 individuals and garnered a wealth of positive feedback.

The musical Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken), featuring a Japanese cast with the participation of Chinese dancers, was originally planned for live performances in China. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the performances were streamed online and gained significant response on social media.

Japanese Film Screenings Around the World

We showcased Japanese films in 69 countries and regions, reaching an audience of approximately 140,000. In the United Kingdom, marking the 20th anniversary of our film tour, we conducted 172 screenings across 24 cities. In Germany and Argentina, we held special screenings to honor TANAKA Kinuyo, celebrating her directorial achievements alongside her acting career. The MORITA Yoshimitsu film retrospective in New York in the United States, for which producer MISAWA Kazuko came on stage, attracted a large crowd. Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of Friendship between Japan and Cambodia, the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) in Cambodia, with the opening attended by the Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, presented 29 Japanese films spanning genres from classics to anime. In addition, films supplied to screenings hosted by Japanese embassies and consulates drew an additional 40,000 viewers*.
*This figure includes overlaps with screenings co-hosted by the Japan Foundation

Free Online Streaming Program JFF+ INDEPENDENT CINEMA

We launched the free online streaming project, JFF+ INDEPENDENT CINEMA, which centers on independent theaters, so-called "mini-theaters" in regional cities known for screening a diverse array of exceptional Japanese films and maintaining deep ties with local communities in Japan. This project was conducted globally from December 2022 to June 2023. In the four months up to March 2023, the dedicated website for this project attracted approximately 130,000 unique visitors and recorded around 410,000 page views. The films streamed were viewed by a total of around 20,000 people across 113 countries and regions, with the number of plays reaching approximately 30,000.

Introducing Japanese Television Programs

We implement projects for introducing Japanese television programs that promote an understanding of Japan in countries and regions where there is difficulty in broadcasting and distributing Japanese content. In FY2022, 714 Japanese television programs, including dramas, anime, variety shows, films and documentaries, were broadcast in 93 countries and regions.