Welcome
Are you interested in Japan? Its people? Its culture? Its language?
If so, come and join us!
Japan Society North West holds regular Japan-related events in the Manchester / Liverpool / Cheshire / Lancashire region. For full details see events.
Next JSNW Event
Summer Trip to Yorkshire
Saturday 16 August 2008 From about 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.
This is the Society’s summer trip to give our Japanese members an opportunity to enjoy a British picnic midst some lovely English countryside. Everyone should enjoy this open-air Yorkshire Sculpture Park and its indoor galleries featuring, at the time of our visit, the Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi.
We’ll meet up at the coffee bar between 11.00 and 11.30 for refreshment before a 1 – 1½ hour stroll around the lovely estate to get to see a selection of Hepworth’s, Frink’s and Moore’s in their outdoor settings. Lunch can be a traditional picnic in the grounds (or there is a self-service restaurant as well as the coffee/snack bar).
Then it’s a 20-minute drive to Tansu in Batley with plenty of time to enjoy the ‘entertainment’ as well as the extensive range of Japanese furniture, clothing and paraphernalia. At Tansu planned activities include:-
Jill Clay - recognized as an authority in the Uk on vintage/antique kimono - will display and present some of her collection. Jill is also an authority on dolls and will demonstrate them.
Sumie Kent will be playing her koto and shamisen.
There are 3 tearooms for a top-up, before heading homewards at about 4.00 pm.
Venue: Tansu, Redbrick Mill, 218 Bradford Road, Batley, West Yorkshire, WF17 6JF
What's On
Geisha Visit: A Spectacular Evening of Japanese Entertainment
Wednesday 3rd September
Featuring Fukuwaka and Miehina - Authentic Geisha from Miyagawa-cho, Kyoto, Japan
Together with Peter Macintosh – World renowned expert on Geisha
Tansu, Europe’s largest collection of Japanese antique furniture and the Northern Academy of Art are proud to host a very rare and exclusive evening at Redbrick Mill when, for what is believed to be, the first time in West Yorkshire, and only the second time ever in the UK an authentic Geisha visits from Japan.
Commencing with an introductory presentation by Peter Macintosh the event will incorporate traditional music and dance. The Geisha will also perform a Japanese Tea Ceremony.
To an audience of just 150 people this select event is an amazing opportunity to experience this ancient Japanese tradition. You will have the opportunity to speak with the Geisha personally and take photographs.
Tickets for the event are £25 per person and available from: Chris Battye, Tansu Ltd, Redbrick Mill, 218 Bradford Road, Batley WF17 6JF Tel: 01924 459441 Email: tansu@tansu.co.uk
Festival of Japan
5th to 7th September 2008
See the Festival of Japan web site for details.
Venue: Botanic Gardens and The Oriental Museum, Durham
How Manga Took Over the World
13 March – 21 Sept 2008
This exhibition explores the art of Manga in its many guises, tracing the journey from its early origins to its many modern day manifestations.
Also, there are anime film screenings every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 6 pm.
Venue: Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester M4 3BG
Taiko Drumming Workshops
Saturday 4 October and Sunday 5 October 2008
Once again York Japan Society are hosting the ever popular Taiko drumming workshops. Warning - taiko drumming is highly infectious and very addictive! Limited to 40 people (20 per day) so book early.
See leaflet and Email Mary Murata for details.
Venues: Shipton Village Hall and York St. John’s University
Study Tours to Japan
30th March – 11th April 2008
20th April – 4th May 2008
Akemi Solloway is leading two study tours to Japan in the spring of 2008, staying in the homes of local Japanese families and experiencing at first hand the arts, culture and lifestyle of Japanese people. Details Visit Akemi's web site for more information.
Japanese Food in Lymm
Japanese Food Specialists TK Trading set up shop in Lymm High School every other Saturday - see their web site for the schedule.
Venue: Lymm High School, Oughtrington Lane, Lymm, Cheshire WA13 0RB
Amazing Anime Association
The Amazing Anime Association meets on the 3rd Friday of each month at 7 pm to watch and talk about anime. For more information contact Angela Robinson.
Venue: Blackburn Central Library
Japan07
Expore Japan07, our exclusive high resolution tour of Japan.
Books
The Japanese Way – Garden Designs by Maureen Busby
The standard approach of the various authors of books
on Japanese gardens is to describe the historical development of gardens in Japan, then to illustrate the different styles and elements of traditional Japanese gardens. In more recent times, some have also featured designs of a few Japanese style gardens outside of Japan.
This publication is different: it contains no references to historical gardens but instead demonstrates by example how the elusive principles of the Japanese tradition can be employed in a western setting. It is simply a selection of designs by Maureen Busby, an acclaimed designer of Japanese style gardens, which were created for her clients, covering a broad range of locations and styles.
Published by and obtainable from: The Japanese Garden Society
"John Milne: the man who mapped the shaking earth" by Paul Kabrna
John Milne made his name and reputation in Japan where he is better remembered than in his home country. He was appointed as Professor of Geology and Mining at the newly formed Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo in 1875 when still only 25, whereupon he began an epic overland journey described in fascinating detail by Kabrna.
Once in Japan Milne was ideally placed to initiate study of such geological phenomena as volcanoes and earthquakes and it was his development of an effective instrument, the seismograph, which allowed him to make substantial contributions to our understanding of earthquakes. Not least of these was the realization that major earthquakes are not related to volcanic activity. Using his seismographs, which he continued to develop and improve throughout his life, Milne measured thousands of Japanese earthquakes. He was one of the first to realize that large earthquakes can be measured anywhere in the world. Review Amazon.co.uk
‘Pro Bono’ – a new translation by Andrew Clare
Matsumoto Seicho (1909 – 1992) was Japan’s most successful (and certainly most prolific) writer of detective fiction. His novels are characterised by their psychological complexity (of both plot and characters), his high quality literary style, extensive research of his subject matter and, perhaps most significantly, his emphasis on social realism.
In the latest translation of a Matsumoto Seicho mystery, written in 1961, ‘Pro Bono’ (Japanese title: Kiri no hata), the story revolves around the failings of the judicial system in Japan and the efforts of the sister of the wrongly-indicted defendant in a murder trial to secure legal representation by an eminent defence attorney in Tokyo. A classic tale of murder and revenge, Matsumoto wrote the book in the wake of several prominent miscarriages of justice and the story can be said to represent his critical views of the ineptitude and injustice he perceived to be inherent in the Japanese judicial system of the time.
Publication date: 13 November 2007
"JAPAN IN ANALYSIS: Cultures of the Unconscious" by Ian Parker
Ian Parker addresses three key questions: ‘Why is there psychoanalysis in Japan?’, ‘What do we learn about Japan from its own forms of analysis?’, and ‘What do we learn about ourselves from Japan?’ The book is about the development of psychoanalysis and modern subjectivity in Japan. It shows how forms of individual selfhood amenable to therapeutic intervention emerged as Japanese culture has opened up to the West. It is also about how approaches to analysing the self have encountered Japan and how analysts tried to make sense of a culture that once seemed at odds with the aims of psychotherapy.
IAN PARKER is Professor of Psychology in the Discourse Unit at Manchester Metropolitan University.
