Yokai: Ghosts & Demons of Japan

December 8, 2019 - December 8, 2020

Vivid in Japanese art and imagination are creatures that are at once ghastly and comical. Yokai generally refers to demons, ghosts, shapeshifters, and “strange” and supernatural beings. Specific creatures are commonly associated with classical literature, folklore, theatrical performances, festivals, art, and other forms of expressive culture. Yokai are also prevalent in contemporary Japanese popular culture; you find them in manga (comics), anime (animation), and character-based games such as Pokémon (“pocket monster”).

TAIKOPROJECT New Mexico Tour

BK Taiko is supporting the professional Taiko group TAIKOPROJECT on their New Mexico tour! 

 We are also hosting two workshops with them!

Workshops are Saturday, September 30th: 
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Omiyage
3:30 pm - 5:30 pm Percussion

Click here for more details...

“Suspended Moment” Sculpture Installation

At the center of the performance is a life-sized sculpture of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, created by the artist Yukiyo Kawano. Yuki was born and raised in Hiroshima, a third-generation atomic bomb survivor. She creates her sculptures from WWII-era kimonos that belonged to her grandmother, and sews them together with her hair, melding the DNA of generations of atomic bomb survivors.

Co-sponsored by Los Alamos History Museum, Los Alamos/Japan Project, and Los Alamos County Library System. Funded in part by a grant from the New Mexico Intervention Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Embassy of Japan is proud to present a fabulous lineup through the Japan Information & Culture Center (JICC) during the 2017 National Cherry Blossom Festival. The Festival, which commemorates the gift of 3,000 cherry trees to the city of Washington, DC, is an annual celebration to honor the lasting friendship between Japan and the United States.

In 1912, the Mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, gifted 3,000 cherry trees to Washington, DC as a symbol of the friendship between the two nations. Ms. Eliza Scidmore, the author of a travel journal who was deeply impressed by the beauty of the cherry blossoms at Mukoujima in Tokyo, had campaigned for years to have them brought to DC. Along with Dr. Joukichi Takamine, famous for his work on adrenaline and the enzyme taka-diastase and a long-time friend of America, she urged First Lady Helen Taft to have the trees planted along the Potomac. Now every year the public parks along the banks of the Potomac River in Washington are covered in gorgeous blooming trees, delighting the public who come to see them.

The first festival commemorating the gift from Japan and the friendship it represented was held in 1927. Now it has grown into the largest such celebration in America, welcoming more than 1.5 million visitors each year. The Opening Ceremony in particular, with its captivating performances from artists representing both Japan and the US, enjoys a high degree of popularity both locally and abroad in Japan. The National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and the Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival also draw packed crowds.

Kodo at the Lensic

NMJACL

Nishimura to Deliver Pearl Fellow Lecture Oct. 30

Yukio Nishimura from the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Urban Engineering, delivers the Pearl Fellow Lecture on Friday, Oct. 30 at 5:15 p.m. in the Pearl Hall auditorium. Nishimura’s lecture is Japan’s World Heritage Wooden Structures: Preservation and Authenticity. Pearl Hall, home of the UNM School of Architecture and Planning, is located on Cornell and Central NE.