Performance: Hoichi the Earless: from 'Kwaidan' Ghost Story / Asia Society, New York, NY, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

The Japan Foundation is organizing a tour of the culturally unique production of Hoichi the Earless, which will feature a Biwa player Akiko Sakurai, a Butoh dancer Kumotaro Mukai from Dairakudakan, and a Saz (Baglama) player Kiyoshi Ohira. The group will perform the ghostly story of the same name, which first appeared in the book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn, a Greek born Irish writer who later became a Japanese citizen.

Co-presented with Asia Society and Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Feb 25, Asia Society, New York, NY - world premiere
Feb 28, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Exhibition: The Art of Gaman: Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942 – 1946 / Atlanta, GA

“The Art of Gaman” is an exhibition that showcases the arts and crafts made by Japanese Americans in U.S. internment camps during World War II. It is a universally uplifting story for its celebration of the nobility of the human spirit in adversity.

This exhibition is held at The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum and is supported by The Japan Foundation through JFNY Grant for Arts and Culture.
(Image: Collection of the Japanese American Museum of San José, From "Art of Gaman" by Delphine Hirasuna, ©2005, Ten Speed. Terry Heffernan photo.)

Performance: Mu Daiko 15th Anniversary Concert featuring HANAYUI / Saint Paul, MN

Mu Daiko celebrates 15 years of taiko with its biggest performance yet. During the second week of performances, Mu Daiko will share the stage with special guest HANAYUI and others. Photo credit: Michal Daniel.
This performance is supported by The Japan Foundation, New York through its JFNY Grant for Arts and Culture.

Performance: Tokio Confidential - A New Musical in which Noh meets Noir (Noh-oir) / Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2, New York, NY

Words and Music by Eric Schorr. Directed by Johanna McKeon. Japan. 1879. Isabella Archer, a young American war widow crosses an ocean in search of a lost love—and is about to cross a line from which she can never return. It’s a journey across the boundaries between pleasure and pain, art and artifice, the secrets of the flesh and the sins of the heart. When Isabella falls in love with a renowned Japanese tattoo artist, she enters a world of extreme beauty, becoming an object of unexpected desire—in a realm of unspeakable danger. Performances Held at Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2, 330 West 16th Street. More Information at www.tokioconfidential.com. To order tickets, please visit www.ticketcentral.com or call (212) 279-4200. *** discounts available at http://www.goldstar.com/events/new-york-ny/tokio-confidential-1 or via membership in TDF ***

This event is supported by The Japan Foundation, New York through its JFNY Grant for Arts & Culture.

Exhibition: Gazing at the Contemporary World: Japanese Photography from the 1970s to the Present / Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC

Venue: Museum of Anthropology at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC

This travelling exhibit on loan from The Japan Foundation examines transformations in contemporary Japanese society and landscapes over recent decades by providing an overview of the diverse photographic expression that emerged during that time period.

Film Screening: Naruse & Takamine - Of an Auteur and Actress - / Doc Film, Chicago, IL

The Japan Foundation and Doc Film is co-organizing "Naruse & Takamine - Of an Auteur and Actress." The program screens 9 films of Naruse's works that features Hideko Takamine, who died in age 86 at the end of 2010.

Exhibition: Universe Is Flux: The Art of Tawara Yusaku / Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN

The Indianapolis Museum of Art will present the first large-scale exhibition of works by Tawara Yūsaku, a contemporary Japanese artist known for his highly energetic brushstroke. Universe Is Flux: The Art of Tawara Yūsaku will feature works inspired by Tawara’s belief that the universe is unstable and constantly changing. Executed primarily in ink on paper, his works use the cumulative effect of many brushstrokes to create powerful and expressive works, apparent in even his smallest 3 in. x 5 in. paintings. Although Tawara eschewed representational art, many of his paintings recall traditional ink landscapes or other forms in nature.
This exhibition is supported by The Japan Foundation, New York through its JFNY Grant for Arts & Culture.