Events by year: 2024

War and Peace

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. Many of the tragedies witnessed during the war, including the trauma of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, as well as the Holocaust in Europe, had devastating consequences that shaped the fate of humanity during the 20th century. 80 years later, we are again living in critical times that may shape the future of humanity in years to come. If humanity is unable to remember the past, we may be condemned to repeat it. Our annual seminar series will focus on the topic of “War and Peace” in its different forms.

Daiwa Ichiban Lecture 2024 with Will Hutton

On 26 November 2024, Will Hutton spoke on ‘Flying on all Engines – Economic and Political Prospects for Britain until 2030’ for the 2024 Daiwa Ichiban Lecture. It was held at the Ambassador’s residence by invitation only. This was the sixth lecture in the ongoing Daiwa Ichiban Lecture Series in collaboration with the British Embassy in Tokyo, for the purpose of introducing Britain to Japan.

Will Hutton is President of the Academy of Social Sciences, a political economist, author and journalist. He is also regularly called on to advise senior political and business figures and comment in the national and international media. The lecture was well attended and raised an interesting discussion in the audience Q&A.

A New Trump Presidency - The Implications for US-Japan Relations

Following a fiercely contested campaign in which opinions have been sharply polarised, former President Donald Trump has been elected to be the 47th president of the United States. Donald Trump’s election victory will have profound implications for the world order and the future of relations between the US and other countries, including Japan. In this seminar, moderated by Gideon Rachman, the panelists discussed how US domestic and foreign policies are likely to shift after the election, and the implications for the future of the international order and US relations with Japan.

The Impact of the US Presidential Election on the International Order

The 2024 US presidential election is expected to have a significant impact on the international order. The outcome of the election may have great implications for the ongoing war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East, US policy towards China, and the US’s relations with its traditional allies in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan. In this webinar, chaired by Philip Shetler-Jones, the speakers will present their views on the impact of the election on the international order, with a special focus on the Asia-Pacific region and the implications for Japan.

Music Generations in the Digital Age

Music Generations in the Digital Age is a unique work at the intersection of cultural, media and music studies. In the book, Dr Rafal Zaborowski delves into how music engagement is changing in the digital era, focusing on key themes of participation, interpretation, circulation and cultural production. In this talk, he will particularly cover the following topics:
・Why do virtual idols sometimes feel more authentic than non-virtual ones?
・How can pop groups resonate differently across generations?
・How has the Japanese music industry evolved in the digital age?
・Can you tell the difference between real Japanese pop lyrics and AI-generated poetry?

Squingle: VR Game Business and Japanese Studio Collaboration

The journey of developing and publishing Squingle, a psychedelic VR puzzle game where players guide revolving orbs through increasingly complex 3D spatial mazes on a cosmic transcendence adventure, has been a significant success story enabled by the Daiwa Scholarship. Squingle merges science, technology, innovation, and art to create a surreal, ongoing collaboration between the UK and Japan, deeply influenced by partnerships with Keio University and Enhance Games, a Japanese game studio.

Noguchi Rika in conversation with
Jonathan Watkins

In this event, Noguchi Rika will be in conversation with Jonathan Watkins, curator of her exhibition Life on Planet Earth, putting the work shown into the context of her practice overall. In particular, they will discuss the representation of alienness, a theme that has been evident in Noguchi’s work since she emerged as an artist in the 1990s. She encourages us to see the visible world as if for the first time – with a sense of wonder – while conveying a kind of melancholy derived from an understanding that human perception is strictly limited. In this vein, recent photographs and films of insects and birds exemplify a proposition that is as aesthetic as it is philosophical.

Private View:
Life on Planet Earth by Noguchi Rika

Join us for a private view of Noguchi Rika’s first solo exhibition in the UK since 2004, Life on Planet Earth at the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. Combining video and photographs, this exhibition conveys a sense of wonder at being in the world as well as the particularity of being human.

The doors will open at 6:00 pm on Tuesday 8th October 2024. Guests are welcome to visit the gallery anytime between 6:00 pm and 7:45 pm with advanced booking.

Enjoy Homemade Sushi!

Do you like sushi? Would you like to make sushi yourself? Well, in that case, join us! We will show you how to make delicious and healthy nigiri-sushi at home. Erika Henderson from Café Yukari will give you a brief history of sushi and show you how to prepare sushi rice. Cooking proper rice and mixing it with the right amount of vinegar, sugar, and salt is the first step in making successful sushi. Then Erika and Yukari Henderson will show you some good sushi recipes with easy-to-obtain supermarket ingredients, including vegetarian varieties. You can also try some samples of their nigiri-sushi at the event.

Graphic Narratives from Early Modern Japan

Part of a formidable publishing industry, cheap yet eye-catching graphic narratives consistently charmed early modern Japanese readers for around two hundred years, from the late seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. These booklets were called kusazōshi (lit. “grass books”). Multimodal in essence, kusazōshi combine images and words asking the reader to negotiate the complex interactions of these different modes on the page. Meaning is created out of such negotiation. Graphic Narratives from Early Modern Japan: The World of Kusazōshi (Brill 2024) is the first English-language publication to investigate this textual typology in the round. In this book launch Prof. Laura Moretti selected what she views as the most thought-provoking lines of inquiry put forward by the contributors featured in the volume.

Metalworker Kathleen Reilly's design journey: From Glasgow to Tsubame-Sanjo and beyond

Scottish artist and metalworker Kathleen Reilly discussed her journey from her hometown of Glasgow to the small metalworking town of Tsubame-Sanjo and her inspiration and experiences living and training there for two years. Kathleen’s new knife design Oku will be on show as part of this year’s London Design Festival 2024. She discussed Oku in-depth, including her collaboration with Karimoku Furniture, Japan’s leading wooden furniture manufacturer and the background behind her installation and film created with Riyo Nemeth and Paz Castro featuring music by soundscape designer Hiroki Saitoh to celebrate the fusion of Eastern and Western cultures. She also touched on her new metal casting project series ‘Gran’s Plates’ and ‘Mother’s Plates’.

Japan: The Basics

Japan: The Basics is an engaging introduction to the culture, society, and global positioning of Japan. Starting by looking at the common stereotypes, clichés, and tropes associated with Japan, this accessible introduction to the country is designed to arm readers with key skills and knowledge for their study of Japan. In this talk, the author, Dr Christopher Hood, discussed some of the key features of the book, the way in which the book works alongside other books about Japan, how some of the research for the book was done, and other things related to the book – some of which are not mentioned in the book itself.