The Japanese Culture Club at California State University Fullerton presents the 4th Annual Cultural Expo “Art of Japan” on Sunday, March 22, from 1:30 pm at Titan Student Union Portola Pavilions in the CSUF campus. Admission and parking is completely free. Japanese culture demonstrations include taiko, karate, ikebana, calligraphy, tea ceremony, samisen, fashion show, dancing, singing, etc. Performers include Fuji Japanese Music Ensemble. In last year, over 400 guests attended the event. http://csufjcc.org  
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The Sister City Association of Huntington Beach presents Cherry Blossom Festival on Sunday, March 22, from 11 am – 4 pm, at Huntington Beach Central Park Bandstand, 7111 Talbert Ave, located directly behind the Huntington Beach Central Library. Admission is free. This year we will be featuring Taiko by Kokomo Taiko-kai and Daion Taiko, Karate demonstration by Sensei Fumio Demura, Music and entertainment by Minyo Station, Dance by Bando Hidesomi, Kabuki by Bando Hiroshichiro, Koto by Ryan Kaneko, Hula by Lokelani Studios. and much more. In addition, the festival will have many cultural exhibits as well as craft vendors,...
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Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty, the Japanese American National Museum’s hit exhibition celebrating the iconic Sanrio character’s 40th anniversary, has been extended for one month. Hello! will now be on view through May 31, 2015. Hello! is the first large-scale museum retrospective of the pop icon in the United States. The exhibition combines an extensive product retrospective of rare and unique items from the Sanrio archives alongside a selection of innovative contemporary artworks inspired by Hello Kitty and her world. New artifacts have recently been incorporated into the exhibition. These include miniature dioramas depicting a Hello...
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Kozue Matsumoto Koto Music Concert March 3, 2015 at 8 pm – 10 pm The Wild Beast Music Pavilion CalArts: 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA 91355 Free admission For information, call (661) 253-7816 The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts presents koto artist Kozue Matsumoto. Performing original compositions and traditional Japanese music, Kozue has prepared an event showcasing her musical works and collaborations at CalArts featuring projection-mapped animations, larger-than-life origami art and real-time digitally processed koto performance. Matsumoto will perform in and present the world premiere of a new chamber opera by guest composer Rita Ueda, a CalArts alumna, featuring the...
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Noh Performance: BE CONNECTED “Tsunagu” Monday, March 2, 2015, 8:00pm (Doors open 7:30pm) Clive Davis Theater, The Grammy Museum  (at LA LIVE) 800 West Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015 Enjoy a unique experience of Noh in Los Angeles! Produced and performed by Tsunao Yamai, one of Japan’s most respected players and leaders of the ancient and profound form of theatrical expression. Yamai was chosen this year as a “Japan Cultural Envoy” by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese government. Program 1. Suutai “Okina” 2. Maibayashi “Takasago” 3. Subayashi “Banshikigaku” 4. Maibayashi “Hagoromo” 5. Special Collaboration with...
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Azusa Pacific University’s School of Music hosts a benefit recital in memory of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami victims of Japan on Saturday, March 7 at 7 p.m. The event, featuring renowned cellist Marek Szpakiewicz, DMA, director of Chamber Music at Azusa Pacific University, takes place in Munson Recital Hall, located on East Campus, at 901 E. Alosta Ave., in Azusa. Suggested donation for attendance is $15. The evening’s program features Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dance” in E minor, Op. 72, No. 2; Chopin’s Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65; Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op. 40; and Piazzolla’s...
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Love to Nippon2015 The Fourth Annual 3.11 Memorial Event Sunday, March 8, 2015 Reflecting on Japan’s Worst Earthquake & Tsunami and Lessons Learned to Better Prepare Southern Californians for Natural Disasters Japanese American National Museum National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, Courtyard and Plaza 111 N. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90012 (Little Tokyo) Love to Nippon 2015 is generously hosted by the Japanese American National Museum Emergency Preparedness Fair, Prayers and Flower Offering for General Public Events at Courtyard and Plaza open at 1:00 pm Sunday, March 8, 2015 1:00pm – 4:30pm JANM Courtyard and Plaza 1:00pm...
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The Nibei Foundation will feature Ms. Farida Futouhi, author of “Charcoal Girl – Meeting the Ghost of the A-Bomb in 1954 Hiroshima” as the speaker of the Powerful Networking Meeting Lecture Series on Tuesday, March 24, at Tersaki Foundation Laboratory Building, 11570 West Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. Admission free. The dinner with the author will start at 6:00 p.m. and the lecture will start at 7:00 p.m. Dinner costs $10 per person. Dinner reservation and choice of menu are required in advance. For dinner reservation, contact Naoko Okada by email nibei@nibei.org or call (310) 479-6101 ext. 134....
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The Los Angeles County Museum of Art announces new exhibition Raku: The Cosmos in a Tea Bowl, opening on March 29 and runing through June 7, 2015 at The Pavilion for Japanese Art. This exhibition comprises nearly 100 masterpieces with examples from all 15 generations and the next generation of the Raku family, whose celebrated legacy continues to influence global ceramics. In the West, the term “raku” refers to a quick, low-fire technique for making ceramics that is often used to teach beginners. This technique traces back to a Japanese family of potters or, more specifically, to the originator of the technique, Raku I (Chōjirō), who lived in the 1500s. Since then, for over 400 years a...
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USC Pacific Asia Museum announces the openings of two new exhibitions drawing from the museum’s permanent collection of more than 15,000 objects from Asia and the Pacific Islands spanning more than five thousand years. Curated by Yeonsoo Chee, USC PAM Assistant Curator, Visualizing Enlightenment: Decoding Buddhist Iconography, presenting Amida Buddha, a recent gift to the museum, will be on view in the Focus Gallery from March 20 – August 2, 2015 and Ikko Style: The Graphic Art of Ikko Tanaka, the museum’s first-time exhibition of Ikko TANAKA’s work, one of the leading graphic designers in Japan in the second half of the 20th century,...
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    USC Pacific Asia Museum A New Way Forward: Japanese Hanga of the 20th Century April 25, 2014 through April 19, 2015 Closely tracking with the significant developments in Japanese political and social spheres of the early 20th century, traditional ukiyo-e woodblock prints fell by the wayside in favor of reinvigorated forms of printmaking as a means of artistic expression. The exhibition presents examples of shin hanga (modern or new prints) and sosaku hanga (creative prints) side-by-side to bring their differences and their shared aspects into focus for visitors, as well as distinguishing characteristics from the earlier print forms that originally gained popularity in...
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Official Opening Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture Elegant Pastimes: Masterpieces of Japanese Art from the Clark Collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Opening Lecture Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015 at 2:00 pm Conducted by Dr. Andreas Marks, Head, Department of Japanese and Korean Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Seats are limited. Call the center at (559) 582-4915. Exhibition dates: Feb. 10 – June 30, 2015 After providing enticing exhibitions for twenty years, the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture will close its doors with its final exhibition Elegant Pastimes: Masterpieces of Japanese Art from...
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