2012 / Kimono lecture and demonstration by Mme. Fumi Akutagawa, June 19 at 7:30 pm

Akutagawa Fumi KimonoThe Nibei Foundation’s Japan Study Club features kimono consultant Mme. Fumi Akutagwa on June 19 at 7:30 pm at the Terasaki Foundation Laboratory Building, 11570 West Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064.

Reception and dinner at 6:30 pm

Followed by the presentation at 7:30 pm

(310) 479-6101 ext 134    japanstudies@nibei.org

 

 

 

 

June 19, 2012

Japan Study Club at the Nibei Foundation

Mme. Fumi Akutagawa, Japanese Culture and Arts Instructor, and L.A. Kimono Club

Over ten kimono models will appear at the demonstration

 

Madame Fumi Akutagawa has been teaching Japanese culture and arts in Southern California since 1976.

A woman of many talents, she received her formal artistic training in Tokyo, Japan.

She was awarded her instructor’s license in Japanese tea ceremony from the Edo Senke School in 1958, and she also holds master degrees from Koryu Shoto-Kai School of Ikebana and the First Kimono Academy in both Japan.

She traveled a number of times to both Europe and America as a member of the Japan Kimono Mission.

Frequently, Mme. Akutagawa demonstrates the art of kimono dressing in various festivals and venues in Southern California such as Pasadena’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival and the Samurai Parade in little Tokyo.

She has presented kimono fashion shows every New Year’s Day at the New Otani Hotel (currently Kyoto Grand Hotel) in Little Tokyo since its opening in1980, as well as the traditional Japanese celebrations of Girls Day (March 3), Children / Boys Day (May 5), and Tanabata Star Festival (July 7).

Recently her kimono expertise was tapped when she worked on the films “Memoirs of Geisha,” and “Spiderman.”

She was also a consultant on the productions of “Ed and Haru Reischauer” (NHK) and “Gung Ho” (Paramount) movies for television.

She has served as Japanese culture consultant for three separate productions of the opera “Madame Butterfly:” one staged by the Los Angeles Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, another by the South Bay Opera Company, and the third by the Opera Pacific Company at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Currently, she teaches weekly classes in kimono dressing and Japanese tea ceremony, both in Little Tokyo and at her residence in Moorpark, Ventura County.