In 1860, the Tokugawa Shogunate sent the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the United States to formally ratify the trade agreement between the two countries. Eighty samurai arrived in San Francisco on March 29 before being enthusiastically welcomed in Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. It was a great spectacle at the time and sowed the seeds for rapid Japanese industrialization in the late 19th century. The Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia and its partner organizations are presenting a series of events commemorating this historic exchange. Click here for more details....

An opportunity to network and learn about doing business between Philadelphia and Japan. Light refreshments will be served during the networking period followed by a short presentation with Brian Szepkouski, a leading authority of corss-cultural communication.

Brian Szepkouski is president of Szepko International Inc., a consulting firm whose mission is developing individual and organizational effectiveness. He provides expertise in cross-cultural communications, international executive development, and strategic planning for global business expansion. In addition to training and consulting, he is a certified executive and life coach focusing on long-term excellence in global leadership. He has a M.A. in Human Resource Development and has worked as a PR executive for both Japanese and American corporations, including Tiffany & Company. Brian lived in Japan six years, studying at both Waseda University and Tokyo University Graduate School as a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar, and teaching English at a private high school in northern Japan.

 

Want to learn how to wear a kimono? It is a complicated process but with this three part course, you will be able to dress yourself in beautiful traditional garb! Sensei Fumiyo Batta, a cultural ambassador renowned for her musical talent, will be demonstrating the intricacies of Japanese fashion. Join her for a life experience in custom, charm, and fun!

September 22: Learn the history and traditions of kimono culture, the pieces of dress, and how to wear the "shitagi" or under layer.

September 29: Discover the meaning and art of wearing the outer layer of the kimono.

October 6: Final class ties it all together: tie your obi and perfect the process for future dressings!

The landscapes and scenes of Japanese life and culture depicted in ukiyo-e color woodcuts made in Japan in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are widely known and admired. Less familiar are the “Yokohama Prints” portraying Westerners who came to Japan after the island nation opened its borders to international trade in the late 1850s. Picturing the West showcases approximately ninety of the latter woodcuts, selected from the Museum’s extensive collection of nineteenth-century Japanese prints. 

Our conversation club is an informal gathering for people to speak together in Japanese and English.

Open to speakers of all levels! No RSVP necessary.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first Japanese mission to the U.S., Leah Stein Dance Company will perform Japan House/Philadelphia, a site-specific dance piece at Shofuso Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park on September 9 through 12, 2010.

Joining the company will be Japanese artists Hideo Arai and Mika Kimula and Japanese- American artists Toshi Makihara and Roko Kawai in this dance that commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the first Japanese mission to the U.S. and honors the murals of Hirosho Senju.

LSDC will create the piece with long-time collaborators percussionist Toshi Makihara and dancer/choreographer Roko Kawai and Japanese partners dancer Hideo Arai and singer Mika Kimula. This project builds upon a collaboration begun in 2007 and 2008 when Leah Stein traveled to Japan to create work in a 200-year-old traditional home, Izu House, located two hours south of Tokyo on the Izu Peninsula. Izu House is located on the same road on which Admiral Perry’s ‘black ships’ landed.