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| 13th Japanese Film Festival hits Melbourne! |
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Melbournites get ready for a feast of Japanese films heading your way! The 13th Japanese Film Festival opens in Melbourne on 3 December with The Chef of the South Pole, a mouthwatering tale of life on a Japanese research base in the South Pole. Don’t miss this special screening followed by a Q&A session with the Director, Shuichi Okita and the author of the book on which the film is based, Jun Nishimura. The festival continues until Tuesday 8 December with a fabulous selection of films from the action-packed ninja drama Kamui, to the hilarious comedy of the closing film Handsome Suit. Tickets are now on sale, click here to secure your seats!
For general information on the festival, films and news, keep checking http://13th.japanesefilmfestival.net/ for all of the latest updates. |
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| Happy Family Plan DVD website opens! |
 The Japan Foundation, Sydney is preparing for the release of our new Japanese language and culture DVD resource in early 2010. The DVD set consists of two discs, Disc 1 contains the Japanese film Happy Family Plan and Disc 2 contains a Japanese language learning kit including activities based on the film, expert cultural commentary on Japanese society and an interview with the film’s Director. The 2 disc set will be available to buy for $29.95, visit our brand new website to find out all of the latest info and go in the draw to name our cute mascot at http://www.happyfamilyplan.com/index2.html |
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| Facetnate! 2010 - Call for Proposals |
In February 2008, the Japan Foundation, Sydney, launched Facetnate!, a support program for new visual artists, with a vision to further cultural exchange through contemporary arts.
We are now accepting proposals for the Facetnate! 2010 program. Australia-based emerging visual artists and/or curators are welcome to apply.
Proposals will be for visual art works - fine art, craft, film, new media, or other visual art - and should clearly demonstrate a strong Japan influence. Successful applicants will be required to coordinate a solo/ group exhibition or event as part of a collective project, which will run for the duration of 2010, following a launch in July.
For further details and to obtain an application form, please click here. |
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| Local Grant Program - Applications now open |
In the current 2009-2010 fiscal year, The Japan Foundation, Sydney office is able to offer a limited number of local grants in support of projects in the field of Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange.
The two available grants are:
Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange Local Grant - Supports projects such as conferences, lectures and presentations conducted by non-profit organisations at an academic level (individuals are not eligible to apply).
Travel Support Grant - Provides funds for researchers to travel to Japan in order to further their Japanese studies-related projects.
The application period is open throughout the 2009-2010 fiscal year, but applications must be received by the Japan Foundation, Sydney office at least 2 months prior to the project start date.
For further details please click here or contact the Japanese Studies & Intellectual Exchange Department on Ph: 02 8239 0055 or email jsgrants@jpf.org.au. |
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| New acquisitions |
| A list of newly acquired titles in November is now available - New item section. |
| The Japan Foundation, Sydney Library is pleased to announce the addition of traditional Japanese games and toys to the library collection. The following items are available for loan: |
 Hagoita Set – similar to badminton, the set includes two wooden rackets and a shuttlecock.
Daruma Otoshi – the player uses a small hammer to knock the bottom disc out from under a stack, leaving the rest of the stack intact. The set includes five round wooden discs, a larger “head” piece, and a small wooden hammer.
Kendama – loosely translated to “sword and ball”, this is a cup-and-ball style game where a wooden ball is attached to a wooden handpiece by a long string. The player uses the handpiece to swing the ball, aiming to catch it on the handpiece.
Hineri-goma – Basic Japanese wooden spinning tops. The set includes two different sized koma spinning tops.
These items are available for loan in the kit corner of the Japan Foundation, Sydney Library. |
| Pickups from new acquisitions - November 2009 |
 Japan at Play: The ludic and the logic of power / edited by Joy Hendry and Massimo Raveri
London : Routledge, 2002.
ISBN: 0-415-37937-7
Call #: 365.7 JAP
Drawing on the work of theorists such as Huizinga, Caillois, Turner and Wittgenstein, Japan at Play raises broad questions about the relationship between play and culture. Topics covered include: Cartoon character creation, Disneyland and theme parks; Hunting and fishing for relaxation, and the problem tourists cause for local industry; and Drinking with workmates, and karaoke training for leisure.
Revealing Japanese worlds little known even to many Japanese, this book examines the complex relationships between work and play, and global and national culture, in Japan.
Click image to enlarge. |
| Read more online, click here |
 Japrocksampler : how the post-war Japanese blew their minds on rock’n’roll / Julian Cope
London : Bloomsbury, 2007.
ISBN: 978-0-7475-8945-7
Call #: 767.8 COP
This book is the history of Western music’s arrival on Japanese shores after World War II, and the mayhem that ensued. It is an exploration of the clash between traditional, conservative Japanese values and the wild rock’n’roll renegades of the 1960s and ‘70s. It tells the tale of key artists in Japanese post-war culture, from itinerant art-house poets to violent refusenik rock groups with a penchant for plane hijacking, and nominates the seminal japrock albums.
Click image to enlarge.
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| Read more online, click here. |
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| Library Calendar |
Please note special Christmas/New Year opening hours:
The library will be closed from 19 December 2009 until 10 January 2010 for stocktaking.
The library service will resume from 11 January as normal, and the due date of any loans falling within this stocktaking period will be extended to 16 January (Saturday).
Also in December, the limit of loan items will be temporarily extended to 6 items for General/Junior card holders, and 12 items for Paid members. |
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| -Shaded days indicate the library is closed. |
Opening hours:
Mon-Fri (except Wed): 11.00 am - 5.30 pm
Wed: 11.00 am - 6.00 pm
Sat (every third week): 11.00 am - 4.00 pm
Sun: Closed
There is a book returns chute at the library entrance. It is available during the Chifley Plaza building operation hours:
Mon-Fri: 6.30 am - 10.00 pm
Sat : 8.30 am - 10.00 pm
Sun/Public Holidays: Closed |
| Library Website |
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| Niseko Winter Music Festival - January 2010 |
The Australian Chamber Orchestra is launching a new music festival in the Niseko skiing region of Hokkaido, Japan. On 15 -17 January, there will be concerts every evening in concert halls next to the ski fields. The Australian Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director Richard Tognetti will play classical favourites, including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.4 and music by tango master Astor Piazzolla. The ACO will also be performing with traditional Taiko drummers and world-renowned harpist, Taoko Yoshino. |
| Further details online, click here |
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Around Australia is a list of Japan-related events being held around the country. The Japan Foundation, Sydney is not affiliated with these events unless otherwise noted, and is not responsible for these events or the content of linked websites.
For further details on any of these events, please contact the event organisers directly. |
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| Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro – Win a free CD! |
 Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro are a six-piece funk band from Saitama, Japan. After building a reputation as one of the finest funk units around today, touring clubs of all sizes in Japan, the Fuji Rock Festival and countless festivals around the world, Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro will embark on a run of dates across Australia including Woodford Festival, Peats Ridge Festival, Sydney Festival and The Basement.
To celebrate the tour, two Omusubi readers have the chance to win a copy of Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro’s self-titled album on CD. To enter the draw, please email omusubi@jpf.org.au with your name and contact details by Friday 4 December, 5pm. |
| Further details online (in Japanese and English), click here |
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| Hymn to Beauty: The Art of Utamaro |
 The ukiyo-e woodblock print is undoubtedly one of the most recognisable of Japan’s diverse art forms, and Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?-1806) is its quintessential exponent. Already celebrated as a master of the ukiyo-e print during his lifetime in late 18th-century Japan, he was introduced to the West at the turn of the 20th century as a painter of the Green Houses (Yoshiwara pleasure quarters).
Featuring around 80 prints from the renowned collection of the Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin, this exhibition is the first extensive survey of Utamaro’s work in Australia and also includes work by his contemporaries and followers.
Click image to enlarge. |
| When: |
13 February 2010 – 2 May 2010 |
| Where: |
Upper Asian Gallery, Ground Level, Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Road, The Domain, Sydney |
| Admission: |
Adult $8, Member/Concession $5, Family $20 |
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| Full details online, click here |
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| Tatzu Nishi Exhibition – Art Gallery of NSW |
 Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi is renowned for transforming public spaces such as streetlights and statues into objects within domestic environments. In his Sydney work, Nishi has enclosed the two equestrian statues that stand at the entrance of the Art Gallery of NSW within temporary room-like structures, decorated as a bedroom and living room. Visitors will enter these elevated rooms via ramps leading from the steps of the Gallery.
Entitled War and peace and in between, Nishi’s work is the 19th Kaldor Public Art Project and coincides with an exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW celebrating 40 years since the first Kaldor Public Art Project in 1969, in which Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the coastline of Little Bay in fabric. Continuing the Kaldor Public Art Projects tradition of presenting cutting-edge contemporary art, Nishi hopes to take the statues out of their familiar setting and encourage visitors to view them from a fresh perspective. |
Exhibition
40 years: Kaldor Public Art Projects and 19th Kaldor Public Art Project - War and peace and in between |
| When: |
2 October 2009 -14 February 2010 |
| Where: |
Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Road, The Domain, Sydney |
| Admission: |
Free |
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| For information on Tatzu Nishi and the 19th Kaldor Public Art Project please click here. |
| For information on the 40 years: Kaldor Public Art Projects exhibition please click here |
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ISSUE 24
DECEMBER 2009 |
In this issue:
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| The
Japan Foundation, Sydney |
Shop 23, Level 1
Chifley Plaza
2 Chifley Square
SYDNEY NSW 2000 |
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| Art
& Culture Dept. |
| Phone:
(02) 8239 0055 |
| Fax:
(02) 9222 2168 |
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| Japanese
Studies & Intellectual Exchange
Dept. |
| Phone:
(02) 8239 0055 |
| Fax:
(02) 9222 2168 |
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| Japanese
Language Dept. |
| Phone: (02)
8239 0077 |
| Fax: (02)
9222 2169 |
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| Library |
| Phone:
(02) 8239 0011 |
| Fax:
(02) 9222 2164 |
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