In 2007-08, we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Japan Society's founding with JAPAN100: CELEBRATING A CENTURY. Featuring at least one major undertaking every month in addition to our customarily high caliber programming, the celebration offers an unprecedented array of events at our landmark building, throughout New York City and the United States, and in Japan.
As you look forward to the Society's upcoming events highlighted on www.Japan100.org, we hope you also take a moment to look back and to look around with us. This website features key moments from our institutional timeline. It also recognizes fantastic Japan-related programming from other organizations in the New York area and throughout North America.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Wood
Japan Society is grateful for the generous support of our Centennial Sponsors:
The Society would also like to thank the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund and David Rockefeller for their very generous Centennial gifts.
Media sponsorship is provided by:
As part of the Millennium on View Program, Millennium UN Plaza is the preferred hotel partner of Japan Society’s Centennial.
The festivities begin in January 2007 when Japan Society’s Corporate & Policy Program inaugurates the Centennial Speakers Series, featuring discussions by some of the top business leaders and policymakers in Japan and the U.S., including Fujio Cho, Beate Gordon, Eikoh Harada, Yuzaburo Mogi, Joseph Nye, Junichi Ujiie, Paul Volcker, and Ezra Vogel.
Also in January, Japan Society’s U.S.-Japan Innovators Project presents the New Paradigms for Social Innovation: U.S.-Japan Perspectives (Jan. 23, 2007), the first of several events produced by Japan Society in Japan throughout 2007-08. A New York symposium Innovating Change: U.S.-Japan Collaboration in the 21st Century (May 2007) brings together a multidisciplinary group from Japan and the U.S. who participated in a series of problem-solving retreats in 2006; Partners in Change: The Future of U.S.-Japan Collaboration (Nov. 2007) is its sister symposium in Tokyo, Japan.
With more than a dozen prestigious productions planned, Japan Society’s Performing Arts Program kicks off the year with Big Dance Theater’s The Other Here (Feb. 7-10, 2007), a world premiere production commissioned by Japan Society. Other highlights include AOI/KOMACHI (March 22-24, 2007), new noh plays written and directed by Takeshi Kawamura, starring award-winning actress Rei Asami and the legendary Akira Kasai; Curlew River (April 12-14, 2007), Benjamin Britten’s opera directed by Yoshi Oida with music direction by David Stern; Noh & Kyogen in the Park (July 19-21, 2007), alfresco performances of traditional theater, which feature performances by renowned artists and film and TV stars; Turning Japanese (Fall 2007), a city-wide centennial observance with contributions from major arts presenters and venues across New York City; Kazuo Ohno 101: 3-Week Butoh Parade, (Oct. 10-27, 2007), honoring one of the great founders of butoh dance with legendary pioneers of the movement; and Harry Partch’s Delusion of the Fury (Dec. 13-15, 2007), an unprecedented re-creation of the 1969 music-theater piece commissioned by Japan Society.
In addition to regular high quality programming for students, educators, and families, the Education Program launches About Japan: A Teacher’s Resource (March 2007), a premier online resource for teachers, and will produce the 100th Anniversary Alumni Reception for Educators (Aug. 24, 2007), honoring the 100+ teachers who have participated in Japan Society’s Educators Study Tours.
Japan Society Gallery’s 2007 exhibitions span 1000 years of history. Awakenings: Zen Figure Painting in Medieval Japan (March 28-June 17, 2007) is the first major exhibition of its kind in more than 30 years includes Japanese national treasures and important cultural properties, some of which make their first trip to the U.S. from Japan. The fall 2007 exhibition Making a Home: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York (Oct. 5, 2007-Jan. 13, 2008) is a city-wide undertaking showcasing some 33 established and emerging Japanese artists who live and work in New York City.
Planning numerous special events during the centennial, high-profile public happenings include the Centennial Gala (May 9, 2007), a veritable red carpet birthday bash honoring luminaries in U.S.-Japan relations with Centennial Honorary Committee Co-Chairs David Rockefeller and Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda; and a Centennial Celebratory Dinner in Japan (Spring 2008), a culminating celebration held in Tokyo honoring Japan Society’s 100th anniversary and hosted by influential friends of Japan Society from the U.S. and Japan.
The Education & Lecture, Corporate & Policy, and Performing Arts Programs combine efforts for TECH EPOCH (May 31-June 10, 2007) an 11-day summit covering all aspects of Japan’s technological innovation with cutting-edge robotics, interactive demonstrations, multimedia performances, lectures, symposia, and student workshops.
The Film Program presents JAPAN CUTS (July 5-15, 2007), its first-ever, large scale film festival of new Japanese film featuring blockbusters, independents, shorts, outdoor screenings, and panel discussions with Japan’s top filmmakers.
In addition to over 100 singular Japan Society happenings beginning in January 2007, additional centennial projects include a full-length illustrated book by Michael R. Auslin, Associate Professor of History, Yale University due in May 2007; the continued partnership with Keio University in which Japan Society will become the first East Coast organization to be equipped with an ultra-high speed communications laboratory in early 2007; and finally JAPAN100, an initiative to promote 100+ North American Japan-related events from other organizations in print and online publications throughout the celebration.
Find out more about all of Japan Society's programs and events at www.japansociety.org