Japan Society stimulates cultural appetites and satisfies even the most adventurous palates this spring with j-CATION: Taste Japan, a day-long open house festival devoted to Japanese food. On Saturday, April 10, from 1 pm-1 am, this inaugural event celebrates food through a host of delectable offerings - both cultural and culinary - allowing visitors to take a vacation to Japan without ever leaving the city. Exemplifying everything Japan Society has to offer, j-CATION fills the Society's theater, gallery, lounge and classrooms with an array of activities including how-to sessions, a wide selection of Japanese snacks and drinks, artistic and educational workshops, live music, a film screening, contests, and more. All ages welcome ($5 suggested donation).
Throughout the day Japan Society's 262-seat theater offers several main courses. Participants can feast their eyes on "Edible Cinema" with an afternoon screening of Flavor of Happiness (Shiawase no Kaori), elevate their culinary consciousness during the "Clash of the Foodies!" Japanese game show-style competition, and dig into a "Table Talk" with competitive eating champion Takeru Kobayashi of Nathan's Coney Island hot dog contest fame. The evening explodes into a feast for all senses as the delicious sounds of popular Brooklyn-based dream-pop band Asobi Seksu takes center stage.
In Japan Society's classrooms, discover Japanese delicacies and creative customs in a series of side dish workshops. In "Japanese Tea & Sweets 101," on-site specialists lead a participatory workshop from preparation to sampling, pairing traditional Japanese sweet treats, wagashi, with loose leaf brewed green tea. Learn simple Japanese phrases to enhance the enjoyment of Japanese cuisine in "Short & Sweet: Single Serving Language Classes"--basic restaurant and food etiquette will be demonstrated, as well as personal introductions and related topics. In "Eye Candy: Japanese Calligraphy (Shodo) Classes," master calligrapher demonstrates how to write food-related words and phrases using traditional brush and ink techniques. Finally "Furoshiki: It's a Wrap" teaches participants how to make and use the elegant and earth-friendly furoshiki (wrapping cloth) to gift-wrap wine and more.
Nestled behind bamboo plants and an indoor waterfall, Japan Society's main floor reception room transforms into the comfortable j- LOUNGE. By day guests can congregate, relax and sample one of the many unique varieties of Japanese soft drinks, bottled tea, canned coffee, sake, plum wine and beer from the cash bar. At night j- LOUNGE pulses until 1 am with the sweet beats of a DJ.
Throughout the day, a variety of appetizing Japanese snacks and treats will be available for purchase in Japan Society's foyer. Select vendors from local restaurants and retailers offer up authentic tastes of Japan with everything from popular snacks to decidedly more unusual cuisine.
In the Virtual Bento Box Battle, amateur cooks and bento enthusiasts from across the country are invited to submit digital photos of their most innovative and adorable bento box creations through March 31. Selected entries will be showcased on Japan Society's website and all submissions will be displayed on a flat-screen monitor during j-CATION. Guest judges vote on the winners, who will receive enticing food-related prizes. For more information or to enter, visit
www.japansociety.org/j-cation.
For those with an insatiable appetite for art, Japan Society's spring exhibition Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection will be open extra-long hours during j-CATION. Visit 11 am-9 pm; admission is a suggested $5 donation or complimentary with a j-CATION pass.
From 1-5 pm, meet and speak with mangaka (comic book illustrator) artist-in-residence, Hiroki Otsuka. Visitors can observe Otsuka as he creates an original comic book based on Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters. He will also critique visitors' drawings.
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After releasing their self-titled debut album to critical acclaim in 2004, Asobi Seksu (colloquial Japanese for "playful sex") quickly became a favorite live show on the New York scene and other side of the Atlantic. The band's second album, Citrus, received worldwide praise in 2006 and expanded Asobi Seksu's fan base throughout the United States, and into Europe, Japan, Australia, Korea and Mexico. In 2009 they released Hush and Rewolf, a re-release featuring acoustic takes on career-spanning songs. The band's members are Yuki Chikudate (the bi-lingual female vocalist), James Hanna, Larry Gorman and Billy Pavone. More at www.asobiseksu.com.
Known in the U.S. as "The Tsunami," Takeru Kobayashi is a multiple-world-record-holding major-league eater. With his patented "Kobayashi Shake" (a little wiggle he does to get food down his iron esophagus more speedily), he was winner 6 years in a row (2001-06) of the Nathan's Famous July Fourth International Eating Contest at Coney Island. In addition to a personal best of eating 64.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes in 2009, Kobayashi has downed 97 hamburgers in 8 minutes, 20 pounds of rice balls in 30 minutes, and over 50 cow brains in 15 minutes. On March 8, 2010, he set a new Guinness World Record by eating 29 meatballs in one minute. Born 1978 in Nagano, Japan, Kobayashi founded the United Food Fighter Organization (UFFO) in 2004. More at takeru-kobayashi.com/.
A mouth-watering drama that ranks among the best of foodie cinema, Mitsuhiro Mihara's 2008 The Flavor of Happiness (Shiawase no Kaori) stars veteran actor Tatsuya Fuji (In the Realm of the Senses) and award-winning actress Miki Nakatani (Memories of Matsuko). The heart-warming film focuses on the mentor-apprentice relationship between an aging Chinese chef who can no longer run his beloved restaurant and a struggling single mother. 124 min, 35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles.
Japan Society's spring 2010 exhibition Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection (March 12-June 13) examines the career of print artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), whose vivid scenes from history and legend, wildly popular 150 years ago, feature giant spiders, skeletons, and sea creatures; Chinese ruffians; women warriors; haggard ghosts; and ferocious samurai. Japan Society presents over 130 dramatic images by a graphic genius whose work is a major influence on today's manga and anime artists. Organized by the Royal Academy of Arts in collaboration with Arthur R. Miller and The British Museum.
Established in 1907, Japan Society has evolved into North America's major producer of high-quality content on Japan for an English-speaking audience. Presenting over 100 events annually through well established Corporate, Education, Film, Gallery, Language, Lectures, Performing Arts and Innovators Network programs, the Society is an internationally recognized nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that provides access to information on Japan, offers opportunities to experience Japanese culture, and fosters sustained and open dialogue on issues important to the U.S., Japan, and East Asia.
j-CATION takes place Saturday, April 10 from 1:00 PM-1:00 AM. Open to the public, all ages welcome ($5 suggested donation). Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street between First & Second Avenues. For more info call 212-832-1155 or visit
www.japansociety.org.
Corporate Leadership Support provided by Mitsubishi International Corporation and
Kikkoman Corporation. Additional corporate support is provided by Deloitte, Nippon Steel U.S.A., Inc. and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. Additional funding is provided by generous individual supporters. The screening of Flavor of Happiness (Shiawase no Kaori) is made possible through the generous support of All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. Japan Society would like to thank the following for their generous in-kind contribution of time and products: Canon U.S.A., Inc.; Dainobu; ITO EN (North America) INC.; Kiteya Soho New York; Kyotofu; Minamoto Kitchoan; MUJI U.S.A. LIMITED; Oms/b; and Panasonic Corporation of North America.
