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Photography Thessaloniki, Greece “European Eyes on Japan/Japan Today vol. 8” photography exhibition Exhibition space Dates： April 29 to May 16 Venue： Action Field Kodra Photographers & locations： Stratos Kalafatis (Greece), Saga prefecture Eleni Maligoura (Greece), Fukushima prefecture Karin Borghouts (Belgium), Saga prefecture Pentti Sammallahti (Finland), Fukushima prefecture ※Details of the 19th International Photography Meeting is here. The 19th International Photography Meeting was held from April to May 2007 to present in a broad and general fashion the aims and substance of the Photo Biennale festival of photography in advance of its 2008 launch in Thessaloniki. The “European Eyes on Japan/Japan Today vol. 8” photography exhibition was held in Thessaloniki as part of this conference. The work of Pentti Sammallahti of Finland and Eleni Maligoura of Greece depicting Fukushima prefecture was particularly well acclaimed at the exhibition. We are confident that the work of these four photographers provided local residents with an opportunity to become more familiar with the way their Japanese contemporaries lead their lives in our present society.

Performing Arts Zadar, Nin- Croatia/ Leipzig- Germany/ Vienna, Graz- Austria Kanazawa Butoh Kan In 2007 Kanazawa Butoh Kan have two main projects. One is a 2-month European tour including new productions in Zadar, and Graz. The other is activities relating to KBK’s first performance“Front Costume”which was performed in 1976 and directed/choreographed by Moe Yamamoto’s(Kanazawa Butoh kan) master Tatsumi Hijikata. A video presentation, video recording of Butoh-fu, and workshops are being planned by Keio University’s Hijikata Archive. Date,Time Program July 6,21:30 “Arrival in Heritage” Festival “Mountains” (Zadar, Croatia) July 8,21:00 “Arrival in Heritage” Festival “Mountains” (Nin, Croatia) July 11,21：00 Japanese Contemporary Performing Arts Festival “Ohayo, Japan!” “The Sea of Memories” (Leipzig, Germany） July 12,17：00 Japanese Contemporary Performing Arts Festival “Ohayo, Japan!” “The Sea of Memories” (Leipzig, Germany） July 14-19 Japanese Contemporary Performing Arts Festival “Ohayo, Japan!” Related Program: Workshop (Leipzig, Germany) July 22,20:30 “The Pelts of Old Summers” (Vienna, Austria) July 23-29 Workshop (Vienna, Austria) July 29,20:30 “The Lightning” (Vienna, Austria) August 1-23 Creating “Synchron” (Graz, Austria) August 24-26, 21：00 “Synchron” (Graz, Austria) ※Kanazawa Butoh Kan’s Website is here. ※Performances in Japan are here. ※The programs which Kanazawa Butoh Kan participated in are following. ・Performance"HENSHIN" at Sibiu International Theater Festival (2006) ・Choreography:Choreodrama “Matsukaze” in Croatia

Architecture Melbourne-Perth, Australia / Barcelona,Spain NEW TRENDS of ARCHITECTURE in EUROPE and ASIA-PACIFIC 2006-2007 Exhibition Opening Reception in Tokyo Exhibition Room in Tokyo Dates： in Melbourne：June 20-July 28 in Perth：August 17-September 30 in Barcelona：November 6 - 11 Commissioners： Winy Mass Riken Yamamoto Theme： Agenda Architects： R & Sie (n) (France) , B.I.G. Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark), NL architects (the Netherlands), Enric Ruiz-Geli/Cloud 9 (Spain), Andreas Angelidakis (Greece), Polaris architects (Luxembourg), DOGMA｜OFFICE (Italy), Zizi & Yoyo arhitektid (Estonia), Taira Nishizawa Architects (Japan), MADA s.p.a.m. (China), Edge Design Institute Ltd. (Hong Kong), Mass Studies (Korea), Duangrit Bunnag (Thailand), Sean Godsell Architects (Australia), Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects (Australia) Traveling exhibition： Exhibition in Tokyo May 11-27 Exhibition in Luxembourg November 23 - December 15 ※NEW TRENDS of ARCHITECTURE in EUROPE and ASIA-PACIFIC 2006-2007 website is here. ※The exhibition in Patras 2006 is here. The“New Trends of Architecture in Europe and Asia-Pacific 2006-2007” exhibition that enjoyed such success at the Cultural Capital of Europe Patras in 2006 also visited Tokyo. Launched in 2001, this project each year identifies a number of young architects from various countries and features them in exhibitions, symposia and lectures held in different countries, including at the Cultural Capital of Europe. Large numbers gathered for the opening of the Tokyo exhibition and enjoyed the work shown by the up-and-coming architects. The symposia and university lectures also drew large audiences. Heated debates generated excited the audiences and proved stimulating for the students coming into contact with the cutting edge of the world of architecture. We are confident that the traveling exhibitions in Australia,Spain and Luxembourg will be successful too.

Literature Genoa-Italy 13th International Genoa Poetry Festival Date： Jun 14-24 Venue： Various locations in Genoa Participants： Kyong Mi Park Director： Claudio Pozzani ※12th International Genoa Poetry Festival is here. The Genoese poet Claudio Pozzani has been at the center of this poetry festival held in Genoa each year since 1995. Attended by numerous poets from countries throughout the world, the varied program ranged from poetry readings to symposia and collaborations with artists and musicians. This year they were joined by Kyeon Mi Park, a hard-working poet based in Japan. For both the participant poets and the citizens of Genoa it provided an opportunity for valuable encounters and rich dialog with the poetry and poets of the world.

Music Genoa, Savona and Florence-Italy Kyo Shin Taiko Project: 16th Mediterranean Music Festival Kyo Shin Do, a Japanese drumming group based in Italy, performs at various locations around that country led by Masaaki Kurumaya. This year they appeared at the Mediterranean Music Festival, held annually in Genoa since 1992 with the aim of engaging the world's diverse range of music to experience and seek understanding in the cultures and spirit that lie behind them. These performances and workshops in various locations provided opportunities for the people of Italy to experience with Japanese drumming and its spiritual culture. 6th Mediterranean Music Festival Date： Jun 23- July 3 (Kyo Shin Do performance on Jun 25) Venue： Piazza delle Feste（Genoa） Kyo Shin Taiko Project Concert Date： Jun 27 Venue： Chiostro di Santa Caterina（Savona） Date： July 3 Venue： Museo Archeologico Teatro Romano（Florence） Workshops Date： Jun 23-24, Jun 30, July 1 Venue： Kyo Shin Do Honbu Dojo Kyo Shin Do Leader Masaaki Kurumaya Exhibition：“Calligraphy Art” Date： Jun 26-July 4 Venue： Castello d'Albertis ※Kyo Shin Do's Website is here. ※Masaaki Kurumaya's Website is here.

Performing Arts in Seven European Countries & the United States Contemporary Dance by Hiroaki Umeda Photo：Julieta Cervantes Contemporary dance performer Hiroaki Umeda has had brilliant success both in Japan and overseas. Involving himself in all aspects from lighting to acoustics and video, Umeda has earned accolades for his creative and sensitive performances both overseas and in Japan. This year he again plans performances in Europe and elsewhere around the world. The EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee supports his work throughout the year rather than transiently, with the hope that the work of this artist itself will undergo further development. We look forward to more performances by Umeda. Dates Program,Venue May 5-10 Kunsten FESTIVAL des Arts, Brussels, Belgium May 24 VideoDance2007, Athens, Greece May 31, Jun 1 CONTEMPORANEA 07, Prato, Italy August 10 Sziget Festival 2007, Budapest, Hungary September 18-21 Lyon Dance Biennale, Lyon, france September 23 TorinoDanza, Torino, Italy October 4-5 Wexner Center for the Arts, Colombia, America October 9 Actoral.6, Marseille, France October 18-20 Festival de Madrid, Spain October 24 Centre Des Arts - Enghien-les-Bains, Enghien, France October 26-28 Festival B.A.D.,Bilbao, Spain November 8-9 CULTURGEST, Lisbon, Portugal November 10-16 Arabic tour, Cairo and Tunis November 17 FRAME, Port, Portugal November 20-21 Nimes, France November 23 El Mediator, Perpignan, France November 24-30 Arabic tour, Ramallah and Jerusalem November 30 Le des Jalles, St. Medar, France December 5 Romaeuropa Festival, Rome, Italy December 7,8 Maison de la culture du Japon Paris, France December 11,12 Arcachon Expansion, Arcachon, France ※Hiroaki Umeda's Website is here. ※Performances in Japan are here.

Performing Arts Munich-Leipzig-Germany,Italy DONDORO Theatre Date Program and Venue July 5-8 Tollwood festival “Keshin” 6times (Munich, Germany) July 11 Ohayo-Japan festival, “Keshin” 2 times (Leipzig, Germany) July 13 Ohayo-Japan festival “ Manji” ( Leipzig, Germany) July 15 Tearo Boni “Manji”( Acquapendente, Italy) ※DONDORO’s Website is here. ※Performances in Japan are here. The performance of DONDORO Theatre uses unique style by using life-sized puppets and masks. This was founded by Hoichi Okamoto who is a solo puppetier and it is based on Japanese traditional theater. It is different from any genre. This year, in April, performed under cherry blossoms from south to north in Shinshu, Nagano. Concerning foringn countries, in May, Turky and mexico, in June Portugal, in July Germany and Italy. In Augast Iida puppet festival, in Oct. Osu street performance festival (Nagoya) and in Nov. Inasa Puppet festival. These are fixed schedule for now. EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee supports their work throughout the year rather than transiently, with the hope that the work of this artist itself will undergo further development.

Performing Arts Leipzig-Germany Japanese Contemporary Performing Arts Festival“Ohayo, Japan!” Theater: Uzume Gekijo “Antigone ＠ Japan” Date： July 14,15 Venue： Schaubuhne Leipzig Performer： Seiko Nakazawa, Yoko Matsuo, Tomo Fujisawa, Hiromichi Aramaki, Peter Goessner Related program: Calligraphy-Performance Date： July 14 Venue： Lindenfels Westflugel (Leipzig-Germany) Related program:Kalligraphie-Workshop Date： July 15 Venue： Lindenfels Westflugel (Leipzig-Germany) Related program:Cello-Jazz-Concert by Hiromichi Sakamoto Date： July 14 Venue： Lindenfels Westflugel (Leipzig-Germany) ※The Uzume Gekijo's Website is here The Uzume Gekijo from Kyushu,founded and led by the German Peter Goessner,who was born and educated at Drama school in Leipzig and is living since 1992 in japan, presented their new interpretation of the Greek Tragedy Antigone in Leipzig. For his work Goessner received an important at the award in 2004 for his direction of the play Kamifusen(Paper balloon)written by Kunio KISHIDA Shizuoka Performance Art Festival in Toga of Tadaashi SUZUKI. It was the first time that the Japanese theatre work of Peter Goessner and his Uzume Gekijo was shown in Germany/Europe.

Performing Arts Prague, Brno-Czech Republic/Leipzig-Germany The third workshop of Kyogen farces in Czech Republic Date： July 17 - August 13 Venue： Theatre Faculty, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague,Theatre Studio DISK,Husa na provazku Theatre Participants： The Little theatre of the Kyogen, Participants at the workshop, Shigeyama Shime, Ondrej Hybl Related program： Japanese Contemporary Performing Arts Festival“Ohayo, Japan!” Date： July 19 Venue： Westflugels (Leipzig-Germany) ※Shigeyama Kyogen’s Website is here. The main aim of The Third Kyogen workshop in the Czech Republic is prepare famous kyogen farce “Busu” (Delicious poison) under the supervision of professional Kyogen Actor Shigeyama Shime and his son Ippei. Participants worked also on classical Kyogen komai dance and studied basic movement patterns and voice techniques as well. After the workshop, Kyogen Busu was be performed in Czech language together with another two Kyogen plays, prepared during previous workshops. People in the Czech Republic enjoyed this opportunity to experience the traditional cultures of Japan.

Performing Art Budapest / Hungary Contemporary Dance：Leni-Basso Date Time Prgram and Venue August 13 21:00 Sziget Festoval "Finks" (Budapest/Hungary) ※Leni-Basso’s Website is here. ※The performance at Cultural Capital of Europe Sibiu 2007 is here. ※The performance at Cultural Capital of Europe Patras 2006 is here. ※Performances in Japan are here. Leni-Basso was well received in their appearance at the Sibiu International Theater Festival as part of the Cultural Capital of Europe Sibiu 2007 and Cultural Capital of Europe Patras 2006. In the current year, Leni-Basso is going to premiere a new production and present again "Ghostly Round", a repertory touring internationally now, in Tokyo. The company have performed "Finks" in Sibiu international theater festival 2007 and is going to perform it again in Sziget Festival, Budapest (Hungary). Akiko Kitamura, Leni-Basso's artistic director, and her video artist is going to create a short piece for ACE dance and music in Birmingham. EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee supports their work throughout the year rather than transiently, with the hope that the work of this artist itself will undergo further development.

Seminar Alpbach-Austria The 63rd European Forum Alpbach, Student exchange program Lecture in 2006 Dates： August 16 - September 1 Place： Alpbach Participants： Humito Hayakawa (Sophia University,the doctoral course) Yuko Nishio (University of Tokyo,the master's course) ※European Forum Alpbach's website is here. ※Click here for the 62nd European Forum Alpbach European Forum Alpbach is a tradition now approaching its 63rd iteration. Each forum seminars, symposia and cultural programs in a variety of fields addressing a common theme attended by some 2,500 participants each year. In order to construct a wide-ranging transgenerational network crossing ideological and disciplinary divides, the Forum has also established a grant program for students. Each year some 500 students from around the world take part in the Forum with grant support. The EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee has since 2004 supported the participation of Japanese students. The central theme of the Forum this year is Emergence. We hope that for the two Japanese participants this year their experiences locally and their encounters and dialogues with the other students from around the world will prove to be major contributions to their future research activities.

Performing Art Arhus-Denmark Arhus Festival Theater：CHANBARA “LEGEND OF THE SWORD” Date： September 2 Place： Arhus, Denmark Performer： CHANBARA The CHANBARA Project is a collaboration of Asian instruments with a central focus on Tate (A form of theatrical combat using the samurai sword), Kenbu (Dance incorporating the samurai sword) and Wadaiko and is a story that revolves around the theme of expressing an energy to open the way to the future. CHANBARA expresses the beating of the human heart- The spirit of mankind.Last year in 2006, 24 performances were staged at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland before an audience of 10,000 and received acclaim that placed it amongst the top of over 1000 other performing groups. In 2007, a tour of over 50 performances is scheduled for England, Denmark and Holland.

Fine Art Yuki Okumura Artist-in-residence in Switzerland and Ireland still from Countdown in NYC, 2006 DVD Date： September 10-December 28 Venue： Laboratorie Village Nomade (La Corbiere,Switzerland), Irish Museum of Modern Art(Dublin,Ireland) Artist： Yuki Okumura Related program： Related program: Exhibition “Half The World Away” Date： November 27 - December 9 Venue： Process Room, Irish Museum of Modern Art(Dublin） Having participated in artist-in-residence programs in New York and Taipei, Yuki Okumura has created and shown works mainly of video and organized screenings of Japanese young video artists. This fall and winter, he will participate in artist-in-residence programs at a lakeside in the northwest of Switzerland and at a museum in Dublin. In the nature and the city, the two places with contrasting characters, he will not only create works but also hold screenings and workshops.

Performing Art Berlin-Germany/Czeczin-Poland/Prague-Czech Contemporary Dance and Theater Performance “JAPAN NOW 2007” Performance by Naoka Uemura and Mitsutake Kasai Photo：Masatoshi Kaga JAPAN NOW has made it aim to support contemporary Japanese art in Euope.It offers a platform for performance, dance, theatre, and fine arts with the inclusion of Japanese artists living in Europe.The diverse contemporary art scene of Japan is scarcely known in Europe. It is difficult for Japanese artists to establish themselves in Europe, not only due to the language barrier, but also due to the dominating cliches about traditional Japan. Japan Now has been working successfully for a couple of years now for a growing interest in and awareness of Japanese Modernity in Europe.Japan Now is not simply about the presentation of foreign productions, but about intercultural collaboration. Audience discussions with translators, workshops in which the Japanese artists can teach their techniques and panels stimulate the dialogue and mutual understanding between artists and audience, Japan and Europe. Perticipants： Jareo Osamu + Terada Misako Kenshi Nohmi & Dance Teatro 21 Natsuko Tezuka L'Union libre (Mitsuyo Uesugi＋Kan Mikami) Naoka Uemura + Mitsutake Kasai OM-2 Ｉn Berlin,Germany （ASIA-PACIFIC WEEKS BERLIN 2007） Venue：Theaterhaus Mitte September 13 Jareo Osamu + Terada Misako “ I was born ” September 14 Kenshi Nohmi & Dance Teatro 21 “ Skin, breath, and memory ” September 15 Natsuko Tezuka “ Anatomical Experiment Series ” - private trace - September 16 L'Union libre (Mitsuyo Uesugi＋Kan Mikami) “Jiyuu no Ketsugou” September 17 Naoka Uemura + Mitsutake Kasai “ Walk in the Blue Sky ” September 19 OM-2 “ Opus No 5 ” Workshop September 15 Jareo Osamu + Terada Misako September 16 Kenshi Nohmi September 17 Natsuko Tezuka September 18 Mitsuyo Uesugi September 19 Naoka Uemura + Mitsutake Kasai Ｉn Czeczin, Poland Venue：STOWARZYSZENIE TEATR KANA September 19 Jareo Osamu + Terada Misako “ I was born ” September 20 Kenshi Nohmi & Dance Teatro 21 “ Skin, breath, and memory ” September 21 Natsuko Tezuka “Anatomical Experiment Series” -private trace - September 22 L'Union libre (Mitsuyo Uesugi＋Kan Mikami); “Jiyuu no Ketsugou” September 23 Naoka Uemura + Mitsutake Kasai “Walk in the Blue Sky” Ｉn Prague, Czech Venue：Mihala Pohorela September 23 OM-2 “Opus No 5” ※Perfomances in China are here.

Literature Tyrol-Austria The 5th International Literature Festival “Sprachsalz” Venue：Park Hotel in Hall Date： September 14 - 16 Venue： Park Hotel in Hall Participant from Japan： Nobuo Ikeda (Professor at the University of Tokyo) ※Sprachsalz’s website is here! “Sprachsalz” is an international festival geared mostly towards German-speaking readers and audiences. Already it has made a name for itself among authors and lovers of literature throughout Europe. In total twenty authors are invited to “Sprachsalz” for an entire weekend to give several readings from their published books. Unfortunately, Japanese famous author Mr. Yoshikichi Furui cannot attend the festival due to an unexpected illness. His literary work will be presented by Prof. Nobuo Ikeda from Tokyo University, who is a scholar of contemporary literature and knows both Mr. Furui personally as well as his literary work. Prof. Ikeda will make readings and discussion of Mr. Furui’s work. This program will give the audience the opportunity to obtain further information.

Traditional Art Ukuraine/Fujeirah-United Arab Emirate Pantomime: Nozomi Satomi Date Program and Venue September 22-27 International Monodrama Festival “Maria”　“Who am I？” （National Ivan Franco Theater Small Stage/Ukraine） December 4-12 Fujeirah International Monodrama Festival “Who am I？”（Fujeirah,United Arab Emirate ） ※The program which she participated in before is here. ※Performances in Japan are here. Satomi works as a solo mime performer. Activities are creating performance pieces and presentation, involving street theater program, body express workshop for theater worker or social worker and participating international theater festival for expanding work field. Satomi has performed on an open space like a street. She does not often perform in theater as a closed place. In this year, she will perform at the theater in Hamamatsu, Tokyo and the Kansai region. The EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee supports her work throughout the year rather than transiently, with the hope that the work of this artist itself will undergo further development.

Fine Art Media artist, Takumi Endo Title : TypeTrace Form : Interactive Installation Year : 2007 Venue : Theatre National de Chaillot/Paris, France Date Program September 24-27 Installation [TypeTrace]（ACM Multimedia 2007 Interactive Art Program/Augsburg, Germany） November 6-March 11 Installation [Fortune Plane] （Espace EDF Electra/Paris, France) November 8-10 Installation [Rondo-D] （Municipal Library/Mutamorphoses/Prague, Czech Rep.） March 27-April 10 Installation [Phonethica Rondo-D] (Theatre National de Chaillot/Paris, France) ※Takumi Endo's website is here. ※The programs in Japan are here. ※The programs in Luxembourg are here. In 2007, Paris-based media artist Takumi Endo had been working in Prague (Czech Rep.) for 6 month in the framework of “MapXXL-Pepinieres Europeennes pour Jeunes Artistes” and He will exhibit “TypeTrace”, a interactive installation at “Neumuenster Abbey” in “European forum for emerging creation”, Luxembourg2007. “TypeTrace” also will be exhibited at DesignTide 2007 (Tokyo) and Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography through the late October to February 2008. Hoping for the further development of his activities, the EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee supports the activities of Takumi Endo throughout the year.

Traditional Art Metz-France/Munich-Germany RakuGaku “Noh・Gaku2B” (Noh “Matsumushi”, Gaku2B) Date： October 12 Salle Braun（Metz, France) October 13 Stadthalle Germering（Munich, Germany) Performer： Regisseur／ Ken Maeda Guitarist／ Marco Socias Noh-player／ Shite-Kohzaburoh Hashimoto、 Shite-Tsure-Koji Hashimoto、 Kohken-Atsuyoshi Asano、 Jiutai-Michiaki Asai、 Fue-Ryo Tsuchiya、 Kotsuzumi-Tatsushi Narita Related program： Explanation of Noh and demonstration of Noh’s costume Date： October 12 Salle Braun（Metz, France) October 13 Stadthalle Germering（Munich, Germany) ※Rakugaku’s Website is here. ※Performances in Luxembourg are here. This program is the collaboration between Japanese traditional art “Noh ”and Occidental music, which Ken Maeda produces. Noh players and Spanish guitarist join it. In “Gaku2B” they choose some　Japanese traditional poem “Waka” with a theme of love out of “Kokinwakashu”, and express them combining classical music by J.S. Bach with modern music by B. Britten. Noh”Matsumushi” is also presented, besides they will talk about “Noh” and show how to wear Noh’s costume. In 2007 this concert will be held in Luxembourg, which is European culture capital, France and Germany.

Fine Art Berlin, Germany “From Flash to Pixel” new media art exhibition “Tool’s Life” by minim++ Dates： 27 October 2007 to 14 January 2008 Venue： Martin Gropius Bau Curator： Richard Castelli(Art Director, Lille 3000) A further development of the “Cinemas du Futur” exhibit held at Lille 2004 Cultural Capital of Europe, this show is curated and reassembled in new aspects by Richard Castelli, art director of the Lille 3000 project that is a continuation of Lille 2004. Among Japanese artists showing work were Teiji Furuhashi, minim++ and Tomohiro Sato. This exhibit made a tremendous impact when shown in Shanghai in 2006. We are confident that the people of Germany also found it intriguing.

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