Boston Flora

Tag: Japan Society

  • Saturday, September 30, 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm, or 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm – Incense Appreciation

    Mr. Masataka Hata, President of the Shoyeido Incense of Kyoto, will instruct participants in the art of incense appreciation. The Shoyeido Incense Company began in Kyoto in 1705, becoming the world’s premiere incense-making company and the preferred supplier of incense to most temples in Japan.

    In the early 18th century, Rokubei Moritsune Hata began incorporating methods he learned while working at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. He applied the court’s secret traditions of blending incense, previously enjoyed only by royalty, to commercial production. Twelve generations later, Masataka Hata continues this legacy, and today Shoyeido offers customers a wide variety of unique high quality incense.

    There will be two sessions (each seating limited to 12 people) on Saturday, September 3, at 1 and 3. The event takes place at the Cambridge Innovation Center, 11th floor, 1 Broadway, Cambridge. Japan Society members $15, $30 for nonmembers. Light refreshments will be served after the ceremony. Register at http://japansocietyboston.org.

  • Monday, January 11, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Ishimure Michiko, The Arts, and Social Responsibility

    On Monday, January 11 from 7 – 8:30 at the Kaji Aso Studio Institute for the Arts, Bruce Allen will tell stories of trial and hope based on Japanese environmental incidents, including those in Fukushima and Minamata. His talk will incorporate segments from a recent documentary film about Ishimure Michiko, pictured, Japan’s foremost environmental writer-activist, who is known as the “Rachel Carson of Japan.” The film shows efforts of Japanese to come to terms with environmental and energy challenges, and to nurture reconciliation and hope for the future. The Studio is located at 40 St. Stephen Street in Boston. Suggested donation $10.

  • Through Friday, October 3 – In Praise of Garden Shadows: Photos of Japan

    The Upper Deck Gallery, 38 Main Street in Orleans, presents a photo exhibit by Japan Society Member Richard Leo Jacobs, In Praise of Garden Shadows: Photos of Japan.  The Upper Deck Gallery is located inside Cape Cod Photo, Art & Framing.  For more information call 508-255-0476.

  • Wednesday, April 16, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – The Art of Flowers

    The Japan Society of Boston presents The Art of Flowers on Wednesday, April 16, from 6 – 8 at the TOTO Gallery, 123 North Washington Street, Boston.  The $35 cost includes flower material. Design beautiful, original, harmonious arrangements using a variety of plant materials and flowers.

    Ikenobo Ikebana is an art that is noted for its exquisite simplicity, perfect proportions and dramatic use of negative space. Add beauty and serenity to your life — learn the art of Japanese floral design.

    Whether you are looking for a relaxing, creative hobby, wish to progress through a certification, or something in between, this will be a class for you. The instructor is Jorge Padilla- Zamudio, President of Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Boston. For more information and to register, please contact GloriaEast@Juno.com.

    http://www.ikenoboikebana.com/afree_quince.JPG

  • Wednesday, April 18, 3:00 pm – Japanese Cherry Tree Planting

    Governor Deval Patrick, Mayor Thomas Menino and Japan Airlines Chairman Emeritus Kazuo Inamori will join Consul General of Japan in Boston Takeshi Hikihara for a ceremonial planting of Japanese flowering cherry trees in Boston’s Public Garden on Wednesday, April 18 at 3:00pm near the corner of Beacon and Charles Streets.

    The planting ceremony is part of the Greater Boston-Japan Cherry Blossom Festival which marks the 100th anniversary of the gift of Japanese flowering cherry trees from Japan to the United States. The original trees, which were planted in Washington D.C., have become a symbol of the close relations between the two countries. One of the cherry trees to be planted in the Public Garden is a graft produced from those in Washington’s Tidal Basin.

    At the April 18 ceremony guests will hear remarks from Governor Patrick, Mayor Menino, Chairman Emeritus Inamori and Consul General Hikihara. Women of the World, a rising international vocal ensemble made up of Berklee graduates, and Japanese koto player, Ms. Yuki Yasuda, will add enjoyable cultural color to the occasion.

    For further information on the Greater Boston-Japan Cherry Blossom Festival 2012, which includes a gagaku (Japanese Imperial Court music) concert; Haru Matsuri, a Japanese-style festival in Copley Square as well as other performances, lectures and exhibits, visit:

    Consulate General of Japan in Boston: www.boston.us.emb-japan.go.jp/

    Japan Society of Boston: www.japansocietyboston.org/sakura/eng

    For national information, see:

    Embassy of Japan in Washington DC: www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/sakura100

    For questions regarding this event, contact: Susan Gill s.gill@cgjbos.org or 617 973-9772

  • Friday, November 20, 7:00 – 8:30 pm – Kodo: An Evening of Incense Appreciation


    KyotoGardensMr. Masataka Hata, President of the Shoyeido Incense company of Kyoto  will  present an evening devoted to the lore of traditional Japanese  incense appreciation.  Shoyeido began in Kyoto in 1705.   Rokubei Moritsune Hata began incorporating methods  he learned while working at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. He applied the court’s secret traditions of blending incense, previously enjoyed  only by royalty, to commercial production.  Twelve generations later,  Masataka Hata continues this legacy, and Shoyeido today offers customers a wide variety of high quality, unique, hand-blended incense.  Mr. Hata will be joined in this program by Hachiya Sohitsu, the young master of the Shino School of Incense Appreciation.  The program will be in two parts:  first, participants will engage in the classic incense game known as “kumiko” or “genji-ko,”  a favorite pastime of courtiers, as depicted in The Tale of Genji.  The incense game will take place in  Showa Boston’s  beautiful Sanzashi-an tea-ceremony rooms.  A more perfect setting for experiencing incense as it was known to Prince Genji and Lady Murasaki does not exist in New England.  Part two will be a brief workshop in making Japanese incense sachets.

    $30 for the Public
    $15 for Japan Society Members
    For more information, log on to www.us-japan.org.

  • Friday, October 23, 6:30 pm – Kyoto: City of Gardens

    For more than 1200 years, the gardens of Kyoto have reflected the cultural characteristics of each successive era of Japanese history.  In this talk on Friday, October 23, beginning at 6:30 pm,  MARC PETER KEANE, landscape designer and historian of Japanese gardens, will discuss the cultural forces — social, religious, economic, artistic, and architectural – that have shaped the gardens of Kyoto from the time of the Tale of Genji (10th century) to the present.  1200 years ago, the Emperor of Japan settled his court in a newly-built city, Heian-kyô, now known as Kyôto. Gardens were built at the residences of the imperial courtiers, and have been built in that city ever since, their design changing over time as the ebb and flow of society replaced one culture with another. Marc Peter Keane, garden historian and specialist in Japanese gardens, will discuss those cultural changes — social, religious, economic, artistic, architectural — and how each new form of Kyoto garden reflects the cultural environment of its time. His talk will include: pond gardens at courtier residences in the Heian-period, medieval gardens of raked sand and stones, tea gardens, and courtyard gardens of urban merchant houses.  Marc Peter Keane lived in Kyoto for 18 years, designing gardens for private individuals, companies and temples, and continues that work now from his studio in Ithaca, New York. His books include Japanese Garden Design (an introduction to the culture and aesthetics of Japanese gardens), Sakuteiki (a translation of the Japan’s oldest gardening treatise), The Art of Setting Stones (eight essays on the meaning of gardens), and the soon-to-be-published, Japanese Tea Gardens.This talk is part of  the Kyoto-Boston 50th Anniversary celebration.  Please rsvp at www.us-japan.org.

    The Japan Society of Boston
    at Showa Boston Institute
    420 Pond St., Boston MA
    Free and open to the public

    http://www.mpkeane.com/sakuteikimd.jpg