Boston Flora

Tag: Japan

  • Wednesday, April 22, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Naoya Hatakeyama: Personal Landscapes

    One of Japan’s leading contemporary photographers, Naoya Hatakeyama has presented award-winning images that explore the relationship between urbanization and the natural world, some of which are on view in the exhibition In the Wake: Japanese Photographers Respond to 3-11. Since 2011, Hatakeyama has returned to his tsunami-ravaged home of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture to photograph the transformed landscape. On Wednesday, April 22, from 7 – 8 in the Harry and Mildred Remis Autitorium at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, hear how his experiences in Japan and abroad have influenced his process, body of work, and personal philosophy. The lecture is part of the Rad Smith Program in Japanese Art. Image below: Naoya Hatakeyama, 2013.10.20 Kesen-cho from the series “Rikuzentakata 2011–2014” (detail), 2013. Photograph, C print. © Hatakeyama Naoya / Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery.

    To order tickets by phone, call 1-800-440-6975; to order in person, visit any MFA ticket desk.

  • 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.

  • Thursday, October 24 – Friday, November 8 – Japan: Gardens and Landscapes in Kyoto and Southern Japan and South Korea

    Japan, the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ has one of the great world traditions of garden design. In November the gardens of Kyoto glow with the changing leaf colors of the famed maples set against the deep green of moss and the tones of raked gravel and ancient stones. This storied city, preserved from destruction during World War II, has been an artistic, religious and commercial center for over a thousand years.

    Korea, the ‘Land of Morning Calm’ has a 5,000 year old history and its own traditional garden culture. With four distinct seasons its wealth of native plants and varied topography combine in a landscape described as geumsu gangsan -‘a land of picturesque rivers and mountains as if embroidered on silk.  This natural beauty has led to the development of a landscape style that differs in many ways from the classic styles of China and Japan, notably in its use of a wide range of plants, chosen not only for their symbolism, such as the ‘four gentlemen’ of bamboo, orchid, chrysanthemum and plum, but also for their variety.

    This trip, sponsored by The Boston Architectural College and led by LI Travel Expeditions and Nan Blake Sinton, will take place October 24 – November 8. As director of programs for Horticulture magazine Nan has developed, organized and led an international series of garden seminars and tours. An experienced educator and designer, Nan was also the director of public programs at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum and has been leading garden design programs to Portugal since 1995. She is a horticultural educator, garden designer, writer, and national lecturer on design and planting; her work in horticultural outreach and education has been recognized by the Garden Club of America, and was Massachusetts Horticultural Society 2005 Gold Medal winner.

    For more information, please email pce@the-bac.edu.

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Korea-Seoul-Changdeokgung-31.jpg

  • Sunday, March 10, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm – Celebrating 550 Years of Ikenobo Ikebana

    The Japan Society of Boston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston present The 2013 Rad Smith Program in Art: Celebrating 550 Years of Ikenobo Ikebana, featuring 45th Generation Headmaster Sen’ei Ikenobo and 46th Generation Headmaster Designate Yuki Ikenobo, on Sunday, March 10, from 3 – 4:30 at the Remis Auditorium of the Museum of Fine Arts. Commemorate the auspicious occasion of the 550th year since Ikenobo, a highlight of Japanese aesthetics, first appeared in public records. Ikenobo is the original school fo Ikebana, Japanese traditional flower arranging. The 45th Generation Headmaster, Sen’ei Ikenobo, talks briefly about Ikebana and Japanese traditional culture, and 46th Generation Headmaster Designate, Yuki Ikenobo, presents an Ikebana demonstration. Followed by a Mawari-ike ceremony, a traditional Ikebana-judged competition.  Tickets ($15 MFA members, seniors and students, $18 non members)  are available on line at www.mfa.org.

  • Wednesday, May 9, 6:00 pm – Coffee Life in Japan

    Boston University Professor of Anthropology Merry White explores the fascinating role that coffee and cafe society have played in Japanese culture in a lecture on Wednesday, May 9, from 6 – 8 at 808 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.  White’s book, Coffee Life in Japan – part ethnography, part memoir – traces the cafe craze from 1888, when Japan helped to launch the Brazilian coffee industry, up to the present.  Her work examines themes as diverse as gender, privacy, perfectionism, and urbanism.  Learn how coffee and coffee spaces have played essential roles in the formation of Japanese beliefs about public space, social change, modernity, and pleasure.  Hear how the cafe has been a place to encounter new ideas and experiments in thought, behavior, sexuality, dress and taste.  Each person attending this event will receive a copy of White’s book.  Refreshments will be served.  $25.  Register online at www.bu.edu/foodandwine.

  • Wednesday, March 14, 7:00 pm – Gardens Around the World

    GARDEN CLUB OF NORFOLK presents Henry Callan, antique appraiser and lecturer, talking about and showing slides of GARDENS AROUND THE WORLD. This international tour will take us from the U.S.A. to the English gardens at Hampton Court, the Palace of Versailles in France, to the Courts of the Alhambra of Spain, to South Africa, to the Taj Mahal in India, to the botanical Gardens of old Ceylon (below), the summer gardens of the King of Siam, and finally to Japan to compare the dry landscape gardens of Buddhism to the lush moss gardens of Kyoto. Meeting is Wednesday, March 14th at 7:00 PM in the Norfolk Public Library, 139 Main Street in Norfolk.  Refreshments will be served, and prizes awarded. Suggested donation of $5 toward garden club civic projects may be paid at the door.

  • Monday, March 19, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Bonsai: History, Facts and Myths

    The March meeting of the Garden Club of the Back Bay will take place at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden on Monday, March 19 beginning with tea at 2 pm, followed by another of our “Japan Year” programs, Bonsai: History, Facts and Myths. Learn how bonsai are created and tips for keeping them alive as long as possible. Pauline F. Muth will present a program on the history, art and horticulture of bonsai. She will illustrate her talk with both a photographic and live collection of various types of bonsai. Pauline has been involved with bonsai for almost 40 years. She maintains a teaching studio in West Charlton, NY exclusively dedicated to the art of bonsai. Her gardens are open to the public by appointment. She sits on the executive boards of Mohawk Hudson Bonsai Society, The Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Societies, The American Bonsai Society and Bonsai Clubs International. Her studioʼs web site is www.pfmbonsai.com. The program is co-sponsored by The Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.  Garden Club of the Back Bay members will receive written notice of this meeting, along with car pool information.  Others may register on line (Arnold Arboretum and Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture members $10, non-members $15) at www.wellesley.edu/WCFH.

  • Spring, 2012 – Sakura Festival in Boston Will Include Planting of Cherry Trees in Boston

    2012 marks the 100th Anniversary of the original gift of cherry trees from Japan to the United States in 1912. Planted at the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River in the nation’s capital and supplemented with more cherry trees over the years, the blossoming cherry trees of Washington DC have become a national treasure and attract hundreds of thousands of viewers to the “Cherry Blossom Festival” along the Potomac each spring. Japan will mark this Centennial with new gifts of cherry trees to Washington and to a number of other American cities, Boston among them. The Consulate General of Japan in Boston will arrange ceremonial cherry tree plantings in many Boston parks and public places. To accompany the new cherry trees, planning is now underway for a rich festival of Japanese cultural events in Boston, beginning in March 2012 and spanning more than three springtime months. Highlights of this festival include the events listed below. Many, many more festival events will be added during the coming weeks and months. For detailed information, schedules, details, and ticketing, please keep checking this website: www.japansocietyboston.org.

    An Evening of Kabuki Dance
    March 27: Paramount Theater, Boston
    A spectacular presentation of classic dance pieces from the
    Kabuki repertory, featuring Kabuki star performer Kotoji Bando.
    (Presented by The Japan Society of Boston)

    Anime Boston
    April 6-8, Hines Convention Center, Boston
    New England’s Largest Annual Celebration of
    Japanese animation, comics and pop culture.
    A not-to-be-missed festival and trade show of Anime art and publications.
    Thousands attend, many in incredible anime costumes!

    Boston Gagaku Concert
    “From Centennial to Millennial Spring”
    April 9, Boston Symphony Hall, Boston
    The Kitanodai Gagaku Ensemble and
    Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
    will perform music by Tchaikovsky, and Gagaku
    traditional Japanese Court Music.

    Japan Society Annual Dinner
    April 18, Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, Boston
    The Japan Society of Boston’s single largest annual gala event.
    Keynote Speaker: Mr. Kazuo Inamori (Chairman of Japan Airlines and Founder/Honorary Chairman of Kyocera Corporation). Other guests of honor will include Japan’s internationally acclaimed wheelchair marathoner Ms. Wakako Tsuchida.

    The Kioi Sinfonietta
    May 1, Sanders Theater, Cambridge
    Japan’s celebrated chamber orchestra will present a single concert appearance at Harvard’s beautiful Sanders Theater
    (Presented by The Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard, & The Japan Society of Boston).

    The Beauty & Mystery of Japanese Textiles
    May 2, Remis Auditorium, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
    Reiko Sudo, Japan’s brilliant textile designer and founder
    of the world famous NUNO textile shop will speak on the transformation of traditional Japanese textiles into
    contemporary works of art.
    (Presented by the MFA and The Japan Society of Boston as the 2012 Rad Smith Program in Japanese Art)
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    Many other “Sakura Festival” events in Spring 2012 will include exhibits, performances, demonstrations, receptions, concerts, film programs, and symposia.

  • Sundays, April 3 and 10, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Garden Adventurers Lectures

    On Sundays, April 3 and April 10, come to Heritage Museum & Gardens, 67 Grove Street in Sandwich, and travel to exotic gardens vicariously through the exploits of other Garden Adventurers! On April 3, Jonathan Shaw will share his visits to Japan’s most beautiful and unique gardens, including Kenrokuen Garden (The Six Sublimities, pictured below) in Kanazawa and Saihoji (The Temple Moss Garden). Mr. Shaw was formerly Director of the New England Wildflower Society at the Garden in the Woods near Boston, and is the retired President of Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida. He lives in Sandwich, his native town, where he has an extensive garden in the Village that he and Norwegian wife Eugenie maintain. Then on April 10, Linda Calmes Jones, who chairs Heritage’s Board of Trustees, will share her garden travel experience to London’s Chelsea Flower Show (The Great Spring Show) and various English gardens. Join them for both of these inspiring presentations, free with museum admission.  For more information, log on to www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org, or call 508-888-3300.  Image from www.kanazawa-tourism.com.

  • Tuesday, April 27, 9:30 am – Ichiyo Ikebana Demonstration

    Elaine Jo, Executive Master of the Ichiyo School, will conduct a demonstration of Ichiyo Ikebana on Tuesday, April 27, beginning at 9:30 am, at the University of Massachusetts Waltham Center, 240 Beaver Street in Waltham.  There are numerous schools of ikebana, each with its own set of rules and techniques.  One such is the Ichiyo School.  Ichiyo, pronounced ee-chee-yo, means “one leaf” in Japanese and refers to the logo of the school.  It was founded in Japan in 1937 by a brother and sister, Meikof and Ichiyo Kasuya.  Since its beginnings, the two masters sought to create original ikebana that would be suitable for modern lifestyles and environments.  For information, log on to www.ikebanaboston.org.

    http://www.ichiyo-ikebana-school.com/ichiyoe001001.jpg