"Japan House" - Final 1969 design sketch by Junzo Yoshimura.

Japan Society's building was selected as one of 40 New York City landmarks competing for restoration grants from American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. With voting ending today, we offer a virtual tour of the building.

In 1969, when then Japan Society President John D. Rockefeller 3rd and Japanese Foreign Minister Kiichi Aichi broke ground for the construction of Japan Society's building, did they have any concept of what an enduring and important addition it was to New York City's cultural landscape?

Since the building--then called "Japan House"--opened to the public on September 13, 1971, it has been a hub connecting the people and issues between the U.S., Japan and the world, as well as a singular architectural gem embodying the Society's founding ideals.

Recently named New York City’s youngest landmark, the building was designed by Junzo Yoshimura and George Shimamoto as the first permanent Japanese modernist building in New York.

According to the book Japan Society: Celebrating a Century, 1907-2007, “the chief appeal of the building lay in its distinctively Japanese feeling, but this effect, remarkably, had been accomplished almost entirely with American materials.” In a recent visit, Urban Gardens echoed this fact, calling the building:

a flat black modern reinforced concrete "bento box" filled with a delicious blend of creativity, culture and education–all existing above and below a serene interior Japanese style garden space… Yoshimura’s design has been described as a modern rendition of an 18th century elegant Kyoto inn. Known for infusing traditional Japanese elements into his modern works, the architect blended a Japanese sensibility with contemporary local materials.

Photo: Robin Plaskoff Horton, Urban Gardens. Via.

Standing four stories tall, the building’s slate gray exterior and metal railings evoke modern Japan’s streamlined architectural prowess. The long metal rails running vertically up the building’s façade are reminiscent of amado, storm windows that are used for protection during typhoons.

The slanted fence at the base of the building is a modernist play on komayose (aka komadome or inufusegi)—an Edo period urban housing design element to keep horses and dogs away from the home and to enhance the privacy of the living room area, typically at the front of the house. The bottom of Japan Society's komayose extends one meter from the building—the traditional distance that a komayose stood away from a home. By the 18th century, komayose were widely used and were most often associated with posh machiya, structures which combined an artisan’s or merchant’s residence with their shop, encompassing manufacturing, office and retail space in one location.

Indoor bamboo garden and waterfall. Photo by Peter Aaron/Esto.

Upon entering Japan Society’s building the cool, gunmetal slate tiles from the exterior carry through the interior, and cover the lobby walls to the cement ceiling. The wooden slats in the ceiling were initially made from hinoki, or Japanese cypress, so when lights heated up the slats, the cypress aroma would fill the building. The cypress has since been coated with flame retardant, which also masks the scent of the wood.

The slate and cement in the lobby is the perfect sound conductor for the indoor waterfall, allowing a gentle white noise rush to echo throughout the building. The waterfall paired with our indoor bamboo garden is such a unique element that it is frequently featured on television and in films most recently for episodes of Gossip Girl and White Collar.

The waterfall was not an original design element in Yoshimura’s drawings. From 1971 until a major renovation that lasted from 1995 to 1997, the area where the waterfall is now was an outdoor sculpture garden.

Architectural rendering of renovations in the 90s.

The renovation also added some other functional spaces to Japan Society—a fifth floor for additional office space, and the second floor of the building was converted into more usable Gallery space. In the original building configuration, only the South Gallery was intended for Gallery use. The North Gallery (the part of the Gallery directly in front of you when you climb the stairs) was originally used as meeting spaces that were available for public rentals. Those rooms were situated with views down onto the pond in the lobby. When Japan House first opened to the public, the lack of contrast between the slate and the stillness of the water confused some patrons, causing them to stumble into the pond because they thought it was a solid surface. There is now a low railing to protect people.

Other, more subtle touches of Japanese décor and design can be seen throughout the building, from the the large river rocks by the entryway to the shoji window and wall treatments in the lobby and on the second floor.

One wonderfully restful feature in the lobby is an original conoid bench by famed woodworker George Nakashima. The arresting work of art is available for anyone wishing to sit and absorb the beauty of Japanese art, architecture and design.

--Cory Campbell

Deco Japan's moga want to trip the light fantastic with you.

 
Pleasure seekers, late night revelry, and a glut of cosmopolitan glamour characterize Japan Society’s current exhibition, Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920-1945, so what better way to celebrate licentiousness than to set up our very own speakeasy on a Saturday night?

On May 5th, from 7:00 pm to midnight, the Society teams up with New York City’s premier promoter of anachronistic parties, Dances of Vice, along with The Art Deco Society of New York to bring you Dances of Vice: Deco Japan and the Heart of the Modern Girl.

The evening opens with an intimate exhibition tour by Japan Society Gallery director Joe Earle, who drops intoxicating tidbits you won’t hear elsewhere about the era’s fashionable flirtation with all things foreign and the concurrent rise of militarism and its bold aesthetic expressions.

From 8:00-9:00 prohibition is lifted with an open sake bar for those inclined to the devil’s drink. Art Deco Society of New York president Kathryn Hausman welcomes guests and the evening kicks off with a Charleston dance lesson, followed by live jazz courtesy of the Kuni Mikami Jazz Quintet featuring vocalist Mari Koga.

Guests roaming the gallery during the event are sure to stumble upon the star of the show, the moga, or modern girl, with her bobbed hair, bright lips and cocktail always close by. Featured in paintings, photographs, prints, sheet music covers, and figurines, the moga was the hip coquette of the era, and she springs to life in a fashion show curated by Mutsumi Gee of Allure Original Styles as the hours wear on.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Dress to impress in your pre-War finest! The evening is part of Japan Society's Open House Weekend, May 5 & 6, celebrating the Society's inclusion in Partners in Preservation's online restoration grant competition between 40 NYC landmarks. Vote daily through May 21.

--Kristen Sollee 

IMAGES (top to bottom): Saitō Kazō (1887–1955); Publisher: Bikutā Shuppansha; Kindai otome gokoro (Heart of the Modern Girl) [Detail], from series Bikutā hāmonika gakufu (Victor Sheet Music for Harmonica); songbook cover; color lithograph, inks on paper, 1930; 26.5 x 19 cm (10 ¼ x 7 7/16 in.); photograph courtesy of The Levenson Collection. Kobayakawa Kiyoshi (1899–1948); Dansā or Setsuna no kyokusen (Dancer or Curve of the Instant); woodblock print; ink and colors on paper, 1932; 41.9 x 25.4 cm (16½ x 10 in.); photograph courtesy of The Levenson Collection. Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920-1945 is drawn from The Levenson Collection and is organized and circulated by Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia.

Flying laser kitty visits Japan. Via.

When Japan Society announced it would give away a trip to Tokyo as part of the spring membership drive, the rush of entries was incredible. After processing over 4,000 applications, a winner was chosen today at random [right column], and the lucky Nina Hazen will receive round-trip tickets for two courtesy of United Airlines and three nights in a deluxe suite at The Capitol Hotel Tokyu.

For the first-time traveler—a person who may never have dreamed of going to Japan—how does one prepare to go to Tokyo?

Help abounds online. Tokyo’s official tourism site has some amazing resources on visiting the city, and the national tourism site covers the country as a whole equally well.

For hip goings on each week, Time Out Tokyo lists everything from the local music scene to the latest restaurants and gallery openings. CNNGo’s comprehensive Tokyo Insiders Guide explores the best eats (Japan leads the world with the most Michelin 3-star restaurants) and attractions, including the top five museums. The site also humorously (and mostly helpfully) lists the “50 reasons Tokyo is the world's greatest city”. Lonely Planet highlights which seasons are the best times to visit, and Fodors has some helpful cost saving tips.

Sometimes important-yet-culturally-subtle travel tips are missing from mainstream guides, so we asked Japan Society staff members what their top tips are for first-time Tokyo goers:

✈ You’ll find ATMs everywhere, but they may not accept foreign bank cards. Be sure you take some Yen with you, so you do not have trouble getting cash right away. If you're in a pinch, look for ATMs with the U.S. postal logo. They accept American bank cards and there is usually no fee beyond the regular bank transaction fee. Also, don’t spend all your money on vending machine and conbini (convenience store) drinks. You will find yourself out of cash sooner than you think.

✈ Bring lots of new and clean socks! It is customary in Japan to remove shoes when entering a room, but there are not always slippers available.

✈ Even though you may not be visiting for business purposes, bring a bunch of business cards. Everyone you meet will want to exchange cards, even if they know they will never see you again.

✈ Don’t forget a hand towel and pocket packs of facial tissues. Japan is a famously clean country, but most public restrooms don’t have paper towels or toilet paper. Everyone in Japan knows to bring supplies when out and about, but this tip doesn’t often make it into the guide books. In shopping areas, you will probably find people handing out promotional tissues with advertisements on them. Take them!

✈ There is no need to bring pajamas because whether you are staying at a traditional inn (ryokan) or a commercial hotel, the room will come with yukata (thin, comfortable kimono-style robe) for men and women to wear when getting ready for bed.

✈ Likewise, you don’t have to bring your toothbrush or toothpaste. Hotels, no matter if ritzy or more economic, always provide these for free.

✈ When shopping, try to make it to the depāto (department store) basement, which is filled with luxurious food vendors. Be sure to try  fresh fruit in Japan. It is über expensive, but super delicious. And pick up some Japanese Kit Kats. There are over 200 different exotic flavors to try from  cantaloupe to ginger ale to wasabi.

✈ While Tokyo is typically the prime destination in Japan, visit other cities to get a better sense of the country. Consider a daytrip to Kyoto, which is steeped in Japanese history; Osaka, a mecca for street food; or Hakone, known for their onsen (hot springs).

✈ Other daytrips can include a spectacularly beautiful mountain hike at Takao-san (an hour away from Shinjuku station on the Keio line) with endless mountain staircases for hardcore hikers and easier paved paths for casual walkers; the Indian cuisine in the Waseda/Takadanobaba area is a must—try the restaurant Daruma for its to-die-for nan and happy atmosphere; or take a trip on the Arakawa line—the last remaining street car in Tokyo.

Finally, Japan Society President, Motoatsu Sakurai says:

Take an enthusiasm to experience an incredibly vibrant and engaging culture. In addition to the sights of Japan, be open to meeting the people and sharing stories. This is especially true after the tsunami and earthquake that devastated the northeast coast last year. People are very thankful for the thoughts and generous support from America and people around the world and want to share their thanks. For this very reason, visiting Japan is one of the best ways to help it recover.

Ambassador Sakurai also notes, “Just as important as what people take to Japan is what people bring back. In addition to an experience unlike any other, I also recommend bringing back Pocky. Anyone who knows me knows it has been a good meeting when I share Pocky from my most recent trip to Japan.”

--JS Staff

UPDATED 5/1/2012.

Shadows of commissions past: (l-r) Other Here, Partch, Dogugaeshi.

Japan Society stirs New York City's proverbial melting pot not only through regular whisks of Japanese culture, but also by piecing together completely new stews through commissioning American, Japanese and artists around the world to create new works.

Since the inception of the Performing Arts Program in 1953, the Society has presented nearly 650 performing arts events (approximately 2000 individual performances). Some twenty of these have been wholly original works created in recent years. Japan Society Artistic Director Yoko Shioya, who heads up the Performing Arts Program, explains:

Over the past decade, Japan Society has continued its efforts to commission non-Japanese artists to create works which are somehow related to Japan – whether they are based on Japanese literature; incorporate the stylized forms of Japanese performing arts; draw inspiration from Japan’s unique culture; include a collaboration with artists from Japan; or utilize Japanese traditional art forms or techniques.

Playing a more dynamic role than typical of the commissioning process, the Society goes beyond pledging kick-start money. It provides consultation for the artists in order to aid the art-making process by coordinating with residency partners and collaborators, helping clear Japanese copyrights, and providing means of practicing traditional performance techniques, for example. Through the active “seeding” of Japan-related creativity in the U.S., the hope is that the artist’s vision is allowed to grow beyond what was initially conceived. These performances go on to successfully tour throughout the U.S. and sometimes internationally with a lot of care taken to pair the shows with suitable presenters.

Since its inception, the Performing Arts Program commissioned a number of smaller scale works. After receiving an Endowment from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in the early 00s, commissions increased in scale and regularity.

Highlights include Basil Twist’s screen door puppetry spectacle Dogugaeshi, which received the prestigious Bessie Award and New York Innovative Award, and has been remounted several times since its 2004 premiere, including in Japan and most recently at D.C.'s National Cherry Blossom Festival centennial anniversary; Harry Partch’s Delusion of the Fury, the second-only full production since its 1969 premiere, featuring Partch’s mammoth musical instrument inventions (you can play electronic versions here); and Big Dance Theater’s fantastical The Other Here, which launched Japan Society’s centennial celebration in 2007.

A Global “(glowing)” Dance Of Darkness

Opening today, Japan Society’s latest commission (glowing) is by renowned New York-based choreographer Kota Yamazaki and his company Fluid hug-hug. Breaking tradition, the commission is for a Japanese artist, yet the scope of the work is truly global, blending Japanese, African and Western aesthetics, as beautifully illustrated by the piece's trailer:



Inspired by novelist Junichiro Tanizaki’s In’ei Raisan (In Praise of Shadows), Yamazaki uses the slow and deliberate Japanese form of contemporary dance known as butoh to express the novel’s idea of the subtle beauty found in the recesses of darkness and shadows. Taking butoh to another level, elements of African dance are introduced by dancers Marie Agnes Gomis of Senegal and Shiferaw Tariku of Ethiopia who are joined by Japanese and American dancers to round out the cast of six. Architect Robert Kocik, trained in traditional Japanese carpentry, is responsible for the scenery while lighting designer Kathy Kaufmann replicates the descrīptions of a dimly lit Japanese house interior described in In Praise of Shadows. Koji Setoh composed the original score and sounds for the show.

As Yamazaki’s triumphant return to butoh—Japan’s dance of darkness—something he trained for many years in but distanced himself for a while, he seeks new discoveries through its comparison to African dance and exploration within profound Japanese architectural aesthetics. As the name of his company suggests, Yamazaki seeks a fluidity like water in the movement as well as between people of different cultures in order to smoothly and creatively exchange ideas.

Having premiered at the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), a co-commissioner for the piece, and with stops in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, (glowing) was called a “spare, contemplative and strangely beautiful work” by the Albany Times Union. The tour concludes at Japan Society on Friday, April 27, and Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 pm. Observation seats are still available for the Saturday movement workshop from 1:00-4:00 pm.

--Sean Tomizawa 

UPDATED 5/1/12

Gearing up for vacation these days means packing your digital SLR, sleek-and-pink point-and-shoot, HD video camera, smart phone, all of the cords and chargers and computers that make them functional, and perhaps, for safety, a travel diary and/or sketch pad. Before you’re out the door with money/tickets/passport in hand, you’ve probably snapped half-a-dozen artfully Instagram-ed shots, capturing minutes of minutia before the real adventure begins.

Preparing for j-CATION 2012: Sakura, Ben Warren, video producer for Japan Society, took many more than a half a dozen pictures. He took about 3,600.

Ben wanted to do something extra special to raise awareness for the Society’s cherry blossom themed all-day culture festival, and what better way to capture the fleeting, fluttering flurry of falling sakura, than the painstaking picture-perfect craft of stop motion animation?

The resulting two-and-a-half minute short film is a fantastical living travel diary, drawing inspiration from Japanese culture from past to current pop trends.



Weeks ago Ben (who is also the mastermind behind the very first j-CATION’s flying laser kitty promo video--in which he has a cameo), and a team of amateur animators, including several enthusiastic Japan Society interns and one friend, began the estimated 70-hour project. The idea bloomed from the sakura theme into five distinct segments using a variety of mixed media: paper, fabric, paint, toys, food and their containers, buttons and art objects galore.

The animation opens with a string of lit lanterns parting to reveal a “j-CATON 2012” travel diary. The book unfolds, an acorn drops, and sesame seads burst from green yarn grass to form a sakura tree. A close up of a branch shows blossoming pink construction paper petals torn into the wind, making surprise appearances throughout the video.

In a short, delicate interlude, a cup of green tea dances and swirls atop antiqued calligraphy scrolls. The middle mouthwatering section centers around a brimming bento box (crafted from wrappers of the candy and food that kept the animators going). After marching to their designated compartments, the feast wraps itself in a furoshiki from Japan Society’s 2007 centennial celebration, and is whisked away by a pair of chopsticks.

Next, a wistful, watercolor ‘floating world’ style painting brushes and bubbles to life with familiar classic Japanese art iconography—a sea escape scene at the base of Mt. Fuji capturing the timeless battle between fisherman and giant carp (to create the water effect, the dozens and dozens of waves were individually finger painted in each frame--24 frames per second for 12 seconds).

Finally, after an origami explosion of stars, a flight of chirpy birds over fluffy cotton ball clouds, and stately strut of cranes, day dips into night while a family sits beneath a sakura tree to revel in a traditional night time cherry blossom viewing party.

A simple story, exquisitely executed, masterfully mirroring the j-CATION experience.

QUIZ: Ben and crew referenced dozens of ancient and contemporary Japanese elements. Can you name them all? Answers after the laser kitty photo.

--Shannon Jowett


In order of appearance: washi, maneki-neko, origami, sakura, hanami, shodo, ocha, miruku, sushi, Yakult, UCC Coffee, Fibe Mini, wagashi, ukiyo-e, bijinga, obento, Pocky, taiyaki , furoshiki, waribashi, kaiga, hanko, Fuji-san, mizuumi, Kitaro, gyosen, koi, tsuru, kappa, Kitty-chan, yozakura. Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!