Experience a vibrant celebration of Japanese culture with delicious food, captivating performances, and engaging activities. Since 2006, Matsuri has brought the Columbia community and New Yorkers together for an unforgettable day of cultural exchange.

Columbia Japanese Students Association Matsuri 2025

Friday, March 28 from 5:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.

Columbia University Low Plaza – W. 116th and Broadway

Admission: Free

The Japanese Students Association of Columbia University presents its Matsuri 2025 this Friday, March 28. JapanCulture-NYC is honored to be one of the sponsors Matsuri 2025 and to support the students of JSA who are bringing this dynamic cultural event to life!

Matsuri, the Japanese word for “festival,” embodies the spirit of community celebration through food, entertainment, and cultural exchange. Since 2006, JSA’s Matsuri has evolved into one of Columbia University’s most anticipated cultural events, transforming the heart of campus into a vibrant celebration of Japanese culture. Drawing nearly 1,000 attendees to the iconic Low Plaza each spring, Matsuri is more than just a festival; it’s a landmark event that brings together students, faculty, and New Yorkers.

Attendance is free, and guests can sign up through Columbia JSA’s Eventbrite link. However, due to current restrictions to access campus, people not affiliated with Columbia University and anyone without a valid Columbia University ID MUST fill out this form as well by today, Wednesday March 26. Columbia will send a QR code to your email. Please bring the QR code and a valid form of ID when you arrive, or you will not be able to enter campus.

What can you expect at this year’s Matsuri 2025?

Cultural Performances

Traditional taiko drumming echoing across campus
Martial arts demonstrations
Powerful Sōran Bushi (traditional Japanese song) performances

Culinary Journey

Authentic Japanese street food vendors
Traditional and modern festival treats
Interactive food demonstrations

Games and Activities

Photo booth with props
Traditional Japanese matsuri games
Japanese drinks and snack prizes

Food Vendors

Dokodemo
Inari Zushi
Karl’s Balls
Mr. K Katsu Sando
Mu Cha
Musubin
Rai Rai Ken
Sam’s Fried Ice Cream
Yakitori Tatsu

Cultural and Community Vendors

Golden Gate Global
Vision USA
Taro’s Origami Studio

Performance sCHEDULE

6:30 p.m. - 6:40 p.m. CU Goju Karate
6:40 p.m. - 6:50 p.m. CU Taiko
6:50 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. CU Naginata
7:00 p.m. - 7:10 p.m. Kendo
7:10 p.m. - 7:20 p.m. Columbia Pops
7:20 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Columbia Pops
7:30 p.m. - 7:40 p.m. Upper West Side Kenshikai Karate & BJJ
7:40 p.m. - 7:50 p.m. Kogyoku Yosakoi
7:50 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Kogyoku Yosakoi
8:00 p.m. - 8:10 p.m. CU Lion Dance
8:10 p.m. - 8:20 p.m. CU Lion Dance
8:20 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. CU Wushu
8:30 p.m. - 8:40 p.m. Columbia Taekwondo
8:40 p.m. - 8:50 p.m. Columbia Taekwondo
8:50 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. JSA 48

To learn more about Columbia University’s Japanese Students Association, please visit their website and follow them on Instagram.

Support JapanCulture•NYC by becoming a member! For $5 a month, you’ll help maintain the high quality of our site while we continue to showcase and promote the activities of our vibrant community. Please click here to begin your membership today!

Susan McCormac 3/21/25 Susan McCormac 3/21/25

Tea Ceremony Celebrating Hina Matsuri

Join tea ceremony master Yoshitsugu Nagano for a Hina Matsuri Tea Gathering featuring a rare Kinin-date ceremony. This special tea gathering celebrates the seasonal beauty, grace, and Japanese tradition of Hina Matsuri, Japan’s Doll Festival.

NY Seasonal Tea Ceremony: Hina Doll's Tea Ceremony

Saturday, March 29 from 10:30 a.m. until Noon and 2:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. (Two Sessions)

Globus Tea Room – 889 Broadway PHC at E. 19th Street

Admission: $100

What is Hina Matsuri?

Observed annually on March 3, Hina Matsuri is a cherished tradition in Japan, celebrating the health, happiness, and prosperity of young women. At the heart of this festival are the exquisite Hina dolls, elegant figures representing members of the imperial court from the Heian period (794-1185), a golden age of art, poetry, and refined court culture.

In honor of this graceful tradition, Nagano will present a tea ceremony featuring the Kinin-date style of tea preparation: a rare and formal ritual once reserved for noble guests of the court.

What to Expect

A serene and elegant tea ceremony demonstration
The opportunity to drink freshly prepared matcha
A beautifully arranged kaiseki-style Japanese meal, reflecting the seasonal flavors of spring
An immersive atmosphere inspired by the refined beauty of the imperial court
As you enjoy both matcha and traditional Japanese cuisine, you will be invited into a world of timeless elegance, echoing the spirit of Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon, iconic female writers who helped shape Japan’s artistic heritage.

To register, please visit Nagano’s Eventbrite page and select the session you would like to attend.

Matcha. Photo courtesy Yoshitsugu Nagano.

About the Tea Master

Yoshitsugu Nagano is the youngest person to be certified in the highest rank of the Ueda Soukata school of samurai tea ceremony, which has been practiced in Hiroshima for four hundred years. He serves as a professor at the school.

In 2019, Nagano relocated to New York City, where he energetically promotes the spirituality and aesthetics of the Japanese tea ritual, rooted in Zen, through tea rituals and classes. He has also been working on and establishing new styles of modern tea ceremony that incorporate new expressions to create new ways of engaging with the traditional ritual.

Dress Code

Western-style clothes are acceptable, but please do not wear sleeveless shirts or short skirts. Bring a clean pair of white socks. Organizers will ask you to remove jewelry and watches.

Susan McCormac 3/21/25 Susan McCormac 3/21/25

Local Hero to Be Featured in NHK Documentary

Takeshi “Tak” Furumoto is the subject of the NHK documentary RAISED IN HIROSHIMA, FOUGHT IN VIETNAM

Takeshi “Tak” Furumoto is a Japanese American who was born in an incarceration camp, raised in Hiroshima, and fought in the Vietnam War. In the NHK documentary Raised in Hiroshima, Fought in Vietnam, Furumoto travels in search of closure to his complicated past.

About Tak Furumoto

Born in 1944 in Tule Lake War Relocation Center, one of the ten Japanese American incarceration camps established for the mass incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals living on the West Coast, during World War II, Tak Furumoto is the youngest of Sam Kiyoto and Yoshi Furumoto’s five children. Raised in his father’s war-torn hometown in Hiroshima after the atomic bombing, Furumoto’s family returned to the U.S. in 1956, settling in Los Angeles. After Furumoto graduated from UCLA in 1967, he volunteered to enter the Army. Despite the injustices his family endured in the U.S. during WWII, Furumoto valiantly served our country in the Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star.

A New Jersey resident since 1971, Furumoto and his wife, Carolyn, have run Furumoto Realty in New Jersey, New York City, and Westchester for more than 50 years. They have dedicated their lives to the betterment of the Japanese American community in both New Jersey and New York. They were instrumental in New Jersey’s adoption of Fred T. Korematsu Day in 2023, relentlessly advocating for the state of New Jersey to recognize January 30 as the Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, a day that honors civil rights hero Fred Korematsu, a California native who refused to enter the incarceration camps in 1942.

To learn more about Furumoto and his contributions to our community, please read Karen Kawaguchi’s in-depth article in Discover Nikkei.

On-Air Schedule

NHK World will broadcast Raised in Hiroshima, Fought in Vietnam on the following days:
Friday, March 21 from 8:10 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 22 from 2:10 a.m. until 3:00 a.m. | 8:10 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. | 2:10 p.m. until 3:00 p.m.

NHK World is available in New York at these channels: Spectrum 1279, Optimum 142, FiOS 482, Xfinity 265 and 1157, and OTA channel 58.2 To find the full details of where you can watch the documentary in your area, please visit the NHK World Channel List on NHK’s website.

Susan McCormac 3/20/25 Susan McCormac 3/20/25

Live Martial Arts Demos at Japan Village

Experience the power, precision, and philosophy of Budo, the way of the warrior, through thrilling demonstrations of Aikido, Judo, Battodo, and Karate. Witness skilled martial artists from Kaizenkan Aikido Dojo, Japanese American Budokan, and Zentokan Dojo in action at Japan Village.

Martial Arts Day

Saturday, March 22 from Noon until 6:50 p.m. (First demo begins at 1:00 p.m.)

Japan Village - 934 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn (2nd Floor)

Admission: Free

Witness the strength, skill, and discipline behind martial arts movements as practitioners bring centuries-old traditions to life. Japan Village is hosting an action-packed, FREE showcase of Aikido, Judo, Battodo, and Karate, featuring live demonstrations from skilled martial artists representing Kaizenkan Aikido Dojo, Japanese American Budokan, and Zentokan Dojo. Each dojo will have information tables as well.

Experience the power, precision, and philosophy of Budo, the way of the warrior, at Japan Village!

Schedule of Demonstrations

1:00 p.m. – 1:25 p.m. – Aikido by Kaizenkan Aikido Dojo
1:30 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. – Judo by Japanese American Budokan
2:00 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. – Battodo by Zentokan Dojo
2:30 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. – Karate by Japanese American Budokan
3:25 p.m. – 3:50 p.m. – Aikido by Kaizenkan Aikido Dojo
3:55 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. – Judo by Japanese American Budokan
4:25 p.m. – 4:50 p.m. – Battodo by Zentokan Dojo
4:55 p.m. – 5:20 p.m. – Karate by Japanese American Budokan
5:25 p.m. – 5:50 p.m. – Aikido by Kaizenkan Aikido Dojo
5:55 p.m. – 6:20 p.m. – Judo by Japanese American Budokan
6:25 p.m. – 6:50 p.m. – Karate by Japanese American Budokan

Susan McCormac 3/19/25 Susan McCormac 3/19/25

Award-winning Author Yoko Tawada to Appear at Two NYC Events

Acclaimed Berlin-based Japanese author Yoko Tawada will be in New York City for two special in-person events. Catch her on Tuesday, March 25 at Rizzoli Bookstore and/or on Thursday, March 27 at Columbia University School of the Arts. Both events are free!

Acclaimed Berlin-based Japanese author Yoko Tawada is making her way to New York City for two special in-person events next week. Catch her on Tuesday, March 25 at Rizzoli Bookstore and/or on Thursday, March 27 at Columbia University School of the Arts. Best of all, both events are free — a perfect opportunity to experience Tawada's literary brilliance up close!

Yoko Tawada with Monique Truong

Tuesday, March 25 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Rizzoli Bookstore – 1133 Broadway (between W. 25th and W. 26th Streets)

Admission: Free

Co-presented by PEN America and Japan Society, internationally renowned writer Yoko Tawada will be in conversation with novelist, essayist, children’s book author, and librettist Monique Truong at Rizzoli Bookstore. Tawada’s rare New York appearance comes on the heels of the English publication of her novel Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel, translated by Susan Bernofsky, and the second installment in her beloved Scattered trilogy, Suggested in the Stars, translated by Margaret Mitsutani.

The discussion will be followed by a book signing.

PLEASE NOTE: RSVPs are encouraged but not required. To register, please visit Rizzoli Bookstore’s Eventbrite page. This event is mixed seated/standing. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Every Work Has Several Faces: A Conversation with Yoko Tawada about Writing and Translation

Thursday, March 27 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

Columbia University: Lenfest Center for the Arts – 615 W. 129th Street at Broadway

Admission: Free

International literary luminary Yoko Tawada will discuss writing and translation with co-moderators Writing Professor Rivka Galchen ‘06 and Susan Bernofsky, Director of Literary Translation at Columbia (LTAC). To register, please visit Lenfest’s website.

Tawada, who was born in Tokyo and lives in Berlin, publishes novels, stories, essays, poems, and plays in both Japanese and German. She has received dozens of literary awards including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Goethe Medal, the Kleist Prize, and the National Book Award. Some of her major works available in English include The Emissary and Scattered All Over the Earth, translated from Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani, and Memoirs of a Polar Bear and Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel, translated from German by Susan Bernofsky.

This talk is co-sponsored by The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities, Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, and Weatherhead East Asian Institute.

Susan McCormac 3/18/25 Susan McCormac 3/18/25

Soh Daiko Performance at LPAC

The East Coast’s first taiko drumming group will perform at LPAC as part of Carnegie Hall Citywide. Photo from Soh Daiko’s website.

Carnegie Hall Citywide: Soh Daiko

Saturday, March 29 at 3:00 p.m.

LaGuardia Performing Arts Center – 31-10 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City

Admission: Free

A Soh Daiko performance makes Japanese taiko drumming as exciting to see as it is to hear, with high-octane rhythms brought to life through vibrant choreography and athleticism. The ensemble layers in a wide-ranging world of sounds to complement the powerful drumming and the playing of bamboo flutes, brass bells, conch shells, gongs, and more. Experience taiko drumming like you never have before.

This event at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC) is part of Carnegie Hall Citywide, an initiative through which Carnegie Hall partners with local community organizations to present free concerts that are sensational celebrations of sounds from across the country and around the globe. To RSVP to see Soh Daiko, please visit LPAC’s website.

About Soh Daiko

Established in 1979, Soh Daiko is the first taiko drumming group on the East Coast of the United States. The band uses a variety of instruments, including bamboo flutes, brass bells, conch shells, gongs, African shekere in its performance of a variety of songs and pieces that are adapted from other musical styles.

Soh Daiko's performance is more than just playing drums; it also incorporates dynamic movement and choreography, demonstrating physical strength, endurance, and vitality, all of which contribute to the excitement of the taiko performance.

To learn more, please visit Soh Daiko’s website.

Susan McCormac 3/17/25 Susan McCormac 3/17/25

New York Public LIbrary’s Manga Book Club with Kodansha USA

NYPL x Kodansha Manga Book Club (To Your Eternity)

Wednesday, March 19 from 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.

53rd Street Library – 18 W. 53rd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), Community Room

Admission: Free

Join the New York Public Library for their manga book club, in partnership with Kodansha USA! They’ll be discussing Yoshitoki Oima’s supernatural drama, To Your Eternity with special guest Haruko Hashimoto, one of the book’s editors.

The book club will be covering the first volume of To Your Eternity, which is available to all cardholders through the Comics Plus database. If you have questions, please email josephpascullo@nypl.org.

To attend, please use the Register Now link at NYPL’s website.

About To Your Eternity

A new manga from the creator of the acclaimed A Silent Voice, To Your Eternity features intimate, emotional drama and an epic story spanning time and space.

A lonely boy wandering the desolate tundra meets a wolf, and the two become fast friends, depending on each other to survive the harsh environment. But the boy has a history, and the wolf is more than meets the eye as well. To Your Eternity is a totally unique and moving manga about death, life, reincarnation, and the nature of love.

Susan McCormac 3/14/25 Susan McCormac 3/14/25

Celebrating the Music of James Nyoraku Schlefer

Kammerraku Encore: music for shakuhachi, koto, shamisen, and string quartet at Tenri Cultural Institute in NYC

Kammerraku Encore

Saturday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Tenri Cultural Institute – 43A W. 13th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Admission: $25 in Advance | $30 at the Door

Kyo-Shin-An Arts and Arts at TCI present Kammerraku Encore, KSA's first celebration of the music of shakuhachi Grand Master James Nyoraku Schlefer.

This program of audience favorites features the always extraordinary Arianna Quartet and the world premiere of Schlefer’s delightfully irreverent Bamboo Dances for shakuhachi and string quartet. To purchase tickets, please visit Schlefer’s website.

Performers

Sumie Kaneko – Shamisen and voice
Yoko Reikano Kimura – Koto and voice
James Nyoraku Schlefer – Shakuhachi
Arianna String Quartet
John McGrosso and Jane Price, violins; Joanna Mendoza, viola; Kurt Baldwin, cello

PROGRAM

Moon through the Pines by James Nyoraku Schlefer
koto, shamisen, shakuhachi
Bamboo Dances by James Nyoraku Schlefer – World Premiere
shakuhachi and string quartet
Moveoverture
Jubislidy (aka Slickback)
Valse Macabre
Chacachacarera
Bogakuraku
Jiggy Gigue
Galoopy
Interludy
Racherachenitsa
Tommy – a musical fantasy based on a true story by James Nyoraku Schlefer
shakuhachi, koto, shamisen and string quartet

Susan McCormac 3/14/25 Susan McCormac 3/14/25

Catch Totto-Chan at NYICFF!

Totto-Chan screens at NYICFF! Go to the festival website at https://nyicff.org/tickets/ and enter promo code JapanCultureNYC2025 to claim your 10% discount.

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window

Saturday, March 15 at 5:45 p.m.

SVA Theatre – 333 W. 23rd Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues)

Admission: $20

As the New York International Children’s Film Festival draws to a close, we have a special opportunity for JapanCulture•NYC readers! Together Films, an innovative marketing and sales company based in London and NYC serving the international film community, is offering a 10% discount to the screening of Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window on Saturday, March 15 at 5:45 p.m.

Go to the festival website at https://nyicff.org/tickets/ and enter promo code JapanCultureNYC2025 to claim your 10% discount.

Selected as one of NYIFF’s spotlight films, Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window is making its North American Premiere. It tells the powerful story of an imaginative girl learning to be herself even as the world around her changes. Anime NYC and Kinokuniya USA are presenting partners, and Koji Yakusho, who won Best Actor at Cannes for his role in Perfect Days, voices one of the characters!

About Totto-Chan

Director: Shinnosuke Yakuwa
Animation | 2023 | 114 min.
Recommended ages: 8+
Japanese with English subtitles

“Sit down! Stop talking. Pay attention!” School is hard enough, but little Totto-Chan just can’t seem to be still. Inquisitive by nature, she’s constantly inspired by the world around her—and in 1940s Japan, the wonders of Western modernization bring new and exciting ways to traditional Japanese life.

When her behavior proves to be too distracting to the rest of the class (according to her teachers, at least), her parents make it their mission to find the right place for her. Totto-Chan is no ordinary child, and her new school takes place in no ordinary classroom but in an old streetcar. Her classmates are equally extraordinary, each with their own abilities and ways of thinking.

With a schoolmaster who affirms rather than tamps down their joyous curiosity, Totto-Chan and her classmates flourish in an environment filled with acceptance and freedom of expression. The coming changes to Japan will make adjusting to new life even more challenging, but Totto-Chan, charming, chaotic, sometimes troublemaking, and often irrepressible, will be just fine as long as she can be herself.

Based on the best-selling memoir of famous Japanese television personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Totto-Chan is a tender reminder the things that make us different are the very things that make us special.

Susan McCormac 3/11/25 Susan McCormac 3/11/25

Explore The Sacred World of Sumo

Explore the sacred world of sumo at The Public Theater

SUMO

Now through Sunday, March 30

The Public Theater – 425 Lafayette Street (at Astor Place)

Admission: $93* | $65* Side seats | $73 Public Supporters and Partners

The New York premiere of SUMO by Lisa Sanaye Dring is running now through March 30. A co-production of Ma-Yi Theater Company and La Jolla Playhouse, SUMO is directed by Obie Award winner Ralph B. Peña.

About the Play

Step into the sacred world of sumo wrestling with Dring’s mesmerizing new drama. Entrenched in an elite sumo training facility in Tokyo, six men practice, eat, love, play, and ultimately fight. Akio arrives as an angry, ambitious 18-year-old with a lot to learn. Expecting validation, dominance, and fame, and desperate to move up the ranks, he slams headlong into his fellow wrestlers. With sponsorship money at stake, their bodies on the line, and their futures at risk, the wrestlers struggle to carve themselves—and one another—into the men they dream of being. SUMO is a thrilling new play set in an elite and rarely explored world. This powerhouse drama features live taiko drumming by Shih-Wei Wu.

For performance times and to purchase tickets, please visit The Public Theater’s website. The listed ticket prices include a $10 per ticket service fee. The fee is waived for Public Theater Supporters & Partners and when purchasing at the Taub Box Office.

Susan McCormac 3/11/25 Susan McCormac 3/11/25

Unique Wellness Experience

Kokoro Gathering – Japanese Principles of Intentional Living

Saturday, March 15 from 1:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Japan Village – 934 3rd Ave, Brooklyn

Admission: $55

Join Peatix in celebrating International Women’s Day at a unique wellness experience at Kokoro Gathering, an afternoon dedicated to nurturing your mind, heart, and spirit.

Led by four renowned Japanese wellness practitioners, this thoughtfully designed event offers more than inspiration; it provides practical techniques that integrate seamlessly into your daily routine. Each workshop focuses on actionable strategies that create meaningful change in your life, work, and home environment. In addition to the workshops, there will be light refreshments, community connection opportunities, and access to post-event resources.

To purchase tickets, please visit Peatix’s website.

Four Transformative Workshops

ZEN PRACTICES FOR MODERN LIFE with Yoko Ohashi (Brooklyn Zen Center)
Learn practical meditation techniques and experience a guided practice designed to help you incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine with simple rituals that create calm during challenging situations.

THE ART OF MINDFUL SPACE ORGANIZATION with Junko Matsushita
Unlock new strategies to reduce stress, declutter your mind, and maximize your day with valuable tips for boosting your productivity and well-being through organized spaces.

HARMONIOUS SPACE DESIGN PRINCIPLES with Ai Matsui Johnson
Understand how Feng Shui can help create harmonious environments and pick up practical tips on arrangement and placement techniques to channel optimal energy flow in your living spaces.

JAPAN'S SECRET TO A HEALTHY LIFE with Dr. Michiko Yoshifuji
In this session, Dr. Yoshifuji will delve into traditional Japanese self-care rituals, unveiling time-honored practices designed to foster a deeper connection between your body and mind.

Meet the Experts

YOKO OHASHI
A dedicated meditation advocate from Osaka, Japan, Ohashi serves as a community leader at Brooklyn Zen Center. With her background in fine arts and current studies in divinity, she offers a unique perspective on integrating mindfulness into modern life.

JUNKO MATSUSHITA
Based in New York since 2010, Matsushita specializes in organization coaching for career-driven women. Her approach blends life coaching principles with customized strategies that create harmony, efficiency, and balance by integrating Japanese mindfulness practices.

AI MATSUI JOHNSON
Founder of Ai Feng Shui Interior Consulting and author of A Little Bit of Feng Shui, Matsui Johnson combines her expertise in Feng Shui, interior design, and decluttering to create personalized, harmonious spaces that reflect and empower her clients' lives.

DR. MICHIKO YOSHIFUJI
As a Doctor of Acupuncture and owner of ROOTS Mindful Acupuncture in Midtown NYC, Dr. Yoshifuji is dedicated to providing holistic, patient-centered care that improves overall health and quality of life through traditional Japanese wellness practices.

About the Organizer

Kokoro Gathering is an exclusive event series organized by Peatix. Since 2011, Peatix has effectively connected more than 130,000 organizers worldwide through shared experiences via its user-friendly event platform. Learn more about their global community of event creators at https://peatix.com/us/about-us

Susan McCormac 3/11/25 Susan McCormac 3/11/25

NYC-Based Jazz Composer to Present Suite Honoring 3.11 Survivors

UNBREAKABLE HOPE AND RESILIENCE: A Special Concert from Japan Celebrating Stories of Humanity and Resilience

Monday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Dizzy’s Club – 10 Columbus Circle | Global Live Stream – jazzlive.com

Admission: $45 Table Seating | $35 Bar Seating | $20 Students | $9.99 Live Stream

Experience a groundbreaking fusion of jazz and theater in UNBREAKABLE HOPE AND RESILIENCE, a deeply moving suite based on real-life interviews with survivors and volunteers of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Created by Migiwa "Miggy" Miyajima, a New York-based award-winning composer and six-time Grammy-nominated producer, this work captures what hope and resilience look like in our real lives through the power of music and performance.

This suite brings together world-class jazz musicians from New York and accomplished actors from the city's vibrant theater scene, seamlessly connected under the Miyajima’s direction.

Selected as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Women’s Month, this concert is one of only three performances this March to be streamed live globally.

How to Watch

Join in person on Monday, March 17 at Dizzy’s Club in Columbus Circle or watch from anywhere in the world via the online broadcast. This is a rare opportunity to witness a performance that redefines the boundaries of jazz storytelling.

To purchase tickets, please visit jazz.org/dizzys, or to watch the global live stream, subscribe and watch at jazzlive.com.

Miggy Augmented Orchestra presents UNBREAKABLE HOPE & RESILIENCE SUITE

Composer, Conductor: Migiwa “Miggy” Miyajima
Actors: Megan Masako Haley, Ashton Muñiz, Arielle Gonzalez
Trumpets: Dan Urness, David Smith, Stuart Mack, Rachel Therrien
Trombones: Ryan Keberle, Jason Jackson, Evan Amoroso, Gina Benalcazar-Lopez
Sax/Flute/Clarinet: Ben Kono, Todd Bashore, Sam Dillon, Quinsin Nachoff, Carl Maraghi
Rhythm Section: Pete McCann, Martha Kato, Jared Beckstead-Craan, Tim Horner
Production Assistant: Joseph Herbst

To learn more about Miyajima, please visit her website.

Susan McCormac 3/3/25 Susan McCormac 3/3/25

Monday Michiru Returns to Joe’s Pub

Japanese American songstress (and the daughter of legendary jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi) returns to Joe’s Pub this week for a performance. Photo by Takashi Matsuzaki

Monday Michiru

Thursday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:00 p.m.)

Joe’s Pub – 425 Lafayette Place (at Astor Place)

Admission: $36

Japanese American songstress Monday Michiru returns to Joe's Pub presenting her unique style of original music inspired by soul, jazz, Brazilian, and other urban flavors supported by some of New York's top musicians. Joining her on stage are Misha Tsiganov, Sean Harkness, Fima Ephron, Adrian Harpham, and Sumie Kaneko.

There is a two-drink or one-food item minimum per person. To purchase tickets, please go to publictheater.org.

About Monday Michiru

Named to reflect both her Japanese and American Italian heritages, Monday Michiru started her musical endeavors with studying classical flute then expanded to singing and songwriting. The daughter of famed jazz musicians Toshiko Akiyoshi and Charlie Mariano and stepdaughter of venerable flautist Lew Tabackin, Michiru easily adapted the language of jazz heard at home into her other musical influences, which range from soul to urban club to Brazilian and more.

Her 1987 debut in Japan was not in music but as an actress, which garnered her Best New Actress awards that allowed her to expand her career by acting in movies, theater, and television, as well as hosting her own video programs and modeling for major commercial ads.

Since her solo record debut in 1991, Michiru has consistently released albums as a solo artist as well as a featured guest on international projects. Her musical style runs the gamut from house to jazz to Latin to soul, an indefinable hybrid that is undeniably hers. To learn more, please visit her website.

Susan McCormac 2/17/25 Susan McCormac 2/17/25

“Biri Gal” at Japan Society

Sayaka Kobayashi, the inspiration behind the Japanese film Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル), will give an author talk and book signing at Japan Society on Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.

Author Talk & Signing: Meet Real-Life Biri Gal Sayaka Kobayashi

Thursday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $25 | $23 Seniors, Students, and Persons with Disabilities | $20 Japan Society Members

Sayaka Kobayashi is the real-life inspiration behind the 2015 Japanese movie Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル), which is based on her journey from a troubled middle school student on the verge of expulsion to passing one of Japan’s most difficult university entrance exams. Now, on the 10th anniversary of this beloved film, Japan Society presents Kobayashi for a talk about her life, career, writing and motivation.

About Sayaka Kobayashi

Struggling with poor academic performance throughout high school, Kobayashi dedicated herself to an intense study regimen for a year and a half, and after tremendous effort, she succeeded in securing admission to the prestigious Keio University. Her story became the best-selling book The Story of a Gal at the Bottom of her School Year who Raised her Standard Score by 40 Points in One Year and Got Accepted into Keio University, written by her dedicated tutor, Nobutaka Tsubota. This book, which has sold more than one million copies, led to Flying Colors (Biri Gal / ビリギャル).

Since her Keio success, Kobayashi earned a master’s degree in cognitive science from Columbia University in 2024, and she has recently written the book How I Fell in Love with Learning, a guide that explores the essential elements for effective learning.

To purchase tickets to this event, please visit Japan Society’s website. Our friends at Japan Society are offering JapanCultureNYC members a discount to this event! Members will receive a separate email with the code for $10 tickets. Not member of JapanCultureNYC? Join now by going to https://www.japanculture-nyc.com/membership.

*How I Fell in Love with Learning* by Sayaka Kobayashi

About the Book

How I Fell in Love with Learning (私はこうして勉強にハマった) was published by Sanctuary Publishing in Japan in July 2024. Sayaka Kobayashi unpacks her success story through the lens of cognitive science, drawing on insights gained at Columbia University. The book explores three essential elements for effective learning: strong motivation, the right strategies and study methods and a supportive environment that sustains the learner’s enthusiasm. By focusing on these key factors, How I Fell in Love with Learning offers a practical guide to study techniques for anyone. The book is accessible to everyone from middle school students to parents and educators, providing tools to improve academic performance alongside guidance on fostering a love of learning and confidence-building.

Autographs and Book Sales

Attendees of Japan Society’s Sayaka Kobayashi talk and signing will be able to purchase copies of How I Fell in Love with Learning at the event or bring books from home for a signing session following the author’s talk. Please note How I Fell in Love with Learning is available only in Japanese.

Susan McCormac 2/17/25 Susan McCormac 2/17/25

Charlie Chaplin’s Confidante in spotlight off-broadway

Off-Broadway play about Toraichi Kono, Charlie Chaplin’s majordomo and confidante who was arrested for espionage during World War II

My Man Kono

Now through Sunday, March 9

A.R.T./New York Mezzanine Theatre – 502 W. 53rd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues)

Admission: $77 | $66 Seniors | $39 Students (prices include fees)

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of My Man Kono, a play by LA-based writer and producer Philip W. Chung directed by Jeff Liu, an Artistic Producer for the Ojai Playwrights Conference.

In the heyday of silent films, Japanese émigré Toraichi Kono, in pursuit of the American Dream, becomes a loyal confidante of film star Charlie Chaplin. But at the dawn of WWII, he is swept up in anti-Japanese hysteria and accused of espionage. Conlan Ledwith portrays the silent screen star with Brian Lee Huynh as his man Kono.

“It’s a fascinating and distinctively American story about a figure from our cultural history we should know better,” writes Zachary Stewart in his review of the biographical off-Broadway production on theatermania.com.

Remembering Executive Order 9066

This Wednesday, February 19 Pan Asian Rep is celebrating the AANHPI community on AANHPI Affinity Night/Day of Remembrance. The evening is in recognition of the 83rd anniversary of Executive Order 9066, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s directive issued February 19, 1942, authorizing the forced relocation and incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, in remote internment camps. Pan Asian Rep is offering a special discount to theatergoers on February 19. Enter code AANHPI at checkout for $55 tickets.

To purchase tickets, please visit panasianrep.org.

Conlan Ledwith (left) as Charlie Chaplin and Brian Lee Huynh as Toraichi Kono in *My Man Kono*. Photo: ©Russ Rowland

Performance Schedule

Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:00 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

The run time is approximately two hours including an intermission.

Susan McCormac 2/14/25 Susan McCormac 2/14/25

NYC-Based J-pop Cover Band to Perform

Akari Village, a J-pop cover band based in the East Village of New York City

Akari Village | Amber Balleras | Owen Chen Trio

Sunday, February 16 at 7:30 p.m. (Doors: 7:00 p.m.)

Berlin – 25 Avenue A (at E. 2nd Street)

Admission: $13.61 (including fees)

Akari Village is a J-pop cover band based in the East Village. With a playlist ranging from old ‘80s City Pop to anime theme songs to today’s hits, Akari Village will bring their energy to Berlin, NYC’s premier small music venue. They’ll be joined by Amber Balleras and Owen Chen Trio.

To purchase tickets, please visit Berlin’s website.

Akari Village

Will Okada – Vocals/Violin
Nozomi Yoshinaka – Guitar
Shiharu Yamashita – Vocals
Winston Yang – Piano
Marwan Ramen – Bass
Jacob Byrd – Drums

Follow Akari Village on Instagram.

Akari Village: J-Pop + Anime Live

Thursday, March 6 from 8:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.

The Red Pavilion – 1241 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn

Admission: $17.28 – $64.29

Akari Village also has an upcoming performance at The Red Pavilion, an Asian neo-noir cabaret and nightclub in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in early March. Walk-ins welcome. There is a one-drink minimum per person for table service. To purchase tickets, please visit The Red Pavilion’s website.

Susan McCormac 2/13/25 Susan McCormac 2/13/25

Rakugo at Japan Village

Rakugo, a traditional Japanese storytelling art, comes to Japan Village

Discover the Art of Rakugo!

Sunday, February 16 from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m.

Japan Village – 934 3rd Avenue (2nd Floor), Brooklyn

Admission: Free

Japan Village and the English Rakugo Association present rakugo this Sunday in The Loft on the second floor.

What Is Rakugo?

Rakugo, a traditional art of Japanese storytelling with a 400-year-old history, features a lone rakugoka (storyteller) performing on a koza, a small, slightly elevated platform on a stage. Seated on a zabuton (cushion), the storyteller uses only a sensu (folding fan) and tenugui (hand towel) as props. This minimalist staging emphasizes the performer's storytelling skills.

Through quick voice changes, expressive facial expressions, and slight head turns, the rakugoka brings multiple characters to life—whether it's a hilarious comedy, a heartwarming tale, or a dramatic story. The punchline, or ochi, gives rakugo its name: “Rakugo” literally means “fallen words,” with the “fall” being the comedic twist at the end of the story that is characterized by clever wordplay.

Rakugo in English

In the 1980s, Katsura Shijaku wowed audiences in the U.S. and Canada by performing rakugo in English, gaining international recognition and helping to introduce this traditional Japanese art form to global audiences. At Japan Village, Kanariya Eisho will perform, showcasing how the English Rakugo Association uses the art form not only to share Japanese culture but also as an entertaining and creative way to help storytellers sharpen their English communication skills.

For more information about the English Rakugo Association, please visit their website.

Susan McCormac 2/11/25 Susan McCormac 2/11/25

Valentine’s Shakuhachi with Piano & Cello

Valentine’s Shakuhachi with Piano and Cello

Saturday, February 15 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Saint John’s in the Village – 218 W. 11th Street

Admission: $20

Show your love for music at this post-Valentine’s Day concert. Shakuhachi Grand Master James Nyoraku Schlefer will perform with cellist Sahara von Hattenberger and Joanne Kang on piano with music by Miki Minoru, Marty Regan, Justin Jay Hines, Randall Woolf, and Schlefer himself. The one-hour concert with its distinctive combination of instruments features a wonderful variety of contemporary musical styles including minimalist, romantic, jazzy, and impressionistic.

Program

Forest Whispers by Marty Regan
Bow Down by Randall Woolf
Aki no Kyoku by Miki Minoru
Sidewalk Dances by James Nyoraku Schlefer
Original Sound by Justin Jay Hines

Please visit Eventbrite to purchase tickets. For more information about Schlefer, please visit his website.

Susan McCormac 2/5/25 Susan McCormac 2/5/25

Japan Society Pays Tribute to Legendary Filmmaker

Japan Society pays tribute to legendary filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi with a series featuring his “seishun eiga”

Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years

Friday, February 7 through Friday, February 14, 2025

Japan Society – 333 E. 47th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Admission: $16 | $12 Japan Society Members

Japan Society presents a tribute to Japanese director and screenwriter Nobuhiko Obayashi, whose career spanned 60 years and multiple genres. Curated by Japan Society Film Programmer Alexander Fee, Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years comprises six films screened across five days.

About the Film Series

The teenage symphonies of Nobuhiko Obayashi (1938-2020) are wound in a melancholy nostalgia for a period indelibly lost to time—that inexpressible gap between adolescence and adulthood. Braiding visually expressive fantasias with striking formal experimentation and pop-art boldness, Obayashi’s idiosyncratic cinematic language produced some of Japan’s most beloved seishun eiga (youth films) in the 1980s. Captivating generations of filmgoers with his earnest portraits of young love and vanished worldviews, Obayashi’s films were further bolstered by film studio Kadokawa’s innovative tactics of popularizing dreamy pop idols such as Hiroko Yakushimaru and Tomoyo Harada.

With a career overshadowed abroad by the oddball eccentricity of his electric 1977 debut House, the 1980s would prove to be the high-water mark of Obayashi’s popularity, epitomized by his endearing Onomichi trilogy—set in the filmmaker’s hometown of Onomichi, the site of Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story. Framed in 35mm viewfinders, against wildly ingenious chroma-key composites and characterized by his unflagging optimism for the youth of Japan, Obayashi’s youth passages are caught up in the ages of transition, demonstrably attuned to the extraordinary nature of ordinary adolescence.

To purchase tickets, please visit Japan Society’s website.

Schedule

Friday, February 7

I Are You, You Am Me (Exchange Students)
7:00 p.m. | 112 min.
A playful mélange of amateur small-gauge, black-and-white, and color photography, Obayashi’s first entry in his hometown trilogy spins into a gender-swap youth film when two classmates switch bodies after a steep fall.
School in the Crosshairs
9:15 p.m. | 90 min.
A psychotronic fantasy forged into a young girl’s destiny to defend the planet, School in the Crosshairs is a cosmic overload of extraterrestrial fascists, preternatural powers, and Obayashi’s uniquely adroit filmmaking abilities.

Saturday, February 8

The Little Girl Who Conquered Time
5:00 p.m. | 104 min.
Schoolgirl Kazuko begins to experience time leaps backwards and forward in time, disorienting her as she yearns to stay in the present. Obayashi’s second Onomichi film is a genuine expression of the transcendence of love—one cast across the stars for a young girl who lives in tomorrow.
Lonely Heart (Miss Lonely)
8:00 p.m. | 112 min.
The final installment in Obayashi’s Onomichi trilogy is celebrating its 40th anniversary. It is a virtuosic ode to first love and the intrinsic emotions that arise with it as a young boy falls in love and encounters a mysterious girl in the viewfinder of his analog camera.

Sunday, February 9

The Island Closest to Heaven
5:00 p.m. | 103 min.
Fulfilling her late father’s dream to take her to “the island closest to heaven,” bookish teen Mari ventures solo to a paradise-laden archipelago in search of the mythic locale.
School in the Crosshairs
7:15 p.m.

Thursday, February 13

His Motorbike, Her Island
7:00 p.m. | 96 min.
A nostalgia-filled reminiscence, Obayashi’s monochromatic dream playfully worships the biker culture of yesteryear, delivering a sentimental and liberating take on young love.
I Are You, You Am Me (Exchange Students)
9:15 p.m. | 112 min.

Friday, February 14

The Little Girl Who Conquered Time
7:00 p.m. | 104 min.
His Motorbike, Her Island
9:15 p.m. | 96 min.

About Nobuhiko Obayashi

Born in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, in 1938, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 60-year film career began with avant-garde experimental shorts in the 1960s. Throughout the 1970, he directed highly stylized and whimsical television commercials, which allowed him to experiment with different techniques and to develop his creative flair. His mainstream films, as featured in Japan Society’s series, focused on the innocence of youth, young love, loss, and nostalgia. In his later works, Obayashi weaved social commentary, such as anti-war themes, into his storytelling.

Obayashi died of lung cancer in April 2020 at the age of 82.

Susan McCormac 1/22/25 Susan McCormac 1/22/25

Candlelight Concerts Feature Joe Hisaishi

The music of Joe Hisaishi, known for Studio Ghibli and “Beat” Takeshi film scores, is featured at two upcoming Candlelight Concerts in NYC

Candlelight: The Best of Joe Hisaishi

Thursday, February 13 at 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 19 at 8:30 p.m.

St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church – 157 Montague Street, Brooklyn

Admission: $46.50 - $78.50 on February 13 | $35 - $65 on March 19

The music of Joe Hisaishi is the focus of two upcoming Candlelight Concerts. Tickets are available and can be purchased at the event site Fever. The Highline String Quartet will perform Hisaishi’s music at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church under the gentle glow of candlelight (or electric tealights). Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations in New York.

About Joe Hisaishi

Born Mamoru Fujisawa in Nagano, Joe Hisaishi is the beloved, award-winning composer renowned for collaborating with Hayao Miyazaki, writing the scores for all but one of the animator’s Studio Ghibli films. He has also composed the music for several films by “Beat” Takeshi Kitano, including Hanabi and Kikujiro. The recipient of seven Japanese Academy Awards, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Score for The Boy and the Heron. In 2023, Hisaishi was bestowed the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by the Japanese government.

Tentative Program

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind – “Kaze no Tani” (Opening Theme)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky – “Kimi wo Nosete” (Carrying You”)
My Neighbour Totoro – “Kaze no Toori Michi” (“Path of the Wind”)
My Neighbour Totoro – “Tonari no Totoro” (Main Theme)
Kiki's Delivery Service – “Umi no Mieru Machi” (“A Town with an Ocean View”)
Kiki's Delivery Service – “Tabidachi” (“Journey”)
Princess Mononoke – “Main Theme”
Spirited Away – “Inochi no Namae” (“Name of Life”)
Spirited Away – “Chihiro's Waltz”
Ponyo – “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” (“Ponyo on the Cliff”)
The Wind Rises – “A Journey (A Dream of Flight)”
Kikujiro – “Summer”
The Tale of Princess Kaguya – “When I Remember This Life”
Howl's Moving Castle – “Merry Go Round of Life”

Concert approved by Wonder City, representing Joe Hisaishi. Guests must be eight years old or older. Anyone under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Columbia Japanese Students Association Matsuri 2025

Cultural Performances

Culinary Journey

Games and Activities

Food Vendors

Cultural and Community Vendors

Performance sCHEDULE

NY Seasonal Tea Ceremony: Hina Doll's Tea Ceremony

What is Hina Matsuri?

What to Expect

About the Tea Master

Dress Code

About Tak Furumoto

On-Air Schedule

Martial Arts Day

Schedule of Demonstrations

Yoko Tawada with Monique Truong

Every Work Has Several Faces: A Conversation with Yoko Tawada about Writing and Translation

Carnegie Hall Citywide: Soh Daiko

About Soh Daiko

NYPL x Kodansha Manga Book Club (To Your Eternity)

About To Your Eternity

Kammerraku Encore: music for shakuhachi, koto, shamisen, and string quartet at Tenri Cultural Institute in NYC

Kammerraku Encore

Performers

PROGRAM

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window

About Totto-Chan

SUMO

About the Play

Kokoro Gathering – Japanese Principles of Intentional Living

Four Transformative Workshops

Meet the Experts

About the Organizer

UNBREAKABLE HOPE AND RESILIENCE: A Special Concert from Japan Celebrating Stories of Humanity and Resilience

How to Watch

Miggy Augmented Orchestra presents UNBREAKABLE HOPE & RESILIENCE SUITE

Monday Michiru

About Monday Michiru

Author Talk & Signing: Meet Real-Life Biri Gal Sayaka Kobayashi

About Sayaka Kobayashi

About the Book

Autographs and Book Sales

My Man Kono

Remembering Executive Order 9066

Performance Schedule

Akari Village | Amber Balleras | Owen Chen Trio

Akari Village

Akari Village: J-Pop + Anime Live

Discover the Art of Rakugo!

What Is Rakugo?

Rakugo in English

Program

Obayashi ’80s: The Onomichi Trilogy & Kadokawa Years

About the Film Series

Schedule

About Nobuhiko Obayashi

Candlelight: The Best of Joe Hisaishi

About Joe Hisaishi

Tentative Program

LEARN MORE