44th Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival

Saturday, April 29 from 11:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Chelsea – 8th Avenue between 21st and 22nd Streets

Admission: Free

The Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans (CAPA) are hosting United We Stand, a festival celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which begins Monday, May 1. The spotlight will shine on a wide range of wonderful organizations, programs, and companies in the Pan Asian American community. There will be arts and crafts booths and vendors, including a Peking duck crepe maker!

With its beginnings as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week in May 1979, CAPA has hosted fun-filled outdoor festivals bringing together diverse Asian American cultures through education and interaction. Its Asian American Community Hub serves to promote and amplify work that Asian American organizations have been providing to our community. CAPA provides an excellent opportunity to get to know and get involved with active Asian American organizations.

What CAPA Does

• Promotes connection, communication, and collaboration among Asian American organizations

• Fosters relationships within and outside the Asian American community

• Promotes, represents, and advocates for the issues and interests of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities

• Provides an environment to encourage Asian Americans to use their history, culture, and art to foster self-esteem and respect for our heritages while sharing Asian American cultures and contributions to society

Stop by the festival to learn more!

Announcing the japanculture•NYC membership program!

Since 2011 JapanCulture-NYC.com has been your English-language resource for All Things Japanese in New York City. We have a fresh look, and now we’d like to announce our new membership program! For only $5 a month, you’ll have access to exclusive content and cool benefits.

Don’t worry; everyone will still be able to read articles on the website for free. But your membership to JapanCulture•NYC will help maintain the high quality of our site while we continue to showcase and support our community. Click here to begin your membership today!

benefits of membership

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

We’ll send in-depth articles about Japanese cultural tidbits and how to find All Things Japanese in New York City that you won’t find on the website.

DISCOUNTS

Members will get access to exclusive promo codes to receive discounts on concerts, film screenings, performances, dinner events, books, and more!

Our first discount is to the Globus Film Series Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai that begins at Japan Society on Friday, April 28. To receive the code for $2 off any General Audience ticket, become a member of JapanCulture•NYC today! (This code for Rites of Passage cannot be used for additional discounts on Student/Senior/Japan Society member tickets.)

DOWNLOADABLE PDFS

Members will receive occasional lists of Japanese holidays and observances, cultural tidbits, food and drink, and where to find all of the above in NYC.

The most valuable benefit from a membership to JapanCulture•NYC is the connections that we’ll create with each other and the community we’ll continue building together. Learn about your favorite aspects of Japanese culture, eat your favorite Japanese food, and meet the creatives, businesspeople, and community leaders who make New York so special.

sponsorship program

We’ve also launched a Sponsorship Program! We’ll spotlight you on our website and our social media to gain more exposure for your business, event, purpose in the Japanese and Japanese American community in New York. Your support will enable us to continue providing informative and entertaining content about All Things Japanese in New York City. For more information, please click here.

Thanks to Stay Sassy Media for our amazing redesign and to Wasabi Kikaku for their many years of support!

The Films of Shinji Somai at japan society

Globus Film Series—Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai

Friday, April 28 through Saturday, May 13

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

Tickets: $15 | $12 seniors and students | $10 Japan Society members
Screening of Typhoon Club + Opening Night Party: $18/$15/$14

Japan Society is presenting the first North American retrospective on Japan’s foremost cineaste of the 1980s with the 2023 Globus Film Series Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai. Beginning Friday, April 28 with the sold-out world premiere of the 4K restoration of Typhoon Club this series spotlights director Shinji Somai, who is widely lauded in his native Japan but remains largely unrecognized in the West.

Series highlights include pop idol Hiroko Yakushimaru’s breakthrough Sailor Suit and Machine Gun—with screenings of both the theatrical and 1982 (kanpeki-ban) complete version; the North American Premiere of the 4K Luminous Woman restoration; and imported, archival prints of both Somai’s epic maritime tragedy The Catch and the pop-inflected Tokyo Heaven.

“A major figure in Japanese cinema, Shinji Somai’s recognition and influence are rarely discussed outside of Japan,” said Alexander Fee, Japan Society’s Film Programmer, “this series offers a special chance to rediscover one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers, whose formative works established a unique approach to filmmaking that continues to inspire the current generation today.”

Read Criterion Collection’s look at this series here.

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun ©1981 Kadokawa Corp.

About Shinji Somai

A pioneering filmmaker during what is oftentimes referred to as the “lost decade” of Japanese cinema, Somai came to prominence during the 1980s—a time when the nation’s film industry found itself in flux, perturbed by the collapse of the Japanese studio system in the previous decade. This transitional period would lead to the rise and development of independent productions, leaving Somai to serve as a crucial bridge into the post-studio era. Characterized by his demanding work ethic and innovative use of long takes, Somai forged a unique identity, working predominantly within the genre trappings of seishun eiga (youth films) and directing some of the era's most original and enduring works, five of which comprise Kinema Junpo's critics list for the best Japanese films of all time.

Somai’s acclaimed oeuvre encompasses an eclectic mix of generic and stylistic conventions, ranging from Kadokawa pop idol vehicles to Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno to independent art dramas—all underpinned by the filmmaker’s potent evocation of adolescence. Documenting the tempestuous rigors of youth, Somai’s output would remain a persistent influence on filmmakers to come—from Shunji Iwai and Shinji Aoyama to Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Somai’s frequent depictions of bodies of water—including torrential downpours and typhoons—parallel the emotional turbulence and volatility of youth, externalizing the alienating depths of growing up in an increasingly chaotic world.

Screening Schedule

Friday, April 28

Typhoon Club with Opening Night Party at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Shinji Somai | 1985 | 115 min. | Japanese with English subtitles
With Youki Kudoh, Yuichi Mikami, Yuka Onishi

World Premiere of 4K Restoration. Shinji Somai’s beloved cult film Typhoon Club is widely heralded as the director’s seminal feature, considered to be one of the greatest Japanese films ever made. Offering a caustic immersion into the lives of disaffected junior high students on the cusp of adulthood, Typhoon Club features a lively cast of young talent—including idol Youki Kudoh (The Crazy Family, Mystery Train)—facing existential intrigues, budding sexuality, and rising social tensions in the days leading up to a typhoon’s arrival. Stranded in their schoolhouse as the storm settles in, the group undergoes an awakening as they dispel all—insecurities, fear, and desire—under the swell of the tempest. A Cinema Guild release.

Please note: This screening and Opening Night Party are SOLD OUT. Recently acquired by Cinema Guild, future release plans for Typhoon Club along with Somai’s 1983 postmodern road movie P.P. Rider are in the works, so if you can’t attend the April 28 show, you’ll have a chance to see it soon! Plus, there are nine screenings of six other Somai films in this Globus Film Series that you won’t want to miss!

P.P. Rider

Saturday, April 29

P.P. Rider at 2:00 p.m.
Dir. Shinji Somai | 1983 | 118 min. | Japanese with English subtitles
With Tatsuya Fuji, Michiko Kawai, Masatoshi Nagase

Based on a story by Leonard Schrader (The Man Who Stole the Sun), P.P. Rider follows three friends—Jojo, Jishu, and Bruce—who, after witnessing the kidnapping of their class bully, try to rescue their tormentor from the grip of his yakuza captors. Aside from the occasional detour, the trio trail their kidnapped classmate across the country, running into a cast of seedy characters along the way—including a pair of layabout cops and a wiry, washed-up gangster played by Tatsuya Fuji (In the Realm of the Senses). Playful and referential, Somai’s farcical seishun eiga employs a variety of stylistic techniques and gags to offer an escapist summer fantasy of carefree misadventures in turn broaching a darker undercurrent despite its tongue-in-cheek demeanor. A Cinema Guild release.

Love Hotel at 5:00 p.m.
Dir. Shinji Somai | 1985 | 88 min. | Japanese with English subtitles
With Minori Terada, Noriko Hayami

Echoes of the past reverberate when an ex-call girl and a debtor meet two years after the desperate and fateful night that first brought them together. An existential study of two lonely and tortured souls, Somai’s torrid pinku eiga follows the pair as they kindle a newfound friendship amid the chaos of their broken and dispirited lives. Somai, who started his career as an assistant director at Nikkatsu in the '70s, would not direct a feature for the studio until Love Hotel. Love Hotel is a melancholic entry into the studio’s legendary Roman Porno catalogue, set against the backdrop of a shimmering neon cityscape and soundtracked by Momoe Yamaguchi’s heartrending crooning.

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1982 Complete Version) at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Shinji Somai | 1981/1982 | 130 min. (Complete), 112 min. (Theatrical) | Japanese with English subtitles
With Hiroko Yakushimaru, Tsunehiko Watase, Akira Emoto

Based on the popular youth novel by Jiro Akagawa, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun focuses on the life of schoolgirl Izumi Hoshi (Kadokawa idol Hiroko Yakushimaru) who inherits the reins of a dying yakuza clan and is thrown headfirst into a gangster feud. Vying for respect in an adult world, Izumi takes charge and challenges the violent drug cartel that threatens her clan. Between Somai’s skillful direction, a hit theme song and Yakushimaru herself—dressed in her iconic sailor fuku—Sailor Suit and Machine Gun had all the makings of a smash hit, emerging as a cultural phenomenon that catapulted Yakushimaru to widespread popularity and perfectly captured the zeitgeist of '80s Japan.

Luminous Woman

Friday, May 5

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Theatrical Version) at 6:00 p.m.

Luminous Woman at 8:30 p.m.
Dir. Shinji Somai | 1987 | 118 min. | Japanese with English subtitles
With Keiji Muto, Monday Michiru, Narumi Yasuda

Monday Michiru will introduce the film!

North American Premiere of 4K Restoration. A burly hulk of a man (pro-wrestler Keiji Muto) makes his way from Hokkaido to the decrepit trash heaps of outer Tokyo, searching for his beloved in what is perhaps Somai’s strangest feature. When he finds himself pulled into the gladiator pits of a Tokyo nightclub, the mountain man agrees to fight in exchange for information on his lost love. Operating within a bizarre carnivalesque realm of tightrope acts, acrobatic jesters and opera, Somai’s magenta-tinged Luminous Woman inhabits a dreamlike Tokyo underworld populated by tragic figures bearing forgotten hopes and dreams.

The Catch

Friday, May 12

The Catch at 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Shinji Somai | 1983 | 140 min. | Japanese with English subtitles
With Ken Ogata, Masako Natsume, Koichi Sato

Imported 35mm Print. In Somai’s relentless and near-mythical tale of the high seas, a young man takes on the intergenerational calling of his girlfriend’s family—that of a tuna fisherman. Abandoning his father’s vocation, Shinichi (Koichi Sato) turns to his girlfriend’s father, Fusajiro, a leather-faced fisherman played by Ken Ogata, to teach him the ways of the sea but struggles to assimilate to the rugged and callous lifestyle. His doting girlfriend, Tokiko, finds herself caught in a current of emotional devastation as she tends to both men, witnessing the arduous occupation harden and shape Shinichi as he obsesses over mastering his new trade. Playing out as a family tragedy of repeated cycles of trauma and pain, Somai’s maritime odyssey is a modern-day Melvillian epic.

Tokyo Heaven

Saturday, May 13

Luminous Woman at 2:00 p.m.

P.P. Rider at 5:00 p.m.

Tokyo Heaven at 7:30 p.m.
Dir. Shinji Somai | 1990 | 109 min. | Japanese with live English subtitles
With Riho Makise, Kiichi Nakai, Tsurube Shofukutei

Imported 35mm Print. Up-and-coming model Yu (Riho Makise) finds her career aspirations abruptly cut off after being run over in a car accident, waking up shortly afterwards in the sweet hereafter. Tricking a heavenly emissary to send her back to earth, Yu returns to a world where she cannot come into contact with those who know of her demise, which includes her lecherous producer, who is attempting to cover up news of her death. Befriending lowly salaryman Fumio (Kiichi Nakai), Yu is given a new lease on life as she finds happiness living—not as a campaign idol but as an ordinary teenage girl. Capturing Tokyo at the tail-end of Japan's Bubble era, Somai’s charming pop fantasy is a lighthearted reflection on the transience of life and the simple pleasures of human connection and existence.

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

For JapanCulture•NYC Members

Japan Society is offering a discount code exclusively for JapanCulture•NYC members who want to attend the Rites of Passage screenings! That’s right, JapanCulture•NYC has a new membership program, and receiving discounts such as this is one of the benefits. To receive the code for $2 off any General Audience ticket, become a member of JapanCulture•NYC today! (This code for Rites of Passage cannot be used for additional discounts on Student/Senior/Japan Society member tickets.) JapanCulture•NYC membership is only $5 a month! For details and to register, please click here.

Sakura

Sakura

Saturday, April 22 at 6:00 p.m.

Goldish – 71 Murray Street (between W. Broadway and Greenwich Street)

Admission: $150

Ninja Ballet returns to New York City to grace the intimate space at Goldish, after a whirlwind tour in Mexico. In Sakura, artistic director Shoko Tamai hosts an Earth Day dance theatre celebration of the spring season, along with a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Light refreshments will be served.

To purchase tickets, please visit Shoko Tamai’s Eventbrite page.

Photo by MANONCE

Performing Artists

Choreography — Shoko Tamai
Guest Dancer — Elisa Toro Franky
Shakuhachi — Adam Robinson
Drum (Music Arrangement) — Mal Stein
Artwork — Pedro Cuni
Tea Master — Yoshitsugu Nagano

About Ninja Ballet

Established 2017, Ninja Ballet is a fusion Eastern and Western dance methodology, practice, and performance. The company seeks to stimulate cross-cultural learning and environmental awareness through dance, music, and visual arts, while inspiring a new generation of enlightened movement artists. For more information, please visit their website.

IFC TO SCREEN A LOOK AT JAPAN’S DYSTOPIAN FUTURE

PLAN 75

Friday, April 21 through Thursday, April 27

IFC Center – 323 6th Avenue at W. 3rd Street

Admission: $17 general | $14 seniors and children

IFC Center presents the U.S. theatrical premiere of PLAN 75, director Chie Hayakawa’s feature film debut in which the lives of three ordinary citizens intersect in a new reality as they confront the crushing callousness of a world ready to dispose of those no longer deemed valuable.  

Synopsis

In a near dystopian future, Japan's government launches PLAN 75, a program encouraging the elderly to terminate their own lives to relieve its rapidly aging population's social and economic burdens.

Legendary Japanese actress Chieko Baishō stars as Michi, a 78-year-old who considers signing up for the program after losing her meager but fulfilling hotel job and the means to live independently. A young Plan 75 salesman Himoru (Hayato Isomura) initially believes in the program's benefits and serves as the human face of the program. Maria (Stephanie Arianne), a Filipina care worker living overseas, reluctantly accepts a position with PLAN 75 to send money home to her ailing daughter.

On the surface, the plan and its hawkers exude a kindness that serves as the film's chilling vision of bureaucratic indifference and our increasing loss of interconnectedness. However, Hayakawa’s view is far from grim, as these characters soon learn to reckon with their own lives and what it truly means to live.  

Chieko Bashō in PLAN 75

"With stinging precision, Hayakawa reveals a culture that seems almost mobilized to destroy its own soul.”
— Slant Magazine

"Chieko Baisho gives a truly magnificent and moving performance.”  
— DEADLINE 

“Completely surprising and beautiful...marks the arrival of an exciting new writer-director.”
— Vulture

Showtimes

There are four showtimes each day PLAN 75 is screening at IFC Center: 1:45 p.m., 4:25 p.m., 7:10 p.m., and 9:45 p.m.

Q&A with director Chie Hayakawa will take place after the 7:10 p.m. screenings on Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22 and after the 4:25 p.m. screening on Sunday, April 23.

To purchase tickets, please visit IFC Center’s website.

About the Filmmaker

Born in Tokyo, Chie Hayakawa studied photography at School of Visual Arts in New York. Her short film Niagara was selected at Cinéfondation/Cannes Film Festival 2014, won the FIPRESCI Award at Vladivostok International Film Festival, and received two Grand Prizes at International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul and PIA Film Festival.

Hayakawa’s short film version of PLAN 75 served as the opening segment of Ten Years Japan, an anthology of five shorts in which five different directors present how they envision Japan will be in ten years. Executive produced by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ten Years Japan had its world premiere at the Busan Film Festival in 2018, followed by an international festival tour and successful theatrical releases.

JAA’s 18th Sakura Matsuri

Saturday, April 22 from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Admission: Free         

The Japanese American Association will hold its 18th Sakura Matsuri at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Saturday, April 22. The program begins at 11:00 a.m. rain or shine and features performances by taiko drumming group Soh Daiko, the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York, the JAA Chorus, and the New York Okinawa Club with Jimpu-Kai New York. In addition, there will be a tea ceremony on the lawn by the Urasenke Tea Ceremony Society. Yours truly is honored to serve as emcee.

Bring a blanket and a bento and enjoy the cherry blossoms! For more information, please visit JAA’s Facebook page.

The History of JAA’s Sakura Trees

Symbolizing the friendship between Japan and the U.S., in 1912 Japan gave a gift of sakura trees the Washington, D.C., as well as 2,000 sakura trees to New York City, thirteen of which were planted in Claremont Park, now Sakura Park. JAA’s “21st Century New York Cherry Blossom Project” began on Arbor Day, April 24, 1992, at City Hall Park. Sakura seeds donated by The Cherry Association of Japan were presented by then JAA President Shigeru Inagaki to Betsy Gotbaum, then Commissioner of New York Parks.

The seeds were nursed in the greenhouses of Van Cortlandt Park, and JAA volunteers planted 168 trees in a design created by the noted landscape artist Kan Domoto with George Yuzawa in 2001. Working in close cooperation with the Flushing Meadows Corona Park staff, JAA has donated and planted hundreds of sakura trees.

2023 Honoree

This year a cherry tree will be planted in honor of Mr. Takeshi "Tak" Furumoto, who was born in a Japanese American internment camp during World War II, was raised in his parents' native Hiroshima after the atomic bombing, returned to the US for college, and eventually served our country in Vietnam. He has dedicated his life to the betterment of the Japanese American community, and this year he was successful in helping the state of New Jersey adopt January 30 as the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.

 Disclosure: The author is a Vice President of JAA and the chair of the Sakura Matsuri committee.

Shibutani Book Launch

Tuesday, April 18 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Yu and Me Books – 44 Mulberry Street

Admission: Free

Olympic ice dancing medalists Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani will be at Yu and Me Books in Chinatown for the launch of their new book, Amazing: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All.

About the Book

This beautifully illustrated children’s picture book highlights the achievements of many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have made invaluable contributions to the world. Written with journalist Dane Liu and illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel, Amazing’s inclusivity sets it apart in its exploration of thirty-six inspirational AAPI figures, including civil rights hero Daniel Inouye, immigrant astronaut Kalpana Chawla, and biracial entertainer Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The Shibutanis felt compelled to create a book showing the undeniably positive impacts that Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans have made in this country and around the world. With quick and accessible biographies written with Liu, readers will learn about important figures who have shaped life-altering policy, made indelible marks on pop culture, and achieved their greatest dreams—paving the way for future generations to make lasting change.

“A thoughtful and comprehensive survey of the ways in which Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have shaped, and will continue to shape, the United States. Throughout, the prose is clear, concise, and well crafted, incorporating details that will enthrall young readers.”
—Kirkus Reviews

About the Shibutanis

Maia and Alex Shibutani are two-time Olympic bronze medalists who became the first ice dancing team of Asian descent to medal at the Olympics. Off the ice, the “ShibSibs” are goodwill ambassadors and storytellers who are active on social media. Amazing: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All is their third book; they launched their “Kudo Kids” series of children’s middle grade mystery books in 2020.

About Yu and Me Books

Established by Lucy Yu, Yu and Me Books is the first Asian American female-owned bookstore in New York. A bookstore that’s also a café/bar, Yu and Me focuses on the strong, diverse voices of the AAPI community, with a focus on immigrant stories.

Akiko tokuoka and the japanese aesthetics of voguing

Akiko Tokuoka was inspired by a non-Japanese person who was inspired by Japan.

Although the New York-based dancer was born and raised in Kyoto—a popular tourist destination and Japan’s cultural hub—she had no formal training in Japan’s traditional arts, such as tea ceremony, calligraphy, and Nihon buyo, traditional Japanese dance.

“I was not familiar with it at all,” she says.

She admits that her home country’s time-honored traditions have always been part of her DNA. But she had to come to New York before she could fully appreciate them.

Early Influences

“I loved Black culture, Black music, hip-hop when I was young,” she says. “When I was 16 years old, I started that kind of dance first.”

Iconic Japanese pop star Namie Amuro, to whom Tokuoka refers as “the Japanese Beyoncé,” was her biggest influence.

“She could really sing and dance well. And I wanted to be like her; that’s the reason I started dancing.”

Tokuoka came to New York to pursue a career in contemporary dance and to learn English. The longer she stayed in New York, however, the more she felt an interest in her country’s traditions awaken within her.

“I realized that I have to learn traditional Japanese things. I have to learn traditional Japanese dance,” she says. “This helped expand my career and my philosophy. I started studying under [acclaimed dancer/choreographer] Sachiyo Ito Sensei in 2010 and learned from her for four or five years.”

However, she never abandoned her original goal of performing in other genres, finding a balance between both worlds.

Scene from WAKASHU by Akiko Tokuoka (far right). Photo by John Mazlish.

Come On, Vogue

Tokuoka went to New York City night clubs, sometimes doing dance battles. She eventually segued from hip-hop to house music, which is characterized by faster beats and more steps. There, she discovered voguing, the Black and Latinx communities’ stylized form of dance that grew out of the LGBTQ ballrooms of Harlem and rose to prominence with Madonna and the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning.

Almost two decades after the documentary put the spotlight on voguing, Tokuoka found a community among the “houses” that keep the vibrant voguing traditions alive. Going to clubs every week, Tokuoka gradually became familiar with the dancers as well as the dances. She was invited to audition to become a member of the House of Ninja more than 13 years ago, and she’s been a member ever since.

“I really love how they describe Japan through their movements,” says Tokuoka of her House of Ninja partners. “It expands my inspiration, too.”

The “mother” of the House of Ninja, the late Willi Ninja, was inspired by Japan. Known as the godfather of voguing, Willi Ninja is credited with perfecting the dance’s clean lines and poses. He appeared in Paris Is Burning, saying that he wants to take voguing to Japan and have it accepted there.

they’re not as different as you’d think

To the uninitiated, Nihon buyo and vogue may seem like two disparate dance forms. Tokuoka disagrees; she finds many similarities between them.

“To dance with kimono is a totally different thing compared to other dance styles because there is a limitation,” Tokuoka explains.

Because the kimono restricts movement of the legs, Tokuoka says traditional Japanese dancers use their hands a lot and emphasize the angles of the neck and torso.

“That part is voguing dance,” she says. “Voguing dance and dancing in Japanese kimono really match. . . Part of voguing dance is we [go from] pose to pose to pose. Also, when we perform Japanese cultural dance, we look like we’re posing for pictures.”

the birth of wakashu

Tokuoka brought those similarities to life with her show Wakashu: Timeless Beauty of the Third Gender, which premiered at The Secret Theatre in Woodside, Queens, and ran for two nights in mid-November 2022.

Scene from WAKASHU by Akiko Tokuoka (far right). Photo by John Mazlish.

With Wakashu, Tokuoka seamlessly blended delicate elements of Japanese culture and energetic voguing to a fluid, beautiful, and expressive performance. She and her fellow dancers—her House of Ninja collaborators Javier Madrid (aka ICONIC Javier Ninja) and John-Deric Mitchell (aka Star Ninja)—wore kimono and hakama, gestured with Japanese fans, performed a tea ceremony, and wistfully watched cherry blossoms in full bloom until their petals scattered to the ground. All the while, they danced to koto and shamisen music, overlaid with house beats, moving powerfully across the stage, striking poses, and blurring the lines between a contemporary dance form and one that’s hundreds of years old.

“I did my best to create a show that has Japanese elements,” says Tokuoka, although she also says she did not “consciously combine” Nihon buyo with voguing. She forms the idea of the show first, and “the choreography comes naturally.”

Scene from WAKASHU by Akiko Tokuoka (far right). Photo by John Mazlish.

From concept to stage, Tokuoka spent only three months developing Wakashu. She received a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts in late June and had to present her work before the end of the year. Creating a new work from the beginning, securing a venue, holding rehearsals, and travelling to Japan to attend a wedding after the premiere made for a pressure-packed second half of 2022. But bringing together people who know her as a traditional Japanese dancer and those from her voguing world made it worthwhile.

Teaching japanese people about japanese traditions

“This is my mission. Every time I go back to Japan, they forget [Japanese traditions]. People in Japan don’t notice [Japanese traditions] at all . . . They are chasing other countries’ culture all the time. They love Hollywood movies; they love K-pop. They’re chasing other stuff—that’s what I see—instead of rooting themselves in what they already have.”

Wakashu embodies her mission of reminding her fellow countrymen of Japan’s ancient aesthetics, even with contemporary twists and turns thrown in.

The cast of WAKASHU bows to the diverse crowd

 more on akiko tokuoka

When she’s not creating her own productions, Akiko Tokuoka performs with other companies. She appeared in The Brooklyn Nutcracker, which incorporated various world dances into the classical Christmas ballet, and she was a part of the Japanese comedy game show BATSU! New York in the East Village. You can follow Tokuoka on Instagram at @nyc.performanceartist.

Cards & Collectibles Show

Lo-Zilla Presents: 1st Ever Cards & Collectibles Show

Saturday, April 15 from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Moore Catholic High School – 100 Merrill Avenue, Staten Island

Admission: $10 Early Bird from 9:00 a.m. | $7 General Admission from 10:00 a.m.

Event planner Lo-Zilla is hosting its first ever cards and collectibles show at Moore Catholic High School on Staten Island. More than 100 Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball Z, and sports-related vendors will be on hand. Moore Catholic High School will be flooded with cards, plushies, comics, funko pops, and much more! Meet voice actor Emily Cramer and see original artwork by Jeff Brennan.

There will be free Starbucks coffee all day and food available for purchase from The Four Seasons.  

Visit Lo-Zilla’s website to register. This is a must-see event for anyone—young and old—interested in these collectibles. Go early and spend the entire day at the Lo-Zilla Cards & Collectibles Show!

About Emily Cramer

Voice actor Emily Cramer

Emily Cramer is a voice actor and singer whose work can be heard internationally in commercials, animated television shows, movies, video games, dark rides, and audio dramas.

Her most notable titles are currently Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, The Winx Club, Bread Barbershop, Battle Game In 5 Seconds, EDF World Brothers, many Yu-Gi-Oh! video games, and Genshin Impact.

Before falling in love with voiceover, Cramer performed for many years in Broadway and national touring productions of Shrek the Musical, Mary Poppins, Les Misérables, and School of Rock. For more information about Cramer, please visit her website.

Masayo Ishigure: Koto, Bass Koto, and Shamisen

Thursday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall – 57th Street and 7th Avenue

Admission: $40 to $50

Masayo Ishigure will perform a koto and shamisen recital to commemorate the 30th anniversary of her professional career in the United States. This program offers a glimpse into the history of Japanese music and can be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences.

Performers

• Masayo Ishigure: Koto, Bass Koto, and Shamisen

• Zac Zinger: Shakuhachi

• Nathan Koci: Piano

• Noriko Tsuboi: Koto and Bass Koto

• Miyabi Koto and Shamisen Ensemble

Program

• Tadao Sawai – "Sakura Sakura"

• Tadao Sawai – "Ginga" ("Galaxy")

• Zac Zinger – Untitled

• Hikaru Sawai – "Gin-yu-ka" ("Minstrel Song")

• Hideaki Matsumoto – "Chizuru / Whereabouts of the Wind"

• Tadao Sawai – "Flying like a Bird"

To purchase tickets, please visit Carnegie Hall’s website.

Masayo Ishigure

About Masayo Ishigure

Masayo Ishigure began playing koto and jiuta shamisen at the age of five in Gifu Prefecture and later studied under Tadao and Kazue Sawai. In 1986 she became a special research student at Sawai Koto Institute. She moved to the U.S. in 1992 to teach koto and shamisen classes at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

In 2005 she was invited to play the koto on the soundtrack of the Academy Award-winning film Memoirs of a Geisha with music by John Williams, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and others. Newsweek nominated Ishigure in the magazine’s 2007 issue of 100 Japanese People the World Respects. Late prime minister Shinzo Abe recognized her as one of five Japanese women active in New York. Ishigure taught koto classes at Columbia University from 2010 through 2021, and she gives private lessons in New York City.

About the Miyabi Koto and Shamisen Ensemble

Classical and contemporary Japanese koto and shamisen ensemble “MIYABI” was founded in 1996 in New York City as a branch of the Sawai Koto Academy of Japan. Led by Ishigure, repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary koto music. The founder of Sawai Koto Academy, Tadao Sawai, is known as one of the greatest players and composers of koto music in the 20th century.

The ensemble dedicates itself to playing Tadao Sawai‘s koto music. It has played many concerts in the New York Metropolitan area, the eastern United States, Hawaii, Australia, South America, and Japan.

Made in Japan: 20th-Century Poster Art

Now through Sunday, September 10

Poster House – 119 W. 23rd Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues)

Admission: $12 | $8 Seniors, Students, Educators, Veterans, and Visitors with Disabilities

Japanese poster design reflects the country’s rich visual culture and printmaking tradition and was used throughout the 20th century to represent the country to domestic and international audiences. Two world wars in addition to rapid industrialization, urbanization, and the rise of mass media fundamentally transformed modern Japan, and its specific journey as both an aggressor and a victim of war reinforced the nation’s efforts to revamp its image. Within this context, posters became an essential commercial art form that fused modern identity with consumerism, mirroring and shaping the social, political, and ideological values of the time. 

During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) and World War II (1939–45), posters were designed to inspire patriotism, circulate propaganda, and encourage consumer restraint in support of the war effort. During the postwar period, however, unparalleled growth in the manufacturing sector catapulted the Japanese economy to the position of second largest in the world, creating limitless opportunities for poster advertising as Japanese corporations became household names and global brands. Following the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1970 Osaka World Expo, Japan’s international standing shifted again, emboldening Japanese artists and designers to conceive new forms of graphic media that mixed aspects of traditional Japanese aesthetics with Western design idioms. Between the 1980s and the early 21st century, Japanese posters functioned beyond the realm of the merely commercial, allowing designers to address such social issues as pollution, climate change, sustainability, nuclear disarmament, and global peace and reconciliation. 

This exhibition explores the cultural and political shifts within modern Japan that influenced the functions and messaging of its advertising posters, and how those posters were subsequently received by the public.

Nihon Buyo UCLA Asian Performing Arts Institute 1981

Gallery Hours

Poster House is open Thursday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., except on Friday, when it is open until 9:00 p.m. Admission is free on Fridays as well. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit Poster House’s website.

Made in Japan in the Poster House Shop

Poster House has a nice selection of books, notecards, and other items that feature Japanese graphic design. To purchase online, visit the shop here.

The Hunting Gun

Now through Saturday, April 15

Baryshnikov Arts Center – 450 W. 37th Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues)

Admission: $35-$150

Three letters.
One tragedy.

Josuke Misugi receives three letters from different women: his wife, his mistress, and her daughter. The first is from young Shoko, who just discovered her mother’s affair through the reading of her diary. The second is from his wife, Midori, revealing she’s known about the infidelity from the start. And the third is a farewell from Saiko, his lover of thirteen years: “By the time you read this, I will no longer be among the living.”

Weaving these three viewpoints with consummate skill, Yarushi Inoue, one of Japan’s most celebrated authors, gives universal resonance to Misugi’s demise. He turns what could have been the mundane account of adultery into a compelling love story that is considered a classic of world literature.

This stage adaptation is a monologue for three voices, and a single actress embodies all three women, transforming before our eyes. At the end of her letter, Shoko drops her school uniform to reveal Midori’s exuberant outfit who, in turn, undresses to slip into Saiko’s funeral kimono.

Behind a scrim presenting fragments of letters, the increasingly tormented hunter Josuke Misugi cleans his gun. He seems to exist in a different time space. The simple action he performs, which would normally take only a few minutes, is stretched through the entire duration of the play: picking up his gun in ultra-slow motion, inspecting it, meticulously cleaning its barrels, and finally standing to aim at his wife’s back.

Borrowing from Japanese Zen aesthetics, the set’s floor is successively draped with three fundamental elements: water, stone, and wood. After Shoko wanders in a lily pond, the waters withdraw to reveal a terrain of smooth black stones. Then, at the climax of Midori’s rage, the stones magically vanish to expose a wooden deck on which Saiko recites her suicide letter.

Background image photo by Mark Seliger.

Remaining Performances

Tuesday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 9 at 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m.

The performance will be in Japanese with English supertitles. Run time is 105 with no intermission. To purchase tickets, please visit The Hunting Gun’s website.

Mikhail Baryshnikov in The Hunting Gun. Photo by Pasha Antonov.

About Mikhail Baryshnikov 

Born in Riga, Latvia, and living in New York City, Mikhail Baryshnikov has distinguished himself as an extraordinary dancer and performer in theater, television, and film. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has worked with George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and many other illustrious choreographers and directors. From 1979 until 1989 he was artistic director of American Ballet Theater, where he introduced a new generation of dancers and choreographers. From 1990 until 2002, Baryshnikov was director and principal dancer of the White Oak Dance Project, co-founded with choreographer Mark Morris.

In 2005, he opened the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC), a creative space designed to support multidisciplinary artists from around the globe. Baryshnikov’s many awards include the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honor of France, Japan’s prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award in Theatre/Film, and most recently the Royal Academy of Dance ‘s Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Award.

Miki Nakatani as Shoko in The Hunting Gun. Photo by Stephanie Berger.

About Miki Nakatani

Miki Nakatani was born in Tokyo in January 1976 and started her career in 1993. She has won six Japan Academy Prizes for her work: Best Supporting Actress for When the Last Sword Is Drawn (2003, directed by Yojiro Takita), Best Leading Actress for Memories of Matsuko (2006, directed by Tetsuya Nakajima), Best Leading Actress for Jigyaku No Uta (2007, directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi), Best Supporting Actress for Zero Focus (2009, directed by Isshin Inudo), Best Actress Award for Hankyu Railway – A 15 Minute Miracle (2011, directed by Yoshishige Miyake), and Best Supporting Actress in a Leading Role for Ask This of Rikyu (2013, directed by Mitsutoshi Tanaka). Appearances in foreign productions include Silk (2007, directed by François Girard) and FOUJITA (2015, directed by Kohei Oguri).

In 2011, she made her debut as a stage actress in The Hunting Gun at USINEC, Montreal. In the same year, she staged a return performance in Japan, winning the Kinokuniya Theatre Award Actress of the Year and the Yomiuri Theatre Awards for Best Actress. The following year, she won the Yomiuri Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon.

Lo-Zilla’s Collectible Conference

Thursday, April 6 from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.

Pig Beach BBQ Queens – 35-37 36th Street, Astoria

Admission: Free with RSVP

Event planner Lo-Zilla LLC presents Lo-Zilla’s Collectibles Conference (“LZCC”) this Thursday at Pig Beach BBQ Queens in Astoria. It’ll be a night full of delicious food, trading cards, plushies, figures, pins, funko pops, and more! Pig Beach will serve $1 wings all night.

Sponsored Vendors

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Lo-Zilla’s Collectible Conference is free, but you must RSVP. Visit the event’s website for full details and to reserve your spot today!

Special Guests

Barrett Leddy
Award-winning voice actor Barrett Leddy's work in animation includes Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, Pokémon Sun and Moon, Pokémon Master Journeys, Crunchyroll’s Bungo and Alchemist and Number24, Nick Jr.'s 44 Cats, Netflix’s Bread Barbershop, Om Nom Stories, Robin Hood: Mischief in Sherwood, My Sweet Monster, and more.

His video game work includes Genshin Impact, Earth Defense Force: World Brothers, Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale, and Duel Links. He co-stars with Russian Doll's Natasha Lyonne in Audible's original comedy Space: 1969, written by Bill Oakley (The Simpsons). To learn more about Leddy, check out his website.

Emily Cramer
Emily Cramer is a voice actor and singer whose work can be heard internationally in commercials, animated television shows, movies, video games, dark rides, and audio dramas. Her most notable titles are currently Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, The Winx Club, Bread Barbershop, Battle Game In 5 Seconds, EDF World Brothers, many Yu-Gi-Oh! video games, and Genshin Impact.

Before falling in love with voiceover, Cramer performed for many years in Broadway and national touring productions of Shrek the Musical, Mary Poppins, Les Misérables, and School of Rock. For more information about Cramer, please visit her website.

GUITAR MASTERS SERIES: TSUTOMU NAKAI

Monday, April 3 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:15 p.m.
Monday, April 3 from 8:30 p.m. until 9:45 p.m.

Zinc – 82 W. 3rd Street (between Thompson and Sullivan Streets)

Admission: $25 in advance | $30 at the door

Jazz Guitarist Tsutomu Nakai is one of the hottest and in-demand musicians in New York City right now. His exceptionally unique guitar work is beautiful and strong, yet versatile. His mastery of improvisation is evident while emphasizing the melody above all else. This is the essence of Nakai’s style.

Tsutomu Nakai at Zinc Bar NYC 2017

He brings his quartet to Zinc on Monday, April 3 for an evening of standards and original music. Pianist Lafayette Harris, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer Dwayne "Cook" Broadnax will perform with him.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit Zinc’s website.

RAM Concert

Saturday, April 1 at 8:00 p.m. (Doors open at 7:30 p.m.)

Scorca Hall at National Opera Center – 330 7th Ave 7th Floor

Admission: $25 | $10 Seniors and Students

This Random Access Music (RAM) concert features the world premiere of guest composer Margaret Brouwer’s “Sonata” for clarinet and piano; a world premiere by RAM composer Masatora Goya; and more music from RAM composers Seth Boustead, Gilbert Galindo, and Daniel Hass.

Payment by cash or credit will be accepted at the venue. To make reservations, please send an email to ram.nyc.info@gmail.com. For more information, please visit RAM’s website.

RAM Players

• Thomas Piercy, clarinet

• Sabina Torosjan, violin

• Daniel Hass, cello

• Marina Iwao, piano

Meet the composers at and after the concert!

Program

Guest composer Margaret Brouwer
“Sonata” for clarinet and piano (2022)
World Premiere of International Clarinet Association consortium commission 

RAM composers

Seth Boustead
“Dissonance Still Talking” for clarinet, violin, cello, piano (2007)

Gilbert Galindo
"Currents" for violin, cello, and piano (2021) NY Premiere

Masatora Goya
“How We Became Stardust" for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (2023) World Premiere

Daniel Hass
“The Lord of Toronto, His Pavin” for cello and piano (2022)

JAPAN Fes

Saturday, April 1 from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Upper West Side near Columbia University, on Broadway between 115th and 116th Streets

Admission: Free

After kicking off their 2023 street fair schedule on March 26, JAPAN Fes continues this Saturday, April 1.

The Japanese food festival loved by 250,000 people, JAPAN Fes will produce 20 events throughout New York City this year, their most ever. In total, JAPAN Fes will feature more than 750 vendors, including vendors from Japan as well as around the US.

This Saturday, along with popular Japanese street food such as crusty takoyaki, savory yakisoba, fluffy okonomiyaki, and juicy karaage, many JAPAN Fes vendors will feature cherry blossom-themed products. Celebrate the season with sakura-favored crepes and cherry blossom cheese toast!

To discover more about spring in Japan, JAPAN Fes will also have cherry blossom items such as beautiful kimono or stylish cherry blossom-designed hats. For more information, please visit JAPAN Fes’s website and Facebook page.

Remaining JAPAN Fes Schedule

• April 15 in Chelsea

• April 29 in Chelsea – Ramen Contest

• April 30 in Astoria – Ramen Contest

• May 20 in NoMad

• May 21 in Park Slope

• June 4 in Midtown West

• June 17 in East Village

• June 18 in Park Slope

• July 2 in Astoria

• July 15 in Chelsea

• August 26 in East Village

• August 27 in East Village

• September 9 in Upper East Side

• September 16 in Chelsea – Konamon Contest

• September 17 in Chelsea – Konamon Contest

• October 7 in East Village – Ramen Contest

• October 8 in Upper West Side – Ramen Contest

• October 28 in East Village

Night Market: Asian Food & Sakura Festival

Friday, March 31 from 4:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.

MIKA – 25 Thames Street, Brooklyn

Admission: $12 in advance / $15 at the door

MIKA and Upstairs are turning all 8,700 square feet of MIKA’s space into a night market featuring a mouthwatering, traditional Asian menu and sakura-themed food, drinks, and products. There will be sakura accessories, Pokémon goods, crafts and more throughout MIKA’s indoor and outdoor patio spaces.

Wear your cherry blossom outfits and join the fun!

Food for Purchase ($10-$15)

• Award-Winning Tonkotsu Ramen

• Sakura Pescatarian Ramen

• Takoyaki

• Yakitori

• Vegan Curry Rice

• Onigiri

• Tokyo Fried Chicken

• Gyoza

• Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

• Golden Fish Ball

• Fried Mushroom

• Sakura Jelly

• Ube and Matcha Cheesecake

• Super Omakase Strawberry

• Sakura-, Ube- and Matcha-Mochi Filled Cookies

Beverages (for Free Drink Ticket Holders Only)

• Chu-Hi (shochu cocktails) sponsored by Iichiko and Takara Sake

• Beer by DUBCO

• Yuzu-flavored Mocktails by Moshi

Beverages Available for Purchase

• Special Sakura, Matcha, Yuzu, Lemon, Calpico, and Oolong Chu-H

• Special Sake Flight Menu with Sakura Sake Cocktails by Kubota and Kato Sake Works

For a full list of vendors and to purchase tickets, please visit the Upstairs Night Market website.

Yumi Kurosawa Trio at Joe’s Pub

Thursday, March 30 at 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.)

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

Admission: $25 / $15 Students

Yumi Kurosawa is one of today's most exciting soloists on Japan's national instrument, the koto. Marking the debut of her new album Metamorphosis, Kurosawa creates a transformative listening experience through her new compositions.

The Yumi Kurosawa Trio blends the violin, percussion, and koto and draws upon many musical influences to reveal Kurosawa’s abundant curiosity and remarkable capacity. Latin percussion, shakuhachi, and alto saxophone add a variety of tonal colors. The idea of borderless music is reimagined to create something unique and special. 

This album recording and the world premiere of several music pieces are commissioned by Chamber Music America’s Artistic Projects program funded through the generosity of Howard Gilman Foundation. Produced by Arturo O’Farrill and Kabir Sehgal. For more information about Yumi Kurosawa, please visit her website.

Photo by Gail Hadani

Performers

Yumi Kurosawa — 20-string koto
Naho Parrini — violin
Eric Phinney — percussion

Special Guests

Carlos Maldonado — Latin percussion
Zac Zinger — shakuhachi and alto saxophone

 There is a minimum two-drink or one-food order per person. To purchase tickets, please visit Joe’s Pub’s website.

Photo by Gail Hadani

WHAT’S UP CONNECTION

Wednesday, March 29 at 9:30 p.m.

Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn – 445 Albee Square West, Brooklyn

Admission: $10

Film distributor Kani Releasing is hosting a one-night-only screening of What’s Up Connection, Japanese punk auteur Masashi Yamamoto’s zany road trip comedy in which one Hong Kong family takes on a Japanese conglomerate to save their fishing village, at Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn. Yamamoto will join via Zoom for a post-screening Q&A moderated by film critic Kazu Watanabe.

About What’s Up Connection

When Hong Kong teenager Chi Gau Shin (Tse Wai Kit, School on Fire) wins a trip to Japan, he unleashes a chain of events that will soon bring him from the secluded fishing village of Po Toi O to Tokyo, by way of Kamagasaki—the so-called slums of Osaka. Upon returning home with a merry band of schemers, Gau Shin finds his family of resourceful counterfeiters on the verge of expropriation. A multinational conglomerate led by a ruthless Japanese developer has found the village and is determined to raze it to build the new center of world trade.

A rare bilingual Japan-Hong Kong co-production that unfolds as part unhinged globalization mini-epic, fringe documentary, and breathless, kaleidoscopic evocation of a specific pan-Asian cultural experience as the 1990s drew near, What’s Up Connection is bursting at the seams with possibility. It brings Yamamoto’s project—of capturing beauty and resilience in the margins of capital—to its maximalist apex.

To purchase tickets, please visit Alamo Drafthouse’s website.

In Cantonese and Japanese with English subtitles

About Masashi Yamamoto

Born in Ōita Prefecture, indie auteur Masashi Yamamoto attended Meiji University but left early to concentrate on making independent 8mm films. In the late ‘70s to early ‘80s, he produced music for the Japanese rock band JAGATARA and has since cast punk icons Akemi Edo, Kou Machida, and Sakevi Yokoyama in his films.

His Carnival in the Night (1983) was the first independent Japanese film to be officially invited to screen at both the Cannes International Film Festival's Critics' Week and the Berlin Film Festival's Young Forum. Robinson's Garden (1987) won the Zitty Award at Berlinale and earned Yamamoto the Directors Guild of Japan’s New Directors Award. Following the completion of Atlanta Boogie (1996), he lived in New York for a year as a research fellow for Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, during which time he distributed his film Junk Food (1997) across the US.

In 2012, he created Cinema ☆ Impact, a filmmaking workshop that produced and released 15 films from up-and-coming directors, including Nobuhiro Yamashita (Linda Linda Linda), Ryosuke Hashiguchi (Like Grains of Sand, Hush!), and Ryūichi Hiroki (Ride or Die, Vibrator). The work born from Cinema ☆ Impact was screened at film festivals in the US, Hong Kong, Japan, and Berlin.

He has also acted in films such as A Forest with No Name (Shinji Aoyama) and March Comes in Like a Lion (Hitoshi Yazaki). His latest film, Wonderful Paradise (2020), screened at the Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival, Fantasia International Film Festival, Nippon Connection, and JAPAN CUTS in New York.

SHOKO NAGAI’S TOKALA

Wednesday, March 29 from 8:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.

Barbès – 376 9th Street, Brooklyn

Suggested Donation: $20

Shoko Nagai's TOKALA explores the sound of the ancient connection between Japan and the Middle East via the Silk Road. The cultural exchange that happened there left an imprint which became an integral part of Japanese culture. The music of TOKALA can raise awareness of the ancient connection between the Far East and the Islamic world of the Middle East.

Experience TOKALA tonight at Barbès, a bar and performance space in South Slope, Brooklyn. Click here to reserve your ticket.

Performers

Shoko Nagai — Accordion, electronics, voice
Satoshi Takeishi — Percussion
Frank London — Trumpet

About Shoko Nagai

Shoko Nagai is a versatile musical artist who improvises and performs on piano and accordion with world-renowned musicians and composes original scores for films and live performances. As a teenager in her native Japan, Nagai was trained on Yamaha’s electronic organ, the “Electone,” to perform popular music.

Since moving to the US from Japan and studying classical, jazz, and composition at Berklee College of Music, she has adapted her mastery of the keyboard to prepared piano, accordions, and other keyboard instruments, often inspired by the minimalist approach of composer Toru Takemitsu. Whether she is performing Klezmer, Balkan, or experimental music, Nagai is a charismatic presence onstage, hypnotizing audiences with her intense focus and virtuoso sound.

For more information, please visit Nagai’s website.

“We have seen the art works, instruments, and other artistic objects from the Persian empire preserved in Imperial storage in Nara, Japan. We can but only imagine what it was like for musicians of Japan to hear the sounds of Persian court music. We are sure that it has left strong imprints deep in the Japanese traditional culture.”

— Shoko Nagai