Past Events

For our final webinar in 2021, the second year in which we have spent much of our lives in cyberspace, we turn our attention to the challenges that face the UK and Japan in this domain, as well as looking at ways in which our two countries might cooperate.

Join us on 1 December for our Film Club dedicated to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the animation classic Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki in 2001.

In this special event, Japan Society president Ambassador Hayashi joins our chair Bill Emmott to look back on the past year, reflecting on life in Japan and the UK during the pandemic and on now being able to visit different parts of the country to participate in events.

In this lecture M.W. Shores will offer a history of Kamigata (Osaka) rakugo tradition from the seventeenth century to the present day, considering the art in terms of gender, literature, performance, and society.

Five killers find themselves on a bullet train from Tokyo competing for a suitcase full of money. Who will make it to the last station? An original and propulsive thriller from a Japanese bestseller.

Taking the opportunity given by the return of BFI Japan 2021, a two-part season celebrating the illustrious history of Japanese cinema at BFI Southbank, we are pleased to invite a small group of members and friends to gather to watch the film Love Letter directed by Kinuyo Tanaka in 1953 on Saturday 6 November at 12.30pm.

Join us on 4 November for our Film Club dedicated to explore the culinary comedy "Tampopo", directed by Juzo Itami in 1985. You will never eat ramen in the same way ever again!

On 15 September this year AUKUS, a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, was announced. To discuss what this means for a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ and its implications for Japan and the UK, Japan Society chairman Bill Emmott is joined by two international relations and security experts: Professor Kiichi Fujiwara at the University of Tokyo and Professor Alessio Patalano at King’s College London. 

The Japanese Conversation Group provides a friendly and informal atmosphere for Japanese speakers of all nationalities to come together and speak Japanese. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month.