The Japan Society Celebrates ESEA Heritage Month!

Throughout September The Japan Society teamed up with London libraries to celebrate East and Southeast Asian Heritage Month 2024 which was established to honour and celebrate the culture, diversity, history and contributions of East and Southeast Asian communities across the UK. 

Working in partnership with Haringey and Westminster councils, The Education Team delivered three special sessions on different aspects of Japanese Culture to local children and families. We’d like to thank both our wonderful volunteers and generous Education Supporters for enabling these activities!  
 
See below for more details about each event and photographs.  

Otsukimi Autumn Festival at Marylebone Library 

The Japan Society and Westminster libraries welcomed local families to listen to the story of The Moon Rabbit performed using a traditional kamishibai theatre and to make their own origami rabbits.  

Kamishibai Storytelling at Hornsey Library 

Year 3 classes from two local schools visited the library to watch a special kamishibai performance by A Thousand Cranes theatre company, followed by a show and tell of Japanese cultural objects and an origami workshop led by The Japan Society. We were impressed by all the students’ insightful questions and origami skills!  

Calligraphy at Wood Green Library 

Local children were invited to learn all about the traditional Japanese art form of shodo (Japanese calligraphy) during this Saturday session. Participants were shown the different main styles of calligraphy, all kinds of brushes made from animal hair and the traditional way of mixing ink before having a go at writing kanji characters and sharing with us the final results!