…Leach Life & Work By Emmanuel Cooper Yale University Press (14 Mar. 2003)ISBN-13: 978-0300099294 Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi Bernard Leach (1887-1979) was and still is better known and appreciated in Japan than in Britain. His achievements as a potter and an etcher were outstanding. Through his work as a potter he enhanced the status of pottery as an art form in Britain. Through his friendship with Yanagi Soetsu and Hamada Shoji he helped to found and develop the Mingei (folkcraft) movement in…

…ings of Bernard Leach By Simon Olding, with a foreword by Emmanuel Cooper, Crafts Study Centre, University of the Creative Arts, and the Leach Pottery, St Ives, 2010, 135 pages, 76 plates of Leach’s etchings, ISBN 978-0-954374-8-9 Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi This book was launched at Daiwa House in London on 23 November 2010 with an explanatory talk by Professor Olding. Dr Julian Stair, a potter and writer, took the chair. Professor Olding, who wrote the introductory essay, reminded his…

…ng the origins and influence of the Mingei Movement, crediting founders Bernard Leach, Hamada Shoji, and Yanagi Soetsu for popularizing a philosophy of craftsmanship that celebrates the beauty of everyday objects. Founded in 1926, the movement elevates traditional Japanese crafts by emphasizing their cultural and spiritual significance. Gross clarified that his aim was not to enter into debates surrounding the Mingei philosophy, but rather to share its legacy through a curated selection of…

The Japan Society - Issue 42 (December 2012, Volume 7, Number 6) 日本語English The Japan Society About What is The Japan Society Mission & Overview A Brief History Annual Reports Opportunities News Contact Us Who We Are Trustees Corporate and Institutional Donors Corporate and Institutional Members Education Supporters Individual Donors Staff Join our Mailing List Become a Member Events All Events Business Arts & Culture Today in Japan Special Events Education External Events Become a Member Join…

The Japan Society - Archived Event 日本語English The Japan Society About What is The Japan Society Mission & Overview A Brief History Annual Reports Opportunities News Contact Us Who We Are Trustees Corporate and Institutional Donors Corporate and Institutional Members Education Supporters Individual Donors Staff Join our Mailing List Become a Member Events All Events Business Arts & Culture Today in Japan Special Events Education External Events Become a Member Join our Mailing List Discover our…

… while I am dwelling upon anniversaries, there is also the 100th birthday this year of the Leach Pottery, jointly established by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada in 1920. In celebration of that milestone, the Mingei Film Archive has just made available a film, “Working at the Leach Pottery, 1970” free to watch until 15 June. Some of you may also have seen a modern film about the Hamada family pottery in Japan, notably featuring Shoji Hamada’s grandson, shown on the BBC as part of its "Handmade in…

…f Japan, 1946 (A People Bowed But Not Broken) By Bernard T. SmithTrafford Publishing, North America & international, 2012199 pages including index, ISBN978-1-4669-6309-2 (sc)A Japanese translation of this book is also available for Kindle and can be purchased on Amazon Japan and Amazon UK. Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi Bernard Smith describes in this memoir his life as an RAF officer on the staff of the British Commonwealth Air Force (BCAIR) Headquarters at Iwakuni in 1946. BCAIR was part of the…

…and Japan: Biographical Portraits, Volume VIII Global Oriental in association with the Japan Society, 2010, 665 pages, ISBN: 978-1906876265 Edited by Sir Hugh Cortazzi Review by Sean Curtin This is another superb volume in the Biographical Portraits series which profiles people who have contributed to enhancing Anglo-Japanese relations. In this impressive publication, edited by Sir Hugh Cortazzi, the achievements of 44 diverse individuals are chronicled ranging from Prime Minister Neville…

…and Japan: Biographical Portraits VII Complied & Edited by Sir Hugh Cortazzi,Global Oriental and the Japan Society2010, 665 pages, ISBN: 978-1906876265 Review by Sean Curtin This is another superb volume in the Biographical Portraits series which profiles people who have contributed to enhancing Anglo-Japanese relations. In this impressive publication, edited by Sir Hugh Cortazzi, the achievements of 44 diverse individuals are chronicled ranging from Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to the…

…ety Chairman's Blog (40) Dear Japan Society members and friends Britain and America, quipped the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, are two nations divided by a common language. Or at least I think Shaw said this, but one modern consequence of Google is that when I used it to check the quote, it told me that there is no clear attribution, and that it might have been said by Oscar Wilde or someone else entirely. Our common set of believed quotations has been cast into doubt by an algorithm.…

…hi: the stream of fate Volume One: The Western SeaBy Edward MarxBotchan Books (2019)ISBN-13: 978-1939913050 Review by Peter Kornicki Noguchi Yonejiro (1875-1947), who was known in the West as Yone Noguchi, had a roller-coaster of a life but his works have fallen by the wayside. Who was he? He grew up in Japan and entered Keio Gijuku (now University) but in 1893, before he had turned 18, he abandoned his studies and sailed to California, apparently without any particular object in view. There he…

… (February 2013, Volume 8, Number 1) The ties between the Japanese and British archipelagoes form the heart of this issue’s reviews, with articles on new performances and retrospectives linking the history of the two island nations.The Japan Society is pleased to mark the publication of the eighth volume in the Britian and Japan: Biographical Portrait Series. This series covers the biographies of hundreds of British and Japanese personalities, whose lives and achievements are worthy of record.…

Our first review is of Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits VII which is another superb volume in the acclaimed Biographical Portraits series that profiles people who have contributed to enhancing Anglo- Japanese relations. This seventh volume in a series, which also includes publications such as Britain and…

The Japan Society - Kiku’s Prayer 日本語English The Japan Society About What is The Japan Society Mission & Overview A Brief History Annual Reports Opportunities News Contact Us Who We Are Trustees Corporate and Institutional Donors Corporate and Institutional Members Education Supporters Individual Donors Staff Join our Mailing List Become a Member Events All Events Business Arts & Culture Today in Japan Special Events Education External Events Become a Member Join our Mailing List Discover our…

Nowak, Routledge, 2010, ISBN10:0-415-55960-X, £85 This thought-provoking book argues that a country’s development of a robust intellectual property rights (IPRs) framework is fundamental to long-term economic success in today’s globalized world. This is something not just vital for high-tech states like Japan and the USA but is also in fact absolutely crucial for newly emerging economies. Many of…

The Japan Society - Old Japanese Photographs: Collectors' Data Guide 日本語English The Japan Society About What is The Japan Society Mission & Overview A Brief History Annual Reports Opportunities News Contact Us Who We Are Trustees Corporate and Institutional Donors Corporate and Institutional Members Education Supporters Individual Donors Staff Join our Mailing List Become a Member Events All Events Business Arts & Culture Today in Japan Special Events Education External Events Become a Member…

The Japan Society would like to thank everyone for their support of this year’s contest and for their patience in waiting for the results. Entrants were asked to compose their own Haiku on the theme of Sports and submit it with an accompanying illustration or artwork for a chance to win a Canon digital camera. This year’s theme allowed students to share their passions through haiku and featured a surprisingly diverse range of sports. We were extremely pleased to…