Events – Page 32 – Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

Speaker Series: Tango-no-Sekku: Japan’s Forgotten Festival

Japan is justifiably famous for its many festivals; each one is reflective of a time and a spirit of community. They serve many functions, but most have a religious or spiritual origin and purpose. Purification. Protection. Gratitude. Commemoration. However, even these sacred rituals and celebrations are not immune to shifts in times, politics and, optics. Today, the 5th month of the 5th day is celebrated as Kodomo-no-hi, or Children’s Day. It is a time for parents to gather with their children, make excursions, and celebrate family, particularly the children. But in times past, it had a very different character. As part of the Go-Sekku or Five Festivals, it was celebrated as Tango-no-sekku–a time for the ritual driving away of evil spirits and malevolent forces that affected the health of the family, community, and nation.

Speaker Series: Humanized Naturalism: Japanese Gardens as Therapeutic Spaces

Join us for a live virtual lecture in our theater! Explore how recent developments in Japanese gardens across North America realign them with some of the core values of gardens in Japan. As social spaces, gardens bring people into profound contact with idealized natural places which allow us to connect more harmoniously with others. The talk highlights a variety of new practices in gardens as well as new designs and even locations for Japanese-style gardens.

Speaker Series: The Underground Scene in LA and Tokyo: Art + Music – Documentary Short Film Screenings

Delve into the underground scene of LA and Tokyo through three documentary short films – Atomic Cafe: The Noisiest Corner in J-Town, Our Man in Tokyo: The Ballad of Shin Miyata, and Giant Robot: Kind of Like Home by award-winning filmmaker Akira Boch. How did a family-owned restaurant in LA’s Japan Town come to be the popular hang-out for the punk rock scene in the late 1970s?

Film: Isle of Dogs

When, by executive decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to a vast garbage-dump called Trash Island, 12-year-old Atari sets off alone in a miniature Junior-Turbo Prop and flies across the river in search of his bodyguard-dog, Spots. There, with the assistance of a pack of newly-found mongrel friends, he begins an epic journey that will decide the fate and future of the entire Prefecture. – Rotten Tomatoes

Film: Children of the Sea

CHILDREN OF THE SEA is the latest feature from Japan’s STUDIO4°C (known for Tekkonkinkreet, MFKZ, Mind Game, Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, and others), and is directed by Ayumu Watanabe, with a score by award-winning composer and longtime Studio Ghibli collaborator Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro). CHILDREN OF THE SEA is adapted from the manga of the same name by author Daisuke Igarashi, which won the Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival.