Updated Health & Safety Guidelines
Due to the ongoing public health threat of COVID-19, programs are subject to change and/or cancellation. By participating, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.
Morikami provides informative and unique experiences for all ages through its Special Programs. Here you will find educational and cultural programming related to our current exhibitions and all things Japan—lectures, films, performances, special events, and more!
All programs are open for registration on August 1st of each year for the upcoming season. Each season runs from October through the summer of the next year.
Explore each special programs page or browse the full list.
Films Gala Morikami Book Club Mori Stories Speaker Series Stroll for Well-Being
Obon Weekend
We invite guests to take a contemplative stroll through the gardens, fill out tanzaku slips in memory of lost loved ones, enjoy live taiko drumming performances in the spirit of Obon, and pay their respects to George Morikami at the Bon altar.
10:00AM, Saturday, August 14, 2021
Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens
10:00AM, Sunday, August 15, 2021
Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens
Take a cinematic journey through Japan with the Morikami Film Series
Film: True Mothers
Sponsored by JM Family Enterprises
After a long and unsuccessful struggle to get pregnant, Satoko and her husband decide to adopt a child. Over the next six years, the middle-class couple and their young son Asato settle into a comfortable, albeit routine, life. The family's orderly existence is shattered by the arrival of Hikari, a young woman claiming to be Asato's biological mother, demanding his return. As tensions mount, Satoko grows more and more emboldened to defend her family. – Rotten Tomatoes
Talk by Kendall Brown
Speaker Series: Humanized Naturalism: Japanese Gardens as Therapeutic Spaces
Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities
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.
7:00PM, Friday, November 5, 2021
Morikami Theater
Limited tickets for Members, please RSVP to morikamimembers@pbcgov.org. Reserved Member tickets not picked up 10 minutes after the start time will be released.
Take a cinematic journey through Japan with the Morikami Film Series
Film: Isle of Dogs
Sponsored by JM Family Enterprises
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
11:00AM, Sunday, December 12, 2021
Morikami Theater
(FREE for members for Membership Appreciation Weekend, limited tickets available)
Members must reserve their FREE ticket(s) in advance here.
2:00PM, Sunday, December 12, 2021
Morikami Theater
(FREE for members for Membership Appreciation Weekend, limited tickets available)
Members must reserve their FREE ticket(s) in advance here.
Discussion led by Filmmaker Akira Boch
Speaker Series: The Underground Scene in LA and Tokyo: Art + Music - Documentary Short Film Screenings
Sponsored by JM Family Enterprises
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?
1:00PM, Sunday, March 13, 2022
Morikami Theater
Talk by Mariko Kusumoto
Speaker Series: My Creative Journey
Sponsored by National Endowment for the Humanities
Learn about Kusumoto’s journey as an artist, beginning with her undergraduate studies working in 2-dimensional medium (oil painting and printmaking), and then her 18-year career as a metalsmith, and how she transitioned into working with fabrics. As new opportunities presented themselves, the direction of her work was able to evolve by allowing her instinct to lead her. Through that evolution her career has been like a “journey.”
1:00PM, Friday, May 6, 2022
Morikami Theater
No reservations. Tickets will be given out the day of the event, on a first-come, first-served basis. Limited tickets are available.
Talk by Alan Scott Pate
Speaker Series: Tango-no-Sekku: Japan’s Forgotten Festival
Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities
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.
1:00PM, Saturday, May 7, 2022
Morikami Theater
No reservations. Tickets will be given out the day of the event, on a first-come, first-served basis. Limited tickets are available.
Take a cinematic journey through Japan with the Morikami Film Series
Film: On-Gaku - Our Sound
Sponsored by JM Family Enterprises
When you’re a bored teenager looking for thrills, sometimes the only thing you can turn to is rock ‘n roll. Having no skill, money, or even a full set of drums, a feared trio of high school delinquents nevertheless decide they are destined for musical glory in a quest to impress their only friend Aya, avoid a rival gang, and – most importantly – jam out.
Take a cinematic journey through Japan with the Morikami Film Series
Film: Children of the Sea
Sponsored by JM Family Enterprises
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.
Educational Programming
Registration Opens for the NEW Season Today
All programs open for Registration and Ticket purchase(s).
Please go here, "Upcoming Events" to view all upcoming programming. For a specific program follow the links below: Class Workshop Cultural demonstration Lecture Film Special program The 2021-2022 season runs from October 2021 through the summer of 2022.