VNCS

Time Slot

Activity

Location

Taiko Performance #1

Uminari Taiko Hear, see and feel the thunder of Japanese Taiko! Come see Uminari Taiko, Vancouver Island’s premier taiko ensemble, deliver a high energy performance that will move and shake you to the core. Note: Taiko Performance #1 and #2 are totally different sets. http://www.uminaritaiko.com/

Iaido – The Way of the Sword

Shoshinkai Victoria Iaido
Iaido is the traditional Japanese martial art of drawing and cutting with the samurai sword. The purpose of Iaido is to develop awareness, centeredness, sincerity, a calm mind, and mental and physical harmony through the practice of traditional sword techniques. See Iaido practitioners in traditional outfits demonstrate form and techniques
(waza) of this unique martial art.
http://www.iaido.ca/?page_id=2

Tea Ceremony #1

Chado Urasenke Tankokai Victoria Association
The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea.

“There’s No Business Like Slow Business: Noh as Slow Art”

Cody Poulton A friend once called Noh, Japan’s most refined classical theatre form, as “lizards in cold weather.” Why is it so slow? What is the appeal of a performing art that seems to move at such a glacial pace? Or does it? In this illustrated talk I will argue that, like the slow food movement, slow art is good for us on all sorts of levels: physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Cody Poulton has been teaching courses on Japanese culture at the University of Victoria since 1988. Author of numerous books on Japanese theatre, he has also translated kabuki and contemporary Japanese drama for such multivolume series as Kabuki Plays on Stage and Half a Century of Japanese Theatre. He is co-editor with Mitsuya Mori and J. Thomas Rimer of The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama (2014).
http://www.uvic.ca/humanities/pacificasia/people/faculty/poulton-cody.php

Aikido

San Shu Kan Aikikai Aikido Aikido (合気道) is a modern Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as “the way of unifying (with) life energy” or as “the way of harmonious spirit.” Ueshiba’s goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury. http://www.sanshukan.com/

Nitobe Garden

Paul Allison
Details pending.
http://members.shaw.ca/paulcallison/Paul_Allison/Home.html

VJHLS Children’s Choir

Victoria Japanese Heritage Language School
The Children’s Choir will perform 3 songs – one about maple leaves (Momiji), One celebrating our differences (Sekaini Hitotsudakeno Hana) and one about singing autumn insects (Mushino Koe) accompanied with music bells.

http://en.vicnihongo.com/

Koto Performance #1

Satomi Edwards
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument dating back to the 7th century. Professional koto player Satomi Edwards will perform traditional and contemporary pieces from Japan. These authentic sounds will take you back to ancient times in Japan.

Shakuhachi

Hugh Barclay Hugh Barclay is a experienced musician with 50 years of experience playing a variety of brass wind instruments. He took up the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute, 15 years ago He will introduce you to the shakuchachi and will perform pieces from each of 3 genres of music – classical, folk songs and modern songs.

Kendo Demonstration

Victoria Kendo Club
Details pending.
http://www.victoriakendo.com/

Ikebana Demonstration #1

Michiko Seguev Come to admire and learn more about the beauty of Japanese flower arranging. Sensei Michiko Segeuv will create several arrangements that demonstrate the principles of the basic forms as well as some free style arrangements. A gallery of ikebana made by Michiko’s students will be on display all day.

Japanese vegetables for your garden

Umi Nami Farms Japanese vegetables are essential to modern and
traditional Japanese cuisine. Many of them are also easy to grow in
your garden and are adaptable to both Japanese and Western recipes.
The co-manager of Umi Nami Farm will introduce a range of Japanese
vegetables and discuss how you can grow them at home. http://www.uminamifarm.com/

Kamishibai Story Telling

Rebecca Kool
Details pending.

VJHLS Soran Dancers

Victoria Japanese Heritage Language School
The Soran Dancers will perform an energetic dance to music based on the Japanese traditional song Soran Bushi. This song is about fishermen in Hokkaido. The choreography depicts fisherman pulling in nets and ocean waves.

http://en.vicnihongo.com/

World Class Japanese Cinema

Donovan Aikman
Don’t much about Japanese cinema? Come get the flash tour of some of the world’s best filmmakers with the Programmer of the Victoria Film Festival. From the cinematic giants like Ozu and Kurosawa to the modern master Kore-Eda with some pop-cult stops in-between, we’ll try and find something new for you to love about the silver screen.

Donovan Aikman has been the Programmer for The Victoria Film Festival since 1998 and an amateur Japanophile since he first watched Starblazers on KSTW Channel 11 in black and white as a kid.

Judo Demonstration

Victoria Judo Club The Victoria Judo Club is a non-profit organization in continuous operation since 1957. The club’s goal is to provide high quality instruction in a safe environment for children, youth, and adults. Judo is a martial art and Olympic sport that is practiced around the world. Judo was developed by Japanese educator Dr. Jigoro Kano from traditional Japanese martial arts and designed to be an ideal form of physical exercise. Judo practitioners seek to attain maximum efficiency with minimum effort (精力善用 Sei-ryoku Zen-you). Judo culture promotes mutual welfare and benefit (自他共栄 Ji-ta Kyou-ei). Our instructors are all volunteers and bring the commitment and passion that comes from a lifelong dedication to the sport. http://www.victoriajudoclub.com/

Tea Ceremony #2

Chado Urasenke Tankokai Victoria Association
The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea.

How to choose and use Japanese knives

Yasunobu Uchida Learn about different kind of Japanese knives and how to use them.
Yasunobu Uchida will teach us how to pick the knives, care for them and demonstrate using them.

Yasunobu Uchida is from Hyogo, Japan and the owner and head chef of Uchida Eatery/Shokudo. He has been cooking for 15 years.

Bon Odori Dance

Furusato Dancers
See traditional Japanese folk dances called Odori or Bon Odori, performed by the Furusato Dancers wearing Japanese yukatas, casual summer kimonos. There will also be an opportunity for you to learn a popular bon odori dance.

Anime Through Time

Tsukino-Con A brief look at the history of Japanese animation.

Kyudo (Japanese Archery)

Brian Angene
Brian Angene is a yondan(4th-dan) who was trained in Kobe. He is a founding member of the Kyudo Association of Canada and the founder of the Victoria Kyudo Association. Brian will give a brief explanation of the origins of modern kyudo, the basic movements (kihontai), and stages of shooting (hassetsu). There will also be a display of kyudo equipment and opportunity for questions.

Ikebana Demonstration #2

Michiko Seguev
Come to admire and learn more about the beauty of Japanese flower arranging. Sensei Michiko Segeuv will create several arrangements that demonstrate the principles of the basic forms as well as some free style arrangements. A gallery of ikebana made by Michiko’s students will be on display all day.

Farm Direct Tea in Japan

Jared Nyberg Discussing JagaSilk’s ongoing relationship with specific tea farms in Japan.

Rakugo (Story Telling)

Michael Abe
Rakugo is a 400-year-old tradition of comic storytelling in Japan. This rakugo style interactive play follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the man who swallowed a cherry pit. Fun for the whole family, the kids will love it, too.

Karate Demonstration

Kenzen Karate Sports Club
Kenzen Sports Karate’s demonstration will highlight our ‘traditional karate’ and ‘sports karate’ training for all ages, which allows our members to then be active in the mainstream karate community through Karate BC tournaments, guest seminars, official Team BC try-outs, BC Games selections, annual trips to Japan and even participation in the Canadian National Championships. It’s an exciting time to be in karate as Tokyo has proposed to include it in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games, and since Kenzen officially represents one of Japan’s main style associations (JKF Wadokai 全日本空手道連盟和道会) in addition to being a Karate BC member, our demonstration will include fun examples of the competition kata (forms 形) & kumite (sparring 組手) categories to be seen in the Olympics.
http://www.kenzensportskarate.com/

Koto Performance #2

Satomi Edwards
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument dating back to the 7th century. Professional koto player Satomi Edwards will perform traditional and contemporary pieces from Japan. These authentic sounds will take you back to ancient times in Japan.

Selected Works from the AGGV Japanese Art Collection: History, Significance, and Future Applications

Su Yen Chong
The AGGV’s Japanese print collection consist of 6000 prints from the Edo period to contemporary period. The purpose of Su Yen’s research is to better understand the history of collecting and provenance of the Japanese art collection in the AGGV. Her presentation will consist of highlights the Japanese art collection including on a complete set of the Forty-Eight Views of Edo by Utagawa Hiroshige II, with other known complete sets found in the MFA Boston and Museum of Applied Arts in Austria. The second part the presentation will focus on one of AGGV’s most significant donor, Isabel Pollard. Isabel Pollard established the Fred and Isabel Pollard collection in 1960 and over the span of two decades, the Pollard collection grew to consist of a range of artworks from Chinese works to works of contemporary Northwest Coast artists but the collection primarily comprised of Japanese artworks, which Isabel handpicked with the advice of AGGV’s first director and curator, Colin Graham. Working in a collaborative fashion, Isabel Pollard and Colin Graham formed one of Canada’s most comprehensive Japanese art collection which enriched the city of Victoria as a whole besides being of great use to the Fine Arts department in the University of Victoria which was formed in 1968.

Su Yen Chong is a Curatorial Research Assistant in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. She recently graduated with a Master of Arts from the University of Victoria focusing on Asian art under the direction of Dr. Astri Wright. Her research interest lies within the arts and culture of the diasporic communities in Southeast Asia. During her graduate studies, she was a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Scholar where she received funding for her research. She is currently working on reviewing the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s vast collection of Japanese prints. Besides that, she is currently working on an exhibition focusing on the different representations of Mount Fuji under the guidance of curator, Haema Sivanesan.

Raffle & Volunteer Prizes

Taiko Finale

Uminari Taiko
Hear, see and feel the thunder of Japanese Taiko! Come see Uminari Taiko, Vancouver Island’s premier taiko ensemble, deliver a high energy fair closing performance that will move and shake you to the core. Note: Taiko Performance #1 and #2 are totally different sets.
http://www.uminaritaiko.com/