Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures
The Sainsbury Institute offers its warmest congratulations to Japan on the accession of His Majesty Emperor Naruhito on Wednesday 1st May 2019 and looks forward to continuing to promote the study and understanding of Japan and its place in the world into the new Reiwa era. If you would like to offer your own congratulations, […]
The Sainsbury Institute was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Professor Donald Keene in Tokyo on Sunday 24 February at the age of 96. The doyenne of Japanese literary studies, Professor Keene was a great friend of the Institute. In 2001 he gave the inaugural address marking the establishment of the Institute, in […]
The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, and the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia are now inviting applications for an intensive three-week postgraduate Ishibashi Foundation Summer Fellowship in Japanese Arts and Cultural Heritage. The academic leads on this programme are SISJAC’s Dr Jennifer Coates and Dr Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer. Dates: […]
Tuesday 19 Feb 2019 – Friday 29 Mar 2019 | 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday Embassy of Japan 101-104 Piccadilly London W1J 7JT The Embassy of Japan first launched ‘Manga Jiman’, a manga-writing competition open to UK residents, with great success in 2007. The competition has grown rapidly since and is now in its […]
Professor David Richardson, Vice Chancellor of the University of East Anglia and Chair of the Sainsbury Institutefor the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures visited Japan for the third time in December 2018. He was accompaniedby his wife, Dr Andrea Blanchflower, and Professor Simon Kaner, Executive Director of the Sainsbury Institute andDirector of the Centre […]
The “Japan-UK Season of Culture 2019-20” bridges the Rugby World Cup 2019 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Japan will organise the Japan Season of Culture in the UK, and the UK will oversee the UK Season of Culture in Japan in parallel. This was agreed between the Prime Ministers of Japan and the UK […]
Professor David Richardson, Vice Chancellor of the University of East Anglia and Chair of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures visited Japan for the third time in December 2018. He was accompanied by his wife, Dr Andrea Blanchflower, and Professor Simon Kaner, Executive Director of the Sainsbury Institute and Director […]
How does Jesus spend his birthday? According to manga artist Hikaru Nakamura, being deeply jealous of Santa Claus, arguing with patisserie staff and confessing to a priest. Find out more in this special festive edition of Curator’s Corner with Nicole Rousmaniere.
Nicole Rousmaniere follows on from her episode on Japanese manhole covers with a short discussion on some of the Manga collected by the British Museum. The Citi exhibition ‘Manga マンガ’ opens 23 May 2019. Supported by Citi Logistics partner IAG Cargo
This series celebrates the work of living Japanese artists and craftspeople. Onishi Isao makes exquisitely beautiful wooden lacquer trays, bowls and plates. Each item takes one full year to create. He painstakingly shapes the raw wood, paints on hundreds of paper-thin layers of lacquer and polishes the pieces to a high shine. Every object is […]
This series celebrates the work of living Japanese artists and craftspeople. Using the traditional Japanese techniques of ‘sashimono’ and ‘kogei’, Suda Kenji creates artworks which are perfectly functioning miniatures of everyday objects that are almost startling in their beautiful perfection. This film series has been produced with the support of JTI.
Report On Thursday 20th September almost 250 people joined us to mark the 200th Third Thursday Lecture given by His Excellency Koji Tsuruoka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Assembly House. Contributing greatly to longevity of the Third Thursday Lectures, which have been running since 2001, are our funders Yakult UK, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and […]
The Sainsbury Institute reports its activities on an annual basis through a series of E-magazines and Annual Reports. These include information about research projects and networks, lectures, conferences and workshops. Sainsbury Institute Annual Report 2016-2017 The Annual Report gives details of our Fellowship programmes, with updates on past and current research fellows, and developments in […]
Mami Mizutori leaves her role as Executive Director and is replaced by Simon Kaner to take up her new appointment as United Nations Assistant Secretary-General On 28 February 2018, Mami Mizutori will end her tenure as Executive Director. She will be replaced by Simon Kaner, Head of the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage on 1 […]
This series celebrates the work of living Japanese artists and craftspeople. Mori Junko employs traditional Japanese metalworking techniques including hand-forging steel with thousands of individually hand-cut nails crafted together to create compelling sculptural forms. Her signature piece is now in the Museum’s Japanese collection. She takes inspiration from the world around her and uses her […]
This series celebrates the work of living Japanese artists and craftspeople. Hosono Hitomi makes extraordinary, beautiful ceramic works and her ‘Large Feather Leaves Bowl’ is a highlight of the Museum’s Japanese collection. She painstakingly attached 1,000 individual leaves, the entire process taking one year to complete. The leaves appear to be gently rustling in the […]
Why you should love Japanese manhole covers Professor Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere talks about the wonders of manhole covers in Japan
While walking through the streets of Nagaoka in Japan, Curator Nicole Rousmaniere noticed she was standing on a prehistoric Japanese pot…well, a representation of one of these pots. ‘Dezain manhōru’ are designed manhole covers, and Nicole has recently acquired one for the British Museum’s collection.
The Handa Japanese Archaeology Fellowship was established in 2003, and is funded through the International Jomon Culture Conference by the Japanese philanthropist Handa Haruhisa. The fellowships are designed to allow a particularly promising Japanese archaeologist to spend a year with the Sainsbury Institute. There have to date been five Handa Japanese Archaeology Fellows. Handa Japanese […]
The Sainsbury Institute and the Global Exchange Organisation for Research and Education of Gakushuin University, Japan, signed a memorandum of understanding for research exchange and collaboration in July 2016. This is a further boost to the Institute’s well established network of research partners. The memorandum would help foster a stronger research presence through development of […]
9 Aug 2016 Publication Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere contributed an article in remembrance of Lady Lisa Sainsbury, one of the founders of the Institute, and her contribution to Japanese Art Studies in the recently published book, Britain and Japan: Biographical Portrait volume X.Lady Sainsbury, together with her husband Sir Robert, were patrons of the art with […]
Our Friends’ scheme was launched in autumn 2012. Since then we have held over twenty special events for our Friends who have enjoyed closer engagement with the Institute’s activities while helping us promote the study of Japanese arts and cultures. We are very grateful to our Friends for their support. Their kindness and generosity have […]
Ishibashi Scholarship Ishibashi Scholarship for Graduate Students Majoring in Art History in Japan Ishibashi Foundation is offering a scholarship through Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES) to graduate students who are planning to conduct research in art history in one of the selected universities in Japan. Amount and Duration of Scholarship 150,000 yen/month（Maximum duration: Two […]
Research Partnership Sainsbury Institute signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Kanagawa University’s Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials, Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture Sainsbury Institute signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Kanagawa University’s Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials, Institute for the Study of Japanese Folk Culture In March this year, the […]
Memorandum of Understanding Sainsbury Institute signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Kokugakuin University’s Organization for the Advancement of Research and Development The Sainsbury Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kokugakuin University’s Organization for the Advancement of Research and Development in Tokyo on 8 March 2016. The Memorandum follows a research collaboration agreement made in […]
Griffith Asia Institute Q&A panel Watch the video Australia-Japan Security Relations in a Changing Region On 4 February, the Executive Director, Mami Mizutori participated in a Q&A panel event in Brisbane, Australia. The event titled ‘Australia-Japan Security Relations in a Changing Region’ was organised by the Griffith Asia Institute. As part of a panel of […]
In the lead up to the translated publication of Katsumata Susumu’s Fukushima Devil Fish: Anti-Nuclear Manga, Ryan Holmberg writes in Art in America on how Japanese artists – especially manga authors – have taken on the growing issue of atomic power in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima reactor crisis. Dr Ryan Holmberg is Academic Associate […]
When Manga Was Pop Ryan Holmberg Even before the heyday of Pop art in the West, Japnaese comics fused global vernacular influences into a playful hybrid aesthetics. Dr Ryan Holmberg, Academic Associate at the Sainsbury Institute and Hakuho Foundation Japanese Research Fellow at Waseda University in Tokyo writes how images of Popeye, Tarzan, Batman, pistol-packing […]
The British Museum acquires a pair of komainu (koma dog) Arita porcelain figures by Komatsu Miwa (1984 – ). The dogs were first exhibited as part of the Gold Medal awarded garden designed by Ishihara Kazuyuki at 2015 Chelsea Flower Show. The Institute’s Research Director, Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere was instrumental in negotiating the acquisition, who describes Komatsu […]
Sainsbury Institute and Breakdown Press’ manga line has been named as no. 1 in graphic novelist and animator Dash Shaw’s Top Ten list for Artforum International Breakdown Press review
12 May 2015 Read about the ideation of Ryan Holmberg’s Sainsbury Institute and Breakdown Press manga series. Read more
Tokyo Summer Programme | 1-15 August, 2015 Call for Applications for the Faculty of Letters of the University of Tokyo Summer Program in Japanese Archaeology and Heritage 2015 About the Programme The Faculty of Letters of the University of Tokyo, in conjunction with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, invites […]
Deadline for online applications is 31 March 2015 Watch clips from the 2014 Summer School The Sainsbury Institute is delighted to be able to offer three full bursaries to students from the European Union including the UK interested in Japanese Studies for ‘Japan Orientation: New Directions in Japanese Studies’, a fully accredited Summer School at the […]
On 6 January of this year, Mizutori Mami, Executive Director of the Sainsbury Institute and Professor Osano Shigetoshi, Dean of the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology and also of the Faculty of Letters of The University of Tokyo signed an agreement on academic exchanges between the two organizations. The signing ceremony took place at […]
The Sainsbury Institute is pleased to announce that a book edited and translated by one of our Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellow, Ryan Holmberg, won the prestigious Will Eisner Comic Industry Award. The book, Tezuka Osamu’s The Mysterious Underground Men, includes an essay by Holmberg and is published by PictureBox. It received the award for Best […]
Okano Junko late last year to early this year completed her secondment based at the Lisa Sainsbury Library as part of the library exchange programme between the Keio library and the Sainsbury Institute. Junko has been working as an acquisition librarian at the Keio University Media Center after graduating from the School of Library and […]
Tokyo Summer Programme | 30 July-13 August, 2014 Call for Applications for theUniversity of Tokyo 2014 Summer Programmein Japanese Archaeology and Heritage About the Programme The University of Tokyo, in conjunction with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, invites applications from undergraduate students interested in Japanese archaeology and heritage to take […]
The Sainsbury Institute is saddened to announce the death of its benefactor Lady Lisa Sainsbury. Lady Sainsbury died on 6th February aged 101. It was her vision, and that of her husband Sir Robert, who died in 2000, that led to the establishment of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures […]
The Sainsbury Institute and the Nara University signed an agreement of cooperation on 8 January. Nara University is a private university founded 45 years ago. They are a specialized university in humanities with a strong focus on archaeology and cultural heritage studies. Dr Simon Kaner has cultivated a good relationship with Nara University through his […]
Members of the International Map Collectors’ Society (IMCoS) will visit the Saisbury Institute on 4 April 2014 to come and see the Cortazzi Map Collection in the Lisa Sainsbury Library. The society based in England with members from all parts of the globe publishes quarterly journals and holds annual international symposia on maps. It also […]