Japanese Arts & Culture from the Centre of Utrecht
Many Japan Fans fell in love with Japanese culture because of the Japanese Arts & Crafts.
Whether it is shodo (Japanese calligraphy), ikebana (flower arranging), origami and other paper arts or ceramics – Japanese arts and crafts have something special.
In this section, we would like to share our knowledge and experience with you, not only limited to the visual arts, but also in the field of performing arts – such as Japanese music, dance, and storytelling – and even martial arts.
We also use this category to announce and report on Japanese events in the Netherlands (and especially in Utrecht). The Japan Fans like to give workshops and demonstrations, so keep an eye on this site and our socials!
Have fun reading!
A blog full of beautiful photos of kendo by Ivo de Haard. Ivo is a Dutch photographer who, among other things, shot a beautiful series about the budo called “kendo“, the Japanese form of fencing. Japan Fans founder Martine spoke with him about his inspiration and background.
Are you a fan of Japanese music? Then we have an interesting announcement for you! Jacob Kellerman (guitar) and the New European Ensemble will be playing world premieres of Toshio Hosokawa (Japan) and Pasi Lyytikäinen (Finland), on Sunday the 12th of March in ‘De Nieuwe Kerk’, Den haag.
Following the success of Pink Floyd tribute project, Genshishinbo, the Japan Fans are now excited to present a virtual concert featuring the talented singer-songwriter and guitarist, Yutaro Ogida.
Welcome to our blog about creating art with Ginkgo leaves! If you love Japanese arts & crafts and the beauty of nature, then you are in for a treat.
The Japan Fans organise all kinds of concerts – both virtual and live – and also make Japanese music at other Japanese events in the Netherlands. One of the areas we are currently exploring is Japanese folksongs on piano.
Our dream is to have our own centre for Japanese art in Utrecht, but until then, we present you our favourite Japanese artists through our website. In this fourth virtual exhibition of Japan Fans Utrecht, we love to introduce you to the Japanese calligraphy by LANKA.
While surfing the web for some inspiration for the music in our Japanese cultural centre, we stumbled upon the works of City Pop DJ Van Paugam.
The first Japanese art that many people encounter is the art of paper folding: origami! In this video, Japan Fan Farah from Pakistan folds a cute little origami cat. A step by step follow along video.
In our series on Japanese music, we would like to introduce you to some Japanese folk songs on tenor recorder. The Japan Fans performed these (among others) at CAMERA JAPAN, the Manga & Japanese Culture Week in the Neude Library in Utrecht, and the Heuvelrug festival in Driebergen.
