Distant Japan will soon be here - on September 10-15, the biggest culture festival of the Country of the Rising Sun in the Baltic States "nowJapan" will show Vilnius what the Japanese creators of today live and breathe.
This year, "nowJapan" will differ from the previous ones in terms of concentration, conceptuality and longer duration: on September 10, performing arts events from traditional to very expressive contemporary forms will begin in St. Catherine's Church, and on the weekend of September 14-15, in the historical Museum of Cinema, Theater and Music the Japanese culture island will be located in the courtyard.
"It coincided that the emperor of Japan is changing this year, and the festival, entering its eleventh year, is concentrating and renewing itself. So a new era begins for Japan and the festival. We aim to change, to present a more interesting, deeper, more provocative side of culture, because our audience has grown up, become more curious and demanding. Through a wide creative spectrum, the festival will provide fodder for the diverse taste of Japan for loversfrom art fans to foodies," says nowJapan CEO Sergej Grigorjev.
Performing arts week in St. The experimental music trio "Asa Chang & Junray", known outside of Japan, will open at St. Catherine's Church, covering the entire perimeter of Eastern music with an easy bridge. We will hear how the classics fit together with jazz, crazy percussion and a digitally dismembered human voice, which becomes another instrument in this ensemble. Contemporary dance duo Kaori Ito and Theo Touvet will fascinate, and perhaps shock, and world-shaking singer Hideki Sakomizu will share skin-tingling ballads with pianist Yuki Deai.
The most colorful festival event – the traditional "Cosplay" contest, which will take place this year in St. Catherine's Church. Cosplay, a pop culture phenomenon in which people dress up as characters from manga and anime, their favorite movies, computer games, comics, and works of fantasy literature, began to spread from Japan eight decades ago and became popular JAV. As every year, nowJapan will host a kind of Eurovision costume selection contest, the winner of which will represent Lithuania at the European Cosplay contest held in London.
After almost a week of artists' performances on the weekend of September 14-15, in the courtyard of the Cinema, Theater and Music Museum, visitors will find a concentrate of authentic Japanese culture: designers and craftsmen, illustrator exhibitions and calligraphy masters who become human head-sized brushes, a Buddhist monk, Shintoism of impressive sophistication temple Mikoshi, traditional Taiko drumming, manga workshops, travel and culture reports. Huge attention will be paid to culinary tradition: cooking workshops, dessert culture, Japanese street food.
Country of the Rising Sun festival - September 10-15 in Vilnius in the old town.
