The Tale of Genji Festival: Showcase of historic costumes from 1,000 years ago and reading workshop, Aug 24-28
Cultural News, August 2007
Nyubo Shozoku: Formal clothes of noblewomen during the Heian period, 1,000 years ago. (Courtesy of Tokushima Castle Museum)
Historically accurate costumes worn in Japan during the Heian period, 1,000 years ago will be shown in the Los Angeles area by kimono instructors from Tokushima, Japan, as part of The Tale of Genji Festival sponsored by Cultural News from August 24 to August 28. Items such as women’s formal attire, casual hunting clothes worn by noblemen, and Samurai clothes will be part of the demonstration.
In September 2006, Cultural News sponsored a two-day workshop of the reading of The Tale of Genji, written 1,000 years ago and called the first novel in the world, by inviting Prof. Hiroaki Sera who is a specialist on the education of Japanese classical literature in Japan.
Prof. Hiroaki Sera
This year, Prof. Sera of Shikoku University in Tokushima, Japan, will return to Los Angeles with six kimono instructors from Seo Shizuko Kimono Gakuin in Tokushima. Beside the two-day workshop of the reading of the Tale of Genji which Prof. Sera will present, six historically accurate costumes will be worn by local models at three locations.
Hitatare: Samurai’s clothes in 1,000 years ago. (Courtesy of Tokushima Castle Museum)
The lecture and demonstration, The Tale of Genji Comes to Life: Courtly Kimonos of Japanese Golden Age, will be held at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena on Sunday, August 26 from 1-3 p.m. Prof. Sera will talk about the life of the noble class 1,000 years ago. The lecture and kimono demonstration will be presented in Japanese with English translation and is free with museum admission ($7). To RSVP, call (626) 449-2742 ext 31. Space is limited.
Ko-uchigi: Regular clothes of Noblewomen during the Heian, Japan. (Courtesy of Tokushima Castle Museum)
On Saturday, August 25 from 10 a.m. – noon, Prof. Sera’s lecture and the kimono demonstration by the six instructors will be held at the Pasadena Gakuen Japanese Language School in Pasadena for its students. The students in the Japanese language classes will wear these historical costumes. For those who are interested in observing this event, contact the main office of the Kyodo System Japanese Language School in Los Angeles at (213) 383-4706.
On Friday, August 24 from 10 a.m. – noon, students at California State University, Long Beach will wear courtly kimonos and pose for a photo opportunity at the university’s Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden. Garden admission is $3. For more information, log onto www.csulb.edu/~jgarden or call (562) 985-8420.
Workshop of the reading of The Tale of Genji
The workshop of the reading of The Tale of Genji with Prof. Sera will be held at the Kyodo System Japanese Language School, 1218 Menlo Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006, on Monday, August 27, and Tuesday, August 28, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This year’s workshop is the first of a three-part workshop series.
To coincide with the 1,000th anniversary events of the Tale of Genji in 2008, Prof. Sera is planning to return to Los Angeles in 2008 and 2009. Prof. Sera has been training hundreds of high school teachers of Japanese classical literature over 20 years at national universities in Japan.
Workshop participants will read the original text of The Tale of Genji with explanations by Prof. Sera. No English translation will be provided. A few articles of historically accurate kimonos will also be displayed as part of the program. The two-day fee is $60 per person. For information and workshop registration, call Cultural News at (213) 819-4100 or email higashi@culturalnews.com. Space is limited.