At the forefront of hyperculture, Japan's robots are at once amazing works of art and fantastic feats of engineering. Japan has been at the vanguard of global robot development and technology since the 1970s and continues to invent new ways the

Matt Alt: Jumbo Machinders, part 2

Dec 21st, 2008 9m 46s

Matt Alt walks you through his extensive collection of Japanese jumbo machinder toys, which were on display in the Kennedy Center's South Gallery. Matt Alt's childhood obsession with the Japanese giant robot led him to major in Japanese and Int

Matt Alt: Jumbo Machinders, part 1

Dec 21st, 2008 11m 21s

Oki Dub

Dec 21st, 2008 9m 40s

In this free concert by Oki, the most prominent tonkori performer in the world, his band and female singers of Marewrew, Kennedy Center audiences heard music that fused Reggae, African and Electronica with Ainu folk melodies. During the concer

Maywa Denki

Dec 21st, 2008 6m 18s

Founded in 1993 by two brothers, Maywa Denki is a performance art troupe with a unique style. Each piece of their work is called a "product" and a live performance or exhibition is held as a "product demonstration." Although they're known and a

Shin Tanaka: Papercraft

Dec 21st, 2008 2m 20s

Shin Tanaka is a Japanese artist, graffiti writer, paper toy creator, designer who has worked with some of the biggest names in street fashion and designer toys. Born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1980, Tanaka’s claim to fame is a vast range of elaborat

Shigeo Kawashima: Wa

Dec 21st, 2008 3m 41s

The Japanese have a long and deep relationship with bamboo, and their culture has produced the most beautiful art in this medium. Shigeo Kawashima's sculptures take bamboo as an artistic medium to a new level. His work WA ("Ring") was commissio

Koji Kakinuma: Trancework

Dec 21st, 2008 3m 16s

Calligraphy artist Koji Kakinuma began studying traditional Japanese monochrome brushwork at the age of five. In 1989, Kakinuma arrived on the national stage when he became the youngest person to win the coveted Dokuritsu Shojindan Foundation p

Koji Kakinuma: Otsukimi

Dec 21st, 2008 3m 36s

JAPAN! culture + hyperculture was marked by a festive Otsukimi (Japanese moon-viewing) evening featuring a special Millennium Stage performance of “Trancework” and “Eternal Now” by shodo performing artist Koji Kakinuma, accompanied by the taiko

Tadao Ando: Four Cubes to Contemplate Our Environment

Dec 21st, 2008 3m 36s

With his buildings sprawling all corners of the globe, world-renowned architect Tadao Ando has won virtually every award Japan can bestow for architecture and the arts, as well as major international prizes, including the 1995 Pritzker Prize an

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