The World of the Benshi

BeHere / 1942: A New Lens on the Japanese American Incarceration

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This poster by Asaba Katsumi serves as the introduction to the series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

Japanese Performing Arts Program

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This poster by Hattori Kazunari is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This powerful poster by Nagatomo Keisuke and Kuroda Seitarō is one of this special series of posters, which was first exhibited in 2017. It was one of the last works Nagatomo created before his death.

Odaiko

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This poster by Hara Kenya is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This poster by Katsui Mitsuo is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This poster by Igarashi Takenobu is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

Kyōgen

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This poster by Kamijō Takahisa is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

Gagaku

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This striking poster by Satō Taku is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This striking poster by Kasai Kaoru is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

Tsugaru-Jamisen

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This poster by Nakajō Masayoshi is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

In 2016, the Yanai Initiative partnered with Asaba Katsumi and the Japan Graphic Designers Association to create eleven limited-edition posters by some of Japan's top graphic designers, marking the 35th anniversary of an unprecedented collaboration by many of the same figures. This whimsical poster by Nagai Kazumasa is one of this special series, which was first exhibited in 2017. A small number of signed copies are available.

The Yanai Initiative

UCLA + Waseda University
reimagining the Japanese humanities
for the world

Featuring more than 300 images from archives and private collections around the world, this beautiful, approachable volume will captivate anyone with an interest in film.

Edited by Michael Emmerich and Daisuke Miyao

At Okuma Auditorium, Waseda University, Tokyo

Noh in English “Blue Moon Over Memphis”

Now available for purchase: a limited-edition record featuring novelist Furukawa Hideo and musician Mukai Shūtoku, pressed from a lacquer master cut before a live audience.

With Yanai Initiative support, English translations of six new novellas will be published by Pushkin Press in 2023-2024.

Japanese Novellas newly published by Pushkin Press

Commemorative Screening & Talk Event－”Extremely Short”

Experience

感じる

In 2017, the Yanai Initiative worked with eleven major Japanese designers to reimagine a legendary series of posters created in 1982

A poster by Kamijō Takahisa from The Poster Project (2017)

Available for free in Japanese and English versions for both iOS and Android devices, this was the first such app ever created

The Hentaigana App, released in 2015

A poster by Asaba Katsumi from The Poster Project (2017)

In 2022, we collaborated with the Japanese American National Museum on the exhibit BeHere / 1942, marking the passage of 80 years since the Japanese American incarceration

The BeHere / 1942 exhibition catalog (2022)

Explore Page

知る

Explore

Designated holders of Important Intangible Cultural Property Nomura Mansai and Ishida Yukio each held one free masterclass for participants from UCLA and the broader Los Angeles community

One of two kyogen masterclasses with Nomura Mansai and Ishida Yukio held at UCLA in 2017

This workshop, held at the UCLA Game Lab, served as a preface to a free lecture and performance, open to the general public

Nonsense Way of Thinking: A Workshop with Maywa Denki in 2019

This eye-opening symposium was the first in the United States to focus on the work of the versatile writer Matsumoto Seichō, best known for his detective and period fiction

Matsumoto Seichō: Media, Adaptation, and Middlebrow Literature (2020)

This major symposium was part of a series of events called "Five Days of Kyogen" centered on two performances by living national treasure Nomura Mansaku and his troupe Mansaku no Kai

The Yanai InitiativeUCLA + Waseda Universityreimagining the Japanese humanitiesfor the world

The Yanai Initiative

UCLA + Waseda University
reimagining the Japanese humanities
for the world