Experience the centuries-old comic Japanese folk art of rakugo in a rare performance by master storyteller San’yūtei Ponta, who studied under master rakugoka San’yūtei Kōraku. Rakugo is performed by a single storyteller, who uses only a paper fan, tenugui cloth, and his own voice to tell three epic funny (or ghost) stories with multiple characters.

Each character is brilliantly depicted through a change in pitch, tone, or a slight turn of the head. Ponta has prepared three stories for his Detroit visit: Chōtan (Long and Short), Tengu sabaki (Trial by Tengu), and Shinigami (Grim Reaper).

The performance will be in Japanese with projected English subtitles. (60 min.)  

Sponsored by the Japanese Business Society of Detroit.

Detroit Institute of Arts

Come by the Museum on Sunday, March 3rd, 10:00AM-5 PM for a celebration of Japanese Girl's Day, or HinaMatsuri, with demonstrations of the tea ceremony, calligraphy, sweets making, stories, games and musical performances. Presented by the Japan Business Society of Detroit, Japan Cultural Development, Japan America Society, and the Consulate General of Japan.

Free for Museum visitors

Students and Job Seekers will have the opportunity to hear Consul General Shindo’s presentation, to network with company representatives, and to submit their resumés to select companies. 

Companies interested in recruiting new employees please contact Cheryl McGinnis, Director of Corporate Relations at cmcginnis@oakland.edu.

Free and open to the public with advance registration: https://bit.ly/jarrrte

Doors open at 12:30

Oakland University Campus

Golf Pavilion, Rochester, MI

Free parking: Lot P51

Business casual attire

Sponsors: Great Lakes JETAA, Oakland University, Japan America Society of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario, Japan Business Society of Detroit

Develop your ‘elevator pitch’ with guest speaker: Jane Lee of Sales Xceleration. Free with registration via the QR code below.

Cocktails and Tours of the Mansion - Wishlist Silent Auction and Gourmet Dinner

6:30 pm Cocktails, Tours of the Mansion, and Silent Auction

7:45 Gourmet Dinner with Holiday Chorus with White Pine Glee Club and Friends

9:00 Cordials and Liqueurs bar

$295 per person  $2300 corporate table of 8 All inclusive.

Register online or to MAIL-IN an RSVP please use the form below.

Bid on exciting items from Delta Airlines, Coach, Tiffany and many more...  Valet parking Business and Holiday Attire

Meadow Brook Hall 350 Estate Drive Rochester MI 48309

248 364 6220

This form is for mail-in payments. If you are buying tickets online please use the 'ADD TO CART' button on this page instead, the form below is not required for online reservations, it is only for mail-in reservations.

Click this Link to Register

Join Oakland University's Plattenberger-sensei to learn how to transform your future during this free life-changing career planning event!

Oakland University Campus North Foundation Hall • Room 156 • FREE PARKING • LOT P01

Please click on the gold link below to RSVP to the invitation to the Freer House Reception with Frank Feltens, Curator of Japanese Art, National Museum of Asian Art, that will follow his 2 PM lecture ‘Still Making Waves: Charles Lang Freer and Sotatsu’s Waves of Matsushima' at The Detroit Institute of Arts Danto Lecture Hall.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to Charles Lang Freer’s House in Detroit at 3:30 PM for refreshments and Japanese inspired light fare and a toast with Japanese Consul General Yusuke Shindo.

Built by Detroit industrialist Charles Lang Freer in 1892, the Freer House at 71 East Ferry Street is the birthplace of the Freer Gallery of Art, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian in Washington D.C., currently celebrating its 100th year.

Sotatsu's 'Waves at Matsushima' and Charles Lang Freer

Attend a fascinating presentation by one of the world's experts on Japanese Art, Dr. Frank Feltens. Dr. Feltens, Curator of Japanese Art at the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, will speak at The Detroit Institute of Arts at 2PM on Sunday, November 19th.

Dr. Feltens will highlight the origins, recent high resolution replication, and unique ties to Detroit of Tawaraya Sotatsu's 17th century masterpiece 'Waves at Matsushima'.

Canon Inc., the Kyoto Cultural Association, and the Freer Gallery of Art, National Museum of Asian Art have recreated high resolution reproductions of the Museum's Japanese paintings using advanced imaging technology and traditional crafts. Unlike the fragile originals, these facsimilies can travel broadly to encourage art appreciation and cross-cultural understanding.

Detroit Industrialist Charles Lang Freer brought the 'Waves of Matsushima' to his Detroit home at the turn of the 19th century. He later transferred his entire collection of Japanese and Asian Art to the Freer Gallery that he established in Washington D.C., now celebrating its 100th Anniversary.

Edo Avant Garde, directed by Linda Hoaglund, reveals how Japanese artists of the Edo period (1603–1868) innovated abstraction, minimalism, stylization, collage, and other techniques, which today are all considered “modern.” Edo artists’ originality is most striking in images of nature depicted against gold leaf backgrounds on large-scale folding screens (byōbu). In interviews with scholars, priests, curators, and collectors, the film traces the artists’ ingenuity to their profound engagement with the natural world and their reverence for the spirits inhabiting it.

To research the film, Hoaglund reviewed more than 30,000 images of Edo art on US museum websites, many of which are featured in the lesson plans available here. Working with Japan’s Academy Award-winning cinematographer Kasamatsu Norimichi, Hoaglund’s team filmed nearly 200 works of Edo art in museum and private collections across the United States and Japan. Edo Avant Garde assembles Edo masterpieces scattered across the globe to reevaluate how the artists’ innovations sparked and shaped the development of the modern art movement in the West.

Free and open to the public- please come and enjoy an afternoon of Japanese Culture in Novi.

JAS member company, Toyota will host the JAS young professionals group in Saline Michigan from 3-5 PM on July 11, 2023. Join us for a company overview, a meet & greet with Toyota YPs and executives, and an offsite networking event!

The first in a series of three company visits planned 2023.

YP member company visits are FREE for Japan America Society Young Professionals. Join here. Already a JAS YP? Please RSVP via email with Toyota in the subject line.

Non-members are welcome to attend the Toyota company visit for $60 by registering below.

Please use the link above to register.

Please use the link below to register online:

Opening Saturday, November 12th, the show features Shigaraki ware ceramics, the utilitarian, wood-fired and naturally ash-glazed type that American Museums began collecting in the 1960s. The Exhibition describes the cultural exchange that ensued from the presence of this traditional pottery in museums in the US. How it inspired American ceramic artists to travel to the ancient Japanese kilns in Shiga to learn the tradition of Shigaraki ware. And how in turn their interpretations influenced the evolution of the art in Japan. It also presents how Contemporary artists and collectors continue to keep the tradition vibrant, expanding into innovative forms and sizes. The Exhibition highlights how cultural exchanges promote mutual understanding. Indeed, this year we celebrate the 54th year of the Shiga Prefecture - Michigan sister state relationship.

Free and Open to the Public

Event Overview

Managing a global healthcare company in the Japanese landscape presents challenges as well as unique opportunities. And for Satoshi Mizusawa, the cross-cultural issues of overseeing a Michigan-based company in Japan make the job even more interesting. The Stryker Japan president will join us for this virtual event to speak about his experience leading his team through a time of turbulent change while driving innovative health technology in Japan. Mizusawa will also share how he has leveraged the concept of “defy the odds” to engage his team and build a culture of Stryker pride.

About the Series

The Japan America Society of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario is pleased to present this program as part of the ACCJ/NAJAS Business Leader Series, a collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and the National Association of Japan-America Societies. The series highlights activities of Japan-based global corporations, strategies in the United States and Japan, business successes and challenges, and perspectives from Japan.

About the Speaker

President and representative director of Stryker Japan K.K., Satoshi Mizusawa is a business leader with a strong foundation in human resources. He started his career with Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. in the General Affairs and Human Resources Department in 2002. He was later assigned to various positions with subsidiaries of Sanyo that took him to Malaysia and Thailand. After returning to Sanyo headquarters, he worked in the Corporate Planning Department directly reporting to the chief executive officer. Mizusawa then joined General Electric International in 2005, where he was selected for a leadership development program that included an assignment in the United States. After the program, he became an HR manager at GE Healthcare Japan K.K. In 2009, he moved to Abbott Japan LLC, where he was an HR director working for the regional head of compensation and benefits. In June 2014, Mizusawa joined Stryker Japan K.K. as HR senior director, and he became a managing director in January 2015. After completing Stryker’s Global Leadership Program, held in collaboration with Harvard University, he transitioned to his first commercial leadership role and became vice president for the medical/surgical business units in 2017. In 2020, he became general manager, leading Stryker’s legacy business units and expanding his responsibility into orthopedics and other areas. In January 2021, he was promoted to deputy president, with responsibilities for the company’s overall business in Japan and driving growth. He was appointed president and representative director in April 2021. Mizusawa serves on the board of directors and is a member of the executive committee of the American Medical Devices and Diagnostics Manufacturers’ Association (AMDD). He is a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University and spent one year at Alabama State University.

NOTE 1: This event is ON THE RECORD.

NOTE 2: Please note that, as with all guest presentations, the content and comments of the speakers reflect their own opinions and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the ACCJ.

Free and open to the public.

ZOOM Webinar Registration Link below:

For more information please click the link:

The central feature of the Japanese Garden and visible from every point of view, the traditional teahouse was built in Japan by master carpenters using traditional methods and tools, then disassembled, shipped to Michigan and reassembled.

Experience the interior for yourself on the third Saturday of each month at 11:30 AM when guests are invited to remove their shoes and enter the tranquil space.

Experience an afternoon of Japanese culture including the Tea Ceremony, Taiko drumming and folk dancing, calligraphy, children's games and more.

Free and open to the public.

Our sister Society in New York invites you to a webinar with professors Dr. Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Columbia University and Dr. Ryo Sahashi, Associate Professor of International Relations, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo.

Click the Link to register.

Presentations by Frederik L Schodt, author of books on Manga and translator of “Astro Boy” and “Ghost in the Shell” & by Matt Alt, author of “How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World” and translator of “Doraemon”.

Hosted by the Japan America Society of Northern California.

Join in by registering with this link.

Exhibition of blooming Satsuki azalea

Registration fee is $20 (below)

Free for 30th Anniversary Annual Dinner Guests automatically added to the guest list.

Free for Young Professionals with a paid Japan America Society Young Professional Membership (click here to join) -Current members, please email your name to be added to the guest list.

JAS Young Professionals ‘After Hours’ at the nearby Brass Rail Pizza Bar optional meet-up at 7:30 PM.

Continue the evening over dinner at The Brass Rail Pizza Bar - $20/person for unlimited pizza + soft drinks. (Payable at restaurant. Bar drinks extra.)

Parking available at The Opera House Parking Garage 1426 Broadway Street, $10 , entrances on John R. Street and East Grand River Avenue.

[Or parking at MGM Casino (free): It’s a 15 min walk from MGM to The Opera House, a 5 min walk from The Opera House to The Brass Rail, then a 10 min walk from The Brass Rail back to MGM.]

Click the title above to register.