Joji Yuasa

Kiyoshi Furukawa

Yoshio Kurahashi

STOCKTON — World-renowned composer Joji Yuasa, multi-media composer Kiyoshi Furukawa and flautist Yoshio Kurahashi are among five Japanese artists who will participate in the University of the Pacific’s first-ever Japanese Festival, being held Oct. 20 to 26 on the Stockton campus.

In addition to lectures and concerts, there will be a manga contest, an art gallery show, a tea ceremony and a discussion of Japanese films.

“My colleagues Robert Coburn, Jaroslaw Kapuscinkski and I are pleased with this opportunity to share our passion for Japanese culture with the University and the Stockton community,” said conservatory professor Francois Rose. “We hope the festival will help others gain an appreciation of Japanese culture.”

Kurahashi, who has played the shakuhachi since childhood, is one of the best players in the world and has performed around the world. He currently is director of the Mujuan Shakuhachi School. He will demonstrate shakuhachi techniques and will give a concert of traditional Japanese music during his visit.

Both Yuasa and Furukawa will perform and give lectures during the festival. Yuasa, one of Japan’s leading composers, has been commissioned by several prestigious ensembles around the world and his music has received several distinguished international awards. He is currently a professor at the Nihon University College of Arts and at Tokyo College of Music.

Furukawa studied composition at the Musikhochscule in Berlin and Hamburg. He also has been associated with Stanford, the Center for Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany, and the Music Media Lab in Hamburg. He currently is an associate professor at the Nihon University College of Arts and at Tokyo College of Music.

The manga contest will be open to all students in grades K-12 and any resident of California age 18 or older. TokyoPop, one of the leading publishers of manga books, and FanimeCon, the largest Japanese anime convention organizer in the U.S., will donate contest prizes, including three passes to the annual FanimeCon conference in San Jose.

Hope Donovan, a TokyoPop editor, will join the contest’s panel of judges. The public also will be invited to judge the winners by voting on-line in an “American Idol” type format.

The schedule of events is as follows:

October: exhibition of Japanese prints in Reynolds Gallery

Oct. 20, 1:30 p.m.: Award ceremony for the UOP Japanese Festival Manga/Anime Drawing Contest, William Knox Holt Memorial Library, Community Room

Oct. 23, 12 p.m.: Presentation: “Understanding Japanese Culture,” Recital Hall

Oct. 24, 2 p.m.: Shakuhachi presentation by Kurahashi, Recital Hall; 7:30 p.m.: Traditional Japanese music featuring Kurahashi, koto player Yoko Hirano-Itatani and sangen player Ayako Kurahashi, Faye Spanos Concert Hall ($8 general, $4 for seniors, free to students with ID)

Oct. 25, 12 p.m.: Lecture on the films of Akira Kurosawa, WPC-140; 6 p.m.: Reception, Reynolds Gallery; 8 p.m.: Movie, “Throne of Blood,” Pacific Theater ($5 general, $3 for staff, free for students with ID; also free for the first 40 people to arrive)

Oct. 26, 2:00 p.m.: Presentations by Yuasa and Furukawa, Recital Hall; 3:30 p.m.: Tea ceremony hosted by tea master Aiko Mikami, William Knox Holt Memorial Library, Community Room (limited seating; reservations: sdelorenzo [at] pacific.edu); 7:30 p.m.: New Japanese music by Yuasa and Furukawa, with Frank Wiens, piano; Patricia Shands, clarinet; Mat Krejci, flute; Nina Flyer, cello; Igor Velligan, violin; Sonia Leong, piano; Margaret Perry, piano, Faye Spanos Concert Hall ($8 general, $4 for seniors, free for students with ID)

Nov. 2, 2 p.m.: Lecture by Julie Otsuka, author of When the Emperor Was Divine, Pacific Theater

All events are free, except when indicated otherwise. For more details, call (209) 946-2415 or go on-line to http://go.pacific.edu/JapaneseFestival or http:// library.pacific.edu/contest.

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