JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles

To kick off 2025, “Taste of Home | International Comfort Food” invites guests to discover the meaning of comfort food and dive deeper into the heart of culinary traditions that tell stories, spark memories, and connect communities across continents. 🇯🇵🇧🇷🇲🇦 Join us as we journey through the soul-warming dishes of Japan, Brazil, and Morocco through our presenters who will share their special memories and narratives behind each country's most cherished comfort foods such as shrimp croquettes, takoyaki, lamb honey tagine, and much more! 🍽️🍤🍵 After the discussion, guests will network while indulging in authentic dishes. Join us on Monday, January 13th at JAPAN HOUSE Salon, Level 5 from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM to try & learn about dishes that transport you to 3 different countries!Tickets are $50 each. 🎟️💫 Register here: https://bit.ly/3DhlyEy This program is part of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) series, continuing from 2024, presented by JAPAN HOUSE LA Foundation with sponsorship from MUFG to represent cultures from a variety of background. #JapanHouseLA #DEI #ComfortFood #ThingstoDoinLA #Japan #Brazil #Morocco #DEI #JHLA

Looking for unique activities to do when you're traveling to Japan? If you enjoy fresh fruits native to Japan, try fruit picking and savor the freshest produce straight from the source! Some of the fruits you can try during the winter season include mandarins and strawberries. Farms may also have workshops where you can cook with freshly picked fruits. Read more about fruit picking in Japan here: https://bit.ly/4j0tYAy You can also visit local farms & orchards in the area like Tanaka Farms located in Irvine if you'd like to stock up on some delicious local fruit this season! 🍓 #JapanHouseLA #Travel #FruitPicking #JHLA

Happy New Year! January 1st is best started by viewing the new year’s first sunrise, making the day full of joy, free of stress, and a refreshing start for 2025!🌤️💫 Did you know this year is the year of the snake? 🐍 While snakes may seem scary, in Japan they are associated with renewal, longevity, health and financial fortune. From mythical creatures like Yamato-no-Orochi to white snakes seen as a messenger from god, and finally deity like Ugajin, the god of fertility and harvest, having the body of a snake, they are an important part of Japanese mythology and folklore. From all of us here at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, we look forward to another exciting year with you! 🤍🎉 #HappyNewYear #2025 #YearoftheSnake #JapaneseCulture #Japan #JapanHouseLA

New Year's Eve is a time in Japan when families come together after all the preparations for the new year are complete and reflect on the year gone by to make way for a fresh start. 💫 One tradition is to listen to the Buddhist temple bells struck 108 times at midnight to symbolize casting away the 108 worldly sins of the past year and ring in the new year fresh. 🔔 What is one of your resolutions in 2025? Share with us in the comments below! 
 #JapanHouseLA #NewYearsEve #Omisoka #JHLA

A key part of keeping traditional Japanese trades, such as the arts, carpentry, architecture and other practices alive is by sharing the craft to the next generation. For our current exhibition, Masters of Carpentry, three carpenters flew in from Japan for the installation of the different joinery and architecture seen in the exhibition. Master carpenter, Akinori Abo and his team, work closely together to reassemble the pieces made in Japan for recreation of the temple roof and Sa-an teahouse replica. The close relationship of master craftsman and their students allow not only for the skills and techniques to be passed down, but the philosophy behind each craft as well. The idea of apprenticeship is still deeply rooted in Japanese culture and has helped with keeping certain crafts alive for centuries. To learn more about the apprentice system through our previous exhibition, LIFE CYCLES, read the article here: https://bit.ly/3O7fX7g 
 #JHLA #MastersofCarpentry #Woodworking #Apprenticeship #TraditionalCrafts #JapaneseCrafts

We invite all flower lovers to discover the beauty of ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging! 🌺🌸🌼 View ikebana’s festive expressions through 3 different schools at our Level 2 Gallery starting today!💐 See the distinctive style of Ikenobo, Ohara, and Sogetsu schools display seasonal arrangements, with inspirations drawn from Western holiday décor and traditional Japanese New Year motifs. Catch these dynamic floral installations to foster an understanding of ikebana as a living art form! Installation Schedule 12/28/2024 – 1/1/2025: Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Los Angeles 1/2 – 1/6/2025: Ohara Ikebana Los Angeles 1/9 – 1/13/2025: Sogetsu Ikebana Los Angeles Branch Special thanks to Ikebana Teachers Guild of Southern California #JHLA #Ikebana #FloralArrangements #Flowers

Witness modern ninja entertainment that no one has ever seen before! “Under Ninja,” the live action adaptation of the popular manga by Kengo Hanazawa, will have its world premiere screening followed by a Q&A with the film’s lead actors at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres! 🌟 Kento Yamazaki is one of Japan’s most influential actors, starring in films such as “Alice in Borderland,” “Golden Kamuy,” “KINGDOM” and more! Minami Hamabe is a highly accomplished actress recognized globally, most recently in “Godzilla Minus One” but also in other films such as “Silent Love,” “Shin Kamen Rider,” and “Kakegurui 2: Ultimate Russian Roulette.” "Under Ninja" is set in the modern world, where ninjas exist in secret, lurking in everday life and operating in the dark globally. Kuro Kumogakure (Yamazaki) is a modern-day ninja entrusted with an important task. Caught up in this battle between ninjas is high school girl, Ayaka Noguchi (Hamabe). Register for free to witness ninjas with a variety of skills and other fascinating characters taking over the movie screen in 2025. ⚔️ 🔗 https://bit.ly/3ZIGs7e NOTE: RSVP does not guarantee entry. Space is limited. Early arrival is recommended. Photo Credits: ©KH/K ©2025 F/K/T/S | Kento Yamazaki Headshot: ©Haruka Yamamoto #JHLA #JapaneseFilm #UnderNinja #Toho #FilmPremiere

Last month, we hosted a Danjiri Wood Carving Demonstration and Workshop led by woodcarving master, Akihiko Maeda, who flew in from Japan to showcase this artform and the historical tools & techniques used while creating these works. In the annual danjiri festival, carts with stunning sculptures with ornate wooden carvings are pulled through the streets. Watch as Maeda carves Amanouzume-no-mikoto, the Japanese goddess of entertainment which he chose to resonate our location in Hollywood! This carving will be featured in a danjiri festival in Ehime next October! If you want to take a piece of this amazing woodcarving skill home, hand-carved masu cups are available for purchases at our WAZA Shop. Masu are traditional, wooden cups for Japanese sake, and Maeda uses the relief carving technique used in Danjiri carvings to make the designs stand out three-dimensionally. The Japanese cypress used has an aroma that pairs well with sake, allowing you to enjoy a refined flavorful experience. For non-drinkers, it can also serve as a decorative element on its own or be used with aroma oil! RIJINDA’s masu cups can be found in-person at our WAZA Shop at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, Level 2 in Ovation Hollywoodfor some last-minute gift-shopping! #JapanHouseLA #WAZAShop #WoodCarving #Danjiri #AkihikoMaeda #Woodworking #Sake #JHLA

Sukiya daiku are carpenters specialize in utilizing natural materials with minimal processing to craft the elegant Japanese teahouses. Tea houses were crucial to the Japanese tea ceremony experience – a building dedicated for guests to enjoy tea and appreciate the interaction. 🍵✨ Sen no Rikyū is a tea master considered to be one of the most influential to chado (way of tea), specifically wabi-cha, a style rooted in Zen Buddhism and embracing rustic simplicity. His philosophy can be found in his teahouses that are small and simply decorated, yet intimate and emphasizing the natural beauty. A full-scale model of a Sa-an Teahouse has been recreated in our exhibition. The Sa-an Teahouse originally is from Daitoku-ji Temple in Kyoto, designed in the 18th century and influenced heavily by Sen no Rikyū’s designs. Three master carpenters from Japan realized the structure over five days, leaving sections uncovered to reveal the inner walls and frame. Don’t miss this special opportunity to interact with a traditional Japanese tea house and experience this beautiful, refined, and delicate architecture at Masters of Carpentry: Melding Forest, Skill and Spirit, our free exhibition available at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles in Ovation Hollywood through January 22, 2025. #JHLA #MastersOfCarpentry #JapaneseCarpentry #JHLACarpentry #JapanHouseLA #JapaneseTeaHouse #Woodworking #Matcha #Chado

Today is Toji or Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. In Japan, people often celebrate the day with a warm bath of citrus fruit, yuzu, to keep warm and relax.🍋 Even zoo animals get to participate in this cozy tradition, providing warm relief from the cold with a luxurious soak. ♨️ Stay warm this winter and run yourself a warm yuzu bath. Comment a 🍊 in the comments below if you want to give this relaxing tradition a try! Video Courtesy of Izu Shaboten Zoo #JapanHouseLA #JHLA #JapaneseTraditions #WinterSolstice #Toji #Capybara #Outdoorbath