February is a big month for US-Japan cross pollination. The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. is putting on a rather massive festival entitled JAPAN! culture + hyperculture, running from February 5-17. The amount of quality programming at this event is staggering, and makes us wish we could just up and move to D.C. for a couple weeks. Everything from traditional Japanese theater to cutting edge animation and robotics are being showcased at the Kennedy Center. Read on for more info and a breakdown of what’s happening.

Photos courtesy of The Kennedy Center

From the official website:
“In the Land of the Rising Sun, ancient traditions are layered with modern sensibility and technological innovation to create culture… accelerated. This “hyperculture” encompasses a wide range of expression - from the wizardry of robots and the dazzling action of anime to the hypnotic movement of butoh and the propulsive energy of taiko.”

“Over two weeks, the Kennedy Center brings together more than 450 artists, more than 40 performances, and more than a dozen free events to showcase the best Japanese theater and dance, music and fashion, architecture and sculpture, poetry and literature, photography and film. February 5-17, don’t miss this living celebration of the artistic innovator that is Japan… the ‘floating island’ whose modest size belies its stunning global impact.”

(Full disclosure: Yes, we’re involved with this event. We will also be covering as much of it as we can here on the site.)

This is just some of what will be going on during the festival. The full schedule can be seen here.

THEATER
Yukio Ninagawa’s Shintoku-Maru
The Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company
Mari Natsuki

DANCE
New National Theatre Ballet, Tokyo
Sankai Juku
Jo Kanamori’s Noism 08
Akira Kasai’s Pollen Revolution
Strange Kinoko Dance Company
Ebina Performing Arts

MUSIC
Oki Dub Ainu Band & Marewrew
Hakata Kinjishi Taiko & Hakata Koma
Aki Takahashi
Maywa Denki
Laptop Orchestra
Takagi Masakatsu
YMCK

VISUAL ARTS
Shin Tanaka
Yayoi Kusama
Tadao Ando

TEXTILES-DESIGN-TECHNOLOGY
Reiko Sudo
Junko Koshino
Mikimoto Pearls
Mika Ninagawa

ROBOTOPIA RISING
Robot Evolution
Karakuri Dolls
Super Humanoids

FILM, MANGA & ANIME
Manga Cafe with VIZ
Genius Party - World Premiere
5 Centimeters Per Second - East Coast Premiere
The Piano Forest - North American Premiere
Appleseed: Ex Machina - East Coast Premiere