Event Videos

This page provides an overview of recorded events and lectures pertaining to Japan at the Library of Congress. All event videos, including those featuring authors, world leaders, entertainers, scholars, and sports legends, are available in the Library's collection of event videos.

Event Videos Related to Japan

These event videos were presented by the Asian Division, or co-presented by the Asian Division and other divisions at the Library of Congress

Prewar & Occupation Period Japanese Serials - July 01, 2020
Quade Robinson, a 2020 Junior Fellow, describes the work he did for the prewar Japanese serials project.
Playing & Talking about Baseball Across the Pacific - May 09, 2019
A panel of experts came together in 2019 to discuss how American baseball has influenced and been influenced by Japanese culture since the 19th century.
A Story in Layers: Japanese Woodblock Prints - January 25, 2018
In this 2018 talk, Claire Cuccio, a scholar of East Asian print culture, discusses how Japanese woodblock prints are created by means of a network of multiple artists in a process that combines individual expertise and collaborative production.
Japanese Collections: Past, Present and Future - September 21, 2010
In this 2010 symposium, the Library of Congress celebrated the 80th anniversary of its Japanese collections with several presentations exploring its history and imagining its future development.
Highlights of Japan-U.S. Relationship: History, Cultural Exchange and Future Development - April 06, 2007
In 2007 the Asian Division hosted the symposium "Highlights of Japan-U.S. Relationship: History, Cultural Exchange and Future Development." Three speakers explored highlights of cultural exchange that began some 154 years ago with the 1853 arrival in Japan of the U.S. naval ships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry.

The following event videos are part of the Benjamin A. Botkin Lecture Series, which is presented by the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.

Taiko Drumming in Asian American Los Angeles - June 29, 2018
Ethnomusicologist Deborah Wong offers a vivid introduction to the Japanese American and Asian American taiko drumming scene in the greater Los Angeles area.
Conversation with Roy & PJ Hirabayashi of San Jose Taiko - June 30, 2017
A conversation with PJ and Roy Hirabayashi, creative director and co-founder emeriti of the performing ensemble San Jose Taiko.
Voices from the Canefields: Folksongs from Japanese Immigrant Workers in Hawaii - September 20, 2013
Drawing on research for his recent book, "Voices from the Canefields," author Franklin Odo situates over two hundred songs of Japanese immigrant workers in Hawaii, in translation, in a hitherto largely unexplored historical context.

These videos feature past talks held in conjunction with the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival and also include the "Cherry Blossom Viewing Over the Centuries" series, which showcases a stunning variety of artifacts from Library collections, including watercolor drawings, colorful woodblock prints, vintage photos and beautifully designed posters from Japanese and American artists.

Seasonal Appreciations in Japanese Visual Art - April 8, 2022
Jewel-toned woodblocks from the Library's Japanese print collection reflect recurring seasonal celebrations of springtime cherry blossoms, summer fireflies, bright autumn foliage, winter snow, and more. This presentation highlights examples from the 18th century to the present.
2022 National Cherry Blossom Festival - April 7, 2022
While the 1912 gift of cherry blossom trees from the city of Tokyo to Washington, D.C. is an enduring symbol of US-Japan friendship, former Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Saito also played an important role in this friendship in the 1930s. This presentation introduces collections related to Ambassador Saito.
Exploring Cherry Blossom Varieties - April 6, 2022
How many varieties of cherry blossoms can you find in your neighborhood? How do you describe their colors? This presentation will increase your ability to recognize varieties of cherry blossoms by exploring exquisite watercolor illustrations of the cherry blossom trees gifted to Washington, D.C. in 1912.
Cherry Blossoms in Japanese Culture - March 20, 2021
This video explores Japan's centuries-old blossom viewing traditions. It is one in a series for the 2021 National Cherry Blossom Festival that highlights both historic and contemporary traditions of springtime flower viewing. Part of the "Cherry Blossom Viewing Over the Centuries" series.
Tokyo's Gift of Friendship - March 20, 2021
This video recounts the origins and events surrounding the 1912 gift of 3,020 cherry trees to the city of Washington. Part of the "Cherry Blossom Viewing Over the Centuries" series.
Fleeting Beauty, Enduring Traditions - March 20, 2021
This video highlights the Library of Congress National Cherry Blossom Festival collection, which include posters from 1987 to the present and Princess programs from 1949 to the present. Part of the "Cherry Blossom Viewing Over the Centuries" series.
Cherry Blossom Poster Process - April 05, 2018
In 2017, the Library received a gift of 25 historical posters from the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Thomas Burns, creator of the 2016 National Cherry Blossom Festival poster, talks about the poster including his design process and ideas.
Bonsai: Another Special Gift of Trees from Japan - April 11, 2017
In 1976, Japan presented 53 bonsai trees to the United States as a Bicentennial gift. The trees led to the founding of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum. Three authors discussed how the national collection of bonsai inspired their books.
History of the National Cherry Blossom Trees - April 07, 2015
Bob Vogel talks about the 1912 gift of cherry trees, a symbol of friendship between the cities of Tokyo, Japan and Washington, D.C. He also discusses the long-term maintenance and preservation of this gift and how the National Park Service protects this national treasure for future generations.
Sakura: Cherry Blossoms as a Living Symbol of Friendship - August 14, 2012
Members of the Library's team for this exhibition lead a gallery tour while discussing the special collections that illuminate the history of Washington's landmark cherry trees, the significance of cherry blossoms in Japan, and their continuing resonance in American culture.

These event videos are presented by the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, which invites into residence top thinkers from around the world to distill wisdom from the rich resources of the Library and to foster mutually enriching relationships with lawmakers and other policy leaders.

Embracing Defeat in the Colonies: The Allies & the Dismantling of the Japanese Empire After World War II - July 24, 2012
A distinctive aspect of Japanese empire's end in 1945 is the intersection of defeat, foreign occupation and decolonization. Looking at the end of Japanese rule in Korea and the South Seas mandate, Lori Watt examines how Japanese military defeat complicated, and also simplified, the dismantling of the empire.
Pivot of Empire: Settler Politics in Japanese Manchuria, 1913-1916 - May 24, 2012
Emer O'Dwyer examines an episode of settler activism during the World War I period that captures Japanese settlers' complicated relationship with the politics of place in the empire and which foreshadowed later struggles to keep the Kwantung leasehold a center of popular participation in imperial governance.
Money on the Road to Empire: Japan & Gold, 1873-1897 - March 31, 2011
Japan's gold standard adoption of 1897 might have come from the country's inability to raise foreign loans denominated in its own currency. This and other views are presented by Kluge Fellow Michael Schiltz.
How Do Flowers Kill? - The Japanese Emperor and Modern Dictators - June 18, 2009
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, an expert on symbols of Japanese identity, compares the representations of the Meiji emperor of Japan with those of Lenin, Stalin and Hitler in a lecture titled "How Do Flowers Kill? -- The Japanese Emperor and Modern Dictators."
Blooming Cherry Blossoms, Falling Cherry Blossoms: Symbolism of the Flower in Japanese Culture and History - April 02, 2009
Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, during her time as Kluge Center Chair of Modern Culture at the Library, discussed the cherry blossom in some of its many symbolic manifestations, from the procreative power of young women to the militaristic representation of men as warriors.
A Money Doctor from Japan: Megata Tanetaro in Korea, 1904-1907 - December 05, 2007
Michael Schiltz demonstrates how the "Megata reform," as it came to be called, factually turned Korea into a subsidiary of the Japanese economy. It was a tool aimed at macroeconomic control that attempted to redefine the position of Korea within the future Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Modern Japanese Arts and Crafts in Kyoto: From Asai Chu to Yagi Kazuo - June 07, 2007
Drawing on research conducted at the Library of Congress, Shigemi Inaga explores Western influence on Japanese artists like painter Asai Chu (1856-1907) and the ceramicist and teacher Yagi Kazuo (1918-1979).

Japanese Collection: Asian Collections at the Library of Congress

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Event Videos

Event Videos Related to Japan