Casa Ásia - Francisco Capelo Collection dedicates cultural program to Japan.

Until the end of this year, Casa Ásia – Francisco Capelo Collection will organize a series of activities dedicated to the art and culture of Japan. Conferences, cinema, workshops, and activities for children are part of the various planned initiatives. It should be noted that participation in these activities is subject to prior registration and, in some cases, subject to payment, while the others are free.

Registrations and information can be made via email ca.cfc@scml.pt and by phone 213235250 | 213235401.

Check the complete program below:

Nov 7 | Thu | 6 PM
Conference The extraordinary impact of the Portuguese in Japan, by João Paulo Oliveira e Costa. The Portuguese arrived in Japan in 1543, when this country remained semi-isolated from the world and in a century-long anarchic civil war. Portuguese merchants and missionaries caused a sudden change in the Land of the Rising Sun by introducing a myriad of knowledge that revealed the world in globalization and a weapon, the musket, which revolutionized the battlefields and led to the political reunification of the Nippon Empire and the beginning of two and a half centuries of peace. The memory of those extraordinary years endures in the spirit of contemporary Japan. A full professor in the Department of History at NOVA/FCSH and holder of the UNESCO Chair “The Cultural Heritage of the Oceans,” João Paulo Oliveira e Costa is a researcher at CHAM – Center for Humanities, of which he was director from 2002 to 2020. Maximum 50 people.

Free entry with prior registration.

Nov 14 | Thu | 6pm

Screening of the film Sumodo
heirs of Eiji Sakata's Samurai (2020)

The first Japanese documentary about Sumo, Japan's national sport, where fighters without protections, weighing more than 150 kg, compete against each other to push their opponent out of the ring. The film follows the lives of these athletes, their rigorous training, spiritual strengthening and the bonds of friendship they create during their career.

Maximum 50 people

Free entry with prior registration.

Nov 21 | Thu | 6pm

Animated film screening
The Promised Place of Our Youth, by Makoto Shinkai (2004)

In a Japan divided into North and South, after a long war that destroyed families and separated friends, the state of tension is permanent. In this turbulent world live two inseparable friends, Hiroki and Takuya, both particularly attracted to two things: the beautiful classmate Sayuri and the mysterious giant tower built along the Tsugaru Strait, which divides the North and South of the country. Together, the three friends make a promise to one day visit the tower that, without knowing it, is linked to the future of each of them.

Maximum 50 people

Free entry with prior registration.

Nov 29 | Sex | 6pm

Japanese language and culture workshop for travelers

Immerse yourself in Japanese culture, discover the language, customs and secrets of Japan. Promoted by the Japan Foundation, this sixty-minute workshop is perfect for preparing a trip or simply getting to know the Land of the Rising Sun better.

Maximum 40 people

Free entry with prior registration.

Nov 30 | Sat | 6pm

Shadow Theater Tenshô's Journey 天正遣欧少年使節団, by Beniko Tamaka

The first Portuguese to arrive in Japan disembarked in the middle of the Samurai era, in 1543. In 1582, four young, Christianized Japanese arrived in Lisbon, with the aim of meeting the Pope in Rome.

The play, with live Japanese shadow puppetry, tells us this epic, taking inspiration and based on the book “From Japan to Alentejo”, by Tiago Salgueiro. Accompanied by Tetsuro Naito's drums and Tomoko Takeda's flute, the Japanese soundtrack makes this show magnificent.

Part of the Music Season in São Roque. Entry with registration and limited to room capacity.

3 Dec | Have | From 9am to 5pm

Conference
Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region, Yumenosya Foundation

Lecture given by Tatsuo Shirahama, president of the Yumenosya Foundation, descendant of the so-called hidden Christians and belonging to the second generation of survivors of the Nagasaki atomic bomb. He will share valuable photographs relating to Christians in hiding, discussing the thoughts of those who have suffered persecution. He will also talk about the path to peace, using the foundations of Kirishitan culture.

Maximum 50 people

Free entry with prior registration.

5 Dec | Thu | 6pm

Film screening
Aristocrats, by Yukiko Sode (2021)

Based on the novel by Mariko Yamauchi, this film tells the story of two women from different backgrounds and classes who seek love in a society in transition, between old prejudices of age, wealth and power and modernity that rejects them as valid.

Maximum 50 people

Free entry with prior registration.

12 Dec | Thu | 6pm

Conference
Japanese Art and Culture, by Alexandra Curvelo.

Full professor in the History department at NOVA/FCSH, Alexandra Curvelo received her doctorate in 2008 with the thesis entitled ‘Golden Clouds and Inhabited Landscapes. Namban art and its circulation between Asia and America: Japan, China and New Spain (c.1550 – c.1700)’. His research area focuses on the Portuguese presence in Asia and the resulting artistic production, with special emphasis on Japan (16th and 17th centuries), analyzing processes of circulation and cultural transfers between Asia, America and Europe during the Modern Age. She is the current director of the Art History Institute (IHA) at NOVA FCSH and is the author of articles on the CA-CFC collection.

Maximum 50 people

Free entry with prior registration.

Activities for children:

Schools, preschool and 1st cycle of primary education

From Tuesday to Friday, by appointment.

Free participation.

Max. a class of up to a maximum of 25 children

November

O Canto do Tsuru, shadow theater and workshop

Children aged 5 to 8 | Adapted for PNE

Behind a white screen, there is a Japanese emperor who loves the song of his singing bird and therefore does not let him go. In this Shadow Theater we tell a story about friendship between someone who has everything, a girl who only has one thing and a tsuru who has no freedom. Let's look for this bird in the museum and its significance in Japan. And to make the adventure unforgettable, we make music boxes, decorated by each child, that sing like free and happy Tsuru!

December

Akimi's Dragon, Kamishibai Theater

Children aged 8-10

A thousand years ago, in a small Japanese village, nestled between high mountains, the friendship between a brave girl and her dragon saved the entire village from dying of hunger and fear. Such an extraordinary story deserves to be told everywhere and this is the challenge we pose to you: continue a long tradition of Japanese cultural itinerancy in Portuguese schools. To do this, we will tell the story, create the scenarios and teach you how to assemble the structure. When they arrive at school, all that’s left to do is invite the public and the show starts!