The Yanai Initiative
UCLA + Waseda University
reimagining the Japanese humanities
for the world
The Art of the Benshi Western U.S. Tour 2026
Following on the success of The
World tour, the Yanai Initiative is thrilled to partner with three new venues to offer audiences a rare opportunity to experience the mesmerizing artistry of Japan’s celebrated benshi—“movie orators” who, since the days of Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, have been breathing life into silent film. Master benshi Ichiro Kataoka will be joined by pianist Makia Matsumura for the Art of the Benshi Western U.S. Tour, 2026.February 25
February 27
February 28
The Body History of Nō: From Demons to Cyborgs
A lecture by Yokoyama Tarō (Rikkyo University)
Friday, March 6, 2026
UCLA
Did Heian-Period infants tell ‘Monogatari’?
This lecture will examine the depictions of infants telling ‘monogatari’ in Heian period literary works (monogatari bungaku), particularly Genji monogatari, to explore how ‘monogatari’ was perceived by the people of that time.
UCLA Yanai Initiative Calendar of Events for 2025-2026
Tadashi Yanai gives $31 million to support hub for Japanese humanities research at UCLA
The Yanai Initiative is excited & humbled to share that philanthropist Tadashi Yanai has committed $31 million to support the Yanai Initiative’s activities in the Japanese humanities, in particular its newly launched project Japan Past & Present.
The World of the Benshi
Edited by Michael Emmerich and Daisuke Miyao
Featuring more than 300 images from archives and private collections around the world, this beautiful, approachable volume will captivate anyone with an interest in film.
Click to order!
The Yūgen of Elvis: Performing Noh in English
This lavish, richly illustrated Japanese-language book, published to accompany a performance at Waseda University of the English-language noh performance Blue Moon Over Memphis, includes playwright Deborah Brevoort’s original English libretto with a Japanese translation, along with dialogues, essays, and discussions of the music, costumes, and masks. Click to order a copy!
Oppenheimer
This script book was published to accompany a performance of the English-language noh Oppenheimer at Waseda University. It includes an original English libretto by playwright Allan Marett’s, alongside a Japanese translation and an essay. Click
to order a copy!
Japanese Novellas newly published by Pushkin Press
With Yanai Initiative support, English translations of six new novellas will be published by Pushkin Press in 2023-2024.
Bungaku Bideo “Extremely Short”, "The Graffite"
The “Bungaku Bideo” series is an innovative effort to bring literature and film together in a new way, and to introduce the work of phenomenal artists in both forms to new audiences worldwide. The first film in the series is Extremely Short, directed by the animator Kōji Yamamura and based on a short story by Hideo Furukawa. The second film, The Graffiti, is by the animator Ryo Orikasa and is based on a short story by Makoto Takayanagi.
niou: when we were together inhaling the same scent
Now available for purchase: a limited-edition record featuring novelist Kobayashi Erika and olfactory artist Ueda Maki, pressed from a lacquer master cut before a live audience.
A poster by Kamijō Takahisa from The Poster Project (2017)
In 2017, the Yanai Initiative worked with eleven major Japanese designers to reimagine a legendary series of posters created in 1982
The Hentaigana App, released in 2015
Available for free in Japanese and English versions for both iOS and Android devices, this was the first such app ever created
A poster by Asaba Katsumi from The Poster Project (2017)
In 2017, the Yanai Initiative worked with eleven major Japanese designers to reimagine a legendary series of posters created in 1982
The BeHere / 1942 exhibition catalog (2022)
In 2022, we collaborated with the Japanese American National Museum on the exhibit BeHere / 1942, marking the passage of 80 years since the Japanese American incarceration
One of two kyogen masterclasses with Nomura Mansai and Ishida Yukio held at UCLA in 2017
Designated holders of Important Intangible Cultural Property Nomura Mansai and Ishida Yukio each held one free masterclass for participants from UCLA and the broader Los Angeles community
Nonsense Way of Thinking: A Workshop with Maywa Denki in 2019
This workshop, held at the UCLA Game Lab, served as a preface to a free lecture and performance, open to the general public
Matsumoto Seichō: Media, Adaptation, and Middlebrow Literature (2020)
This eye-opening symposium was the first in the United States to focus on the work of the versatile writer Matsumoto Seichō, best known for his detective and period fiction
Traditional Japanese Theater and Theater Studies in a Global Age (2017)
This major symposium was part of a series of events called "Five Days of Kyogen" centered on two performances by living national treasure Nomura Mansaku and his troupe Mansaku no Kai