Arts

The Japan Society of Northern California will present Part 5 in the Zadankai Series, “Bringing Japanese Popular Culture to America,” on Tuesday, Oct. 14, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. at Viz Media LLC, 295 Bay St. in San Francisco.

Surreality in Reality (SIR) presents “Page,” a Japanese art exhibition and performance, on Friday, Oct. 3, at SpaceGallery, 1141 Polk St (between Sutter and Post), San Francisco.

This is the third in a series of shows by a plethora of Japanese local talent known as SIR. Introducing Japanese traditional culture just in time for autumn, known as the season of reading, each artist created a work inspired by their favorite prominent Japanese poet or novelist.

Taiko Fujimura, a mixed-media artist based in San Francisco, will display her works as part of San Francisco Open Studios on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11-12, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Fort Mason Center, Building C, Room 370. (Entrance to Fort Mason is at Marina and Buchanan.)

She will be joined by Deane Wernet Design (jewelry), Allan Friedlander (painting), Anna Efanova (oil painting) and Lauren Alexander (mixed media).

PEBBLE BEACH — The Monterey Bay Chapter of Ikebana International (I.I.) will hold a demonstration of Sogetsu School ikebana by Yoshiko “Hogetsu” Williams, on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 1 p.m. at Pebble Beach Community Services District, 3101 Forest Lake Rd. in Pebble Beach.

The title of her demonstration will be “Fall Inspiration.”

Williams believes that flower design gives energy and creative joy. During her childhood in Japan, she picked up a magazine and saw pictures of ikebana flower arrangements. Among the many arrangements, there was one that she liked best.

Sogetsu San Francisco Bay Area Branch will present Sogetsu ArtScape on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27-28, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the San Francisco County Fair Building, 9th Avenue and Lincoln Way in Golden Gate Park.

This year’s show is dedicated to Kuwako Biho Takahashi and Shirley Yoshu Burnell, both directors of the branch who passed away recently. Pictured are works by Burnell (left) and Takahashi (right).

BERKELEY — Kala Art Institute will present a talk by photography critic and curator Mika Kobayashi on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m.

Kobayashi is currently a Patterson Curatorial Fellow at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She is working in the Bay Area on a research project that focuses on works by Japanese photographers in SFMOMA’s permanent collection.

“Transforming Kami: The Art of Origami” opened Sept. 6 at the National Japanese American Historical Society’s gallery in San Francisco’s Japantown.

The title refers to the root words of "origami" — "oru," to fold, and "kami," paper.

The exhibit features works by 15 noted origami artists, 12 from the U.S. and three from Japan. They are divided into four categories, Realism, Fantasy, Modular and Sculptural.

BERKELEY — Two Japan-related events are taking place this week at UC Berkeley’s Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), 2223 Fulton St. (southwest corner of the campus).

• Patricia Graham will discuss “Veneration and Imagery of Buddhist ‘Saints’ in Japan from 1700-Present” on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 4 p.m. in the IEAS Conference Room on the sixth floor. This book talk is part of the “New Perspectives on East Asia” series. The introduction will be given by Gregory Levine, who teaches history of art at UC Berkeley.

Sogetsu San Francisco Bay Area announces the return of Sogetsu ArtScape for 2008.

The exhibition of Sogetsu ikebana will be presented on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27-28, at the San Francisco County Fair Building, 9th Avenue and Lincoln Way in Golden Gate Park.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, with demonstrations at 12 noon and 2 p.m. Admission is free.

Asian Improv aRts, Asian American Dance Performances, and Genryu Arts present “Peering Through the Portal,” featuring interdisciplinary works by Melody Takata and Lee & Wang Dance, on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 7, at 1 p.m. at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission S. (at 9th Street) in San Francisco.

The program consists of three pieces: