People in San Francisco, a young city in the New World, are promoting a thousand-year-old Asian culture.

The Japan Society of Northern California (JSNC) is launching its inaugural “Arts from Japan” cultural project, opening with a concert by pianist Akiko Yano and shamisen player Hiromitsu Agatsuma on Sept. 14.

“We want ‘Arts From Japan’ to become a trusted platform for art patrons who want to discover something new, learn more about famous artists, and encounter brilliant artistry from Japan in venues throughout the Bay Area,” said Japan Society Senior Director John S. Robinson.

A quick survey of cultural arithmetic:

The Presidio of San Francisco was established in 1776, and the city was incorporated in 1850.

In 794, that is, a thousand years before anyone intruded here on the Indigenous peoples of Ohlone, the capital of Japan was moved from Nara to Heian-kyo (modern-day Kyoto), and in a great flowering of culture, Heian court aristocracy — especially women — produced poetry, diaries, and in 1000 AD, Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji (often considered the first novel in history).

Hiromitsu Agatsuma | *Credit: Courtesy of The Japan Society of Northern California*

Now to return to 2026:

“Although our opening season features musical performers, in the future we hope to partner with art museums and galleries to bring attention to important creative voices in the visual arts from Japan,” Robinson continued. “We also hope to introduce a series of talks exploring the role of artists in the US and Japan, and how artists are thriving in the age of AI by channeling old-school mastery.”

The Society will present its own events and promote programs presented by other organizations, such as SF Symphony, Stanford Live, and Cal Performances for which the Society is purchasing blocks of tickets for its members.

San Francisco is home to several similar cultural organizations, such as the Goethe Institute, Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, French-American Cultural Society, Centro Latino de San Francisco, and others.

Elaborating on the opening concert, Robinson said Yano and Agatsuma first met in New York in 2013 at one of Agatsuma’s performances. “Their album, Asteroid and Butterfly, came out in 2020 — nine traditional min’yo [folk songs] from around Japan, reimagined through jazz, pop, and improvisation.”

Yano was born in Aomori in 1955, started piano at three, moved to Tokyo and was a working studio musician by 17. Her 1976 debut, Japanese Girl, was recorded in LA with Little Feat. She is closely associated with the Yellow Magic Orchestra and was married to Ryuichi Sakamoto from 1982 to 1992. Sakamoto died in 2023.

Agatsuma was born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1973, started Tsugaru-jamisen at age six, won the All-Japan competition at 14 and again in 1995 and 1996. He skipped the traditional teacher-lineage system so he could continue playing rock alongside shamisen.

“It’s like my body resonates with the sound of the shamisen. It is like my body and the shamisen have the same wavelengths,” Agatsuma said.

Tsugaru-jamisen was developed in the Tsugaru region of Aomori in the late 1800s, created in-part by itinerant blind musicians called bosama who played for coins door to door. A bosama named Nitabo is often credited with reshaping the plectrum and adopting the upright, percussive playing style that still defines the genre.

Upcoming Japan Society events:

– Sept. 14, recital by pianist Akiko Yano and shamisen player Hiromitsu Agatsuma at the SF Conservatory of Music

– Oct. 22, Joe Hisaishi conducts the SF Symphony in a program including the West Coast premiere of his Concerto for Orchestra and music from his Studio Ghibli scores

– Oct. 27, pianist Kotaro Fukuma at the Community School of Music and Arts, Tateuchi Hall, Mountain View, in a water-themed recital of works by Mendelssohn, Debussy, Takemitsu, and Fukuma’s transcriptions of Wagner and Smetana

– Nov. 13-15, violinist Sayaka Shoji is soloist in Ottorino Respighi’s Concerto gregoriano with the SF Symphony and Marie Jacquot conducting

– Jan. 20, 2027, KODO taiko drummers’ program Luminance at Stanford Live

– Jan. 22-24, 2027, KODO taiko drummers’ program Luminance at Cal Performances

– Jan. 29, 2027, pianist Mitsuko Uchida recital at Zellerbach Hall

– Feb. 21. 2027, Masaaki Suzuki conducts St. Matthew Passion with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists for Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall

– Feb. 25 and 27, 2027, 15-year-old Japanese violinist Himari is making her SF Symphony debut, conducted by Jaap van Zweden

– March 13, 2027, pianist Hiromi with Stanley Clarke and the PUBLIQuartet at Stanford Live

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With the Launch of “Arts from Japan,” the Bay Area Gains a New Cultural Platform