New Year’s Events at Kyushu National Museum 2025
Kyushu National Museum, also known as Kyuhaku, will be open from New Year’s Day.
We are welcoming 2025 with events highlighting Japan’s traditional arts, such as Shodō
calligraphy performances and Koto concerts.
Ring in the New Year by joining us for these fun and fascinating events!
New Year’s Calligraphy at Kyuhaku
New Year is the time to write Japanese calligraphy, known as Kakizome.
Experience writing Japanese words at the beginning of the year (you don’t even need to bring
your own writing supplies).
Take your work home with you and enjoy decorating your space with this writing.
The first 500 participants will receive a gift!
Dates:
January 2 (Thu) and 3 (Fri), 2025
Times:
10:00–16:00 (Registration starts at 9:30)
Venue:
Kyushu National Museum, Floor 1 Entrance
FREE OF CHARGE
New Year’s Concert
Watch a master calligrapher do Kakizome with a giant brush and paper while listening to a
Koto zither performance.
Enjoy both of these traditional Japanese arts in a gorgeous New Year’s stage show!
Date:
January 2 (Thu), 2025
First session: from 12:30
2nd session: from 14:30
Venue:
Floor 1 Museum Hall, Kyushu National Museum
FREE admission and seating for the first 288 visitors
Performers:
[Calligraphy] Nishio Maki
[Koto] Kawahara Tomoko, Kawahara Shōko
Nishio Maki
Shodō History
Born in Dazaifu, she was 10 years old when she took up the brush under the
calligraphy master, Mori Shiyou.
After graduating from the Calligraphy Course in the Art Department of
Dazaifu Prefectural High School, she attended Kokugakuin University.
In 2001, she started working for an advertising agency, where she was active
as a calligrapher in various capacities, such as logo design and at events.
She became an independent in 2012, establishing Makilink Studio in Dazaifu.
Solo exhibitions and calligraphy events featuring her work have been held
within and beyond Japan.
She has achieved the highest rank of Japanese calligraphy,
Naru-ie.
Recognition and Awards
Ms. Nishio’s work has been included in the following calligraphy
exhibitions: Fukuoka Prefectural; Taisho University National; the Mainichi,
the Yomiuri, and the Nishi-Nippon Shimbun Exhibitions. She was awarded the
Grand Prize at the West Japan High School Calligraphy Contest sponsored by
Fukuoka University, as well as the Nishi-Nippon Shimbun Grand Prize and
Runner-up Prizes.
Kawahara Tomoko
Ms. Kawahara graduated from the Ikuta School of Koto Music in the Department
of Traditional Japanese Music at the Tokyo University of the Arts. Awarded
the 1st Prize at the 2nd Kenjun Memorial National Koto Competition, she was
also chosen for the Artistic Internship Program sponsored by the Agency for
Cultural Affairs.
She has toured abroad with the Japan Foundation in Europe, the U.S., Brazil,
and Korea. She has also performed as a koto soloist with the Prague Chamber
Orchestra and the Kyushu Symphony Orchestra.
Since 1995, she has given koto recitals in Fukuoka and Tokyo, performing
mainly contemporary works and Miyagi pieces. Ms. Kawahara was also
dispatched by the Fukuoka City Board of Education to teach koto at
elementary and junior high schools.
In 2007, she moved to Florida in the USA, and in 2012 to Denmark, where she
also taught koto. She currently resides in Okinawa, Japan.
Kawahara Shōko
After graduating from the Ikuta School of Koto Music in the Department of
Traditional Japanese Music at the Tokyo University of the Arts, where she
received the Miyagi Prize, Ms. Kawahara went on to the Department of Sound
Arts in the Graduate School of the Arts at Tokai University.
She received an Honorable Mention at the 6th Kenjun Memorial National Koto
Competition. Since 1998, she has given recitals in both 13 and 17-string
koto in Tokyo and Fukuoka.
In 2002, she was a trainee under the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs'
New Artist Training Program. She has also participated in many overseas
performances subsidized by the Japan Foundation.
Currently, Ms. Kawahara is dispatched to teach at junior high schools in
Fukuoka City under the auspices of the Fukuoka City Board of Education. She
is a part-time lecturer at the Fukuoka University of Education and Fukuoka
Women's Junior College. She is also a lecturer at the koto clubs of Fukuoka
City’s Hara Chuō Junior High School and Chikushi Jogakuen High School.
Organizer:
Kyushu National Museum