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