Japan-in-Houston Events Calendar

March 1st	Student-Teacher Japanese Conversation Group meets at 6:30 pm for a Japanese Karaoke party. See the WWW site for further information and the required RSVP.
1	The Women’s Committee of the Japan Business Association of Houston holds a used book sale, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, at the Sansuikai Center Library, 14925 Memorial Drive, Bldg. A, Suite 130.
2	Informal tennis competition of the Japanese Association of Greater Houston, begins at 8:30 am, at Lee Le Clear Tennis Center, 9506 S Gessner Dr. (713-272-3697). Contact the Japanese Association of Greater Houston for further information. The official language for all talk at JAGH is Japanese.
5	Monthly meeting of the Houston Bonsai Society takes place.
5	Cooking class SUSHI 101 will be taught at Central Market (Westheimer at Weslayan), 6:30 - 9:00 pm, by Chris Nemoto. Call 713-993-9860 for more information.
8	This is roughly the peak of the spring sun outage season for TV Japan, the major source of Japanese culture in Houston. This occurs when the sun appears behind the satellite (61.5 W longitude) at about 9:58 am Houston time. Areas cleanly illuminated by sunlight at exactly this time of day are suitable for setting up a satellite dish for receiving TV Japan without blockage of the microwave signal by obstructions such as trees, buildings, etc.
10	Class SUSHI & SASHIMI (R3171B) begins at Leisure Learning at 10 am. Call 713-529-4414 for more information or see the WWW site.
11	Student-Teacher Japanese Conversation Group meets at 7:00 pm at the Ginza, 5868 San Felipe. An RSVP is required for the meeting as always. This is a great opportunity for students to socialize and speak Japanese in a casual setting. Like other MeetUp events, this is organized using the MeetUp WWW site.
11	The comic J-punk band Peelander-Z plays at Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak Dr. Note that they are performing with several US-based bands so timing is important if you plan to avoid the US-based bands. This is apparently the only Japanese band participating in the SXSW2008 festival in Austin and also performing in Houston.
12 - 16	Japan Night takes place at the SXSW2008 festival in Austin, TX on March 14th this year, a short drive from Houston. The free Japan Bash apparently occurs early in the afternoon of the 13th at Bush Square Park. This is such a major event in the entertainment industry, Japanese domestic TV has broadcast reports from Austin in previous years, and the Houston JETRO office has set up a booth at the festival to promote the Japanese music industry. This year the Japanese bands performing on various days include: Aonami (Tokyo), Avengers in Sci-Fi, Damage, Detroit 7, Dokkebi Q, The Emeralds (Yokohama), Ketchup Mania, Maki Rinka, Petty Booka, Peelander-Z, The Pillows, Quartz-head 02, Sodopp (Kagoshima), and Toddle. The schedules are often changed, so it is important to confirm the location and time prior to going to Austin.
15	A Sushi cooking class is scheduled to be taught at the Rattan Pan-Asian Bistro, 1396 Eldridge Parkway, by chef James E. McMillan. Call 281-556-9888 for information.
18	Informal get-together of the Japanese Association of Greater Houston, beginning at 6:30 pm, at Sushi Jin, (14670 Memorial Dr., at the corner with Dairy Ashford, 281-493-2932. Contact the Japanese Association of Greater Houston for further information. The official language for all talk at JAGH is Japanese.
20	Sushi Club of Houston meets at the Taiko Japanese Restaurant at 7:00 pm. See the WWW site for further information and the required RSVP.
21 - 23	The Anime convention ANIME MATSURI takes place at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center. Note that this type of convention typically has only a few or no events of interest to someone with a general interest in the language or culture of Japan, so it may be important to look carefully at the schedule before deciding whether or not to attend. The J-pop band NIRGILIS is reported to give a concert during this convention, although exact timing is unclear. See the badly organized convention WWW site for further information.
22	Dancer Makoto Matsushima is scheduled to perform Invisible City at the Dance Salad Festival 2008 at some time after 7:30 pm at the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater.
22	Sushi Club of Houston meets at the Matsu Japanese Restaurant at 2:30 pm. See the WWW site for further information and the required RSVP.
24	Japanese language classes at the Japan America Society of Houston begin this week. Contact the Japan America Society of Houston to register or obtain further information, 713-962-0121.
25	Sushi making class is taught by Dan Capello at Sur La Table in the River Oaks shopping center area, starting at 6:30 pm. Call 713-533-0959 for more information.
27	KILL! (1968, Kiru!), directed by Kihachi Okamoto, will be shown at 7:30 pm at the University of St. Thomas, Anderson Hall, 3800 Montrose Blvd. as part of a Japanese Film Festival. This is said to be a comic Jidaigeki.
28	DORA-HEITA (2000), directed by Kon Ichikawa, will be shown at 7:30 pm at the University of St. Thomas, Anderson Hall, 3800 Montrose Blvd. as part of a Japanese Film Festival. This is said to be a semi-comic Jidaigeki.
28	Deadline for registration for the April 2nd Japanese cooking class taught by Reiko Yamada for the Language-Culture-Kai Committee of the Japan America Society of Houston. Contact the Japan America Society of Houston to register or obtain further information, 713-962-0121.
28	Sushi Club of Houston meets at the Taiko Japanese Restaurant at 7:00 pm. See the WWW site for further information and the required RSVP.
29	TWILIGHT SAMURAI (2001, Tasogare Seibei), directed by Yoji Yamada, will be shown at 7:30 pm at the University of St. Thomas, Anderson Hall, 3800 Montrose Blvd. as part of a Japanese Film Festival. This film has won numerous domestic and international awards. Many people regard this as one of the finest Samurai films ever made. Based on a novel of the same name. All action takes place in Yamagata-ken, although the spoken Japanese is fairly standard and easy to follow. Historical background is loosely based on the Shonai (Tsuruoka) clan of Tsuruoka city in Yamagata-ken a few years prior to the Boshin War (depicted rather inaccurately in the Hollywood film "The Last Samurai").
30	Japan Cultural Workshop (art, crafts, and music) takes place at Kolter Elementary, 9710 Runnymeade Dr., 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm. There will be workshops on Ikebana, Shodo, ceramics, manga, and origami. This also features a Taiko performance, as well as Bon Odori by Showing Japan. For more information, call 713-652-2977 (ext. 2113).
31	Final day for application to participate in the Japan Business Association of Houston / Japanese Association of Greater Houston joint golf competition on April 13th.
March 31	Final day to buy a ticket for the mini-concert and tea party organized by the Women’s Committee of the Japan Business Association of Houston for April 18th.

Do you know of an event that is missing? Write to the Japan-Houston mailing list, which provides timely notification of these events.