apan ? the land of the rising sun has so much to offer, and a conference for the Bermuda Union of Teachers will focus on three main traditions of Japanese culture that today are being quickly forgotten in Japan.

The Wednesday seminar, which is entitled ?Get in the Mix in ?06: Teach the way they learn? will focus on Japanese art, culture and tradition, said education officer, Judy Wong, of the Bermuda National Gallery.

She explained that three of the components will be taught by Japanese Ikebana florist Mikiko Inoue.

?There will be a number of presentations, including a hands on component, which involves Japanese tea ceremony and calligraphy,? said Ms Wong.

?We hope to broaden the teachers? knowledge base on Japan, as our Winter Exhibitions which open in February 2007, is on Japanese woodblock prints.?

Ms Wong explained that the woodblock prints are Kabuki actor prints, which is a genre of Ukiyo-e prints.

?Ukiyo-e roughly translates to pictures of the floating world, it was considered ?low? art by and for the non-elite classes.? she said.

?It was art for the masses, the popular culture of the time. In a sense, as the prints are based on the theatre, what people are viewing is the visual arts and the performance arts combined.?

She added that the Bermuda National Gallery was fortunate to have Ms Inoue.

?Ms Inoue, who is from Japan, is running the majority of the workshop,? Ms Wong said.

?Her depth of knowledge and passion for her culture and traditions is wonderful to behold.?

One of the three parts of Ms Inoue?s workshop is the koto, which is also known as the Japanese harp, zither or lute. ?The Koto has a 1,200 year history,? said Ms Inoue, ?And only men in the Japanese Imperial Family were allowed to enjoy the koto.

?Then about 330 years ago some professional koto players appeared.

?But the most famous player in koto history was Michio Miyagi, who is known as the father of modern koto.?

Mr. Miyagi was also blind from the age of eight and when he died in 1956, he had reached the highest level of koto performers.

?He composed lots of music for the koto,? she said, ?And we still continue to play his music now.?

Her aim is to not lose the spirit inherited from her ancestors. ?I?d like to keep introducing Japanese culture,? she said. ?I was playing koto at the Ivy League universities and my music mates and I had concerts at Harvard University, Princeton University and at Columbia University in my college days.

?Since then I have played in Japan, the States, Canada and here in Bermuda.

?It is considered that koto is the only instrument, which has never been complained about by the neighbours, because the music is tranquil and peaceful.?

In the days when Mr. Miyagi played, women began to play the koto, but in modern Japan, it is becoming a forgotten tradition, she said.

?Japanese people tend to follow western ways now and they like Hip Hop, R&B, Reggae, hamburgers and coke.?

On the kimono, Ms Inoue said: ?Today few women wear kimonos, except at a wedding or a funeral and not so many women know how now either. Hairdressers put kimonos on them, as in Japan have to have a certificate on how to wear a kimono.?

The Japanese Tea Ceremony is another aspect of the conference, explained Ms Inoue, who said: ?Kukai, patriarch of the Shingon sect of Buddhism brought tea in the brick from China to the Japanese Court in the early 19th Century. Until the 12th Century the drinking of tea in Japan was confined to the court aristocracy and Buddhist ceremonies. Later Sen Rikyu (1522 - 1591) was the most famous tea master. His innovations in the practice of tea incorporated the essence of his Zen experience. For example many of his innovations did away with the discriminations... between men and nature, nobleman and commoner, priest and laity, beautiful and ugly, religious and secular.

?The principals underlying the Art of Living are harmony, respect, purity, and tranquillity.

?These are universal principles that in a world such as ours today, fraught with unrest, friction and self-centredness, and other such social ailments can guide us towards the realisation of genuine peace.?

Ms Inoue is a great lover of her culture and she said: ?I respect Japanese culture such as the koto, calligraphy, tea ceremony, Ikebana (flower arranging) and wearing the kimono. They are a kind of meditation. Learning is much more important than mastering the formation of them.?

Time 12.30 p.m. to ? 3.30 p.m.