Japan in Cambridge

During the day a group of research specialists from the University of Tokyo will join with their Cambridge counterparts for a symposium on recent work involving nuclear transplantation, gene reprogramming, and stem cell differentiation. Then this evening at Churchill College, the conductor and violinist Joji Hattori and the London Mozart Players will perform works by Takemitsu, Dan, Bacj, Elgar and Tchaikovsky.

Both events are part of Japan 2001, the national celebration of Japanese culture which involves 1,500 separate events across the UK. The University has been heavily involved in the festival since it began in May. Earlier in the year exhibitions of historical and contemporary Japanese art were held at the Fitzwilliam Museum and Kettle's Yard. In November Churchill College staged a photographic exhibition which used images from family photo albums to trace the history of Japanese people living in Britain since 1863.

Last month Churchill College also hosted a three-day conference on Anglo-Japanese economic relations. UK and Japanese experts met to discuss developments from the late 19th century, when British experts helped Japan with its industrialisation, to the post-1945 world in which Japanese companies play a major part in British economic and financial life.

Future Japan 2001 events include a concert by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at Great St Mary's Church on Sunday 9 December 2001 and two rugby fixtures - in February the University will play Keio University, one of the oldest clubs in Japan and in March they will play Kanto Gakuin, one of Japan's top clubs.