Art fans have the chance to enjoy one of Japan's longest running exhibitions and help out the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake at the same time this weekend, when the College Women's Association of Japan hosts its annual print show at the Tokyo American Club.
The association dates back to 1949, when, in the aftermath of World War II, a group of alumni from American women's colleges established scholarship programs to help Japanese women study overseas. By the early 1980s, they had added scholarships for visually impaired students and also non-Japanese women wishing to study in Japan.
Those programs and many more continue today and are funded, in part, by the annual CWAJ Print Show and Associate Show, which are now highly respected fixtures on the local art calendar.
This year's 56th edition of the print exhibition includes work by over 150 local artists — including both men and women, Japanese and non-Japanese, and art students and professionals — and all those works will be available to purchase at prices ranging from ¥3,000 to ¥400,000.
Meanwhile, the Associate Show features works by late woodblock master Hideo Hagiwara. It continues at the Tokyo American Club through Oct. 23. Proceeds from sales made at both exhibitions will go to the scholarship fund and also to the victims of the March 11 disasters.
The 56th CWAJ Print Show will be held at the Tokyo American Club in Minato-ku, Tokyo, on Oct. 14-16. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.cwaj.org or email [email protected].