Japanese Art

Laurance Page Roberts, an internationally known Asian art scholar who had been director of the American Academy in Rome, died Sunday of a heart attack at his Bolton Hill home. He was 95. Mr. Roberts' career in the world of art and culture spanned about 70 years. He had lived in a Bolton Street rowhouse since 1988, when he and his wife moved to Baltimore after 15 years in Venice, Italy. Born into a life of privilege in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., Mr. Roberts was a descendant of settlers who arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1600s to accept a land grant from William Penn.

The Arts of Japan Festival is a prelude to the National Cherry Blossom Festival, a two-week showcase of Japanese culture that honors the continuing friendship between the United States and Japan. The celebration, highlighted by the National Cherry Blossom Festival parade, begins March 31 and concludes on April 14. Here are some festival highlights:Throughout the festivalStamp collectors can add a National Cherry Blossom Festival Postal Cancellation to their collection, from 10 a.m. until 5: 30 p.m. at the National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE."

"CONGRATULATE me," said Jeffrey Kelly when his mother came to pick him up from school one day earlier this year.Nine-year-old Jeff couldn't wait to show her the letter announcing that his artwork was chosen for display at the Anne Arundel delegation room in the House of Delegates building in Annapolis.The show of selected artwork from county schools opened in January and will continue through mid-April.For Jeff, a fourth-grader at Ferndale Elementary School, the project combined his social studies class' study of Japan with his art class' study of Japanese print-making.

Q: Do you know of organizations that offer trips to Japan focusing on the country's arts and crafts and design, perhaps with the possibility of visiting artists' studios or seeing craftspeople at work?A: Journeys East, 2443 Fillmore Ave., San Francisco, Calif. 94115, (415) 647-9565, offers "Brushes With Past and Present," which focuses on traditional Japanese arts. The 16-day trip out of San Francisco includes an ikebana (flower arranging) class in Tokyo, visits to a master potter's studio in Mie Prefecture and a woodblock carving studio in Kyoto (with the option of seeing craftspeople engaged in silk dyeing, weaving, paper making or other arts and crafts)

Morgan Johnson called her mother frantically on her cell phone -- she had left the giant boomerang at home. The 5-foot-long boomerang, which dwarfed the petite 13-year-old, was essential to Morgan's costume, Sango the Demon Hunter. Morgan had cut the shape from foam, wrapped it in duct tape and painted it tan and brown. Luckily, her mother rushed in with the boomerang just as the costume contest at Saturday's anime and manga convention at the Brooklyn Park library in northern Anne Arundel County began.

Anyone who thinks watching cartoons is a passive activity has never been to an anime convention.Take Otakon '96, for example. Billed as the "Convention of Otaku Generation," it will bring several hundred otaku -- that is, fans of "anime," or Japanese animation -- to Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn this weekend. And while there will certainly be plenty to watch, what with four video theaters screening material virtually around the clock, cartoon-viewing barely scratches the surface of what Otakon will offer.

In a brightly lighted conference room at the Pascal Senior Center on Dorsey Road, artwork depicting Japanese houses, people and landscapes is prominently displayed.The matted and framed works are woodblock prints, the products of one teacher, Reiko Ohnuki, and 13 of her students from a senior center in Maryland's Japanese sister state, Kanagawa.The projects, which will be donated to the Department of Aging after the exhibit, have come from the Kamkura City Senior Citizens' Welfare and Culture Center, one of four senior centers in Kamakura City.

Dez Fitch showed up as Lei-Lei, a blue-skinned zombie who is controlled by her sister. Connor Albers was No Face, a mute who wears a black robe and has the power to transform air into gold. And Brandon Connolly came dressed as the martial-arts expert Rygoa Hibiki. Fitch, Albers and Connolly were among thousands of fans of Japanese animated characters who arrived yesterday for the 12th annual Otakon, a three-day event at the Baltimore Convention Center. Otakon is expected to draw more than 20,000 people.

Yuji Yoshimura, 76, a master bonsai grower who taught and nurtured the classical Japanese art in the United States, died of cancer Dec. 24 in Medway, Mass. He was among the best-known bonsai artists in this country for more than three decades. A Yuji Yoshimura Educational Center opened in 1990 at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum of the National Arboretum in Washington, built with donations from his students and friends.Pub Date: 1/04/98

Every Saturday, a class meets at the Columbia Gym in Harper's Choice to practice kendo, a Japanese martial art that is similar to fencing. Stemming from the ancient samurai tradition, kendo instruction is compulsory for Japanese children in primary school. Now it is a sport, and contenders compete in tournaments from the regional level all the way up to the international level. Matches last from three to four minutes and never end in a tie. Men and women compete against each other, but women can compete only against other women if they choose.