5 May is Kodomo-no-hi (Children�fs Day) in Japan. People celebrate this Day by flying Koinobori (carp streamers), as the carp symbolize fortitude, in the hope that their children (traditionally male children) will become prosperous and successful in their lives. The month of May has much on offer with both traditional and non-traditional Japanese culture.

The European premiere of �gMusashi�h directed by Yukio Ninagawa at the Barbican (5-8 May) will be a tribute to the late Hisashi Inoue, the great Japanese playwright and writer. His distinctive works were humorous yet sprinkled with satire on Japanese society. Inoue�fs Musashi is certain to amuse the British audience with its atypical samurai story. It is said that he was very much looking forward to the London performance of Musashi when he passed away on 9 April.

Fine weather is very much hoped for on 23 May when the Japanese Garden Party takes place at Hammersmith Park in celebration of the centenary of the Japan-British Exhibition 1910. Outside London, the Japanese Garden Society has helped build a Japanese garden at Norfolk�fs favourite building, the Norwich Cathedral, introducing an interesting Japanese element in a not-so-Japanese environment