Bōnenkai: Forget-the-Year Party

Thursday, December 4, 2025
7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Coral Gables Museum | 285 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33134
Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres | $45 per person

Join the Japan-America Society of Miami/South Florida for our first ever Bōnenkai Forget-the-Year Party on December 4th.

Celebrate the growing bonds between Japan and South Florida over Japanese cuisine in the historic Coral Gables Museum. While you “forget the year” with friends and colleagues, experience a Japanese master artist in action. Inami woodcarving master, Nambu Hakuun III, will demonstrate his craft during the party in his first-ever U.S. tour organized by Poiesis. Guests will have the opportunity to interact with Master Hakuun and try carving themselves.

250 Years of Tradition: Inami Woodcarving with Nambu Hakuun, III

© Poiesis Documentary Production Team
*Watch the video in full screen by clicking Play and then the Full screen icon in the lower right corner.

Poiesis is an organization dedicated to preserving and revitalizing traditional handcrafted decorative arts worldwide. Through education, cultural programming, and supporting master artisans via commissions and the sale of masterworks, Poiesis helps bridge these endangered heritage traditions to new international audiences and markets. Its current area of focus, featured in a new documentary that premiered during a special U.S. tour, is Japan’s Inami woodcarving. This 250 year-old cultural heritage from Toyama Prefecture, is renowned for its intricate decorative techniques and profound artistic depth. Passed down through generations of master carvers, Inami woodcarving embodies extraordinary technical mastery and the living spirit of Japan’s dedication to craftsmanship, discipline, and aesthetic philosophy.

Before stopping in Miami and Coral Gables on December 4, the US tour began at Princeton University, continued to Japan House Los Angeles, and will carry on to other cities nationwide. The program offers a unique cultural experience, combining a documentary screening, discussion, live demonstrations, and hands-on participation.

The evening will feature a live demonstration by Master Carver Hakuun Nambu III, a true shokunin, an artisan who embodies mastery, discipline, and deep respect for the craft while preserving its tradition and spirit. With a lifetime of dedication and innovation, he brings Japan’s rich carving traditions to life, unveiling his new work, “Bridge Between Japan and the United States”, which seamlessly blends motifs by both countries. Guests will witness his masterful carving and sketching up close, a rare and captivating experience, and may try carving themselves.

Hakuun Nambu III’s presence provides a culturally significant and deeply enriching experience, giving audiences a direct connection to one of Japan’s most celebrated traditions. This US tour honors Japan’s intangible cultural heritage, fosters cross-cultural understanding, and highlights the artistry and dedication behind this treasured craft tradition. We are honored to host Master Hakuun at the Coral Gables Museum.

About the Master Carver

Nambu Hakuun (Third Generation, born Nambu Shuso, age 74) is a master Inami woodcarver, successor to his grandfather and father in the historic Nanbu Hakuun Workshop which has been active for over 100 years. Hakuun spent a decade in the traditional apprenticeship system, living under the same roof as his master, Nanbu Hakuun II, sharing meals, and beginning each day with chores in the workshop before training from morning until night. Apprentices were expected to “steal the skill” by observing the master and senior apprentices, persisting through years of rigorous discipline until achieving mastery. This demanding path shaped the skill, creativity, and depth that define Hakuun’s artistry today.

His representative projects include the cosmic-themed altar at Mangan Kokuzo Hall in Kanazawa, narrative carvings at Daisho-ji Temple in Ibaraki, the guardian Four Gods of Akiha Shrine in Shizuoka, and the monumental plaque of the Main Hall at Tokyo’s Senso-ji Temple, a landmark viewed daily by millions worldwide. In addition to temple and shrine commissions, Hakuun has completed numerous private works, collaborating directly with patrons to bring their visions to life.