tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40066215269154274332024-03-18T15:15:42.116-04:00Japan SocietyInsights into Japanese culture from New York's Japan Society. Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.comBlogger335125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-36368250914563301552015-08-15T18:29:00.002-04:002016-08-06T15:07:17.726-04:00Ramifications of WWII: Recommended Reading & Resources On U.S.-Japan Relations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII today, we've compiled a shortlist of books, articles, films and historical documents that help contextualize the relationship between the U.S. and Japan before, during and after the war. While by no means exhaustive, this selection illustrates the complexities and ramifications of the war, from the imperialist maneuverings that led to the Pacific War to what is now considered the <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4142.htm">cornerstone alliance</a> in the region towards stability and prosperity by the U.S. Department of State. Additional topics covered include life in the Japanese internment camps, the American Occupation of Japan, the aftermath of the atomic bombings, and the Japanese Constitution and the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are recommended by Japan Society's <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/programs/education_family">Education Program</a> as resources for educators when teaching war-related topics, U.S.-Japan relations during and after WWII, and the atomic bombings.<br />
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<b>6 Must-Reads</b><br />
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<a href="http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Embracing-Defeat/"><i>Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II</i></a>, John Dower<br />
Awarded the 1999 Pulitzer Prize, this seminal history details Japan in the immediate aftermath of WWII and how the American occupation affected Japanese society from politics to the arts and popular culture. Ian Buruma, reviewing the book for the <i>New York Review of Books</i>, <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1999/oct/21/macarthurs-children/">called it</a> a "superb history.... Dower brilliantly captures the <i>louche</i>, squalid, but extraordinary dynamic mood of the postwar years." Dower followed the book up with the equally profound collection of essays <a href="http://thenewpress.com/books/ways-of-forgetting-ways-of-remembering"><i>Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering: Japan in the Modern World</i></a>, which served as the basis for Japan Society's <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/programs/stories-from-the-war">Stories from the War</a> programming series this year. In an <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/08/01/157727193/ways-of-forgetting-color-japans-present-day">interview with NPR</a>, Dower said, "as time passes, we do see things differently. We do ask different questions, and they're very important. And I think by not asking those questions, it affects our present-day response to current crises." Read an excerpt <a href="http://www.npr.org/books/titles/157715575/ways-of-forgetting-ways-of-remembering-japan-in-the-modern-world?tab=excerpt#excerpt">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima?mbid=social_facebook"><i>Hiroshima</i></a>*, John Hersey<br />
In 1946, a year after the atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan, <i>The New Yorker</i> dedicated an entire issue to first-hand accounts from six Hiroshima survivors, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Hersey. Considered a landmark in journalistic achievement, it was one of the first in-depth mainstream accounts of the aftermath of the bombing. The article was <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2009/08/16/books/the-pure-horror-of-hiroshima/#.Vc-rH1NViko">banned in Japan by occupation authorities</a> until 1949. <br />
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<a href="https://www.asian-studies.org/publications/cart/Members.aspx?Action=ServiceDetail&productID=417"><i>Japan and Imperialism, 1853-1945</i></a>*, James L. Huffman<br />
Published by the Association for Asian Studies in 2010, Huffman's "lively narrative" looks at Japan’s responses to Western imperialism and colonialism, and its efforts towards imperial expansion.<br />
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<a href="http://www.julieotsuka.com/when-the-emperor-was-divine/"><i>When the Emperor was Divine</i></a>, Julie Otsuka<br />
This acclaimed novel of historical fiction follows the experience of a Japanese-American family sent to an internment camp during WWII. Widely considered a modern classic, the book is now on <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/education/one-familys-story-of-persecution-resonates-in-the-post911-world.html">required reading lists</a> in schools across the U.S. Read an excerpt of the chapter <a href="http://www.mostlyfiction.com/excerpts/whenemperor.htm">"Evacuation Order No. 19"</a>. <br />
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<a href="http://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html">The Constitution of Japan</a><br />
Promulgated on November 3, 1946, Japan's postwar constitution came into effect on May 3, 1947. Read a fascinating history of the constitution's <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/peopleevents/pandeAMEX102.html">draft process</a>, and for comparison, read the <a href="https://history.hanover.edu/texts/1889con.html">The Constitution of the Empire of Japan</a>, in place from 1890 to 1947.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/n-america/us/q&a/ref/1.html">The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan</a> <br />
First signed in 1952 and amended on January 1960, this treaty outlines the U.S.-Japan security alliance, which is considered "<a href="http://www.cfr.org/japan/us-japan-security-alliance/p31437">an anchor of the U.S. security role in Asia</a>". Upon the 50th anniversary, George R. Packard penned <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/66150/george-r-packard/the-united-states-japan-security-treaty-at-50">"The United States-Japan Security Treaty at 50"</a>, examining how to update the treaty to better serve the best interests of both countries in modern times. <br />
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<b>Further Books, Movies and Resources</b><br />
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<a href="http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/the_allied_occupation_of_japan">“The Allied Occupation of Japan”</a>*, Peter Frost<br />
Essay that focuses on U.S. policy and shaping of postwar Japan, featured on Japan Society's <a href="http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/page/japaneducation_home">About Japan</a> teachers' resource website.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/pacific/"><i>American Experience: Victory in the Pacific</i></a>*, dir. Austin Hoyt, 1995<br />
A PBS documentary examining the end of WWII from the perspectives of both the Japanese and the Americans. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Barefoot-Gen-Vol-Cartoon-Hiroshima/dp/0867196025"><i>Barefoot Gen</i></a>, Keiji Nakazawa<br />
This classic ten volume manga series illustrates the author's first-hand experiences during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath. Despite a call for a ban in recent years, the book has been <a href="http://cbldf.org/2013/09/using-graphic-novels-in-education-barefoot-gen/">used in classrooms</a> to help teach WWII history. <br />
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<a href="http://www.kodanshausa.com/books/9781568364179/"><i>Black Rain</i></a>*, Masuji Ibuse <br />
A tale of a young woman caught in the fallout after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. lbuse based his highly acclaimed fictional story on real-life diaries and interviews with victims. According to <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2014/10/11/books/book-reviews/black-rain/#.VcpK_vlViZM"><i>The Japan Times</i></a>, "the documentary style allows Ibuse to reveal Japanese customs and culture in an affirmation of normalcy in abnormal situation."<br />
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<a href="http://www.citylights.com/book/?GCOI=87286100167600"><i>The Bomb</i></a>, Howard Zinn<br />
Historian Howard Zinn reflects on how a visit to a Hiroshima house of rest for bombing victims changed the way he viewed the end of WWII, having served as a bombardier in the European theater. <br />
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<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=R7NpvfYsmU0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false"><i>The Chrysanthemum and the Sword</i></a>, Ruth Benedict<br />
Originally an internal working paper distributed amongst the American armed forces, this <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2010/08/mad-chrysanthemum-swords.html">controversial classic</a> is considered by many required reading to understand how Americans viewed Japanese during WWII. For a deeper understanding of the time period, read C. Douglas Lummis's essay <a href="http://japanfocus.org/-C.%20Douglas-Lummis/2474/article.html">"Ruth Benedict's Obituary for Japanese Culture"</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://aboutusa.japan.usembassy.gov/e/jusa-usj-chronology.html">Chronology of U.S.-Japan Relations</a><br />
A bulleted timeline of U.S.-Japan relations from the American Embassy in Japan. <br />
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<a href="http://books.wwnorton.com/books/The-Clash/"><i>The Clash: U.S.-Japanese Relations Throughout History</i></a>, Walter LaFeber <br />
Winner of the Bankcroft Prize, LaFeber's book purports to tell the "entire story behind the disagreements, tensions, and skirmishes" between the U.S. and Japan since Japan opened to the West.<br />
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<a href="http://alanparker.com/film/come-see-the-paradise/"><i>Come See the Paradise</i></a>*, dir. Alan Parker, 1990<br />
A drama of life before and during WWII and lives affected by the internment of Japanese-Americans.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ww2online.org/">Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum</a>*<br />
A search engine for digital resources on WWII. <br />
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<a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/83327/farewell-to-manzanar-by-jeanne-houston/"><i>Farewell to Manzanar</i></a>*, Jeanne Houston and James D. Houston<br />
The true story of a family's struggles in a Japanese internment camp.<br />
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<a href="http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-grave-of-the-fireflies-1988"><i>Grave of the Fireflies</i></a>*, dir. Takahata Isao, 1988<br />
Studio Ghibli's deeply affecting, acclaimed animated film about a young boy and his little sister's struggle to survive in Japan during WWII.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hibakushastories.org/">Hibakusha Stories</a>*<br />
This nonprofit organization connects <i>hibakusha</i>, survivors of the atomic bombings, with high school, youth groups and the general public around the world. The site contains video testimonies from <a href="http://www.hibakushastories.org/meet-the-hibakusha/meet-setsuko-thurlow/">Setsuko Thurlow</a>, <a href="http://www.hibakushastories.org/meet-the-hibakusha/meet-yasuaki-yamashita/">Yasuaki Yamashita</a> and many more.<br />
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<a href="http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/content.cfm/hiroshima_history_city_event">"Hiroshima: History, City, Event"</a>*, Scott O'Bryan<br />
An extensive essay from the Japan Society Education Program's About Japan teacher's resource website.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/top_e.html">Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum</a>*<br />
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<a href="http://thenewpress.com/books/japan-war">Japan at War: An Oral History</a>*, Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore F. Cook<br />
<i>The New York Times Book Review</i> called it a "powerful, hideous and remarkably candid recollections by Japanese veterans [that] confirm the worst allegations of American wartime propaganda.”<br />
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<a href="http://jcie.org/researchpdfs/EAI/9-1.pdf">“Japan’s Debate on Constitutional Reinterpretation: Paving the Way for Collective Self-Defense”</a>, Hitoshi Tanaka<br />
JCIE paper from February 2014 about developments in Japan’s national security policy, including establishment of a National Security Council based on the U.S. model, the announcement of the first National Security Strategy a month later, and re-interpretation of the constitution.<br />
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<a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collections/eec6f38f-2088-41a8-a97f-784931167547">Japanese Internment Broadside</a>*<br />
Among Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History exhaustive resources for the improvement of history education (over 60,000 unique documents) are many primary sources from WWII including these images from the internment of Japanese. Registration required.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kodanshausa.com/books/9784770027764/"><i>Letters from the End of the World: A Firsthand Account of the Bombing of Hiroshima</i></a>*, Toyofumi Ogura<br />
One of the first first-hand accounts of the bombing of Hiroshima, this compelling love story unfolds through letters from the author to his wife, after their family's future is altered in an instant. <br />
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<a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7808.html"><i>The Life of Isamu Noguchi: Journey without Borders</i></a>, Masayo Duus <br />
The first full-length biography of legendary American sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi, who struggled with his Japanese-American heritage and famously volunteered himself for the internment camps. Offers great insight into the time period during and after WWII. A new biography <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/listeningtostone/haydenherrera"><i>Listening to Stone: The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi</i></a>, was released this year by Pultizer Prize-nominated author Hayden Herrera to wide acclaim.<br />
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<a href="http://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/rs/bitstream/10086/8242/1/HJlaw0060000290.pdf?origin=publication_detail">“Miscalculations in Deterrent Policy: Japanese-U.S. Relations, 1938-1941”</a>, Chihiro Hosoya<br />
Looks at events leading up to WWII, and examines miscalculations by the American government as to how Japan would react to economic sanctions. <br />
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<a href="http://www.susansouthard.com/book/nagasaki/"><i>Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War</i></a>, Susan Southard<br />
Published this year for the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing, Southard spent more than a decade researching and interviewing survivors to tell the often neglected story of the second nuclear cataclysm of WWII. <br />
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<a href="http://nagasakipeace.jp/english/abm.html#_=_">Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum</a>*<br />
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<a href="http://www.archives.gov/research/japanese-americans/">National Archive's Japanese-American Records related to WWII</a>* <br />
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<i><a href="http://www.jcie.or.jp/books/abstracts/N/perspectives.html">New Perspectives on U.S.-Japan Relations</a>,</i> ed. Gerald L. Curtis<br />
Essays by top Japanese and American political scientists that address the major issues of U.S.-Japan relations circa 2000. <br />
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<a href="http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/OKANO2.html"><i>No-No Boy</i></a>, John Okada <br />
A novel about the "no-no boys", Japanese-American youths who refused to swear loyalty to the United States and enlist in its army. <br />
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<a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo18058488.html"><i>The Only Woman in the Room</i></a>, Beate Gordon<br />
Beate Sirota Gordon's memoir about the role she played in drafting Japan’s postwar constitution. Gordon, who passed away <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/world/asia/beate-gordon-feminist-heroine-in-japan-dies-at-89.html">in 2013</a>, was a former Japan Society program director. <br />
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<a href="https://www.aei.org/publication/pacific-cosmopolitans/"><i>Pacific Cosmopolitans: A Cultural History of U.S.-Japan Relations</i></a>, Michael R. Auslin<br />
Auslin, who wrote Japan Society's <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/page/about/brief_history">centennial book</a>, shares the history of U.S.-Japan relations from initial cultural encounters of the early 1800s to the crucial decades since World War II. <br />
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<i>Summer Flowers</i>, Tamiki Hara <br />
Written following atomic bombing of Hiroshima, survivor Tamiki Hara recounts the horrors of what he witnessed during the aftermath. Included in the anthology <a href="http://www.groveatlantic.com/?title=The+Crazy+Iris+and+Other+Stories+from+the+Atomic+Aftermath#page=isbn9780802151841"><i>The Crazy Iris and Other Stories from the Atomic Aftermath</i></a>, compiled by Kenzaburo Oe.<br />
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<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442232051"><i>Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot: A Dual Biography</i></a>, Frederick P. Close <br />
A story about a Japanese-American woman trapped in Tokyo during World War II and forced to broadcast on Japanese radio. Read a <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-story-of-tokyo-rose.html">précis</a> of the book.<br />
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<i><a href="http://edgewoodpictures.com/?portfolio=wings-of-defeat">Wings of Defeat</a></i>*, dir. Risa Morimoto and Linda Hoagland, 2007<br />
A groundbreaking feature-length documentary about surviving kamikaze pilots. Japan Society presented the <a href="https://www.japansociety.org/former_kamikaze_pilots_and_attack_survivor_attend_japan_societys_ny_premeire_documentary_screening">New York premiere screening</a> in 2008.<br />
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<i>−Japan Society Staff</i></div>
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-1178780640336642032015-06-07T13:39:00.001-04:002015-06-07T14:56:59.831-04:00Cats Purr-vade Japan's History and Culture<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;"><b>The cats of Japan's "Cat Island" await your visit. <a href="http://qz.com/354806/hey-internet-japan-actually-has-eleven-cat-islands/">Via</a>.</b></span></td></tr>
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From protectors of ancient religious relics to demon cats haunting night travelers to the YouTube and media celebrities of today, cats have an unparalleled place in Japan's history and culture.<br />
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First introduced to Japan <a href="http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ccah/local-assets/pdfs/FelHusCh1.pdf">around 500 A.D.</a>, cats instantly proved their worth as guardians of Buddhist temple manuscripts. Mice and other rodents were particularly fond of the parchment used in most documents of the time, so cats were regularly considered both protectors of the home and of valuable books. Cats were often housed in <a href="http://www.ancient.eu/article/466/">private pagodas</a> in Japan andwere considered so valuable that by the 10th century CE, only the nobility could afford to own them. <br />
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As familiarity with cats grew, they became known for more than just their positive attributes--infamous for stealing food and destroying people’s possessions. But in 1602, the number of domestic cats sharply declined after the Japanese government ordered all cats to be released so that they could catch the rats destroying the silkworm industry. <br />
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Today cats are everywhere, especially in popular Japanese culture. There’s <a href="http://static.zerochan.net/Kirara.full.7943.jpg">Kirara</a> from <i>Inuyasha</i>, <a href="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qtXhesqBNHE/maxresdefault.jpg">Maru</a> of YouTube fame, futuristic robot feline <a href="http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131117065341/vsbattles/images/3/35/Doraemon.jpg">Doraemon</a> (named the <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/04/20/our-lives/doraemon-trumps-hello-kitty-for-olympic-games-ambassador/">2020 Tokyo Olympics ambassador</a>), <a href="http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/sailormoon/images/4/42/Luna.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120216231028&path-prefix=hu">Luna</a> from <i>Sailor Moon</i>, The <a href="http://kotaku.com/these-real-totoro-catbuses-will-delight-you-473200486">Catbus</a> from <i>My Neighbor Totoro</i>, <a href="http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokedex/meowth">Meowth</a> from Pokemon, travel mascot <a href="http://kotaku.com/cats-are-the-cutest-guides-to-japan-1510546846">Nyalan</a>, and <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/02/25/station-master-cat-going-strong-in-old-age/">Station Master Tama</a>, who not only welcomes tens of thousands of tourists to the Kishi train station in Wakayama, Japan, but reportedly has boosted the local economy by millions of dollars.<br />
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Japan’s love of cats extends beyond the realm of fiction and media. At Japanese <a href="http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,104576135001_2000212,00.html">cat cafes</a>, cat lovers can spend time petting and playing with their favorite animals, all while enjoying a cup of coffee. Owing to strict apartment regulations in Japanese cities, which don't often allow residents to own cats, the cafes have taken off in Japan, where there were <a href="http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20120402-worldwide-weird-feline-fun-in-japans-cat-cafes">nearly 150</a> as of 2012. The phenomenon has quickly gone global, with London and New York City opening their first cafes in 2014, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2597571/A-purrfect-way-unwind-New-pictures-life-like-inside-Londons-cat-cafe.html">Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium</a> and <a href="http://www.meowparlour.com/">Meow Parlour</a> respectively.<br />
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Another major cat attraction is Aoshima’s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/03/cats-outnumber-people-on-this-mysterious-cat-island/">“Cat Island”</a>, one of approximately <a href="http://qz.com/354806/hey-internet-japan-actually-has-eleven-cat-islands/">eleven cat islands</a> in Japan. There, cats outnumber humans six-to-one, as the island is home to just <a href="http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/04/05/the-11-cat-islands-of-japan-%E3%80%90photos%E3%80%91/">15 people</a>, mainly elderly fishermen and their wives. The cats get a pretty good deal, free to roam about as they please, with the village nurse there to feed them every day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Utagawa Kunisada's 1861 illustration for the kabuki play <i style="text-align: start;">The Spirit of the Cat Stone. </i><span style="text-align: start;">Courtesy of the Hiraki Foundation.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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Before they took over the internet and peppered the headlines of mainstream news outlets around the world, Japanese cats had a darker more storied life in the country's mythology and folklore. </div>
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In their review of Japan Society's hit exhibition <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/life-of-cats-selections-from-the-hiraki-ukiyo-e-collection%20"><i>Life of Cats: Selections from the Hiraki Ukiyo-e Collection</i></a> closing today, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/10/life-of-cats-exhibition-japan-new-york"><i>The Guardian</i> wrote</a>, "The paradox between cats’ cute outward appearance and inward capacity for wickedness (or at least sofa destruction) is crucial to their place in Japanese folklore."</div>
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The demon cat <i>bakeneko</i> transforms into whatever it wishes, including humans. Tales of lovers and courtesans transforming into cats when they thought no one was watching were popular back in the Edo period (1603-1868), and they are often depicted in art of the era dancing about with a towel or napkin on their heads. <a href="http://hyakumonogatari.com/2012/06/03/bakeneko-the-changing-cat/">According to <i>Hyakumonogatari</i></a>:</div>
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<i>Bakeneko</i> has been rendered in English in a variety of ways. Monster cat. Ghost cat. But the most accurate translation would be “Changing Cat”... for the <i>bakeneko</i>, there is a general scholastic consciences that the legends began with fish. </blockquote>
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Cats are not indigenous to Japan, and the little “hand-fed tigers” were imported in later years and served as house pets and rat-catchers. Most of Japan at the time lived on a diet of vegetables and grains, with very little supplementary meat or protein. Cats were fed leftovers. However, cats are carnivorous. They don’t do well on a diet of vegetables and grains, and when they are hungry they will take their protein where they can get it. And many households had a ready supply, even if they didn’t know it. </blockquote>
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Oil lamps as the time often used rendered fish oil as fuel. To a protein-starved cat this was exactly what they needed, and they would stand on their hind legs to reach up to the lamp to lick out the fish oil. Frightened pet owners looking at the lamplight-cast shadows would see their tiny cat suddenly elongate and stand on two legs as if transforming into a human. Thus was established the connection between bakeneko and shadows.</blockquote>
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There’s also the <a href="http://hyakumonogatari.com/2012/04/21/nekomata-the-split-tailed-cat/"><i>nekomata</i></a>, a vicious cat that enjoys stalking and attacking humans. During the Kamakura period (1185–1333), tales of <i>nekomata</i> spoke of massive beasts that lurked in the mountains, waiting for unsuspecting travelers – their next meal – to approach. By the Edo period, <i>nekomata </i>were believed to evolve from house cats that had lived for a very long time, fleeing to the mountains when their time came. Once the creature’s tail had split in two, the transformation was complete. </div>
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The nekomata figure prominently in the popular kabuki play <i>The Spirit of the Cat Stone</i> dramatized by Tsuruya Nanboku in the late 19th century, and inspried by a real location. The cat-shaped rock at the Okazaki station (in today’s Shizuoka Prefecture) along the Tōkaidō Road was believed to carry the vengeful spirit of a wrongly killed woman, and would take the form of the <i>nekomata</i>, emerging from an aged cat who grows the tell-tale split-end tail. The nekomata first appears as an old innkeeper greeting travelers who stop to rest in Okazaki, but at night her true nature is revealed as she licks oil from a lantern and her silhouette shows a cat shape, which commands several bakeneko that dance around the intended victims.</div>
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On the more fortuitous side of Japanese folklore, is the <i>Maneki Neko</i>, the squat, often smiling cat which often adorns Japanese shops and Asian stores in general. The bright eyed, beckoning statue is said to bring good luck. With a wave of its left paw, it is said to attract customers, while a waving right paw invites good fortune or at least cash. Catster points out a couple of origin stories in their article <a href="http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/maneki-neko-fortune-cat-5-interesting-facts">"5 Interesting Facts About Fortune Cats (Maneki Neko)"</a>: </div>
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There are a couple of popular legends about the origins of the Lucky Cat. The first tells of a wealthy man who took shelter from a rainstorm under a tree next to a temple. He noticed a cat that seemed to be beckoning to him, so he followed it inside the temple. Shortly thereafter, lightning struck the tree he had been standing under. Because the cat had saved his life, the man was so grateful, he became a benefactor of the temple and brought it much prosperity. When he passed away, a statue of the cat was made in is honor. </blockquote>
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Another common legend is a really peculiar one. A geisha had a pet cat that she adored. One day, it was tugging at her kimono and the owner of the brothel thought the cat was possessed, so he sliced off its head with a sword. (Yeah, gruesome! No cats were harmed in the writing of this article.) The flying cat head landed on a snake about to strike and the fangs killed the snake and saved the woman. The geisha was so distraught by the loss of her cat that one of her customers made a statue of the cat to cheer her up.</blockquote>
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When looking at the cats of ancient and modern Japan, along with the prevailing images and stories of the times, it’s incredible to see how cats have evolved over the ages and maintain their place as one of Japan's favorite animals. For animals not native to Japan, they’ve certainly left their mark throughout its history and culture. <br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci, Japan Society Staff</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;"><b>The Nyan Avengers. From left to right: <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/samimain/the-stationmaster-of-this-japanese-train-station-is-a-benevo#.pijb4BmgA">Station Master Tama</a>, <a href="http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/01/20/sailor-moon-crystal-act-14-petite-etrangere-2603611?lt_source=external,manual">Luna</a>, <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/maru-is-a-robot-now#.yxvEpBX8W">Maru</a> and <a href="http://doraemon.wikia.com/wiki/Take-copter">Doraemon</a>.</b></span></td></tr>
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com216tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-85902312057815982052015-05-17T15:37:00.001-04:002015-05-17T19:41:18.484-04:00Christianity In Japan & A Noh Theater Prayer For Peace<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzk0bewyR04-OA3DeaEYbjT-flQFeCNj8FRR32AKQwacyEW7TwmJ90_iCGOLaeOaqO8cYMT12q8xJBrkRpbVe7DFUY3f7vIWJtxbVU1ueHybI8jUjF_rTLePAn3hDW8vMbMI7FBUqUKI/s1600/Nagasaki+Noh_3_DEITzCOLtd_CROP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzk0bewyR04-OA3DeaEYbjT-flQFeCNj8FRR32AKQwacyEW7TwmJ90_iCGOLaeOaqO8cYMT12q8xJBrkRpbVe7DFUY3f7vIWJtxbVU1ueHybI8jUjF_rTLePAn3hDW8vMbMI7FBUqUKI/s400/Nagasaki+Noh_3_DEITzCOLtd_CROP.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Scenes from <i>Holy Mother in Nagasaki</i>. </b></span></td></tr>
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A woman in a white mask emerges on stage and slowly glides down a narrow path. Clad in a vibrant blue veil and robes of blue and shimmering gold, she stops and turns. Beneath the pulse of drums and intermittent shrieks of flutes characteristic of the music of ancient Japan, the fluid hum of Gregorian chant gives the scene an otherworldly feeling—eerie, incongruous, mesmerizing.<br>
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Slowly, the woman begins to kneel, then rises, extending her hand. She walks center stage, quickening her pace as she approaches the audience. Finally, she shields her face with her arm and begins to slowly dance about the stage, alternating slow and fast gliding that ends in a dramatic flip of her long sleeve above her head. With a giant cross looming behind her, a revelation is at hand: The Holy Mother has arrived.<br>
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So ends <i>Holy Mother in Nagasaki</i>, a noh play of the classical tradition written in 2005. Part of Japan Society’s <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/new-and-traditional-noh-holy-mother-in-nagasaki-and-kiyotsune">new and traditional noh</a> presentation commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, the story unfolds at the famous Urakami Cathedral, as a priest tells a traveler the tale of Nagasaki’s suffering following the dropping of the second atomic bomb in Japan. The majestic cathedral rose as a beacon of hope and religious freedom in the late 19th century after years of Christian persecution in Japan, and then was completely destroyed in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.<br>
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The priest recounts hardships the survivors faced, and the resolve they had to rebuild the cathedral. He also shares the story of a woman who appeared the evening of the bombing to console the victims. No one knew who the woman was, but many believed she might be the Holy Mother returned.<br>
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In addition to being true to noh theater traditions that go back over 600 years, the tale is deeply rooted in the history of Christianity in Japan. (Nagasaki was the first port open to foreigners, so it has an unusual history of foreign influx compared to other locations in Japan. For example, at the height of Christianity’s spread to Japan, so many churches were built in Nagasaki that it became known as “<a href="http://www.pref.nagasaki.jp/s_isan/en/outline/02.html">Little Rome</a>”.)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>The Urakami Cathedral before and after the bombing. <a href="http://www.atomicarchive.com/Photos/Nagasaki/image2.shtml">Via</a>.</b></span></span></td></tr>
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Christianity was introduced to Japan in 1549 by Francis Xavier of Navarre (modern-day Spain)†, who would later become the patron saint of missionaries, <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/saint-francis-xavier-39911#missionary-work">baptizing an estimated 30,000 people over his lifetime</a>. <br>
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Furthering the spread of Christianity, Sumitada Omura became the first of Japan’s <i>daimyo</i> (feudal lords) to convert. He ceded Nagasaki and Mogi to the Society of Jesus in 1580, which began to worry then-shogun Hideyoshi Toyotomi, who began his crusade against Christianity in 1587 when he demanded that all foreign missionaries leave the country.<br>
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Tensions came to a head in 1597, when Toyotomi ordered the <a href="http://enterjapan.me/26-martyrs/">execution of 26 Christians on a hill in Nagasaki by crucifixion</a>. From there, sanctions against Christianity only grew stricter, as in 1614, Christianity was banned by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Toyotomi’s successor.<br>
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Japanese Christians were forced to practice in secret while pretending to be Buddhist, a practice that would continue for nearly 250 years until the Meiji government officially lifted the ban in 1873.<br>
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The most shocking part of the ordeal, however, came eight years earlier, when a group of these so-called “Hidden Christians” visited Oura Cathedral, newly built by a French missionary and reserved only for foreigners, in order to proclaim their faith. Father Bernard Petitjean, the priest at the cathedral, was extremely excited to discover that there in fact existed towns and villages full of Christians in Nagasaki, encouraging the Hidden Christians to practice their faith openly.<br>
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But Christianity was still illegal, which meant that 3,400 of these newly found Christians were <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2007/12/23/general/japans-hidden-christians/#.VVJI7fm6fcs">arrested, some tortured, and 36 put to death.</a> The Hidden Christians would have to remain that way for a few more years.</div>
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When it was finally safe to do so, approximately 30,000 Hidden Christians finally emerged, their faith having survived nearly two and a half centuries in secrecy. In a <a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/03/20/pope_francis_japan%E2%80%99s_%E2%80%9Chidden_christians%E2%80%9D_a_model_for_church/1130783">letter to Japan’s bishops</a> written in March, Pope Francis said, “If our missionary efforts are to bear fruit, the example of the 'hidden Christians' has much to teach us.” <br>
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But even after their religious freedom had been won, the struggle of the Hidden Christians was not over. Due to years of persecution, many of them had been and were still living in poverty. Despite this, they decided to build churches, reducing the cost as much as possible by using lime they had made by burning shells, and drawing patterns on window glasses instead of using stained glass. Due in large part to their efforts, today there are more than 130 churches in Nagasaki Prefecture, more than anywhere else in Japan.<br>
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<b>A Noh Theater Prayer for Healing and Peace</b><br>
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When programming the performing arts portion of Japan Society's <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/programs/stories-from-the-war">Stories from the War</a> series commemorating the end of WWII, Artistic Director Yoko Shioya felt that one of the most important “stories” Japan can share with the world is the aftermath of the atomic bombings. <br>
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In the program notes, Shioya writes that <i>Holy Mother in Nagasaki</i> "not only speaks about this sorrowful story, but also conveys the strong belief in the resilient spirit of humanity."<br>
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The play was written by the late Dr. Tomio Tada, an internationally renowned scientist (in the 1970s he discovered the suppressor T cells that subdue immune response) and respected author. Of several noh plays, he wrote two about the atomic bombings: <i>Holy Mother in Nagasaki</i>, and <i>Genbaku-ki (Atomic Bomb Mourning)</i> about Hiroshima.<br>
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"In the program notes from the <i>Nagasaki</i> premiere Tada explained that while the latter was written as a requiem, the former was written as a paean for revitalization, and he intentionally decided on these two different themes based on his observations of both of the A-bomb-ravaged cities," writes Shioya.<br>
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In an interview after performances of <i>Holy Mother in Nagasaki</i> began at Japan Society, Shioya posited that perhaps it was the element of Christianity that gave the play its inherent message of hope. Religious themes of classic noh are typically derived from Buddhism, which sees the soul go through an eternal cycle of rebirth, whereas Christianity sees the spirit set free in an eternal afterlife. <br>
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Shioya also feels that the centuries-old stylized noh might be one of the best art forms that addresses eternal challenges for human beings. Shimizu Kanji, lead actor in <i>Holy Mother in Nagasaki</i> and a designated Intangible Cultural Asset by the Japanese government, explains further in his portion of the program notes:</div>
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In many stories of noh drama, a ghost appears and recounts the story of his life—what events occurred, how he died, who mourns for him and where he is buried. I think these elements must be important for human beings. This consideration led me to realize that there are countless outrageous ways in which people lose their lives—by the blast of a single bomb or in a massive battle, through an earthquake, a tsunami or a hurricane.</blockquote>
Shimizu recounts the first performance of and how it affected him :<br>
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The new noh piece, <i>Holy Mother in Nagasaki</i>, premiered at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki City on November 23, 2005. It was held on the site of the cathedral that was destroyed by the atomic bomb, and on the exact 60th anniversary of the first mass and memorial service held after the bombing. I knew that nothing would be able to reenact that tragic day realistically, yet I wore a noh mask and costume in the role of the spirit of an A-bomb victim and walked slowly down the long aisle toward the altar to read my lines, which narrated "that day." While I was performing, I felt the Gregorian chant sung by the choir run through my body. Since then, we have performed this piece in many cities, and we have now arrived at the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.</blockquote>
Shimizu says he is humbled to present the noh performance to an American audience, especially during the once-every-five years Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons international assembly at the United Nations, and his hope is that the performance helps those who have lost their lives in such catastrophes to rest peacefully and restores those catastrophically damaged sites back to life. But he notes, "world peace has not yet arrived and the souls of the <i>hibakusha</i> [atomic bomb survivors] remain unhealed."<br>
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<a href="http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680581/why-storytelling-is-the-ultimate-weapon">Telling stories is one of the most powerful forms of communications</a>, and it is well documented that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/health/views/10chen.html">sharing personal stories can have health benefits</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leila-levinson/ptsd-veterans-writing_b_1078971.html">help psychological healing</a>. It can also help transmit a message through generations.<br>
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In <i>Holy Mother in Nagasaki</i>, the traveler listens to the priest's story and finally says, “I have resolved to mourn the victims and pray for world peace.” Once can only assume audiences will do the same.<br>
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<i>--Mark Gallucci, Lara Mones, Shannon Jowett</i><br>
†The portions of this article detailing the history of Christianity in Japan were informed by "Churches and Christian Sites in Nagasaki", published by the Nagasaki Prefectural Government. </div>
Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-81159929017758720172015-05-03T23:54:00.000-04:002015-05-04T11:38:36.950-04:00Lessons From Another World: Three Timeless Folktales From Japan<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Life's a <i>mukashi banashi</i>! Illustration by Benjamin Warren.</b></span></td></tr>
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Whether it’s a turtle ride to an underwater palace, bamboo-born princesses, or a thumb-sized samurai besting beasts, Japanese folklore conjures worlds unlike any other where truly anything is possible.<br />
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In his fourth volume of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Keisuke-Nishimoto/e/B00J52YUN2/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1">Japanese Fairy Tales</a>, </i>Professor Keisuke Nishimoto of Showa Woman's College of Tokyo writes, "[these tales] are more than just entertaining; they also address some of life's enduring themes: how to live a good, kind life; how to achieve happiness; and the price to be paid for cruelty, greediness, and cowardice." <br />
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Today Japan Society marked <i>Kodomo no hi</i>, Japan's annual festival to celebrate children's happiness and wellbeing with its first-ever <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/eC17BAFD1-0360-6302-525307698D41410E">Folklore Family Day</a>, transforming three floors of its landmark building into immersive worlds of Japan's most enchanting and enriching <i>mukashi banashi</i> (folktales). <br />
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“We want to share the mystery of stories from a different culture,” Jeffrey Miller, director of Japan Society's Education and Family Program <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/arts/spare-times-for-children-for-may-1-7.html?_r=1">told <i>The New York Times</i></a>, adding that children would see that “the humanity in these stories is common to all cultures.”<br />
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Japan Society brought to life several folktales, including stories familiar throughout the world such <a href="http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/72/japanese-fairy-tales/4845/momotaro-or-the-story-of-the-son-of-a-peach/"><i>Momotaro (Peach Boy)</i></a> and <a href="http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/72/japanese-fairy-tales/4845/momotaro-or-the-story-of-the-son-of-a-peach/"><i>Kintaro (Golden Boy)</i></a>. Other featured stories just as beloved and time-honored in Japan, but perhaps less well known outside the country were <i>Urashima Taro</i>, <i>Kaguya-hime (Bamboo Princess)</i> and <i>Issun-bōshi (One-Inch Boy)</i>.<br />
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<b>Fathoming A Treasure More Valuable Than Time</b><br />
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One day the son of a modest fisherman, Urashima Taro (1) comes across a group of mischievous boys taunting and torturing a tortoise. Thinking quickly, Urashima offers to buy it from them, then releases it back to the sea as soon as they have gone. The following day while out fishing on his boat, Urashima is greeted by the tortoise, who expresses its gratitude with a trip to the Dragon King’s Palace at the bottom of the sea. Once they arrive, the tortoise transforms into a beautiful princess and asks Urashima to marry her, which he accepts.<br />
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A few short days later, Urashima begins to miss his family, whom he had nearly forgotten during the adventure, and asks the princess to let him go see them. She obliges, giving him a precious keepsake: a box which he must promise never to open. He agrees, returning to the surface, where he finds that more than 300 years have passed. Realizing that he’s outlived all of his friends and family, he opens the box in his grief, releasing a small cloud of smoke. He starts to feel weak, with his hair turning grey and his face wrinkling up, as the box had contained his old age.<br />
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(Searching for the many meanings hidden in this tale, it's important to understand the rich history of Japan's fishing culture. Up until just one hundred years ago, <a href="http://www.outdoorjapan.com/magazine/story_details/45">one out of every twenty Japanese were fishermen</a>.)<br />
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<b>Lunacy In Not Letting Go</b><br />
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Discovered in a bamboo stalk by a childless elderly couple, Kaguya-hime, the Bamboo Princess (2) wishes for nothing more than to spend the rest of her time on Earth with her parents. She grows up to be one of the most beloved women in the land, but with no desire to marry, she sends every suitor off to complete impossibly difficult tasks before they can win her hand in marriage. Several men set out on their journeys, with some attempting to deceive the princess, and others simply realizing the futility of their efforts. None complete their tasks (and not all of them make it back alive).</div>
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Though the princess manages to avoid marriage, she realizes she won't be able to stay with her parents forever. She tells them she must go back to the moon, her true home. Her parents are devastated, and eventually word reaches the Emperor, who sends his troops to prevent the princess from returning to the moon, to no avail.<br />
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Kaguya-hime puts on a special robe that erases her memories as she walks to the carriage sent to take her to the moon. Before she leaves, she hands the Emperor’s servant a letter and a portion of the elixir of eternal life that she herself has imbibed. Upon reading the letter, which proclaims the Princess’s desire to marry the Emperor if only it were possible, the Emperor, still in love with her, orders his servant to climb the highest mountain in all of Japan, then burn the potion and the letter at its peak, so that the smoke carries his sorrows to the heavens. That mountain eventually became known as Mt. Fuji, and on days when smoke rises up from the mountain, it is believed the letter and potion continues to burn its message for the princess.<br />
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(Another story deeply intertwined with meaning, especially when you consider the <a href="https://mail.japansociety.org/owa/redir.aspx?C=VK2JH-bkdUeHNiMDUsVgf_idN7acWdIIuDBAWv5CiCQHxJ_-M8t7_BqXMRc5pbPjyd7bcTIkNeI.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jref.com%2fculture-society%2fmarriage-japan%2f#http://www.jref.com/culture-society/marriage-japan/">history of marriage in Japan</a>.)<br />
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<b>Big Benefits For The Steadfast Brave </b><br />
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Another elderly couple have been praying at a local shrine every day for a child, when Issun-bōshi, or One-Inch Boy (3) arrives. No bigger than a man’s thumb, he is nevertheless determined to become a samurai. When he comes of age, he asks his parents for a needle to use as a sword, a straw for a sheath, a rice bowl for a boat, and a chopstick for an oar, and sets off for adventure. Riding his bowl down the river and fending off a hungry fish with his chopstick-oar, he eventually makes it to the city and starts working for a wealthy man, whose daughter he quickly befriends. One day, while the two are playing outside, they are approached by a group of ogres who intend to kidnap the girl, who was actually a princess.<br />
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One-Inch Boy resists and one of the ogres swallows him whole. He responds by poking the ogre’s stomach full of holes with his sword. In incredible pain, the ogre spits out One-Inch-Boy and flees, dropping his magic mallet in the process. The princess picks it up, chants, “Grow, One-Inch Boy, grow!” Soon enough, One-Inch Boy quickly outgrows his name, rivaling the princess in height. The story ends with him marrying the princess and becoming a samurai as he had always dreamed.<br />
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<b>Enduring Lessons From The Monstrous Mystery</b><br />
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In their delightful (and deceptive) simplicity, folktales, fables and myth are ancient tools to help us cope with life's difficult twists and turns. On the surface, <i>Urashima Taro</i> shows us there are rewards for doing right; but dive deeper into the story and we find that the act of doing right is its own reward: peril awaits those who are distracted by meaningless treasure. <i>Kaguya-hime</i> teaches the importance of loving and appreciating your family, and the difficulty and inevitability of having to let go (imagine a grief so profound it causes Mt. Fuji to bellow!) Sharing many similarities with <i>Tom Thumb </i>from English folklore, <i>Issun-bōshi</i> stresses the importance of inner strength and self-sufficiency, regardless of how immense the challenges one may face.<br />
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"The great ideas of courage, duty, beauty, desire, cause, man and animals are themes throughout western literature and many also appear in Japanese children's stories," notes Miller. <br />
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According to maverick mythologist Joseph Campbell, there are four purposes to myth (4): to inspire awe of the "monstrous mystery" of existence; to present the inner and outer cosmos in a way that simultaneously dazzles and describes the universe; to advance a society (or community or family) through a shared understanding of right and wrong; and to "carry the individual through the stages of his life, from birth through maturity through senility to death… in accords with the social order of his group, the cosmos as understood by his group, and the monstrous mystery."<br />
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Through its Folklore Family Day, Miller says, "Japan Society's Education and Family programs share the great wealth that comes from considering tales that cause children and adults to be in awe and wonder. The imagination of a child is not a small thing and we desire to share stories that excite."<br />
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Miller points to a quote from Anthony Esolen's <i>Ten Ways to Destroy Your Child’s Imagination</i>: "Fairy tales and folk tales are for children and childlike people, not because they are little and inconsequential, but because they are as enormous as life itself.”</div>
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<i>--Stories adapted by Mark Gallucci</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">1. Adapted from <a href="http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/72/japanese-fairy-tales/4881/the-story-of-urashima-taro-the-fisher-lad/">"The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad"</a>, <i>Japanese Fairy Tales</i>, Yei Theodora Ozaki.<br /><br />2. Adapted from "The Moon Princess", as told by Tetsuo Kawamoto, translated by Clarence Calkins. (Read the <a href="http://www.mission.net/japan/kobe/KaguyaHime.pdf">full pdf</a>.)<br /><br />3. <a href="file://localhost/from%20http/::www.geocities.co.jp:HeartLand-Gaien:7211:housi.html">"One Inch Boy"</a>, <i>Old Stories from Japan</i>, Masahiro Kudo. (Read another version <a href="http://www.coreknowledge.org.uk/year2literatureissunboshi.php">here</a>.) <br /><br />4. <a href="http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php?categoryid=83&p9999_action=details&p9999_wid=329"><i>Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation</i></a>, Joseph Campbell.</span><br />
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-20580780726230115462015-04-21T13:00:00.002-04:002015-04-21T13:00:38.119-04:00The Mystery Of Merii of Hama And The Birth Of 'Yokohama Rosa'<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheSEjgDtvc1ggxwEgYiI1nkSOsywkmGsb9eWDM0rPooa9eNpDskdQfaKzEhxTzJOrCC7IN3SyRubiuQczzxiekD_T6Rd2LxJs2B7EnZIQ6oPprFr8UyhXWjXr6DoYl6LVE-sLsLjew-6c/s1600/yokohamamarii_composite1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheSEjgDtvc1ggxwEgYiI1nkSOsywkmGsb9eWDM0rPooa9eNpDskdQfaKzEhxTzJOrCC7IN3SyRubiuQczzxiekD_T6Rd2LxJs2B7EnZIQ6oPprFr8UyhXWjXr6DoYl6LVE-sLsLjew-6c/s1600/yokohamamarii_composite1.jpg" height="180" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="text-align: start;">Merii of Hama on the streets of Yokohama. Circa 1990.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">"W</span>hat? What’s my name? I’ve long forgotten my real name. But people call me all sorts of names. Like Merii of Hama, Mary, ‘Merican Li’l or Rosa. But Rosa is my favorite of all." – <i>Yokohama Rosa</i></h3>
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Nearly 15 years ago, Japan’s legendary TV/film/stage actress <a href="http://www.yumeza.com/english/">Michiko Godai</a> encountered Merii-san on the streets of Yokohama (Japan’s second largest city just outside of Tokyo), roaming around with her oversized rolling suitcase and face painted as white as fresh snow. On first sight, Godai wanted to learn more about the mysterious woman. Who was she? Where did she come from? What was her story?<br />
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Godai began her investigation by searching for the makeup store where Merii-san bought her white face paint. She learned that Merii-san once fancied expensive American brand makeup products, but with her dwindling savings, the shop owner introduced her to a 500 yen stage paint which ended up becoming her signature look, together with thick kabuki-like eyeliner.<br />
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Godai then found the dry cleaner that laundered Meri-san’s frilly white dresses and would kindly allow her to change in the store before returning to the streets, the hair salon that styled her hair until their clients requested that she no longer be allowed in, and the café that held a rose cup just for her use so as not to alienate the other customers.<br />
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Godai, together with the late playwright <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1554373/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm">Giho Sugiyama</a>, strung these stories carefully together like beads on a chain, and the powerful one-woman play <i>Yokohama Rosa</i> was born. </div>
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“Through Rosa, I want to depict Japan’s postwar history and convey it (to future generations),” Godai told <a href="http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201408060001">the <i>Asahi Shimbun</i></a> about why she created the play. Since its premiere in April 1996 at the Mitsukoshi Theatre in Tokyo, the piece has been presented 110 times to more than 51,000 people. Beginning in 2003, the piece has been performed each August in Yokohama’s Red Brick Warehouse in commemoration of the end of WWII.<br />
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Having its <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/yokohama-rosa">U.S. premiere this weekend</a> as part of Japan Society's<a href="http://www.japansociety.org/programs/stories-from-the-war"> Stories from the War</a> series marking the 70th anniversary of the war's end, Godai said, “A war produces tragedies regardless of whether a country wins or loses it... I want Americans to see 'Yokohama Rosa' as a message to pray for peace.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXd_Xr89dG7SLP86kfFOKhR19KKSWQqQPY8opOdFwsaWO3Y3Fd8pTycUDTejmKrq2-Y99EdQYLYG15a_U2GobTSoRWzfkGrSlIm3CXF4EXUri06i7UCQYyesvEMc3oj81ztHO0eJkzs8/s1600/yokohama+rosa_collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXd_Xr89dG7SLP86kfFOKhR19KKSWQqQPY8opOdFwsaWO3Y3Fd8pTycUDTejmKrq2-Y99EdQYLYG15a_U2GobTSoRWzfkGrSlIm3CXF4EXUri06i7UCQYyesvEMc3oj81ztHO0eJkzs8/s1600/yokohama+rosa_collage.jpg" height="212" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Michiko Godai portrays Merii over the decades. Photos by © Hideo Mori.</b></span></td></tr>
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Details of Merii-san’s early life are vague and inconclusive, as she never let down her guard to tell anyone her true story. Merii-san’s Japanese <a href="http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%81%95%E3%82%93">Wikipedia page</a> states that:<br />
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She was born in 1921 in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okayama_Prefecture">Okayama Prefecture</a> to a farming family. The oldest daughter of eight, she was married just briefly. After the war she worked at a local food joint that catered to foreign soldiers. It was there where she met and fell in love with a U.S. Army Official who whisked her off to Tokyo before getting drafted into the Korean War, never to return. Abandoned and forlorn, she turned towards Yokosuka (home of the Yokosuka <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Fleet_Activities_Yokosuka">naval base</a>) in Yokohama, where she began her life as a <i>pan-pan</i> [the word in occupied Japan for prostitute*]. Some records say this was the early 60s, others the mid-50s. She began garnering real attention in the 80s, then disappeared in the mid-90s. She was said to have died in a nursing home near her hometown in 2005 at the age of 84. Numerous songs, manga, films and even a novel and poem exist, inspired by her story.</blockquote>
In 1995, Michiko Godai visited the <a href="http://blog.goo.ne.jp/hagemarupika/e/07ae8f4b808f76bec3407699bb17d165">GM Building</a> where former <i>pan-pan</i> Merii-san (then in her seventies) dwelled and “worked” as a so-called Elevator Girl, escorting people up and down to the floors they wished to go. The tips that she made were now her only source of income. Godai explained to Merii-san that she would like to do a one-woman play about her life and according to Godai she smiled and said, “Is that so?”<br />
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Godai’s <i>Yokohama Rosa</i> is a fictionalized account inspired by the woman who came to be known as Merii-san. The 100 minute play traces the life of a woman known as Yokohama Rosa from the time she arrives in Yokohama, through her journey into prostitution, to her love-affair with a foreign soldier and her fears and insecurities about time moving on and her own aging.<br />
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The play depicts an innocent life completely tossed and turned by war (in this play not only is WWII considered, but also the wars in Korea and Vietnam) and is performed with live musicians and a panoramic display of striking images from the times. Part post-war history lesson, part testament to the perseverance of the human spirit, Merri-san's story, and the story of all women she represents, lives on through Michiko Godai's heartrending performance in this poignant production.<br />
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<i>--Lara Mones</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikkikumKZS97lrnDfOaphP7NfRH35I-Eyl5Y2OwG7kbN9bPbmflaQ2HV3i4TT_ofrpeVMC9Wj4pyoCYekCUGodOk4AN7YXDIQLKokHe6fWnlIxWMC7Xln60V5E1ht8HlrxnZj3R1-WDe8/s1600/yokohamamarii_composite2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikkikumKZS97lrnDfOaphP7NfRH35I-Eyl5Y2OwG7kbN9bPbmflaQ2HV3i4TT_ofrpeVMC9Wj4pyoCYekCUGodOk4AN7YXDIQLKokHe6fWnlIxWMC7Xln60V5E1ht8HlrxnZj3R1-WDe8/s1600/yokohamamarii_composite2.jpg" height="182" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Merii of Hama on the streets of Yokohama. Circa 1990.</b></span></span></td></tr>
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*<b>Pan-pan</b> (pronounced pahn-pahn, unknown origin) n. 1. The word for street walker or prostitute used in Japan at the end of WWII. (Kojien); 2. Prostitutes who catered to the Occupied Troops. At the end of WWII, the terms pan-pan girl and pan-suke emerged to describe the prostitutes who appeared on the streets and who specifically worked for the GI troops in Occupied Japan. While the origins of the word are uncertain, some believe it to have come from the English word “pom-pom” meaning sex, while others, the American pronunciation of the Indonesian word for woman “Perem-paun” (pronounced purom pan). Still others believe that it came from the onomatopoeia “pen-pen” describing the shamisen (aka geishas). Whatever its origin, the word that the GIs used became “pan-pan” when it eventually reached the years of the Japanese. (Zokugo); 3. Today, the word or sound “pan-pan” is a commonly used adjective meaning full or to be stretched tight. <a href="http://zokugo-dict.com/">Via</a>.<br />
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Sources:<br />
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<i>Shiroi Kao no Densetsu wo Motomete: Yokohama kara Yokohama Rosa he no Deshin</i>, Michiko Godai<br />
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<i>Yokohama Rosa</i>, Giho Sugiyama and Michiko Godai<br />
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<i>Yokohama Merii</i> (film), Takayuki Nakamura<br />
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<i>Kojien Dictionary</i> and <a href="http://zokugo-dict.com/">zokugo-dict.com</a><br />
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-15499102215609410352015-04-20T12:16:00.000-04:002015-04-20T12:16:26.633-04:00Learning Japanese: Enhance Classes With A Listening and Reading Routine<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFelO1bUvvbCNEb-ZeToGaW1iXZd51oUTaBr2GwExSIVM00T3HglvNCbY5m6ika0Mcs67KsqGaJOEeymtqYlyZ42kIah5x3mtOF6toFUKmVB1HuOtIj_yEzorVEZnQVlXcAH41LSaJnQ/s1600/number-3-1024x682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUFelO1bUvvbCNEb-ZeToGaW1iXZd51oUTaBr2GwExSIVM00T3HglvNCbY5m6ika0Mcs67KsqGaJOEeymtqYlyZ42kIah5x3mtOF6toFUKmVB1HuOtIj_yEzorVEZnQVlXcAH41LSaJnQ/s1600/number-3-1024x682.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Learning Japanese? Go for 'total immersion' even if not in Japan. <a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/japanese-in-a-year/">Via</a>.</b></span></td></tr>
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Of all the ways to <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2015/01/taking-first-steps-to-learning-japanese.html">start studying Japanese</a>, many find taking classes to be one of the most effective. But making the most of class means more than studying. Of course, memorizing vocabulary, reviewing class materials, and participating in lessons are vital, but there are other things you can do to be prepared. It starts with developing a routine that exposes you to Japanese beyond class and textbooks. <br /><br />Unless you’re living in Japan, you probably won't experience Japanese involuntarily, so you have to seek it out for yourself. This means making Japanese a part of your daily life, such as watching Japanese television shows on sites like <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/">Crunchyroll</a>. From hit dramas such as <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/im-mita-your-housekeeper">I’m Mita, Your Housekeeper</a> to classic anime such as <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/bakemonogatari">Bakemonogatari</a>, Crunchyroll gives access to videos more than a week old for free, or you can pay a monthly fee to access videos as soon as they are released, as well as HD video and streaming to almost any device. <br /><br />As for reading, NHK offers a variety of <a href="http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/">simplified news articles in Japanese</a>, and you can also buy manga from sites such as <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yesasia.com%2F&ei=ExMsVbTsHYbFgwSE0oHQCw&usg=AFQjCNGbFxsz6OXqRmbKzOp6SUK7nTFO8g&sig2=xQgig-oF-AY0Gig0A94wUw&bvm=bv.90491159,d.eXY">YesAsia</a> or in person at stores such as <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kinokuniya.com%2Fus%2F&ei=VhMsVYetJMy5ggTGv4HwBQ&usg=AFQjCNHVMJyACg1IFOk48pySfS8dQOJAXg&sig2=-aXwq2xpbWv6tEBQF4KeDg&bvm=bv.90491159,d.eXY">Kinokuniya</a>. There are <a href="http://japanesetease.net/easy-to-read-manga-for-japanese-beginners-vol-01/">lists</a> upon <a href="http://www.fluentu.com/japanese/blog/learn-japanese-with-manga/">lists</a> of recommended manga for beginners out there, but perhaps the most compelling recommendation comes from Khatzumoto of <a href="http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/what-manga-to-read-as-a-beginner">All Japanese All The Time</a>: “Don’t read according to your level, read according to your interest.”<br /><br />Having Skype conversations with native Japanese speakers is one of the best ways to utilize your Japanese. If you make mistakes, you can simply ask your friend where you went wrong, all while helping them work on their English. <a href="http://lang-8.com/">Lang-8</a> is a great place to make friends for tlanguage exchange. <br /><br />Discussing the <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/11/learning-japanese-classroom-experience.html">Japanese language classroom experience</a>, Tomoyo Kamimura, head of Japan Society’s Language Center tells students “if you can arrange a language exchange with a Japanese student—I have paired up several people here—it works very well. You spend one or one and a half hours speaking only Japanese, then one hour speaking English. You have to get exposure to real Japanese, not just what’s on a screen or in a book.”<br /><br />Podcasts can be a great way to expose yourself to Japanese even while doing something else. Japan's esteemed news outlet Nikkei offers <a href="http://www.nikkei.co.jp/podcast/veritas/">hours of Japanese podcast programs</a> available online for free. <a href="http://www.tbsradio.jp/index.html">TBS Radio</a> also offers tons of content, and for news on the latest technology and trends, <a href="http://hotcast.info/">Hotcast</a> is a great choice. In addition to podcasts, there is a decent amount of <a href="http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6241&PN=1&TPN=1">free audiobooks</a> available for download, some with transcripts in Japanese, and others with translations.<br /> <br /> Listening is great practice without having to “do” anything (besides focus, of course). This is especially useful for commuters and anyone who doesn’t have the time to sit in front of their computer watching J-dramas for an hour at a time. And you can still listen to things you enjoy – music, news, sports, reviews of books, video games or movies – only now, you’re getting accustomed to the language you’re learning at the same time. <br /><br />It’s all a matter of input preceding output – input being reading and listening, and output being writing and speaking. These are the main components of a language, and it’s important as a beginner to prioritize them depending on how you’re primarily using Japanese. Many Japanese learners choose to focus on speaking and listening in order to have conversations in Japanese, while focusing less on writing and reading kanji.<br /><br />To help with both, it’s a good idea to add every single word you’re interested in that you hear or read to your <a href="http://www.ankisrs.net/">Anki decks</a>, so that you can review them until you’ve got them memorized. Once you’ve done that, you can try them out in class or when talking to friends to make sure you’re using them correctly. Even just five to ten words a day can make a big difference in improving your vocabulary. <br /> <br /> Whatever you choose to focus on, keeping a steady schedule is important. Anki reviews pile up if ignored for a day, so keeping your review count at a relatively low level and adding each day is a good way to stay on top of them. As a general rule, expect to be reviewing for at least an hour if you have more than a hundred reviews due for the day. This is easily managed by setting review limits in the program itself, and it’s also important to note that there are both iPhone and Android apps available, which can help you finish those reviews even when you are not home.<br /><br />With a daily routine, learning a language becomes much less daunting and much more doable. Even a typical routine, such as listening to an interesting podcast on the train, watching your favorite show at home, and reviewing words you’ve learned before you go to sleep or first thing in the morning will help your Japanese improve outside of class, so you can spend more of your class time learning instead of trying to catch up.<br /><br /><i>–Mark Gallucci</i></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Gallucci is a Communications intern at Japan Society. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University at
Albany and completed a study-abroad program in Kansai Gaidai University, Japan.
He has worked as an English-Japanese tutor and is currently enrolled at Japan
Society’s Language Center.</span></span></i></b></div>
Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-89914319441969969652015-04-03T12:06:00.000-04:002015-04-14T16:51:03.974-04:00Frozen In Time: The Cinematic Legacy Of Japan's 'Eternal Virgin'<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3dbxdSTj2QFFI_SSsu1RusCM8q1MZ38DLT6taYZaz6h5SkgmeJl6LifUoA2eDN5yWvo8zVwyU_g0756FNFVO1kHa8lj2QTVxeHNUwvbE_hWHUnOt2sUFcj8W1I_8ymy4pQ5jX5Ty1i4s/s1600/SetsukoHaraCollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3dbxdSTj2QFFI_SSsu1RusCM8q1MZ38DLT6taYZaz6h5SkgmeJl6LifUoA2eDN5yWvo8zVwyU_g0756FNFVO1kHa8lj2QTVxeHNUwvbE_hWHUnOt2sUFcj8W1I_8ymy4pQ5jX5Ty1i4s/s1600/SetsukoHaraCollage.jpg" height="195" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;">Setsuko Hara's iconic career spanned only three decades.</span></b></td></tr>
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For more than three decades, she dazzled audiences as the ideal Japanese woman. Boys fell in love with her, women wanted to be like her, and everyone respected her incredible talent. Then, in the blink of an eye, her career was over. Japan’s Eternal Virgin, Setsuko Hara, had retired, never again to be seen by the public eye. <br />
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Born Masae Aida, Hara began her journey to stardom in 1935, with her big break coming in 1937, when she starred in <i>The New Earth</i>, a German-Japanese collaboration that cemented her role as “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/21/movies/what-they-did-in-the-war-two-japanese-actresses-propaganda-work.html?_r=0">the go-to actress</a>” for young female characters.<br />
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The film features Hara as an innocent girl who, upon being rejected by her fiancé in favor of a German woman, attempts to jump into a volcano in order to end her suffering. Eventually, her father convinces the fiancé, who had fallen in love with Germany and its culture, to embrace Japanese culture once more and proceed with the wedding. The film, intended to strengthen the alliance between Nazi Germany and Japan while introducing Japan and its culture to the rest of Europe, was a commercial success in Japan, and was well reviewed in Germany, mainly because <a href="http://www.mori.art.museum/english/contents/tokyo-berlin/about/img/Daughter.pdf">the government ordered critics to praise it</a>.<br />
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<i>The New Earth</i> was one of the rarely screened WWII propaganda films featured in Japan Society’s ongoing series <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/programs/film/globus-film-series-2015-the-most-beautiful"><i>The Most Beautiful: The War Films of Shirley Yamaguchi & Setsuko Hara</i></a>, which shows how the actresses' roles reflected a nation during a time of upheaval and change. Continuing through Saturday with iconic postwar films, the series also juxtaposes the actresses' lives. Yamaguchi was often in the public spotlight (<i>Artforum</i> wrote that "<a href="http://artforum.com/film/id=50948">the entire twentieth-century history of the Pacific Rim is reflected</a>" in her life). In stark contrast, Hara was about as fond of interviews as <a href="http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20117512,00.html">Greta Garbo</a>. <br />
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Two Hara films remain to be shown in the series, both of which would eventually define her legacy.<br />
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In Akira Kurosawa’s <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/no-regrets-for-our-youth"><i>No Regrets for Our Youth</i></a> (1946), screening April 3, Hara finds herself trapped in the middle of a love triangle. Her suitors are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, with one being a liberal-minded man and the other a militant radical. Her decision brings her great sadness, and serves to reinforce the idea of democracy as a positive change, with women’s rights and anti-militarism being points of emphasis. </div>
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Screening April 4 is Yasujiro Ozu’s <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/late-spring"><i>Late Spring</i></a> (1949), the first in a series of films often referred to as the “Noriko Trilogy”, comprised of <i>Late Spring</i>, <i>Early Summer</i> (1951), and <i>Tokyo Story</i> (1953). All three films featured Setsuko Hara as a character named Noriko, showing her gradual progression from a daughter who fears marriage into an eventual widow, and the conflict between the demands of society and the desires of the individual.<br />
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Aiko Masubuchi, Japan Society Film Program Officer, notes that throughout Hara’s entire career, it was as if she were two separate entities – the onscreen Hara, and the private Hara, known to only her close friends. Even now, we can only guess as to what she was like in private. Her onscreen persona was was often representative of an idea, an existence that changed to suit the prevailing ideas of the time, from militarism to democracy. On the silver screen, she was the sweet sisterly figure supporting the future pilots of the Japanese air force, the perfect daughter, and a devoted wife.<br />
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Where the cinematic persona of Setsuko Hara was usually a stoic, serious woman, Masae Aida was <a href="http://vermillionandonenights.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-about-setsuko-hara.html">surprising her fellow actors</a> with her love of beer and her sense of humor, playfully kicking actor Ryo Ikebe for teasing her.<br />
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<a href="http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2258-ozu-and-setsuko-hara">Hara’s collaboration with Ozu</a> would go on for 12 years, lasting until 1961. When Ozu died of cancer two years later, Hara, then 43, announced soon afterward her retirement in a <a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2011/04/1742929/setsuko-hara-diva-who-left-japan-wanting-lot-more">shocking press conference</a>, where she admitted that she enjoyed neither her job nor any of the work she had done. She was merely providing for her family, and now that that was done, she could finally retire and be herself again – not Setsuko Hara, but Masae Aida. </div>
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After her retirement, she retreated to Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture, where she still lives to this day. She has consistently refused all media requests for interviews and photographs, and has not been seen by the public eye since her final press conference, save for a few paparazzi photos taken without her consent. Having never married, she exists to the public as the “Eternal Virgin”, a name given to her at the peak of her career.<br />
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And it is at that peak where her image will forever remain, frozen in time. <br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci</i></div>
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<b style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;">Images (from left to right): Setuko Hara stars in <i>The New Earth,</i> 1937; <i>Toward a Decisive Battle in the Sky</i>, 1943 © Courtesy of Toho Co., Ltd.; <i>Late Spring</i>, 1949 © Shochiku Co., Ltd.; <i>No Regrets for Our Youth</i>, 1946 © Courtesy Toho Co., Ltd.; and <i>Tokyo Story</i>, 1953 © Shochiku Co., Ltd.. </b></div>
Poguegohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10276423517944006742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-38681519649496967042015-04-01T12:50:00.000-04:002015-04-01T12:50:38.807-04:00Rebuilding From The Rubble: Three Japanese Architects Construct Amidst Destruction<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7zb6WLn0uDteUdl8h28dJ1Q9EVUdvjxJ2ykLev3haGmG6d_XlQ562u3V-J6-yGS7yC5h-N_otGbyoqJAZuqv3G3P8VjxUgi0iHdEoPOfDe1wL0xoEVfKV0gOGU6ZDfsL4S3EgAQM5r98/s1600/140416164702-naoshima-oval-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7zb6WLn0uDteUdl8h28dJ1Q9EVUdvjxJ2ykLev3haGmG6d_XlQ562u3V-J6-yGS7yC5h-N_otGbyoqJAZuqv3G3P8VjxUgi0iHdEoPOfDe1wL0xoEVfKV0gOGU6ZDfsL4S3EgAQM5r98/s1600/140416164702-naoshima-oval-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="text-align: start;">Tadao Ando's <i>Benesse House Oval</i> on the island of Naoshima. </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/03/travel/naoshima-japan-art-island/" style="text-align: start;">Via</a><span style="text-align: start;">.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<br />After years of toxic emissions from refineries built during Japan’s era of modernization, <a href="http://www.yayoishionoiri.com/blog/part-i-benesse-art-site-naoshima-an-art-island-as-a-catalyst-for-social-and-economic-change">Naoshima</a>, an island in Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture, had become a <a href="http://www.yayoishionoiri.com/blog/part-i-benesse-art-site-naoshima-an-art-island-as-a-catalyst-for-social-and-economic-change">barren wasteland</a> – a dumping ground for industrial waste. So when philanthropist Soichiro Fukutake approached Pritzker-winning architect Tadao Ando in 1988 to join him in his vision to revitalize the land, Ando’s initial response was, unsurprisingly, <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/07/29/style/architecture-and-art-of-a-setouchi-summer/#.VRm2A_lzSdc">“No, that’s impossible.”</a><br /> <br /> Fukutake had purchased the south side of the island two years earlier, aiming to use art as a catalyst for the island’s economic growth. He eventually managed to convince Ando to get on board, and in 1992, work began on Ando’s new building: the Bennesse House, a hotel and museum that provides guests with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/travel/naoshima-japan-an-unlikely-island-as-art-attraction.html">perhaps the most up-close-and-personal experience with art in the world</a>.<br /><br />Now, Naoshima has been transformed into a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/03/travel/naoshima-japan-art-island/">massive art project</a>, and has become a major tourist attraction for art fanatics all over the world, due in no small part to Ando’s work on the many attractions situated on the island. It has since grown to include artists like Shinro Otake, the man responsible for creating a <a href="http://www.benesse-artsite.jp/en/naoshimasento/index.html">museum where you can bathe in an art environment</a> - even the bath itself was designed by Otake.<br /><br />Ando introduced his eighth work on Naoshima two years ago: the Ando Museum, a <a href="http://www.benesse-artsite.jp/en/ando-museum/">100-year-old traditional wooden house</a> with an interior that demonstrates his signature style, mixing past and present in a wood-and-concrete building. <br /><br />But when it comes to rebuilding, the scope of Ando’s work extends far beyond Naoshima. In 1995, the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Kobe, <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/01/16/editorials/the-kobe-quake-20-years-on/#.VRrX2PlzSdc">killing 6,434 people</a> and destroying countless expressways, buildings, and homes in the process. Many of these buildings held cultural significance, and had just <a href="http://architecturalmoleskine.blogspot.com/2012/11/tadao-ando-hyogo-museum-of-art.html">barely survived the bombings of World War II</a>.<br /> <br /> In response to this massive loss, Ando proposed an art museum and a waterfront plaza in Kobe that could serve as a shelter for refugees. Few could claim to be more qualified than Ando for the job, as he had designed 35 buildings in the Kobe area, and none of them suffered so much as a crack.<br /><br />Today, the museum is a big tourist attraction in Kobe, which has since recovered from the disaster, and Ando continues to design buildings, his most recent project being the Visitor, Exhibition and Conference Center at the Clark Art Institute in Massachussetts.<br /><br />Ando is the third of seven Japanese architects to win the Pritzker Prize (second only to America), the highest honor an architect can receive, since the award’s inception in 1979. Last year’s recipient, Shigeru Ban, is the most recent of the seven award winners.<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZ902yZaFfvZ6Vvfgmu8z6g5zFN35fh3KZr2GjOHhv0HESS83jCGaum5uzx77ERRyBXbC2HjTzutbC4uvN0Vn7EEIBArdGs9UUWS4C-wQtG7M5d6x2B-AkmehDbUZBHA87_l2S5truo0/s1600/292574715.jpg" height="300" style="color: #0000ee; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="text-align: start;">Shigeru Ban's temporary churches serve as community centers as well as places of worship for disaster ravaged towns. </span><a href="http://wnpr.org/post/face-disaster-pritzker-winner-shigeru-ban-designs-solutions" style="text-align: start;">Via</a></b></span><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>.</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></td></tr>
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Ban, like Ando, is known for his work in helping regions rebuild – he was also in Kobe building shelters for victims of the earthquake, but of a different kind. Ban believes that shelters should be not only reliable, but cheap, easy to disassemble, and portable. Following this philosophy, he developed the “<a href="http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/works/1995_paper-log-house-kobe/index.html">Paper Log House</a>”, a shelter composed of donated beer crates loaded with sandbags and paper tubes. Additionally, he designed “<a href="http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/works/1995_paper-church/index.html">Paper Church</a>”, a community center in Kobe also built with paper tubes. It now stands in Taiwan, having been disassembled and later reconstructed there in 2008.<br /><br />In an announcement on the official Pritzker Prize <a href="http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2014/announcement">website,</a> Ban said that his Japanese upbringing helps account for his wish to waste no materials, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s an environmentalist.<br /> <br />“When I started working this way, almost thirty years ago, nobody was talking about the environment. But this way of working came naturally to me. I was always interested in low cost, local, reusable materials,” he said.<br /><br />And in a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/11/paper-palaces">New Yorker profile</a>, he went on to say, “I do not know the meaning of ‘Green Architect.’ I have no interest in ‘Green,’ ‘Eco,’ and ‘Environmentally Friendly.’ I just hate wasting things.”<br /><br /> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfxbr7st-6ZO9PO3BbxVzoB-MnKe0uKvd1GPzCYJoN5ojsLSKzZIk0fLK11Yij-wnT7bkQwPKQ7Zgu1D2HkkWp-DdlbG9ih72WMRrsmUDk2xZnODPXNVvymttbyi8rUS4bZ73iyfzQcg/s1600/lrg_ito.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfxbr7st-6ZO9PO3BbxVzoB-MnKe0uKvd1GPzCYJoN5ojsLSKzZIk0fLK11Yij-wnT7bkQwPKQ7Zgu1D2HkkWp-DdlbG9ih72WMRrsmUDk2xZnODPXNVvymttbyi8rUS4bZ73iyfzQcg/s1600/lrg_ito.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="text-align: start;">Toyo Ito's "Home-for-All" project in the tsunami-struck city of Rikuzentakata. </span><a href="http://blog.archpaper.com/2013/10/in-chicago-toyo-ito-reflects-on-3-11-earthquake/" style="text-align: start;">Via</a><span style="text-align: start;">.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<br />Toyo Ito, another like-minded Japanese architect who won the Pritzker Prize , <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/11/paper-palaces">said of Ban</a>, “Many architects in the world today are competing only for the beauty of the architectural form. Ban-san’s attempt is a counter-punch against these architects, and I think he represents a new model of a ‘socially responsible’ architect.”<br /> <br /> Ito himself could be called socially responsible – in his book <i>Toyo Ito – Force of Nature</i>, he discusses his work on “<a href="http://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2013/06/17/rebuilding_communities.html">Home for All</a>”, a project to build small homes made of wood in communities affected by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami where everyone can gather and communicate with each other. He writes:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the modern period, architecture has been rated highest for its originality. As a result, the most primal themes—why a building is made and for whom—have been forgotten. A disaster zone, where everything is lost offers the opportunity for us to take a fresh look, from the ground up, at what architecture really is. ‘Home-for-All’ may consist of small buildings, but it calls to the fore the vital question of what form architecture should take in the modern era—even calling into question the most primal themes, the very meaning of architecture.</blockquote>
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In an <a href="http://www.domusweb.it/en/interviews/2012/09/03/toyo-ito-home-for-all.html">interview</a> with Domus, he talks about his motivation for the project:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
After the big earthquake in Japan we had to make a lot of sacrifices, many victims came out of that and so we went back to zero, we went back to the idea of architecture as a place to make people gather, a place that everybody can use. This is what we have done, restarting the city once again as it has happened so many times in our history. It is a way to make architecture that can be applicable all over the world, thinking architecture as a social tool, as a way of creating spaces to make people stay together.</blockquote>
Perhaps it is this sense of social responsibility and deeper thinking as to what architecture is really about and who it is for that has separated these award-winning Japanese architects from the rest of the pack.<br /><br />While the three may have vastly different styles and approaches to their work, their works will not only be remembered for their ingenuity, but their impact on the communities they were created to support.<br /><br /><i>--Mark Gallucci</i></div>
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Poguegohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10276423517944006742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-63401656916351034442015-03-10T16:38:00.000-04:002015-03-10T16:38:58.475-04:00Recovery's Long Road: Fukushima Four Years After The Great East Japan Earthquake<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW08uc2uCzQ84KwCQ1txjwJTnCskqKed5dHT-c6xE_eMRua3XUPZUa5y4K6qVxrxITTW87hfi7Q1ELKhZh_ojw98uax1NowTPLLyT0vkuT61Gsu8p9GRky7tJ49kL07Zw9JFYqLHpGRkA/s1600/tumblr_inline_mn4226CFHQ1qjylf9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW08uc2uCzQ84KwCQ1txjwJTnCskqKed5dHT-c6xE_eMRua3XUPZUa5y4K6qVxrxITTW87hfi7Q1ELKhZh_ojw98uax1NowTPLLyT0vkuT61Gsu8p9GRky7tJ49kL07Zw9JFYqLHpGRkA/s1600/tumblr_inline_mn4226CFHQ1qjylf9.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="text-align: start;">Seeds of Hope: Fukushima rice recently passed radiation tests for the first time since the disasters. Image via the </span><a href="http://www.farm-n.jp/yuuki/" style="text-align: start;">Fukushima Organic Agriculture Network</a><span style="text-align: start;">/</span><a href="http://www.japansociety.org/earthquake" style="text-align: start;">JERF</a><span style="text-align: start;">.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<br />The 4th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami has arrived, and the effects of the widespread destruction at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant are still being felt today.<br /><br />Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the company that owns the now-defunct plant, is still trying to persuade local governments to allow the restart of some of its other reactors, which would significantly improve its financial situation, as it still owes more than <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/tepco-president-sees-progress-in-restarting-japan-reactors-1424019601">¥5 trillion in damages</a>, in addition to the cost of decommissioning the plants affected by the disaster.<br /><br /><div>
To make matters worse, Tepco president Naomi Hirose announced a month ago that it <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/01/23/uk-japan-fukushima-water-idUKKBN0KW0BP20150123">would not be able to meet its self-imposed deadline</a> to decontaminate water tainted by radioactivity by the end of March, which was then followed by the news that it had <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/24/us-japan-nuclear-idUSKBN0LS1ZN20150224">found a new source of radiation leakage</a> into the sea.<br /></div>
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It should come as no surprise, then, that the public is largely opposed to the restart of the reactors. Back in 2010, Japan had plans to make nuclear power <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/30/us-japan-nuclear-idUSKBN0L314M20150130">at least 50 percent of its total energy by 2030</a>, but a year ago, <a href="http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201403180058">according to an Asahi poll</a>, 59 percent of Japanese respondents opposed the restart of nuclear power plants, making it highly unlikely that we’ll be seeing an increase in Japanese nuclear power plant activity anytime soon.<br /> <br /> Even now, around <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/04/national/more-fukushima-evacuees-are-deciding-to-stay-away-for-good/#.VPjKj-E8boF">120,000 Fukushima residents remain evacuees</a>, and a government survey of 16,600 households in fiscal 2014 found that 48 percent of these evacuees aren’t planning on coming back. Concerns about radiation and slow reconstruction efforts are keeping them away, and the temporary housing situation isn’t giving them much confidence either. <br /><br />Another problem that towns in the Tohoku region face is population decline. A majority of the evacuees who do decide to return are senior citizens, and according to surveys, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-08/japan-glimpses-its-future-as-elderly-return-to-fukushima">only 3 percent of those in their 30s and 40s plan to go back to the towns they were forced to leave behind</a> in the wake of the disaster.<br /> <br /> More than 89,000 of the evacuees live in temporary housing units that were only built to last two years, and plans to create more permanent accommodations are <a href="http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/recovery/AJ201409110032">not on track to be completed until fiscal 2017</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /> But construction is progressing, as more and more projects are reaching completion, such as the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2015/02/19/highway-to-open-near-fukushima-nuclear-plant-no-exits-allowed/">Joban Expressway</a>, a highway that opened on March 1 that passes through the towns of Okuma and Futaba in Fukushima, close to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.<br /> <br /> Progress is also being made in agriculture, and the food in Fukushima has come a long way since the disaster. While <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/four-years-after-fukushima-nuclear-accident-local-farmers-struggle-for-viability-1425930543">commercial farming is now prohibited in areas that were deemed highly contaminated</a>, a few months ago, rice from Fukushima passed radiation tests for the first time since the tsunami, and South Korea, who had <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/05/us-fukushima-food-idUSKBN0KE07920150105">banned imports from Fukushima</a>, is now conducting visits to the power plant in consideration of reopening trade agreements with the region.<br /> <br /> Fukushima is even <a href="http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/03/fukushima-olympics-baseball-2020-tokyo-softball/">trying to host Olympic baseball in 2020</a>, should it be voted back into the Olympic lineup. <br /><br />“We are still in the process of recovery from the disaster, and it would be a dream to have world-class athletes play here,” said Fukushima city official Hiroaki Kuwajima, according to Agence France-Presse. <br /></div>
<div>
Recovery efforts still have a long way to go, with many problems ahead, but the state of the Tohoku region is steadily improving. While things may never be the same in Fukushima, many of the people affected by the disaster are on a long, but promising, road to recovery.<br /><br /><i>--Mark Gallucci</i></div>
Poguegohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10276423517944006742noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-71361883737869901262015-01-26T10:58:00.000-05:002015-01-26T14:57:35.966-05:00The Story of Tokyo Rose<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI3y1i_t6t_As0pz2kQd5sA6trA0ZipiWZa96MFhatCRNSzA8hThRUIp3NGigNmSQfbDRlkbQjNJ8FpGZIqfAhfwGT74_NMXpLScsjpL3Y4XrY-BreX2K26HK1imzt-VAStT3IBSbwjzc/s1600/Zero+Hour_+Courtesy+of++Aichi+Triennale+2013+(c)%2BNaoshi%2BHatori%2B(2)_WEB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI3y1i_t6t_As0pz2kQd5sA6trA0ZipiWZa96MFhatCRNSzA8hThRUIp3NGigNmSQfbDRlkbQjNJ8FpGZIqfAhfwGT74_NMXpLScsjpL3Y4XrY-BreX2K26HK1imzt-VAStT3IBSbwjzc/s1600/Zero+Hour_+Courtesy+of++Aichi+Triennale+2013+(c)%2BNaoshi%2BHatori%2B(2)_WEB.jpg" height="273" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b> A multitude of Tokyo Roses in </b><b>Miwa Yanagi's</b><b> <i>Zero Hour</i>. (c) Naoshi Hatori </b></span></td></tr>
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<i><br /></i>
<i>Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II,</i><i> Japan Society launches its </i><a href="http://www.japansociety.org/programs/stories-from-the-war" style="font-style: italic;">Stories from the War</a><i> programming series this week with Miwa Yanagi's </i>Zero Hour<i>, a theatrical retelling of the legend of Tokyo Rose. Hayley Valk, a recent intern for Japan Society's Performing Arts Program, reports from Frederick P. Close's seminal book on the subject, </i><a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442232051">Tokyo Rose / An American Patriot: A Dual Biography</a><i> (Scarecrow, 2010).</i><br />
<br />
<b>Born on the Fourth of July</b><br />
<br />
An immigrant to Los Angeles from Yamanashi Prefecture, Jun Toguri was overjoyed when his daughter Iva was born on Independence Day, 1916. Iva was American through and through – she loved baseball, had no taste for Japanese music but loved Big Band, and her extroverted personality won her many Caucasian friends but clashed with her father’s conservative Japanese style. Her childhood was spent in various cities in Southern California, as her father moved through the import-export business and eventually came to own grocery stores. Iva graduated with a degree in zoology from UCLA, but without many career prospects due to her gender and Japanese heritage.<br />
<br />
In June 1941, Iva’s aunt fell ill in Tokyo. Since Iva’s mother Fumi also suffered from failing health, Iva decided to pay a visit in her place and travel to Japan for the first time. She boarded a ship with her friend Chiyeko Ito, not knowing that she wouldn’t return to the U.S. for another seven years.<br />
<br />
<b>An American in Tokyo</b><br />
<br />
Six months after arriving in Tokyo, Iva heard the shocking news: Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. She struggled to book passage on a ship leaving the country but, without the appropriate passport or funds, was stranded. The police regularly came knocking at her door to harass Iva and convince her to renounce her U.S. citizenship, but she refused again and again. Though she lived with her aunt for a time, this unyielding support of the enemy made Iva’s relatives and neighbors uncomfortable and in time resentful, and she ultimately decided to move into a boarding house found with the help of her Japanese language school. Meanwhile, her family back home had been interned.<br />
<br />
Realizing that she would have to make her own way in Japan for some time to come, Iva continued learning Japanese, improving on the very little knowledge she possessed before arriving in Japan. She found several small jobs in these years, transcribing English for Domei News Agency, teaching piano to children from wealthy families, and doing office work for the Danish Minister. As Japan struggled in a time of severe rationing, Iva actively traded on the black market and smuggled goods to POWs, saving Allied lives. Finally, she began part-time work as a typist at Radio Tokyo.<br />
<br />
<b>Zero Hour</b><br />
<br />
Early in Japan’s propaganda effort, three English-speaking POWs with broadcasting experience were brought to Radio Tokyo to develop programming. Charles Cousens, Ted Ince, and Norman Reyes were forced by the Japanese government to oversee an hour-long radio show called <i>Zero Hour</i>, containing music, skits, censored news, and POW messages. They searched for a female broadcaster to introduce the jazz music segments and deliver short scripted announcements, and came across typist Iva Toguri; fluent in English and with a raspy, unalluring voice, she was exactly what the program needed. Facing government threats, she was given little choice but to accept the position. <br />
<br />
As the primary of multiple women broadcasting for <i>Zero Hour</i>, Iva became established under the identity “Orphan Ann.” She could sympathize with the stranded GIs as she greeted them, “my fellow orphans in the Pacific.” Though these comments ostensibly served the Japanese government’s objective of weakening the Allied forces’ morale, the POWs carefully scripted the show to subvert the negativity in favor of cleverly-worded encouragement. The preserved records of Iva’s Zero Hour broadcasts reveal that, in fact, she did little more than entertain GI listeners and announce the upcoming music selections.<br />
<br />
<b>Will the Real Tokyo Rose Please Stand Up?</b><br />
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Meanwhile, from very early in the war talk was flying about a radio personality known only as “Tokyo Rose.” According to GIs in the Pacific, Tokyo Rose was famous for demoralizing comments, rumors of unfaithful girlfriends back home, and leaking military secrets. She was described as a seductress with an English accent. Impossible to pin on any one broadcaster, the name was attributed in rumors to other broadcasters such as Radio Manilla’s Myrtle Lipton or even to Amelia Earhart. The popularity of the Tokyo Rose legend became so widespread that she was even common vocabulary back in the U.S., encouraged by movies, cartoons, and articles.<br />
<br />
To this day, no records exist of any broadcaster introducing herself as “Tokyo Rose” on the air. Furthermore, no one woman’s voice or broadcast contents perfectly match all the myriad qualities and statements attributed to her. With the information available at this point, it is safe to say that no single Tokyo Rose ever existed. Rather, she existed as an amalgamation of various broadcasters born to fill a void in the GIs lives left by homesickness, hopelessness, and sexual frustration. A figment of collective imagination, she became all too real when successively propagated by GIs and the media.<br />
<br />
<b>Suspect Treason</b><br />
<br />
Given these facts, the next mystery is why Iva Toguri ever claimed to be the “one and original ‘Tokyo Rose’” in the confusion that followed the war. Possibly out of a desire for the money to return home or the promise of fame, or perhaps just out of ignorance, Iva quickly dug herself into a hole she couldn’t escape from. After being promised $2,000 for the first interview as “Tokyo Rose,” Iva agreed to give many more, and signed her name over and over as “Iva Toguri/Tokyo Rose," which would cause her trouble for years to come.<br />
<br />
On October 17, 1945, Iva entered Sugamo Prison under suspicion of treason against the U.S. Facing entirely false and fabricated accusations, Iva was treated far worse by her home government than by even the Japanese military government during the war. She was alternately confirmed as a U.S. citizen and therefore capable of treason, and denied the benefits of U.S. citizenship under the false accusation that she had renounced it in favor of the Portuguese citizenship she acquired after marrying Phil d’Aquino in her Radio Tokyo years. After a year in jail full of painful investigations, a lack of substantial evidence led the CIC and FBI to drop the case, and Iva walked out of Sugamo on October 25, 1946. <br />
<br />
<div>
In response to civilian outrage towards Iva’s release spurred by Walter Winchell’s U.S. radio show, the Truman administration sought to save face and not appear too easy on traitors. The FBI reopened the case with an open call for witnesses. The witness testimonies were censored to make the strongest case against Iva, and she was returned to Sugamo and slated to return to the U.S. for further investigation. Because her case would be under the jurisdiction of the location she first set foot on U.S. soil, her destination was set for San Francisco, where she would be likely to encounter the greatest opposition. In 1948, after seven years abroad, Iva was reunited with her father in her home country. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYla7AfXCHaT4-p_j_QGkVX731TA_elgzJfjLnuMY2BbNRjmhA-S4fcZbN8a0OI0ORXALEt0dpJS0wpEdvFp5nQ-jJrrsjFIIlyAasG4F07Gv9lLDKrGd1cVKiQGOIHIjo60cjjfrMmCE/s1600/Iva_Toguri_mug_shot_comp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYla7AfXCHaT4-p_j_QGkVX731TA_elgzJfjLnuMY2BbNRjmhA-S4fcZbN8a0OI0ORXALEt0dpJS0wpEdvFp5nQ-jJrrsjFIIlyAasG4F07Gv9lLDKrGd1cVKiQGOIHIjo60cjjfrMmCE/s1600/Iva_Toguri_mug_shot_comp.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;">Iva Toguri's Sugamo mugshot. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Rose">Via</a>. </span></b></td></tr>
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<br />
<b>The United States v. Iva Toguri</b><br />
<br />
Thanks to Jun, Iva was grateful to finally have legal representation from Wayne Collins, yet was still forced to spend almost two years in jail before and during the trial without having been convicted. She was charged with eight overt acts of treason, so vague they proved no anti-U.S. crimes in and of themselves. In desperate prosecution, Thomas DeWolfe and the U.S. government went so far as to bribe and coach witnesses, spend exorbitantly to secure testimonies, sabotage the defense, destroy records, and exclude all minorities from the jury.<br />
<br />
The deceitful actions of the U.S. government only worked to confirm the verdict of a trial that was doomed at the core. The question was never, “Did Iva Toguri commit treason?” but instead, “Is Iva Toguri truly Tokyo Rose?”, Tokyo Rose automatically assumed a guilty identity. The eight overt acts of treason were ambiguously worded and lacked concrete evidence on either side. The judge eliminated the possibility of duress and, left merely with speculations of Iva’s intention, the jury found her guilty of one overt act: “speaking into the microphone concerning the loss of ships.” After 12 weeks, 800,000 words of testimony, and $500,000 prosecution (if not five or ten times more), Iva Toguri was sentenced on October 6, 1949 to a $10,000 fine and 10 years in prison.<br />
<br />
<b>“Pardon me, Iva”</b><br />
<br />
Iva stayed busy during her next six years in Alderson Federal Reformatory for Women. She learned and worked in coding, medicine, and dentistry, and spent free time reading and making bags and other crafts to sell. She was well-liked for her poise and generosity, and developed strong relationships with her inmates and guards.<br />
<br />
During her time in prison, Collins attempted to appeal the court’s decision and applied to President Eisenhower for a pardon, to no avail. The day before Iva was to be released from prison, she was informed that she would be deported and forcibly expatriated for treason. On January 28, 1956 Iva left Alderson, but, rather than join her family in Chicago, had to stay in California for two and half years before the effort to deport her was dropped.<br />
<br />
Iva returned to Chicago and lived quietly until 1973, when unexpectedly a Boston pediatrician named Dr. Clifford Uyeda read a dissertation about her trial and resolved to achieve a pardon. He spearheaded an action committee with the support of the Japanese American Citizens League, scholars, and politicians. Journalists took up the subject anew, finally acquiring truthful statements from the witnesses that had been coerced by the prosecution. GIs and the state of California even supported the effort. Finally, on January 19, 1977, Iva Toguri was overjoyed to receive word that Gerald Ford, on the final day of his presidency, had pardoned her for the charges pressed thirty years earlier.<br />
<br />
<b>Epilogue</b><br />
<br />
Iva lived the rest of her life in Chicago, grateful to have finally secured her U.S. citizenship. She managed her father’s business until her final years, and spent time visiting friends across the U.S. and supporting the arts. Though memories of the war influenced the rest of her years, Iva was never bitter about what had passed. She died of a stroke at home on September 26, 2006, at age 90. Still, the legends of Orphan Ann and Tokyo Rose live on.<br />
<br />
<i>--Hayley Valk</i><br />
<br />
<i>Hayley Valk is a junior at Barnard College majoring in East Asian Cultures with a focus on Japan. She has also worked as Stage Manager/Producer for numerous student theater productions at Columbia University. Hayley interned at Japan Society in the Performing Arts Department from Fall 2013 through Summer 2014. She is currently studying abroad in Kyoto, Japan under the KCJS: Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies program housed at Doshisha University and recently volunteered for the Kyoto Experiment International Performing Arts Festival.</i><br />
<br /></div>
Poguegohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10276423517944006742noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-43292495366044865092015-01-23T10:58:00.000-05:002015-01-23T23:15:37.132-05:00Memories of Oshogatsu, Japan's New Year's Family Celebration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbxRkhcP5_YDcGeiHu9cgEzQx8jV5r1OKA96dYsxAWer3vr4ogwdXWd_nZVSU5JGUwc95W2LRrkICTSvCkozG4uypaDmOleZEaYDAnPlDJl4MYBl8tyLkmhlq-I9O4y3_11rHxDgdMGo/s1600/Oshogatsu_Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbxRkhcP5_YDcGeiHu9cgEzQx8jV5r1OKA96dYsxAWer3vr4ogwdXWd_nZVSU5JGUwc95W2LRrkICTSvCkozG4uypaDmOleZEaYDAnPlDJl4MYBl8tyLkmhlq-I9O4y3_11rHxDgdMGo/s1600/Oshogatsu_Collage.jpg" height="357" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
It’s December 31, and the house is spotless, the food has been prepared, and the celebration is about to begin. Tomorrow is New Year’s Day in America, but in Japan, it’s the beginning of Oshogatsu, Japan’s New Year’s equivalent.<br />
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"In the U.S., New Year's is just a single day, but the Japanese New Year’s is celebrated for an extended period of time, usually about three days." says Kazuko Minamoto, Deputy Director of education and family programming at Japan Society. "Most businesses in Japan are even closed for the first three days in January in observance of Oshogatsu"<br />
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Oshogatsu focuses on starting from a clean slate, so before the new year begins, everyone makes sure all business and housework from the previous year is completed. More like Christmas in America, Oshogatsu is typically spent with family, who often gather at grandparents’ houses for several nights. Great meals are prepared with each item of food symbolizing something.<br />
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"As a child, I enjoyed traditional New Year’s food – <i>ozoni</i> (rice cake in soup) and <i>osechi</i> (various special foods we only eat during Oshogatsu)," says Education Program Officer Yumi Nagasawa. "These days my family eats <i>toshikoshi</i> soba noodle, a meal that represents a wish for a long life."<br />
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Even the colors of the food's ingredients are taken into account. Lucky colors such as red and white are prominently featured in Oshogatsu dishes, also known as <i>osechi ryori</i>. The cooking takes days of exhausting work to prepare, so it’s not uncommon for modern Japanese people to buy the food pre-made from a high-end <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/10/kaiseki-cuisine-haute-smorgasbord-of.html"><i>kaiseki</i></a> restaurant.<br />
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Education Program Associate Owen Rojek took part in the full celebration for himself recently. "I spent the last two New Year's in Oita, a rural prefecture on the island of Kyushu, with my friend’s family, and it was a great and touching experience. Her immediate and extended family all gathered at her grandfather’s house and it felt like I was attending a large family reunion. Grandparents held great-grandchildren on their knees, siblings reminisced about their childhood, and everyone enjoyed beautifully prepared <i>osechi ryori</i> and copious amounts of alcohol."<br />
<br />
While the adults of the house are busy cooking and cleaning, the children are free to play with their cousins that they may not get to see very often. They also receive <a href="http://onlynativejapan.com/2013/01/01/otoshidama-the-japanese-new-years-gift/510"><i>otoshidama</i></a>, money from parents and relatives enclosed in a small envelope.<br />
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"As a child, of course, my favorite memory is of <i>otoshidama</i>," says Yumi. "Part of the fun was to visit all my relatives, but it was also exciting to find out how much money I received. I learned how to use or save it wisely."<br />
<br />
Learning the value of money is a very important part of receiving otoshidama, notes Kazuko. "I was able to save enough <i>otoshidama</i> that I received from my parents and relatives over many years to buy an audio stereo set when I was a teenager. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and taught me the importance of saving money (and patience that goes with it) when I was a kid."<br />
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As for the moment the clock strikes twelve, it’s a bit less climactic than it is in America. Rather than meeting up at, say, Times Square to watch the ball drop, families will head to nearby shrines to pray for success in the new year. <br />
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"As the end of the year drew closer, there was no big countdown like in the U.S.," says Owen, "but we all put on our coats and shoes and went to three local shrines to celebrate the New Year in an activity known as <i>sansyamairi</i>. We prayed for a good year and bought slips of paper with our fortunes for the New Year. This last time, I got <i>daikiti</i>, which means 'best luck' and is the best fortune you can get. After returning home, we went to sleep because we would be going to see the first sunrise of the year, another New Year’s tradition in Japan. After watching the sunrise from a nearby mountain, we returned home and ate <i>ozoni</i>, the traditional New Year’s day soup containing rice cakes and vegetables. Dinner was leftover <i>osechi ryori</i>, which was still delicious."<br />
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"We enjoyed hearing the sounds of year-end bell, <i>Joya no kane</i> – 108 times, says Yumi. "This is to cleanse the 108 kinds of human egos before welcoming a new year. My family lived close to a famous shrine, and we often went to give prayer on the first day (or very early morning around Midnight) to start the New Year with a good wish and a good new year’s resolution.<br />
<br />
Kazuko adds, "On New Year’s Eve, I usually enjoy watching with family members the popular NHK’s<i> <a href="http://www.nhk.or.jp/digitalmuseum/nhk50years_en/categories/p54/">Kohaku-uta-gassen</a></i>, known in English as 'Red & White Year-end Song Festival,' a music program running since 1951 that features hit songs of the year."<br />
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Many <a href="http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/a-guide-to-new-year-traditions-in-japan">Oshogatsu traditions</a> have endured through the ages, and several are on display for children to discover and participate in at Japan Society’s annual <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/new-years-celebration-oshogatsu">Oshogatsu Family Festival</a> this Sunday.<br />
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Guests can watch taiko drumming, lion dancing, pound their own <i>mochi</i>, write calligraphy, and participate in other fun events.<br />
<br />
Having been a part of Japan Society's Oshogatsu event since its inception, Kazuko shared an element of volunteerism that few people may realize occurs:<br />
<br />
"One of the most memorable and consistent scenes I have witnessed since we started Oshogatsu is how over fifty high-school student volunteers, including Japanese teens from Keio Academy and American teens from one-to-two local high schools who study the Japanese, work closely together to help children at the game and activity booths. Those students were hardworking, diligent, kind, and thoughtful to our younger guests and our presenters and performers. Keio Academy students looked very proud of their country’s tradition while American students truly enjoyed the festival atmosphere they couldn’t normally experience in their classroom setting. We are grateful for their assistance."<br />
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It’s an atmosphere unique to Japan, which makes the event such a unique opportunity for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience it. <br />
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"I am still fairly new to Oshogatsu at Japan Society, having only experienced it last year," says Yumi, "but it is a wonderful opportunity especially for young children to experience a Japanese custom and tradition in a fun way. Traditions are acquired through experience, so Oshogatsu is a chance to experience and learn about Japan without being in Japan, and for family to create and share memories."<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo by George Hirose.</b></span>Poguegohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10276423517944006742noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-86305739923030139892015-01-20T14:30:00.000-05:002015-01-20T14:30:40.353-05:00Taking The First Steps To Learning Japanese<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="239" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LhI5LNl22gs?list=PLzfrZ0tkPLmw6cnrUhDQfOggrNUv6xNeK" width="425"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b><i>Mark Gallucci is a Japan Society Communications intern. In addition to receiving his </i></b><b><i>Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from </i></b><b><i>the University at Albany, he completed a study-abroad program in Kansai Gaidai University, Japan. As an English-Japanese tutor, Mark talks about his experience learning Japanese and shares some tips for self-study and classroom-based learning.</i></b><br />
<div>
<br />
Coming from an English background, learning Japanese can seem like a daunting endeavor. It’s easy to look at the written language and be intimidated by the complexity of its three writing systems—hiragana, katakana and kanji—when compared to the English alphabet. But Japanese is a language like any other, and learning it is just a matter of taking the first step.<br />
<br />
Before I finally decided to learn Japanese, I went back and forth several times. I was a junior in college, and I’d never had the chance to take Japanese classes in high school, which offered only Spanish, French, Italian, and German.<br />
<br />
After a bit of research, I decided that self-study would be a great way to start. I found tons of websites and programs that could help, but before I could begin, I noticed that there were several different paths of study to choose from, depending on your priorities.<br />
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You can ignore the writing system and focus solely on speaking, you can choose to learn kanji later, or you can start with kanji. If you’re looking to watch Japanese TV or anime, or listen to Japanese music, you can prioritize speaking and listening skills. But if you’re looking to communicate with people in writing, especially online, or if reading manga or classic literature are goals, then a solid knowledge of kanji is vital.<br />
<br />
It’s for that reason that I chose to learn kanji first. It may seem counterintuitive, as it involves learning what the characters mean before even learning the words they’re used in. But it also helps when identifying new words. For instance, if you don’t know a certain word but recognize one of the kanji used in it, you can make a reasonable guess as to what that word is.<br />
<br />
As for how my choice turned out, two years and one semester of studying abroad in Japan later, I still need English subtitles when I watch Japanese TV, no doubt a result of prioritizing kanji over speaking and listening. On the other hand, I read and reply to messages in Japanese every day, and thanks to speaking practice with friends, can have long conversations with native Japanese speakers without having to resort to English to get my point across. And while I did end up taking several classes along the way, there were two resources that I found invaluable in my studies.<br />
<br />
For kanji, vocabulary, and other things I need to memorize, I use <a href="file:///C:/Users/mark/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/MP05V30S/ankisrs.net">Anki</a>, a popular, completely free digital flashcard program that has <a href="https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/japanese">tons of user-created decks</a>, including ones for hiragana and katakana. This is a great tool for memorizing large amounts of information. For everything else, I use <a href="http://www.tofugu.com/2008/05/14/the-best-way-to-practice-japanese-writing/">Lang-8</a>, a platform for free language exchange – you write entries in the language you’re learning, and native speakers of that language will correct it for you. You can then return the favor by correcting entries written in your native language. It’s also common for language learners to exchange Skype info. There’s nothing more helpful than having a native speaker correct your Japanese as you talk.<br />
<br />
What I love about both of these resources is that whether you’re taking classes or not, they’re both very useful and can adapt to your current skill level. Plus, they provide a nice mix of textbook learning and exposure to “real” Japanese.<br />
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<b>The Classroom Path</b><br />
<br />
Self-study alone may not be enough to reach your goals, and this is where classes come in. Having a native Japanese teacher answer questions and having a clear, stable measure of progression is something that only classes can provide. There’s also the routine. It’s a lot easier to skip a day of Anki reviews than it is to skip a day of class. Not to mention that if you’re just starting out and have no idea what to do, a class will have a set curriculum, and you don't have to figure it out on your own.<br />
<br />
Should you opt for classes, the spring session at <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/page/programs/language_center">Japan Society's Toyota Language Center</a> starts at the beginning of February, with thirteen levels of Japanese courses available, meeting once or twice weekly. Kanji courses and specialized courses are also offered. For anime fans interested in learning Japanese, they are offering for the first time a weekly beginners class that uses anime to teach basic vocabulary, sentence structure, and conversational skills.<br />
<br />
But if you’re still on the fence, you can get a feel for the classroom environment with one of Japan Society’s <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/free-trial-japanese-lesson-2">free trial lessons</a> taught by Language Center Director <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2013/12/learning-japanese-at-japan-society.html">Tomoyo Kamimura</a>.<br />
<br />
In an interview about the <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/11/learning-japanese-classroom-experience.html">classroom experience</a>, Kamimura-sensei said of her students’ trial lesson experience, “They definitely got the sense of what it is like to learn Japanese and seemed to have enjoyed the lesson. Some are interested in signing up for a regular class. I always enjoy teaching and this occasion was no exception. I hope they got a taste of what it’s like to study and learn Japanese in this brief session.”<br />
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Part of that experience is working with other students, a point of focus for classes at Japan Society, and one which Kamimura says can be very effective.<br />
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“It kind of motivates you to stay in the class, because when you’re alone, it’s hard to have self-discipline.”<br />
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It’s this challenge that can cause people to quit learning a language midway, which is why it’s important, even for those who self-study, to talk to other language learners to compare progress.<br />
<br />
Because there are several different areas to focus on when learning a language, there’s no “right” way to learn, but no matter how you’re learning, nothing’s quite like having a conversation in the language you’re learning with native speakers, a fact that Kamimura acknowledges.<br />
<br />
“I have had several students who taught themselves through self-study. Many of them were not sure if they were doing it right, so they wanted to take lessons. Amazingly, some of them are very nearly fluent! For me, it may be possible to learn grammar from a book if you have a very conceptual, abstract mind-set. But in my experience, if you can arrange a language exchange with a Japanese student—I have paired up several people here—it works very well. You spend one or one and a half hours speaking only Japanese, then one hour speaking English. You have to get exposure to real Japanese, not just what’s on a screen or in a book. So I do believe in self-study to a certain extent.”<br />
<br />
For me, the biggest benefit of taking classes was gauging my progress. When you’re studying in a very unstructured way, there’s no real measure of progress other than looking at past essays or entries you wrote and finding all the mistakes you made. After a while of self-studying , it felt good to take a class, learn new things, and see that my process really was showing results.<br />
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Additionally, for beginners who still aren’t sure where to start, classes can provide a foundation to build upon while simultaneously giving students an opportunity to meet new people who share a common goal, and learn from them as well.<br />
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“One good thing about taking a class with others, at Japan Society or at college, is, let’s say you hear people making mistakes, and you know the answer. The teacher asks a question, and someone answers it completely wrong, and you think, ‘Oh, that’s wrong, I think that’s wrong’ and the teacher explains why it’s wrong… So you learn from other people’s mistakes.”<br />
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After all, <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/getting-it-wrong/">making mistakes leads to more efficient learning</a> in the long run.<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci</i><br />
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Poguegohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10276423517944006742noreply@blogger.com124tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-65485960036261521942015-01-11T15:29:00.004-05:002015-01-13T19:43:54.626-05:00Delight in the Details: A Closer Look at Japan Society's ‘Garden'<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhde2q3TAwzXAKPP8kqmcPx7LEUViYTElb-H3IyF8nNlFTFfxcS0zVkXYNvR5HRR0-z56J2P_dGoDHPRjhKo3-SG1RSzbDrBKkb1v6Mp3av_oG2N_u3ekAahJejt12YvTxDgD7JyIvvq34/s1600/Ikeda_Foretoken-WEB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhde2q3TAwzXAKPP8kqmcPx7LEUViYTElb-H3IyF8nNlFTFfxcS0zVkXYNvR5HRR0-z56J2P_dGoDHPRjhKo3-SG1RSzbDrBKkb1v6Mp3av_oG2N_u3ekAahJejt12YvTxDgD7JyIvvq34/s1600/Ikeda_Foretoken-WEB.jpg" height="222" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Manabu Ikeda's <i>Foretoken</i>.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Whether <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/30/magazine/on-language-who-s-in-those-details.html">diabolical or divine</a>, details in art capture (and sometimes overwhelm) the imagination, and can transform a single instant into an hours-long adventure of discovery. <br />
<br />
A prime example of this is early Netherlandish painter Hieronymus Bosch's masterpiece <i>Garden of Earthly Delights</i>. According to Taschen’s recently released <a href="http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/art/all/01102/facts.hieronymus_bosch_complete_works.htm"><i>Hieronymus Bosch: Complete Works</i></a>, the piece is "populated with grotesque scenes of fantastical creatures succumbing to all manner of human desire, fantasy, and angst… alongside traditional hybrids of man and beast, such as centaurs, and mythological creatures such as unicorns, devils, dragons, and griffins, we also encounter countless mixed creatures freely invented by the artist."<br />
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<div>
Bosch's thematic complexity, compositional density and artistic playfulness inspired the title of Japan Society Gallery's current exhibition <i>Garden of Unearthly Delights</i>, which showcases three Japanese masters of their craft, or <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/12/nothing-less-than-perfection-dedication.html"><i>takumi</i></a>: Manabu Ikeda, Hisashi Tenmyouya, and the collective teamLab, all of whom are creating what the <i>New York Times</i> calls "<a href="http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/japan-society-garden-of-unearthly-delights/?_r=0">Japanese art 2.0</a>." </div>
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In the artists' works, "the past, the present, and the future collide creating hallucinatory visions like <i>The Garden of Earthly Delights</i>," writes Director of Japan Society Gallery and exhibition co-curator Miwako Tezuka in the catalogue. "Just as Bosch did, the three Japanese artists allegorically depict urgent cultural and social issues in a manner informed by their contemporary environment—in their case, today’s world of spectacle an information overload." <br />
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Spectacle indeed. Though only showing 25 works, <i>Garden of Unearthly Delights</i> encompasses a vast treasure trove of stimulating and subtle wonder, the antithesis to the blaring lights of Times Square or the constant bombardment of advertising from our TVs, mobile devices and almost every surface we encounter on our commutes and travels. </div>
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In honor of the <i>Garden of Unearthly Delights</i> closing today, here are some surprising, thoughtful and/or humorous details visitors may have missed. <br />
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<a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/10/meticulously-monumental-manabu-ikedas.html">Manabu Ikeda</a> is known for the painstaking detail of his work, which often takes more than a year to complete.The exhibition's other co-curator Laura J. Mueller writes, "Ikeda, through the medium of his meticulously executed pen-and-ink drawings, creates dreamlike worlds on his canvas that visually explicate some of the major dilemmas that we face today--such as climate chaos and the resulting natural disasters--questioning mankind's role in both causation and correction."<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Meltdown</i>, pictured above, was created in response to Japan's 3/11 earthquake and tsunami. The waste spewing, ice-encrusted industrial plant hovering over an idyllic landscape is a stark commentary of mankind's impact on nature and the potential (or actuality) of cataclysm. To further heighten the tension, pure white silhouettes (a common motif throughout Ikeda's work) of animals appear in and out of their natural habitat, oblivious to the looming man-made disaster.</div>
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A giant snake rising in the mist and toadstools buried in the trees dominate Ikeda's <i>Mountain and Clouds</i>, but take a magnifying glass to the bottom right corner to find apparitions haunting the trees. Are these <i>kodama</i>, tree spirits from Japanese folklore, or is this an homage to Japan's tragic <a href="http://www.tofugu.com/2012/07/23/aokigahara-japans-haunted-forest-of-death/">Aokigahara</a> forest at the base of Mt. Fuji, also known as "Suicide Forest"?<br />
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Visitors entranced by the electric waves of Ikeda's impressionistic and relatively straightforward <i>Imprint</i> may have missed a barely visible <a href="http://www.jref.com/culture-society/torii/">torii</a>, the iconic gateways to Japan's Shinto shrines, submerged in the darkest blue of the center stillness. </div>
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A tiny bee and spider hitch a ride on the back of Ikeda's vegetative <i>Grass Mantis</i>.<br />
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Some visitors have said they spent hours scouring every inch of Ikeda's breathtaking 780 square foot <i>Foretoken</i>, pictured in full at the top of this article. In this work Ikeda cleverly reverses the kineticism (and perhaps symbolism) of Hokusai's famous <i>The Great Wave at Kanagawa</i>, an obvious source of inspiration. Hokusai's titular wave not only threatens three fishing boats with its awesome, all-consuming momentum, but dwarves the static and typically dominating Mt. Fuji in the background. In Ikeda's work, Mt. Fuji is nowhere to be seen, and the wave, literally frozen in time, is brimming with life, from birth to playful specters of death, as seen in the details above, as well as countless scenes of humorous, imaginative invention.<br />
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In not one but two places, skeletons enjoy the aftermath of a plane crash. Note the silhouetted vultures in the second detail enjoying the show.<br />
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Homages to icons of Japanese mythology abound like like this dragon and fisherman landing a giant <i>koi</i> (carp) using <i><a href="http://aboutjapan.japansociety.org/resources/childrens_day_craft_activity_koinobori">koinobori</a></i> as bait.<br />
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And finally (but by no means completely) in terms of Ikeda's detail, Tezuka explains the ubiquitous hovering spirits, above, and their poignant meaning for the artist: "The deity riding the flying animal is chanting a Buddhist sutra, in this case 'Namo Amitābhāya' (in Japanese, 南無阿弥陀仏 or <i>Namu Amida Butsu</i>), literally meaning 'Homage to Infinite Light.' There are several such figures in <i>Foretoken</i>, and Ikeda has said that at least one of them was his grandmother when she passed away."<br />
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<a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/10/facing-forward-looking-back-hisashi.html">Hisashi Tenmyouya</a> "appropriates imagery and creative techniques from traditional Japanese art, reinterpreting them in a shockingly contemporary manner with references to subjects such as modern warfare and street violence," writes Mueller. "Taking cues from Buddhist themes and imagery, Tenmyouya imbues his art (whether intentionally or subconsciously) with meditative and religious meaning."<br />
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Tenmyouya’s iconoclastic <i>Neo Thousand Armed Kannon</i>, above, painted shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., shows the beloved Buddhist goddess of mercy with her arms splayed behind her, each hand holding a menacing and militaristic gun or knife. Some have seen this piece as purely sacrilegious. But upon closer inspection, two hands at her chest hold something different, almost as an offering: a grenade in her left, and a can of spray paint in her right. Does this represent a possibility for art amidst overwhelming threat of violence? Does it symbolize an imbalance between destructive and creative forces in our world? Is it implying that art is dangerous—for the artist, for the viewer, for the establishment?</div>
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Much has been written about the "<a href="http://hyperallergic.com/153962/an-anti-zen-garden-full-of-skulls-and-more-unearthly-unease/">anti-Zen</a>" garden in Tenmyouya's installation <i>Rhyme</i>, especially how there is no blood spilled in the epic mirrored battle scenes on the wall. The blood, however, has pooled amongst the skull-embossed rocks below, in the form of crimson sand, which was carefully, almost meditatively raked by the artist days before the exhibition opened. Is this anti-Zen? Or has the artist found an ultra-Zen method to process violence in art and life?<br />
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Another detail that may have been overlooked: only one of the dozens and dozens of yakuza-like warriors in the painting has eyes, and, to eerie effect, they are the same shimming goldleaf color of the background.<br />
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Finally, the most important detail of the exhibition: all of the people who came to Japan Society Gallery to explore and enjoy <i>Garden of Unearthly Delights. </i>Above are 25 of the hundreds of Instagram selfies taken by people in <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/08/seeds-of-unearthly-delights-teamlabs.html">teamLab</a>'s immersive and interactive <i>Flowers and People</i> installation created exclusively for the exhibition.<br />
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The show may be over, but enjoy it one last time (or in perpetuity) with this video walkthrough brought to you by Japan Society Gallery.<br />
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<i>--Shannon Jowett</i><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="239" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UENKjygugpg" width="425"></iframe><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Images (top-to-bottom): Manabu Ikeda, (b. 1973),<i> Foretoken</i>, 2008; pen, acrylic ink on paper, mounted on boards; 72 x 132 in; collection of Sustainable Investor Co., Ltd. © Manabu Ikeda, courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery. Manabu Ikeda, <i>Meltdown</i>, 2013; acrylic ink on paper, mounted on board, 48 x 48 in.; Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Colonel Rex W. & Maxine Schuster Radsch Endowment Fund purchase, 2013.24. Manabu Ikeda, <i>Mountains and Clouds</i>, 2012; pen, acrylic ink on paper, mounted on board; 24 x 27 3/5 in; Private Collection, Tokyo (courtesy of Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo), © Manabu Ikeda, courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery. Photo by Kei Miyajima. Manabu Ikeda, <i>Imprint</i>, 2011; pen, acrylic ink on paper, mounted on board; 24 x 36 in.; Collection of Mr. Harvey Sawikin and Mrs. Andrea Krantz; © Manabu Ikeda, courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery, photo by Kei Miyajima. Manabu Ikeda,<i> Grass Mantis (Kusakamakiri)</i>, 2004; acrylic ink on paper, mounted on board; 9 1/16 x 11 7/16 in.; Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase, 2013.25. Hisashi Tenmyouya, (b. 1966), <i>Neo Thousand Armed Kannon</i>, 2002; acrylic, wood; 89 ½ x 68 5/16 in.; Takahashi Collection, Tokyo; © Hisashi Tenmyouya, courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery. Hisashi Tenmyouya, <i>Rhyme</i>, 2012; acrylic paint, gold leaf on wood; inkjet print on paper, mounted on wood; each 49 7/8 x 118 1/8 in.; Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Colonel Rex W. & Maxine Schuster Radsch Endowment Fund purchase, 2013.23.1-.2a-b; fiberglass reinforced polyester, calcium carbonate; variable dimensions; Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase, 2013.23.3a-g; installation photograph by Richard P. Goodbody. teamLab (est. 2001), <i>United, Fragmented, Repeated, and Impermanent World</i> (detail), 2013; interactive digital work, 8 screens; endless, 9:16; sound by Hideaki Takahashi; courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery; images via Instagram. teamLab, <i>Flowers and People—Gold and Dark</i>, 2014; digital work, endless; courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery; surrounding <i>Ever Blossoming Life—Dark</i>, 2014, and<i> Ever Blossoming Life—Gold</i>, 2014, both digital works, endless, courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery; images via Instagram.</b></span></div>
Poguegohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10276423517944006742noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-90170610090371654362014-12-26T15:21:00.000-05:002014-12-26T15:22:05.522-05:00Nothing Less Than Perfection: The Dedication of Japan’s Master Craftsmen<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXB0yQL4XLD2qFQiMZgpAfCnnqOXh0ZEwduais2zIg9vx-mDdB4dUDbn575x2LSCZY3FhO0PtxYDqEV8Q9XA6lur9XHq5WT7wiMS_pI7t_1d3m9Et_fxoVP1iART6DkbAuy4-zgVgfU0/s1600/529f7fc9ba06e.preview-620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXB0yQL4XLD2qFQiMZgpAfCnnqOXh0ZEwduais2zIg9vx-mDdB4dUDbn575x2LSCZY3FhO0PtxYDqEV8Q9XA6lur9XHq5WT7wiMS_pI7t_1d3m9Et_fxoVP1iART6DkbAuy4-zgVgfU0/s1600/529f7fc9ba06e.preview-620.jpg" height="400" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="text-align: start;"><i>Tekumi</i> Manabu Ikeda can take years to finish one of his renowned detailed paintings. </span><a href="http://host.madison.com/uploaded_photos/ikeda-manabu-at-work/image_d3ba8bc9-f148-5d67-b340-4bfa7f020505.html" style="text-align: start;">Via</a><span style="text-align: start;">.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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The work is done, but just one small detail seems off. If no one notices, is it worth fixing?</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">In Japan, the answers to questions like these are what separate an ordinary artisan from </span><i style="text-align: center;">takumi</i><span style="text-align: center;"> – masters of their craft.</span></div>
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<i>Takumi</i> are artists who have honed and perfected their skills over years, perhaps a lifetime, of training. They can be craftsmen, potters, and textile makers, among many other professions, and are a major part of Japanese tradition. Though their numbers have dwindled, there are still many active <i>takumi </i>who remain dedicated to their craft. In contemporary Japan, the term has acquired a more generic adjectival meaning, implying a person with an especially sophisticated skill in any field of creation, including food and fashion.</div>
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These masters are known for dedication to their philosophies and methods of art-making, and the artists featured in Japan Society’s <i><a href="http://gardenofunearthlydelightsexhibition.com/">Garden of Unearthly Delights</a></i> are no exception. Each artist possesses traits common to all <i>takumi</i>: perfectionism, diligence, and most importantly, discipline.</div>
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<a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/10/meticulously-monumental-manabu-ikedas.html">Manabu Ikeda</a> exemplifies this with his incredibly detailed drawing style that is extremely time-consuming to achieve; one large-scale work can take him two or more years to complete. Using a fine-point pen, Ikeda creates monumental landscapes that can overwhelm the viewer at first glance.<br />
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<a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/10/facing-forward-looking-back-hisashi.html">Hisashi Tenmyouya</a> is a different kind of <i>takumi</i> who skillfully blends tradition with modern themes. His works juxtapose traditional symbols and imagery with a brash, contemporary style that he calls Neo Nihonga―a renewed, revitalized version of Japanese-style painting.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">TeamLab is a collective of hundreds of <i>takumi</i> working in various areas of art, design and technology. </span><a href="http://thebridge.jp/en/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/FaceTouch-TeamLab.png" style="text-align: start;">Via</a><span style="text-align: start;">. </span></span></b></td></tr>
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Like Tenmyouya, <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/08/seeds-of-unearthly-delights-teamlabs.html">teamLab</a> blends the old and the new, but follows a more technology-oriented path. As an expansive collective of creators from varying specialties (it now has over 300 members), it’s a far cry from the traditional solitary image of <i>takumi</i>, but when looking at the amazingly high-tech work the members have created, it’s hard to deny that they’re just as deserving of the title.</div>
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Discussing <i>takumi</i> in the catalog for <i>Garden of Unearthly Delights</i>, exhibition co-curator Laura J. Mueller said the works "are imbued with an undeniable spirituality or religiosity that adds great weight to their effectiveness and meaning."</div>
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Japan Society has presented many exhibitions featuring <i>takumi </i>in recent years. <i><a href="http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/contemporary-clay-japanese-ceramics-for-the-new-century">Contemporary Clay: Japanese Ceramics for the New Century</a> </i>(2006) exhibited some of Japan’s finest potters and celebrated the rich history of Japanese ceramics and those who have made lasting contributions to the art form over the past half century.<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.japansociety.org/multimedia/articles/the_genius_of_japanese_lacquer_masterworks_by_shibata_zeshin">The Genius of Japanese Lacquer: Masterworks by Shibata Zeshin</a> </i>(2008) showcased Japan’s greatest lacquer artist, recognized worldwide for his exquisitely detailed lacquered boxes, panels, sword mounts, and other objects, as well as scrolls painted in both ink and lacquer.</div>
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And <i><a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/new-bamboo-contemporary-japanese-masters">New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters</a> </i>(2009) was devoted exclusively to Japanese bamboo as a sculptural medium, which featured 90 works from 23 innovators who demonstrate awesome technique, meticulous attention to detail, and extraordinary creativity.<br />
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As <i>takumi</i> tend to be innovators, each of them have wildly different and recognizable styles, such as Ikeda’s; once you’ve been mesmerized by one of his massive drawings, you’re not likely to forget it.<br />
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However, there’s one thing they all share: an obsession with perfection, the results of which we’ll be able to appreciate for years to come.<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci</i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">Tenmyouya at work. </span><a href="http://vimeo.com/27812565" style="text-align: start;">Via</a><span style="text-align: start;">.</span></span></b></td></tr>
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Poguegohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10276423517944006742noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-42415360409597262582014-12-09T11:01:00.000-05:002014-12-09T13:50:31.655-05:00Smashing in Pink: Japan's Artful, Rebellious Film Genre<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYx17eEOQZ0OvbBtGDMEhe1I2UEGK9ihuUKujScbswhIHWHCAyRLuXl_h0bevNjCkP9yPROtOBb8VBACjqlpjmT1GTK4O4TychINoyH2mJFDzHOK7WzQWsxfMWriNxSkKjWMt5jiaMZck/s1600/TopStripper_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYx17eEOQZ0OvbBtGDMEhe1I2UEGK9ihuUKujScbswhIHWHCAyRLuXl_h0bevNjCkP9yPROtOBb8VBACjqlpjmT1GTK4O4TychINoyH2mJFDzHOK7WzQWsxfMWriNxSkKjWMt5jiaMZck/s1600/TopStripper_2.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Actress Kaori Okamoto bares (almost) all in <i>Top Stripper</i>. © 1982 Nikkatsu Corporation.</b></span></td></tr>
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Adult film is a genre often avoided by film critics, and for obvious reasons: stories tend to be nonexistent, plots are often anemic and loaded with clichés, and the acting is more happenstance than skillful.<br />
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But there are some films that don’t quite line up with the traditional types of adult film often seen in the West, such as Japan's unique mid-20th century soft-core <i>pinku eiga</i>, or Pink Film, a genre all to itself.<br />
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As John Zorn, curator of Japan Society's ongoing <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/page/programs/film/dark-side-of-the-sun">Dark Side of the Sun</a> series of outré films <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/movies/a-japanese-film-series-brought-to-you-by-john-zorn.html?_r=0">told the <i>New York Times</i></a>, the genre has “no relation at all to erotica in the rest of the world… They are fully realized films, often done with great artistry and a fabulous imagination. They proved to be testing grounds of many young visionary directors who later went on to more mainstream projects.” (The series continues Dec. 11 with the "comic-erotic coming-of-age story" <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/top-stripper"><i>Top Stripper</i></a>.)<br />
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Scholar Joel Neville Anderson, who <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/07/japan-cuts-genre-genetics-diversifying.html">curated Japan Society's 2014 JAPAN CUTS festival</a> says Pink Film is "a parallel industry which became a fertile creative training ground for young, politically-minded filmmakers of the 1970s following the collapse of the studio system. The genre sustained generations of filmmakers that often broke into the mainstream, as well as a filmgoing public attending devoted Pink theaters. Critical reception of the films always negotiates the political potential of this counterpublic, and their portrayal of misogynistic, conventional sexual violence."<br />
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Pink Films can belong to almost any standard genre, but do have some fundamental elements, according to <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2013/11/flirting-with-japan-donald-richies.html">Donald Richie</a> in <a href="http://kinemaclub.org/pink-book-japanese-eroduction-and-its-contexts"><i>The Pink Book: The Japanese Eroduction and its Contexts</i></a>:<br />
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Since each [film] is intended to be shown with two others, the ideal length decided upon is 6,500 feet, or 70 minutes… In theory, directors are instructed to aim at some kind of sex scene every five minutes; in practice, however, it has proved almost impossible to construct a story-line which allows this, with the results that sex scenes are sometimes fewer but longer.</blockquote>
Those required sex scenes are markedly different from what one might expect of an adult film. In accordance with Japanese law, filmmakers can't show pubic hair, let alone genitalia. This leads to some strategic placement of props, blurring, or even just leaving the act out of the frame entirely.<br />
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Other defining characteristics of Pink Films include the 35mm film typically used to record them, as well as their low budgets, as Richie explains: “Actresses receive about $60 a day, actors as low as $30. The cost for such a film can be as low as $2,000, though many cost more, particularly those in part-color.”<br />
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As for the intercourse itself, it’s entirely simulated; actors use pads called maebari to cover their genitals, which can’t be shown anyway. Without the potential to show the scenes uncensored, an innovative, often artistic approach becomes necessary. It is the ability to appeal to the curiosity of the viewer that made Pink Films so successful. <br />
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It all started in 1962 with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0495736/"><i>Flesh Market</i></a>, which caused controversy in Japan upon its release due to six sexually violent scenes that were deemed by police to be “indecent”, as described by Roland Domenig in <i>The Pink Book</i>. A mere two days after the film’s release, the police had stopped all showings of the film and confiscated all of the prints and negatives. When the film was re-released with the objectionable scenes removed, it proved immensely profitable – while it was only made for 8 million yen, it ended up bringing in 100 million.<br />
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<i>Flesh Market</i> was only the beginning. Because producers of these films only cared that their guidelines, much like the ones listed above, were met, directors had incredible freedom to pursue their own creative interests. This meant that Pink Films and their directors were very independent; they stood in stark contrast to the failing, mainstream studios of the time, luring audiences in with a product that had never been available before.<br />
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One of these independent directors was Koji Wakamatsu. Known as “<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=cEbinrzuYDYC&lpg=PA74&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q&f=false">the most genuinely controversial figure of the period</a>” of Pink Film, Wakamatsu founded his studio, Wakamatsu Productions, in 1965. He was known for his political, often sexually violent films, such as <i>Go, Go Second Time Virgin</i>, <i>The Embryo Hunts in Secret</i>, and <i>Violated Angels</i>, which was based on the 1966 Richard Speck murders.<br />
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According to Japanese-culture author Patrick Macias in his 2001 book <a href="http://www.midnighteye.com/books/tokyoscope-the-japanese-cult-film-companion/"><i>TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion</i></a>, "No one had up to that point, or since, filmed porn with as overtly politically radical and aesthetically avant-garde an agenda as Wakamatsu had."<br />
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In an <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=R66BgDYC07IC&lpg=PA166&ots=2nx2PeXmrV&dq=outlaw%20masters%20of%20japanese%20film%20wakamatsu&pg=PA188#v=onepage&q&f=false">interview</a> with American actor Christian Storms, Wakamatsu said, “the people who make things, who create in this world, have to remain on the outside, have to look at the world sometimes from a different perspective, saying: ‘Hold on!’ Somebody taking a different view.”<br />
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It was this perspective that allowed Wakamatsu to make such shocking films - films that received not only attention, but critical acclaim. Wakamatsu was able to see both the rise and fall of the Pink Film, going on to direct over 40 films throughout his lifetime before his passing in 2012.<br />
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Japan Society commemorated Wakamatsu’s work with a screening of Atsushi Yamatoya’s <i>Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands</i>, which launched the Dark Side of the Sun film series. Yamatoya was one of Wakamatsu’s close collaborators and worked for Wakamatsu Productions as an anonymous writer. The film is about a hitman who is hired to rescue a wealthy real-estate agent’s girlfriend from a gang of men who are holding her hostage, though the film’s idiosyncratic, hallucinatory nature makes it a bit more complex than that.<br />
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Today there <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/08/12/national/media-national/fading-shades-of-pink/#.VD7v1PldWSo">may not be many chances left to see Pink Films</a> the way they were intended to be shown–in theaters. Even in Japan, Pink Films have all but vanished, with only a few theaters still standing. While Pink Films enjoyed impressive popularity in the 60s and 70s, by 1980, adult videos began to capture the Pink Film market, and by the end of the decade, adult video had far surpassed Pink film in popularity. <br />
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While many other Pink Film directors might lament this loss of popularity, Wakamatsu, as was often the case, had a different perspective.<br />
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“Movies can't really be called ‘Pink’ if they are being accepted by the general public. They've always got to be guerilla. Pink Films are about putting it out there in the public’s face and smashing people’s minds.”<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci</i><br />
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-46388435513794496222014-12-05T12:56:00.004-05:002014-12-05T16:27:26.563-05:00Bases Covered: MLB Player's Long-Term Support of Japan Earthquake Recovery<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5p4j-n61h0BmNAdPmT4wWzi2ULQM6L0O7A3eYkUpUBlPhmXKHyH6fzl0NdWexBnXE9CM-Y4uEDWNIfYU5IUya-EhjOATo94Sta2ulvQzx5PIQ8lz8Uf1ydZ81sxABbzdd9qEiE2Bbwtk/s1600/Nov+15+Press+Event.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5p4j-n61h0BmNAdPmT4wWzi2ULQM6L0O7A3eYkUpUBlPhmXKHyH6fzl0NdWexBnXE9CM-Y4uEDWNIfYU5IUya-EhjOATo94Sta2ulvQzx5PIQ8lz8Uf1ydZ81sxABbzdd9qEiE2Bbwtk/s1600/Nov+15+Press+Event.jpg" height="186" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;">Presenters at the Nov. 15 MLB press conference to spotlight earthquake recovery.</b></td></tr>
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It’s the Japan All-Star Series, an annual goodwill competition between America’s and Japan’s best baseball players, and the Americans are down 2-0. Game 3 at the Tokyo Dome is a must-win for the MLB All-Stars, who will need to win three in a row to emerge victorious in the best-of-five series.<br />
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<a href="http://m.mlb.com/news/article/101528444/mlb-players-continue-support-of-japans-earthquake-victims">Yet on November 15</a>, the day of the game, twelve of the MLB players were not on the field warming up, but packed into a small room with representatives from Japan Society and the Major League Baseball Players Trust. Among the players present were Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, and Astros outfielder Dexter Fowler.<br />
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Also present were the people they were there to meet: representatives from organizations that the Players Trust supports through Japan Society’s <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/earthquake">Japan Earthquake Recovery Fund</a> (JERF), created to aid victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which devastated Japan’s Tohoku region on March 11, 2011.<br />
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The Players Trust, which allocated $1 million in support following the earthquake, began a multi-year partnership with Japan Society in 2012, working with JERF on five recovery projects.<br />
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"We as players are very fortunate, and always very excited, to use the help of the Players Trust to make an impact on the world," Guthrie said at the press conference. "The slogan that we have is, 'Care. Act. Inspire.' Working with Japan Society has allowed us to be able to do this on an international level."</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Chris Capuano and his wife enjoy a meal at Organ Dou. <a href="http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2014/11/mlb_hot_stove_ex-yankee_chris_capuano_considering_japan.html">Via</a>. </b></span></td></tr>
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Prior to the event, Guthrie, Pirates pitcher Mark Melancon, and free agent Chris Capuano, who is considering <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/chris-capuano-yankees-japan-article-1.2026777">a move to Japan</a>, visited Fukushima Organ Dou, a store set up by the Fukushima Organic Agriculture Network, to enjoy some of the farmers’ produce. Thanks to the support they received through JERF, the farmers were able to afford machines that thoroughly test their produce for significant levels of radiation, ensuring their customers that their food is safe to eat. Capuano said: <br />
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We're here today because as players, we're very happy to be able to support Fukushima. The area was hard hit by a tsunami back on March 11 of 2011, and there’s still a great need of recovery. A lot of these farmers in Fukushima need our help today. They need our support in showing that they've come a long way. The produce is safe and delicious to eat, and we're happy to be able to still support them.</blockquote>
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As of September 3, 2014, JERF has received $13.89 million from over 23,600 individuals, companies and foundations from all 50 states and nearly 60 countries around the world. To date, it has distributed $13.6 million to <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/fund_recipients">43 organizations in support of 64 projects</a>. </div>
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In addition to the Fukushima Organic Agriculture Network, the Players Trust through JERF also supports Ashoka Japan’s Tohoku Youth Venture program, which grants seed money to high-school and college students who devise viable creative and innovative ideas for revitalizing the Tohoku region; two mental-health care projects with the Japanese Medical Society that provide services and training in Fukushima and Iwate Prefectures; and a leadership development project led by Japan Society and ETIC that promotes entrepreneurship towards self-sustaining economic and community revitalization in Tohoku. <br />
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These and all projects supported by JERF give a much-needed boost to Japan’s recovery in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters, which, <a href="http://www.npa.go.jp/archive/keibi/biki/higaijokyo_e.pdf">according to the National Police Agency of Japan</a>, left nearly 16,000 dead, more than 6,000 injured, and thousands still considered missing. It also took a massive toll on buildings, with more than 120,000 totally destroyed. Today, nearly four years after the tragic events, more than <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-japan-tsunami-recovery-20141107-story.html">93,000 people</a> are living in temporary housing, with construction plans facing delays. <br />
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The immediate concern has shifted from cleanup to reconstruction, as reviving the economies of the small towns hit hardest by the earthquake is a major priority. Since farming is a major part of Japan’s small-town economies, that means bringing in soil from other areas to cover ground rendered infertile by seawater– a process costing upwards of <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-japan-tsunami-recovery-20141107-story.html">$90 million</a>.<br />
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Though debris has been cleared, seawalls are being constructed, and in many highly populated areas a sense of normalcy has returned, the recovery process is far from over. In an <a href="http://www.trust.org/item/?map=ngos-make-japan-society-a-destination-to-look-for-funding">interview</a> with Reuters , Japan Society president Motoatsu Sakurai said, "it is very, very evident in Japan this recovery process will continue for more than 10 years."<br />
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And because it’s such a lengthy process, it needs all the attention it can get, as Players Trust director Melissa Persaud alluded to at the press conference.<br />
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"The players take a long-term approach to their disaster-relief support," Persaud said. "They have learned that too often, after the initial media spotlight fades on a region or people devastated by a disaster, the support fades as well. Yet the needs remain for quite some time."<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci </i><br />
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;">Top photo courtesy of MLB. First Row (left to right): Akihiro Asami, Fukushima Organic Agriculture Network; Yoshiaki Ishikawa, ETIC; Shinichi Niwa, Kokoro no Care, Nagomi; Hiroshi Yamanaka, Kokorogake; Akiko Ito, Kokorogake; Toshikazu Abe; Mina Sato, Tohoku Youth Venturer; Nana Watanabe, Ashoka Japan. Second Row: Drew Butera, LA Dodgers; Jeremy Gutherie, KC Royals; Rob Wooten, Brewers; Chris Capuano, NY Yankees; Dexter Fowler, Houston Astros; Hisashi Iwakuma, Seattle Mariners; Salvador Perez, KC Royals; Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays; Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh Pirates; Tsuyoshi Wada, Chicago Cubs; Jerry Blevins, Washington Nationals; Jeff Beliveau, Tampa Bay Rays; Shoko Takamatsu, Fukushima Organic Agriculture Network; Koji Yamauchi, ETIC.</span></b><br />
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-16970979035258791172014-11-19T17:55:00.000-05:002014-11-19T18:03:49.811-05:00Three String Theory: Japan's Shamisen Threads Culture and History<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIUB-AwzZBMZOd8jtVoipoYvwGqNb5ARyD8ODYnnvN0XoeVl_TFClZWjo5pGLroI40ZGV4DOzlE3dfdujnAmc44_ohyphenhyphenMeHgcIxyhclmVE9uhRBbKh__35qZb4uWGpG_YRT5l383gNEuVs/s1600/shamisen-crafter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIUB-AwzZBMZOd8jtVoipoYvwGqNb5ARyD8ODYnnvN0XoeVl_TFClZWjo5pGLroI40ZGV4DOzlE3dfdujnAmc44_ohyphenhyphenMeHgcIxyhclmVE9uhRBbKh__35qZb4uWGpG_YRT5l383gNEuVs/s1600/shamisen-crafter.jpg" height="285" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Shamisen building circa 1909. <a href="https://americanhikikomorifilm.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/shamisen-crafter.jpg">Via</a>. </b></span></td></tr>
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The warmth of a calming resonance slowly spreads to each corner of the room. A shrill tapping quickens and that warmth turns to fire – a frenzied, wailing blaze, starting and stopping of its own accord. In an instant, as if all the oxygen in the room suddenly ran out, it is extinguished, though the reverberance remains. Reduced to cinders, the soothing warmth returns.<br />
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Such is the burning power of the shamisen, a three-stringed instrument that has played an integral role in Japan’s historic entertainment culture.<br />
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The shamisen (literally “three strings”) originated from a Chinese instrument called the <i>sanxian</i>, which was exported to Okinawa in the late 14th century. It eventually became the Okinawan <i>sanshin</i>, which entered mainland Japan in the 16th century, when Japanese <a href="http://www.asza.com/ibiwa.shtml"><i>biwa</i></a> players began using it for short songs. As the <i>sanshin</i> grew more popular, it was adapted to suit various Japanese performing arts and eventually became the shamisen we know today.<br />
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Those unfamiliar with the shamisen by name have likely heard its distinctive sound at some point. In the States, it normally accompanies popular American ideas of Japanese culture—think of samurai, geisha or cherry blossoms and you will probably hear the shamisen (perhaps with the koto or <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2010/10/from-jurassic-park-to-linkin-park-enter.html">shakuhachi running counterpoint</a>). While it may sound similar to a banjo, and is sometimes even called "Japan's banjo", it has fewer strings and a deep twang that differentiates it from the American instrument.<br />
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The shamisen has been used in performance arts such as kabuki theater, <i>bunraku</i> puppet theater, and salon music concerts for hundreds of years, and there are many different shamisen styles to accompany them. <i>Nagauta</i> (literally “long song”) typically accompanies kabuki, featuring singers and shamisen players performing behind dancers. <i>Gidayu</i>, named after its creator, Takemoto Gidayu, includes chanting alongside shamisen playing and is used in both kabuki and <i>bunraku</i>. <i>Jiuta</i> is a style that was popular among blind musicians of the Edo period. It is a pure instrumental form of music that is relatively separate from the world of performing arts. In <i>jiuta</i>, the performer chants while playing the shamisen. <br />
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These three styles are featured as part of Japan Society’s <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/the-shamisen-sessions-vol-3-a-salute-to-tradition">Shamisen Series Vol. 3: A Salute to Tradition</a> on November 20. Eight of Japan’s most respected traditional artists will appear, including Takemoto Komanosuke, one of Japan’s <a href="http://www.tofugu.com/2012/09/07/japans-national-treasures-like-the-movies-but-without-nic-cage/">Living National Treasures</a> – a group of people deemed by the Japanese government to be preservers of important cultural properties. Komanosuke, a gidayu chanter, makes her North American debut t alongside musicians such as Tsuruzawa Yumi (aka Yumiko Tanaka), an avant-garde shamisen expert who also performed in <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/the-shamisen-sessions-vol-2-yumiko-tanaka">Volume 2</a> of the series.<br />
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With only three strings, the shamisen may seem simple – a relic of Japan’s past. But it’s still very much alive. Nowadays, it’s used in a wide variety of musical genres by contemporary artists such as Hiromitsu Agatsuma, who incorporates aspects of jazz, funk, and electro music into his songs. There’s also the electric shamisen and instruments such as the <a href="http://atelier.tkrworks.net/controller2794?lang=en"><i>shaminome</i></a>, a cross between a shamisen and <a href="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/articles/monome.htm"><i>Monome</i></a> controller, invented in part by Yumiko Tanaka.<br />
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From its origins to its modern remodeling, the shamisen hasn’t merely survived – it’s undergone a rebirth.<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci </i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>World renowned contemporary shamisen-ist Agatsuma. Image courtesy of the artist.</b></span></td></tr>
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-47537532354578632182014-11-12T13:45:00.000-05:002014-11-12T13:54:53.269-05:00To Be Continued: The Second Life of Japan's Silent Films<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>A scene from Kinugasa's hallucinatory masterpiece <i>Crossroads, </i>one of the few existing films from Japan's silent era. </b></span></td></tr>
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It’s often said that the classics will never be forgotten. Be it literature, art, or more recently, film, museums and archives exist to preserve these treasures for future generations to appreciate.<br />
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For Japan’s silent films of the early 20th century, it’s not quite that simple.<br />
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According to <a href="http://www.midnighteye.com/features/forgotten-fragments-an-introduction-to-japanese-silent-cinema/"><i>Midnight Eye</i></a>, there are only about 70 pre-1930 Japanese films in the National Film Center’s database – a mere fraction of the estimated 7,000 produced in the 1920s alone.<br />
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Many factors contributed to this incredible loss, the earliest being the <a href="http://library.brown.edu/cds/kanto/denewa.html">Great Kanto Earthquake of 1926</a>. The quake measured 8.2 on the Richter scale and was responsible for massive fires that destroyed thousands of buildings, leaving 60 percent of Tokyo’s population homeless and killing nearly 130,000 people. Additionally, many films were destroyed in bombings during World War II, and still others were banned and later burned in accordance with censors put into place under the Allied occupation of Japan.<br />
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Another major problem can be attributed to the type of film stock used for these movies – nitrate film. The primary media used in motion pictures until 1951, nitrate film had two major drawbacks. First, it was highly flammable and could produce fires that could burn even while immersed in water. This led to <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/summer_movies/2010/07/the_silence_of_the_silents.html">many vault fires</a>, in which studios lost most, if not all, of their film prints.<br />
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Second, nitrate film decays over time into a powder, a process that can be slowed greatly by proper storage. However, this was not known at the time, leading to less-than-ideal storage conditions which only accelerated decay.<br />
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Because nitrate film was a worldwide standard, Japan was not the only country affected. Martin Scorsese’s <a href="http://www.film-foundation.org/">Film Foundation</a> estimates that over 90 percent of American films made before 1929 have been lost to history. Many of these films’ titles are unknown, making the <a href="http://www.silentera.com/lost/index.html">growing list of lost films</a> far from complete.<br />
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Not all lost films stay lost forever, though. Prominent silent-film director Teinosuke Kinugasa’s avant-garde masterpiece <i>A Page of Madness</i> was believed to be lost for 45 years before Kinugasa found the film in his shed in 1971. The <a href="http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/453452%7C453529/Page-of-Madness-aka-Kurutta-Ippeiji.html">critically-acclaimed</a> film was not commercially successful immediately following its 1926 release, but now enjoys regular international appearances at <a href="http://rochesterfringe.com/shows/show/a-page-of-madness-classic-silent-film-by-teinosuke-kinugasa-with-live-percussion-music">film festivals</a> across the globe.<br />
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Kinugasa was active for over 46 years, directing more than a hundred movies, very few of which exist today. His 1928 silent film <i><a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/the-shamisen-sessions-vol-2-yumiko-tanaka">Crossroads</a> </i>will be shown this Saturday with live music accompaniment by avant-garde shamisen master Yumiko Tanaka, as part of Japan Society’s film series <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/page/programs/film/dark-side-of-the-sun">The Dark Side of the Sun: John Zorn on Japanese Cinema</a>.<br />
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Though impossible to ignore in their day, silent films have been, for the most part, left behind by modern Japanese society. Much like their American equivalents, they are occasionally televised, but remain largely unknown outside of film circles. When one of these films is found, it brings some much-needed attention to the genre, getting some press, recognition, and perhaps even a few new fans. <br />
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These recovered films’ lifespans will likely increase significantly thanks to improved methods of <a href="http://www.filmpreservation.org/">film preservation</a>, such as copying films on nitrate to more secure media to ensure their futures.<br />
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For the rest of the films, though, it’s a constant struggle for survival, as the endless search for these lost treasures continues.<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci</i><br />
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;">A sample of Yumiko Tanaka improvising to scenes from Crossroads (scene starts at 0:22). </span></b></div>
Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-83490281967755883162014-11-02T13:58:00.000-05:002014-11-02T14:06:15.723-05:00Learning Japanese: The Classroom Experience & The Ultimate Goal<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV2jd8ApWz2JNReQkapm5hBorfydvFipfo9o7VdGnPsQh9eD-Ue2NRWH1RMyG6J_Q2NUnGUDXs4rOlhPQrTxKsvIUXoItIPSySRKyAkEvRQKj_Zcd8EDu3qI5fTEfwNN8QcPoF9ovw0TM/s1600/LanguageCenter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV2jd8ApWz2JNReQkapm5hBorfydvFipfo9o7VdGnPsQh9eD-Ue2NRWH1RMyG6J_Q2NUnGUDXs4rOlhPQrTxKsvIUXoItIPSySRKyAkEvRQKj_Zcd8EDu3qI5fTEfwNN8QcPoF9ovw0TM/s1600/LanguageCenter.JPG" height="221" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;">From Japan Society Language Center's "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jQ4hxkCX7g&list=PLzfrZ0tkPLmzydrzFSuHhuNsXMlwjnBQa">Uki Uki NihonGO!</a>" series.</span></b></td></tr>
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<i>In <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2013/12/learning-japanese-at-japan-society.html">Part 1</a> of our interview with <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/page/programs/language_center">Japan Society Language Center</a> director Tomoyo Kamimura, she discussed her experience teaching the Japanese language and the importance of seeding Japanese culture and humor into the classroom. In Part 2, Kamimura-sensei talks about at the classroom experience, differences between learning English and Japanese, the importance of learning a foreign language and the future of the Language Center.</i><br />
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<b>You recently began offering free trial classes for beginners. How has the experience been?</b><br />
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I finished the first of three free trial Japanese lessons the other day. It went well. Since it was held at Noon, there were many retirees. I may have been a bit too ambitious so it went over the scheduled time, yet there were still some materials that I wasn't able to cover. They definitely got the sense of what it is like to learn Japanese and seemed to have enjoyed the lesson. Some are interested in signing up for a regular class. I always enjoy teaching and this occasion was no exception. I hope they got a taste of what it’s like to study and learn Japanese in this brief session. I am excited about the second and third sessions on <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/free-trial-japanese-lesson-1">Nov. 3rd</a>.<br />
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<b>Where do you think students struggle the most when learning Japanese?</b><br />
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One thing that springs to mind immediately, of course, is <i>kanji</i>, the Chinese characters that are used in Japanese. Each <i>kanji</i> can be read in a Japanese way or a Chinese way. For example, the <i>kanji</i> meaning “middle” can be read as “naka,” the Japanese way, or as “chu,” the Chinese way—it depends, for example, on whether the <i>kanji</i> is combined with other <i>kanji</i> or used by itself. So learning which way to read the <i>kanji</i> is particularly challenging for students of Japanese since there is no such concept in other languages. We start <i>kanji</i> from Level 4 here.<br />
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Another aspect of Japanese that students often struggle with is a sentence structure that is very different from other languages. There are many examples, but one which we tackle on the very first day of Level 1 is what we teachers call the noun-predicate construction. A simple example is the sentence, “Tom is an American,” which translates into Japanese as “<i>Tom wa Amerikajin desu</i>.” In Japanese, we mark the subject/topic (Tom) with a special particle, “wa.” And we use the word “desu” to mean “is/are/am,” which we place at the end of the sentence. The challenge for students is, however unusual or strange this may seem, can you simply accept it? I tell students not to over-analyze or fight it, and not to get hung up on the literal translation, just accept it as the way it is. If you have that mentality of acceptance and can simply plug in “<i>wa</i>” and “<i>desu</i>” like parts of a mathematical formula, you’ll be off to the races! <br />
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<b>Are there ways to encourage a student who cannot accept this concept into new ways of thinking?</b><br />
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I try to tell students that approaching their study of Japanese with an open mind and a willingness to take on challenges will help them enormously. To students who are resistant to this frame of mind, I encourage them to think about the many inconsistencies and oddities of English which they take for granted, but which can be particularly challenging for students of English—I certainly remember struggling, and still do struggle, with its crazy spelling, complicated tenses, subject-verb agreement, and so on. Without getting too pedantic, I also encourage students to try to become more conscious of English grammar and sentence construction. Hopefully this enables them to compare and embrace the differences between Japanese and English, and in spite of these differences, to marvel at how they can somehow manage to convey their intended meaning! Finally I tell students about an aspect of Japanese culture that is inculcated in every Japanese student, the Samurai spirit of persistence, and implore them to give it their best—“<i>gambatte</i>!”<br />
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<b>Do you also recommend self-study outside of class, and, if so, what particular methods do you think are most useful?</b><br />
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I have had several students who taught themselves through self-study. Many of them were not sure if they were doing it right, so they wanted to take lessons. Amazingly, some of them are very nearly fluent! For me, it may be possible to learn grammar from a book if you have a very conceptual, abstract mind-set. But in my experience, if you can arrange a language exchange with a Japanese student—I have paired up several people here—it works very well. You spend one or one and a half hours speaking only Japanese, then one hour speaking English. You have to get exposure to real Japanese, not just what’s on a screen or in a book. So I do believe in self-study to a certain extent.<br />
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<b>What do you see as the different strengths and weaknesses of Japanese and American methodology for language instruction?</b><br />
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I taught English in Japan for ten years or so. Americans generally do not have a very hard time pronouncing Japanese, perhaps with the exception of knowing which syllables are accented and distinguishing single and double consonants and vowels. But these are minor challenges compared to those faced by Japanese people learning English. Japanese speakers’ difficulty with distinguishing “r” and “l” is of course legendary. There are many other pronunciation challenges as well, such as the difference in the vowel sound in law and low, as well as in the consonant sound in year and ear. As a linguistics major, I learned in English you have nine vowels, whereas in Japanese we have only five, so of course we are not used to hearing those four extra vowels! In Japan we do place a lot of emphasis on grammar when we teach English, probably because most English teachers are native Japanese speakers who are frankly not very well versed in English grammar and often struggle to speak English! But here at Japan Society, all of our Japanese teachers are native speakers of Japanese. And our English teachers—yes we do offer English to Japanese speakers as well!—are all native English speakers.<br />
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<b>I imagine that would be one of the big advantages of having an ALT [Assistant Language Teacher, as in the case of the <a href="http://www.jetprogramme.org/">JET Programme</a>] in the classroom.</b><br />
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It’s wonderful. I have talked to several people, and it does make a big difference, because kids try to speak to the ALT, and they really learn how to hold a conversation. We have a few teaching assistants in our language center. However, unlike the ALT in the JET Programme, the role of the assistants at Japan Society tends to help the instructor to prepare for the class such as photocopying the handouts and preparing the props, etc. They also help the students who are behind in class so the instructor can keep the pace.<br />
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<b>Despite the fact that Japan Society's Language Center provides different levels of classes based on ability, I imagine that within any given class, there will always be some variation in terms of skill level. How do you address these kinds of challenges?</b><br />
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That’s always a challenge, but we have found that knowing our students’ ability and placing them accordingly is the key to overcoming this challenge. If students start from zero knowledge, then that’s Level 1 here. For students who want to progress to the upper levels, I personally interview them and place them into the appropriate level. I draw upon my many years of teaching experience and have a developed a very good sense of what level a student belongs in. I prefer they visit my office in person for an assessment, but I can also do it over the phone.<br />
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<b>What sort of questions do you ask? Should people prepare for the assessment? If so, what is the best way to prepare?</b><br />
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We start introducing the <i>te</i>-form in Level 3, the <i>ta</i>-form in Level 5, the honorific in Level 7. So those are some guidelines. If they say they have lived in Japan, I usually switch the conversation into Japanese and see how they get along. Many say that they have studied Japanese by themselves and that they want to skip Level 1. I usually quiz them to say a simple sentence in Japanese like, “I am going to eat a hamburger in a restaurant with my friend at 2:00 today.” Sentences with that level of complexity are covered in the last chapter of Level 1, so if they can pass this and other short quizzes, they're probably ready for Level 2. These quiz questions really help students realize that they need a solid grammatical base before they take Level 2. I guess I’ll have to switch my quiz sentence now that I've divulged it publicly!<br />
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<b>Do you place more emphasis on one aspect of language acquisition, such as listening or reading, than on others, such as speaking and writing? Are all equally important?</b><br />
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English, except for some unusual spellings, is generally not that hard for Japanese people to read. You only have twenty-six letters in the alphabet. But Japanese has <i>hiragana</i>, <i>katakana</i>, and <i>kanji</i>. So for the lower levels, I don't place too much emphasis on reading and writing. More on grammar, and then based on grammar, speaking. But eventually you cannot live in Japan without being able to read <i>hiragana</i> or <i>kanji</i>. You just cannot escape it—that’s why we Japanese spend the first 10 years of our education learning to read and write! So at Japan Society too, we do try to teach all aspects of the language.<br />
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<b>Would you say then that your ultimate goal for every student is to bring everyone to a level where they can function in Japanese society?</b><br />
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Right. I come back to this many times—I want our students to learn Japanese that they can actually use in real life, rather than learning abstract or theoretical concepts. That’s what I'm trying to get at.<br />
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<b>A lot of students feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the grammar when they start out learning a language. Do you think this initial struggle with grammar is something that students simply need to get through, or that teachers need to do more to encourage students with other methods?</b><br />
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I think it really depends on the instructor. The instructor has to be really motivated. And when the students are very enthusiastic—it goes both ways. You can’t escape grammar, but there is a certain way to make grammar more fun than just telling you what’s on the blackboard. If the instructor is highly motivated, then the students will be able to learn. And believe me, all of our instructors at Japan Societyare just that! You don't have to know all grammar in detail, but you need to get the framework so that you can build upon it later.<br />
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<b>How about those who already have a strong grammar base and feel the only obstacle to fluency is lack of vocabulary? Do you think a person ever really “graduates” from the classroom, or do you think that even people at the advanced level can benefit from a more structured environment?</b><br />
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I think when you reach that level, where you covered basically all grammar, but you lack vocabulary, the next thing you have to do is immerse yourself among Japanese people. Any exposure will help. Maybe you’re reviewing or discovering something new, but exposure is very important.<br />
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<b>Definitely. I think that’s something that’s difficult for many Americans, to create that immersion environment, even with all the Japanese media available.</b><br />
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From my experience learning how to speak English, I could speak English from just learning grammar. But I stayed with a host family for one or two months when I was an exchange student from Waseda University to Kalamazoo College in Michigan. My English just did not get better, because the conversation was always easy: “Are you hungry?” “Yes I am.” “Do you want to eat this?” “Yes I do.” But as soon as I moved to a dormitory, living with all those freshman girls just out of high school, where they chat about all manner of things, my English became nearly fluent within one month. I really think you have to immerse yourself. And maybe with people of the same age—ideally not a host family, but friends. With people of your generation, you can just explore a lot of things.<br />
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<b>You spoke earlier about the importance of enthusiasm when teaching grammar. What kinds of techniques do you or other instructors use in the classroom to maintain enthusiasm among students?</b><br />
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Most students want to have a conversation. Conversations are comprised of sentences which are built upon the grammar. So learning grammar leads to a good conversation. I introduce a new grammar concept in every session. I first explain the grammar with lots of examples, for which I create tailor-made handout. As soon as I finish the explanation, I have students hold a simple conversation based on the grammar they've just learned. They seem to enjoy these pair exercises.<br />
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<b>Speaking of technology, what are your thoughts on its necessity in the classroom? Is it just a gimmick, or can it form an essential part of your teaching?</b><br />
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I don’t think it’s a gimmick. It’s not everything, but it can play an important part of our curriculum, because we’re living in this era with young people who were born with computers. We have to take advantage of this powerful tool. Instead of using traditional paper flashcards: <i>a i u e o</i> [basic Japanese syllabary], most everyone has an iPhone, and can download animated flashcards, <i>hiragana</i> and things like that. So I do encourage my students to download free apps. For example, the apps like "Hiragana," "Kana Lite," and "Kana" are all helpful. Most everybody has to take a train, so I ask them to do that on the train.<br />
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We are working here at Japan Society on getting computer stations set up. We don't need them in every classroom, but some instructors are very good with them and we want to take advantage of that skill set. I remember one instructor was using an old picture for <i>kikimasu</i> [to hear/listen]. The picture had an old-school record player on it, and he was saying <i>kikimasu</i>, <i>kikimasu</i>. The students had no idea what was going on in the picture, but for him, <i>kikimasu</i> was associated with a record. I had to ask him to change the picture (laughs).<br />
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<b>The Language Center recently launched the YouTube series <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzfrZ0tkPLmzydrzFSuHhuNsXMlwjnBQa">Uki Uki NihonGO!</a>, featuring instruction videos that are more colloquial or culture based than the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4071737C12790477">standard Japanese lessons available</a>. What has the response been? Will there be more videos in the future?</b><br />
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The response has been amazing, extremely positive. We are planning a lot more videos.<br />
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<b>Many educational institutions are increasingly focusing their resources on Chinese to the detriment of other languages, including Japanese. What would you say to leaders of those institutions regarding the continued importance of Japanese language instruction?</b><br />
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Economic power is not everything. Leaders should know that the pursuit of language and understanding is a noble pursuit. I’m not very worried about Chinese power. When you think about French or Italian, neither country is in the same league as China or the U.S. in terms of economic power, but people love to study French and Italian, so clearly there’s some attraction to learning these languages that goes beyond business or economic reasons. Studying a foreign language somehow provides a glimpse into the essence of a country. If people like what they see, maybe they'll be excited to continue their studies. So I feel good that maybe this is why people want to learn Japanese. I hope they’re motivated more by their hearts more than their wallets—to me this would indicate a stronger and more noble dedication to learning the language. <br />
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<b>Especially because economic power is something that fluctuates, whereas love of language is a constant.</b><br />
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It is. And the cultural insights that learning a language, which is something we can certainly offer at Japan Society is also constant, so we don't really have to worry about that at all.<br />
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<b>Recent reports suggest that learning a foreign language can make a person "<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10126883/Why-learn-a-foreign-language-Benefits-of-bilingualism.html">smarter, more decisive and better at English</a>" or even <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-27634990">slow brain ageing</a>. Do you agree with this? What other important benefits are there to learning Japanese, or any foreign language?</b><br />
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When one learns a foreign language, s/he must focus. There is no doubt that this stimulates the aging brain. As I mentioned, the Japanese language is a window into our culture. For instance, through learning how to use the honorific form in Japanese, students also discover how important the social hierarchy is in Japanese society as well as our respect for the elderly.<br />
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<b>On a closing note, are there any other students or experiences that stand out from your esteemed career?</b><br />
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I have so many. I've been here for nine years, so those young students who were so excited about learning Japanese many years ago, many of them are married now, some with kids. Quite a few of them have come to visit me when I’m staying in Japan. We have this phrase in Japanese:<i> sensei myouri ni tsukiru</i>, which means “the happiest moment as a teacher,” and when the students I used to teach stay in touch and visit me, often with their families, I truly experience the feeling of<i> sensei myouri ni tsukiru</i>.<br />
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<i>--Andres Oliver</i><br />
<img border="0" src="file:///C:/Users/shannon/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png" /><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/w5MCYWYjETw?list=PLzfrZ0tkPLmzydrzFSuHhuNsXMlwjnBQa" width="560"></iframe></div>
Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-7982110486828680952014-11-02T13:02:00.000-05:002014-11-03T16:00:04.046-05:00Japan's Monsters Inc.: Getting To Know Obake, Yokai & Yurei<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0xezrMjX5g4cqsWMKFDZ4APhbU9eCjXIRLlSgxuBa30VBid2dW6kkxrfNvepaDF72XUrOC1Qc70_OwSxfb_Fg2QiNo_NgdDtReqMwlHjE79GoQNRVTuZ3d1MdkEzekwbqEx6Sx3A6lw/s1600/ObakeFamilyDay2_JapanSocietyBenWarren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0xezrMjX5g4cqsWMKFDZ4APhbU9eCjXIRLlSgxuBa30VBid2dW6kkxrfNvepaDF72XUrOC1Qc70_OwSxfb_Fg2QiNo_NgdDtReqMwlHjE79GoQNRVTuZ3d1MdkEzekwbqEx6Sx3A6lw/s1600/ObakeFamilyDay2_JapanSocietyBenWarren.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Just a few of Japan's inimitable collection of supernatural creatures Illustration by Ben Warren.</b></span></td></tr>
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Compare America's werewolves, vampires, ghosts, witches, and zombies to Japan’s <a href="http://www.tofugu.com/2011/10/29/super-ghouls-n-ghosts-from-japan/">abundance of supernatural creatures</a>, and it’s hard to believe Japan didn't invent Halloween—a holiday that has only arrived recently as a <a href="http://kotaku.com/5954768/why-halloween-became-a-thing-in-japan">pop-culture import</a> popularized by theme parks such as Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan. <br />
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But Japan’s bestiary of mythical creatures was around long before Halloween. Tales of hundreds of mythical beings with few or no Western parallels are divided into <a href="http://hyakumonogatari.com/2013/11/15/whats-the-difference-between-yurei-and-yokai/">whole subcategories</a> that aren't always clear even to native Japanese. <br />
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Today the Japanese term often used to describe creatures seen during Halloween is <i>obake</i>—inhuman beings that have undergone a transformation. People, animals, even inanimate objects such as neglected or abandoned containers can become <i>obake </i>(this type of <i>obake</i> is known as a <i>tsukumogami</i> and appears often in Japanese folklore). They are typically not very dangerous creatures, tending to prefer mischief over malice (though this is not always the case). <br />
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The <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasa-obake">karakasa-kozo</a></i> is a perfect example. Typically abandoned by its former owner, this paper umbrella has developed a single eye, two arms, a leg (in place of its handle), and a long tongue which it uses to lick people. A harmless <i>obake</i>, it enjoys scaring its victims by popping out of umbrella racks. </div>
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Another category of Japanese creature seen during Halloween is <i><a href="http://yokai.com/">yokai</a></i>. These mysteriously gifted beings are beyond human comprehension and often possess supernatural powers. They tend to be more malicious than their <i>obake</i> counterparts.<br />
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<i>Kappa</i>, mischievous humanoid sea creatures with green, scaly skin, are one of the most famous <i>yokai</i>. They can be hostile towards people, and can enjoy eating human children. They are one of the few <i>yokai</i> able to speak a human language, and are known for their <a href="http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/kappa.shtml">extreme sense of honor</a>. Should a person chance upon one, it is recommended to bow deeply, as the <i>kappa</i> will likely return the bow, spilling the water in the plate on its head and losing its source of power.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99_yqyfp34p2vH9D4eaL70fFvouGNtNzolizuD0LMoRZlwk1mrDMXUJpYe6_pY1WFCDild5Z7dJq95r3LRrNZUQmCX-mxMsDW_DXvO8vLmutyuX4pT6OOUwt3onz1iXUrDrPeEDTnSMI/s1600/kappa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh99_yqyfp34p2vH9D4eaL70fFvouGNtNzolizuD0LMoRZlwk1mrDMXUJpYe6_pY1WFCDild5Z7dJq95r3LRrNZUQmCX-mxMsDW_DXvO8vLmutyuX4pT6OOUwt3onz1iXUrDrPeEDTnSMI/s1600/kappa.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b><a href="http://pinktentacle.com/2010/07/macabre-kids-book-art-by-gojin-ishihara/">Via</a>.</b></span></td></tr>
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The last major category is <a href="http://maskofreason.wordpress.com/the-book-of-mysteries/know-your-ghosts/eastern-asia/yurei/"><i>yurei</i></a>. These once-human apparitions are bound to the physical world by strong feelings such as a grudge or a romance. The only ways to dispel <i>yurei</i> are to fulfill its wishes or for priests to perform the proper rites to send it to the afterlife.<br />
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The <i>onryo</i> is an intensely vengeful class of <i>yurei</i> bound to Earth, seeking retribution for a past injustice. The most famous example is Oiwa from the ghost story <a href="http://www.kabuki21.com/yotsuya_kaidan.php"><i>Yotsuya Kaidan</i></a>. Oiwa is disfigured by a poison disguised as facial cream sent from an admirer of her husband. Disgusted with Oiwa’s ghastly appearance, the husband orders his servant to rape her, so so he will have grounds for divorce. The servant cannot bring himself to do so, and instead shows Oiwa her reflection in a mirror. Horrified, she breaks down, takes up a sword, and in her rush to the door, accidentally stabs herself in the throat. She uses her last words to curse her husband, binding her soul to the physical realm, where she relentlessly torments him until his death.<br />
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The story, originally a kabuki play, has received <a href="http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-yotsuyakaidan.html">numerous film adaptations</a>, and has had a major influence on modern Japanese horror. Oiwa, for instance, is very similar to <a href="http://www.jetaanc.org/ringu/">Sadako from <i>The Ring</i></a>.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-KXUk_kWfbuf-mJ5yd2uubjYhdIw2XYgIXpHZZINqEFvmRIbBIyv3IYH6K1yS5aAcwmS2vcwZUOtfXCttEouIIj_cshM2I8hWvgFqiDxvYpCavmhOxdW5y7GkrVtCtnTSO3VDsorNVQ/s1600/120k238f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-KXUk_kWfbuf-mJ5yd2uubjYhdIw2XYgIXpHZZINqEFvmRIbBIyv3IYH6K1yS5aAcwmS2vcwZUOtfXCttEouIIj_cshM2I8hWvgFqiDxvYpCavmhOxdW5y7GkrVtCtnTSO3VDsorNVQ/s1600/120k238f.jpg" height="188" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="http://www.fujiarts.com/cgi-bin/item.pl?item=441666"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Via</b></span></a>.</td></tr>
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Unlike <i>obake</i>, <i>yurei</i> and <i>yokai</i> don't always make the transition to Halloween in Japan. These vengeful spirits and demons give way to the ghosts, vampire bats and haunted pumpkins of America's Halloween. In fact, the term<i> obake</i> has lost much of its original meaning, and now commonly refers to standard American ghouls. <br />
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But many of these mythical creatures live on in popular culture through anime and manga. The series <i>GeGeGe no Kitaro</i> and <i>InuYasha</i> feature notable modern incarnations. Kitaro and his friends are protected by a character called Nurikabe, based on the <i>yokai</i> of the same name, which manifests itself as a giant wall, extending infinitely in all directions until it is poked near the ground with a stick. <i>InuYasha</i>'s Kirara is a <i>nekomata</i>, a cat with two tails fabled for its great power, and the character Shippo, is a classic <i>kitsune</i> (fox demon), able to shapeshift and perform magic. <br />
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Today's <a href="http://japanphilly.org/articles/814">revival of classic Japanese creatures</a> doesn't compare to their heyday in the Edo period. This decline in popularity—the folklore began to be dismissed as embarrassing fairytales when Japan began to modernize in the 19th century—has led there to be little knowledge of these creatures outside Japan, with few opportunities for foreigners to discover them.<br />
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One such opportunity is today's <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/obake-family-day-experience-japans-ghosts-goblins">Obake Family Day</a> at Japan Society. Children of all ages learn more about <i>yokai</i> and <i>obake</i> firsthand, by creating their own while learning a bit of Japanese, make masks, use traditional Japanese calligraphy to illustrate their spirit creatures, and even take pictures with their favorite <i>obake</i>. The stories behind the beasts will be told through traditional <i>kamishibai </i>(paper-theater) storytelling.<br />
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While the legends of <i>yokai</i> and <i>obake</i> (and even <i>yurei</i>) continue to haunt Japanese ghost stories to this day, America has remained mostly unaware of their existence. Still, there’s something here worth exploring, and it’s about time Japan’s rich, haunted history made it across the ocean. <br />
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After all, we've been in the dark for far too long. <br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci </i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LU9Xz22ohO4pVMWXRXXfUdzkni1imgH8Sr-Mfzy9XJc-UKIZqsJFIs4E711-qdWMYwdvyHCzqb2jH7k9CQVjX-Q1JQ_BuclX3n9toyIa-Z3XHo5GHdshGj5tigdq58uLaKZXHqzRSGA/s1600/ObakeBuddy2_AyaWilson.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LU9Xz22ohO4pVMWXRXXfUdzkni1imgH8Sr-Mfzy9XJc-UKIZqsJFIs4E711-qdWMYwdvyHCzqb2jH7k9CQVjX-Q1JQ_BuclX3n9toyIa-Z3XHo5GHdshGj5tigdq58uLaKZXHqzRSGA/s1600/ObakeBuddy2_AyaWilson.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;">Children can make an Obake Buddy at Obake Family Day. Photo by Aya Wilson.</span></b></td></tr>
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[UPDATED 11/3/14]</div>
Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-20180029996397806322014-10-22T11:35:00.000-04:002014-10-22T12:39:53.690-04:00Kaiseki Cuisine: An Haute Smorgasbord of High-class Healthiness<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgMBUTKYzz2QImNdyW6Fj6POfrmHPUpcWNaynTaPIH6OiKqsGbsf6rR6MKrsJFKbNZF0Pa72O7I4zHg-Xj2PEwhHBolTMKJEQoHlAkYVd93wxGGAFsJiR3Wzb4sc3k_c1I-RyqpCHSYY/s1600/kaiseki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgMBUTKYzz2QImNdyW6Fj6POfrmHPUpcWNaynTaPIH6OiKqsGbsf6rR6MKrsJFKbNZF0Pa72O7I4zHg-Xj2PEwhHBolTMKJEQoHlAkYVd93wxGGAFsJiR3Wzb4sc3k_c1I-RyqpCHSYY/s1600/kaiseki.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="text-align: start;">Kaiseki</i><span style="text-align: start;">: A mega-sampler platter. </span><a href="http://ujiyamada.livejournal.com/40566.html" style="text-align: start;">Via</a></span></b></td></tr>
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The dishes keep coming one after another. Smoked duck breast with chrysanthemum sauce, sashimi, crab, pumpkin and butternut squash soup–and the meal still isn’t even halfway through. The waiter presents several choices for the next course, and by the time you’ve decided, you are already thinking about the next six.<br />
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If you were at any other restaurant, this would likely be the point at which you would start contemplating how to burn all this off the next day. However, you are at Michelin-Star chef David Bouley’s <a href="http://www.davidbouley.com/brushstroke-main/">Brushstroke</a>, patting yourself on the back for sticking to your diet.<br />
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Brushstroke, the result of a collaboration between Bouley and the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka, Japan, specializes in a type of seasonal Japanese cuisine known as <i>kaiseki</i>, and Bouley claims it’s one of the healthiest ways to eat.<br />
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"About 10 years ago I started to think about how I wanted to do food with a healthier twist," he says. "Why? Because I want to see people more often," Bouley <a href="http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/dining/chef-david-bouley">told <i>Town & Country</i></a>.<br />
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But <i>kaiseki i</i>s not just healthy. It is very much a high-class cuisine with <a href="http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/japanese-kaiseki/">centuries of tradition</a>. The food is expensive, meticulously arranged, and served in small portions, much like French haute cuisine. It is believed that the term <i>kaiseki</i> (written with the Japanese characters for “stone” and “chest”) originated from the Zen Monk practice of placing warm stones into the front folds of their robes to ward off hunger.<br />
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No two <i>kaiseki</i> menus look the same, and meals can consist of more than 14 courses, decided upon by the head chef. The menu is ever-changing (over 5,000 seasonal dishes at Brushstroke alone), and the food is made to be as aesthetically appealing as possible, often presented on creatively-styled dishes and bowls to enhance the visual effect.<br />
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Some common courses include a bite-sized appetizer called <i>sakizuke</i>, a seasonal sashimi called <i>mukozuke</i>, and several soup courses, among others. If you’re somehow still really hungry before dessert, there is one final course known as <i>tomewan</i>, which is simply miso soup and rice. However, people often choose not to eat it, as <i>kaiseki</i> can be very filling.<br />
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When Bouley first introduced his tasting menu in the 1980s, he faced a lot of challenges, as he <a href="http://www.grandlifehotels.com/culture/grandlife-interviews-david-bouley/">told <i>GrandLife</i></a>:<br />
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People sometimes thought they were going to eat too much, that there was too much food. They thought it was going to take too long. Those folks with the metabolism of being packed in like Thanksgiving dinner? That’s not what this is. This is like being a birdie, you know. I’m seducing you, I’m seducing you, I’m seducing you. And you’re playing. I’m teasing you.</blockquote>
It’s this seduction that gives Bouley a sense of purpose–being able to convert even the most reluctant diners. That trend <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/chef-bouley-on-contemporary-kaiseki-cuisine-the-power-of-nature-health">continues October 23</a> at Japan Society, where he’ll be holding a lecture all about <i>kaiseki</i>’s past, present and future, followed by a tasting reception where guests will have the opportunity to taste Bouley’s brand of the distinctive cuisine for themselves.<br />
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“I’m a chef of ingredients," said Bouley. "That’s my type. That’s what it’s all going to come back to. Ingredients. Your body remembers them your whole life. A beautiful presentation is fun, but you will forget that. You won’t wake up one day with a craving for that. However you will wake up with a craving for a perfect white peach. I’ve always been sensitive to that. That has got me hooked.”<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci</i><br />
<i><br /></i>Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-37531820854885740692014-10-10T11:46:00.002-04:002014-12-26T15:28:50.987-05:00Facing Forward, Looking Back: Hisashi Tenmyouya’s 'Street-Samurai' Style<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgan5Okwi6esCMa0sjRhu6KYhU0jm5Su4SWepiFsfmRvuO5TLrrAwlR7IMIeCm6LQwfF4OTXmeu8XsJKZhqzniMUJ4_gN47zDX9obODwpOyTKx14Io2-aRQlIstQd5SlFODxHrIxoXJUbQ/s1600/Garden_Tenmyouya_Rhyme_DETAIL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgan5Okwi6esCMa0sjRhu6KYhU0jm5Su4SWepiFsfmRvuO5TLrrAwlR7IMIeCm6LQwfF4OTXmeu8XsJKZhqzniMUJ4_gN47zDX9obODwpOyTKx14Io2-aRQlIstQd5SlFODxHrIxoXJUbQ/s1600/Garden_Tenmyouya_Rhyme_DETAIL.jpg" height="281" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Detail of Tenmyouya's <i>Rhyme.</i></span></b></td></tr>
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Hisashi Tenmyouya is a man of many styles. He’s a rebel and an innovator, doing his best to express the diversity of Japanese culture through art.<br />
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“Japanese culture has been considered a world that is ascetic, static, simple, minimal, one of anime and manga," Tenmyouya said in an interview with Laura J. Mueller, who co-curated the exhibition <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/page/programs/gallery/garden-of-unearthly-delights"><i>Garden of Unearthly Delights: Works by Ikeda, Tenmyouya & teamLab</i></a>, opening today at Japan Society. "However, that is just one aspect of Japanese culture. It is more diverse. We treasure the sight of cherry blossoms falling from the tree. We amuse ourselves with fireworks exploding like flowers blooming in the sky. We enjoy festivals with elaborately designed floats moving down the street.”<br />
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Tenmyouya has invented several self-described styles in the <a href="http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~tenmyoya/biography/biography.html">years he's been making art</a>. His <i>Butō-ha</i> (circa 2000) depicts resistance towards the authoritative art system. His <i>Neo-Nihonga</i> (2001) incorporates elements of traditional Japanese art (<i>nihonga</i>), while using contemporary art styles and modern art materials, such as acrylic paint. And most recently, <i>Basara</i> (2010) draws inspiration from the extraordinary beauty of past eras, including the woodblock print artists of the late Edo period (1615 – 1867), and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabukimono"><i>kabukimono</i></a> (men, often samurai, who dressed and acted flamboyantly) of the late Sengoku era (mid-15th to late 16th centuries). <br />
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“My manifesto, <i>Basara</i>, is based on the subculture of the ‘street-samurai culture’ that is excessively decorative and imbued with a rebellious spirit that defies traditional values. <i>Basara</i> stands for anti-authority and anti-aristocratic culture, which is derived from samurai culture on the streets. Basara represents a counter to the traditional values of <i>wabi</i>, <i>sabi</i>, Zen, and <i>otaku</i>,” he said.<br />
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Still, even across multiple styles, there are some common themes to be found in Tenmyouya’s work. His paintings tend to depict subjects that are in direct contrast with each other. <br />
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His 2002 work <i>Neo Thousand-Armed Kannon</i> presents Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, with her many arms holding machine guns, army knives and pistols. The piece examines the state of the world in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in the U.S., highlighting the close relationship between violence and faith despite their opposite natures.<br />
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These contrasts are not always so serious, however. He also created a poster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, appropriately titled <i>Football</i>, depicting two soccer players wearing samurai armor and decorative helmets in the midst of a battle for the ball - one player with his leg pulled back, ready to kick, and the other sliding towards him in an attempt to steal the ball away. <br />
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"[His] works exude an historic feel that is also wholly contemporary,” <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2008/11/06/arts/tenmyouya-hisashi-fighting-spirit/#.U-OLdPldWVN">wrote</a> Vicente Gutierrez in <i>The Japan Times</i> about Tenmyouya's Tokyo exhibition in 2009.<br />
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“Tenmyouya’s paintings of fantastic beasts and tattooed warriors are a record-album-cover designer’s version of Buddhist and Shinto religious icons,” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/arts/design/anxiety-on-the-fault-line.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0">wrote</a> the <i>The New York Times</i>’ Holland Cotter, when Tenmyouya was featured in Japan Society's 2011 exhibition <i>Bye Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art.</i><br />
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Even though his solo exhibitions have mainly taken place in Tokyo, people from all around the world have been introduced to Tenmyouya’s unique style when his works have been showcased in places such as Berlin, Sydney and Singapore. He made his U.S. debut in 2002 in <i>One Planet Under a Groove: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art</i> at New York’s Bronx Museum. <br />
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He received more worldwide exposure with the 2006 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1569469/">video documentary</a> <i>Near Equal Tenmyouya Hisashi</i> (released internationally as <i>Hisashi Tenmyouya: Samurai Nouveau</i>), in which director Go Ishizaki followed Tenmyouya as he worked on his paintings.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_pMsn1ZaTiQ" width="420"></iframe><br />
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Japan Society’s <i>Garden of Unearthly Delights</i> features Tenmyouya’s first large-scale installation: a room adorned with several of his paintings, placed around a Zen garden with volcanic rocks and skulls planted in a sea of blood-red sand. One of the centerpieces of the room, his most recent work <i>Rhyme</i>, is a sizable painting which depicts yakuza-type men battling each other wearing nothing but <i>fundoshi </i>(ceremonial loincloths). While the subject matter is traditional, there is a sense of surrealism (a tiger and several horses wearing armor against a shimmering gold background), and the style is thought to be influenced by Leonardo de Vinci’s early-Renaissance <i><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Peter_Paul_Ruben's_copy_of_the_lost_Battle_of_Anghiari.jpg">The Battle of Angihari</a></i> (1505).<br />
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It’s one of the many influences that contribute to Tenmyouya’s distinctive “street-samurai” style, in addition to his striking visual approach. His always-innovating, rebellious mindset makes each of his paintings more unpredictable than the last. With new styles, new ideas and new concepts, Hisashi Tenmyouya will be a fascinating artist to follow in the years to come.<br />
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<i>--Mark Gallucci, additional reporting by Younjoo Sang</i><br />
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;">Images (top to bottom, left to right): Hisashi Tenmyouya, (b. 1966), <i>Rhyme </i>(Detail), 2012. Acrylic paint, gold leaf on wood; inkjet print on paper, mounted on wood; each 49 7/8 x 118 1/8 in. Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Colonel Rex W. & Maxine Schuster Radsch Endowment Fund purchase, 2013.23.1-.2a-b.; <i>Neo Thousand Armed Kannon</i>, 2002. Acrylic, wood; 89 ½ x 68 5/16 in. Takahashi Collection, Tokyo. © Hisashi Tenmyouya, courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery; <i>Football</i>, 2004, official poster selection of the 2006 World Cup in Germany; <i>Neo Acalanatha </i>(Detail), 2004. Acrylic, wood; 42 1/3 x 18 5/7 in. Collection of Katsura Yamaguchi. © Hisashi Tenmyouya, courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery.</span></b></div>
Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-5871331862214932312014-10-06T11:26:00.000-04:002014-10-06T11:41:38.312-04:00Meticulously Monumental: Manabu Ikeda’s Dedication to Perfection<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV03T1VyklXwPKQ2E74QUlAmSr6XNazOsZpFQSjZWJl8X8lrgtn0Git-9FjZoWSV-tDOFYJiw8bh1rXtmLgLywgYVFhrf8OeojnmlwrNXIDF2_Pw6xZYihtso0_NZIkjv3ciHgx8atkjk/s1600/IkedaDrawing_AmberArnold_WisconsinStateJournal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV03T1VyklXwPKQ2E74QUlAmSr6XNazOsZpFQSjZWJl8X8lrgtn0Git-9FjZoWSV-tDOFYJiw8bh1rXtmLgLywgYVFhrf8OeojnmlwrNXIDF2_Pw6xZYihtso0_NZIkjv3ciHgx8atkjk/s1600/IkedaDrawing_AmberArnold_WisconsinStateJournal.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="text-align: start;">Manabu Ikeda attends to details. </span><a href="http://host.madison.com/entertainment/arts_and_theatre/line-by-line-a-masterwork-takes-shape/article_d817e640-0052-518f-9a58-a36c648348f6.html" style="text-align: start;">Via</a><span style="text-align: start;">.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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The wave rises. Uprooted buildings, destroyed planes, and derailed trains follow. A giant glacier is swept along, rope-tethered climbers working to scale the massive chunk of ice as it travels. Roads have been split, tunnels upturned, and a raging fire is rapidly consuming what’s left of a small forest. This could be the apocalypse.<br />
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Or it could be a mere fraction of what’s taking place in Manabu Ikeda’s <i>Foretoken</i>, a drawing of a massive, 6 by 11 foot wave crashing through civilization.<br />
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Ikeda’s works are examples of precision and persistence which sacrifice neither scope nor detail, depicting painstakingly crafted landscapes laden with subtle touches and sweeping emotion. To achieve this, he uses a small, fine-point acrylic pen for his drawings, working on only a few inches each day for up to eight hours, which will eventually make up the minute details of a much larger piece, which often takes him years to complete. For his current project, Ikeda is in the middle of a <a href="http://host.madison.com/entertainment/arts_and_theatre/line-by-line-a-masterwork-takes-shape/article_d817e640-0052-518f-9a58-a36c648348f6.html">three-year residency at the Chazen Museum of Art</a>, working on a single drawing. <br />
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Commenting on <i>Meltdown</i>, one of Ikeda’s more recent drawings, Chazen director Russell Panczenko <a href="http://host.madison.com/entertainment/arts_and_theatre/line-by-line-a-masterwork-takes-shape/article_d817e640-0052-518f-9a58-a36c648348f6.html">told</a> the <i>Wisconsin State Journal</i>, “if you look closely, with all this detail covering the whole surface, there isn’t a pen stroke that is more than an eighth of an inch in length. So – talk about intensity.”<br />
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Ikeda’s meticulous approach is very much connected to Japanese tradition. In Japan the term <i>takumi</i> is reserved for one who has mastered his/her profession at the highest level of technical precision.<br />
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“The master does it by hand; that’s what makes him the master. That’s important to him,” Panczenko noted.<br />
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Ikeda’s work process tends to be spontaneous, as he either sketches quickly thought-out images in sketchbooks or directly inks his larger works without a sketch draft.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Manabu Ikeda's <i>Foretoken</i> (Detail), 2008. Pen, acrylic ink on paper, mounted on boards; 72 x 132 in. Collection of Sustainable Investor Co., Ltd. © Manabu Ikeda, courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery.</b></span></span></td></tr>
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“I use ideas that flash in my mind at the moment,” Ikeda said in an <a href="http://hifructose.com/2013/06/11/exclusive-interview-with-ikeda-manabu/">interview</a> with <i>Hi-Fructose Magazine</i>. “From a distance, I look at the whole balance of work, and finally determine the image, which takes about one year after I started drawing. Recently, I try to have a whole solid image in the beginning to shorten the time.” <br />
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Ikeda’s works received much critical praise in America during Japan Society's 2011 exhibition <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/bye-bye-kitty-between-heaven-and-hell-in-contemporary-japanese-art"><i>Bye Bye Kitty!!!</i></a>, which highlighted contemporary Japanese artists whose works utilized traditional styles while going against foreign preconceptions of Japanese art. <br />
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<i>The New Yorker</i> <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/03/28/fearing-the-worst">described Ikeda</a> as “a visionary”, saying, “It would take you hours to explore thoroughly, and then you’d have to start over, to refresh your memory. Does this sound like a stunt? It’s an enchantment.” <i>The New York Times</i> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/arts/design/anxiety-on-the-fault-line.html">praised Ikeda’s attention to detail</a>:<br />
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… nothing tops Manabu Ikeda’s miniaturist ink landscapes and cityscapes. In "Existence" he presents the world as a giant, decomposing tree. In “History of Rise and Fall,” it becomes a shifting, clattering architectural pileup: a million-roofed samurai castle garnished with cherry trees, fragmented Buddhist sculptures and ant-size hanged human figures.</blockquote>
From October 10 to January 11, visitors to Japan Society Gallery can experience the largest number of Manabu Ikeda’s drawings assembled to date, presented alongside works by “ultra technologist” collective <a href="http://japansocietyny.blogspot.com/2014/08/seeds-of-unearthly-delights-teamlabs.html">teamLab</a> and <a href="http://metropolis.co.jp/arts/art-reviews/hisashi-tenmyouya-%E2%80%9Crhyme%E2%80%9D/">Neo-Nihonga purveyor</a> Hisashi Tenmyouya in <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/garden-of-unearthly-delights"><i>Garden of Unearthly Delights: Works by Ikeda, Tenmyouya & teamLab</i></a>.<br />
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The exhibition showcases a crossover from past to present, according to Japan Society Gallery director and exhibition co-curator Miwako Tezuka. Many of Ikeda’s drawings focus on this transition – more specifically, on the shift from reliance on nature to reliance on technology.<br />
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“I agree that we benefit a lot from advanced technology," Ikeda told <i>Hi-Fructose</i>, "but at the same time, I feel that we are acting contrary to nature, which makes me feel endangered. Also, figuratively, accomplished shapes do not move my heart. At the end, for example, the mystery of a caterpillar’s color and shape is much more fun for me than any amazing technology.”<br />
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<i>-- Mark Gallucci; additional reporting by Younjoo Sang </i></div>
Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-61336398782882289872014-08-12T10:48:00.000-04:002014-08-12T10:52:02.723-04:00Seeds of 'Unearthly Delights': teamLab's Digital Garden<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0R4NeH7QQWRZvC3U4qRXsV6nkRDHxQ9yc9zD8vd8BSyWz1MAmTmcCGmv9keu8u2DnpTEimOk-Tgg2KoFYB2nl4A5poB9PdwJvV9go39iN6DU0_7iEAQBUq5pYeXjYEzMPWGhNl43QhOA/s1600/teamLab_UnitedFragmented_DETAIL-WEB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0R4NeH7QQWRZvC3U4qRXsV6nkRDHxQ9yc9zD8vd8BSyWz1MAmTmcCGmv9keu8u2DnpTEimOk-Tgg2KoFYB2nl4A5poB9PdwJvV9go39iN6DU0_7iEAQBUq5pYeXjYEzMPWGhNl43QhOA/s1600/teamLab_UnitedFragmented_DETAIL-WEB.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;">teamLab's immersive, interactive art, part of of Japan Society's' fall exhibition <i>Garden of Unearthly Delights</i>.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.team-lab.net/en/aboutteamlab">TeamLab</a> is a collective of around 300 individuals specializing in various areas such as art, design, mathematics, and computer engineering. With their combined efforts, they create works that blur the lines between art and technology.<br />
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Although they invent cutting-edge software to create their art, their roots are distinctly traditional, drawing inspiration from scenes of nature and domestic landscapes commonly found in classical Japanese paintings.<br />
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Their artistic and technological prowess can be viewed in the exhibition <a href="http://www.pacegallery.com/newyork/exhibitions/12675/ultra-subjective-space"><i>Ultra Subjective Space</i></a> at Pace Gallery through August 15. Much of the work depicts a three-dimensional world with three-dimensional objects, but “flattened” to emulate the look of Japanese paintings.<br />
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Traditional East Asian landscape paintings depict space in layers of picture planes; one at the foreground, the other in the middle-ground, and then the last one indicating the farthest space in the background. Transitional spaces are to be then completed in one’s own (i.e. subjective) imagination. On the other hand, Western art has been using a linear perspective with one fixed point.<br />
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"Western approach to spatial representation is based on optical illusion," explains <a href="http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2012/07/25/interview-with-miwako-tezuka-japan-society/">Miwako Tezuka</a>, director of Japan Society Gallery. "Before Japanese learned the linear perspective system to create visual illusion in painting, I think they felt, rather than saw the depth by empathetically entering into the planes of foreground, middle-ground, and background of paintings. <br />
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Teamlab shares this point of view, stating in <a href="http://www.team-lab.net/en/teamlabconcept">their manifesto</a>:<br />
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We propose that people in Japan at that time may have actually seen the world as they chose to depict it in Japanese painting. People of today have a perception of space that is based on the perspective they see in photos and paintings, but is it not possible that people of old saw and were able to feel space in the art work they looked at?” teamLab wrote on their website.</blockquote>
In an evocative review of the Pace exhibition, VICE illustrated <a href="http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/mythological-japanese-imagery-comes-alive-in-these-animated-digital-paintings">teamLab's achievement</a> of capturing this:<br />
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The European standard of linear perspective is absent from these compositions, allowing viewers to place themselves anywhere inside the scene, rather than being limited to a single point of view… [The works] each capture a celebratory perspective on nature, effortlessly combined with the sleek, clean, hi-tech texture intrinsic in their medium.</blockquote>
The combination of design and technology also makes their work an interactive experience.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="239" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/V3sPEJckUZc" width="425"></iframe><br />
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The <i>Ever Blossoming Life</i> series, for example, shows a cluster of flowers in a gold background and a dark blue-black background where flowers bloom, drop their petals, wither, and die with progression of time. While the flowers collectively bloom and wilt ad infinitum, they are programmed so that they display the images in real time and never duplicate their previous states. Just like real flowers, each flower bud blooming, wilting and falling cannot be repeated exactly the same again. The life of each plant, the duration of each flower is a unique image in space and time.<br />
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After their Pace Gallery show, teamLab will have their first major museum presentation in Japan Society Gallery's fall exhibition <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/garden-of-unearthly-delights"><i>Garden of Unearthly Delights: Works by Ikeda, Tenmyouya & teamLab</i></a>. Their work is a perfect fit for the show that highlights visionaries shaping the present and future of Japanese art while harkening to the past.<br />
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The moving images that teamLab creates are extraordinary in the original sense of the word: their nature-filled landscapes not only reminisce one of the classical Japanese painting subjects of “flowering plants of four seasons” but also are truly out of this world, says Tezuka. <br />
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"They contain so much more visual and philosophical information than what our mere eyes can perceive. They invite our multi-sensory participation, and this fall, we will have that very chance to participate in strolling through a brand-new digital garden that will blossom in Japan Society Gallery." <br />
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<i>--Younjoo Sang</i><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo: teamLab (est. 2001), United, Fragmented, Repeated, and Impermanent World, 2013 (detail). Interactive digital work, 8 screens; endless, 9:16; sound by Hideaki Takahashi. Courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery. </b></span><br />
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4006621526915427433.post-54668136736255268242014-08-04T14:00:00.000-04:002014-08-04T14:22:13.145-04:00Taiko Drumming: The Whole Body Pulse of Japan's Resounding 'Heartbeat'<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoX6133A8Rp7lcpvvYEkHEfF8mQYRXS9R0ybtbvyCPgyd4hSTKilDtjjFO8x6sOywrIGSAkYcG0nHdWP5-eCDel_3dhxw_VfoR-_wl8eVJVlK0KjCtBs9mPKQwC7zH-InFDBShdHvK758/s1600/kodo+tomoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoX6133A8Rp7lcpvvYEkHEfF8mQYRXS9R0ybtbvyCPgyd4hSTKilDtjjFO8x6sOywrIGSAkYcG0nHdWP5-eCDel_3dhxw_VfoR-_wl8eVJVlK0KjCtBs9mPKQwC7zH-InFDBShdHvK758/s1600/kodo+tomoe.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="text-align: start;">Does Kodo have a workout video? Image </span><a href="http://www.artandculturemaven.com/2011/01/japanese-drumming-ensemble-kodo-cd.html" style="text-align: start;">via</a><span style="text-align: start;">.</span></b></span></td></tr>
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Learning an instrument is a physical challenge as much as a musical one, from proper finger placement on guitar, to shoulder and back strength for cello, to mastering a variety of breathing techniques needed to sound any wind instrument. After thousands of hours of rigorous practice, the sole motivator for taking on such an arduous task may be the rewarding feeling when a song finally plays to perfection.<br />
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But motivators can also be <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140103-music-lessons-brain-aging-cognitive-neuroscience/">mental health</a>, a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-dj-jon-hopkins-dance-music-20140725-story.html">means of meditation</a> or a <a href="http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/fitness/training+tips/try+a+drum+workout+with+taiko,8605">whole body workout</a>. All three are possible with <a href="http://www.jpf.org.au/onlinearticles/hitokuchimemo/issue25.html">taiko</a>, the word for Japanese drums and traditional Japanese drumming, often considered the resounding 'heartbeat' of Japanese culture.<br />
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The popularity of taiko can be seen in its many benefits. Some choose to play taiko because of their love of music or their interest in Japanese culture. The meditative aspect stems from the instruments' roots in religion, specifically <a href="http://www.taiko.com/taiko_resource/history.html">Buddhism</a>. In terms of full body workout, the physical stamina required increases depending on the size of the drums and weight of the drumsticks, as well as the degree of <a href="http://www.parobs.org/index.php?module=article&view=1899&lay_quiet=1">strength</a> and control needed to create different sounds. This does not necessarily mean taiko players must be physically fit to learn to play (though they probably will be after a few years of playing regularly). Anyone can learn from small children to the elderly, and benefits abound for people with disabilities (taiko has been <a href="http://abc11.com/archive/5920413/">used as therapy</a> for people with Downs Syndrome and autism, and deaf people can play by feeling the <a href="http://www.taiko-center.co.jp/english/history_of_taiko.html">vibrations</a> made by other players). <br />
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Originally, taiko was not the big production that it is today. According to <i>Japanzine</i>, a national magazine about Japan, the clay figure of a man beating a drum dated around the 6th or 7th centuries is the <a href="http://www.japanzine.jp/article/jz/1070/taiko-facts">earliest evidence of taiko</a> in Japan. Further evidence supports that it was originally used on the <a href="http://www.togendaiko.org/about-us/history-of-taiko">battlefield</a> as a way to intimidate the enemy.<br />
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Over the centuries, taiko was incorporated into daily village life as a timekeeper, into imperial court music, into religious activities as the powerful sounds became associated with the <a href="http://www.taiko.com/taiko_resource/history.html">gods</a>, and has become the centerpiece of many <a href="http://taiko.berkeley.edu/history.html"><i>matsuri</i></a> (Japanese festivals). It was not until post-war Jazz musician <a href="http://taiko.berkeley.edu/history.html">Daihachi Oguchi</a> created the first ensemble format of taiko with multiple drums and rhythms that taiko developed into the arrangements seen today. <br />
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<b style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;">Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble performs in 2012. </b></div>
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Taiko has spread across the globe with world renowned professional groups like <a href="http://www.drum-tao.com/main/?lang=en">Tao</a> and <a href="http://www.kodo.or.jp/index_en.html">Kodo</a>, purveyors such as <a href="http://www.kennyendo.com/">Kenny Endo</a> and hundreds of esteemed amateur ensembles. Among <a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=%22new+york%22+Taiko+">several in New York</a> are the New York Suwa Taiko Association, which has performed at several Japan Society events; the <a href="http://nytak.blogspot.com/">New York Taiko Aiko Kai</a>, a resident group of the TC Taiko Society at Columbia University's Teachers College; and Brooklyn's only taiko group <a href="http://www.taiko-masala.com/">Taiko Masala</a>, which will head up the taiko portion of Japan Society's 2014 summer high school workshop, <a href="http://www.japansociety.org/event/from-taiko-drumming-to-j-pop-music-dance">From Taiko Drumming to J-Pop Music & Dance</a>.<br />
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Everywhere people are inspired to play taiko with its unforgettable sound and enriching benefits. As much as an opportunity to learn an instrument, taiko is a way to experience and contribute to the heartbeat of Japan.<br />
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As the old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakegoe"><i>kakegoe</i></a> goes, <a href="http://truetalltaikotales.blogspot.com/2009/09/question-everything-kiai.html">SO-RE</a>!<br />
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<i>--Ana Belen Gomez Flor</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Llc7WzBoQZA4MzVjTqlKLGZmKJfE-IGy0rPHW6BmWaR2hMS0LAHMKGIFLG0-__hPoUHQSJSAP6izMYNA0A7xlR338E15l85y6_MOHUlcurf1dNNhVUhPi0_UHsAMZJ7JvVAWow4emuw/s1600/TaikoJS3_GHirose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Llc7WzBoQZA4MzVjTqlKLGZmKJfE-IGy0rPHW6BmWaR2hMS0LAHMKGIFLG0-__hPoUHQSJSAP6izMYNA0A7xlR338E15l85y6_MOHUlcurf1dNNhVUhPi0_UHsAMZJ7JvVAWow4emuw/s1600/TaikoJS3_GHirose.jpg" height="277" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: xx-small;"><b>The New York Suwa Taiko Association launched Japan Society's all day j-CATION festival in 2012. Photo by George Hirose.</b></span></span></td></tr>
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Japan Societyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13052990651740221135noreply@blogger.com1