News Blast: No. 3 Economy, Atomic Echoes, Julia Roberts Does Not Hate Japan, And More

► In the 2nd Quarter heard 'round the world: China passed Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy behind the United States, a place Japan held for the last four decades. The Times writes for Japan "the figures reflect a decline in economic and political power" and notes the reaction in the country "was one of resignation." The Wall Street Journal suggests the overtake is the shock therapy Japan needs, while The Economist wonders how Japanese firms will cope as China whizzes by.

►Americans and people from Great Britain observed "Victory over Japan Day", marking Japan's official surrender August 15, 1945, effectively ending World War II (also celebrated in the U.S. on September 2 for complicated historical timing reasons). Some people in NYC celebrated with a kiss, aping the famed Times Square photograph. While bitter memories still abound across all nations, one  G.I. recalls his relief and reflects on the day's ominous atomic echo.

►For the first time since the end of World War II, the full Japanese Cabinet did not visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.

►"The great temples of Kyoto are still standing today because an American scholar named Langdon Warner, who took a fancy to Japanese art and culture, suggested to the U.S. Command that they test their new atomic bombs on different cities," notes a Japan Today article about Tokyo residents' fight to save historic school buildings in Tokyo's Chuo Ward.

►The New York Times profiles Toshikazu Sugaya, a man wrongfully imprisoned 17 years after giving a false confession to three murders. Notes The Times: "Mr. Sugaya, now 63, has become a national figure, and perhaps the country’s most vocal critic of forced confessions — a recurring problem [in Japan]. He has written or co-written three books, including one titled 'Falsely Convicted,' and tours the country giving talks about his experience."

►Asahi: "Signs in Japanese at overseas airports, train stations, tourist spots or other sites sometimes seem a bit off to native readers of the language, even when the grammar and usage are fine. The reason for that niggling feeling is often the wrong choice of fonts." Related: Jetwit's thoughts on Japan's Englishification.

►In addition to vuvuzela, bromance, and staycation, the third edition of the Oxford Dictionary adopts hikikomori, a Japanese word that signifies the abnormal avoidance of social contact.

►In movie news: an American actor releases a film documenting stories from hibakusha, Kurosawa's influential Yojimbo celebrates 50 years after its U.S. release, the man who played the original Godzilla speaks, CNN broadcasts a lengthy profile on actor Ken Watanabe, and Julia Roberts does not hate Japan.

►Jakarta adopts Japan's women-only train cars. Related: Pink Tentacle posted incredible vintage posters encouraging Tokyo subway etiquette.

►A WTO panel rules in favor of Japan, the U.S. and Taiwan over the European Union's tariffs on liquid crystal displays.

►In food news: Japanese sushi students aim for better paying jobs overseas, Japanese whiskeys get foothold in U.S., Time Out Tokyo digs Japanese snow cones, and New Yorkers are invited to discover nutritious Japanese cuisine at the Healthy Food & Green Festival Sunday.

►From 4,000 teams to 2: Konan and Tokaidai play Saturday to win Japan's national high-school tournament.

►The Economist reviews Jeff Kingston's Contemporary Japan, says it does "sterling service in stripping away or qualifying" old-fashioned conceptions about Japanese national identity, both from an insider and outsider perspective.

►Size isn't everything in sumo. (Warning: video contains "strips of cloth tied tight and a lot of flesh" according to the WSJ reporter.)

►Hundreds of Pokémon players vie to be the world's best.

►"In a small country like Japan, even storing a flower vase can be a problem."

Image via.

S.J.

Washoku Update & Insider Interviews From Students

Chef Noriyuki Kobayashi teaches students the finer points of making sushi. Photo by Sara & Christina

The high school students participating in Washoku 101 are coming to the end of their two-week course in cooking Japanese-style. Some of the activities they’ve enjoyed are: learning how to make tsukemono (pickles), onigiri (rice balls), Japanese sweets, as well as visiting a Tofu factory, and participating in a tea ceremony.

You can keep up-to-date on their activities by checking out the students' blog. There are tons of great pictures, as well as interviews with the instructors, some of whom are well-known in their respective fields as masters of various Japanese culinary techniques.

In students Perdro and Tanner’s interview with Tofu manufacturer Yoko Difranica at House Foods, Ms. Difranica says that Tofu’s still a hard sell in the U.S.: “Tofu is an acquired taste and few people in the U.S. grow up with tofu. Another challenge is educating customers about tofu and not scaring them off by making them think that House Foods is trying push a healthy product and one with no taste.”

Some Japanese food has had a wider and warmer reception than tofu, though. The sushi chef at Megu Noriyuki Kobayashi experiences high demand for his specialty, he told students Sara and Christina. Maybe it’s because he’s trained with another master: “I didn’t really have the money for culinary school,” he said. “Actually, people didn’t use to go to culinary school, but would learn under a really good chef at real restaurants.”

All the classes, lectures, and demonstrations culminate in a private reception held at the Astor Center. Mr. Kobayashi will lead students in a demonstration of making and rolling sushi. Guests will be invited to join in and partake in the hand-made sushi feast. Additional demonstrations will also be held, as well as a meal at the end, of catered and student-made goodies.

N.O.

Zen Again & Again

Hakuin Ekaku, 1685-1768, Two Blind Men on a Bridge. Ink on paper, 11 x 33 in. Man’yo-an Collection.

October is Zen Month here at Japan Society! Starting on October 1st, and continuing until January, the new exhibit, The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin, opens with a veritable onslaught of Zen-related events following. The "Here & Zen" series includes lectures on art and lifestyle, performances, film screenings, workshops, as well as a second, free-of-charge exhibition.

On Saturday October 2nd, Stephen Addiss heads the symposium Hear the Sound of One Hand: Reflections on the Art of Zen Master Hakuin about the influence of Zen on artistic expression in Japan. Addiss is a co-curator of the exhibition with his wife Audrey Yoshiko Seo. Both are respected and prolific writers on Zen and art, and they wrote the exhibition catalogue. They are joined by Matthew Welch, Curator of Japanese and Korean Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and David Rosand, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History at Columbia University.

The next weekend, on October 8th and 9th, actor-director Yoshi Oida brings his one man show, Interrogations: Words of the Zen Masters to Japan Society. Interrogations is a comical play about a Zen master addressing several koans to a student to test him, and to see if he has reached enlightenment. The play is accompanied with live music by Berlin-based experimental musician Dieter Trüstedt. Interrogations premiered in 1979 and has been performed by Oida and Trüstedt throughout the world (this summer it stopped in Barcelona). It’s a true classic of the genre, and offers something for Zen novices, adepts, and masters alike!

On October 15th, Japan Society screens Masaki Kobayashi's epic ghost-film omnibus Kwaidan. It’s made up of four separate, thematically related, traditional Japanese ghost stories, and is by turns hypnotic, jarring, and meditative.

Field to Table: the Role of Vegetables in the Japanese Diet, is a lecture by Elizabeth Andoh, a Japanese food expert and cookbook author, as well as Masato Nishihara, head chef at Kijitsu Restaurant. Japanese cuisine boasts an impressive vegetarian tradition, because Buddhist doctrine limits, and sometimes prohibits, the consumption of meat.

In addition to the main gallery exhibit an additional show entitled oxherding features ink paintings by Max Gimblett and poems by Lewis Hyde. Together they examine similar themes to Hakuin, but from a contemporary perspective. As inspiration, the exhibition takes the famous Zen parable, "The Ten Ox Herding Pictures", about tending and maintaining discipline in the mind for gaining enlightenment. Hyde as well as psychiatrist and author Mark Epstein present a lecture as well: Mindful Living, examining the ox herding parable and describing ways to map its Zen ideas onto Western lives.

A number of workshops are held as well. oxherding artist Max Gimblett leads four sumi ink painting workshops from October to January, Lewis Hyde offers a writing workshop, and world-famous shakuhachi musician Akikazu Nakamura teaches missoku Zen breathing meditation in October.

Ticket sales for the lectures, performances and workshops have just been released online, so get them while they’re hot, and get ready to expand your minds!

This cow is maditating on the ancient koan, "nothingness" 

N.O.

Language Center: Fall Course List Now Online!

Students at last year's Shodo class. Photo by Satoru Ishikawa

Japan Society Language Center’s fall course list has just been published! You can check it out here.

This fall, there’s a variety of courses, whether you’re a beginner, or have some experience speaking and writing hiragana, katakana and kanji. An advanced class, “Japanese in Anime,” is perennially popular. Dialogue in anime is pretty stylized, so mastering it presents a fun challenge to seasoned students. There are also Shodo (Calligraphy) classes for those interested in learning the ancient art. Japan Society Members can get up to a $50 tuition discount, and discounts are also available for those who need them. Schedules for the individual are flexible as well, with a variety of different sections available for each class. They fill up quickly though, so make sure you sign up soon to ensure you get the section that works best for you.

The Language Center began in 1972, with just one class. In the following years, class selection increased, and its reputation steadily grew. Today, the Language Center is renowned for its quality of teaching and first hand access to information. Students with the Language Center also get access to the C.V. Starr Library at Japan Society. With over 14,000 volumes available, it’s a great resource for students of Japanese, or those generally interested in finding out more about Japan.

Although the best resource for learning languages is always a teacher, or native speaker, there are some cool extras online. The best online Japanese dictionary is Jisho, and Tae Kim has a great compendium of easy to understand grammar lessons. If you’re looking for flash cards, check out smart.fm. You’ll need to register, but it’s free and you can keep track of your progress.

N.O.

News Blast: South Korea Apology, Japan's Gay Pride, Japanese Reggae, Panda Babies, Lightning Mushrooms And More

Gay pride march in Shibuya via.

Japan’s Korea Occupation Centennial Sparks Conflict

In advance of the 100th anniversary of Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula, Prime Minister Naoto Kan addressed South Koreans in a public speech: "For the enormous damage and suffering caused during this colonial rule, I would like to express once again our deep remorse and heartfelt apology."

While such speeches have been made by previous Prime Ministers, the reactions from all sides on this historic occasion run a similar vein. Some South Koreans point to the Japanese government’s failure to acknowledge the extent of the brutality of their colonial rule. A Korean advocacy group for Comfort Women said, "The Japanese government comes out once again with more lip service," and is pushing for further reparations. The Japanese government maintains that reparations were paid in full in 1965 when relations between South Korea and Japan were normalized.

Though the occupation covered the entire Korean Peninsula, formal apologies have only been addressed to South Korea. Even though there are no diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea, Japan Today reports the North Korean government slammed Kan shortly after the speech. "We can only judge that Japan wants to keep the division of the peninsula," said an unnamed North Korean official in charge of Japanese affairs.

Back home, many conservative Japanese feel tighter diplomatic ties with South Korea have led to an unfair bias for Koreans living in Japan. This week several members of a right-wing activist group, Zaitokukai, were arrested for harassing a Korean school in Kyoto. The alleged assaults happened December 2009, when activists disrupted classes by protesting with a loudspeaker against Korean schools, and cut power to some parts of the school.

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Anniversary

After last week's memorializing of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, this week marked the anniversary of the atomic bombing at Nagasaki. A ceremony was held at the peace memorial the southern coastal town, attended by survivors, foreign dignitaries and activists of many ages and nationalities. PM Kan says he’ll consider making three non-nuclear principles proposed by survivors and activists into law, as well as pressuring foreign countries, especially India, to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement.

To mark the occasion, Gizmodo has a collection of interviews with survivors from the Hiroshima attack, painting a harrowing picture of the day the bombs fell. Pink Tentacle posted graphic artist Isao Hashimoto’s new work 1945-1988--a mesmerizing video representation of every nuclear bomb detonated between those years. As of 1988, America led with 1,032; Japan: 0.

Japanese Gay Pride

With California's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex marriage grabbing headlines this week, people may have missed Reuter's report that Japan's LGBT pride parade returns this weekend after a 3 year hiatus.

Same sex relationships have a long, varied history in Japan, which has led to complicated contemporary social mores. Japan has little protection for discrimination based on sexuality, and the 2009 political shift gave hope towards equality. It's a long road to understanding let alone acceptance (such as being out in a Japanese the office), and some in Japan resist what they see as the West's 'Rainbow Imperialism'.

But times they are a changin'. Seminal gay tv blog AfterElton's commentary on how Japan's gay stereotypes play out in the media demonstrates a refining of gay representations in Japan, from early yaoi manga geared towards female readers, to the once wildly popular and bizarrely macho wrestler Razor Ramon HG, to more current (and sophisticated) anime such as Junjō Romantica. And if there's one thing we've learned, media trends pave the way to social acceptance!

Bite-size News

►Japan takes a break for the national high school summer baseball tournament, Koshien.

►The Times' Paul Krugman supports the idea that stagnation is responsible for effete young men in Japan.

►The governor of Okinawa rejected Japan's plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Nago.

►Why Hiroshima is a place where everyone should visit at least once.

►Examiner examines a slice of Japanese and Asian culture in small town North Carolina.

►According to Japanese folklore, mushrooms struck by lightning multiply faster. Zap: this was recently proven a scientific fact.

►Photo of the week: Giant panda gave birth to her second set of twins at Japan's Shirahama city Adventure World animal theme park in Shirahama city. (More Japan photos from the WSJ).

►JET Programme update: This week Japan assesses if the government's three decades old English teaching program should survive budget cuts. The program has long been considered a cornerstone of ‘soft power’ in Japanese democracy, and JET alumni are protesting the potential cuts.

►Japanese centenarian update: 200 of 40,000+ now missing.

►Show us the (ancient) money! A wooden tablet marked with the date "May 4, year 2 of Tenpyo" (730 C.E.) shed's light on Japan’s first mint in Yamaguchi and the 8th century wadokaichin currency.

►Wall Street Journal lists lessons from Japan for U.S. train operators.

►The New York Times style magazine profiles Japanese reggae, mon.

►Over at BoingBoing, Tokyo Vice author Jake Adelstein invites his Yakuza contacts to review the new videogame, Yakuza 3.

►Drama! Japan Society announced its 2010-11 season of music, dance and theater.  Broadway World has full details.

►In news roundups roundup news: Japan Times' JapanPulse Pulsations "links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy." You bet we will!

N.O., S.J.

Get Seasoned In Japan's Performing Arts With Another Season Of Music, Theater And Dance

A recent New York Times article noted that while plenty of people are acquainted with Japanese literature, film, and pop culture, few know much about Japanese performing arts. Sure, traditional forms like kabuki  and noh are known by name, but not many Westerners have had the opportunity to see them live, let alone have had access to modern Japanese performing arts.

This summer several high-profile Japanese stage productions played to crowded houses: Lincoln Center debuted Yukio Ninagawa’s Musashi and Saburo Teshigawara’s Miroku (which received a rave in The Times), and Toshiki Okada's Enjoy had an extended Off-Broadway run.

It's surprising Japan's performing arts aren't more popular in the U.S., given that Japan Society has presented over 600 shows since the inception the Performing Arts Program in 1953. But the recent spate of popular shows is auspicious news as we announce the latest season – an eclectic showcase of the best of Japan’s traditional and modern performing arts, with a range of music, theater and dance confirmed from September 2010 to March 2011! (View a video trailer of the season here.)

The season kicks off with the prolific and pioneering electronic recording artist Ryoji Ikeda, who performs his new high concept multimedia work datamatics [ver 2.0]. Ikeda is Paris-based, so naturally we're co-presenting with our good friends at French Institute Alliance Française, where the performances will be held coupled with a gallery installation.

In October, the great actor/director Yoshi Oida performs his venerable one-man comedy Interrogations: Words of the Zen Masters (check out The Times review from 1981, though the piece has been updated for this performance with a new live score.) The story follows a Zen master and the trials of his acolyte, and so links to our fall Gallery exhibit The Sound of One Hand, with related lectures and workshops, including one featuring the shakuhachi, a traditional bamboo flute used to practice shuzen breathing meditation.

Introducing Japan's hottest playwrights to the U.S., our Play Reading Series continues in November with Shoji Kokami's Trance. The play had its English-language debut at London’s prestigious Bush Theatre, with the Financial Times calling it "quirky and engaging."

In January, Japan Society’s 14th annual Japanese and East Asian Dance Showcase tears up the stage with the debut performances of companies from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. And in March, the season culminates with Kyoto's Kashu-Juku Noh Theater, giving New Yorkers the rare opportunity (even in Japan!) to see ancient noh and kyogen performances in a single evening.

Whatever your performance poison, get a healthy dose in the coming months at Japan Society!

N.O.

Images (l-r): Kashu-Juku Noh Theater, photo courtesy of the artists; Ryohei Kondo and company, photo by Takashi Ito.

News Blast: 'Ground Zero' To 'Global Zero', Missing Centenarians, Italy Takes Cosplay Summit

 

Ban Ki-moon at today's Hiroshima Memorial. Photo (c) AP, via.

Hiroshima Memorial: From 'Ground Zero' to 'Global Zero'

Today, August 6th, marks the day the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, leading to the end of World War II. For the first time in 65 years, America sent a delegate to the annual memorial. U.S. Ambassador John Roos stood among 55,000 people with representatives from a record 74 countries. As reported on NPR, UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon made a powerful speech:

"Life is short, but memory is long," Ban said. "For many of you, that day endures ... as vivid as the white light that seared the sky, as dark as the black rains that followed."

Ban added that the time has come to move from "Ground Zero, to Global Zero" — a world without any nuclear arms.

Ban and Japan Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada confirmed this week that they would work towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. They have a meeting of foreign ministers planned for September, when the UN’s General Assemble resumes, to discuss nuclear disarmament and negotiate non-proliferation treaties. NPR reports the world stockpile of nuclear warheads at more than 22,000 ("enough for more than 100,000 Hiroshimas"), though others have it over 30,000, with an estimated 1,500 ready to launch.

Perspectives on this year's historic memorial abound. A Japanese Reuters reporter gave a poignant account of her grandparent's silence about the bombings. A New York Times op-ed expressed vehement disapproval of the revival of 'nuclear umbrella' ideology. To this end, Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba is campaigning for Japan to forgo U.S. nuclear protection,  saying “it is an absurd idea to talk about national security while being dependant on nuclear weapons.”

Some reports show the U.S.'s attendance at the memorial caused a mixed reaction and that hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) were not all satisfied with the gesture just as some professed dissatisfaction with the UN's efforts so far disarmament.

Then there are those who fear America's participation in the memorial is akin to an apology, while others are "still thankful" for the bombings.

The Case of the Missing Centenarians

At least 60 centenarians have been pronounced missing in Prefectures all over Japan. Last week, we noted Sogen Kato, who would have been Tokyo’s oldest man, at 111 years old. When officials went to the home he shared with relatives to congratulate him on his birthday, they discovered he had been dead for close to three decades, and his relatives had been fraudulently collecting pension money. When officials undertook to survey all Tokyo’s centenarians to make sure records were up to date, they discovered that one of Tokyo’s oldest women, 113-year-old Fusa Furuya, was missing. Furuya was believed to be living with her son, also missing, but officials discovered the house at the address they were given had been demolished to make room for an expressway. Furuya’s other relatives professed ignorance as to her whereabouts. As the survey expanded throughout Japan, more elderly citizens were discovered to be missing.

Bit-size News:

►The Untied Arab Emirates confirmed an explosive-laden dinghy that struck a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf last month was an attack by an al-Qaida-linked group. A total of 31 crew members–19 Filipinos and 15 Indians–were killed.

►A list of 48, 000 Allied POWs who died in Japanese internment camps was unearthed among the records of a Buddhist temple in Kyoto.

►A CBS special report on suicide in Japan notes: "For the first time ever, Japan is looking at suicide as something perhaps caused by mental illness."

►Child abuse is reportedly on the rise rise in Japan, with police figures showing 18 fatalities in the last six months. For comparison, an estimated 5 children die everyday in America as the result of child abuse.

►The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology surveyed the oceans surrounding Japan and found them very rich in animal life. Over 33,000 known species were recorded.

►An international "Amerasian" (referring typically to children born of U.S. military fathers and Okinawan mothers) school launched a peace education program.

►The U.S. military released a Japanese-language children's manga to explain why forces are in Japan. We posted our thoughts yesterday, while Manga Therapy wonders if this is a good thing, and points out the illustrator is the same guy who published a comic that teaches Japanese speakers how to swear like a U.S. marine.

►The U.S. says American Marines in Japan 'still set' to move to Guam by 2014.

►Japanese researchers discovered that a certain iron compound becomes superconductive if dipped in sake, wine or beer. We can only imagine how this discovery came about.

►Two men from Italy won first prize at the World Cosplay Summit dressed as characters from The Legend of Zelda.

►Examiner explores New York City's burgeoning otaku scene.

►If you missed any of the post-screening Q&As at this year’s JAPAN CUTS, check out Japan Society’s YouTube page.

►CNNGo goes into the secretive world of traditional Japanese tattooing.

►Compared to other countries, Japan scores low on the Test of English as a Foreign Language.

►WWE comes to Japan (the article has a great great overview of Japanese professional wrestling.)

►An interesting travel report on the unexpected comforts of Japan's capsule hotels.

►Japan pushes Twitter past 20 billionth tweet.

►Kitty-chan rings the closing bell on Wall Street to celebrate parent company Sanrio’s 50th anniversary.

N.O., S.J.

'Our Alliance' Our Future?

Usa-kun and Arai Anzu take on ゴキブリ！

This week the U.S. military released a Japanese-langauge children's manga entitled Our Alliance — A Lasting Partnership, the first of a four-book series available in print and online. A spokesperson for the U.S. forces' Japan public affairs office told the BBC that the manga is a "light-hearted approach to telling the story of the alliance through the eyes of two young people who are learning why the U.S. military are in Japan."

The U.S. military community news site Stars and Stripes summarizes the story:

"It weaves the metaphorical story line of the American boy and Japanese girl with panels explaining Japan’s pacifist constitution, its self-defense forces and the 50-year-old Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, which essentially allows the U.S. military to operate in Japan in exchange for defending the island nation."

In the story, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Mr. USA (Usa-kun in the book) kills a cockroach for Alliance (Arai Anzu), a Japanese girl who is hosting the boy during his stay in Japan. 

"Next time, we will get rid of cockroaches together!" Mr. USA says.

Alliance refuses, then adds: "But I’m happy that there is a friend with me so that I can feel safe."

The message is simple and straightforward (though the symbologist in me can't help wonder what the cockroach represents), and the release is timely. In addition to commemorating the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, the publication bookends recently contentious (and ongoing) debate surrounding Futenma and America's first appearance at Japan's annual Hiroshima memorial.

This isn't the first time the U.S. armed forces have used manga to educate the Japanese public. In 2008 the navy published a 200-page fictionalized story introducing adults to the first American nuclear-powered naval vessel based in Japan. But to my knowledge, Alliance is the first time the U.S. has used a children's medium to explain 21st century politics.

The release is telling of the American government's belief in the power of Japan's soft power. I also wonder, if successful, would this sort of resource benefit American children? Growing up in the barely metropolitan Midwest (a.k.a. Topikachu), the Japan I was exposed to as a young person consisted mainly of Godzilla, "Mr. Roboto" and a few sections in the WWII chapters of my history books. I wouldn't learn of the intricacies of Japanese culture and the depth of the U.S.-Japan relationship until I came to work at Japan Society.

Perhaps Alliance is overly simple. Perhaps even one-sided (certainly neither pacifists nor Japanese militarists will be pleased with it.) But it does attmept to address complicated issues in ways that weren't available when I was a child.

There are still gaps in the system for teaching about Japan in the U.S. (something Japan Society's Education Program fills with school visits, lesson plans and teacher workshops). Whatever its reception, Alliance aligns possibilities of teaching Japan in the U.S. with Japanese tools. We know manga and anime can be used in the classroom. Is manga geared specifically towards the classroom far off for American schools? Manga Math anyone?

 S.J.

Sadako And The 1,000 Cranes

According to a Japanese legend, anyone who folds 1,000 paper cranes is granted a wish. In August 1955, 12-year-old Sadako Sasaki was hospitalized with leukemia developed as a result of nuclear fallout from the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima. At the suggestion of a friend, she began the painstaking folding process. Paper was scarce, so she scavenged for medicine wrappers, and visited other patients, asking if she could use the paper from their get-well presents. Two months later Sadako’s condition took a turn for the worse, but before she died on October 25th surrounded by her family, she completed her goal of 1,000 cranes.

Chains of paper cranes left by visitors to the Sadako Peace Memorial in Hiroshima (seen through the roof). Via

Sadako's story became a touchstone for the anti-nuclear movement throughout Japan and is well known throughout the world to this day. In 1958, a memorial in her honor and in tribute to all the children that died as a result of the bombing, was unveiled at Hiroshima, where visitors still leave chains of paper cranes.

This tradition was brought to the U.S. in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Small chains of cranes were left on and near a fence at Broadway and Liberty Street near Ground Zero. These chains are now on permanent display at the Tribute WTC Visitor’s Center, alongside one of Sadako’s own cranes from 1955 which was donated by her family. In an event last year at Japan Society, Masahiro Sasaki, Sadako’s brother, said "Commonly in Japan, the crane is regarded as a symbol of peace. But for us, in the Sasaki family, it is the embodiment of Sadako's life, and it is filled with her wish and hope."

Three of Sadako's original cranes, one of which can be viewed at the Tribute WTC Visitor Center. Photo: Kazuko Minamoto

Marking the August 6th Hiroshima A-Bomb Memorial, Japan Society and the Tribute WTC Visitor Center present Sadako & 1000 Cranes Storytelling & Origami Crane Making. Children and families discover Sadako’s inspiring story through kamishibai, traditional Japanese paper-storytelling [check out this example from 1959]. There are two storytelling sessions. The first is in Japanese, featuring a new storybook created in cooperation with Sadako’s family. The second is a new English kamishibai version. Participants also learn to make a paper-crane chain of their own–including how to make 2-4 cranes out of one piece of paper

The event starts at the Tribute WTC Visitor Center (directions here) at 11:00 am with storytelling in Japanese. Then at 11:30, a bilingual origami crane-making session will be held, with the storytelling in English at Noon.

N.O.

Washoku 101

Okonomiyaki chef at Kagoshima. Photo by Zichar

Washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) is multi-faceted, rich in heritage, and most of all, extremely yummy. Regional variations of ingredients and recipes keep eaters on their toes. For example, did you know that sushi was originally an Edo (Tokyo) dish, and only spread globally in the past 50 years or so? Also, okonomiyaki (cabbage pancakes) were originally consumed in southern Japan and the Osaka region, but are now a staple of pubs all over Japan. Similarly, certain flavors are also traditionally associated with specific times of year.

Japanese cuisine also has the distinction of developing more or less in isolation. While historically Japan traded with the main Asian continent (including food!), starting in 1641 and continuing to the mid 19th century, the Japanese government enforced a policy of isolationism, and its culture (including cuisine!) developed independently. Of course, this changed significantly once the Japanese government re-opened the country’s borders, and especially now that fast food has become so common around the world. It’s rare to walk down the street in a big city without seeing a McDonald's or Starbucks on each corner, though you will notice shrimp burgers on the menu at McDonald's Japan.

Tamagoyaki. Photo by Meletta

Still, many traditional cooking techniques are unique to Japan. A good example of this is the tamagoyaki, a sweet/savory Japanese egg omelet. Ideally, they’re made in a tamagoyaki pan and are manipulated into precise, fluffy rolls using only chopsticks. Savory Japan has great illustrated report from a Japanese cooking class on making these delicacies. Have no fear, Japanese techniques aren't as tricky as they might seem. Learning to make and roll sushi, for example, is a fun and deliciously rewarding project.

A photo from 2008's Washoku 101. Photo by Kenji Takigami

Next week, Japan Society gets high schoolers in the mix with Japanese Cuisine 101: Washoku. The 11-day immersion workshop is full of cooking lessons, chef demonstrations, and instruction on Japanese culinary culture, including presentation and etiquette. The workshop takes place, from August 9-13 and 16-21, with a reception on August 21 for friends and family to sample the food students have learned to make. Very few spots remain, so if you have interest, submit the application form quickly!

If you miss the deadline (or have graduated from high school) there are a number of great resources for learning to cook Japanese-style. YouTube’s Cooking with Dog (motto: “It’s not what you think”) offers charming, easy-to-follow and authentic recipes, hosted by Francis the dog, as is the aforementioned Savory Japan. For lunch fun and younger kids, try hapa bento, cuteobento or bento zen. If you're over 21 and need to know what best to pair with your biscuit bunnies, we recommend a stop off at Sake World.

Happy Cooking!

N.O.