Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika lives in London but is interested in hearing about any Japan-related opportunities across the globe.

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Last year I spoke to former JET Mary Moreton about her experiences in Japan and her current role working for one of the largest Japan-related events in the UK, HYPER JAPAN! After a hugely successful run last summer, HYPER JAPAN is back this week for more culture, cuisine and cool!

Starting tomorrow (Friday 24th February) and running till Sunday 26th, HYPER JAPAN promises to chase away all those winter blues!

Highlights this year include:
Sushi Awards 2012: UK Sushi Roll Championship
Eat-Japan SAKE AWARDS: Top Brewery Taste-Off
Natsuko Aso Live
Olympic Judo Champion Maki Tsukada
Cosplay, Street fashion, UK Kawaii star of the year and much much more!

For more details please check out the official website at http://hyperjapan.co.uk/

 

Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London as is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, writing and translation.

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It’s not surprising that London has changed a lot during the years I’ve been away in Japan. Being the “most populous municipality in the European Union”, rapid development, modernization and globalization are to be expected. However, it still throws me of guard when my British friends now drop ‘katsu-don’, ‘kirin beer’, and ‘kawaii’ into everyday conversation. I know those words weren’t part of my vocabulary before I took off for my life as an ALT!

For a recently returned expat like me, it is a huge comfort to see Japanese culture so widely embraced in my home city.  Which is why I was particularly excited to hear about HYPER JAPAN, a three day event promoting all the different aspects of Japanese culture that make it so appealing to us in the west. Determined to get my ‘Japan-fix’ to fight off the homesickness, I applied for a volunteer position and was delighted to discover one of the Hyper Japan team, Mary Moreton, was a fellow ex-JET. Not one to miss a chance to share JET stories, Mary kindly agreed to meet me one soggy London afternoon.

 

Hi Mary, sorry for dragging you out in this! Could you start by telling me a bit about your time on JET – why you applied, where you were based?

I was a CIR in Aomori City CIR from 2002 – 2005. I studied Classical Japanese Literature at University, which was a really interesting course that I enjoyed a lot, but not necessarily a degree that could lead straight to a clear career path. I wasn’t interested in working in say finance in the city like many of my friends, and I had spent time in Japan before (I did a year out in Osaka), so I decided to apply for JET.

How did you find Aomori compared to your experience of living in Osaka? I would imagine it to be quite different!

Yes, it was completely different to my previous experience of living in the city. I remember in my first week, there was another girl from UK who was based at the kencho, and we decided to meet up and explore one day. We walked around for about 10 minutes until we realised there really wasn’t much to see! It was totally different from my experiences of urban areas such as Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe.

What did you do after JET?

After returning from JET, my first job was as a PA for the European director of a Japanese electronics company where I was working in a mainly Japanese environment. Even though I had left Japan, during my working day, things weren’t too different. Although I felt that my unique point was my Japanese ability, I did not necessarily want to restrict myself to working for Japanese companies. I then went on to work for a British based Insurance broker. I worked in their Japanese department, so I was still using Japanese but not working in a completely Japanese environment as I had been used to. I had always been interested in translation, so in addition to working, I decided to do a part-time MA in translation. In the end I had to quit my job to focus on my dissertation in the last term.

With my MA finished I then decided to do freelance translation and signed up with several Japanese agencies. Not all of them gave regular work, and there were certain areas of translation (technical) that I couldn’t do, but after settling into a good relationship with a few coordinators, I managed to find my niche. Through that I did some work for the Sushi Awards, which led to my current position with Cross Media. Once again I am working as the only native English speaker in a Japanese company, but I enjoy it a lot as I get to promote all the things I love about Japanese culture and cuisine, and share it with a whole new audience.

Could you tell us a bit about the background of Hyper Japan?

The Eat-Japan Sushi Awards have been around for a few years. Japanese food is a lot more popular now in the UK than when I left in 2002 to go to Japan. Now there are so many places around where you can try Japanese food, and there is a lot more scope to promote it – which is where the idea for the sushi awards came from.

Japanese anime, manga and games have always had a fanbase in the UK and the rest of Europe, and there is a large Japan Expo held in Paris which mainly focuses on these aspects of Japanese culture.

I think most people think that Japan is cool, but not necessarily for just one thing. There are separate events to cater for cosplay, anime, and sushi fans, however there wasn’t anything that brought all these together – which what Hyper Japan attempts to do. In the same way that people who live in Japan experience the old and the modern co-existing harmoniously (you could find a Shinto shrine next door to a pachinko parlor), Hyper Japan aims to showcase both the contemporary and classic sides of Japanese culture under one roof.

To read the rest of the interview, click ‘Read More’.
Read More

Embassy of Japan in the UK Webmagazine round-up via Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London as is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields.

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Featured Article:

Spotlight On…. Tim Anderson, Masterchef 2011 Champion

Other articles this month:

IRO IRO – Japan, in Colour
Films at the Embassy: Waterboys
Japan at the Barbican, Summer 2011
HYPER JAPAN 2011: THE UK’S BIGGEST J-CULTURE EVENT
Japan’s First Railway: colour woodblock prints from the 1870s
Tohoku University – Back on Course
Charity bazaar held at Ambassador’s residence
Memorial Service at Wesminster Abbey
Embassy hosts 15th Summer Reunion for Peace and Friendship
The swords are out at the 2011 Nihongo Cup
Birmingham Royal Ballet triumphs in Japan

Subscribe:

To subscribe to the Embassy of Japan in the UK webmagazine, please email webmagazine@ld.mofa.go.jp with the subject ‘subscribe’.

I’m working on a JETwit mapping project and need some volunteers to input some JET-relevant info and examples to see how it works and get a sense of how people will use it.

If interested in helping (it should only take a few minutes), e-mail me at jetwit [at] jetwit.com and I’ll send you further instructions.

Yoroshiku!

-Steven

JetWit Fashion Beat is brought to you by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London as is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields. She is also the former vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.

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I first posted about T-shitsu and their fantastic designs aimed especially for gai-jin in December last year. Since then the response from members of the JET and JET alum community has been very positive, and the base of returning customers is constantly growing.

This is completely down to the unique omoshiroi designs, high-quality shirts and general high standard of service provided by the T-shitsu team. I can’t rave about these shirts enough!

Currently, our friends at T-shitsu.com are half way through revealing their eagerly anticipated Black Collection.

The Black Collection consists of 8 new designs, one of which is revealed every Sunday, May through June, and we have been given an exclusive sneak preview of this week’s new design especially for JETWit readers….

Ta da!!!

 

To update you on other recent activities, T-shitsu were very active in wake of the Tohoku eathquake/tsunami disaster in terms of fundraising and encouraging donations. They even designed their own t-shirt to raise money and awareness, called Tohoku Tears, a wonderful design that was distributed through their partner website at Sweatshop Union.

The Tokoku Tears shirt was extremely popular and all shirts sold out in A WEEK! In total the shirt raised an outstanding 300,000 yen. Since then all other designs in the ‘rebuild’ collection have also sold out, but if there are plans to re-release them we will be sure to let you know.

 

There will be further new releases on T-shitsu.com once The Black Collection finishes, and present designs will be made available in a wider selection of colours. There will also be further promotions and competitions, all of which will be advertised through the T-shitsu Facebook site. Make sure you sign up for all the latest info, and it’s also a great way to contact the designers with your feedback and suggestions for shirts.

Please do post any comments/suggestions about the shirts, in particular any JET-related shirt ideas, and please do inform the T-shitsu team that you heard about them through JETWit if you place any orders. Check back for more updates soon!

 
Have a suggestion for a future JetWit Fashion Beat post? E-mail dipika [at] jetwit.com.

The Japan Society will be hosting an upcoming concert featuring J-techno pop band  Hikashu & Tomoe Shinohara on May 13.  50% of all ticket sales from this event will go to Japan Society’s Earthquake Relief Fund.

Click Here to find out more information about the show.

Posted by Sam Frank, an ALT who taught English in Hiraizumi-Cho, Iwate Prefecture from 2002-2004 and worked in Shirahama-cho, Wakayama Prefecture as a JET from 2004-2006. He currently manages the New York Division of UnRated Magazine and works as a Project Manager/Web Producer at Arrow Root Media.

'GANTZ' world premiere is Jan. 20 in the U.S. (Courtesy of Nikkatsu)

By

JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories. 

GANTZ, a new sci-fi film from Japan, is making its international world premiere at 325 U.S. movie theaters (including three in New York City) in an exclusive one-night event on Thursday, Jan. 20. Based on the long-running manga and anime series originally created by Hiroya Oku, GANTZ stars two of Japan’s biggest leading actors, Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Kenichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City), who will both participate in an special live interview exclusive to this event.

Presented by NCM Fathom and New People, in association with Dark Horse Comics, GANTZ tells the story of childhood friends Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, who are accidentally killed while trying to save another man’s life. Rather than find themselves in the hereafter, however, they awaken in a strange apartment in which they find a mysterious black orb they come to know as “GANTZ.” Along with similar abductees, they are provided with equipment and weaponry and manipulated into playing a kind of game in which they are sent back out to the greater world to do battle with alien beings, all while never quite knowing whether this game is an illusion or their new reality.

Click here for the rest of the article.

 

By JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories. 

U.S.-based FUNimation Entertainment and Toei Animation Co., Ltd. have teamed up to present Japan’s evergreen animated series Dragon Ball Z at Hulu.com, North America’s online leader for streaming TV shows and film in North America.

Yesterday (Jan. 15), FUNimation began streaming the series’ first 15 episodes via Hulu, the official Dragon Ball Z website (www.dragonballz.com) in addition to www.dragonballzkai.com, www.funimation.com.

FUNimation will offer its professionally-produced, uncut, English-tracked and English-subtitled adaptations of the massively successful series beginning with the first episode as well as other chapters of the Dragon Ball franchise: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Z Kai.

Click here for the rest of the story.

By Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Lily Lam (Kagawa-ken, 2004-09)

If you read the previous Japan Fix:  Tampa post, then you know of some quality JET-recommended places in Tampa to get your Japan Fix on.   It turns out, however, there’s more to tell and Tampa is even Japanese-ier than previously thought.  You just have to know where to look.  (In our case, we were forced to look because the places listed in the previous Japan Fix:  Tampa post happened to be closed this past Monday thanks to the holidays.)

So read on for Japan Fix:  Tampa (Part 2):

Japanese Food

I Ai Sushi (as in, “I love sushi”) is a cozy Japanese restaurant with an izakaya section on their menu tucked away in a shopping mall on 33614 W. Waters Ave. that also features a Marshalls (aka America’s “Ito Yokado”) and an Albertsons.  Perhaps the Japanese-iest touch of all is their business card which, in true Japanese fashion, includes a crude yet cute map of the mall with an arrow pointing to where the restaurant is located. 

I had the good fortune to go with St. Petersburg native, uber-foodie and fellow alum Lily Lam (Kagawa-ken, 2004-09) who heard about the place from a friend whose mother happens to be Japanese.  (Notably, Lily actually lives and works in San Francisco these days.  We only got in touch when she responded for the JET-Sister City List Project and, in the course of e-mailing, we realized we would both be in the Tampa-St. Pete area for Christmas.)

I Ai Sushi is owned by a Japanese couple who hail from Osaka and opened the restaurant about 3 years ago.  Tasteful Japanese art on the walls is accented with a Hello Kitty clock as well as autographed photos of several Japanese ballplayers who have eaten there. 

We started with a bottle of warm sake.  And perhaps the nicest thing about the sake was that rather than present us with a long list of detailed descriptions of sakes from all over Japan, they just brought us some decent sake.  Somehow I found this lack of choice to be reassuringly natsukashii.  (Remember lunch in your junior high schools?)

From the izakaya menu we ordered gyoza (savory and yummy), kinpira gobo (which had a surprising and tasty kick to it), maguro yama kake (mountain potato with tuna sashimi–not commonly found in most U.S. Japanese restaurants) and, from the specials menu that night, shishamo, which are small, batter-fried and very pregnant fish.  According to Lily, this was a common feature of her school lunches.  Somehow I made it all this time without ever being aware of their existence, due most likely to the fact that I’ve spent most of my life avoiding fish.  However, given my vow this year to make efforts to expand my palate, I took a couple bites.  Right in the belly.  And you know, it wasn’t so bad.  Especially with a little lemon on it.  (Lily noted that in her school lunches, there was no fried batter and no lemon.  Just rubbery pregnant fish.)

These, of course, were just the warmup dishes, the mood setters.  Because in the chilly (by Florida standards) 40 degree evening, we quickly discovered that the menu also featured various forms of nabe including sukiyaki, which we both ordered.  They let us cook it right at our table.  The beef was Japanese-thin and nicely marbled.  The veggies were exactly what they were supposed to be.  And the broth had that sweet-salty flavor that brought back memories of my first sukiyaki experience on a cold day in a friend’s unheated home gathered round a kotatsu with school colleagues.

I knew enough to request a couple raw eggs (since American health codes prohibit restaurants from offering raw eggs on their menu).  And we were in business chowing down and exchanging stories of JET days past. 

And for a final Japanese touch, they brought us (un-ordered) a dessert of grapes, hand-whipped cream and choux creme/シュークリームfilled with vanilla ice cream all on a plate.  A very nice finish to the meal.

With our bellies full of washoku and a bit of nihonshu, it was of course time for….

Karaoke

After searching Google Maps and Yelp on our iPhones, it was determined that the best karaoke options would be Korean noreban (i.e., karaoke box)  joints.  Tampa Karaoke was the obvious choice, but one Yelp review mentioned something about gero in one of the rooms.  So first we checked out One Family Korean Restaurant and Karaoke on 7030 West Hillsborough Ave.  It was a bit hard to find at first along the commercial strip, but sure enough there was a Korean market, restaurant and karaoke place all in one warehouse-like looking building.  Unfortunately for us they were all closed.

Tampa Karaoke it would be.  And it was actually not so bad.  Slick, chi-chi, high class and newly renovated are all words I would not use to describe the establishment.  But the young Korean-American guy at the desk was very friendly.  And the price was right at $25 per hour for a room.  It’s also worth noting that this is a BYOB place (like Bar Toto in Korea Town in NYC), which is great if you happen to know about it in advance (which we didn’t).

We asked if there were Japanese songs in the books and were told that indeed there were.  We eventually found them, however they were organized by song title only which made it a bit hard to search.  That inconvenience, however, was mooted by the fact that we could only find 2 or 3 songs that we actually knew.  And we decided to fault that partly to our own limited J-Pop knowledge and partly to Tampa Karaoke’s limited selection.

Getting into specifics, I was able to find “Kampai” (Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi) and “Kimi Ga Iru Dake” (Kome Kome Club).  But no ”Ashita Ga Aru” or “Banzai” or any other songs by Ulfuls (aka Japan’s answer to Hootie and the Blowfish).  Lily, meanwhile, found “Sakura” (Kobukuro), a well-known sappy graduation song as well as “Life is a Boat” (Rie Fu).  (Though she regretted not finding “Tegami” by Angela Aki.)  Sore demo, we ended on a good note with that Japanese standard, “Take Me Home Country Road” (Jo-n Den-ba).

We realize there is more Japan to explore in the Tampa-St. Pete’s area.  But it may just have to wait until next Christmas.  However, given that I’m currently “stuck” in Florida due to the Blizzard of 2010 and can’t get a flight back to NYC until Sunday, January 2, I’ve decided to head east in search of more JET-ventures.  So stay tuned for….

Japan Fix:  Del Ray Beach & Miami!

Tell us where JETs should go in your area to get their Japan Fix. E-mail jetwit [at] jetwit.com.

Minamoto Kitchoan's origami Christmas tree. (Courtesy of Yasushi Sasaki/Two Rivers Associates)

By JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.

Minamoto Kitchoan, the Midtown Japanese wagashi (confectionery) shop with over 150 locations worldwide, is currently sporting a Christmas tree made up of 3,000 origami cranes, or orizuru.

According to store management, “The orizurus symbolize peace. They were made by kindergarten and elementary students in Japan and sent to New York as a tribute to the WTC Visitor Center.” This special Christmas tree was unveiled earlier this month at Minamoto Kitchoan’s Fifth Avenue store in the heart of Manhattan.

“We’ve decided to create an orizuru Christmas Tree in remembrance of tragic events of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001,” management explains. “Each orizuru comes with heartfelt hopes for peace.”

This sweet gesture is complemented by Minamoto Kitchoan’s own mission, which management says is to expand their business to every country in the world so that all can further experience and understand the beauty of Japanese culture through traditional Japanese wagashi, whether it’s Fukuwatshi Senbei (Japanese style vanilla cream filled cookie), the savory Benihana Ringo (apple cinnamon flavored bean jelly), or the delectable Kurizutsumi (red Bean paste and large piece of chestnut wrapped and baked in pie crust, topped with black sesame).

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Kathy Laubach (CIR Kumamoto-ken, 2003-06) originally hails from Montana but recently re-located to San Francisco and agreed to share how she’s been getting her Japan Fix there so far.

I have to admit that I simple feel too fresh back to write a worthy piece on my Japan Fix in San Francisco…. Montana was so long ago, which also makes that a challenge! I have found that my main sources of warding off Japan homesickness are skyping/emailing friends there and, mainly, tracking their lives on Facebook. I’ve also managed to meet a few Japanese folks in the area which has been helpful for the adjustment.

One place that makes the top of my still short but notable Bay Area Secrets Japanese list, however, is Umami. The menu boasts two of my weaknesses (as in addictions) – sushi and ice cream – in an upbeat, modern atmosphere. Plenty of items for sharing and the wait staff is confident making suggestions and ordering on behalf of patrons’ wanting to spend more time in conversation than deliberating over menu choices. Fairly expansive and fun cocktail list, with sake as well (Was driving, so not too familiar with the beverages. Would like to stop in for Happy Hour sometime though.)

Umami staff got good marks, too, for doing a good job of accounting for 好き／嫌い and アレルギ. The ice cream I referred to isn’t any ordinary/extraordinary 抹茶 variety, per se, but the dessert menu incorporates a cookie dough wrapped ice cream roll with delectable toppings. Attractive to the eye and as well as stimulating to the taste buds! Also noteworthy is the Japanese language lesson audio system in the トイレ!

I guess you could say I am a fan. I’d like to sit at the bar sometime and see if it offers that same visual satisfaction as often felt when doing so in Japan.

(Kathy added that she would soon be attending her first JETAA Northern California gathering, another great way to get your Japan Fix.)

Have something to add to Japan Fix:  San Francisco?  Want to share how you get your Japan Fix in your corner of the world?  Add a comment to this post or e-mail jetwit [at] jetwit.com.

This edition of Japan Fix actually happened when I emailed JETAA Florida’s Tampa Subchapter rep John McGee (Nagano-ken, 2004-05) to let him know that I would be visiting family in Tampa over Christmas and asked him for the most authentic Japanese experiences in the Tampa area, i.e., where the JET alums go.  What he wrote back was perfect for Japan Fix.

1.  Yoko’s Japanese Restaurant is in South Tampa (3217 South McDill Ave.) It’s owned by the mother of a JET from years ago. (http://www.yokosrestaurant.com/Pages/about.htm)

2.  Kaisen Sushi in Northdale. (http://kaisensushitampa.com/) (14841 North Dale Mabry Highway) This is owned by a locally famous character…he’s a bit of a rocker and a good sushi chef. He made some waves when Hideki Matsui’s press guy asked if he would rent the place out for Matsui to make an appearance since he’d heard about the place and wanted to try it. But he told them that Matsui was welcome to eat, but he wouldn’t shut out his regulars on one of his best nights because they would keep coming back while Matsui would only be there once.

3. Wasabi Japanese Steak & Sushi in New Tampa. (http://www.japanesesteakandsushi.com/) (19601 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard)  This is a Japanese owned steakhouse with sushi.  The owner is Fumi Doi. He hosted one of our Tampagumi Pre-Departure Q&A’s for new JETs and is a likely sponsor for Tampa Natsumatsuri in 2011.  (Apparently his wife encouraged him to sponsor the matsuri when she saw our sad little hand-cranked kakigori maker.) It’s definitely the fanciest and most expensive of the three I’ve mentioned.

Outside of food, perhaps, the best way to get your Japan Fix in Tampa may be to simply attend the Tampa Tsudoi Japanese language meet-up which meets the first Friday of every month from 7pm to 8pm at the Panera in the Brandon Town Center Mall.

Tell us where JETs should go in your area to get their Japan Fix. E-mail jetwit [at] jetwit.com.

This post brought to you by Gail Cetnar Meadows (Hiroshima-shi, 2007-10), co-founder of Hiroshima JET webzine the Wide Island View. In an effort to revive the “Japan Fix“ posts, I’d like to share a recent discovery to help you find a little piece of Japan close to home.

How do you get your Japan fix wherever you live? Write it down and send it to me at gail [at] jetwit.com for the entertainment and benefit of the JET alum community.

Having called Hiroshima home for three years, my husband and I knew we’d miss our old neighborhood haunts when we returned to the U.S., especially our favorite okonomiyaki joint. There, our weekly visits made us such familiar faces that the cooks greeted us by name when we walked in and we even had our own stools at the bar a la Norm from Cheers. I didn’t hold out any hope of finding an okonomiyaki-ya back in the sticks of Ohio, but now that we’ve relocated, the search is on.

Whether or not I find it, though, I at least know that there are a number of stores in our area that carry a decent selection of Japanese goods, which means I can always cook our favorite Japanese dishes at home. While searching for the local Japanese markets around our new town, I stumbled upon a blog post on my favorite Japanese cooking blog, JustHungry.com. The author of this blog had compiled a wonderful reader-contributed list of Japanese groceries and stores across the U.S. The list is categorized by state, so you can just scroll through to find something close to you. Thanks to her I’ve discovered a selection of Japanese food items in a grocery store just a short hop from my house, where I found my latest Japan fix: a shelf bearing at least half a dozen flavors of ラムネ. Ah, natsukashii!!

How do you get your Japan fix where you live? Send it to me at gail [at] jetwit.com and I’ll post it on JetWit!

Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06) is an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.  ”Chi-Town Rising” takes a look at the connections between Japan and Chicago, where Dipika will be moving in the coming year.

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The 46th Chicago International Film Festival is currently under way, screening 150 films from 50 countries. First held in 1964, the festival founded by Michael Kutza is one of the oldest of its kind in North America. This year the following Japanese films are being showcased, with cultural support provided by The Japan Foundation.

ABACUS AND SWORD / BUSHI NO KAKEIBO
Director: Yoshimitsu Morita
Reimagining the classic samurai picture, this quiet, elegant drama follows the Inoyama family as they serve their lord not with the sword but with the abacus. With a sense of honor as exacting as any warrior’s and a rigorous ethic of honesty even in the midst of dire poverty, Naoyuki Inoyama (nicknamed “the Mad Abacus” by his rivals) distinguishes himself as a hero for the approaching modern age.

BIG TITS ZOMBIE / KYONYŪ DRAGON
Director: Takao Nakano
A campy, raucous crowd-pleaser that is definitely not for the whole family, this 3-D spectacle pits brassy strippers against a horde of the undead, which the ladies unwittingly revive by reading aloud from an ancient tome. They must battle one of their own in addition to the brain eaters when goth stripper Maria hatches her own ambitious plans to become Queen of the Dead.

CATERPILLAR / KYATAPIRÂ
Director: Kôji Wakamatsu
Horribly maimed while fighting on the Japanese front in China during WWII, a Japanese lieutenant returns home a war hero. But his loss of limbs has not made him any less of a brute, especially to his wife. Required to satisfy his every need, she feels her anger quietly boiling over. Based on a short story that was banned for its extreme subject matter, Caterpillar is a howl of rage against blindness to the atrocities of war.

GOLDEN SLUMBER / GÔRUDEN SURAMBÂ
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura
In this seriocomic conspiracy thriller, affable deliveryman Aoyagi unwittingly becomes the prime suspect in a hunt for the assassin of the prime minister. As he runs from the authorities and the news media eats up every scrap of incriminating evidence, Aoyagi finds a little help from his friends, including his college sweetheart and a crazy but cheerful youth who’s wanted for serial murder. Together, this motley crew will help Aoyagi navigate the strangest, scariest 24 hours of his life.

SWORD OF DESPERATION / HISSHIKEN TORISASHI
Director: Hideyuki Hirayama
The expert swordsman Kanemi Sanzaemon is a man of principle, first and foremost. His decisive, violent handling of high-level corruption in the court of the local feudal lord landed him in solitary confinement for two years. He has now been released, with one caveat he cannot comprehend: He must serve as bodyguard to the lord he betrayed. This thrilling, masterfully stylized tale of honor combines classic samurai action with a taut story of intrigue and betrayal.

The festival runs from October 7th till the 21st. For a complete schedule and more info visit http://chicagofilmfestival.com/ or call 312-332-FILM.

 By JQ Magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories. 

The year 2010 is an auspicious one for New York and Japan. Fifty years ago, Gotham became Tokyo’s first sister city, and 150 years ago this month, a samurai envoy paraded down Broadway after clinching diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Nippon.

To celebrate that distinguished day, tributary events here in New York have included the annual Japan Day @ Central Park on June 6 which recreated the original samurai procession, a special lighting of the Empire State Building on June 16 to commemorate the actual anniversary date, and now, the Museum of the City of New York’s exhibition Samurai in New York: The First Japanese Delegation, 1860, on view from June 25 through October 11, with a special gallery tour on Saturday, June 26 hosted by project director Kathleen Benson, Yuko Suzuki of the Consulate General of Japan and Eric Campbell of the consulate’s Japan Information Center.

Read the rest of the article here.