JQ Magazine: Nippon in New York — Miike’s Latest, Miku Expo, ‘Katsura Sunshine’s Rakugo’
Article/Journalism, Events, Film, Food & Drink, JQ Magazine, Music 
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By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here.
As spring continues and the weather continues to warm, New Yorkers can enjoy activities all over the city both indoors and out.
This month’s highlights include:
Courtesy of Sideshow/Janus Films
April 26-30 and May 3-16
Hamaguchi I & II and Evil Does Not Exist
Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street
Elinor Bunim Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65th Street
$12-$17
Evil Does Not Exist: Deep in the forest of the small rural village Harasawa, single parent Takumi lives with his young daughter, Hana, and takes care of odd jobs for locals, chopping wood and hauling pristine well water. The overpowering serenity of this untouched land of mountains and lakes, where deer peacefully roam free, is about to be disrupted by the imminent arrival of the Tokyo company Playmode, which is ready to start construction on a glamping site for city tourists—a plan, which Takumi and his neighbors discover, that will have dire consequences for the ecological health and cleanliness of their community. The potent and foreboding new film from Oscar-winning director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, both NYFF59) is a haunting, entirely unexpected cinematic experience that reconstitutes the boundaries of the ecopolitical thriller. Intensified by a rapturous, ominous score by Eiko Ishibashi, this mesmeric journey diverges from country-vs-city themes to straddle the line between the earthy and the metaphysical. Presented in Japanese with English subtitles. Q&A with Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Eiko Ishibashi on May 3 at 6 p.m. screening. Don’t miss Hamaguchi I & II, a selected retrospective of Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s films to be presented at FLC from April 26–30.
© 1983 Argos Films
Wednesday, May 1, 7:00 p.m.
The Film Desk Presents: Sans Soleil
Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street
$8-$16
Imported 35mm print! Driven by a desire to “capture life in the process of becoming history,” the enigmatic and influential French filmmaker Chris Marker travelled the globe and made a sprawling body of hybrid work that ruminates on the nature of memory and time. Of the several films he made in Japan (where, among the crowded drinking holes of Shinjuku’s “Golden Gai” district, there is a bar named after one of his early masterpieces), this singular essay film remains the late director’s greatest achievement. An unnamed woman narrates the poetic letters and philosophical reflections of an invisible world traveler accompanied by footage of Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Iceland, Paris, San Francisco and, most significantly, Tokyo—a city whose people, streets, malls and temples inspire the traveler’s richest observations.
Courtesy of Eventbrite
Saturday, May 4, 7:30 p.m.
Marimba Extraordinaire Makoto Nakura at 60 – A Retrospective
The Church-in-the-Gardens, 50 Ascan Avenue (Queens)
$10 students, $20 general admission/adult
Makoto Nakura started building his distinctive career as a marimbist as soon as he arrived in NYC from Japan 30 years ago. This concert shows his journey through the works which he has commissioned along the way. Featuring Barbara Podgurski on piano, these works from today’s leading composers showcase the expressive possibilities of the marimba…expressive possibilities that keep expanding under Makoto’s ever-growing collection of mallets! You are sure to have a great time not only hearing extraordinary music, but also meeting this extraordinary artist and human being who always gives his audience an incredible show. Don’t forget to wish him a happy 60th birthday if you attend!
Read MoreJQ Magazine: The Joy of Sake Returns to NYC
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By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe–shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here.
A beverage that can be paired with foods as diverse as sushi, chocolate and even pizza, American sake lovers are eagerly awaiting the return of The Joy of Sake, the world’s largest sake tasting outside Japan, which returns to New York’s Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea on August 4 with the biggest sake celebration in the city’s history.
After a hiatus due to the pandemic, this year’s event will feature a record 576 competition-level sakes (up from 513 in 2019) and top restaurants serving sake-inspired appetizers.
Now in its 21st year, The Joy of Sake celebrates the ancient art of sake-brewing. It features hundreds of premium daiginjo, ginjo and junmai labels from every sake-brewing region in Japan, including over 300 sakes not available in the U.S. “After such a challenging time for everyone,” said Joy of Sake founder Chris Pearce, “we wanted to bring this celebration back better than ever and support both the sake makers and New York’s resilient restaurant scene.”
Read more at JQ magazine.
Job: Associate TV News Producer/Researcher at Nippon Television Washington DC News Bureau
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Great listing received directly from the company. Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Associate TV News Producer/Researcher
Type: Full-Time
Location: Washington DC
Overview:
As a producer, you would be responsible for monitoring and summarizing political news and information from around Washington. This would include attending press briefing, monitoring daily news sources, researching throughout various news media outlets for interesting stories, setting up interviews, and in-house recording. You would assist the reporters in creating daily news stories sent to Tokyo for national broadcast, as well as longer term feature stories. Read More
World’s Only 50kw OTEC Plant in Okinawa
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Posted by Benjamin Martin, a 5th year JET on Kume Island in Okinawa, publisher of the blog MoreThingsJapanese.com and author of the award-winning YA fantasy series Samurai Awakening (Tuttle).
June 16th marked the beginning of power generation at Kume Island‘s Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Power Plant with a ceremony and visiting dignitaries from around Japan and the world. The newly completed OTEC power plant will be able to generate up to 50kWs of electricity from a turbine driven by the difference in warm surface sea water and cold deep sea water.
This station is the only power generating OTEC facility of its kind in the world. While OTEC is not a new idea and different countries are now studying its possibilities, this is the first step towards creating an effective market for the future. In addition to power, the mineral rich deep-sea waters used by the plant can be used in a variety of industries, making the entire process more efficient and beneficial. The station is part of the Okinawa Prefecture Deep Sea Water Research Institute, and as the goal of the institute is to research the deep-sea water, the power plant’s primary role will be as a research and educational tool. Its construction has been part of a continuing dialog on clean energy between Kume Island, Okinawa, and the National Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority and their OTEC project, but was designed and built under advisement from Saga University’s Institute of Ocean Energy.
The ceremony marked the official start of power generation after initial testing and the first power generated in March of this year. Starting at ten in the morning, visitors were invited to the Research Institute Grounds to view the OTEC plant, sample some of the many products made with deep-sea water, and enjoy entertainment by artists from local to abroad. The open fair was followed by a half-hour ceremony with speeches and messages that ended with the pushing of the ‘start’ button. Special guests included:
- Aiko Shimajiri – Parliamentary Secretary of Cabinet Office and Ministry of Reconstruction from the House of Councilors
- Akikazu Shimoji – Okinawa Commerce and Labor Department Industrial Development Supervising Officer
- Yoshihisa Kawakami – The Okinawan Vice-Governor
- Alfred Mageleby – Consul General form the American Consulate General Naha
- Nonaka Tomoyo – Director of the Gaia Initiative
- Mark McGuffie – Managing Director of Enterprise Honolulu
- Gregory Barbour – Executive Director of NELHA
These guests were all involved in different aspects of promoting the OTEC project on Kume Island in communicating with the Hawaii OTEC program. This historic achievement will have an important role in the local economy and development of Kume Island and will be a key test of this clean energy technology for institutions around the world.
The official events ended with a reception before the nearby visitor’s center where more performances took place and several speakers were invited to share their thoughts on the OTEC start and future of the program. Keynote speaker Nonaka Tomoyo surprised Kume Island Mayor Taira with a proposal for creating free WiFi on the island, which the mayor was just able to avoid commenting on. Though it was a positive proposal, the Mayor is limited in the ways he can promote growth on the small island. Luckily, organizations like Gaia Initiative and the sister-city partnership with Hawaii County are providing knowledge and political support to help Kume Island grow technologically and economically.
The celebration will continue Monday with talks by people involved with OTEC. The continued dialog between interested parties promotes new ideas and the sharing of vital information.
For the future, project supporters hope that the power plant will justify the creation of a new deep water pipeline and expanded capacity generators which will allow for more industries and power. Both Hawaii and Kume Island will continue to communicate and share information that will help the different projects create new opportunities for efficient use of the deep-sea water and OTEC power.
Visit MoreThingsJapanese.com for more pictures from the event and more on OTEC power.
An Emperor’s Visit
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Posted by Benjamin Martin, a 5th year JET in Okinawa, publisher of the blog MoreThingsJapanese.com and author of the YA fantasy novel Samurai Awakening (Tuttle).
On November 20, 2012 The Emperor of Japan Akihito and Empress Michiko visited Kumejima as part of a four-day visit to Okinawa. Preparations were long in the making, but it was still extraordinary to see the spectacle of a visit lasting less than 5 hours. Luckily, I was asked to help photograph on behalf of Kumejima Town and was able to stand with television and newspaper camera people in designated media areas.
The Emperor and his wife arrived around 10:30 JST on a plane from Okinawa-honto. Since Kume Island has only a small airport, they used a JAL Express plane instead of the usual flying fortress. There they greeted a group of students and dignitaries and then drove to the Deep Sea Water Research Institute to tour its grounds. One of the major reasons for the visit is the proposed OTEC power plant. Along the way Kumejima Townspeople greeted the Emperor by waving Japanese flags (a rarity in Okinawa), shouting “Thank you for coming” and “banzai!” After the tour, the motorcade arrived at the Town Hall just before 13:00 to rest and talk with Mayor Taira. There they discussed Kumejima’s many natural resources such as Kuruma-ebi, Umi-budo, and Deep Sea Water while eating lunch. They talked so much they didn’t have time to finish!
For more on the Emperor’s visit and plenty of pictures visit More Thing Japanese!
