JETAA USA Conference a big success in DC
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Major props to JETAA DC for putting on an extremely substantive and energizing JETAA USA National Conference–just what we all needed in a very challenging year.
More details and info to come when I have time to gather thoughts and info and get them posted.
“Thank You” from the Women’s World Cup Champions Japan
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Justin’s Japan: Lincoln Center Festival Premieres ‘Temple of the Golden Pavilion’
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J-pop singer Go Morita stars in director Amon Miyamoto's stage adaptation of 'The Temple of the Golden Pavilion' for the Lincoln Center Festival July 21-24. (Miow Hirota)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
On Thursday (July 21), this year’s edition of the Lincoln Center Festival will present the U.S. theatrical premiere of director Amon Miyamoto’s The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, based on Kinkakuji, the celebrated 1956 novel by Japan’s storied 20th century writer Yukio Mishima.
With a script co-written by Miyamoto and playwright Chihiro Ito, the play will run through July 24 at Columbus Center’s elegant Rose Theater.The Temple of the Golden Pavilion is a stunning tale of the power of beauty and its corruption of the mind of a young monk, Mizoguchi, who becomes obsessed with beauty’s destruction. This groundbreaking work paints an intensely personal picture of Japan in the crucible of the Second World War.
A native of Tokyo and the artistic director of the new Kanagawa Arts Theatre in Yokohama, Miyamoto hosted a special lecture last month at New York’s Japan Society. He made his Lincoln Center Festivaldebut in 2002 with a memorable production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Pacific Overtures at Avery Fisher Hall, which moved on to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and a Broadway revival from 2004 to 2005.
For the complete story, click here.
JQ Magazine: Film Review – ‘Sword of Desperation’ and ‘The Last Ronin’ at JAPAN CUTS 2011
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A scene from 'Sword of Desperation,' screened in New York last week as part of the JAPAN CUTS film festival. (Courtesy of Japan Society)
By Paul Benson (Fukui-ken, 2006-08) for JQ magazine. Paul is a New York-based freelance translator who has handled assignments ranging from securities law to cookbooks.
This past week I had the pleasure of seeing two films in Japan Society’s annual JAPAN CUTS film festival. The festival runs from July 7-21, with 32 films (nearly all of them premieres). I was instantly drawn to JAPAN CUTS’ only two jidaigeki 時代劇 samurai films in the series, Sword of Desperation 「必死剣鳥刺し」 and The Last Ronin 「最後の忠臣蔵」. The films were wonderful, and I encourage you to seek them out.
Sword of Desperation (2010, dir. Hideyuki Hirayama) is a poised and powerful film of feudal intrigues and expert swordsmen, a fine addition to the chanbara チャンバラ (“sword-fighting”) genre. Set in the Edo Period (1600-1868), Sword of Desperation has all the genre’s usual devices: a gradual build-up to an outburst of action, an alienated master swordsman, and conflicts of duty and heart.
The film’s first half beautifully establishes the circumstances, characters and their relationships. Etsushi Toyokawa plays the character Sanzaemon Kanemi, a master swordsman, who serves the daimyo Tabu Ukyō (Jun Murakami). At the start of the film (set three years ago), Kanemi murders his master’s favorite concubine, Lady Renko (Megumi Seki), just after the annual spring Noh performance. It soon becomes clear that Kanemi acted to stop Lady Renko from further manipulating the daimyo and damaging the domain’s administration. Kanemi is given a light sentence—a year of house arrest and a meager pay decrease—and he is allowed to return to service afterward. Yet, he soon finds himself losing his wife Mutsue (Naho Toda), faced with the affections of his niece, and lost in the intrigues of others, a situation to which blood is the only way out.
While the pacing of the film might feel disjointed and sluggish to the unfamiliar, anyone acquainted with the chanbara genre is in for a treat. The previous two chanbara films I’ve seen are When the Last Sword Is Drawn 「壬生義士伝」 (2003, dir. Yōjirō Takita) and Sword of Doom 「大菩薩峠」 (1966, dir. Kihachi Okamoto). These didn’t disappoint, and neither does Sword of Desperation. The film has beautiful sets and scenery, a simple but moving plot, and a great twist at the end.
JET Memorial Invitation Program for High School Students ready to head to Japan
Cultural Outreach, Earthquake Tsunami, JETs in the News, Return on JET-vestment, Travel/Tourism, Video Comments Off on JET Memorial Invitation Program for High School Students ready to head to Japan
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Thanks to Andy Anderson, father of Taylor Anderson, for sharing information and the video link below. FYI, JETAA USA had the honor of Mr. Anderson attending the National Conference this past weekend in Washington, D.C. and speaking to the conference attendees (2 representatives from each JETAA chapter in the U.S.)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced an exchange program on June 24, 2011 (press release here) to send 32 American students to Japan as a way of commemorating the work of Taylor Anderson and Monty Dickson. Those students, who come from all over the U.S., have been selected and are now in San Francisco getting ready to depart for Japan.
The majority of the 10 day program takes place in Japan and includes a pre-departure orientation and a wrap-up meeting and farewell dinner in San Francisco. During their stay in Japan, the participants will have an option of participating in a day trip to visit the Tohoku area.
KTVU (San Francisco) did a story on the student group as they gathered in San Francisco for a pre-departure orientation before heading to Japan. Here’s the link to the video: http://www.ktvu.com/video/28580191/index.html
Minasan ganbatte kudasai!
Note: If anyone can figure out how to get the embed code for the video, e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com so we can post it here.
Update 7/21/2011: Here’s a Japanese article about the event, forwarded by Andy Anderson:
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/world/news/110718/amr11071818190005-n1.htm
2011年07月18日
日米の懸け橋へ努力
日本研修に向け米高校生
【サンフランシスコ共同】東日本大震災で犠牲になった米国人の英語教師２人の業績をたたえ、創設された日本研修事業に参加する米国の高校生３２人の壮行会が１７日、サンフランシスコの日本総領事館で行われた。代表のトーマス・クドさんは「帰ったら、この体験と日本語を生かしたい」と話し、日米の懸け橋となるために努力することを誓った。猪俣弘司（いのまた・ひろし）総領事は、大震災で亡くなった外国青年招致事業（ＪＥＴプログラム）の英語教師テーラー・アンダーソンさんとモンゴメリー・ディクソンさんの死を悼み、「研修を成功させるかどうかは皆さん次第」と激励した。米側のデボラ・ダニエルズさんは「同じ高校生がどんな風に（大震災で）被災し、どんなことを考えて毎日暮らしているのか知りたい」と話した。一行は今月１９～２８日、大阪の地元高校生との交流や、ホームステイを体験。京都訪問のほか、希望者による岩手視察も予定されている。
