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.
Justin’s Japan: Superstar Sora Aoi Appears This Week at Japan Society’s JAPAN CUTS 2011
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'Three☆Points' star Sora Aoi will appear at New York's Japan Society July 15 with the film's director Masashi Yamamoto. (Courtesy of Japan Society)
After doing boffo box office last week with sold-out screenings of Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha, Battle Royale and the Gantz duology, Japan Society’s JAPAN CUTS 2011 will reach the boiling point this Friday (July 15) with a very special guest: international cause célèbre Sora Aoi. With a career spanning nearly a decade in Japan’s adult video (AV) industry, Aoi (whose stage name translates to “blue sky”) has also moonlighted in television dramas, film and mainstream entertainment, even enjoying success in China as a pop singer.
The actress will appear at Japan Society supporting her latest drama, Three☆Points, with its director Masashi Yamamoto helming a Q&A. The pair will also join a special after party after the screening to meet fans personally. Other Special guests slated for the rest of JAPAN CUTS include The Seaside Motel director Kentaro Moriya, A Liar and a Broken Girl director Natsuki Seta (both July 16), and Haru’s Journey director Masahiro Kobayashi (July 20).
All films—most of them New York premieres–are primarily shown in Japanese with English subtitles, some with actor/director intros and Q&As and after parties.
For more on the remaining cuts, click here.
Justin’s Japan: Japan Society’s First Week of JAPAN CUTS 2011 Offers ‘Buddha,’ ‘Battle Royale’
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Japan Society of New York's JAPAN CUTS 2011 film festival kicks off with 'Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha: The Great Departure' July 7. (© 2011 Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha Production Committee)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
Seeking summer movie asylum from Autobots and aging boy wizards? Head to Japan Society.
Now in its fifth consecutive year, the JAPAN CUTS 2011 film festival includes 32 new titles—the biggest lineup in the festival’s history with (almost) nothing but premieres and one-off shows—running from July 7 to 22, including ten co-presentations with the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF).
“Arguably North America’s premier showcase for Japanese film” (Firefox News), JAPAN CUTS screens the cutting edge of contemporary Japanese fare, caroming between elegant drama to anything-goes comedy to uncanny experimentalism.
All films—most of them New York premieres–are primarily shown in Japanese with English subtitles, some with actor/director intros and Q&As and after parties.
For the complete list of this week’s cuts, click here.
JQ Magazine: JET Alum Ashley Thompson’s ‘Surviving in Japan’
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Ashley Thompson is "Surviving in Japan (Without Much Japanese)"
By Ashley Thompson (Shizuoka-ken, 2008-2010) for JQ magazine. Ashley is the founder of Surviving in Japan (Without Much Japanese) and Lifelines columnist for the Japan Times.
Six years ago, Japan was nowhere on my radar. If someone had told me then that Japan would become my second home, I would have laughed. Japan was foreign, unknown, and I had no interest in it other than its traditional art and history. Plus, I was a homebody—living overseas became a potential option only a few years ago.
After graduating high school in the town I spent most of my life, I moved two hours away (via car) to Seattle for school and work. During that time I met David—a senior at the university I attended for a year while volunteering—who became one of my closest friends. I came to learn that David was born in Japan and spent his childhood there, after which his family moved back to the U.S.
Through David, I learned more about Japan and what I heard piqued my interest. Our volunteer work involved kids, and sometimes they asked David about Japan or he would mention something about it. I visited his family a few times also, and it was obvious that Japan played a significant role in their lives. Occasionally the conversation turned to Japan or good-natured teasing was exchanged in Japanese among their six-member family.
David left for Japan in 2007 as part of the JET Program. At the time, I was finishing my bachelor’s degree in social sciences, taking Japanese for my degree’s foreign language requirement and still working. With my closest friend gone and my time in Seattle then five years and counting, I realized how comfortable I had become. So comfortable, that I realized I was in a rut and decided it was time for a change—a big change.
Over the course of the summer and fall in 2007, Japan and JET were brought to my attention multiple times through random conversations and events, which all started with my dad. I was considering studying abroad in Europe or finding a job overseas, but he said, “Why don’t you try JET?” I laughed it off, assuring him that going to Japan was a ridiculous idea for me—except the idea remained firmly planted in my mind.
Justin’s Japan: Interview with “Tokyo Vice” Author Jake Adelstein on Yakuza Films, Umbrellas
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"I think the JET Program is a wonderful thing. Many people who have become scholars of Japan and have settled down in Japan begin on the JET Program. It is a wonderful way for the Japanese to get to understand Americans, and Americans to get to understand Japan." (Justin Tedaldi)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
Examiner’s note: The following interview was conducted at New York’s Japan Society on March 10, 2011, hours before the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami would ravage eastern Japan. I was there to chat with guest lecturer Jake Adelstein, whose twelve-year career as a crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shinbun was chronicled in his acclaimed 2009 book Tokyo Vice. Adelstein is currently working on his second book, and as the editor of the Japan Subculture Research Center blog he continues to report on all the intriguing and seedy aspects that keep Japan running. In this exclusive interview, I spoke with Adelstein during an ominous cloudburst.
Thanks for meeting in this gloomy weather.
I used to like rainy weather, but my bodyguard, who’s an ex-yakuza, hates rainy weather. And I asked him once—I wish I hadn’t asked him—“What’s your deal with rainy weather? Why do you always not want to go out of the house and discourage me from going out?” And he’s like, “Oh, you know, when a yakuza kills another yakuza, they almost always do it on a rainy day, because first of all: bad visibility. The sound of the rain blurs the sounds of what’s going on, and the rain washes away all the trace evidence.” And ever since then, I haven’t been able to enjoy rainy weather as much as I used to.
I read that your birthday is coming up.
Well, let’s see. I’ll be 42. If all goes well, I will be ordained as a Soto Zen Buddhist priest on my birthday. I’ve got about a week of training left—if I could just remember that damn sutra. I had a talk with the priest and told him that I didn’t believe in the metaphysics of Buddhism, and he was like, “It’s all right. You just have to pretend that they’re true.” So as long as you uphold the precepts, it’s not belief; it’s deeds. I’m comfortable with that, the Episcopal King James version of Buddhism.
In an interview last year, you said you were going to have the opportunity to meet with yakuza boss Goto Tadamasa…
I might still have the opportunity, if he’s in good health. He’s been in and out of the hospital.
That’s his current status?
Yeah. He is still a priest. I’ve had some issues with his autobiography that was published last year, which had the equivalent of a yakuza fatwa on me. If you understand how the yakuza order people to be killed, you can read the lines very well. He refers to the attack on the director Itami Juzo in his memoirs and says, “Of course he deserved to be attacked, because he wrote a movie that was unpleasant about the yakuza,” and he refers to my writing as unpleasant. And then he has these two lines about, “I don’t know who this guy is, but even as an ex-yakuza, if I ever met him he would go from someone being targeted for death to someone being dead, ha-ha-ha.”
When a boss wants someone whacked in the yakuza, what he does is, he never gives an order, because then he could be held responsible. He just says, you know, “Johnson-san is a real pain in the ass; I don’t really like Johnson-san very well.” And his cohort immediately knows that he’s been asked to whack the guy. He whacks him and goes to jail, and comes out and gets a cash bonus from the organization. That’s how it’s done.
There’s talk that a film version of Tokyo Vice is in the works.
John Lesher, who produced No Country for Old Men, is signed on as the producer. There have been two or three actors who have expressed interest in playing the role. J.T. Rogers, who is a very good playwright—he’s got a play opening at Lincoln Center this year called Blood and Gifts—he is the principal screenwriter, and I am the co-writer. J.T. and I went to the same high school together. Actually, it’s interesting: he’s a very successful playwright, writes about Afghanistan and foreign countries. Peter Hessler, who is a China expert, he and I also hung out in high school at the same time.
What are your thoughts on the JET Program?
I think the JET Program is a wonderful thing. Many people who have become scholars of Japan and have settled down in Japan begin on the JET Program. It is a wonderful way for the Japanese to get to understand Americans, and Americans to get to understand Japan. Like any program, it has problems. I think it’s a great thing, and I hope it continues to be supported by both sides.
JQ Magazine: JQ&A with JET Alum Casey Novotny on the Documentary Film ‘100 Yen’
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“I can definitely say I owe the experience that got me to this point to my time working as a CIR, and working with enthusiastic young students who want to study abroad during that time has motivated me to continue working in this field.” (Courtesy of Casey Novotny)
By Rick Ambrosio (Ibaraki-ken, 2006-08) for JQ magazine. Rick manages the JET Alumni Association of New York (JETAANY)’s Twitter page and is the creator of the JETwit column Tadaima!
Casey Novotny (Kochi-ken, 2005-08) gave us the inside scoop on 100 Yen, a film about the Japanese arcade scene coming this fall. Casey, who’s currently a program coordinator at Asia University in Tokyo, and director/JET alum Brad Crawford first met as JETs from Canada, and years later collaborated on this original project. Find out what inspired Casey and listen to his predictions for the future of the arcade scene.
How did you find yourself originally interested in Japan? Was it through games?
Yeah, I guess since when I was a child my interest in Japan started through video games, anime and such. The real thing that interested me those things, and thus Japan, was the gaping cultural differences. I really couldn’t grasp how the Japanese way of thinking could be so similar yet so different to ours. There was some weird stuff out there! I mean, there still is, but I think living here for over six years has kind of desensitized me to most of it.
How has Japan influenced your career and personal goals?
The first time I was an exchange student in Japan was when I was seventeen for half a year. That experience definitely changed my life, and I knew I wanted to make a career where I was going to use the Japanese language skills I was learning. At that point I wasn’t sure what kind of career, but I knew I had to improve my language skills and cultural understanding, and so I made a lot of my personal goals related to that. It seems I may be here for the long run, so it will probably continue that way!
How did your experience on JET lead you to where you are now?
I was a CIR in rural Kochi for three years. After enjoying life in the countryside and wanting to continue a similar career somewhere in Japan, I left for Tokyo and worked with a recruitment firm for more than a year and a half. It was a great experience and great place to work, but I realized that my place was with international education and exchange programs. I’ve been working with Asia University in Tokyo since then as a program coordinator for their America Program, which is the largest exchange program of its kind in Japan and probably one of the biggest in the world. I can definitely say I owe the experience that got me to this point to my time working as a CIR, and working with enthusiastic young students who want to study abroad during that time has motivated me to continue working in this field.
Justin’s Japan: New York Mets’ Japanese Heritage Night Aids Disaster Relief Efforts
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The New York Mets host their second annual Japanese Heritage Night at Citi Field June 21.
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
Following the success of last year’s inaugural Japanese Heritage Night at Citi Field, this new tradition’s second edition on June 21 will pit the New York Mets against ex-Yankee Hideki Matsui’s Oakland A’s.
Scheduled for the pre-game show to celebrate Japan’s culture and heritage are New York-based taiko troupe Soh Daiko; the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York; a tribute to Wally Yonamine, the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after World War II; and the Spirit Award to the People of Tohoku to be accepted by Ambassador Shigeyuki Hiroki of the Consul General of Japan in New York. A portion of each ticket sold will benefit Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts.
Sponsored by the Japanese community of New York, the event is also supported by those outside the five boroughs. California-based artist Andrea Fono purchased two tickets for the game to support the cause in recognition of the enormous contributions Japan has made to other countries, including her husband’s homeland of Fiji, which Japan donated tents and blankets to after Cyclone Tomas battered the islands last year.
“The people of Japan are consistently some of the kindest people in the world,” Fono said. “And the nation is extraordinarily generous in their contributing to other nations. This includes their relief contribution after the cyclone. We are grateful!”
Also involved with relief efforts are members of the JET Alumni Association, a group that raised over $10,000 in a single night for the JETAA USA Fund in April.
JQ Magazine: Book Review – Natsume Soseki’s ‘Kokoro’ Takes New Translation to Heart
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By Sharona Moskowitz (Fukuoka-ken, 2000-01) for JQ magazine. Sharona works at a literary agency in New York City. She is interested in fresh, new voices in fiction and creative nonfiction.
In a magazine article published earlier this year, crooked former banker Bernie Madoff told the public that despite his lies, despite the lives left ruined in the wake of his atrocious crimes, he is not a bad man.
Why do I bring this up here, in a book review of Japanese author Natsume Soseki’s seminal 1914 novel Kokoro? Because Madoff could have learned a thing or two from the book. As the saying goes, the classics aren’t about what happened, they’re about what happens. And Kokoro is no exception.
The novel peels back the layers of an unlikely friendship between a callow university student and a reclusive old man to reveal how experiences shape us and relationships define us, for better or worse. Admiration, greed, curiosity, jealousy; all these ingredients swirl together in the complex stew of the human psyche, the kokoro (“heart”). Only in the face of temptation are a person’s true colors revealed.
The new translation by Meredith McKinney offers readers a more modern version without compromising the impact of the work. The novel is both timeless and timely—it’s as relevant now as it ever was. Maybe cynicism weathers the ages better than unexamined optimism. Or, maybe human nature just doesn’t change that much.
Justin’s Japan: Japan Society Bids Sayonara to Donald Keene
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Columbia University Professor Emeritus Donald Keene, left, will talk with Carol Gluck at Japan Society's Farewell Evening with Donald Keene June 13. (Courtesy of Japan Society)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
This evening (June 13), New York’s Japan Society adds another page to its storied history by hosting the Farewell Evening with Donald Keene, a final talk with Columbia University’s Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature.
A scholar, author and translator for over 50 years, Keene is a paragon in the field of Japanese studies. As the translator of legendary works from Mishima, Chikamatsu and Bashō and the writer of dozens of books in his own name (some written in Japanese), Keene’s achievements in bringing the island nation’s culture closer to the West are incalculable.
Upon his decision to retire this spring and become a Japanese citizen, the indefatigable Keene—who turned 89 last week—will speak at Japan Society about his appreciation for Japan, its literature and culture, his recollections of the past, and his hopes for the future as he discusses what motivated him to move permanently to Japan in light of the recent tsunami and earthquake. Moderated by his Columbia University colleague (and fellow celebrated Japanologist) Carol Gluck, the evening will be full of memories.
JQ Magazine: JQ&A with Masahiro Kozuma of the Japanese Children’s Society
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Mr. Masahiro Kozuma of the Japanese Children’s Society, right, with Mr. Fusaki Fujita of Marsh USA.
By Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03) for JQ magazine. Stacy is a professional writer/interpreter/translator. She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observation in the periodic series WITLife.
At a gathering of the Battenkai, or Kyushu-ite group here in New York City, I had the pleasure of sharing a mirthful moment with Mr. Masahiro Kozuma. We were taking part in “laughter yoga” with the guest teacher at the event, who paired us up as partners with the task of performing a laughing exercise together. As we had just met this could have been a somewhat awkward activity to have to engage in, but thanks to Mr. Kozuma’s willingness I was able to ease into simulated laughter until it became real and I enjoyed the moment.
Later in the evening we continued our non-verbal communication with an actual conversation, where I learned that Mr. Kozuma serves as Director of the Japanese Children’s Society or New York Ikuei Gakuen (育英学園). This NPO established in 1979 provides Japanese education to youngsters with the motto of “Carefree Learning, Nurturing of Self-Training Children.” I had the chance to talk further with Mr. Kozuma about his background and that of his school.
What brought you to Battenkai?
I decided to join as I am from an area of Fukuoka Prefecture called Chikuhou. Fukuoka is blessed with beautiful nature like the mountains and the sea, and the Chikuhou region is known for coal mining. My childhood memories are of playing all the time on the huge heaps of coal waste that could be found around where I lived.
What was your path to the States?
While in Japan I got my master’s in Special Education, and I decided to come to here for further study in this field. In Japan the extent of my work experience was a part-time job at a fish store during university, but my first job here in the States was being an elementary school teacher at Japanese (supplemental study) school. I was also a counselor at their summer camp.
And now you work as director of Ikuei Gakuen, which has several schools throughout the New York area. Can you tell us a little about your system of education?
As director, I am in charge of all the schools which include the main Manhattan one, one in Port Washington, Long Island and the New Jersey campus where my office is located. Our curriculum is based on the standards set by the Ministry of Education in Japan, but it is bilingual learning as we have daily English classes. The subjects we cover are Japanese, English, math, science, social studies, music, arts and crafts, calligraphy and physical education. We also have special seasonal events like Field Day and school festivals. On the East Coast, we are the only full-time, integrated Japanese school for children ages 3 to 12.
In terms of supplemental study, we have Saturday and Sunday school as well for students who might attend regular school during the week, but still want to keep up with their Japanese education. We also do homeschooling for those who are unable to make the weekend classes.
Do you have to be Japanese to attend Ikuei Gakuen, or is it open to anyone? What is the procedure for getting in?
It is not limited to Japanese people, but the fact that classes are conducted in Japanese means that your language skills must be up to a certain level. We do have some students who are not from Japan, but who have one parent who is Japanese, etc. For all applicants we carry out screenings and a test, and provided they can pass and have developmental skills appropriate for their age they will be accepted. In circumstances where special individual treatment is necessary such as with learning disorders, we consider those on a case by case basis. Our school’s purpose is not preparing students for college entrance exams, as some might think.
Justin’s Japan: Q&A with Grammy Award-Winning Musician Hiromi on ‘Voice’
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"I went back to Japan right after the earthquake and did a lot of live radio and TV shows to perform live to cheer people up. I just wanted to do something for the country I love and only thing I could do was keep playing music, so I kept playing." (Sakiko Nomura)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
A native of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, pianist and composer Hiromi Uehara is one of the world’s top young international performers in jazz, winning a Grammy earlier this year for her work on Stanley Clarke’s most recent album. Today (June 7), she releases Voice, her seventh studio effort since 2003 and first as part of the Trio Project with bassist Anthony Jackson (Paul Simon, the O’Jays, Steely Dan, Chick Corea) and drummer Simon Phillips (the Who, Judas Priest, David Gilmour, Jack Bruce).
“When I play music, I realize that it really filters emotions,” says Hiromi. “I called this album Voice because I believe that people’s real voices are expressed in their emotions.” Tonight, the Berklee College of Music alum launches a six-night residency at New York City’s venerable Blue Note Jazz Club as part of its inaugural Blue Note Jazz Festival. I caught up with the artist in this exclusive interview.
What kinds of goals in mind do you have when you record a new album? How about for a concert?
Making an album is like I have stories to tell; I want to see the landscape in music that I have never seen before. For a concert, I always think today is my first and last, trying to put everything I have out.
A big part of your style is your quicksilver runs across the keys. How did you develop this as your trademark, and are there ever times in concert when you feel like it’s a challenge to keep up that manic pace?
I never really thought about it as my trademark, I just play what I hear, what I have to say at that very moment, just like a conversation.
The toughest part of your job onstage that the audience might not realize is…
Definitely traveling.
I’ve noticed that you’ve been speaking a lot more English for interviews and at your concerts. Are you continuing to study it, and what kind of methods or techniques do you use that you can recommend to others who are learning a second language?
I do watch a lot of movies in English. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, speak speak speak!
In what ways has the Japanese music community banded together in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami devastation? What has your impression been of the United States and its entertainers’ relief efforts?
I went back to Japan right after the earthquake and did a lot of live radio and TV shows to perform live to cheer people up. I also went back in April to do eighteen benefit shows in Tokyo. I just wanted to do something for the country I love and only thing I could do was keep playing music, so I kept playing. I really would like to thank everyone from the U.S. for their efforts. We surely need continuous support and I will keep doing whatever I can do.
For the rest of the interview, click here.
"I think it’s a gift to experience living in another culture, and if everyone in the world could have the chance to live in another country for a time, the world would probably be a better place." (Photo courtesy of the author)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
A “certified mad Japanophile,” San Francisco-born and bred writer Wendy Nelson Tokunaga has lived her whole life in the Bay Area, save for a stint in Tokyo in the 1980s after winning a songwriting contest sponsored by Japan Victor Records. Since then, she has penned two Japan-related novels, Midori by Moonlight and Love in Translation.
Her new book, Marriage in Translation: Foreign Wife, Japanese Husband, is a series of illuminating interviews conducted by the author with Western women who talk candidly about the challenges in making cross-cultural marriages work both inside and outside Japan, and the joys and frustrations of adapting to a different culture. Tokunaga explores the theme of why some people feel the need to trade in their native culture for a new one, revealing new insights about Japan and married life. I caught up with the author in this exclusive interview.
What made you decide to write about this topic?
I’ve dated Japanese men and am now married to a Japanese born and raised in Osaka. I’ve always noticed how there are many more Western man/Japanese woman couples than the opposite. Even today, with the Internet and social media and the world shrinking, this pairing is still relatively rare and I think the reasons why are intriguing and fascinating.
The book originally started out as blog entries. When did you get the feeling that it deserved to be a book?
These series of interviews elicited a lot of interest from my blog readers and I got contacted by a couple of small publishers asking if I wanted to make it into a book.
Why did you choose to publish it as an eBook?
I’ve had experience with a traditional publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for my two novels, Midori by Moonlight and Love in Translation. I know how long it takes to get a traditional book published and I wanted to get this book out into the world while the interest was still high. I also wanted to dip my toe into the burgeoning world of eBook publishing and thought this would be a great opportunity.
The list price of $2.99 is certainly attractive. What’s your impression of the sales so far?
I think my sales have been pretty good thus far, especially when you take into consideration that I basically have only marketed this book via Twitter and by doing a bit of other online publicity. It’s a niche book for sure and I’ve also been donating 50% of the sales to Japan Relief. I certainly am not in it for the money!
You said that your husband Manabu felt he never “fit in” in Japan. Would you say this is a common trait among Japanese men who settle down outside of their home countries or cultures? Do you think this might hold less true for Americans who move to Japan?
This is another big question! I don’t have statistics to prove this, but through my own anecdotal evidence and observations over the years I have found that not many Japanese end up moving abroad permanently. There are many reasons for this. First, they don’t have the economic issues that many other immigrants face, and of course there is the tendency to feel that Japanese society is “unique” and can’t be duplicated anywhere else, so why leave?
So I would assume that for a Japanese man to move away from Japan there has to be some pretty compelling reason, especially since they also don’t tend to marry foreign women (though in Japan there are more Japanese men married to non-Japanese than Japanese women married to non-Japanese men. However, these women are usually of Asian ethnicity).
As you probably well know, an American man’s experience in Japan is often quite different. He can be seen as exotic and desirable (at least in the honeymoon stage of his stay) and even though he might undergo a lot of culture shock, things can be quite comfortable for him. Of course I have no choice but to generalize, but I have to say that the differences in experiences between an American man moving to Japan and a Japanese man moving to America couldn’t be more striking. There is nothing special about a Japanese man here in the States, but a gaijin in Japan still causes excitement to this day. On the other hand, to briefly open another topic, we certainly know of the quite different reasons why Japanese women would want to leave Japan. I explore that theme in Midori by Moonlight.
At least one of the interviewees served as a participant of Japan’s global exchange initiative, the JET Program. Tell us about the personal value of living in another country as a young adult compared with being a bit older and moving there with the intention to raise a family.
Well, for one thing a person coming to Japan on the JET Program is usually only going to be in Japan on a temporary basis and, from what I understand, the program purposely hires people who know little about Japan. So they come with no expectations and quite often leave with a wonderful experience. The Western woman coming to Japan to raise a family with her Japanese husband is in a much different situation. And I think the experience will have its differences whether she has been interested in Japanese culture all along or only came into contact with it by meeting her husband abroad. Either way, I think it’s a gift to experience living in another culture and if everyone in the world could have the chance to live in another country for a time, the world would probably be a better place.
JQ Magazine: JQ&A with JET Alum Robert A. Fish, Japan Society’s Director of Education and Lecture Programs
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"I applied to the JET Program after three years of high school teaching. The Japanese public education system was held in high esteem at the time and I also felt that I could learn something from the 'gold standard' of educational systems."
By Lyle Sylvander (Yokohama-shi, 2001-02) for JQ magazine. Lyle is entering a master’s program at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (MIA 2013) and has been writing for the JET Alumni Association since 2004. He is also the goalkeeper for FC Japan, a NYC-based soccer team.
JET alumn Robert Fish (Wakayama-ken, 1996-97) joined New York’s Japan Society in May 2006 as Director of Education and Lecture Programs. Fish previously served as an Assistant Professor of East Asian history at Indiana State University, where he worked extensively with pre-service teachers. Fish earned a BA in History at Yale University, an MA in Educational Administration at New York University, and a Ph.D. in Japanese History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
His research focuses on the history of childhood and education in 20th century Japan, and includes a book manuscript near completion about the history of “mixed-blood” orphans in postwar Japan as well as publications regarding the history “textbook controversy” in Japan.
Tell us about your background.
I studied History at Yale University and taught World History East at my secondary school alma mater, Tenafly High School, in Bergen County, New Jersey. At that time, I didn’t have a strong knowledge base in the region and wanted to learn more about Japan, so I applied to the JET Program after three years of high school teaching. Plus, the Japanese public education system was held in high esteem at the time and I also felt that I could learn something from the “gold standard” of educational systems.
I spent one year teaching English in Wakayama and then enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Japanese History at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. After graduating, I saw two strong career possibilities. One was to go back to teaching at secondary schools, and the second was to pursue a path in academia. I chose the academic one and spent a year teaching at Michigan State University and then Indiana State University, where I was on a tenure track.
Why did you leave academia?
I enjoyed teaching, writing and doing research in Japanese history, but I felt that this opportunity allowed me to develop a real passion of mine: to help primary and secondary teachers teach Japanese history and culture.
Tell us about your current job.
The primary goal is to help teachers teach more effectively about Japan at the national level. Secondly, we help children learn directly through social networking—we promote children to children connections between the United States and Japan. Third, we introduce children to Japan through family programming.
Justin’s Japan: Loudness, Akiko Yano Perform Rare Concerts in New York
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Legendary Japanese metal band Loudness return to Times Square's B.B. King Blues Club & Grill June 1.
By JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
After their successful tour of Europe last year capped with a headlining gig at Germany’s prestigious Bang Your Head!!! festival, Japan’s Loudness are invading North America for the first time since their sold out 2006 tour, and only the second time since 1991!
Formed in 1981 in Osaka, vocalist Minoru Niihara, guitarist Akira Takasaki (A.K.A. the Eddie Van Halen of Japan), bassist Masayoshi Yamashita and drummer Munetaka Higuchi joined forces to become not only Japan’s premier metal band, but a world class act in their own right, releasing five English-language albums in America in their heyday.
On June 1, the group storms Times Square’s B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, where they last played five years ago in a historic gig filmed for their Loudness in America 06 DVD. (The disc doubles as an epitaph for Higuchi, who succumbed to liver cancer two years later. He was replaced in 2009 by Masayuki Suzuki.)
Metal not your cup of cha? On June 3, Japan Society presents Akiko Yano Solo: Revealing Her Magic. This one-night-only appearance is billed as a concert and talk, exploring renowned singer-songwriter Akiko Yano‘s original music, as influenced and inspired by the unique rhythm and intonation of the Japanese language. In this performance, Yano demonstrates how she bends prose, phrases and salutations into her own musical expressions.
