Film "Kiku and Isamu"

Posted by Marcia



"Kiku and Isamu", a Japanese film originally released in 1959 and re-marketed in 2003 as a DVD, depicts two mixed race Japanese children raised by their grandmother in a rural setting, Aizuwakamatsu in the 50s.

With the occasional stares and deragotary comments from strangers, the film explores the lives of two young "Black-Japanese" children raising issues of discrimination and presenting the debate of integration or separation.

While the film touches a difficult and personal topic of race, culture and identity, the portrayal of the mixed race characters is positive and forward-thinking. The viewers are left with a sense of joy and a visualisation of a challenging but bright future.

The film is available in Japan to buy (e.g. Amazon or to rent from limited DVD rental shops (e.g. Tsutaya in Shibuya, Tokyo).

identities and inequalities

Intersectionalities: identities and inequalities research group
Roehampton University

Inaugural Symposium
Class: towards new frameworks of analysis

2-6pm, 27th January 2009 (Wednesday)

Chapman Hall, Southlands College,
Roehampton University


Speakers

Professor Mike Savage
(University of Manchester)
Cultural capital and the politics of belonging.

Professor Andrew Sayer
(University of Lancaster)
Class, worth and contributive injustice.

Dr. Ben Rogaly and Dr. Becky Taylor
(University of Sussex and Birkbeck College).
"I don’t want to be classed, but we’re all classed’":
Making liveable lives in contemporary England.

Discussants
Professor Gill Crozier (Roehampton University)
Dr. Paul Watt (Birkbeck College)

How to book a palce on this symposium:
Places are limited so please email A.Kanwar@roehampton.ac.uk

The Buraku Issue and Modern Japan

Posted by Marcia



The Buraku Issue and Modern Japan
By Ian Nearny
Director of the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies
Professor in the Politics of Japan at the University of Oxford

This book explores the Buraku liberation from the 40s up to the 60s focusing on the left-wing movement in Japan, in particular around the life of an activitist Matsumoto Jiichiro (1887-1966). The book wonderfully explores Buraku history -- a good read for anybody interested in Japanese social history, ethnic/racial studies or social movements in general.

Book launch at the Daiwa Anglo Japanese Foundation
Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 4QP
27 January 2010
4.00pm - 6.00pm
*The book will be available at a special price of £64 on the day.
http://www.dajf.org.uk/event_page.asp?Section=Eventssec&ID=472&ticket=1

Dr Ian Nearny also wrote a chapter in the recently published book
Japans Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity (2000l, edited by Michael Weiner) -- which is also an excellent read.

.