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.

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Hafu David Favrod wins the Viewbook PhotoStory contest

The Swiss-Japanese photographer David Favrod won the first prize of the Viewbook PhotoStory contest with his conceptual photographic narrative titled "Gaijin".

“Gaijin”, as David explains is the Japanese word for “foreigner” and in his series he deals with his questions surrounding his mixed ethnic identity.

David Takashi Favrod is half Japanese. He was born in Kobe (Japan) to a Japanese mother and a Swiss father. When he was very young his family moved to Switzerland where he grew up.

When he talks about his cultural experience and sense of identity he says that “For a Swiss person, I’m Japanese and for a Japanese person, I’m Swiss or rather a gaijin.”

In response to his frustration about his confused sense of belonging, David created a narrative, where he could address his split cultural experience and represent himself belonging to both cultures. Whether painted as a Kabuki performer, or a tourist standing next to his Japanese relatives set against the breathtaking view of the Swiss Alps, David finds a way of placing both Japanese and Swiss visual cultural references into one image.

As much as “Gaijin” is a light and cheerful piece, it is equally highly nostalgic and reflective and takes its viewer on a very personal journey to David Takashi Favrod’s Swiss-Japan.

To find out more and view the photographic series visit:
http://www.viewbookphotostory.com/2009/08/gaijin

"A Zen Life - D.T. Suzuki" - 3 free screenings in the UK

I have come across Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki when I was reading about Tomie Ohtake’s artistic work and decided to find out more about him as his words really resonated with me. Here are two of his quotes from his book “Zen and Japanese culture”:

“When traveling is made too easy and comfortable, its spiritual meaning is lost. This may be called sentimentalism, but a certain sense of loneliness engendered by traveling leads one to reflect upon the meaning of life, for life is after all a travelling from one unknown to another unknown.”

“The artist's world is one of free creation, and this can only come from intuitions directly and immediately rising from the isness of things, unhampered by senses and intellect. He creates forms and sounds out of formlessness and soundlessness. To this extent, the artist's world coincides with that of Zen.”

Funnily only a day later we received an email about three free public screenings of “A ZEN LIFE - D.T. Suzuki” at universities in the UK next month. Here is what the director/ producer Michael Goldberg writes:

“A ZEN LIFE - D.T. Suzuki” is a 77-minute documentary about Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) the Japanese lay Buddhist, prolific writer and teacher credited with introducing Zen Buddhism to the West.

With an excellent grasp of English, Daisetsu Suzuki was highly successful at getting Westerners to appreciate the Japanese mentality, and Japanese to see the merit of Western logic. He earned widespread respect for his deep insights into Eastern and Western religions and philosophies. The effect he had on Western psychology, philosophy, religious thinking, and the arts was profound.

A variety of excerpts from Dr. Suzuki's talks about Zen and Buddhism, Christianity, and psychoanalysis punctuate the film. Inter-faith dialogue and mutual respect were, in his mind, keys to peace. He has said that the Westerner who best understood Zen was Father Thomas Merton. Interwoven with film footage, photos and audio recordings of D.T. Suzuki are interviews of many people who knew him, including Huston Smith, Gary Snyder, Robert Aitken, William Theodore de Bary, Donald Richie, Mihoko Okamura, and Dr. Albert Stunkard, with rare historical footage of Fr. Thomas Merton, John Cage, Erich Fromm, and the voice of Christmas Humphreys.

A pioneer in improving East-West relations, his numerous writings in English and Japanese, translated into many languages, serve as an inspiration even today. Daisetsu Suzuki's message is all the more important now, in light of contemporary conflicts stemming from divergent ways of thinking.

SCREENINGS IN THE UK:

Glasgow
Monday, 23 November at 6:30pm
Interfaith Chapel, University of Glasgow, West Quadrangle
Screening followed by Q&A with director
No reservation necessary
For further information about the Glasgow screening, please contact Joan Keenan, Interfaith Chaplaincy, on 0141 330 5419 or joan.keenan@admin.gla.ac.uk

Manchester
Tuesday, 24 November, 5:15pm - 7:30pm (doors open 5 pm)
Arts Lecture Theatre, Lower Ground Floor, Samuel Alexander Building
University of Manchester
Screening followed by Q&A with director
No reservation necessary for the Manchester screening

London
Thursday, 26 November, 6:30 – 8:30 pm (reception afterwards)
Brunei Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Russell Square
University of London
Screening followed by Q&A with director and panel discussion
Please reserve in advance for the SOAS event by contacting info@azenlife-film.org, ts@soas.ac.uk, or tl3@soas.ac.uk or call 01442 890882

These events are sponsored by
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

For more information visit www.azenlife-film.org or email info@azenlife-film.org

Thinking about mixedness SEMINAR in London UK

A great seminar if you are interested in mixedness, whatever mixture!


Thinking About Mixedness and Mixing: International and Interdisciplinary Dialogue Seminar 3: EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES AND SOCIAL DIVISIONS
ESRC Seminar Series
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/families/mixedness

Seminar 3 is a day event focusing on ‘Everyday Experiences and Social Divisions’.

It will be held on Friday, 18 September 2009 at Keyworth Centre, London South Bank University.

Speakers:

Bogusia Temple (University of Central Lancashire)
‘There will always be a part of my personality that they will never understand’: living and working across language difference

Mateja Sedmak (University of Primorska, Slovenia)
When did ethnicity become an important family issue in Slovenia?

Miri Song and Peter Aspinall (University of Kent)
How is mixedness understood and experienced in everyday life?

Suki Ali (London School of Economics)
Mixed race politics

Chair:
Martina Klett-Davies (Family and Parenting Institute)

Herbie Yamaguchi

Posted by Marcia

I went to a photography exhibition in Kawasaki City Museum, just a few minutes away from home today. The visit was completely unplanned. This morning I went to the local library to get some old books from the 50s that talk about mixed Japanese people. On the way out I saw a poster on this portrait exhibition by a photographer called Herbie Yamaguchi. The name caught my attention because at first I thought “could this photographer be Hafu?”. Although as it turns out, Herbie was a nickname given to him when he lived in London many years ago.

So, as the exhibition was taking place only 20 minutes away from home on foot I decided to make a visit. Coincidentally as soon as I arrived at the Museum I learned that there was going to be a talk by Herbie himself in 10 minutes time. This must be fate….. Off I went, to see his work briefly before listening into what Herbie had to say.

What marked my mind was his subtle message. He talked how he was ill when he was young (elementary up to high school period) and he used to get bullied. He described how he saw the “kitanai” from a young age. He never felt confident.

But one day he encountered a school friend being very kind to him – he saw something very special through her eyes. He goes on to explain, perhaps he could see something extraordinary in her eyes precisely because of his bullying experience at a young age. He says if he was a popular handsome boy he would have never noticed in the beauty she possessed. Now I understand, Herbie’s work captures the kindness, the beauty, the thoughtfulness of humankind.

Herbie started photography when he was in the 2nd year of Junior High School. When he was 23 years old he moved to London, where he says he learned how to love himself. There was no need to be anybody else. His friends recognized his beauty. He could be himself, be confident and happy.

Since he saw plenty of the ugly side of human being, his wish was to portray the niceness of people. His gentle approach can be seen in all his photographs. Whilst his photographs are wonderfully composed, his soft touch allows the viewer to get absorbed, as if under the influence of “kindness”.

http://www.kawasaki-museum.jp/display/exhibition/exhibition_de.php?id=66