Dual portraits of Dutch-Japanese couples

Posted by Marcia

Dutch photographer Lucienne van der Mijle
showcases her new series - “Fading Borders,”
featuring dual portraits of Dutch-Japanese couples.
She explores the ways in which two worlds have “melted together".

Facing Borders
Lucienne van der Mijle.

Until Apr 18 2010

Gallery Le Deco 1F 3-16-3 Shibuya.
http://home.att.ne.jp/gamma/ledeco
Tel: 03-5485-5188
Nearest stn: Shibuya

Free Admission

Open Tue-Sun 11am-7pm
Closed Mon.

Lucienne van der Mijle
http://www.luciennevandermijle.nl/

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Hafu Gathering - Interview video

Posted by Marcia

We were out filming in Yoyogi park this afternoon at a half Japanese hanami get together. We asked a number of hafus about their motivation behind joining hafu events as well the level of connection with fellow Hafus. We shall edit the filmed footage and make it available in both Japanese and English shortly.

Meanwhile please enjoy the following video which is about the image of Hafus held by people in Japan. It is a short video shot during the summer of 2009 in Harajuku:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?gl=JP&user=HafuProject#p/a/u/0/Wi2r23e7fpA

Free film screening at the Embassy of Japan

Posted by Marcia

Free film screening nights at the Embassy of Japan in London
Organised by the Japan Information and Cultural Centre (JICC)

1st Screening - HACHIKO ハチ公物語

Directed by Koyama Seijiro / 1987 / 108 mins
Wednesday, 5 May 2010 at 18:30
The Embassy of Japan
101-104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT　

Registration from 18:00 (No admittance after 18:45)
Booking essential

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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