tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-320496752024-03-13T21:28:14.866-04:00japanamericaRoland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comBlogger935125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-66665349134302557032024-03-09T22:00:00.000-05:002024-03-09T22:00:00.190-05:00New Interview on BR/BL, Shoujo manga and the legacy of Japanamerica<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoS1CutUYcY9VGtLueCwV_x3I9ebjdpPQnFTwnF4KuDnsYNLRjWPWtcP5JtRdPSzY8ijIDtBgLgJonVF_EZFq-VipUDErAAzN9T3zPhGVpAz6lgdGzIFWoVyJaFQIv7LK9RRRWjmo0RwaWXhJJcoCU-JoYqNLegmU9Q2hEsoRBoER0f44UJ1UT/s687/ANIME%20FEMINIST%202024-03-01%20at%2010.36.16.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="687" height="605" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoS1CutUYcY9VGtLueCwV_x3I9ebjdpPQnFTwnF4KuDnsYNLRjWPWtcP5JtRdPSzY8ijIDtBgLgJonVF_EZFq-VipUDErAAzN9T3zPhGVpAz6lgdGzIFWoVyJaFQIv7LK9RRRWjmo0RwaWXhJJcoCU-JoYqNLegmU9Q2hEsoRBoER0f44UJ1UT/w640-h605/ANIME%20FEMINIST%202024-03-01%20at%2010.36.16.png" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"What Kelts did for manga and anime can be compared to what the late
Donald Richie did to bridge Western audiences and Japanese films,
creating an accessible entry point that both facilitated and commented
on cross cultural communication."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Er, <a href="https://www.animefeminist.com/roland-kelts-on-blade-runner-black-lotus-the-influence-of-shoujo-and-18-years-of-japanamerica/" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /></div><br /><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-60702240214882000782024-02-22T06:15:00.045-05:002024-03-13T21:27:30.420-04:00On "Godzilla Minus One" for The Atlantic<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAtXhmJDRxB26UlOT_PcqM-iWFVtVn7oiAZQqRMz1ZdO6nSzjDU7iy32eH3cWMgA5WakJNKYCoPrKGGiRxejeF-zFLGG76_LWmWxl9IStm2k65dLERX12abM9Wo9WcjZUFd6vGjP33fCr43eZvxqNIWnODZSJ3bky5Sqxe9G3L1qxDSC_c0l64" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="898" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAtXhmJDRxB26UlOT_PcqM-iWFVtVn7oiAZQqRMz1ZdO6nSzjDU7iy32eH3cWMgA5WakJNKYCoPrKGGiRxejeF-zFLGG76_LWmWxl9IStm2k65dLERX12abM9Wo9WcjZUFd6vGjP33fCr43eZvxqNIWnODZSJ3bky5Sqxe9G3L1qxDSC_c0l64=w640-h470" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">I used to run like hell from Godzilla movies, not out of fear but
embarrassment. As a Japanese-American teenager in diversity-poor rural New
England, I winced at the sight of a dude in a rubber suit stomping on cardboard
cities. It looked silly and cheap, two Asian stereotypes I was trying hard to
live down, so I ran even faster from the Americans I knew who actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liked</i> Godzilla to avoid being cast as
yet another Asian American nerd.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">Evidently, Godzilla outran me. Japan’s nuclear lizard is now the face of the world’s
longest-running film franchise, according to Guinness World Records, turning 70
this year on the heels of its most successful iteration yet. Released into U.S.
theaters with scant publicity, “Godzilla Minus One” is North
America’s highest-grossing Japanese-language movie ever and has </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12981549/Godzilla-Minus-One-roars-past-100-million-global-box-office-milestone-ahead-release-black-white-version-critically-acclaimed-film.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">surpassed the $100 million mark globall</span></a><span style="font-family: times;">y</span> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">on a production budget of under $15 million. A box office
blockbuster with a price tag minus one of Hollywood’s lavish digits. It’s also
an award-winning critical hit, nominated by the Academy for Best Visual FX and
widely praised for telling an emotionally absorbing story set in a devastated
postwar Japan.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">I first saw the
movie last November when it premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
I was less moved than impressed—not so much by the digital monster, but by the
skillful sleight of hand behind the movie’s historical dissonance. While the
film’s sets and costumes look period-based, its story, characters and emotional resonance are piercingly up-to-the-minute. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">No longer a
prophylactic-sheathed performer, the mightier if less endearing
computer-generated Godzilla roars to life in the first few minutes, menacing a
group of Japanese mechanics and grounded pilot Koichi Shikishima on a barren South
Pacific island. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">For some reason, Shikishima can’t bring himself to pull the
trigger </span><span style="font-family: times;">(it's a giant lizard for chrissake!) </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">of the machine gun
only he can operate, and all but one of the mechanics is murdered. A </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">failed kamikaze fighter and accidental
family man</span> <span style="font-family: times;">suffering a very contemporary </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">crisis of masculinity</span><span style="font-family: times;">, Shikishima (whose surname is also an ancient poetic term that once meant "Japan") is </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">an action hero so paralyzed by his fear of
commitment that he can barely take any action at all.</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">>>More at <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/02/godzilla-movie-united-states-japan/677409/" target="_blank"><i>The Atlantic</i></a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Times;">>>Unpaywalled version at <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/godzilla-minus-the-united-states/ar-BB1i6PVi?ocid=sapphireappshare" target="_blank">MSN</a>. <br /></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-64159655063275909292024-02-10T03:26:00.004-05:002024-02-11T06:31:13.575-05:00My thoughts on Ghibli's "The Boy and the Heron" and Toho's "Godzilla Minus One" for CNN and The Straits Times<p>Two Japanese-made films premiered within a week of each other in US cinemas last December, "Godzilla Minus One" and "The Boy and the Heron," with very little publicity. Both are now huge commercial successes: "Heron" is the highest grossing non-franchise anime feature ever in the US; "G-1" the highest grossing Japanese live action film. Both are also critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7ZZ5mwr0BQDRNNUYqniejvapdAhOWJuusEbD6ySWCuJH9qS0WbD8YTxboKeokji5NWnxnZfclOLg5UFurdLlQnQkIJJoRCKy_ifKdDO-10ZmCLSDf6ucgcv_0QAaz2M0ATKqzs4Dt5WOB7UFRskKno-rf13lcO2tm6UbP4Z8qu2Jzz3na_qis" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1132" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7ZZ5mwr0BQDRNNUYqniejvapdAhOWJuusEbD6ySWCuJH9qS0WbD8YTxboKeokji5NWnxnZfclOLg5UFurdLlQnQkIJJoRCKy_ifKdDO-10ZmCLSDf6ucgcv_0QAaz2M0ATKqzs4Dt5WOB7UFRskKno-rf13lcO2tm6UbP4Z8qu2Jzz3na_qis=w640-h358" width="640" /></a></div><br /> For Miyazaki, a win would be his second after 2003's "Spirited Away." For the "G-1" VFX team, led by writer-director Takashi Yamazaki, a win would be a first for any film in the 70 year-old Godzilla series and would make Yamazaki the first director to win for VFX since Stanley Kubrick, who was so awarded in 1968 for "2001: A Space Odyssey."<p></p><p>• I spoke to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/09/entertainment/boy-heron-ghibli-miyazaki-golden-globe-win-japan-intl-hnk/index.html">CNN</a> about Miyazaki's first Golden Globe earlier this year and the chances that he will receive his second Academy Award (not that he cares all that much) at next month's Oscar ceremony--an occurrence that, I'm told by some Academy voters, looks even likelier by the day. Here's an excerpt:<br /></p><p><<Roland Kelts, author of “JapanAmerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US,” told CNN that Studio Ghibli’s Golden Globes win “bodes very well” for a second Miyazaki Oscar win in March. “(Firstly), there’s Miyazaki’s age and the possibility that this is his final film,” Kelts said.<br /><br />He adds: “Artistically, its closest competition (‘Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse’) is a sequel while ‘The Boy and the Heron’ is so radically original and inventive that it’s mind-bendingly hard to follow.”>> <br /></p><p>• I spoke to <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/lessons-in-success-from-godzilla-and-the-boy-and-the-heron">The Straits Times</a> about the lack of marketing behind the two films and the extent to which digital media (streaming, file-sharing, social media) have helped Japanese IP reach new audiences without the cash and localized campaigns that native US producers can afford. </p><p>*Crucial note: Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki managed to convince Miyazaki to sell their catalogue to Netflix (globally) and Max (US only) in 2020. The titles became available in the spring of that year--right when the Covid pandemic trapped everyone at home. Suzuki says he was persuaded to stream Ghibli films after reading an interview with Woody Allen, who created two films, "Cafe Society" and "Wonder Wheel," with Amazon Studios/Prime Video. Suzuki in turn persuaded Miyazaki to say yes by telling the director that they needed the money to finish "The Boy and the Heron." Excerpt:<br /></p><p><<Japan
is also getting a powerful, if unexpected, assist from how shifts in
digital technology revolutionized consumer behavior, says Roland Kelts,
author of pop culture book “Japanamerica.”</p>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-block-end: 16px; margin-block-start: 0px; margin-block: 0px 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-inline-end: 0px; margin-inline-start: 0px; margin-inline: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">“Japan
isn’t really promoting its soft power wares any more or better than it
used to,” Kelts argues. “What happened instead is that the demand kept
building over the past 10 years and the technology rose to serve it –
especially, in this case, streaming media.”</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-block-end: 16px; margin-block-start: 0px; margin-block: 0px 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-inline-end: 0px; margin-inline-start: 0px; margin-inline: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Also,
J-content, especially manga and anime, “saw huge surges during the
pandemic”, Kelts observes. “The availability of content only one-click
away made it seem both less mysterious and foreign, and more immediately
satisfying.”</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-block-end: 16px; margin-block-start: 0px; margin-block: 0px 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-inline-end: 0px; margin-inline-start: 0px; margin-inline: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">That
said, the venerable Toho, creator of the Godzilla franchise, was indeed
taking new risks with its latest monster outing. “Case in point,” Kelts
tells me, “Toho saw fit to release Godzilla Minus One in North America
less than a month after its domestic release – and in Japanese. With
subtitles! Astonishingly, it hasn’t hurt the film at the box office.”</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-block-end: 16px; margin-block-start: 0px; margin-block: 0px 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-inline-end: 0px; margin-inline-start: 0px; margin-inline: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Japan sometimes succeeds despite its idiosyncrasies. Kelts notes that The Boy And The Heron was promoted with <a href="https://archive.md/o/Gpa9l/https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/hayao-miyazaki-s-latest-film-breaks-studio-ghibli-box-office-record-in-japan" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; color: #12239a; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-color: rgb(18, 35, 154); text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: auto; text-decoration: rgb(18, 35, 154);" target="_blank">just a single poster in Japan last summer</a>
and not much else abroad. Godzilla Minus One dropped with so little
fanfare that long-time fans in the US didn’t know it was coming until it
was out in theaters, he adds.>></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin-block-end: 16px; margin-block-start: 0px; margin-block: 0px 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-inline-end: 0px; margin-inline-start: 0px; margin-inline: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I'm working on a story about the other reasons "G-1" and "Heron" resonate with global audiences. Will drop soon, I hope. <br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-18973226808640702332023-12-26T17:45:00.002-05:002023-12-26T17:53:26.729-05:002023 Anime of the Year? "Blue Giant," of course.<p><a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/11/23/film/blue-giant-jazz-in-anime/" target="_blank">Sleeper hit anime 'Blue Giant' gets an encore</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhsE0ByxlDCC2lNnEY993gr5yNcDaZdADKe7NY7Ft_hUow9CPYEMNYIdtNevj7sQOhPGtcw6vML-_An3_nFjuviDu7Qa4CUWtQoqQe2EH5lhU2a1Mn8tUnJkCKG0zxcR7ld2Rb77I3b_qAM4OcG6HhIORPU7rexfN7C05DokSWUFRGRMC4cyc/s665/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-26%20at%205.14.35%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="551" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhsE0ByxlDCC2lNnEY993gr5yNcDaZdADKe7NY7Ft_hUow9CPYEMNYIdtNevj7sQOhPGtcw6vML-_An3_nFjuviDu7Qa4CUWtQoqQe2EH5lhU2a1Mn8tUnJkCKG0zxcR7ld2Rb77I3b_qAM4OcG6HhIORPU7rexfN7C05DokSWUFRGRMC4cyc/w530-h640/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-26%20at%205.14.35%20PM.png" width="530" /></a></div><br /><p>In 2023, releasing a big-budget anime feature about three Gen Z boys in a post-bop jazz band sounds like commercial suicide. Jazz is boomer music; anime is for kids weaned on Pokemon.</p><p>But the sleeper hit of the year was by far director Yuzuru Tachikawa’s “Blue Giant,” an adaptation of Shinichi Ishizuka’s jazz-centric manga series. The film was so popular with audiences in Japan and overseas after its first run this spring that it warranted an even bigger budget for a re-edited second release, which premiered last month at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) before opening in cinemas across Japan.</p><p>Jazz has been featured in popular anime soundtracks since the 1970s, when Yuji Ohno’s funky fusion scores for the “Lupin III” series were broadcast on network TV and incorporated into Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film, “Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.” Jazz and sci-fi anime cemented their synergy with Yoko Kanno’s bluesy noir stylings in the ’90s classic, “Cowboy Bebop,” which was influenced by “Lupin III” and is considered a masterpiece of jazz soundtracks in any medium.</p><p>But in “Blue Giant,” a familiarity with jazz lore and the cult-like devotion it can inspire is a given. The story is about friendship, yearning and resilience, yes, but it centers on music. However exhilarating, its long wordless concert sequences demand focus and attention, and I couldn’t help but wonder how many in the TIFF premier’s mostly youthful crowd had never before heard so much jazz outside of a supermarket.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="273" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KaB7tTJ2T5o" width="362" youtube-src-id="KaB7tTJ2T5o"></iframe></div><p>That said, the story’s setup is boilerplate anime — so instantly recognizable that it’s hard not to groan when saxophone fanatic Dai Miyamoto, the proverbial kid from the Sendai sticks seeking fame in the Big City, proclaims that he will become “the best jazz player in the world.”</p><p>Soon enough, struggling with money, food and his horn, Dai moves into the Tokyo apartment of fellow Sendai transplant Shunji Tamada, who gripes about his roommate’s amateur squawking before trying with cringy stiffness to become a drummer himself. At a sleepy jazz cafe-cum-bar, Dai starts taking lessons from Yukinori Sawabe, a skilled pianist with a supercilious streak, and their unlikely trio, Jass, is born.</p><p>As Dai practices under a bridge, Tachikawa plunges you into a dark but gleaming Tokyo, its streetlights and snowflakes alike suffused with blue. The animation here and in dizzying performance sequences is immersive, and the newly cut CG scenes, while not perfect, are largely effective at conveying more tactile imagery, like fingers striking piano keys and sticks rattling snares.</p><p>Tachikawa was so determined to visually convey the music’s edgy atmosphere that he took saxophone lessons himself for two years. It was a lot harder than it looked — or sounded.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQdKex0mETWsadZQfJtRVQX_tpLMxUCu86uJKTUw_uImVcol5CJzMAVbQ_eFKGD-Ow3wLe76mfsIXn2CfiFjX5T7J6LWZxbsiABunZsEHoHYEfWgiEqiDXP0Y4ddw30cfvQaLeBP0s6L048FfhFMUS29yKrU4chiMYuFaXJTrETnCcvJIkLwf/s1800/396399005_18394890007003539_8783867914807371305_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQdKex0mETWsadZQfJtRVQX_tpLMxUCu86uJKTUw_uImVcol5CJzMAVbQ_eFKGD-Ow3wLe76mfsIXn2CfiFjX5T7J6LWZxbsiABunZsEHoHYEfWgiEqiDXP0Y4ddw30cfvQaLeBP0s6L048FfhFMUS29yKrU4chiMYuFaXJTrETnCcvJIkLwf/s320/396399005_18394890007003539_8783867914807371305_n.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Blue Giant" director Yuzuru Tachikawa at TIFF 2023, Tokyo.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"When you hear musicians play the sax, their notes are slick and smooth,” he tells me after the TIFF screening. “But it takes a long time to reach that level, and you have to blow really hard. It’s physically exhausting.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tachikawa’s impressionistic montages during instrumental crescendos turn the film’s imagery surreal. But in order to recreate the way musicians’ bodies actually move, he had to attend live concerts and watch jazz performance videos on YouTube. In the recording studio, musicians try their damndest not to move so they don’t make unwanted noise. A good solo is unique; you can’t ask someone to play it again just to draw them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When Dai, Yukinori and Shunji start rehearsing and performing together with the goal of headlining a Blue Note-esque jazz venue called So Blue, the film finds its emotional groove. Most musicians prefer to express their feelings through their instruments (naturally), making it easier for insult and injury to swell unchecked. And the prying opinions of insensitive booking managers, critics and fans can get under the thickest of skins and fester.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Screenwriter Eito Namba (who goes by the moniker “Number 8”) deftly raises the tension in each character’s arc. But while the drama intensifies with a tragic accident, the film’s real action is propelled by jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara’s alternately bouncy and melancholic score, and the virtuosic drumming of Shun Ishikawa (who also played on “Bebop” creator Shinichiro Watanabe’s jazz-infused series, “Kids on the Slope.”)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Sound can play an even bigger role in animated works than it does in live-action media because there is less visual information for viewers to consume.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“‘Blue Giant’ owes a lot to the brilliant score and playing by Uehara,” says anime critic and Japan University of Economics professor Tadashi Sudo. “Mamoru Oshii (‘Ghost in the Shell’) said that half of an anime film is music. It adds so much depth to the images and story.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Hollywood animation studios have been using jazz in soundtracks and featured scenarios since the 1930s, from Disney and Warner Bros. to, most recently, Pixar’s 2020 “Soul.” In the 1950s, American animator and director John Hubley (“Rooty Toot Toot”) was especially keen to combine animated images with jazz. The art of animation requires careful advance planning and preparation before innovation can happen, says historian Charles Solomon, making the controlled, improvisational nature of jazz uniquely attractive.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tachikawa agrees. “When we give the storyboards to the animators, they create images, but they’re never the same as the story we’ve given them. They draw what they want to draw, something original, just like jazz musicians when they add something fresh to a score.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This year’s surprise success of “Blue Giant” suggests that jazz may now have a cross-generational appeal, forged not only by anime’s global reach but also by digital media. As Dave Jesteadt, president of Gkids, the North American distributor of “Blue Giant,” tells me: “Today’s wide access to all types of music means that young audiences can be adventurous if they are reached the right way. At our U.S. screenings, we had older audience members who I doubt watch much anime sitting beside teenagers and college students. I was very moved by that.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Japan now makes some of the world’s very best, be it whisky, blue jeans, manga, anime — or jazz. So tell that kid from Sendai to keep at it.</div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-22595275446085749542023-12-08T22:37:00.004-05:002023-12-08T22:37:32.077-05:0012/13 FCCJ Book Break: W. David Marx, author of “AMETORA: How Japan Saved American Style” - A presentation in conversation with Roland Kelts<p><span class="break-words
"><span><span dir="ltr">One of my favorite recent English-language
books on Japan is AMETORA ("American Traditional"), the enthralling,
novelistic story of postwar Japan told through its brilliant
refashioners of Western fashions (Take Ivy! Selvedge Denim! BAPE!). I
will host a talk w/author <a href="http://www.neomarxisme.com/">W. David Marx</a> at <a data-attribute-index="2" data-entity-type="MINI_COMPANY" href="https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-break-w-david-marx-author-ametora-how-japan-saved-american-style-presentation" target="_blank">The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan</a> on <b>Wednesday, Dec 13th</b>, <b>6pm JST,</b> both live and via Zoom. If you're in Tokyo (or not), please join us by registering <a href="https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-break-w-david-marx-author-ametora-how-japan-saved-american-style-presentation" target="_blank">here</a>: </span></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span><span dir="ltr">https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-break-w-david-marx-author-ametora-how-japan-saved-american-style-presentation</span></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words
"><span><span dir="ltr"></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8ch7OfM0HhkxqYUHkpU43g4rEANerfsZXQrbGL50Up8B4ZwMrw-oeCfNMefMIotwxVnNQ02YV9SoF9qyZVYMH_X9nQQ7EwcAoMrrif5LdJCpSBGflyJndq-tViy2qqKYEzCK6__y-lnRXrzLmQXU5F38XWE0VJig51ezGe-fnZ-VrWdFhfzoV" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="744" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8ch7OfM0HhkxqYUHkpU43g4rEANerfsZXQrbGL50Up8B4ZwMrw-oeCfNMefMIotwxVnNQ02YV9SoF9qyZVYMH_X9nQQ7EwcAoMrrif5LdJCpSBGflyJndq-tViy2qqKYEzCK6__y-lnRXrzLmQXU5F38XWE0VJig51ezGe-fnZ-VrWdFhfzoV=w640-h544" width="640" /></a></div><br /> "Tokyo-based
author W. David Marx will speak about his 2015 cultural history of
American fashion in Japan — AMETORA: How Japan Saved American Style —
which has recently been re-released by Basic Books with a new afterword
after surprising global success. Marx will give a presentation in
conversation with JAPANAMERICA author and moderator Roland Kelts on this
fascinating micro-history of how American menswear came to Japan in the
post-war period through the brand VAN Jacket, led to the growth of the
denim industry, morphed into a full-fledged obsession with American
vintage clothing, and created a robust apparel industry that now exports
premium versions of jeans, button-down shirts, and military jackets
back to the United States. Ametora serves as a specific and clear case
study of how fashion and globalization work in Japan and how Japan can
still compete on the global stage."<p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-58047327845209548212023-12-04T21:44:00.006-05:002023-12-09T11:05:06.466-05:0012/5-12/6 "MONKEY: New Writing from Japan" 2023/2024 launch event for The Japan Society of Boston<p><span class="break-words"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0CI8-jkYpWZIVWFINGqIZJCuJBgkbMyt6_itDKV96k9zDMq-Q29wzNqjFfToX-ylXK6juHC-H0kVvObMLgx3EvUAZ1ajkiyrj_gO2qZGKiJ5W8AmMgtPz5FHgNCxQXJRuR_kXEnUtoNaT6E7YdVT2Nr39GN2yaERA5gOsxCZWfKI-FCm_y5n/s1800/JSB2023_SNSversion.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW0CI8-jkYpWZIVWFINGqIZJCuJBgkbMyt6_itDKV96k9zDMq-Q29wzNqjFfToX-ylXK6juHC-H0kVvObMLgx3EvUAZ1ajkiyrj_gO2qZGKiJ5W8AmMgtPz5FHgNCxQXJRuR_kXEnUtoNaT6E7YdVT2Nr39GN2yaERA5gOsxCZWfKI-FCm_y5n/w400-h300/JSB2023_SNSversion.jpeg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kaori Drome</span> <br /></div><span dir="ltr">Of all the projects I've worked on over
the years, this one is the dearest and most rewarding. So I'm thrilled to announce our first LIVE streaming event to launch the latest
edition of <i><a href="https://monkeymagazine.org/monkey-2023" target="_blank">MONKEY: New Writing from Japan</a></i>, the world's only annual
English-language literary magazine of Japanese stories, poetry, art and
essays. I will be joining co-founding editor Motoyuki Shibata and
author-artist Satoshi Kitamura to introduce our new issue for the <a data-attribute-index="0" data-entity-type="MINI_COMPANY" href="https://www.japansocietyboston.org/events/how-japanese-stories-hook-the-world">Japan Society of Boston</a>
on <b>Tuesday, December 5th at 6pm EST</b> / <b>Wednesday, December 6th 8am JST</b>.
Please join us to learn how Japanese stories have come to captivate a
global audience. This event is free and you can now register <b><a href="https://www.japansocietyboston.org/events/how-japanese-stories-hook-the-world" target="_blank">here</a></b>: <br />https://www.japansocietyboston.org/events/how-japanese-stories-hook-the-world<br /><br />We
first launched 12 years ago, spreading the word about several
award-winning Japanese writers who are now internationally renowned
bestsellers. We're back this 2023/2024 holiday season with <a href="https://monkeymagazine.org/monkey-2023" target="_blank">Volume 4: MUSIC</a>, out now across Japan, North America, Europe and Asia through our
partners at <a href="https://usa.kinokuniya.com/" target="_blank">Kinokuniya USA</a>--and available for immediate delivery in print or digital versions online <a href="https://monkeymagazine.org/monkey-2023"><b>here</b></a>: https://monkeymagazine.org/monkey-2023<br /><br />In
our pages you'll discover new work by the most innovative of Japan's
finest authors and artists: Mieko Kawakami, Haruki Murakami, Yoko Ogawa,
Aoko Matsuda, Hideo Furukawa, Hiromi Kawakami, Tomoka Shibasaki, Kyohei
Sakaguchi (a personal fave), Sachiko Kishimoto and more—plus poetry,
personal essays, manga, graphic art and photography. </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVvn2kFd1DwRUUpvaUBbP97wpU1-cOYgrtEj2TMtUeSsWdAQdHRBJIXiJtEzOyEindPh7G0AOrjzZVeMVsYrHgS8suX4iF2hYjAe5aFyGv8zdTD1LcUQ-payS2OD2QYelPnkWYIUk6baJAKwjvLVlxBqPyxQ8C7yHB1SLLPtfxcyTMd2NVCmz/s681/MONKEY4_JeffKrueger.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="544" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVvn2kFd1DwRUUpvaUBbP97wpU1-cOYgrtEj2TMtUeSsWdAQdHRBJIXiJtEzOyEindPh7G0AOrjzZVeMVsYrHgS8suX4iF2hYjAe5aFyGv8zdTD1LcUQ-payS2OD2QYelPnkWYIUk6baJAKwjvLVlxBqPyxQ8C7yHB1SLLPtfxcyTMd2NVCmz/s320/MONKEY4_JeffKrueger.png" width="256" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Satoshi Kitamura / Jeff Krueger</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr">And, yes, this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for MONKEY's 2024 tour schedule with dates throughout North America. </span></span></span><br /></div><p><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr">*A little bit about MONKEY: <i>MONKEY:
New Writing from Japan</i> debuted in 2011 as <i>Monkey Business: New Voices
from Japan</i>. Twelve years later, in 2023, MONKEY remains the only annual
English-language publication showcasing contemporary and classic
Japanese fiction, poetry and art. Scholars, translators and editors Ted
Goossen and Motoyuki Shibata founded the magazine to show
English-language readers the diversity and richness of Japanese
artists beyond the globally renowned Haruki Murakami--who has
nevertheless been a staunch supporter of MONKEY from the beginning, and
whose work appears in nearly every issue. Today, with the launch of Vol.
4 of the new iteration of MONKEY under the guidance of Managing Editor
Meg Taylor, writers such as Mieko Kawakami, Yoko Ogawa, Hiromi Kawakami,
Hideo Furukawa and Aoko Matsuda have won huge audiences and multiple
awards worldwide, and readers now know that stories from Japan have
expanded beyond Murakami, Hayao Miyazaki and manga. </span></span></span></p><p><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr">MONKEY helped make
that happen.</span><br /></span></span></p><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-20551447616971009782023-11-05T07:59:00.001-05:002023-11-05T07:59:05.273-05:00My interview in the Fall/Winter 2023-2024 Japanese MONKEY, Volume 31, in conversation with Motoyuki Shibata<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9KEPTgjjvQfTfalFUCtrSiL4F1p-8dX7sj37SCKLFClczr-yz9D3VyKABHDbULV41AuPhvTvPJleIp7MpgoXBd_M-gMIE8kJeNLGT_XirLe-bpF0OqLfGeyI8xxT66R4fxuopPvNpjaoNz3lVtuWQk3IfX2SJyyed2HJnfNdgwAOwgDpVR79V" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1815" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9KEPTgjjvQfTfalFUCtrSiL4F1p-8dX7sj37SCKLFClczr-yz9D3VyKABHDbULV41AuPhvTvPJleIp7MpgoXBd_M-gMIE8kJeNLGT_XirLe-bpF0OqLfGeyI8xxT66R4fxuopPvNpjaoNz3lVtuWQk3IfX2SJyyed2HJnfNdgwAOwgDpVR79V=w568-h640" width="568" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Portraits by Satoshi Kitamura</span></div><p></p><p>I am both humbled and honored to be featured in the brand new Fall/Winter 2023 issue of the original Japanese MONKEY, the nation's leading literary magazine, in conversation with founding editor/scholar/author/translator Motoyuki Shibata on what makes a good sentence and the more granular mysteries of translating literature between Japanese and English.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPzmzZ5Ze3I7qbmLFca8FaC9pubJLF1MQe1bXJYdq4rsj4hl_P99Phz1lYbDJMOlZqVd4IpHxGyO6vI59mFjA44Sy9ehla_05DMW_ZkvNNGdsp1y_Y4dr2cLRXqWItsOzt3vmYe-zPeh6g2ru2AlZSDQU_RHDtG-l7DGP3Kq6jf77L4vzfLSZX" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2986" data-original-width="2274" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPzmzZ5Ze3I7qbmLFca8FaC9pubJLF1MQe1bXJYdq4rsj4hl_P99Phz1lYbDJMOlZqVd4IpHxGyO6vI59mFjA44Sy9ehla_05DMW_ZkvNNGdsp1y_Y4dr2cLRXqWItsOzt3vmYe-zPeh6g2ru2AlZSDQU_RHDtG-l7DGP3Kq6jf77L4vzfLSZX=w305-h400" width="305" /></a></div><br />Among the authors we discuss are Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, Cynthia Ozick, Denis Johnson, Jorge Luis Borges, Kyohei Sakaguchi, Don DeLillo, Rebecca Brown, Tim O'Brien, Amy Hempel and Ehud Havazelet. The lovely illustrations accompanying the interview are by artist and author Satoshi Kitamura, and Shibata's translation of Hempel's piercing classic, "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried," follows my interview.<p></p><p>This issue (Volume 31) is now available in bookstores across Japan and online <a href="https://www.switch-store.net/SHOP/MO0031.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUBy5F65bs3sCgtV62_9DPHJ_Q7-5ceXM8Xtk-Ps85STRqszKCfeMrez4WdOXo_2Z60zm8-y2V6EmaqpwokFJcSVljCUec8Fxo_RdxlO2PuGs7xv0N2wh_wZKDYdkHlwLrT5fX8EajCJdQ5i6KfSzYDbrM8uVkGUUTjmk98EuaaSCHPJH2Jbb5" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUBy5F65bs3sCgtV62_9DPHJ_Q7-5ceXM8Xtk-Ps85STRqszKCfeMrez4WdOXo_2Z60zm8-y2V6EmaqpwokFJcSVljCUec8Fxo_RdxlO2PuGs7xv0N2wh_wZKDYdkHlwLrT5fX8EajCJdQ5i6KfSzYDbrM8uVkGUUTjmk98EuaaSCHPJH2Jbb5=w292-h400" width="292" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Cover by Haruna Kawai</span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-89908742450749244532023-10-06T03:46:00.003-04:002024-01-04T04:48:49.997-05:00JAPANAMERICA Netfilx interview for "Encounters": UFOs, Aliens & Anime <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg30yhrdRg74UK2adV322fHvi7jtweomDDBs3IvNNH4SjH20-isUarLu0s558DF-PW5qLhTrwPyRSrv63tNVf4BujbtE9g6HL7g8E4hHnWXZ82hwDAJVVXnDxtkZtNn-Dlu17b32qTFac-p-UT0RwECbHbkbY8fsNg4C5QYtQLdu1LC2WK39VMc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg30yhrdRg74UK2adV322fHvi7jtweomDDBs3IvNNH4SjH20-isUarLu0s558DF-PW5qLhTrwPyRSrv63tNVf4BujbtE9g6HL7g8E4hHnWXZ82hwDAJVVXnDxtkZtNn-Dlu17b32qTFac-p-UT0RwECbHbkbY8fsNg4C5QYtQLdu1LC2WK39VMc=w400-h300" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo Aki Mizutani (editor, JP)</span> <br /></div><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"> </span></span></span><p></p><p><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr">I was interviewed for the Japan episode of the new Netflix doc series "Encounters," about cultural perceptions of UFOs and alien beings, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. The episode features a highly sensitive take on Japan's spiritual imagination. It's called "Lights Over Fukushima" and is now watchable <a href="https://www.netflix.com/watch/81573975" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span></p><div><p><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr">I
was a tad leery of this gig at first. But the director and crew were
great and genuinely keen to tell a true story. And the opportunity to
talk about Astro Boy, Ultraman and Totoro in one fell swoop was too good to pass up. </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYU7W2b_1ECPoeNXHBWvq6UpvHTEnTrUsKUWUKDhR2PICx0fEz-tyBsboV88mLGR2fgzvSNd0xhhhwfyUoeNLpCs9d_7_pQVvCRf627SE4BNymuRoVHQCJuUSZkA0_rAtJZnhSmV4GpFTiOY1m86piZEa03VO2gqZxxmuq6x-FWlPVOAyuEtuB/s1600/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-10-03%20at%2010.36.33%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYU7W2b_1ECPoeNXHBWvq6UpvHTEnTrUsKUWUKDhR2PICx0fEz-tyBsboV88mLGR2fgzvSNd0xhhhwfyUoeNLpCs9d_7_pQVvCRf627SE4BNymuRoVHQCJuUSZkA0_rAtJZnhSmV4GpFTiOY1m86piZEa03VO2gqZxxmuq6x-FWlPVOAyuEtuB/w320-h240/WhatsApp%20Image%202023-10-03%20at%2010.36.33%20AM.jpeg" width="320" /></a> </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo Joe DeMarie (LA)</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeJyvwBfzc9NoVwoKWkuSkkdzYQaOqDNvYh5obOS6gzS3Dh_2HYhURF3cIMa6CFDl9EhgP4HscPAaXwh2ihM4H1MyEeH7C9nUw76L1Px3iOhhfC09R2wXZHWpAryRDFfxKkpVkYhjz3uAAWfEIsPJqFDlL00iYV2opHO_qqljjUUImo37j2d7/s2048/386638852_10161250577984104_7235990733835397024_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeJyvwBfzc9NoVwoKWkuSkkdzYQaOqDNvYh5obOS6gzS3Dh_2HYhURF3cIMa6CFDl9EhgP4HscPAaXwh2ihM4H1MyEeH7C9nUw76L1Px3iOhhfC09R2wXZHWpAryRDFfxKkpVkYhjz3uAAWfEIsPJqFDlL00iYV2opHO_qqljjUUImo37j2d7/s320/386638852_10161250577984104_7235990733835397024_n.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo Chris Yap Wooi-Hoe (SG)</span><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"> </span></span></span></div><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"></span></span></span><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"></span></span></span><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"> </span></span></span></div><div><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr">This Japan story is beautifully shot and
brilliantly pieced together by director Yon Motskin and consulting
producer/novelist Marie Mutsuki Mockett, without whom I wouldn't be
involved. I am typecast in my usual role--resident alien--which I hope
to one day play to perfection. </span></span></span><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="break-words"></span></div></span></span></span><br /><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"></span></span></span></div></span></span></span><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"></span></span></span><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktuf-cNrjLM_22YOsHiCScoGJnB5WczrBYWyBm4HUTEcsxG-dOV-0N5UW28EY26OeV2SY8P9FTmHK8vTCJ6Oyzer-QKbi8gxTZmmGAcfHIHFxADXqfrWg8Ye0rse4PWrVDCm-ZSMHBA4CtaFN50iSvX0nRN9L_RyCEykpco1AkP_3_7vQmCQ8/s1024/Encounters_Shoot_Rol1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktuf-cNrjLM_22YOsHiCScoGJnB5WczrBYWyBm4HUTEcsxG-dOV-0N5UW28EY26OeV2SY8P9FTmHK8vTCJ6Oyzer-QKbi8gxTZmmGAcfHIHFxADXqfrWg8Ye0rse4PWrVDCm-ZSMHBA4CtaFN50iSvX0nRN9L_RyCEykpco1AkP_3_7vQmCQ8/s320/Encounters_Shoot_Rol1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Behind the scenes shot by "Encounters" crew</span></div></span></span></span><p></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-60991652008418715182023-09-17T02:26:00.007-04:002023-09-19T10:57:37.043-04:00Korea's competitive edge: On the 2023 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) for The Japan Times<div class="title-article" style="text-align: left;"><div class="title-article" style="text-align: left;"><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr">The <a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/09/9598b0e127c9-focus-johnnys-decades-long-abuse-coverup-relied-on-cozy-ties-with-media.html" target="_blank">Johnny's fiasco</a> in Japan is but one
reminder that tight corporate/big business control over creative
industries can result in corruption and<i> </i>stymie creativity (leaving
aside charges of sexual abuse). When I was tasked to write about contemporary Korean vs. Japanese films in my latest column for <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/author/249/roland-kelts/" target="_blank"><i>The Japan Times</i>,</a>
one of the starkest differences I found was between the processes of movie and series
production in the two countries. In Japan, delivering a product on or
under-budget and on-schedule is prioritized, and creatives are treated by corporate owners
like disposable gig-economy workers. In Korea, it's more about making works of art. </span></span></span><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr">When you see films like "Parasite" and series like "Squid Game" and "D.P.," you get the gist.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div><div class="title-article"><span class="break-words"><span><span dir="ltr"></span></span></span></div><h1 class="title-article"><a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/08/30/film/south-korea-edge-bifan/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Does South Korea now have the edge over Japan when it comes to film?</span></span></a></h1><p> </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTkdf4nl3bYKd7r-aDMPhiBjJUgfnSpfJT5c2HZctRgMhPpsnItkzx7gQ9aK9nupd6Sc6rjUaTi6emjMxzEFyS4Lk91iXlbmKGBpEFLHhenlN4pzYty4BbtW45wxZ5yIqE-_t6vn3wM2j1x4NkxYPHsBDE4pRiDWaLSuGZpiw9dimYi50fIX8/s877/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-12%20at%2015.48.28.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="832" data-original-width="877" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTkdf4nl3bYKd7r-aDMPhiBjJUgfnSpfJT5c2HZctRgMhPpsnItkzx7gQ9aK9nupd6Sc6rjUaTi6emjMxzEFyS4Lk91iXlbmKGBpEFLHhenlN4pzYty4BbtW45wxZ5yIqE-_t6vn3wM2j1x4NkxYPHsBDE4pRiDWaLSuGZpiw9dimYi50fIX8/w400-h380/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-12%20at%2015.48.28.png" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thirty minutes into <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6vJcKKIDjA" target="_blank">“Iron Mask,”</a> the debut feature from Korean
writer-director Kim Sung Hwan, its kendo-crazed antihero, Jae-woo (Joo
Jong-hyuk), stares trancelike through shadows at an offscreen character,
his eyes unblinking. Under fire from his dojo for excessive violence
and foul play, Jae-woo’s terse line of self-defense is chilling: “We’re
in competition here.”
<p>That sentence gave me pause during the film’s premiere this summer at
the <a href="https://www.bifan.kr/eng/" target="_blank">Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan)</a> in South
Korea, where “Iron Mask” took one of two top awards. A vision of
life as constant competition propels the most riveting of South Korea’s
global cinematic sensations, from the Oscar-winning “Parasite” to hit
Netflix series “Squid Game” and “D.P.” Characters on the verge of
failure are tempted by Machiavellian schemes to survive in a society
that respects only winners, and demands of its members brute desperation,
fortitude and guile.</p><p>By comparison, many of the contemporary Japanese films and series
I’ve recently seen — including those featured at this year’s BiFan,
where Japanese genre works were spotlighted — feel listless and adrift,
self-conscious portraits of Japan filtered through a soft-focus,
navel-gazing nostalgia.</p>
<p>This is not always unpleasant. “Midnight Diner” has its charms,
“Drive My Car” its moments of quiet beauty. And last year’s exquisitely
patient “<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2022/11/03/films/film-reviews/the-zen-diary/">Zen Diary</a>”
plays like a tone poem. But the contrast between today’s South Korean
and Japanese stories is stark: The former feel urgent, the latter calmly
self-indulgent.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9yWwy_EJsOn8RduFQdiuzMzXSjagktatWnYgK9xwX-mwS7kf9v_gCq-k3Kh8L9FELwCzNetgCu3TFLc1WfAuTBPZrKOEcsaZ9vB9i4OIvGZFbqljf0C285N-ffWaWp7n6VPaySb2_Uj-KJvEYQY55yRR46KKn0r3UvKoaeP0i1hNQRwLx7Fj/s6171/Iron_Mask%20-%20Director%20KIM%20Sung%20Hwan%20(300dpi).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6171" data-original-width="4800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9yWwy_EJsOn8RduFQdiuzMzXSjagktatWnYgK9xwX-mwS7kf9v_gCq-k3Kh8L9FELwCzNetgCu3TFLc1WfAuTBPZrKOEcsaZ9vB9i4OIvGZFbqljf0C285N-ffWaWp7n6VPaySb2_Uj-KJvEYQY55yRR46KKn0r3UvKoaeP0i1hNQRwLx7Fj/s320/Iron_Mask%20-%20Director%20KIM%20Sung%20Hwan%20(300dpi).jpg" width="249" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Iron Mask" director Kim Sung Hwan</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">According to “Iron Mask” director Kim, this distinction reflects a
South Korea that has supplanted Japan as the tradition-bound Asian
society most conflicted by its new identity as a capitalist pressure
cooker. “In the 20th century, overcoming competition and getting into
the University of Tokyo was a very big deal for Japanese people,” he tells me. “Japan used to compete with the whole world. They worked so hard
and were super competitive in order to survive and secure their jobs. I
guess South Korea today is showing similar behavior.”
<p>Launched 27 years ago, BiFan is Asia’s largest genre film festival,
highlighting works that take their cue from the pioneering 20th-century
French director Georges <span>Méliès </span> (“A Trip to the Moon”), who argued that
films should convey fantasy rather than reality to make our dreams
believable.</p><p>Japanese screenings at BiFan included “Life of Mariko in Kabukicho,”
co-directed by Eiji Uchida and Shinzo Katayama. Set in Tokyo’s red light
district, the film features a host of cliched scenes and characters
that reinforce overused stereotypes: a flirtatious male host, a homey,
soft-lit bar with chummy regulars, a seedy serial killer, an eccentric
who thinks he’s a ninja, clueless foreign cops (the FBI in Japan?) and,
yes, extraterrestrials.</p>
<p>As you might guess, the story sprawls and spins off too many threads
to cohere. More damningly, it can’t seem to commit to being either a
lighthearted ensemble farce or a feminist detective thriller, and it
doesn’t have the confidence to alternate genres for meaningful effect.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB8t2poBQEft0PNyASqVAuN0PxnKXN-5HAMmCzvT__4AwmlynpPxJqmvqhTAIMXXRRF61kzIHyZ3Oe3UEshlkoJ_AvNbJKKDSrD9cPZybtKzYfk72EG3jX1O8m4nvXFieKUXbOg6lfEPN6TmlcqaQ0TwGQwSOhpl-9X2dTn5IAzBLh7L8_jxrn/s1440/CE_MarikoKabukicho-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1440" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB8t2poBQEft0PNyASqVAuN0PxnKXN-5HAMmCzvT__4AwmlynpPxJqmvqhTAIMXXRRF61kzIHyZ3Oe3UEshlkoJ_AvNbJKKDSrD9cPZybtKzYfk72EG3jX1O8m4nvXFieKUXbOg6lfEPN6TmlcqaQ0TwGQwSOhpl-9X2dTn5IAzBLh7L8_jxrn/w400-h178/CE_MarikoKabukicho-3.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">In "Life of Mariko in Kabukicho," the FBI shows up in Kabukicho</span> <br /></div><p>BiFan’s closing film, “<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/08/10/film/sana-boy-band-horror-flick-is-largely-fan-service/">Sana</a>,”
suffers a similar lack of conviction. The latest from “Ju-on: The
Grudge” franchise director Takashi Shimizu, “Sana” ended the festival
with a whimper, wasting its potentially terrifying premise on a
real-life J-pop boy band cast (Generations) with questionable acting
skills. The ostensible target of throwaway “OK, Boomer” jokes, a
50-something private investigator (Makita Sports) who is also the film’s
most compelling character, and the script’s obsession with 1980s tech
in the form of a reverse-played audio cassette tape reveal its
real concern: nostalgia for a more exciting era in Japan when the stakes
were higher, pop music more magical and media formats reliably
physical. </p><p>And then there’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCbLpNuHpx4" target="_blank">Single8</a>,” Kazuya Konaka’s affectionately retro account
of Japanese high schoolers in the late 1970s who form an unlikely crew
to produce a “Star Wars”-inspired 8-mm short film about an alien
encounter. The world they inhabit is strictly analog, and the real hero
of their story is an icon of Japan’s electronics-manufacturing heyday:
Fujifilm’s long-discontinued Single-8 film format. The title of the
students’ short film? “Time Reverse.”</p><p>Now take South Korean director Kim Su-in’s taut and relentlessly dark
“Toxic Parents,” whose teen protagonist is glued to her smartphone,
exchanging text messages with her naively earnest male homeroom teacher
while an idol-wannabe frenemy tests her vulnerabilities and her
monstrous mom drives her to suicide. Woah.</p>
<p>While Japan’s “Sana” and “Single-8” look back on school-age
shenanigans as the source of their loosely-strung narratives, South Korea’s “Toxic Parents” penetrates a high school in
the here and now that is hardcore: a locus for outrageous expectations,
bullying and necessarily repressed trauma.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEgRS9HZf3hkIHSRHOvaL5fYzHQ85NMZparH7xj4d1bBgDhuHPGPNO3GridznpFODiA8yb2Rb2MIMG1BsXKwG3NvyK54DX-yDFoZGjGd-9eeynjYLWaCdHwuETJJB6fn77brdL9qQUQr-i5mXDx2e4tAfCwCkWqsX2ZWG4ngK-1BosjZ1d8bP/s1000/toxic_parents.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEgRS9HZf3hkIHSRHOvaL5fYzHQ85NMZparH7xj4d1bBgDhuHPGPNO3GridznpFODiA8yb2Rb2MIMG1BsXKwG3NvyK54DX-yDFoZGjGd-9eeynjYLWaCdHwuETJJB6fn77brdL9qQUQr-i5mXDx2e4tAfCwCkWqsX2ZWG4ngK-1BosjZ1d8bP/w400-h266/toxic_parents.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Toxic Parents": a monstrous mom in the here and now</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span>“(South Korean films) today convey their subjects well and get a more
universal response than Japanese films,” says BiFan program director
Ellen Kim. “They address the class system and capitalism and the
government and American imperialistic interference without any
suppression. But the Japanese industry is very self-satisfactory. Big
companies control all the processes of production, and they are
inflexible.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Japan’s tight corporate grip on filmmaking, she adds, turns talented
Japanese actors into cogs of the gig economy: skilled creatives hampered
by limited time and too many side jobs to focus on craft. “When South
Korean actors have a film contract, they don’t do TV. But Japanese
actors are treated like salaried workers finishing a product for
release. They don’t have time to make art.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Harvard professor and East Asian film specialist Alexander Zahlten
agrees that the scope and reach of Japanese films are truncated by the
industry’s dependence on corporate money. However, he points out that the
current system once saved the Japanese film market from total collapse.
“(It) allowed the Japanese film industry to not only survive but return
to a position of strength over the past three decades. The early 1990s
were a time when some could envision Japanese film shrinking away almost
completely. But by the 2010s, the market share of Japanese films once
again reached almost 70%.”
<p>Over 11 days, BiFan 2023 hardly lacked in Japanese VIPs. Directors
Uchida, Katayama, Konaka and Shimizu appeared alongside manga god Osamu
Tezuka’s filmmaker son, Makoto Tezuka (“<a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/11/25/films/film-reviews/tezukas-barbara/">Tezuka’s Barbara</a>”),
Hollywood horror darling Ari Aster (“Midsommar”), veteran South Korean
star Choi Min-sik (“Oldboy”), and the producers and lead actor from
“D.P.,” which received this year’s Series Film Award. A festival record
of 262 films from 51 countries were screened before 67,274 attendees, up
18.2% since 2022.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZQKyAYn9Y2Xw60Ci4fBcNxd9IKwyVFrPM-ck-ctVmSavrJqbEpFrVhpDO0ht8WosXt2PF1FIjr7NEfs2IOIO2-ZVHP05h_WsijAWAWT3PnUQOX2T7pgqcQ0EoIgqJYbUqZprE_obc-m_R8OY-ydyXiesJpWiWb9a3F5N59-4Dizpf0elm0hSu/s3000/Makoto_Tezuka.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZQKyAYn9Y2Xw60Ci4fBcNxd9IKwyVFrPM-ck-ctVmSavrJqbEpFrVhpDO0ht8WosXt2PF1FIjr7NEfs2IOIO2-ZVHP05h_WsijAWAWT3PnUQOX2T7pgqcQ0EoIgqJYbUqZprE_obc-m_R8OY-ydyXiesJpWiWb9a3F5N59-4Dizpf0elm0hSu/w400-h266/Makoto_Tezuka.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Director Makoto Tezuka, son of manga-anime pioneer Osamu, was one of many Japanese VIPs celebrated at BiFan</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span> <br /></div>But to me, the finest Japanese entry screened last month at BiFan was
“Millennium Actress,” an anime feature directed by the late Satoshi Kon
and released in 2001. Through its portrait of an aging and reclusive
movie star (modeled on actresses Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine), the
film spans centuries, weaving art, history, war and romantic love into
an epic homage to master directors Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu —
icons of an era when Japan still competed with the whole world.
<p></p><p>Time reverse, indeed.</p></div><p></p></div><p></p></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-4495691944820137742023-08-23T07:00:00.004-04:002023-10-02T23:33:00.298-04:00Second interview for the History Channel on WWII & the M-Fund<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxhpYEeRp0_oFXo6pvmSCcoAG-pOXyph9le1p1G-iSX5ypkdSci0RPr5LoeWhzCYtBCVdpZWbyoKBluWM7GCMlUckF9t6Y07BDoj2nXWFBypVLKg2KkL8kAsQIZTwh_BL5pDLmOEm0s_9ttE9_YuEUwavVtuRbUE-P9LP3NoHo-dondPhOU0G/s1004/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-09%20at%2013.06.49.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="1004" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvxhpYEeRp0_oFXo6pvmSCcoAG-pOXyph9le1p1G-iSX5ypkdSci0RPr5LoeWhzCYtBCVdpZWbyoKBluWM7GCMlUckF9t6Y07BDoj2nXWFBypVLKg2KkL8kAsQIZTwh_BL5pDLmOEm0s_9ttE9_YuEUwavVtuRbUE-P9LP3NoHo-dondPhOU0G/w400-h214/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-09%20at%2013.06.49.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">2023</span></div><p>My latest interview for <a href="https://www.history.com/shows/historys-greatest-mysteries/season-4/episode-23" target="_blank">History Channel</a> airing this month pursues my work on a story I started researching and writing about 20 years ago: the fate of billions of dollars (at least) worth of treasure plundered from Asia by the Japanese military in World War II, much of it buried in an underground network of tunnels and caves in the Philippines. </p><p>It's now watchable online <a href="https://www.history.com/shows/historys-greatest-mysteries/season-4/episode-23" target="_blank">here</a>. <br /></p><p></p><div dir="auto"><div class="x1iorvi4 x1pi30zi x1l90r2v x1swvt13" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id=":r3h:"><div class="x78zum5 xdt5ytf xz62fqu x16ldp7u"><div class="xu06os2 x1ok221b"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">The loot was discovered forcibly by the Americans (i.e., GHQ), kept off the books, and deposited in bank accounts across the world--known <span></span>primarily as the "M-Fund" (<i>M-Shikin</i> in Japanese). How was that money used? You can probably count the ways, but don't overlook the Marcos regime.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Last time the producers cast me as a cafe-haunting journo. This time I'm playing an author/prof in a gulag.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1jsK6-xXJo-1RcwTIDE6_j68_RBXGI4PHvBQ3ECv6xZOzXcvb9QX_V7_YbFziLpw9xyVWLEdZ2XKApoj_hazS0b47NL1h97qhg4CUZu3uZs3m5n1Mw89ZY9bDM6xAmyYMgl8C1YtbKoPyVfQr22dkhYjnVm_u5wj0BAzNS_zycb-fciXNmB-/s1238/375603630_18385486492003539_3752721564143751935_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="1238" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1jsK6-xXJo-1RcwTIDE6_j68_RBXGI4PHvBQ3ECv6xZOzXcvb9QX_V7_YbFziLpw9xyVWLEdZ2XKApoj_hazS0b47NL1h97qhg4CUZu3uZs3m5n1Mw89ZY9bDM6xAmyYMgl8C1YtbKoPyVfQr22dkhYjnVm_u5wj0BAzNS_zycb-fciXNmB-/s320/375603630_18385486492003539_3752721564143751935_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Here's the first story I ever wrote on the conspiracy, published in <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/author/249/roland-kelts/" target="_blank"><span><span class="xt0psk2"><span>The Japan Times</span></span></span></a> and based on my work with the late authors Sterling and Peggy Seagraves and their book GOLD WARRIORS:</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><span><a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2004/07/11/general/believe-it-or-not/" target="_blank">"Believe it ... or not"</a><br /></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Intro: "Japan's vast hoard of war booty known as Yamashita's Gold was long thought to still be buried in caves in the Philippines. But in their book 'Gold Warriors,' Sterling and Peggy Seagraves sensationally claim that the treasure trove was secretly recovered -- and continues to oil the wheels of politics in Japan and beyond. As Roland Kelts discovered through interviews with the authors, it is a tale as disturbing as they insist it is well-founded."</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZ-o4DFnE14EayqtTdnaH0NtoAXDS_7lSWcWd1IL3CB7-dzzENlxWFdlxVniysUhebMyJF027IwbPHAuQy6oVjmppEdjB3cUGE0IGQffRpHWmhTOeRgu8C0Bf_LwrTBmn49HCKelDLDlSYMOxJ0cWKOSm8YoCc_zHv-tZMlzXvjkBqowK40Tcy" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="1163" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZ-o4DFnE14EayqtTdnaH0NtoAXDS_7lSWcWd1IL3CB7-dzzENlxWFdlxVniysUhebMyJF027IwbPHAuQy6oVjmppEdjB3cUGE0IGQffRpHWmhTOeRgu8C0Bf_LwrTBmn49HCKelDLDlSYMOxJ0cWKOSm8YoCc_zHv-tZMlzXvjkBqowK40Tcy=w400-h225" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">2020</span> <br /></div> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">• My <a href="https://www.japaninc.com/article.php?articleID=1328" target="_blank">interview</a> with late authors Sterling and Peggy Seagraves. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">• Some of my research <a href="https://www.japaninc.com/article.php?articleID=1326" target="_blank">materials</a>.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">• Overview of background from the <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/True+lies%3A+filthy--and+filthy+rich%3A+Japan%2C+the+US+and+the+M-Fund.-a0115408936" target="_blank">Free Library</a>.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">• JP <a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%E8%B3%87%E9%87%91" target="_blank">Wiki page</a> on <i>M-Shikin</i>.<br /></div></div></span></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-44036417450261608422023-06-28T03:30:00.002-04:002023-06-28T04:56:50.677-04:00Letters from Tokyo by Roland Kelts, February - May : "What a Long Strange Spring It’s Been" for The Japan Society of Boston <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.japansocietyboston.org/post/letters-from-tokyo-by-roland-kelts-february-may-what-a-long-strange-spring-it-s-been" target="_blank">Letters from Tokyo by Roland Kelts, February - May : What a Long Strange Spring It’s Been </a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>We swallowed an entire season in the latest of my <a href="https://www.japansocietyboston.org/letters-from-tokyo" target="_blank">"Letters from Tokyo" series</a> for The Japan Society of Boston, partly because I was away from Tokyo for huge chunks of it. This spring Japan opened its borders and the tourists rushed into Tokyo and Kyoto, PM Kishida survived an attempted assault via pipe (smoke?) bomb--and while Covid eased its grip, roller-coaster climate changes have swung many of us (i.e, me) in and out of summer colds. Let's look back before we fast-forward too far. </i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEAZA6BKrRGocP5-xGfnbeloBY1Z07MoJK1pedTl3b4axa4s-7rzR94oQVgsqEnKByzz-Du2Ss99aQ4cUeFEv-DBm5MIsygmgUaCm5iyJ00O-7ay3pbFCdb_vqbMaKFfq-0GcVzYEI1cWNExXtWNsUq3gBbP2pcpvuxlRjxODOXiSRvIOtAJrT" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="743" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEAZA6BKrRGocP5-xGfnbeloBY1Z07MoJK1pedTl3b4axa4s-7rzR94oQVgsqEnKByzz-Du2Ss99aQ4cUeFEv-DBm5MIsygmgUaCm5iyJ00O-7ay3pbFCdb_vqbMaKFfq-0GcVzYEI1cWNExXtWNsUq3gBbP2pcpvuxlRjxODOXiSRvIOtAJrT=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i>The February night I returned to Tokyo from New York felt like spring had landed ahead of me. I shed my jacket in the unusually long taxi line outside Haneda, watched two teenage boys order an Uber and promptly copied them, stepped over the ropes, skipped the line, and settled after five minutes into the backseat of my driver’s minivan, rolling down the windows on both sides. <p></p><p>The weather during my two-week stay in New York had been alternately mild and frigid, but the air was so dry that Tokyo’s subtropical humidity embraced me like a mitten. Body parts that shivered at departure were sweating on arrival. </p><p>This couldn’t be February, I thought. But my watch said it was and as soon as I got home I slid open more windows and sat on the balcony, watching the red aircraft warning lights on Shinjuku skyscrapers blink against sleep.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEMRiZ1SysuT5sGYOQKCNvsxe2ksPcKKQRZgPW3UfIbfUVe2nCmWujMhMaMWPvzWpbhclN57p3HCDj92cOd2o80tMPfsiVQkxK7LfzB60WoFurbztfRoSejRGiuOpHcNZzRD_30FXdg_SUSLL_S1HtipOJ-zS6vFEhePKlqd5DEcWTmhfQ7Ewe" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEMRiZ1SysuT5sGYOQKCNvsxe2ksPcKKQRZgPW3UfIbfUVe2nCmWujMhMaMWPvzWpbhclN57p3HCDj92cOd2o80tMPfsiVQkxK7LfzB60WoFurbztfRoSejRGiuOpHcNZzRD_30FXdg_SUSLL_S1HtipOJ-zS6vFEhePKlqd5DEcWTmhfQ7Ewe=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(photo by Marie Mutsuki Mockett)</span></div><br />Spring is a transitional season and not my favorite (I'm an autumn guy, soft color and fading light), and this one has felt especially long because I flew to the US twice, to New York and Los Angeles, to be interviewed for doc series on Netflix, the History Channel and PBS. In between I spent a week in Niigata to write about a new international film festival. On the Joetsu Shinkansen we rolled north from the whites of Kanto's Somei Yoshino through the gray snows of Gunma to the Sea of Japan blues and back again--a reminder that Honshu hosts several seasons at once.<p></p><p>The cherry blossoms bloomed earlier than ever. They were out before I flew to LA and after I flew back, prompting relentless sakura pics on social media taken from every angle at every hour through whatever filter fit the whim. Hanami revelers carpeted Yoyogi Park, and the blossoms above them were tenacious, clinging to limbs through breezy rains as if they, too, needed a post-Covid coming-out and meant to milk every minute of it.</p><p>But flowers were not the only blossoms in town. For the first time in more than two years, overseas tourists sprouted from every curb and corner, brandishing smartphones to keep the unknown at bay. In March, newspapers recorded Japan’s highest “post-Covid” surge in visitors, rising to over 65% of 2019’s peak, though quite when the virus had gone passé and postal remains unclear. Covid was still happening in March, at least by all official measures, and in Tokyo we wore masks and sanitized and tried to follow the government’s soft-core 2020 advisory to avoid the “Three Cs”—closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhf-VrNQd_civrFc1MSrIVtBF5MZWH_qh5s31BtvUWysXAwvIcp484Eo71UZi48vV0uLH9VTA1DiqgSw3qm-YrcggXebdQW4rqKUseItSLl1NZAXcA4zHyNYUJKtUrmColO6bqhxgiW8a8Q6rMOXRO7Sby2oLTyRk9JnSuHf4MQIncBUY8grilP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhf-VrNQd_civrFc1MSrIVtBF5MZWH_qh5s31BtvUWysXAwvIcp484Eo71UZi48vV0uLH9VTA1DiqgSw3qm-YrcggXebdQW4rqKUseItSLl1NZAXcA4zHyNYUJKtUrmColO6bqhxgiW8a8Q6rMOXRO7Sby2oLTyRk9JnSuHf4MQIncBUY8grilP" width="320" /></a></div><br />One of the clerks at one of my local Lawson convenience stores—there are two roughly four-minutes’ walk apart, but only one has the tall, paunchy, garrulous clerk—complimented me on my mask-wearing as I purchased a tub of yogurt. I’d been in LA for just a couple of weeks and at first I thought he’d forgotten who I was and mistook me for a tourist. Then he added that masks were so troublesome, weren’t they? And they made it hard to breathe, didn’t they? And it was very good of us to continue wearing and bearing them, wasn’t it? And I nodded, relieved.<p></p><p>Relief overwhelms me when I return to Japan. It wasn’t always so. For years “returning” meant going back to New York, arriving home from my overseas life. If I had a window seat and caught the jewel of Manhattan’s skyline upon descent, I felt a familiar surge in my chest, a tightening of selfhood and resolve: My home language, my sense of space and energy revived, my food smells, street-stench and signage. Ah.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNZHa4XchLl9dQYaTrjrBB7m_ihwEzyDdCxCo9mdMThwwXjouA4Qo2F6EiB3hJ8HxFlv3xuybbmWv4GrdT_RYT_mZmEldHEP0Vu1QeSAg0hRDimriXt0aZ8mmc1ZTF4w2NaErP1WiYCuHVxW1MOqMyXxKK8Sm57pdL_lt4cN_fIyCuciX2iFMO" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNZHa4XchLl9dQYaTrjrBB7m_ihwEzyDdCxCo9mdMThwwXjouA4Qo2F6EiB3hJ8HxFlv3xuybbmWv4GrdT_RYT_mZmEldHEP0Vu1QeSAg0hRDimriXt0aZ8mmc1ZTF4w2NaErP1WiYCuHVxW1MOqMyXxKK8Sm57pdL_lt4cN_fIyCuciX2iFMO" width="320" /></a></div><br />Somewhere along the way, and at some point in time (do we ever know when, exactly, things really change?) overseas became <i>over there</i>, the destination when my flights soared Eastward, to North America. <p></p><p>That’s the journey I now need to gird for, rethinking my behavior (am I speaking too quietly, apologizing too often, bowing instead of shaking your hand?), diet (what to do with these gargantuan, overstuffed sandwiches?), gait (strut and sway through those wide spaces, don’t stiffen like a pencil-geek), and expectations—this last being the hardest adjustment to make. From vending machines to trains, planes, escalators and autos, most things work most of the time in Japan. When they don’t, someone apologizes profusely. </p><p>Deep breaths, count to 10, 20, 57. I learn and relearn to curb my expectations in the US so I won’t grow exasperated, or get shot. (Those signs at Nordstrom saying no guns allowed! Necessary, I guess, but, oh.) A phrase I was raised with, “the far east,” so alien and exotic, now points to a land east of where I live, across the Pacific, a country where I was raised but no longer reside.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjg72YZfNPEIdT44hLTWSlSWDf3u0qHM-D3u07-Xg-xnsUVYG1UiefWNmZutHo3i9CbGpIB7vV_OCJERFQSZS9Epg-1UytuiFpcpEthFhjuUDo6QhoykQu_3QItG2cuPqxyfWOYWCnqW4frTDxpuQIY3PPYIldcXmmhr-MhSbSh6kTlziqKWTuq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjg72YZfNPEIdT44hLTWSlSWDf3u0qHM-D3u07-Xg-xnsUVYG1UiefWNmZutHo3i9CbGpIB7vV_OCJERFQSZS9Epg-1UytuiFpcpEthFhjuUDo6QhoykQu_3QItG2cuPqxyfWOYWCnqW4frTDxpuQIY3PPYIldcXmmhr-MhSbSh6kTlziqKWTuq" width="320" /></a></div><br />Tokyo has seen its own share of sadness and ailments this spring. March marked the 12th anniversary of the Tohoku triple disasters of earthquake, tsunami and meltdown. Each year the horror is revisited but never quite reckoned with, and the tally of the dead and the missing, now at 22,215, ticks up silently. Sparse anti-nuclear demonstrations were punctuated on March 28 by the death of pioneering composer/musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, also a committed anti-nuclear and environmental activist. And less than a year after the shooting murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a 24 year-old man tossed a pipe bomb at sitting PM Fumio Kishida during a campaign event in Wakayama, missing his target by barely 10 feet.<p></p><p>One week in April, a sudden spike in the mercury and humidity caused a record number of heat stroke cases at Tokyo clinics. The following week got so chilly that a relatively new diagnosis, “spring fatigue,” was ascribed to patients complaining of muscle aches, sleeplessness, appetite loss and, well, the overall fatigue stemming from drastic climate swings. (One news show demonstrated the proper way of folding a few sweaters hastily retrieved from winter storage amid this spring’s temperamental temperatures.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCYA76EksZ78lgRJvhdfQhIHBXxjw3P23lLdqY25acrIZMOKWtICfJ_a_U9RLCYrv1Vc4OCK6SMHtVZlpfhfZd-IqViTrLxlSwALpCEBlp2SH4H0MdPzZPwiTPkYKagmvGixSfToLcd7GOY9pDVU-9_sK3tGew3BX_sV3HD2kToMfRravp4e5d" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCYA76EksZ78lgRJvhdfQhIHBXxjw3P23lLdqY25acrIZMOKWtICfJ_a_U9RLCYrv1Vc4OCK6SMHtVZlpfhfZd-IqViTrLxlSwALpCEBlp2SH4H0MdPzZPwiTPkYKagmvGixSfToLcd7GOY9pDVU-9_sK3tGew3BX_sV3HD2kToMfRravp4e5d" width="320" /></a></div><br />Not to be outdone, May brought us <i>gogatsu-byou</i>, or “the May blues,” another kind of seasonal blight brought on by the end of the Golden Week spring holidays (on May 8 this year) and feeling overwhelmed by work, school, family or other obligations, or just the end of spring and start of summer, or just the ongoing month of May itself, which ambles for 31 lengthening days. <p></p><p>Therapy doesn’t have the cure-all prestige in Japan that it carries for many in the US, so these afflictions are blamed on the autonomic nervous system, which regulates everything our bodies do that we don’t think about. Doctors prescribe rest, changes in diet, exercise, sometimes medication. </p><p>But nerves of every kind all across Tokyo were shaken by a cause for which there is no cure. A little after 4 a.m. on May 11 (another 11!), a 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck Chiba, slightly east of Tokyo. Smartphone emergency alerts sounded across the city, waking some 30 million or more with an urgent reminder of our precarity in this most functional metropolis. It’s mere coincidence, of course, but as I write I’m already half-packed for my next flight to New York. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5BPi4QcLUDfEwyyqqF80jSKI1AsWkTK--eUVnY6cVEiyY8yyTEm9gc8zKiHUtt-Pqib2iiaYkVrvsHqyDhtEtgvjpXMMoa4YIJRnh-28DR81oACnFoNy7UlASrI3KaS9aYjonnh0euD2dQ1TMrtz1vZ-NEZS5kdFXuOBsDz6K2h67HCJKoJWD" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5BPi4QcLUDfEwyyqqF80jSKI1AsWkTK--eUVnY6cVEiyY8yyTEm9gc8zKiHUtt-Pqib2iiaYkVrvsHqyDhtEtgvjpXMMoa4YIJRnh-28DR81oACnFoNy7UlASrI3KaS9aYjonnh0euD2dQ1TMrtz1vZ-NEZS5kdFXuOBsDz6K2h67HCJKoJWD=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-60408004001336560902023-06-21T20:00:00.003-04:002023-06-29T02:09:28.385-04:00My take on Tokyo's surging startup scene and Japan's boom for Rest of World<p>A couple of weeks after I wrote this story for <a href="https://restofworld.org/2023/japan-tech-industry-jobs-growing/" target="_blank">Rest of World</a>, the Tokyo Stock Exchange hit a 33-year high. Credit my editor.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJNYEA--0TYG3S06-XW6P5ObdXbzmqi_3AM_D96NkKExcGxQuDE5QmS7A37gShFaYrfNPbbDxLY9boK951HLQ5rUjzlIij9QzB8zwPLs7cxC0LFIJnggl5JDaHHhr0ribfghPtJRfrojFp4tCWkoqJrThOsrQT26G7otqrDuWN-5lciFV4eYY/s1600/RoW_startup.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUJNYEA--0TYG3S06-XW6P5ObdXbzmqi_3AM_D96NkKExcGxQuDE5QmS7A37gShFaYrfNPbbDxLY9boK951HLQ5rUjzlIij9QzB8zwPLs7cxC0LFIJnggl5JDaHHhr0ribfghPtJRfrojFp4tCWkoqJrThOsrQT26G7otqrDuWN-5lciFV4eYY/w400-h225/RoW_startup.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><a href="https://restofworld.org/2023/japan-tech-industry-jobs-growing/" target="_blank">Japan’s sleepy tech scene is ready for a comeback</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><a href="https://restofworld.org/2023/japan-tech-industry-jobs-growing/" target="_blank">After decades of slumber, the country that brought us bullet trains and Nintendo has mustered some momentum.</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Sho Hayashi might be a walking cliche in San Francisco or Austin. The 33-year-old founder, with two successful startups and a string of degrees to his name, met me in a light-filled coworking space before flying overseas for a weekend of meetings. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But here in Japan, Hayashi is a new breed of revolutionary. A graduate of the elite University of Tokyo, his standard path would have been to settle into a lifetime job — perhaps as an international diplomat, or at a time-tested corporate empire like Mitsubishi. When he attended a massive startup conference in Singapore in 2010 and realized Japan didn’t have a single representative, he asked to become one and found a new calling: entrepreneurship.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“I realized that diplomats don’t create anything; they just negotiate based on what’s there,” Hayashi said. “I wanted to create. It changed my life.” </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Japan is the third-richest nation in the world but has only managed to produce some 10 unicorns. (Compare that to over 600 unicorns in the U.S. and more than 300 in China.) Its tech startup scene been held back for years by siloed and intransigent corporate leaders and an aging, risk-averse populace whose fear of innovation turned a once-futuristic nation into a digital backwater. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Since the pandemic, more people like Hayashi have been straying from routine, and their choices are being validated by record amounts of funding flowing into tech startups, new city government initiatives that support fledgling entrepreneurs, and a spate of juicy tax breaks. Combined with the behavioral circuit-breaker of Covid-19, these initiatives may be seminal: Japan’s tech scene is, perhaps, finally beginning to free itself from decades of inertia. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“It’s a total mindset shift,” said Kenta Iwata, 28, a community manager at the cross-disciplinary project Shibuya QWS (pronounced “cues”). Launched in late 2019 by railways-to-real-estate giant Tokyu Group, QWS is a radical concept in Japan: a corporate-backed space connecting employees across major companies and institutions. QWS staff like Iwata help foster those connections and get people talking. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“Fifty years ago, Japan was number one in growth, so you could have a steady life doing one job,” he said. “But having one job means meeting people only from your own company. What we provide is serendipity, a place where like-minded employees might create a new company. QWS wouldn’t have existed even five years ago.”<i> </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3PDQJUQtjf2VOLz5AJS3nTVuFMz-Gg5TbsTjH_uIeWkXKWucp1gqXF9o9qlLW4r3P4PXbeEiQHHa19LJjp0faxE0qOwu7EAIuoiKcwD5qXNqHOjQvUNjHFVFAOuExmDAT7mDOXF-bnAk-KtNYnivgU8ySs4S58Pcv8b4oT3qX0lINGIGxqq_/s4032/IMG_5520D.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3PDQJUQtjf2VOLz5AJS3nTVuFMz-Gg5TbsTjH_uIeWkXKWucp1gqXF9o9qlLW4r3P4PXbeEiQHHa19LJjp0faxE0qOwu7EAIuoiKcwD5qXNqHOjQvUNjHFVFAOuExmDAT7mDOXF-bnAk-KtNYnivgU8ySs4S58Pcv8b4oT3qX0lINGIGxqq_/s320/IMG_5520D.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The pandemic helped accelerate that shift, according to Hayashi. “It’s not unusual now for people to quit their jobs and join a startup,” he said. “During the pandemic, [people] began thinking about how they really want to work, starting side projects or taking two or more jobs, even mid-career. Things opened up.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the vast, <a href="https://shimokita.college/" target="_blank">open-air loft </a>surrounding us, things are bustling. Young Japanese people chat and giggle as they pass, some taking seats to mingle at long blonde-wood tables. Smartphones chime and keyboards click as the savory aroma of Japanese curry wafts down from the communal kitchen on the second floor.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Japan’s tech startup scene has long been a victim of a kind of lukewarm comfort. Five years ago, I spoke to the late Asia scholar Ezra Vogel, author of the economic bubble-era bestseller Japan As Number One: Lessons for America. He told me that while his Chinese friends were bullish on their economy and overseas plans, his friends in Japan dreaded their bland prospects — yet they preferred to stay home. A job for life, however stultifying, was better than uncertainty. “Japan has become a very comfortable place to live,” Vogel surmised. “Maybe too comfortable.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After 2018, funding and pragmatic, startup-friendly announcements began to mount. City government-financed initiatives, such as Shibuya Startup Support and CityTech Tokyo, have helped founders gain access to the local resources they need to launch companies. The Shibuya government has been particularly active, launching a startup visa to lure overseas entrepreneurs and forging partnerships with innovation consultants like Egg Forward. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A tweak to the government’s Pension Investment Fund incentives led to public money flowing to venture capital firms, which drove a record amount of funding into mostly tech startups in 2022. That was the same year investments in the U.S. and Europe dropped by 30% and 16% respectively. Coupled with tax breaks, including one for corporations seeking to acquire startups, these projects make Japan’s current surge feel more solid. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(Ambitious yet less-defined government initiatives — like the national Digital Agency and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s pledge to increase tech startups tenfold in five years — have been eyed with some skepticism by the industry.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Yan Fan, who worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley, moved to Japan six years ago and co-founded Code Chrysalis, a coding boot camp for mostly corporate clients. Code Chrysalis is aimed at filling Japan’s shortfall in engineers, something that has both slowed software development and forced Japan to import developer talent.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When she relocated, Fan had no delusions about Japan’s limited opportunities for entrepreneurial growth. “I told everyone to at least start their careers in the U.S. so they can learn how to fail,” she said. “There’s no tolerance for failure here.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But recent developments have her feeling more sanguine. Mergers and acquisitions around tech have been increasing, she pointed out, and graduates from Japan’s top universities are embracing jobs at startups. It has become trendy to join Google, Netflix, and Facebook, even if those brands might mean little to their parents. Code Chrysalis now occupies an office in Tokyo’s tony Motoazabu district, and boasts a technical team that is 50% female and 9% non-binary. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“There’s a big generational thing happening in Japan,” said Fan. “But you have to find the right balance between old Japan and the new Japan emerging.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbb3NhLxIk8G0DvZiu2zt682JZayUnBV6crd4HexsaU9RdTE6tvB69UM-mmfiMTTAaqdbhzkFLilD6xYo-8XXPMkzFRZi7Immoot4oEdxaMNccpiMClCXp72oHUsJI408-ArkwZVl9RmInzY9YtHcA4KWzmUHOn0z3KgfLYm6hPy-CIJV4PKC/s1600/IMG_0324-1600x1200.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnbb3NhLxIk8G0DvZiu2zt682JZayUnBV6crd4HexsaU9RdTE6tvB69UM-mmfiMTTAaqdbhzkFLilD6xYo-8XXPMkzFRZi7Immoot4oEdxaMNccpiMClCXp72oHUsJI408-ArkwZVl9RmInzY9YtHcA4KWzmUHOn0z3KgfLYm6hPy-CIJV4PKC/s320/IMG_0324-1600x1200.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Post pandemic, she said, there’s been an increase in demand from large corporations for generalized coding skills. “‘DX,’ ‘reskilling,’ ‘agile’ are all huge buzzwords … Every major Japanese company is exploring what they need to do and has the cash to do it.” The startup’s client list currently includes Nomura Research Institute, and the country’s first unicorn: e-commerce site Mercari. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Historically, foreign pressures, or <i>gaiatsu</i>, have forced change in Japan. These days, there is plenty of pressure coming from inside the country. The unmitigated spiral of its declining population has already resulted in a severe labor shortage. Estimates say that by 2050, Japan’s population will have dropped from around 125 million in 2023 to just 97 million. Then there’s the anemic state of Japan’s digital infrastructure, which was exposed during the pandemic’s peak with the slow and lackluster snail mail-based vaccine campaign and the requirement for reams of paperwork in order to enter the country.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tomonori Iida describes that moment as a reckoning for Japan. He heads a program aimed at teaching older Japanese employees digital skills, partly run by Benesse Corporation — a name perhaps best-known outside Japan for its innovative, art-driven reinvention of Naoshima Island. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“I think Covid[-19] made us realize how vulnerable we were without digitization. A lot of things just stopped or stalled,” said Iida. “This was a wake-up call for us, forcing government and corporate leaders to spring into action.” </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Japan’s tech scene finally has some momentum, an energy that feels palpable. But is it really on the verge of producing something new for the rest of the world? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">According to international finance lawyer Yuki Shirato, who has also been an angel investor and served on the board of several startups, the biggest changes in Japan’s tech scene may take five to six years. That’s a lifetime in Silicon Valley, but a rapid clip in centuries-old Japan. “The language and mental barriers, the resistance to taking risks — that will take time to overcome,” he said.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Japanese tech startups will likely have different values and goals, he added, along with a greater focus on innovation in areas like fintech, biotech, and health care. There will also be a bigger push towards the development of more pragmatic, hardware-contingent products, such as smart devices. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Japan’s high quality of life is also not lost on local and foreign entrepreneurs — some of whom are questioning the wisdom of moving fast and breaking things in a world now breaking apart.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Shirato recounted the story of an American friend, a founder based in Tokyo, whose son recently suffered a life-threatening injury. In the U.S., he said, the cost of the son’s treatment would have exceeded one million dollars and bankrupted his friend’s company. “That’s just not part of our culture.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Hayashi would agree. “It’s about priorities, I guess,” he told me, minutes before hailing an Uber for the airport. “If your only goal is to maximize financial gains, it’s probably wiser to work for higher wages abroad. But Japan is a place where society gives, and you can give something back.”</div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-91648312156064680992023-06-08T20:00:00.001-04:002023-06-08T20:00:00.137-04:00DW interview on manga's explosive sales and Keidanren's money<p>Anime may be booming, but Japanese manga (comic book) sales are astronomical. I was interviewed about the explosive overseas sales of manga during the pandemic and the recent proposal by Keidanren, Japan's biggest business federation, to quadruple overseas manga sales over the next 10 years.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8tGpDc3TOQsKJN6CwR1mhnit5ycqGOqzkUCszqGaJHROFq08yB8T_yTHbE9bOxK9Kv0RrNFg_a1bDCOtR-HX0er730phQwga_pvkEI8NKRkiQDF4mq-cl_Be5Jo7H9KD-vyQgYn6_Fq32wftgSBPPJFSRcDM_ISacO4NnFuFUpXEIk5M5g/s1198/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-08%20at%2016.59.32.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1198" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8tGpDc3TOQsKJN6CwR1mhnit5ycqGOqzkUCszqGaJHROFq08yB8T_yTHbE9bOxK9Kv0RrNFg_a1bDCOtR-HX0er730phQwga_pvkEI8NKRkiQDF4mq-cl_Be5Jo7H9KD-vyQgYn6_Fq32wftgSBPPJFSRcDM_ISacO4NnFuFUpXEIk5M5g/w640-h402/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-08%20at%2016.59.32.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>You can read Julian Ryall's full story <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/japan-manga-to-spearhead-nations-economic-growth/a-65393781" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Excerpt: "'I was stunned when I saw the figures for 2020 and 2021, which showed that year-on-year manga sales in the US were up by 171%,' Kelts told DW. 'That's just an astonishing number, and the figures made it clear that the overall graphic novel market grew much faster than the standard market for books.'</p><p>There are key differences between the Japanese and US markets, however, with sales of print manga in North America driven in recent years by anime that consumers will have seen on television, including such famous titles as 'One Piece,' 'Attack on Titan,' and 'Spy Family,' Kelts highlighted. The situation is reversed in Japan, where series of print manga that are popular are made into anime.</p><p>According to Kelts, Japanese consumers have also been quicker to embrace online manga because North American homes are typically significantly larger than Japanese abodes, meaning they have more space to store large numbers of books.</p><p>Readers in Japan, on the other hand, used to treat manga as disposable and leave them on trains for other people to read. That no longer happens, as consumers now frequently read the latest instalment of their favorite manga on their mobile phones.</p><p>'Fifteen years ago, Japanese business leaders sneered at the idea that manga and anime could become an important export sector for Japan, but that generation has now retired and been replaced by people who 'get it' when it comes to manga,' Kelts said.</p><p>Keidanren chairman Masakazu Tokura is known to be a fan of anime and manga, and discussed the film adaptation of the basketball manga 'Slam Dunk' with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol during his recent visit to Tokyo.</p><p>'Tokura came of age during the 1970s and '80s, when manga were ubiquitous in Japan,’ Kelts pointed out. ‘In fact, domestic print sales peaked in the mid-'90s, so he and his cohorts have none of the prejudices against manga that their predecessors may have held.</p><p>'At present, Japan is the unchallenged world leader in anime and manga and Keidanren is right to get behind it as a driver of the economy.'"</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-39282387880176104972023-06-08T03:30:00.028-04:002023-06-29T02:08:51.268-04:00AP interview on anime, Hollywood, "The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus"--and that new "One Piece" adaptation, out August 31<p>Belated thanks to Yuri Kageyama of the Associated Press for her <a href="https://apnews.com/article/one-piece-netflix-live-action-manga-9a91e0fee9f15f8c0e4d98ddaba36f63" target="_blank">story</a> about Hollywood anime adaptations that grew out of my <a href="https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-break-roland-kelts-author-art-blade-runner-black-lotus-anime-meets-hollywood" target="_blank">FCCJ</a> event for the new <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1789097142?" target="_blank">Blade Runner: Black Lotus</a></i> book. This article was published well before the live-action <i>Saint Seiya </i>movie<i> </i>(called <i>Knights of the Zodiac</i>, btw) dropped and disappeared, and word from the<i> One Piece</i> set ain't so great either. (Original mangaka Eichiro Oda apparently has a lot of notes.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-seXVbA4Yp4yCGFNYGViQk7Q6UuXOCjrmVIfYbQeUbmKIIqT36iW0SHgFCnRoaDqJkwOXusJShbU9i2JhuFqFoRb_wguhvfBhzrxoQ7RKAkAMyJDXkXlFP5a7_kOZvK2SmYKUkQOKCVcc_mCXcCtK2SmjL4rsq1fiR1XYusoPABmdp7xG6w/s797/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-08%20at%2015.42.32.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="670" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-seXVbA4Yp4yCGFNYGViQk7Q6UuXOCjrmVIfYbQeUbmKIIqT36iW0SHgFCnRoaDqJkwOXusJShbU9i2JhuFqFoRb_wguhvfBhzrxoQ7RKAkAMyJDXkXlFP5a7_kOZvK2SmYKUkQOKCVcc_mCXcCtK2SmjL4rsq1fiR1XYusoPABmdp7xG6w/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-08%20at%2015.42.32.png" width="269" /></a></div><p>You can read Yuri's full article <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/netflix-making-live-action-piece-popular-manga-97646463" target="_blank">here</a>. It was a particular honor for me to be featured alongside one of my former students, Nina Oiki, for whom I was happy to sign a book at the press club. </p><p>Excerpt: "The cross-pollination of Hollywood and Japan goes back for decades. References to Japan, such as the image of a geisha on a screen, are plentiful in the 1982 sci-fi movie “Blade Runner,” directed by Ridley Scott.</p><p>The film, in turn, influenced anime, including the “Blade Runner: Black Lotus” anime that first aired in 2021.</p><p>Japanese pop culture expert Roland Kelts says it’s a “stunning moment for anime,” in part due to streaming on platforms like Netflix, which has helped make entertainment borderless.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrfIRQA-7NxaFzml8RYKr0QMKo-NsJZMI4Z1M_At41SSsw-iYZSxr61KILhwT_AaeNtbkZ0V0Jsn2sxi1mfN7CDLz7tSX4FYHiFd1dMXY3AZA_NjGK9ii1PPIfpEozS0-NVx7FS90B9s_mYwq0058-3vs0ZqoBOj5AlTfEO_lMFBQ75rLfg/s1928/IMG_5220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1802" data-original-width="1928" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrfIRQA-7NxaFzml8RYKr0QMKo-NsJZMI4Z1M_At41SSsw-iYZSxr61KILhwT_AaeNtbkZ0V0Jsn2sxi1mfN7CDLz7tSX4FYHiFd1dMXY3AZA_NjGK9ii1PPIfpEozS0-NVx7FS90B9s_mYwq0058-3vs0ZqoBOj5AlTfEO_lMFBQ75rLfg/s320/IMG_5220.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Live-action “One Piece,” expected later this year, comes on the heels of the global success of “Demon Slayer,” another manga that got its start in Shonen Jump and was adapted into a movie and an anime series that was picked up by Netflix.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In February, The Pokémon Company announced “Pokémon Concierge,” a stop-motion anime collaboration with Netflix. Pokémon is the world’s most valuable media franchise with estimated all-time sales of $100 billion, according to a 2021 Statista report. Followed by Hello Kitty, the two Japanese products outrank Western offerings like Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Star Wars. Hollywood live-action adaptations of other popular Japanese products — from Makoto Shinkai's 2016 body-swap anime “Your Name” to the “Gundam” franchise of giant robots that started in 1979 — are also in progress.</div><p>Anime has a low production cost compared to live-action films, and computer-generated heroes don’t get sick or injured or make offensive remarks offscreen like real-life actors sometimes do, making it a marketable medium, said Kelts, author of “Japanamerica,” which documents Japanese pop culture's influence in the United States.</p><p>“They are stylized and stateless characters. What I mean by that is that anime characters travel globally very, very well,” Kelts said. “The human celebrities don’t always travel so well."</p><p>Established bestsellers offer the advantage of a built-in fanbase, but they also come with strict scrutiny. Some, like “Ghost in the Shell,” have been criticized for “whitewashing” the Asian original. The 1995 animated movie was made into a Hollywood live-action in 2017 amid complaints about casting white American actor Scarlett Johansson as the main character — though Asia largely stayed out of the debate."</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-41196307151629901052023-05-11T12:10:00.005-04:002023-09-17T03:40:56.207-04:00Anime masters meet in Niigata: On the first annual Niigata International Animation Festival (NIAFFf) for The Japan Times<p>When Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) and Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) show up in the same small venue in the same small city on the Sea of Japan--magic happenstances. I was invited to attend the first annual Niigata International Animation Festival and I'm glad I went. My take below.</p><a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2023/04/20/films/niigata-anime-film-festival/" target="_blank">New Niigata film festival brings out the big names in anime</a><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyFKguhj9dq3dt4mz6a0W0zMxGyk0fqNcaneyy5BcbvwDQ1MrGK2V_a1t9AF-cWCT86St6sc2hkPf5nE2_7q1lLAXtquouPXUKkmQrnvlns10NinOlx_xAbMsdlQbvgKsTm1kg5HAVnr_vmbg-wks5fAoqOkpRqfCHT0ZmlciFCYb-RIWug/s1836/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-26%20at%202.24.01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1836" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyFKguhj9dq3dt4mz6a0W0zMxGyk0fqNcaneyy5BcbvwDQ1MrGK2V_a1t9AF-cWCT86St6sc2hkPf5nE2_7q1lLAXtquouPXUKkmQrnvlns10NinOlx_xAbMsdlQbvgKsTm1kg5HAVnr_vmbg-wks5fAoqOkpRqfCHT0ZmlciFCYb-RIWug/w640-h282/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-26%20at%202.24.01.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Roland Kelts JAPAN TIMES column CULTURE SMASH</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It’s no secret that Japan loves animation. Despite being a marginalized medium elsewhere, animation in Japan regularly tops the domestic box office, earning billions of yen for films made without movie stars and on relatively low budgets. Of Japan’s 10 highest-grossing movies ever, seven are animated.</p><p>But there’s a hitch: six of those top seven titles are homegrown. Animation produced elsewhere, aside from the occasional old-school Disney blockbuster like “Frozen,” rarely gets seen in Japan, let alone embraced by moviegoers. Like short-grain white rice and unagi (freshwater eels), when it comes to animation, most Japanese prefer their own — and there’s plenty of it.</p><p>So when I got my invitation to the inaugural <a href="https://niigata-iaff.net/" target="_blank">Niigata International Animation Film Festival (NIAFF) </a>in the mail last month, I was confused. Was it a showcase of Japan-produced anime for an international audience? And instead of Niigata, did they mean to write Nagoya, where attendees could sample the wonders of animation genius Hayao Miyazaki at Ghibli Park, less than an hour from town? Or did they mean Nagano, with its tourist-ready snow monkeys and ski resorts?</p><p>In fact, the festival really was in Niigata, a mid-sized northern port city on the Sea of Japan, and its program was broadly international in scope, showcasing 50 films from 16 countries over six consecutive days, from March 17 to 22.</p><p>None of this was an accident, according to festival co-founder and program director Tadashi Sudo.</p><p>“Niigata is actually an ideal location,” he says. “In Tokyo and Osaka, film festivals are less prominent, but in Niigata, they attract attention. It’s only two hours from Tokyo and close to many Asian hub cities, and has been home to some major anime artists and staff.”</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSMQ-Qbh3JIJ04X9Wn4PDQd77kQ7uY1FABCMFQuPctJKm1baCo-171lfSWQdCqH9TANCb9k0ZdLuQUjJ7QqleAmX3Nm4Rf2QndL3vhfUfk1vU5k5J1S0G3Cb1zIlgGpuizfdmo6CcLq4H3aPZSlvCg1VY8jr05foZBmLujicHf4FMqB59c3w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5120" data-original-width="3413" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSMQ-Qbh3JIJ04X9Wn4PDQd77kQ7uY1FABCMFQuPctJKm1baCo-171lfSWQdCqH9TANCb9k0ZdLuQUjJ7QqleAmX3Nm4Rf2QndL3vhfUfk1vU5k5J1S0G3Cb1zIlgGpuizfdmo6CcLq4H3aPZSlvCg1VY8jr05foZBmLujicHf4FMqB59c3w=w267-h400" width="267" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tadashi Sudo</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While Niigata may not be the first stop for tourists on anime pilgrimages, the city was the birthplace of both Hiroshi Okawa, founder of pioneering industry giant Toei Animation, and manga master Rumiko Takahashi (“Urusei Yatsura,” “Inuyasha”). Today it boasts an anime and manga museum and festival, several art and production schools, and a satellite studio for the renowned Tokyo-based animation company Production I.G.Sudo says NIAFF’s goal is not to promote Japanese intellectual property but to highlight global diversity in animation.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“We want more countries and regions, more themes, and a wide range of genres and border-crossing art,” he says.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Feature-length films are also a hallmark of NIAFF, which is now the largest annual festival in Asia devoted to the long form (versus animated shorts). The 2023 lineup included entries spanning Brazil to the Netherlands to China in a dazzling variety of formats (CG, 2D, rotoscoping and stop-motion animation) that often rendered dark stories in culturally rooted environs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VuxP-Et6qS9q09Ni0YyRHwRKoVjmlsybvfaDH_UDTDEOEvhybZjeLMiFKR8R78hHRPoF0g0wkZI5JDupn22nbl8iACkU4VD99yPrEmi1OSyOKGlMvkJdAA9z5_EWkYUlAToLKNJ9pIXpg-s1Ofeu4PHlvyDhkBeN9hcPfsPq6GWCDzvyzg/s1024/khamsa.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="1024" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VuxP-Et6qS9q09Ni0YyRHwRKoVjmlsybvfaDH_UDTDEOEvhybZjeLMiFKR8R78hHRPoF0g0wkZI5JDupn22nbl8iACkU4VD99yPrEmi1OSyOKGlMvkJdAA9z5_EWkYUlAToLKNJ9pIXpg-s1Ofeu4PHlvyDhkBeN9hcPfsPq6GWCDzvyzg/w640-h270/khamsa.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Khamsa</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Not all of the overseas filmmakers invited to the festival made it to Niigata this year, but the dozen or so on hand responded enthusiastically. Japan’s reputation as a leader in animation commanded ample respect.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Algerian director Khaled Chiheb, visiting Japan for the first time, presented his and his native country’s first-ever full-length animated film, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMBXpcw1Sks" target="_blank">“Khamsa: The Well of Oblivion,”</a> an eerie and poetic story about the retrieval of memory from the subterranean shadows of history and war. “Khamsa” was among 10 films in competition and won the Kabuku Award (given to a film “that is not constrained by conventional values but challenges and creates something novel and innovative”) for its successful use of unorthodox techniques: simplified paper cut-out character designs set against talismanic 3D background imagery, its rich symbolism drawn from North African folklore.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The award was handed to Chiheb by jury chairman Mamoru Oshii, the celebrated director of anime classic “Ghost in the Shell.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdxoIfZ4L5F8wPJ4NazA3sP9Eicjk_q47OnjTFglXzg2zewUeTocFGZFcvK2iMqI1ARnrAT48ts2qH0dKUlqnFRwcNNvuzxmkqJw8SfrH1ZEB5n_xFLkzEgEXYIbhKB7Y2ZeLZoLM5G_ORj5u-s3VR8kL3IDEvZoQNfRyLKdBly7sAhdAAFw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1620" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdxoIfZ4L5F8wPJ4NazA3sP9Eicjk_q47OnjTFglXzg2zewUeTocFGZFcvK2iMqI1ARnrAT48ts2qH0dKUlqnFRwcNNvuzxmkqJw8SfrH1ZEB5n_xFLkzEgEXYIbhKB7Y2ZeLZoLM5G_ORj5u-s3VR8kL3IDEvZoQNfRyLKdBly7sAhdAAFw" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mamoru Oshii</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“I admit that the idea of meeting Oshii made me a little nervous,” says Chiheb. “One of the main inspirations for ‘Khamsa’ was his first film, ‘Angel’s Egg.’ But what made me most proud was when he said that he found the minimalist character design of ‘Khamsa’ interesting, and that he saw himself using characters in this style in his future films. In my eyes, that may have more value than the award.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The wide array of visual effects and subject matter alike suggested that wherever it is created, animation has become an ideal medium for addressing complex biographical, historical, geopolitical and literary narratives.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Pierre Foldes’ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUz6OjX2d9I" target="_blank">“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman,”</a> winner of the NIAFF grand prix, strings together six short stories by novelist Haruki Murakami into a haunting and deeply moving portrait of urban anomie and suspended lives. Like many festival entries, the film looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before, mimicking facial expressions with unnerving specificity while conveying through stark outlines and strategic blurs the vague, untethered realities of our heavily mediated modern world.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgevmgMqM20WWUVgr0GP2ZPGykNs3x7Mi8H9ZbJ-Y3ArMVlRaDiD0bPOt3AZclHDgdI1owNWqJjpfGpvpO8wiDwIR23DPi_gidd_GYPprzCWfFK-P1QJEoLlj-rnnIjNVvvQ89SL1-R3EY-R6KCttoAMmURlqXo9FDEGSPb_jTJvcbXoaXWeA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1998" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgevmgMqM20WWUVgr0GP2ZPGykNs3x7Mi8H9ZbJ-Y3ArMVlRaDiD0bPOt3AZclHDgdI1owNWqJjpfGpvpO8wiDwIR23DPi_gidd_GYPprzCWfFK-P1QJEoLlj-rnnIjNVvvQ89SL1-R3EY-R6KCttoAMmURlqXo9FDEGSPb_jTJvcbXoaXWeA=w640-h346" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman"</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Foldes, a director, painter and composer who was raised in France, couldn’t attend this year’s NIAFF but has spent enough time in Japan to sketch its backgrounds acutely. He says that apart from his father, computer animation pioneer Peter Foldes, all of his chief influences in animation are Japanese artists.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“It’s a great honor to receive such a prize, especially in Japan where animation has been brought to an extremely high level of expression,” he tells me from New York, where he is overseeing the film’s North American opening. “My references in animation are all Japanese. The fact that I adapted an amazing Japanese author could be seen as quite challenging for someone coming from another culture, so I’m very happy that the great Oshii as well as the other members of the jury appreciated my work.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9x6a1zIRPTlLQ7St2o34DjImqEbrRfKcxqsNzsoNy8ZTevWBOL7xe4HhxodA8mAsA4X486489itjfAJcWDFj3h2rDnx6l-xBLQxpcUrs4AOadHW2uISc7E0CAVND-PYjxrOebx92NjS08qJyOd9Yeiq0dBG3VqKYhZp3ZVPomru-DVXg4Mg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1461" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9x6a1zIRPTlLQ7St2o34DjImqEbrRfKcxqsNzsoNy8ZTevWBOL7xe4HhxodA8mAsA4X486489itjfAJcWDFj3h2rDnx6l-xBLQxpcUrs4AOadHW2uISc7E0CAVND-PYjxrOebx92NjS08qJyOd9Yeiq0dBG3VqKYhZp3ZVPomru-DVXg4Mg=w640-h404" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Prize-winning international directors with Oshii in Niigata.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While its focus was on overseas talent, the first year of NIAFF was hardly lacking in local appeal. Big-screen showings of global box-office hits like “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie — Mugen Train” and “Jujutsu Kaisen 0,” and art-house triumphs “Inu-Oh” and “In This Corner of the World” were accompanied by retrospective programs featuring the works of Makoto Shinkai (“Your Name.,” “Suzume”) and Katsuhiro Otomo (“Akira”). The return of octogenarian Japanese director Rintaro after a 14-year hiatus was highlighted by a special screening of his short film “Nezumikozo Jirokichi,” a tribute to late movie director Sadao Yamanaka.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRUxRS7bYw8OxL3jBBpUTLvz-RJC7L9KnWSRwnKfFn4o4esd4OOJ95XkLuQINANry-N9lBKQ1Ch-VqEoLnsqCtLCWTA8Tt92BePC6aKSV2UpjH6FSfqEBoyVaxKPjFFTwKbVi37vRU9ANC8voSXu_JH0GGXXfOCpNt45vDipE2D1w0OmT-FQ"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1452" data-original-width="1067" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRUxRS7bYw8OxL3jBBpUTLvz-RJC7L9KnWSRwnKfFn4o4esd4OOJ95XkLuQINANry-N9lBKQ1Ch-VqEoLnsqCtLCWTA8Tt92BePC6aKSV2UpjH6FSfqEBoyVaxKPjFFTwKbVi37vRU9ANC8voSXu_JH0GGXXfOCpNt45vDipE2D1w0OmT-FQ" width="176" /></span></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5_y40ibaRFnf-sINaLxoHPVhbNp6fmwAg3nPLSOnIUXg1CF6CQkyrREi6XvtYucb2UH2mXDZlrIwKYRjJVuBaLoH5L1-FhAHImE8ViqavHXZnPhy-YbqDj4ofLwFshxjV1cOITj5V6VAoJpi7L4FAfbfCDs1RRel-35GiTOzYICgxBgXd-w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="308" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5_y40ibaRFnf-sINaLxoHPVhbNp6fmwAg3nPLSOnIUXg1CF6CQkyrREi6XvtYucb2UH2mXDZlrIwKYRjJVuBaLoH5L1-FhAHImE8ViqavHXZnPhy-YbqDj4ofLwFshxjV1cOITj5V6VAoJpi7L4FAfbfCDs1RRel-35GiTOzYICgxBgXd-w" width="112" /></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5_y40ibaRFnf-sINaLxoHPVhbNp6fmwAg3nPLSOnIUXg1CF6CQkyrREi6XvtYucb2UH2mXDZlrIwKYRjJVuBaLoH5L1-FhAHImE8ViqavHXZnPhy-YbqDj4ofLwFshxjV1cOITj5V6VAoJpi7L4FAfbfCDs1RRel-35GiTOzYICgxBgXd-w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="683" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj26b_w30VUCQw7yEtea3EIIL41NAH72pP6Q3nBVf7F6wvnAVEHDL-fXF4buXwC0Wnw8fRlaRLkJQDJ3u2zQjsIJbZOW6b916HhKlHsOafRUj6rPUiVe0cSF6D5hVdkOKQpKV-4ANbvzsGQywW4Uy4woMj4671N452iM-QSlR_jTf8bEGZO3w" width="212" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Otomo (Akira), Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop), Ohshii (GiTS)</span></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But the festival’s biggest coup may have been its in-the-flesh guests. Oshii, Otomo and Shinichiro Watanabe (“Cowboy Bebop”), a trio of anime heavyweights, all appeared onstage and casually strolled the hallways of Niigata’s intimate, uncrowded venues, easily accessible and happy to chat with passersby. It’s hard to imagine all three showing up in person at the same event anywhere else. Eat your heart out, Tokyo and Osaka.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-22699633971520788252023-05-02T20:29:00.004-04:002023-05-04T11:58:28.023-04:00Video of the FCCJ Tokyo presentation Anime meets Hollywood: "The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus" with author Roland Kelts and producer Joseph Chou<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1AyIZHTmDBg6ep0fZh0CcxJf5sbEl9yY1Z_ul0FGEhbflvMk5Bh_fn-YvLvIc6czow35rjC-wqTEtgGDjgr4mWPdZTmZm9Hpha3v_simsqgMNQ6dFzXjpi_tljf97FNt_2MwLfNvNx7a3ROCqOsQQERCT9jFNbq4AVT2NULPSAhoTqioWg/s1272/fccj_1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1272" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1AyIZHTmDBg6ep0fZh0CcxJf5sbEl9yY1Z_ul0FGEhbflvMk5Bh_fn-YvLvIc6czow35rjC-wqTEtgGDjgr4mWPdZTmZm9Hpha3v_simsqgMNQ6dFzXjpi_tljf97FNt_2MwLfNvNx7a3ROCqOsQQERCT9jFNbq4AVT2NULPSAhoTqioWg/w640-h429/fccj_1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>I was honored to be invited back to <a href="https://www.fccj.or.jp/" target="_blank">The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan</a> to talk about the explosive ties between Anime and Hollywood and launch my new book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/688448/the-art-of-blade-runner-black-lotus-by-roland-kelts/#" target="_blank">"The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus."</a> We had a great live audience of authors, journalists, club members and readers, and a wonderful clued-in Zoom crowd. For those of you who might be keen but couldn't attend or Zoom in, here's a video of the event, courtesy of the FCCJ:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="372" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GBsDoGZaxZs" width="483" youtube-src-id="GBsDoGZaxZs"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> <p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-1297994843460551832023-05-01T03:30:00.005-04:002023-05-01T03:30:00.136-04:00JAPANAMERICA reader Fintan, 17, on what makes "Chainsaw Man" unique and the genius of MAPPA director Kikunosuke Toya <p><b>Hello everyone, I’m Fintan. I’m a high schooler in NYC and Roland was nice enough to let me make a contribution to the blog! This is a big topic and will take more than one posting, so I look forward to sharing more of my thoughts in future posts.</b></p><p>Anime and Manga have become increasingly popular in recent years, predominantly outside of Japan. From the perspective of an American teenager, I want to write about what I think it is that makes the medium so widely consumed. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJ73_yGwdLNwkM8CcyebzJAqlPClk8TuMEWPVovy-7lGGpkXCDmzEBS3mi2T9RtElXomwUkYzLQR5jc_1UGxZ0kP1-_0TpllbrGgbOb_Rooos0ezagEVAwUBGZ8V5DQ-n93tJ8KgEjho5UEqDlvQArzj-yJDGt17uD89Puh32AjzMwGc-VA/s1280/maxresdefault.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJ73_yGwdLNwkM8CcyebzJAqlPClk8TuMEWPVovy-7lGGpkXCDmzEBS3mi2T9RtElXomwUkYzLQR5jc_1UGxZ0kP1-_0TpllbrGgbOb_Rooos0ezagEVAwUBGZ8V5DQ-n93tJ8KgEjho5UEqDlvQArzj-yJDGt17uD89Puh32AjzMwGc-VA/w640-h360/maxresdefault.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p>With "Chainsaw Man" having recently been adapted into its own anime, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about what makes it stand out from other <i>shonen</i> series. I often see people comparing "Chainsaw Man" to "Jujutsu Kaisen," as both are the most recently produced projects from MAPPA. "Chainsaw Man" has its fair share of classic shonen tropes: the main character being half human, half devil, a timid and “emo” best friend, and a sort of training arc at the beginning of the series. </p><p>However, "Chainsaw Man" is much more unique than viewers may assume based on the 11 episodes we have so far. Without spoilers, I can say that "Chainsaw Man" is one nonstop ride of almost constant stimulation. Something is always going on that will keep your attention, and you barely have time to process what’s happening before the plot moves onto the next important moment. </p><p>All "Chainsaw Man" manga can be read in almost a day, having many double page spreads and few words of dialogue across chapters. If you want to get ahead in the series before season 1 wraps up, I completely support the idea, but fair warning: be prepared to have a LOT thrown at you with little to no time to process. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNFhtSjOFW_DHk5A-Zqg5AmJtMVZQXRlKtc3JOF4rMZUPe0KdvEqLpVR_00BLUcssWSpGE2k3sSvCOOa_KCDzjtV3wqNLVxjBByoYXNfB8XWSVO-fR1FeboxKtmveMI_e1kLp8Z437AygME_gDjKDaTZARZrSeBhKQ0xiPYqwd8FbV7QXyA/s1024/chainsaw-1024x768.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNFhtSjOFW_DHk5A-Zqg5AmJtMVZQXRlKtc3JOF4rMZUPe0KdvEqLpVR_00BLUcssWSpGE2k3sSvCOOa_KCDzjtV3wqNLVxjBByoYXNfB8XWSVO-fR1FeboxKtmveMI_e1kLp8Z437AygME_gDjKDaTZARZrSeBhKQ0xiPYqwd8FbV7QXyA/w640-h480/chainsaw-1024x768.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Personally, I'm happy with how MAPPA has been adapting "Chainsaw Man." We need to take into consideration how many other projects they're working on at the moment, and appreciate that we're even getting a "Chainsaw Man" anime at all. </p><p>As far as the directing choices go, I'm also satisfied. It's hard to capture the story's fast-paced nature and turn it into 22-minute long episodes, but MAPPA has done a good job at moving it along at a reasonably comparable pace. The criticism of Kikunosuke Toya is also unjust in my opinion. He does an excellent job capturing Denji's unhinged personality, especially in scenes where he cackles and screams during a fight. </p><p>While I agree that some of the comedy from the manga gets lost in the anime, I feel that the overall nature and themes of "Chainsaw Man" have been well adapted, and that Tatsuki Fujimoto's intentions with the series haven't been lost.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-56350805876312645572023-02-20T04:18:00.004-05:002023-02-20T04:18:38.847-05:00Japanese IP prominent in the world's top 25 highest-grossing media franchises<p> </p><a href="https://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/money-finance/the-25-highest-grossing-media-franchises-of-all-time/">
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/tmxfoc/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1649162888/titlemax/f02c60d2-25-highest-grossing-media-franchises-all-time-4_29030a32d6/f02c60d2-25-highest-grossing-media-franchises-all-time-4_29030a32d6.png?_i=AA" alt="" width="1280" height="4039">
</a>
<a href="https://www.titlemax.com">By TitleMax.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-47091541899151152632023-02-15T06:50:00.007-05:002023-02-16T00:55:40.887-05:00Live & Virtual Event Feb 21: Anime Meets Hollywood & "The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus" at the FCCJ Japan in Tokyo<p>I'm honored and chuffed to be returning to the nearly 80 year-old Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, this time in their <a href="https://www.fccj.or.jp/article/access-contact" target="_blank">swanky new Marunouchi digs</a>, to talk about the rising convergence of Anime & Hollywood and my new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/Art-Blade-Runner-Black-Lotus/dp/1789097142" target="_blank">"The Art Blade Runner: Black Lotus,"</a> out now from Titan Books and Penguin Random House. </p><p>I'll be joined by veteran film and animation producer Joseph Chou (<i>The Animatrix, Halo Legends, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, Appleseed, Ultraman</i>, and the forthcoming<i> Lord of the Rings</i> anime) for a multimedia presentation rife with making-of clips, sketches and insider reveals.</p><p>Print copies will be on sale for signings, and I've just learned that we will also have copies of <a href="https://monkeymagazine.org/" target="_blank">Monkey: New Writing from Japan</a>, the annual English-language Japanese literary journal to which I am a humble contributing editor, bowing to my dear friend, author, scholar, translator, renaissance genius, Motoyuki Shibata, who will be on hand at our event. </p><p>If you're keen and can spare the time, please join us either live in Tokyo or worldwide via Zoom by registering in a few minutes <a href="https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-break-roland-kelts-author-art-blade-runner-black-lotus-anime-meets-hollywood" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-break-roland-kelts-author-art-blade-runner-black-lotus-anime-meets-hollywood</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZiShl4F_XyAzUJOVhz3-blnO28abn-Q5-EDwIEyqiszAyVblbUWBxHAlZBsmAeGJWfREtPkN6xumDWgZnWwCXamuu_yTCo3ToQFeII7p3i1QITWjARjXKY7kWRtP62cPDGnh0t20Qo4IaQabm31fq8UZdbO_TLa86BRquapE1apd3WglyNw/s1104/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-15%20at%2020.11.26.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="1104" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZiShl4F_XyAzUJOVhz3-blnO28abn-Q5-EDwIEyqiszAyVblbUWBxHAlZBsmAeGJWfREtPkN6xumDWgZnWwCXamuu_yTCo3ToQFeII7p3i1QITWjARjXKY7kWRtP62cPDGnh0t20Qo4IaQabm31fq8UZdbO_TLa86BRquapE1apd3WglyNw/w640-h467/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-15%20at%2020.11.26.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><<The Hollywood Reporter calls Japanese animation (anime) <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/japanese-anime-worlds-most-bankable-genre-1235146810/">“the world’s most bankable and Covid-resistant form of popular entertainment.” </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Okay, but what’s behind anime’s explosive global appeal, and why is Hollywood suddenly so invested? Now Japan’s premier export, anime reaches massive audiences worldwide through streaming services and box office hits like “Demon Slayer” and “One Piece Film Red," and the domestic industry is reaping record-breaking profits.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In his new book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/Art-Blade-Runner-Black-Lotus/dp/1789097142" target="_blank">The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus</a></i>, author Roland Kelts takes us behind the scenes of the first-ever anime series in the landmark Hollywood Blade Runner franchise. We learn how modern anime is made and get an inside look at the burgeoning exchanges between international and Japanese artists.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Director Ridley Scott’s classic 1982 live-action “Blade Runner” is set in a futuristic Los Angeles with several nods to Japan’s language and culture, including the now-iconic image of a geisha popping a pill on a giant skyscraper video screen. A generation of Japanese artists was shaped by the original film’s aesthetics and would go on to create anime masterpieces such as “Akira,” “Ghost in the Shell” and “Cowboy Bebop” — titles so successful they have recently been remade in Hollywood.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Kelts is an award-winning Japanese-American journalist who has written for <i>The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian</i> and others, and is the author of <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Roland-Kelts-ebook/dp/B0023ZLNM4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ZCK5830KVRJ8&keywords=japanamerica&qid=1676461990&s=english-books&sprefix=japanamerica%2Cenglish-books%2C148&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture has Invaded the US</a></b>. He is also a visiting professor at Waseda University and an editor of the annual literary magazine, <b><a href="https://monkeymagazine.org/" target="_blank">Monkey: New Writing from Japan</a></b>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Kelts will use his new book for a multimedia presentation on how anime is made in 2023, the intensifying relationship between Hollywood and anime, and the role of streaming media in making anime the most prized content in the world during the pandemic--and the core of Japan’s "soft power" appeal. He will be joined by veteran producer Joseph Chou, founder and CEO of Sola Digital Arts Inc., the Tokyo-based studio that created “Blade Runner: Black Lotus,” “Ghost in the Shell SAC 2045” and “Ultraman,” among others.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Doors open at 6:00 pm. Dinner is served from 6:15 pm. The presentation starts from 7:15 pm.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Menu: Chef's Salad/ Lamb Stewed in Tomato, Navarin Style/ Strawberry Mousse with Italian Meringue/ Coffee or Tea with One Drink. Book Break charges are 3,000 yen/ 4,000 yen (members/ non-members) per person.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>FCCJ members can sign up at the reception desk. Reservations cancelled less than 72 hours in advance will be charged in full. Non-members can reserve at the reception desk by email (front@fccj.or.jp). Payment is in advance till Friday, February 17th, 2023. No refund is available unless the event is cancelled by FCCJ.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Online attendance (via Zoom) is available at 550 yen per person. Please indicate the intention to attend online when signing up. Details on how to join online will be sent to individual emails after their reservations are confirmed.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Attendees with food restriction should inform the reception desk (front@fccj.or.jp) three days before the event.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We kindly ask for your cooperation with Covid-19 prevention measures at the reception and to wear a mask in the premises. Thank you.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(The talk will be in English)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Library, Archives & Workroom Committee>></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-2186621304393750852023-02-08T23:39:00.000-05:002023-02-08T23:39:19.588-05:00Letters from Tokyo, December 2022-January 2023: "When the Colonel is a Claus" for The Japan Society of Boston <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.japansocietyboston.org/post/letters-from-tokyo-january-2023-when-the-colonel-is-a-claus" target="_blank">Letters from Tokyo by Roland Kelts, December - January: When the Colonel is a Claus</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>The latest in my "Letters from Tokyo" series for the <a href="https://www.japansocietyboston.org/post/letters-from-tokyo-january-2023-when-the-colonel-is-a-claus">Japan Society of Boston</a> looks back at my holiday seasons in Osaka, New York and Tokyo, and forward to the state of Japan today. Asian tourists are back and residents are out and about, still masked but less anxious. The pandemic has taken a toll on rural onsen-mura villages, where darkened streets and shuttered storefronts are sad reminders of what's been lost. What's been found? Inflated prices and deflated birth rates mark mid-winter in Tokyo, 2023.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2jRurEnoT1eFmLG-tPBQ3KG-HQKMFoeCeRj91irW_ZIh4yQppCtSCN4P84VlmcDDKvAjWbs1hj2PoDKgQxIWU006gYp3o4MCmXdxIevYlc_3BYPv1TT_R_OeGGNltegN-6lWdCPuAaeNgQPET31aFOtUypda7V3-KTisqhheEbplp8W4Gg/s612/Colonel_Claus2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="612" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2jRurEnoT1eFmLG-tPBQ3KG-HQKMFoeCeRj91irW_ZIh4yQppCtSCN4P84VlmcDDKvAjWbs1hj2PoDKgQxIWU006gYp3o4MCmXdxIevYlc_3BYPv1TT_R_OeGGNltegN-6lWdCPuAaeNgQPET31aFOtUypda7V3-KTisqhheEbplp8W4Gg/w400-h400/Colonel_Claus2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I rode out my first Christmas in Japan alone, far from the US mania of gifting and parties and family. I thought it would be ideal. Sequestered in my narrow danchi apartment with time to write, read, reflect and phone home through the operators at KDDI—which sometimes felt like risking collect calls from prison: Would my family accept the charges?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Through my front door I had an unobstructed view of the Yodogawa River snaking through north Osaka. From my balcony, the Umeda skyline stretching south. I’d just stare at both until it was over.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Instead I found myself sitting cross-legged on tatami watching a line of chorus girls in mini-skirts on my tiny TV. The Rockettes they were not, but they high-kicked a storm and flashed a lot of leg, and I stared at the jump-cuts with creeping loneliness. The Irish whiskey I’d been gifted by a neighbor didn’t help.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It was Christmas Eve in Japan. Time for romance, dinner dates, maybe more. But I’d missed that memo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I’ve come a long way since: 250 miles northeast to central Tokyo. My holiday flights to the US have tapered off and we have VoIP and Zoom to bridge the distance for less than pennies. To me, Christmas now happens in Japan, with convenience store jingles, KFC promos, illuminations and gently romantic TV come-ons. I’ve come to love a displacement that now feels normal: At the end and beginning of each year, Tokyo and New York trade temperaments.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Sqogy1jqUyh-XJC67n4J2LoBu1Ey6CBf2Pe6Rn7BbphJ4BJGoEjiIoW_ayczx3DBqkHpt8xk0XyZavYYuMMl-s-mTlLgaMfEaQyt7a3p2SXOKNgGPWhwogG9hCKnRCDVk9D3VUrOQWzo_woSQ3cGPHxOcYl_ORXmIh1_74U44hrou6aQJg/s3780/IMG_4864.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3780" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Sqogy1jqUyh-XJC67n4J2LoBu1Ey6CBf2Pe6Rn7BbphJ4BJGoEjiIoW_ayczx3DBqkHpt8xk0XyZavYYuMMl-s-mTlLgaMfEaQyt7a3p2SXOKNgGPWhwogG9hCKnRCDVk9D3VUrOQWzo_woSQ3cGPHxOcYl_ORXmIh1_74U44hrou6aQJg/s320/IMG_4864.jpeg" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">On and after Christmas, New York goes quasi-dormant for days. City dwellers with family elsewhere leave town while natives snooze through dark afternoons. Overnight, the snow falling through lamplight shafts becomes minefields of curbside mush.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But Christmas in Tokyo sees bars and restaurants overstuffed and hotels booked, many of them short-stay “Love Hotels.” The holiday hits amid year-end party (bonnenkai) season so reveling has plenty of rationale. Until December 26th, Tokyo’s illuminated pedestrian walkways and avenues glisten with LEDs—especially notable this year because people were back to take them in.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The cities switch-hit for the New Year: New York goes wild, Tokyo gets sleepy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tourism to Japan doubled this past November, and by December, when academics and kids started vacationing, it felt like everyone was here, back-and-forthing mainly between Tokyo and Kyoto and a few points in between (Kamakura and the newly opened Ghibli Park in Aichi topped lists).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Even in the warrens of Shinjuku’s cheeky Golden Gai, where some bars have a reputation for being exclusive and standoffish toward outsiders, multi-lingual signage beckoned passersby to take a seat, whatever their nationality.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> “We invite anyone who can drink!” one owner boasted to me, clearly sampling his own wares.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Even more noticeable was the return of domestic tourists to Tokyo’s streets, most of them masked but less tentative, shopping, dining out, and getting selfies with those LEDs. This despite the fact that case counts were rising in December, and a couple of close friends were among the stricken.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaL3Ccu_a-j9VcIclZn3cU-qjm-VPrV0wymr8UF4O0T8mYUGQBLxYyXJIJEtSKO7IMHZaDYhy_wuj29oGpSxBE4kjnzuzUyJAIwiBn6hJtLs4XeqZoCNvaXNJZM6iH0KIB2U3GU4a8SbyQH8Co92VGacJIt8UVyaWbLcQqfodZaj2UdTKUw/s4032/IMG_4581.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaL3Ccu_a-j9VcIclZn3cU-qjm-VPrV0wymr8UF4O0T8mYUGQBLxYyXJIJEtSKO7IMHZaDYhy_wuj29oGpSxBE4kjnzuzUyJAIwiBn6hJtLs4XeqZoCNvaXNJZM6iH0KIB2U3GU4a8SbyQH8Co92VGacJIt8UVyaWbLcQqfodZaj2UdTKUw/s320/IMG_4581.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We decided to get out of town and decamp to our usual onsen in Izu, where domestic tourists were definitely not. In fact, the town felt deserted, our inn hosting only a couple of other couples and, for one night, a small family. On the main street through town, straggly Christmas lights were strung up over the front door of a karaoke pub, but usually vibrant pachinko parlors and some of the smaller local restaurants were shuttered.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Walking down the now darker sidewalk at night, it was hard to imagine how any of those venues survived two-plus years of pandemic.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Nearby, at the peak of Mount Katsuragi, Japanese was the minority language. Instead, visitors from other parts of Asia took in the pristine view of Mount Fuji sloping into Suruga Bay, hiked through the forest and lounged at the footbath and immaculate café. Like our inn, the park and its facilities had clearly been upgraded over the downtime, and like Golden Gai, it now boasted multilingual signs and staff speaking English, or at least trying to, and looked brighter, cleaner, spruced up. After our desultory nighttime strolls through town, such revamps were encouraging.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCwx8vJ481nC70tvyuyKYSGPVUaaIbqH8dLbflBQM8ltC8gvEnQeawTfuC2i7HkjfkD0pL6SlxOD3ehH_N8OhEqg6AvooaCD-Y4b8LXoevV01_G1FZ12Q2XwZVgmq9ivNYBDxkKCplp1deUPZewrux4h0zrzEoA_OYR0vRWuFI5aEFmVwVg/s4032/IMG_4763.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCwx8vJ481nC70tvyuyKYSGPVUaaIbqH8dLbflBQM8ltC8gvEnQeawTfuC2i7HkjfkD0pL6SlxOD3ehH_N8OhEqg6AvooaCD-Y4b8LXoevV01_G1FZ12Q2XwZVgmq9ivNYBDxkKCplp1deUPZewrux4h0zrzEoA_OYR0vRWuFI5aEFmVwVg/s320/IMG_4763.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">For Christmas itself we roasted a whole chicken sourced from Kagoshima. It was excellent. Once upon a time it was impossible to find turkey in Tokyo, according to KFC lore, hence the fried chicken bonanza. But now you can easily find heaps of frozen turkey at any of the specialty foreign food shops in the city.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Problem is: you need to have an oven big enough for the bird, and enough people on hand to consume it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A juicy, seasoned roast chicken or Cornish game hen has become my preferred Christmas substitute, and sides like stuffing, potatoes, vegetables and cranberry sauce are also easy to buy seasonally in Tokyo. Besides which, in Japan, the real feast begins just a week later for the New Year’s celebration, a string of days when soba noodles, pre-prepped delicacies (osechi ryori), mochi rice cakes, sweet beans, roast beef and crab legs fill the bill. There isn't any room for leftover turkey sandwiches.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Jw2cR3v-yNoR8uVtAXRLZjXw_eC6ylR-LrOAmUgVKeiBIuJ4t4DT5HxiY_-DnKip1S-FjB3_jfdv3gahIPi-NpvF2zJfsAUPVcZgYwxPHzEPngdnibRgcCcGeOjjhEcURs6WasZJv6hjGCCO4x9_jqLIQkQp-vA2QQTahdSMouZw2uROrQ/s3780/IMG_4808.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3780" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Jw2cR3v-yNoR8uVtAXRLZjXw_eC6ylR-LrOAmUgVKeiBIuJ4t4DT5HxiY_-DnKip1S-FjB3_jfdv3gahIPi-NpvF2zJfsAUPVcZgYwxPHzEPngdnibRgcCcGeOjjhEcURs6WasZJv6hjGCCO4x9_jqLIQkQp-vA2QQTahdSMouZw2uROrQ/s320/IMG_4808.jpeg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvS4RL8lMQzx6_I4d4GLqL1bxdhPTn4WCu8L6rZzhlI-RwipQho-vBlA4o7lAep9Rxsmn0h1m-eTvuH9cy6Ad25OXgWAmLArQ-n5RXuOLKyQX8UpWUhF0mBraj1xoyj63VPeQLM5lj8sglJ2YmY4bxdG2Nn9hURY5C1eeV-Xv1_yXw-9aig/s1324/IMG_4843.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="1324" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvS4RL8lMQzx6_I4d4GLqL1bxdhPTn4WCu8L6rZzhlI-RwipQho-vBlA4o7lAep9Rxsmn0h1m-eTvuH9cy6Ad25OXgWAmLArQ-n5RXuOLKyQX8UpWUhF0mBraj1xoyj63VPeQLM5lj8sglJ2YmY4bxdG2Nn9hURY5C1eeV-Xv1_yXw-9aig/s320/IMG_4843.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, but the unsurprising news this January is that Japan is not behaving bunny-ish, at least not procreatively. Another record-low birth rate prompted otherwise bland and reserved PM Kishida to warn that the nation could cease to function without more babies. Childless myself, I sympathize with young parents even more now that inflation has seeped into my local supermarket. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While Tokyo remains a bargain compared to US cities like New York and San Francisco, prices here have spiked over the past few months, especially for fruit, vegetables and other fresh goods, and so-called ‘shrinkflation’ has arrived despite retailer reluctance: four pieces of sushi now cost ¥100 more than six pieces did in October. The pinch is minor for people like me, but when I see mothers in the checkout aisle watching the register with widening eyes and narrowing brows, I worry for them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After one of the sunniest, mildest winters I’ve ever had in Tokyo, perfect walking weather, temperatures tanked at the end of January. Like a fool, I'm now flying to frigid New York for a film shoot, trading temperaments and temperatures at one of the coldest times of the year. But at least I won't be alone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijT_x6sKls9qT8Mc5YsGjEIur2wIKSDyORkGqItMFJ8e2KrbV7rgPUhimUSUeBpv9RzRCi_Eyzj8QC-u4oSbvsrqxM2ZHXqC8ad3dxh0xZ23AAxv5zbXoSFxZ_pGUZx_pFFtMcXQ0rT1IxNfKwltFHnTn9WIihaKdlRKfjc6OcXZqlHJDIRA/s2464/IMG_4771.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2450" data-original-width="2464" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijT_x6sKls9qT8Mc5YsGjEIur2wIKSDyORkGqItMFJ8e2KrbV7rgPUhimUSUeBpv9RzRCi_Eyzj8QC-u4oSbvsrqxM2ZHXqC8ad3dxh0xZ23AAxv5zbXoSFxZ_pGUZx_pFFtMcXQ0rT1IxNfKwltFHnTn9WIihaKdlRKfjc6OcXZqlHJDIRA/s320/IMG_4771.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-51505529736491194882023-01-15T04:05:00.002-05:002023-01-16T01:20:49.884-05:00My interview on THE ART OF BLADE RUNNER: BLACK LOTUS for "Deep In Japan"<p>My thanks to Jeff Krueger, who always sounds great: <a href="https://deepinjapan.buzzsprout.com/1903791/11941051-roland-kelts-on-the-art-of-blade-runner-black-lotus-and-much-more" target="_blank">Deep in Japan with Roland Kelts on The Art of Blade Runner Black Lotus (and Much More)</a></p><p><a href="https://deepinjapan.buzzsprout.com/1903791/11941051-roland-kelts-on-the-art-of-blade-runner-black-lotus-and-much-more" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="640" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7n-Lm4QWovcr3IOk-FpiDhEXY-dmYeuGIInvG3CXOTDOJCkWClll1faMTHylivCyzD78qSTKpVgxDLEBCkq-T_pEUdLputaoctn2OHYqDIOA2wlQFrFD6u_9bpmTXH2YOWM1DH1Dp2zi2L4I0Jk2saIHiGiw9UJ1bjVk4E6bbUexnkFGtOQ/w640-h504/318407608_5616996395042529_4230172260843923323_n.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-77259741255001103622022-12-31T01:47:00.002-05:002023-01-03T23:41:12.020-05:00My take on the year in anime for The Japan Times<p>So long, 2022. You've been quite the year for anime...</p><p><a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2022/12/22/films/top-anime-in-2022/" target="_blank">Anime continued its dominance in 2022</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUJFaFTJvjse0soLlrKz7Q6PM4okwPaaZDx3wKMldSokeRufM_KuNrnNIQzmBlGO28-MtNF7lW_4-fEFtZsZEyaaU9aDSmCu513hUjWzfnnR7oahA5lAxecHYTcipKTw1b2hiVn05o2k4aKCFgTThEvjUIPinJuKcoRg0l8ZE_RaYlzjK1-A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="906" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUJFaFTJvjse0soLlrKz7Q6PM4okwPaaZDx3wKMldSokeRufM_KuNrnNIQzmBlGO28-MtNF7lW_4-fEFtZsZEyaaU9aDSmCu513hUjWzfnnR7oahA5lAxecHYTcipKTw1b2hiVn05o2k4aKCFgTThEvjUIPinJuKcoRg0l8ZE_RaYlzjK1-A=w400-h357" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I used to get asked if anime would ever go mainstream. In 2022, the reverse happened: The mainstream came to anime.</p><p>At the end of 2020, I wrote about the <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/12/31/films/top-anime-in-2020/" target="_blank">anime industry’s surprising resilience</a> in the throes of the pandemic. Two years later, anime is being called the world’s most COVID-resistant entertainment medium: bankable content in disruptive and chaotic times.</p><p>While Hollywood struggles to lure audiences back to theaters for anything that’s not a superhero epic or “Top Gun” sequel, anime is thriving everywhere you can find it: on cinema and TV screens, video and Blu-ray discs and streaming platforms.</p><p>The industry saw record-breaking revenues in 2021, the most recent year for which statistics are available, growing 13.3% after contracting a meager 3.5% in peak-pandemic 2020, according to the Association of Japanese Animations. Today the market overseas is almost as large as the one in Japan (which it briefly eclipsed two years ago) and analysts expect international numbers to trend upward.</p><p>The Walt Disney Company is the latest U.S. media giant to increase investments in Japanese properties, announcing last month a broadening of its longstanding partnership with manga publisher Kodansha Ltd.</p><p>“Disney’s growing expansion into anime this year is especially notable,” says Kim Morrissy, a Japan-based reporter for the Anime News Network. The company simultaneously unveiled a new lineup of anime originals on its Disney+ streaming platform.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIe3wUu1BUPwf2G1NsWNwdrMCBeKCoh6xtYK5dObeiwyflG2z5P1WTNpg375msivryz3lYFRtz-yjl9hgQt_b2t9gD3Wnobcn3tEw5Vbn1XkDKWszg6xYb5drOPgKVtt7srI0B63yUM4eFzqWfqiTmgzn8bfJJ6a-Bz9x3hyjx32ECBuOd3A/s1920/np_file_200465.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIe3wUu1BUPwf2G1NsWNwdrMCBeKCoh6xtYK5dObeiwyflG2z5P1WTNpg375msivryz3lYFRtz-yjl9hgQt_b2t9gD3Wnobcn3tEw5Vbn1XkDKWszg6xYb5drOPgKVtt7srI0B63yUM4eFzqWfqiTmgzn8bfJJ6a-Bz9x3hyjx32ECBuOd3A/s320/np_file_200465.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Much like previous years, anime dominated the Japanese box office in 2022, with “One Piece Film Red” coming out on top. In the film, protagonist Luffy (right) and his band of pirates are set at odds with a renowned singer named Uta. | © EIICHIRO ODA / 2022 “ONE PIECE" PRODUCTION COMMITTEE</span></div><p>At the start of this month, Saudi Arabia’s MBC Group expanded partnerships with Toei Animation and Sony’s Aniplex Inc. to multiply its anime offerings on Middle Eastern streamer, Shahid.</p><p>Anime is kinetic advertising for its print cousin, manga, and from 2020 to 2021, manga sales spiked 171% in North America alone. Japanese content continues to surge in popularity abroad among younger generations, whose ravenous fandom is transforming the overall consumer experience.</p><p>“My friends and peers with young kids in the U.S. tell me that all their kids watch, read and talk about is manga and anime,” says producer Joseph Chou, founder and CEO of CG anime studio Sola Digital Arts Inc. in Tokyo. “Even a big-box U.S. retail outlet like Target is now stocking manga on prime shelf space.”</p><p>While streaming services expedited the mainstream shift, especially during these past two years of stay-at-home isolation, anime is proving robust at the box office — and not only in Japan, where features like this year’s “One Piece Film Red” and Makoto Shinkai’s latest “Suzume” top domestic charts.</p><p>Tadashi Sudo, editor-in-chief of the Animation Business Journal, sees the success of anime in cinemas outside of Japan as this year’s key commercial trend. Box-office revenues from anime films are expected to reach a record high in 2022, he says. The theatrical releases of “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” and “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” each grossed upward of $30 million in North America, far exceeding projections.</p><p>Of course, none of this would matter much if the quality of new series and features had tapered off. But the fresh crop of anime released in 2022 has drawn raves from critics and fans for its mix of stylized action, quirky humor and kawaii character designs — what author and manga translator Zack Davisson calls “that action-with-heart feel, with some solid violence.”</p><p>“Spy×Family,” “Chainsaw Man,” “Lycoris Recoil” and the reboot of 1980s classic “Urusei Yatsura” were all popular and looked great. (“Lycoris” moved over 23,000 units in DVD/Blu-ray formats in Japan, “extraordinarily high” sales for physical media in 2022, notes Morrissy.) Masaaki Yuasa’s genre-blending musical film, “Inu-Oh,” adapted from a Hideo Furukawa novel, showed that innovative, unclassifiable anime could still push the artistic envelope.</p><p>Veteran fans expressed relief that increased global investment hasn’t diluted anime’s culturally rooted aesthetics. With Netflix and other streaming giants financing more productions, “there was a fear that Japanese material would become more Westernized,” says translator Dan Kanemitsu. “But as far as I can tell, the ‘Westernized’ anime titles have not done remarkably better than more conventional titles. The predicted ‘death of Japanese sensibilities’ didn’t happen.”</p><p>In our borderless entertainment era, anime is not only durable but also influential. Hit live-action productions like South Korea’s “Squid Game” and American sci-fi action film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” bear distinct anime storytelling and visual tropes, as their creators openly acknowledge.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgS7tmrDkWf6oVM9SN7xWr1rpYHQbahRYr9ao26AUAmOPxGhHpW6muIGKhUJFwvB9Kpa6aFitDSNsXy4e9UjGFdHIfWZ-XI0Ct06bdC12OiNfXfj5aDktVJTnHS24BvfJLkhzXaXmfgWEqb4uglzvQ9iBgJ1plfr4IAv3x2yp5HRXUJXdNRZA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="1872" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgS7tmrDkWf6oVM9SN7xWr1rpYHQbahRYr9ao26AUAmOPxGhHpW6muIGKhUJFwvB9Kpa6aFitDSNsXy4e9UjGFdHIfWZ-XI0Ct06bdC12OiNfXfj5aDktVJTnHS24BvfJLkhzXaXmfgWEqb4uglzvQ9iBgJ1plfr4IAv3x2yp5HRXUJXdNRZA" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Makoto Shinkai's "Suzume" tops the Japanese box office.</span></div><br />But anime has an edge over live-action content. Unlike their flesh-and-blood counterparts, anime heroes travel well. A star actor from one country and culture may have limited appeal elsewhere, but an eye-catching illustration can excite fans worldwide. Production costs are generally far lower for anime projects than for most U.S.-made live action or animation, and you don’t need a cast and crew of potential COVID clusters gathering on set.<p></p><p>According to John McCallum, an anime market researcher at consumer insights agency Interpret LLC, anime more effectively meets the demands of the narrowly segmented viewers that streaming services cultivate. “Anime can achieve profitability among smaller niche audiences rather than needing to swing for the fences with broad-appeal, blockbuster-style projects,” he says. When a title does have a broader reach, like “Spy×Family,” it can become what McCallum calls “a consistent overperformer” across several countries.</p><p>Despite its ability to adapt and weather the pandemic, the industry has persistent problems: Wages are low, skilled labor is scant, and most staffers remain overworked and underpaid by studios that green-light too many projects. The government’s public-private Cool Japan Fund, launched nearly a decade ago, has done little to improve conditions and is reportedly on the verge of being scuttled.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbltq_gh-PsEZ8WoX8EH0MNnuPOPRN30sT5gEinclw_uk6SMDPm3mTKFTZ1c68Tq_FrU5yScJmsJuHrQ_BWbUMhh9uyAFCc2penVqDoGHCz3xUoROtyV9mThxdm7zViq1mrgXtOChQaUIQNiQBfApQpxBccyvyTqD2-CuxZKjsS10PMgU8Q/s960/https___hypebeast.com_image_2022_08_spy-family-anime-part-2-october-return-news-info-000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbltq_gh-PsEZ8WoX8EH0MNnuPOPRN30sT5gEinclw_uk6SMDPm3mTKFTZ1c68Tq_FrU5yScJmsJuHrQ_BWbUMhh9uyAFCc2penVqDoGHCz3xUoROtyV9mThxdm7zViq1mrgXtOChQaUIQNiQBfApQpxBccyvyTqD2-CuxZKjsS10PMgU8Q/s320/https___hypebeast.com_image_2022_08_spy-family-anime-part-2-october-return-news-info-000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Spy x Family" reached audiences across several countries and demographics.</span></div><p>“Investing in promising efforts makes sense,” says Benjamin Boas, author of “From ‘Cool Japan’ to ‘Your Japan.’” “But the way these efforts have been selected so far has been disappointing.”</p><p>Still, the timing of the pandemic and the technologies available to fans and creators proved fortuitous. Streaming sites delivered content to isolated masses without the delays that hindered the shipment of physical products. Creators working remotely, once deemed unthinkable by anime producers, enabled collaborations between artists in Japan and around the world so studios could get projects over the finish line.</p><p>Animator Henry Thurlow, who has lived in Japan for 13 years and contributed to major series like “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” and “One Piece,” says that the pandemic has made working in the anime industry easier for non-Japanese talent, wherever they may be.</p><p>“Luckily, this happened now and not 10 years ago, when it would’ve been absolutely impossible to work remotely,” he says. “People in anime studios wouldn’t have had computer setups with Cintiq tablets and the ability to Zoom every hour. There’s no way you would’ve gotten enough freelancers to finish a production.”</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-38974914520560548662022-12-18T19:00:00.002-05:002022-12-21T10:39:28.071-05:00Here for the Holidays, my latest little big art book: The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus<p>Okay, here goes the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Art-Blade-Runner-Black-Lotus/dp/1789097142">new book</a>, out now worldwide from Penguin Random House and Titan Books. I'm no good at this launch stuff but I can assure you the book is beautiful. Just got big boxes of it here in Tokyo:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiR3fCs-y4Vn8Q85lMd7w13orBBW3gc6lL32GhFCVaUUhcmXCH8Rsa1fOLGIFm-IR6Ej1bsHOOLBky-P2LBRQsG3rfMk1u-LOJn5ixWZhoSrGm_79ZiVEvuqKTashaYFThKex0PgtZn2bZkWdCyGDq3T5uMB1VifUSWse3vSMd1AGbTcEQngg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiR3fCs-y4Vn8Q85lMd7w13orBBW3gc6lL32GhFCVaUUhcmXCH8Rsa1fOLGIFm-IR6Ej1bsHOOLBky-P2LBRQsG3rfMk1u-LOJn5ixWZhoSrGm_79ZiVEvuqKTashaYFThKex0PgtZn2bZkWdCyGDq3T5uMB1VifUSWse3vSMd1AGbTcEQngg=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So what's it about? I wrote a preview of it in one of my <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2021/11/05/tv/blade-runner-black-lotus/">monthly columns</a> for <i>The Japan Times</i>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"British director Ridley Scott’s 1982 original 'Blade Runner,' a Hollywood live-action movie set in a futuristic Los Angeles, features several neo-noirish nods to a dystopian urban Japan. Signs in Japanese flash above neon-lit alleyways lined with cramped standing food stalls. Snatches of Japanese dialogue are heard on the streets and from the radio in Los Angeles police officer Gaff’s hovercraft (the brilliantly designed “spinner”), and in the voiceover accompanying an indelible image of a geisha, popping a pill on a gigantic skyscraper video projection.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Even today, seeing Japanese culture embedded so deeply in the mise-en-scene of a mainstream Hollywood film is startling. In 1982, it must’ve been revolutionary.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It certainly didn’t go unnoticed in Japan. While initially “Blade Runner” was not a box-office hit on either side of the Pacific, it was revered by those who understood its heady blend of sleek high-tech environs with low and grimy street culture, a visual icon of the emerging cyberpunk sci-fi subgenre.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Over time, “Blade Runner” was tagged as a “cult classic.” And oh, what a cult it was, particularly in Japan.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KlmnXPRJbGg" width="320" youtube-src-id="KlmnXPRJbGg"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A generation of anime artists was shaped by the film’s daring and gritty aesthetic, and would go on to create some of Japan’s consecrated anime classics such as “Akira,” “Ghost in the Shell” and “Cowboy Bebop” — titles that are now so popular and renowned that they have been or are being remade in Hollywood. Talk about circles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“Akira” director Katsuhiko Otomo and “Ghost in the Shell” director Mamoru Oshii have both cited “Blade Runner” as a key source of inspiration for their conceptual designs, and “Cowboy Bebop” creator Shinichiro Watanabe has seen Scott’s film over 20 times.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“It was the feel of the world in ‘Blade Runner’ that surprised me the most,” Watanabe says, commenting on the film’s mix of futuristic surrealism and grim urbanism. “With ‘Star Wars,’ the story takes place in a world different from where we actually live. But ‘Blade Runner’ takes place in our reality, and the visual design is so cool in every scene.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Hope you like the little big book! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi333jKGSvnpyRsd9gGBzJO61On8o73XCZEFSqbzTSkquBr2SEMjC9Uk_6RU_KDYR0Q8nQIQdkyEPs4aq8aYGdIGbAdvJ2xVjm48a7A-qKVotuVcO5HlfcIrYcI7QkQxV5Fi0VqWh2UuLmHoDuBbmJkS08W_NUXN_siTCwO4AZp6xdKQNWWLA/s640/318407608_5616996395042529_4230172260843923323_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="640" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi333jKGSvnpyRsd9gGBzJO61On8o73XCZEFSqbzTSkquBr2SEMjC9Uk_6RU_KDYR0Q8nQIQdkyEPs4aq8aYGdIGbAdvJ2xVjm48a7A-qKVotuVcO5HlfcIrYcI7QkQxV5Fi0VqWh2UuLmHoDuBbmJkS08W_NUXN_siTCwO4AZp6xdKQNWWLA/w400-h315/318407608_5616996395042529_4230172260843923323_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">courtesy Jeff Krueger</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-67290446950636333432022-12-08T05:37:00.007-05:002022-12-11T00:15:37.952-05:00Letters from Tokyo, November 2022: "Visiting Chestnutville in Nagano" for The Japan Society of Boston<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.japansocietyboston.org/post/letters-from-tokyo-november-2022-visiting-chestnutville-in-nagano" target="_blank">Letters from Tokyo November 2022: Visiting Chestnutville in Nagano</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>The latest in my "Letters from Tokyo" series for the <a href="https://www.japansocietyboston.org/post/letters-from-tokyo-november-2022-visiting-chestnutville-in-nagano" target="_blank">Japan Society of Boston</a> recounts a recent tour of Nagano to meet the 21st Century descendants of Nakahama (John) Manjiro, Commodore Matthew Perry and Captain William Whitfield, key 19th Century figures in the origins of Japan-US relations. To join the families as they reunited over 180 years later in Japan was an astonishment; learning more about their intertwined histories remains fascinating.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEij2NQIh_oCXVyeOky_OuXoCzy7Nr0zoSzEtbeWljV8D26BILBjQcxqe88hAbJdA-3tkQgnHwslFYmGbGcMPEv0gxEsqT_23Vn6vIC4usHhQ8gjFGX7HK9un829MM6xOCGgKuKaiR8rU99lI6IMjkE0cDl9wnMhostkMWvxrBY-zQxpsK9S-w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEij2NQIh_oCXVyeOky_OuXoCzy7Nr0zoSzEtbeWljV8D26BILBjQcxqe88hAbJdA-3tkQgnHwslFYmGbGcMPEv0gxEsqT_23Vn6vIC4usHhQ8gjFGX7HK9un829MM6xOCGgKuKaiR8rU99lI6IMjkE0cDl9wnMhostkMWvxrBY-zQxpsK9S-w=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Scott Whitfield, Aya Nakahama, Matt Perry</span></div><br /><i>We met in the storybook village of Obuse, famed for delicious chestnuts, miso, sake and heaps of locally grown fruit and veggies. We also toured the Hokusai Museum, housing rare works by Japan's most famous woodblock print (</i>ukiyo-e<i>) artist, Katsushika Hokusai. I wrote about all of that, too.</i><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZ1cbA6_71g-YigMkvyNXU2HTdzpEcVNcjW9I1jNthFgs4aafmBekfYpW7whK4jfpuNDYT53Z0N9Av0Q7ID3YYZg-oW2t2B_PF4U8q9n0uACW0Heo7SuMmkVq_igdZbLk-EjjWg6Jo4fDxr49wbJ8LI69CLuAT4PxYRZnrnWZO3mARr8f75A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZ1cbA6_71g-YigMkvyNXU2HTdzpEcVNcjW9I1jNthFgs4aafmBekfYpW7whK4jfpuNDYT53Z0N9Av0Q7ID3YYZg-oW2t2B_PF4U8q9n0uACW0Heo7SuMmkVq_igdZbLk-EjjWg6Jo4fDxr49wbJ8LI69CLuAT4PxYRZnrnWZO3mARr8f75A=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Kamameshi</i> w/chestnut</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At the start of November we found ourselves on a bus bound for Obuse, a tiny village spanning seven square miles with a population of roughly 11,000, tucked between a river and a mountain in Nagano Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There are plenty of stories about <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/10/out-old-ghost-homes-japan" target="_blank">the hollowing out of Japan’s countryside.</a> With its population declining and aging, Japan’s big cities alone hold the allure of opportunity (jobs and a social life) for the young. You don't have to travel far past Tokyo’s urban edges to find the vacant homes and shuttered schools of rural Japan, where many dilapidated towns host mostly the aged, and fewer of them each year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But Obuse is not one of those towns. Each year Obuse welcomes over a million tourists and is well prepared to greet them, boasting a storybook elegance right down to its manicured floral gardens and sidewalks made from the wood of chestnut trees. No kidding. Chestnuts are a big deal in Obuse, served up in just about every manner imaginable except the one I'm used to in New York: shoveled into paper sacks from smoky street carts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4nQwJlcjIz_NmCPb1eXPANpJJuFM54MJ8CU74mH6iBjZwX-1c3WRz1h_tZ1HVRTB3SWFBXhBAuWXMtuGCZn-kAwlDUwkVuDSpVKAIw4mYs-zuaq8BQ8LLXUl27LvTeNL2Lrf4cL3iR0Gk1lO8RIxwX6aoukwVmMA2cl9MEvGsd9jtjs29g/s4032/IMG_4341.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4nQwJlcjIz_NmCPb1eXPANpJJuFM54MJ8CU74mH6iBjZwX-1c3WRz1h_tZ1HVRTB3SWFBXhBAuWXMtuGCZn-kAwlDUwkVuDSpVKAIw4mYs-zuaq8BQ8LLXUl27LvTeNL2Lrf4cL3iR0Gk1lO8RIxwX6aoukwVmMA2cl9MEvGsd9jtjs29g/w300-h400/IMG_4341.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Cobblenuts: chestnut-tree sidewalks</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Chestnuts go especially well with rice—good rice—like the <i>kamameshi </i>bento we were served for lunch on the bus north.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It wasn’t just any old bus. We were there at the behest of dear friend Peter Grilli, who connected us to the <a href="http://www.manjiro.or.jp/e/" target="_blank">John Manjiro Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange</a>. I realize that’s a mouthful, but it helps explain the nature of the venture.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Since 1991, the Manjiro-Whitfield Center has held an annual Grassroots Summit for Japanese and American citizens, alternating between locations in Japan and the US to celebrate a historic encounter.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In 1841, a shipwrecked 14 year-old Nakahama (John) Manjiro was rescued by American whaling Captain William Whitfield and taken to Massachusetts, where he studied for ten years. Manjiro is widely considered the first Japanese immigrant to the US. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After he returned to Japan on $600 from the California Gold Rush (!) in 1851, Manjiro helped pry open the Tokugawa shogunate’s isolationist policy ahead of US Commodore Matthew Perry’s arrival in 1853.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Among the Americans on our bus to Nagano were descendants of Captain Whitfield and Commodore Perry. In Obuse, we met one of Nakahama Manjiro’s lineage.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There was more history to be had: Tours of miso and sake breweries, both over 200 years old, a tea ceremony and a visit to <a href="https://hokusai-kan.com/en/" target="_blank">the Hokusai museum</a>, commemorating the years Japan’s most famous woodblock print (<i>ukiyo-e</i>) artist spent visiting a patron and working in Obuse in the 19th century. A night at a local hot springs inn and a foliage-viewing pit stop at Mirror Pond (<i>Kagami ike</i>) in the Togakushi Mountains capped things off. Everywhere we ate excellent soba, a personal favorite and regional specialty.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But Tokyo was calling. My smartphone buzzed with editorial queries throughout.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Art-Blade-Runner-Black-Lotus/dp/1789097142" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="2824" data-original-width="3269" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcr9IWApcOliyyv9m6qqKKj2WOzh99Ktn3AAhhN3dSkmygvRZF4S_fH2TcDZEFV2F-EubeeaGOBFVTuxwrUZyvim1VqvO8xs6QNsnRMGx6oJ1TzP7lAC8nilaSkTvzk7Koa-FLsOg3EDmMFgHnbxHXhuxqrATMLYWELA4WH9IhSBSlkfJaUA=w400-h345" width="400" /></a></div><br />This month sees the US release of <a href="https://monkeymagazine.org/monkey-vol-3" target="_blank">“Monkey: New Writing from Japan, Volume 3,”</a> the literary magazine to which I am a contributing editor, and the publication of my new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Art-Blade-Runner-Black-Lotus/dp/1789097142" target="_blank">“The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus,”</a> penned in pandemic isolation. On the Shinkansen bullet train back to the city I finished final edits on my <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/opinion/japan-society-economy.html" target="_blank">opinion essay</a> for the <i>New York Times</i>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You can complain about deadlines if you're a writer, but you can’t ignore them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://monkeymagazine.org/monkey-vol-3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1754" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiriij7BR0IUZrvM4Swu-uYfi0XhvntFiBv6swQdFh1s8wVw8KmF3pX5igAhBh7zF4vGOUdniGRqgf1Bl2SAa7FmKcvdZMG6qh9FiyoXWOvxM7BxubHSVs38FMp-8hDQ_gwGh5XI_1s5oY1SAf4soOV9M31_ygRvBQXet0L8i14J3FbDpbILg/w293-h400/Monkey2022-FrontCover.jpeg" width="293" /></a></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32049675.post-67297037643400845522022-11-15T17:29:00.007-05:002022-12-31T01:56:34.783-05:00"The Lingering Tragedy of Japan's Lost Generation" for The New York Times<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/opinion/japan-society-economy.html" target="_blank">The Lingering Tragedy of Japan’s Lost Generation</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtAzp9uVUlnBjn8MFLRfB7Xf-faB_vWG3qtuG-JNLUtlR-uh1pJdgUPA4tfuRkd36NqyOu1GF_O8DK8mgEz0cu6GV3cfq5ZVgfODA4sY878WB6aGyqlWS7z0lvnOicUuqC5e36xjSX-rZf2DWFrETO7t4sfOha2BMrSVelLSKZrzgvM9GAQ/s840/Screen%20Shot%20Large_Mark%20Wang.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="839" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtAzp9uVUlnBjn8MFLRfB7Xf-faB_vWG3qtuG-JNLUtlR-uh1pJdgUPA4tfuRkd36NqyOu1GF_O8DK8mgEz0cu6GV3cfq5ZVgfODA4sY878WB6aGyqlWS7z0lvnOicUuqC5e36xjSX-rZf2DWFrETO7t4sfOha2BMrSVelLSKZrzgvM9GAQ/w400-h400/Screen%20Shot%20Large_Mark%20Wang.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Mark Wang</span></div><p>I met Hiroshi S. a few years ago at a support group in Tokyo for socially isolated Japanese.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A chain-smoking 43-year-old in a puffy down vest, he was one of an estimated one million or more Japanese known as hikikomori, which roughly translates as “extreme recluses.” Typically male, between the ages of 30 and 50, jobless or underemployed, they have largely withdrawn from society after Japan’s extended economic malaise since the 1990s prevented them from getting their working lives in order.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Hiroshi, who asked that his full name not be used, crashed out of Japan’s corporate job market roughly 20 years earlier and was living off his aging, unsympathetic parents in their home, where he racked up credit card debt on pop culture merchandise. He even contemplated suicide.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">“Japan has changed,” he told me, referring to the shrinking opportunities and hope available to his generation. He never once looked me in the eye.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">That was in 2017. Since then, Japan has done little to address the despair of the hikikomori or the much larger lost generation of economically marginalized individuals to which they belong.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/opinion/japan-society-economy.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1946" data-original-width="2048" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGm1oN2BwHOtByJjvzNu-7qTPJx91_h3DruZT7RlknlMMkaihw6U7hoEyuJHzAxNiS8IXuRGVqJ8uGP3aGznc28V0jgwkPmokW66B5YsoM_HYXKbX9OS9sEs-tbCoIIYCE4N2gCYziu-He6869cbC84j9DCg8PJL9BWHptBMYU1ehx--B3A/w320-h304/NYT1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Masahide Yuuki</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It’s a national mental health and employment crisis that has persisted for years, and there are concerns that it is being worsened by the Covid pandemic. But political leaders and a society that values stoic conformity and steady employment seem fundamentally unable to summon the willpower and tools to confront the crisis.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Japan’s lost generation is estimated to number as many as 17 million, men and women who came of age during the decades of economic stagnation that the country is still struggling to shake off.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Their predicament is back in the public eye after the assassination of the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in July. He was gunned down by Tetsuya Yamagami, 41 at the time, who sent a letter to a blogger one day before the killing, blaming the Unification Church — an organization with longstanding ties to Mr. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party — for “destroying my family and driving it into bankruptcy.” Mr. Yamagami’s mother, a member, had made large donations to the church.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">No details have yet emerged to suggest that Mr. Yamagami’s being from the lost generation was a factor in the killing. But some Japanese media outlets and academics have pointed out that details of his life that have emerged — his trouble fitting into society and the workforce — mark him as a member of that struggling group, and that the deeper roots of his anger are being ignored by the conservative establishment’s focus on the hot-button political issue of Liberal Democratic ties to the Unification Church, the conservative religious group founded in South Korea by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in 1954.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Those roots lie in the fading promise of Japan’s postwar socioeconomic model, which centered on the salaryman, whose lifetime corporate employment supported his nuclear family. This model has frayed badly since the bursting of Japan’s economic bubble — a period of easy credit and hyperinflated stock and real estate values — in the early 1990s, which tipped Japan into an ongoing economic sluggishness.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The response by the Liberal Democratic Party, which has dominated postwar Japan, is blamed for worsening things with policies focused on sustaining corporate profits. In the process, the full-time work force was trimmed, and short-term jobs with reduced or no benefits have increased. A period of job market paralysis known as the employment ice age ensued. Middle-class incomes fell, marriage and birth rates declined, and the percentage of single-person households rose.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The isolated Japanese often have nowhere to turn. Despite recent improvements, mental health services in Japan remain inadequate and often expensive. Psychological counseling remains unpopular in a country where cultural principles like gaman — Japan’s version of Britain’s stiff upper lip — stigmatize seeking help as shameful. Domestic media typically frame those of the lost generation not as victims but as self-absorbed ingrates.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/opinion/japan-society-economy.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="740" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2fHpDVZ_wiYa4EGMns8WugYFeg4A0vnEQQYMr11PeGwwE1j3GOcu1Y7nbOxZf1soQFd1jDA_6OR-_kEhzU9u9bRuvLTXKJNW07F6EwZuz8sOE5xTFPU2tFM0Gb7ss2ZKyUfpGP-qyka3-tLvGe9jLT8oCJGVyklAejnirWGzr7qZlIldmtg/w145-h400/NYT2.jpeg" width="145" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Masahide Yuuki</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Resentment over this labeling was clear in the support group I attended, which met in a basement lounge in Tokyo’s red-light district of Kabukicho. (I attended several meetings as a journalist with the support of all involved.) None of the roughly 40 participants, dressed casually but neatly, looked out of the ordinary. They were calm and articulate and arrestingly candid about their insecurities, joblessness, loneliness and, especially, their anger — directed at an older generation whose response to their problems was often expressed as ganbaru. (“Work harder!”) Some lived with their parents but rarely spoke to them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In 2019 an unemployed 51-year-old recluse went on a stabbing rampage, killing two people and injuring 17, most of them schoolgirls, fueling public concerns about violence by the economically and socially marginalized. A week later, the government drew up plans to create up to 300,000 jobs for those stranded by the employment ice age. But little came of the plan, and Mr. Abe’s trickle-down economic policies are blamed for exacerbating the pressure on job seekers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">To many in Japan, Mr. Yamagami is a prime example of the lost generation’s marginalization and distance from unsympathetic parents and, for some, a focus of sympathy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Yet no policy relief appears on the horizon. Mr. Abe’s successor, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, took office last year with plans for a “new capitalism” that will include wealth redistribution, wage increases and benefits for part-time or short-term workers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But Mr. Kishida’s administration is on the defensive over Liberal Democratic connections to the Unification Church, which has been accused of aggressively soliciting donations from members. Mr. Kishida’s unpopular decision to hold a taxpayer-funded state funeral to honor Mr. Abe, rising inflation and a falling yen have sent his cabinet’s approval numbers tumbling, weakening his ability to push anything through. He no longer mentions new capitalism, instead echoing Mr. Abe in prioritizing economic growth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Missing from all of this is any real public discussion of ways to get the lost generation on track. Solutions will require genuine change — not by these millions of long-suffering people but by the hidebound society in which they live.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>• Roland Kelts (<a href="https://twitter.com/rolandkelts" target="_blank">@rolandkelts</a>) is a Japanese American writer and visiting professor at Waseda University in Tokyo. He is the author of <a href="https://japanamericabook.com/" target="_blank">“Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.”</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Art-Blade-Runner-Black-Lotus/dp/1789097142" target="_blank">“The Art of Blade Runner: Black Lotus.”</a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">• <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/opinion/japan-society-economy.html">The New York Times</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">• <a href="https://themarketherald.com.au/the-lingering-tragedy-of-japans-lost-generation-2022-11-09/" target="_blank">The Market Herald, AU</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">• <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/the-lingering-tragedy-of-japan-s-lost-generation" target="_blank">The Straits Times, SG</a></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Japanamerica" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>Roland Keltshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112626487420242777noreply@blogger.com