japanamerica

At the start of this relatively long month of Japanamerica -related events, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Bamboo and Sara of Anime News Network's "Chicks on Anime" column. Not surprisingly, given the excellence of the host site, their questions were both knowledgeable and fresh, betraying a deep awareness of the topic at hand and a keen sensitivity to the needs of the column's readers. During the interview, I was in New York, while Bamboo and Sara were in California. But a couple of days before the interview went 'live,' I, too, was in California, and had the additional honor of meeting Bamboo in person at my talk at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena (see photo below). The interview touched upon several ideas I began to explore in the updated paperback edition of Japanamerica , but they clearly deserve more time in the light, as the follow-up reader comments amply prove. For now, here's our exchange, with a continuing link to the origi...

With the New York Times announcing additional cutbacks yesterday , the death of Anime Insider after eight years may say more about the status of print periodicals than it does about anime in America. Still, it's another stalwart down. [courtesy of Anime News Network and Lawrence Brenner ]

In my capacity as contributing writer/editor to Adbusters magazine, I drafted a short article on Japan's dame ren , or "no good people," willful dropouts and slackers, artists and free spirits--and street performer Rikimaru Toho, "the Manga Man:" Dame-Ren (No Good People) A glimpse into Japan’s embrace of Western-style capitalism. Roland Kelts T he Japanese language is often indirect, characterized by suggestion and context, undecipherable to the foreign ear. Translation can seem futile. But one word whose meaning is incontestable is karoshi – “death from overwork.” Japan’s first case was reported in 1969, when an otherwise healthy 29 year-old newspaper laborer suddenly keeled over with a stroke. The word gained popular usage during the rise of the economic bubble. In 1982, three Japanese physicians diagnosed and analyzed the illness in a book called "Karoshi ." As Japan embraced Western-style capitalism, it, in turn, started suffocati...

The BBC on the glorious Shinkansen --perhaps my favorite mode of public transport in the world. See and ride here .

On the challenge of monetizing American fandom as Tokyo Anime Fair 09 switches into full gear this weekend -- in the Daily Yomiuri : Soft Power Hard Truths / American anime fans party, but don't pay Roland Kelts / Special to The Daily Yomiuri In a recent interview for pop culture news site ICv2.com, TokyoPop founder and CEO Stuart Levy describes his company's initial strategy in 1998 to harness what he calls "the three C's: content, community and commerce." A decade later, he and others in Japan's U.S.-targeted pop industries have been wildly successful at mastering the first two--content and community--but are struggling mightily to complete the triangle. In addition to the shelves of manga and anime at U.S. bookstores and libraries, and the fan conventions held each weekend, you can now see original sketches, production cels and anime screenings at highbrow venues such as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the Pacific Asia Art Museum in Pasad...

I am honored to be participating in the JET Alumni Author Event this Sunday in midtown Manhattan. If you're in town and keen to attend, please join us. RSVP is required. Details below: JET Alumni Author Showcase Click on image to download PDF of flyer JET ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK (JETAA NY) with support from the Consulate General of Japan in New York , JetWit.com and Kinokuniya Books Presents the first ever JET Alumni Author Showcase: Kelts, Kennedy and Weston (Reception to follow) On March 22 , JETAA NY is pleased to present three great authors — Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99) , James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06) and Robert P. Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04) — who will discuss their books, the craft and business of writing and how their JET experience fits into the picture. NOTE : Event limited to 100 people . Reserve your space by RSVPing to: authors /at/ jetaany /dot/ org Please include in RSVP: First and last name and indicate whether you’r...

Archaic Torso of Apollo We never knew his fantastic head, where eyes like apples ripened. Yet his torso, like a lamp, still glows with his gaze which, although turned down low, lingers and shines. Else the prow of his breast couldn't dazzle you, nor in the slight twist of his loins could a smile run free through that center which held fertility. Else this stone would stand defaced and squat under the shoulders' diaphanous dive and not glisten like a predator's coat; and not from every edge explode like starlight: for there's not one spot that doesn't see you. You must change your life. --Rainer Maria Rilke A couple of recent, interrelated articles on Japan seem particularly germane to conversations I've had while traveling in the US recently--so much so that I've used them as handouts on a couple of occasions to help orient audiences and raise questions. The first story appeared in the Japan Times earlier this month and addresses the now not...

Talking KRAZY! Japan’s Evolving Pop Culture Curatorial Panel Discussion Thursday, March 12, 6:30 PM Left to right: Bruce Grenville, Toshiya Ueno, and Roland Kelts, photo © Matthias Ley. What are the forces that drive the narrative and artistic sophistication of Japanese manga and anime? What accounts for their dominance in Japanese visual culture and their international popularity? Join KRAZY! curators Bruce Grenville, Senior Curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and Toshiya Ueno, Professor of Sociology at Wako University, in conversation with Roland Kelts, Lecturer at the University of Tokyo and author of Japanamerica , together with moderator Joe Earle, Director of Japan Society Gallery, as they discuss the continuing evolution of visual culture in Japan. This lecture is part of the Members’ Opening and Reception for KRAZY! Tickets Free for Japan Society ...

YouTube - Roland Kelts - News Zero, Japan

(photo from thetokyootaku.com) On DC's Katsucon and Toshiki Okada's Five Days in March in my latest column in the Daily Yomiuri : SOFT POWER HARD TRUTHS / Cosplayers a breath of fresh air for D.C. Roland Kelts / Special to The Daily Yomiuri I arrived at Katsucon, the 15th annual Washington area anime convention, the night before opening day, bouncing in on a turbulent flight from Boston. It was the first time I was able to catch amassing American convention-goers firsthand as they poured out of airport shuttles, jam-packed vans, taxis and pickup trucks and funneled through revolving doors into the hotel foyer. They made quite a sight. Many were already in costume. The winds that had earlier buffeted my commuter plane whipped through feathered wigs and blasted masks and helmets, sending skirts aloft and eliciting shrieks and giggles. Other attendees lugged massive duffel bags and overstuffed suitcases past hotel staffers who were already dragging carts piled high with...