japanamerica

THE FORBIDDEN DIARY from monkey business: new writing from japan #1 Sachiko Kishimoto transl. by Ted Goossen * February–March The Cancel-Out Apartments I have a little brother sprouting from a spot behind my right hip. He’s about four inches long without any arms and legs, and when he gets hungry (which is like all the time) his face turns red and he starts bawling in this ear-splitting voice; and then he whips his body back and forth so that it goes whap, whap against my butt. I hate the kid, and there’ve been so many times I’ve thought about taking a razor and slicing him off, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Cicadas shrilling outside my window. February 4 Heard a rumor about something called the “Cancel-Out Apartments” today. Seems it’s a two-story building with five small apartments on each floor. If, say, a cop is living on the second floor, and then another cop moves in on the first, the two cancel each other out. I mean, they both vanish, poof, ju...

Book: Yurei Attack!: The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide by Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda; illustrated by Shinkichi. Break: Night @ Inokashira Park, Tokyo, Japan. Matt and Hiroko give me tips on the last night of Japan's Festival of the Dead ( O-bon ) on surviving a Japanese ghost: Whew. Straight faces please! Book Break Take: Forty Japanese ghosts rendered in gory detail; their roles in Japanese history, culture, mythology--and who they haunt today; how to recognize them, why they're here, and what to do to survive an attack. The authors call it, "ghost porn." Snip: Ghost-- "[ Oiwa ] is hands-down the most famous ghost chronicled in this book ... she has inspired legions of imitators -- most recently Sadako, from the hit J-Horror novel and film series Ring . Her ragged tresses  and ruined face are the first thing many Japanese think of when they hear the word 'yurei.'" Survive-- "Visit the Tamiya Shrine on the site of Oiwa's fam...

The latest in my "Pacific Rim Diary" series for The Madeleine Brand Show  at KPCC/NPR is about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons, my interview with the American Chair of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, Steven Leeper--and the current state of Japan's post-Fukushima nuclear power dilemma.   Hear it  here . A story I wrote last week about Leeper and Hiroshima for The Christian Science Monitor is here . [photos courtesy of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation]

My very personal account of technological displacement for the   PUNCH! app for iPad here , and online here   via The Awl .   [Illustrations and lettering by Gant Powell.]

THIS IS a ghostly time of year in Japan. Not only is it the annual Obon season, when the spirits of the dead return home. August 6th is also the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, when the Japanese are reminded of the invisible horrors of radiation. [David McNeill in the Economist here ]

"Put out the fire / And don't look past my shoulder" Click here to see the dousing of the Olympic flame and  The Who's Olympic Finale in London on Nico in Japan.

Bit too personal, this one. Click to enlarge, if you dare ...

Mamoru Hosoda's ( Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ) latest film, Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki ( Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki ), is an exhilarating work of animation, and a measured, patient and exacting example of first-rate storytelling. Update**Keen to report that Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki  is on course to be Hosoda's most successful film, earning an estimated $4.6 million during its opening weekend, and slotting in at # 2 in Japan last weekend, with a current estimated gross of $20.6 million.  Given the relatively basement budgets of most anime, and the hoary competition from Hollywood (Spiderman 3000! Batman...AGAIN), this is welcome news.  More importantly, it will help Hosoda-san continue to create. We met at this 2007 event  hosted by Ian Condry at Harvard and MIT in Cambridge/Boston.  I am making plans now to interview him in advance of his latest film's US release.

...where, incidentally, American Perry and his 'black ships' first landed 150+ years ago.  Reuters video report. Rinka--born Zhang Xue--preps for the art.

An American's key role as Hiroshima commemorates atomic bombing Steven Leeper oversees Hiroshima's commemoration of the Aug. 6, 1945 dropping of the atomic bomb. The US presence at the memorial ceremony has grown, with even President Truman's grandson in attendance this year. By Roland Kelts, Hiroshim a At 8:15 a.m. on every Aug. 6 since 1952, a moment of silence descends over the Peace Park in  Hiroshima ,  Japan , to commemorate the estimated 200,000 victims of the first atomic bomb deployed in a wartime act of aggression. Related stories Japan: One year after Fukushima nuclear disaster, 4 repercussions Think you know Asia? Take our geography quiz. Hiroshima 65 years later: US attends ceremony, but offers no apology Ads by Google 無料翻訳 Toolbarを使って簡単&無料翻訳。 Toolbarは無料。今すぐインストール！ FreeTranslator.Inbox.com Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here  for your  FREE 30 DAYS  of The Christian Science Monitor We...

Or ... Ghibli scarecrow? [courtesy @heterophyllum]

...ah.