japanamerica

    photo Aki Mizutani (editor, JP)   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 here . 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.      photo Joe DeMarie (LA)     photo Chris Yap Wooi-Hoe (SG)     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.    Behind the s