japanamerica

squishing the fish with sis, gillette stadium, foxboro, ma. 12/23/07

"I carry The Who brand with pride"

If you happen to be reading this in the US, a broader, cinematic take on blissful trans-cultural misreadings can be found in the new anime documentary on the Starz Network. Titled Anime: Drawing a Revolution (more HERE ). It will air again tonight at 8 p.m., and likely later this month and/or early next. The DVD screener I was sent is impressive. Though only an hour long--and thus insufficient for diehard otaku--the program provides a smart introduction and overview of the anime/manga phenomenon without avoiding mention of its challenges in the US. Hopefully it will inspire a future and more extensive doc featuring more interviews with folks on the other side of the Pacific.

Back in early August, I received an invitation from two editors at The Daily Yomiuri newspaper to contribute a bi-monthly column, the contents of which would be rooted in an international perspective on the Japanese pop culture phenomenon. Though I hadn't written a regular column since I was a college student, I opted to give it a shot. I've now produced seven such installments for the Yomiuri, plus one related feature interview with Shinji Aramaki (included below), the director of Appleseed and Appleseed: Ex Machina . The columns have been stimulating if not always welcome diversions from longer projects, forcing me to pursue musings, memories and occasionally old-school legwork to render 600-800 engaging words every two weeks. Responses have been rich--from folks collaring and querying me about this or that item, to bloggers drawing a thread or two and stitching together full-fledged debates. I've returned to New York to close out the year. On a stroll around town ear...

Chiyo Ebata Saeki, 1907-2007.

Last night I was blessed to appear in downtown Tokyo with Pokemon Executive Producer, Shogakukan editor and creative designer, Tokyo Anime Center founder and director, committee member for the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) and the Tokyo Anime Fair (TAF)--Mr. Masakazu Kubo. Together we addressed members and guest of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators at the behest of director Holly Johnson. Kubo-san is now involved in the development of a feature film of Naoki Urasawa's MONSTER manga series. Responding to certain questions, he urged audience members to "read Roland's book," Japanamerica . He believes I got it right--which is a considerable relief to me, as he is one of the book's key voices. Meanwhile, it appears that Chinese and/or Chinese-Americans are helming several Hollywood versions of manga and anime titles. James Wong will direct the upcoming Dragonball Z live action film, starring Justin Chatwin and James Marsters...

If you're in Tokyo tomorrow night, please join us: ****************************** ****************************** **************** The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators presents Made in Japan: What Makes Manga Japanese—And Why Western Kids Love It with Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica and Masakazu Kubo, Executive Producer, Shogakukan Time: Saturday, November 17 , 2007 , 6:30-8:30 p.m. Place: Tokyo Women’s Plaza, Conference Room 2 5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku , Tokyo ( by the Children’s Castle and United Nations University ) For a map see www.scbwi.jp/map.htm Fee: 1,000 yen SCBWI members; 1,500 yen nonmembers This event will be in English. This talk followed by Q&A will cover the nuts and bolts of the craft of manga and discuss the nature of its appeal beyond Japan. Roland Kelts is author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. ( www.japanamericabook.com ). He is a lect...