Visual Anthropology of Japan

"Security cameras to be installed in 15 residential areas in Japan "

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:36:00 +0000

More interesting stuff from Japan Today:

Police will install a network of security cameras at 15 residential areas in 14 out of the country’s 47 prefectures as part of nationwide crime-prevention efforts, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The police will entrust volunteer groups of residents to operate and manage shooting equipment and image data, agency officials said. The police plan to launch the first such residential network in Japan around January next year, they said. Currently the police have 363 security cameras in operation at bustling shopping and entertainment urban districts across the country. It will also be the first time for the police to entrust such management duties to residents groups.

The National Police Agency, coordinator of the nation’s prefectural police forces, said the police will discuss the details of operating the network with volunteer groups. The police ‘‘will help residents to secure safety by themselves,’’ one agency official said. The police agency has already earmarked 597 million yen in the government’s supplementary budget for the installation of the security camera network and for the consultations with residents groups. According to the police agency’s plan, a set of 25 cameras each will be installed mainly on streets used by children going to school. The 15 locations include those in such prefectural capitals as Otsu, Okayama, Hiroshima, Tokushima and Fukuoka. The 10 other areas are in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture; Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture; Toda, Saitama Prefecture; Higashiyamato and Musashimurayama, both suburban Tokyo; Fujieda, Shizuoka Prefecture; Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture; Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture; Iwade, Wakayama Prefecture; and Amami, Kagoshima Prefecture. However, no residents groups have so far been picked to take charge of the security network in some of the 15 places. Some citizens groups are critical of the plan, saying that the government intends to strengthen surveillance on residents. The police have told residents groups that they will put up notices that indicate the locations of security cameras. They have also pledged to use data collected only for the investigation of crimes and that they will help protect citizens’ privacy. Under the plan, video monitors and recorders will be installed in non-police facilities, such as community centers, and residents groups will check screens when children are walking to and from school. Yasuhiko Tajima, professor of journalism at Sophia University who heads a citizens group against surveillance society, accuses the government of trying to have residents keep watch on each other through the planned installation of security cameras. The Musashimurayama municipal government in western Tokyo said a city official was called in to a nearby police station and was asked to join the security camera network plan on June 11. The city government said it has yet to decide on the location for the camera installation or on a residents group which will operate and manage the security camera network.

It seems problematic that the police/government to surveillance images, but now community groups? How will they be able to ensure privacy if such monitoring stations are located at community centers? Stay tuned to this one...

"Unauthorized Komukai striptease photos highlight copyright dilemma in Japan"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:41:00 +0000

Another interesting article in today's Japan Today dealing with photography, image rights and permission...

Many stood in the long queue and paid 8,000 yen to see the nude performance by Minako Komukai in Asakusa. Those who couldn’t go to the striptease were in glee to see the spy photo published in the June 26 edition of the weekly Friday, of Komukai exposing her breasts to the audience.

But the question is, what happens when someone takes a photo of such performances without permission? A sign at the entrance of Asakusa Rock-za clearly states that the theater will impose a penalty of 3 million yen for unauthorized taking of photos, and the same announcement is made in the theater prior to performances.

Obviously, taking such photos are a problem if the theater explicitly prohibits it, which, legally speaking, is about the theater’s right to maintain and manage the facility. Attorney Kensaku Fukui, who specializes in copyright laws, explains, “The theater has the right to prohibit activities it deems to be an obstruction of the performance.”

So what happens when someone in the audience secretly films or photographs the performance?

“There are several possibilities,” Fukui says. “If the theater staff witness someone taking photos, they have the right to stop the act or tell the particular individual to leave the theater.”

The penalty of 3 million yen may not have legal effect, since the prerequisite is the existence of an agreement between the party notifying the penalty and the party being notified. On the other hand, if the theater does incur damages due to such actions, it is entitled to make claims for the damage, even though the amount may be limited.

However, the case of Friday, which profited by publishing an image owned by one audience member, is a different matter altogether. From the perspective of Rock-za, the publication would be considered an obstruction of business. Indeed, it appears that the theater is considering the option of filing a lawsuit against the weekly magazine, which in turn may develop into further complications involving the violation of Komukai’s privacy and portrait rights.

Other businesses face the problem of similar infringement of copyrights, an example being pirated DVDs. In 2007, a special law went into effect to protect movies—with a penalty of 10 million yen or up to 10 years’ imprisonment for any violation. However, the law only applies to movies.

Theaters that offer a range of performances such as dramas, musicals and kabuki have no choice but to devise their own methods of “self-defense.” Kabuki-za, Shiki Theatre and Honda Theatre in Shimokitazawa say that if they catch someone in the act of taking photos or filming a performance, they confiscate the camera, delete the data and then hand it back to the individual. But they say they do not consider lawsuits as an option.

One organization known for its aggressive protection of copyrights is Tokyo Disneyland, which regards everything from taking photos with Mickey Mouse to the facility and attractions as copyrighted. Whether posting on one’s personal blog, the uploading of films and images is defined as “an unpermitted news-gathering act” and they request the individual to delete such data. In fact, a group in Chiba was arrested two years ago for selling DVDs showing parades at Disneyland.

In other words, unauthorized shooting applies to motion pictures only, and from this perspective, theaters do not have the legal means to protect their business from damages resulting from pirated copies. In effect, the publication of Komukai’s nude photo in Friday has unexpectedly called into question this copyright dilemma.

"Gov't panel finds Google Street View service consistent with law"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:35:00 +0000

An update about Street View from today's Japan Today:

An advisory panel of the communications ministry on Monday determined that Google’s Street View service would be consistent with Japan’s personal information protection law if the search engine firm takes appropriate measures such as blurring identifiable images, such as faces, ministry officials said.

The pronouncement marks the first time that the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has expressed an opinion on the legality of the Google service, which provides close-up, 360-degree color views of city streets, as they were caught by Google’s Street View cameras installed on vehicles driving along the roads.

It amounted to turning down requests by dozens of city assemblies across the nation—including Tokyo’s Machida city assembly and Nara Prefecture’s Ikoma city assembly—which adopted resolutions calling on the government to place curbs on the service.

The ministry will release its final conclusion possibly in August after soliciting views from citizens, they said.

The advisory panel, whose members met the same day, said even if the exterior appearances of personal homes and license plates of automobiles are caught by the cameras, they alone "would not enable viewers to identify" the owners of the homes and vehicles.

Therefore, the imagery of such homes and number plates ‘‘does not constitute personal information,’’ it said.

"Most of the service would not be illegal as long as appropriate measures such as blurring (of identifiable images such as faces) are taken," it said, responding to allegations that the service would often give rise to breaches of privacy and portrait rights.

It would be desirable for Google to respond to citizens’ complaints on a case-by-case basis, rather than having the government prohibit the service wholesale, it said.

The ministry said it will continue to monitor how Google pays attention to the necessity of protecting citizens’ privacy and whether it will comply with requests to remove problematic imagery.

Fire.

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:40:00 +0000

There was a fire in my neighborhood early Monday morning. An old woman ran a small restaurant out of her house. Her hours were irregular probably depending on her health so I never had the opportunity to eat there. The woman escaped the fire unharmed. Scary...

Fieldtrip to Tokyo! This Post: Why I Hate Tokyo...

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:48:00 +0000

Mugi-chan grasping my leg as I attempt to leave. "Don't go!"

The first of many stress-related messes left by Mugi-chan while I was away...

Yes, for only the third time in my almost eleven years of living in Japan I went to the big metropolis of Tokyo. My mission was anthropological in nature. First, I was to participate in a tour of Meisei Gakuen, the only deaf school in Japan that uses JSL as its first language. Next, I was to attend an early screening of the new film by Kazuhiro Soda, Mental. Both of these events were incredible experiences and will be the subject of the next two posts. But first I must deal with my dislike of Tokyo.

So as to further legitimize my trip, I visited the culturally important areas of Hibiya, Yurakucho, Kanda, Akibahara, Shinjuku, Harajuku and the Meiji Shrine. My students often know more about Tokyo than I do so I decided further exploration was necessary. After finding my lodgings in Yotsuya, I went to Yurakucho to check out the photo exhibition of Eikoh Hosoe at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan. Photos were on the walls of the club's bar on the 20th floor. I sat at the bar looking forward to a drink but was told since I wasn't a member of the club I couldn't order anything. The waitress was nice enough to give me a glass of water. This setting for Hosoe's photos was indeed unfortunate. It was something out of colonialization: the rich and beautiful people hobnobbing amongst the dirty pictures of a native cameraman. I inquired about becoming a member on my way out and was asked by a young girl half my age what I was (An anthropologist? That's not a journalist...) and who I knew (The internet doesn't count - one needs to know real people, preferably two full members, to apply...).

I was tired and hungry and thirsty and Yurakucho wasn't doing it for me. I decided to return to Yotsuya and find an izakaya there. Once in Yotsuya I wandered several streets but found nothing to my liking. Either nothing looked good or everything was too expensive. Finally I found a small intimate looking cafe that advetised "stress free" dining. Perfect I thought. I sat at the bar and was half way through my first drink when the cockroach appeared. An appetizer?

I ended up finding a Subway shop and had a roast beef and turkey breast sandwich. Was I really in Japan?

I retreated to my lodgings and met the owner of the ryokan. "Yes, Tokyo has quite a cockroach problem," he explained to me. "They like to enter the houses through the water drains... By the way, how about a drink?"

We sat at the bar that served as the front desk for his ryokan. His employees are Chinese. One woman was making homemade gyoza which we later ate along with beer served with ice. The owner, originally from Nagano, was quite a character and very generous. Now this is more like it, I thought. Have I found the real Tokyo?

A hearty breakfast of bread, salad, an egg, coffee and orange juice was included with the lodging. The Chinese staff members were curious about my activities in Tokyo. A deaf school and a film about mental illness?

I ate lunch at Burger King in Kanda (we don't have Burger King in Osaka) and then explored Ochanomizu and soon found myself in Akibahara. Electronics, tourists, otaku and maids all laid out in front of me. I even encountered a foreign (that is white) maid who spoke the squeaky-high cute maid talk as she tried to recruit men into the cafe where she worked. We both avoided looking at each other...

That night I found what I thought would be a regular izakaya where I could order the usual Japanese standards. The place was cheap enough, but the taste left a lot to desire - everything was too bland.

By the time I returned to the ryokan the owner was drunk and off to bed. I contemplated what I would do the following day before returning to Osaka.

Whenever I travel, the last day is cold, gray and rainy. Well, Tokyo wasn't so cold, but it was very gray. I decided to check out Shinjuku and Harajuku. At a radio station in Harajuku some famous person was being interviewed. The interview could be seen through a large window so I took out my camera. A young man told me I couldn't take photos. I motioned to the crowd of young girls taking pictures with their cell phone cameras. They are members of THE PRESS he told me. I was denied once again.

Meiji Shrine is close to Harajuku. There, too, I was told not to take photos in the inner shrine by an old man guard in a stiff gray uniform. Another old man guard told a visitor he couldn't lie down on a bench. This was a very strict place. While there I was also able to see a wedding. Many tourists ran to the wedding parade and took pictures of the couple. Seems like maybe the guards should have prevented this, but they didn't.

I asked the staff members at the ryokan what would be a good Tokyo omiyage to give my girlfriend. They hemmed and hawed and finally suggested I buy something at the Tokyo Station. There are a lot of shops to buy cookies and sweets there. But isn't there something famous I should buy in Tokyo as a souvenir? No, nothing really, they said...

Why is this crowd gathering here and at many other strategically located points? To smoke, of course...

So maybe not all is bad here...

Far be it from me to judge an entire metropolitan area based upon a third trip of less than three days. But I have to wonder, what is the attraction? Is anyone living in Tokyo really from Tokyo? Is the glocalization process of Tokyo a blanding down of taste to suit a general population who are concerned only with themselves? I know one must stand to the left on an escalator in Tokyo (it's the opposite in Osaka) but how do people walk, move around and interact with each other? Despite various signs regulating traffic movements, people darted here and there and wherever they could find the space to get around others.

And where are the elevators and escalators in Tokyo? It must be a nightmare to be a in wheelchair there. And the few escalators are too slow. And the one at Tokyo Station that takes you to the Chuo Line made me feel queasy - I realized that its angle is much steeper than other escalators so that people had to bend in unnatural poses to compensate.

And don't get me started about the Yomiuri Giants...

Don't worry, Mugi-chan, we are staying in Osaka! Go Tigers!

(And the next posts will be back to the usual VAOJ academic nature...)

Exhibition: Hafu/Half Japanese

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:41:00 +0000

(Image borrowed from Hafu/Half Japanese.)

Announcement from Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2009:

Being Half Japanese in the transnational age: an enquiry into culture and identity

Marcia Yumi Lise
Natalie Maya Willer

5 pm, June 25, 2009
Rm. 301, 3F, Bldg. 10
Sophia University

Photographer Natalie Maya Willer and researcher/writer Marcia Yumi Lise recently produced a highly successful exhibition at the Bodhi Gallery (Brick Lane) entitled 'Hafu'/Half Japanese. Showcasing a photographic series produced by Natalie and featuring interviews conducted by Marcia, 'Hafu' sought to create a cultural dialogue to a very current theme with complex issues relating to mixed ethnic identity. The stories provide a rich account of their lives and let us explore the ways in which they construct their identities and establish a sense of belonging whilst being in between two worlds.

Through Natalie's photographs and based on Marcia's interviews, this lecture asks how Hafus view themselves and are viewed by others with respect to their cultural heritage and identity. This ongoing exhibition project explores the complex nature of Hafu experiences, which is often a result of various factors ranging from upbringing, family relationships, education or even physical appearance and the racially designated society surrounding us. Ultimately, it seeks to highlight the individual diversity and located-ness of the experiences of this specific multiethnic group and to characterise the negotiation and self-definition of ethnic territory and identity.

About Marcia Yumi Lise

Marcia was born and raised in a suburban town in Kanagawa, to a Japanese mother and an Italian-American father. She moved to London in 2001 where she studied Sociology and recently completed an MA in Social Research at Goldsmiths College.

About Natalie Maya Willer

Natalie was born in Munich, Germany to a Japanese mother and German father. She moved to London in 1997 where she studied photography at the University of Westminster and completed an MA in Communication Arts & Design at the Royal College of Art in 2004.

For more information on the Hafu project, visit their web site at http://hafujapanese.org/

Lecture in English
No prior registration necessary

As discussed in a prior VAOJ post, this is an interesting issue and a great subject for visual anthropology.

Spring 2009 KGU JSL Study Group: Shuwa, Peace and Muffins!

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:30:00 +0000

Thanks to Jutta for the homemade muffins, Kana for the photos and all members for their hard work and participation during the semester. Keep on signing!

2nd International Student Ethnographic Film Tribute

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:03:00 +0000

The 2nd International Student Ethnographic Film Tribute will be hosted in the International Film Festival PLATFORMA VIDEO9 to be held at 6-9 November in Athens…

…the (sort of) ethnographic film festival is aiming in films made from anthropology students or related after 2005, either as dissertations or as assignments. This is done, for we aim to discuss the innovations and restrictions of student ethnographic filmmaking (i.e. time, production, department conventions, experimentation).

This ethnographic section of the festival doesn’t have a competitive character.

However, we are keen to invite some of the filmmakers during the festival, depending on available funds. Additionally, we are organizing again an open discussion - the subject of which will be announced very soon - where we hope to engage in a dialogue on / with the future of ethnographic film.

The deadline for films submission is the 20th of August.

Questions and prior notice for submissions should be directed to:

Konstantinos Aivaliotis: aivaliotisk@yahoo.gr
Nicholas Sfakianakis: nicksfak@hotmail.com
Christos varvantakis: rudrrrr@googlemail.com

The Platforma Video webpage is www.platformavideo.eu

Female Body Presentation?

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:21:00 +0000

(Photo borrowed from Japan Today, 6/8/09.)

Today's Picture of the Day at Japan Today is rather spicy... Caption reads:

Participants take sweets served on a naked woman, known as Nyotaimori or female body presentation, during a fetish fashion event titled “Night of The Body,” organized by Libido M&J, in Tokyo, on Sunday. Hundreds of people gathered at the event, targeted at fetish fashion enthusiasts, which is a mixture of live performances by pole dancers, a fetish fashion show and other events as a showcase, the organizer said.

Libido M&J have a web site to promote their activities. From their "About" section:

How erotic are you?
How elegant are you?

"Libido”is
sexual drive;
creative force;
appetites.

Concept: Humans need sex, we need love (including self-love) and we have appetites.
All three of these needs can become fetishes.
This party, “Libido M&J,” will showcase fetish people as they express these three human desires in interaction with others in luxurious surroundings.

Details: The party will occur in Sabaku no Bara, in Ginza.
We want to bring the fetish world to Ginza: to show what fetish people are, and how we can get along.
There is no dress code for the party space as a whole, but people in fetish costumes will be allowed entry to the VIP space.
Ten hostesses and hosts, in fetish costumes, will distribute sweets to the VIP room audience, and encourage communication between fetish and non-fetish customers as they circulate around the room.

Link to the Libido web site:
http://www.libidomj.tv/index_e.html

Royal Privacy? Or Privacy Standards For All?

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Fri, 29 May 2009 04:37:00 +0000

(Photo borrowed from http://tsuhangoods.blog123.fc2.com/blog-entry-329.html)

Story from the Mainichi Daily News, 5/28/09:

Suspected photo of Princess Kako leaked onto Internet

A photograph believed to be of Princess Kako, the second daughter of Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, was posted on a member-based community site and leaked over the Internet, it has been learned.

Gakushuin, the educational institution that Princess Kako attends, said that a student at Gakushuin Boys' Junior High School apparently posted the photograph without permission. The school has reportedly spoken to the boy about the issue. The photograph has already been deleted.

Leaked was one photograph apparently showing Princess Kako wearing a Gakushuin Girls' Junior High School uniform. It was posted on sites including the 2-channel bulletin board, where it received attention.

The leak was uncovered after a Gakushuin office worker noticed the photo posted in a diary on the member-based social networking site Mixi on Tuesday.

The student reportedly introduced the photograph saying that he had been a classmate of Princess Kako at Gakushuin Primary School, and said that the boys' and girls' junior high schools often got together at school festivals and other events.

"It has not been confirmed whether the photo actually is of Princess Kako," said a Gakushuin public relations official commenting on the leak. "We cannot provide any information on how the boy obtained the photograph."

Noriyuki Kazaoka, Vice-Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Agency, said he hoped there would be no recurrences.

"We cannot confirm that it is (Princess Kako), but from the perspective of protecting private information, we think that generally, going ahead and posting photographs on the Internet without consent cannot be called appropriate behavior. We hope that this sort of thing does not happen again in the future."

So is it appropriate behavior to post photos of your friends and family on Mixi and Facebook without their consent? And exactly what kind of consent is needed?

I've been participating in an interesting discussion about the privacy and image rights of geisha over at tokyo photojournalist - check it out.

Link to Geisha "image rights"
http://tonymcnicol.com/2009/05/17/geisha-image-rights/

"Japanese punk documentary awarded Japan Foundation Grant"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:56:00 +0000

(Image borrowed from Live House Movie.)

From Japan Today, 18 May 2009.

“Live House,” an upcoming feature-length music documentary on punk rock clubs in Japan directed by Kevin Mcgue, has been awarded a grant by the Japan Foundation, a non-profit organization that carries out arts and cultural exchange programs to enhance mutual understanding among countries throughout the world.

The title of the documentary, “Live House,” is a term used in Japan to describe small live music venues featuring underground rock and punk acts. “They are different than bars in other countries that feature music,” says director Mcgue, an American-born journalist based in Tokyo for eight years. “In other countries, most people will be drinking at the bar while a band plays in the corner. In Japan, the focus is firmly on the music, and the fans really get into it. It is a unique kind of venue, and a unique way to enjoy music. It is a culture that has developed in Japan.”

The documentary focuses on the fans and music who fill the nearly 1,000 live houses across Japan every night, as well as delving into the lives of the musicians behind the music. As the underground music scene is not lucrative, many musicians must struggle to balance their music activities with their lives in the Japanese workforce, where conformity is valued.

Read the whole story at Japan Today:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment-arts/view/japanese-punk-documentary-awarded-japan-foundation-grant

The movie opens in Japan in the fall. See the movie's web page for more info:

Link to Live House Movie:
http://www.live-house-movie.com/index_en.html

Click here for a previous post about an anthropologist's experience at a live house in Osaka.

"Google to reshoot street views of Japanese cities"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Here's an update about the Google Street View situation in Japan from Japan Today, 5/14/09:

Google said Wednesday it will reshoot all photos in Japan for its Street View service after residents complained the 360-degree panoramic images provided a view over the fences around their homes.

The Internet giant’s service has triggered privacy complaints around the world, including most recently in Greece, where it was banned Tuesday.

The photos currently on the website were taken by cameras mounted on a stick attached to a car roof. Google Japan said it would lower the cameras after many residents said they were high enough to look over fences around their homes, company product manager Keiichi Kawai said in a statement.

Others have previously complained that images on the service recorded vehicle license plates and laundry hanging in backyards. Rights groups have also demanded Google suspend the service.

Kawai said Google’s decision to lower the cameras is designed to address concerns in Japan, where many neighborhoods are crowded and privacy is tightly guarded.

Google also has blurred vehicle license plates in the images.

Google, which has covered 12 major Japanese cities, including Tokyo and Osaka, will continue filming in the country.

“We admit that there were concerns about the service. ... People said we might have neglected the privacy issue,” he wrote. “We took their opinions seriously and made careful considerations.”

But Kawai stressed the service has many benefits, including saving many from getting lost.

Since it was launched in 2007, Street View has expanded to more than 100 cities worldwide. But it has drawn complaints from individuals and institutions that have been photographed, including the Pentagon, which barred Google last year from photographing U.S. military bases for Street View.

On Tuesday, a privacy watchdog in Greece banned Google from gathering images in the country for its Street View service until it provides more privacy guarantees than the current proposal to blur faces and vehicle license plates.

Link to story and reader comments:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/google-to-reshoot-street-views-of-japanese-cities

"ATSUSHI launches photo exhibition in Harajuku to help unwanted pets"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:00:00 +0000

(Image borrowed from Power of Life.)

ATSUSHI, one of the dancers for alternative rock group Dragon Ash, showed off his photo collection “POWER of LIFE” this week – a series of photographs featuring athletes and musicians among others, held to raise awareness of the plight of unwanted pets.

ATSUSHI, 30, said that he wanted to do something to help dogs and cats that had been thrown away, after he visited an animal shelter last year. About 50 photos taken by ATSUSHI are on display at the exhibition, including ones of track-and-field athlete Dai Tamesue, 30, and judo wrestler Tadahiro Nomura, 34.

Read the whole story at Japan Today:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/atsushi-launches-photo-exhibition-in-harajuku-to-help-unwanted-pets

Link to Power of Life web page:
http://poweroflife.jp/2009/66.html

"Old Japanese maps on Google Earth unveil secrets"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Sun, 03 May 2009 05:36:00 +0000

Image borrowed from Associated Press. Caption reads: In this computer screen image taken from the Google Earth software, a feudal map of a village in central Japan from hundreds of years ago, superimposed on a modern street map, is shown. The village is clearly labeled "eta," an old word for Japan's outclass of untouchables known as "burakumin." The word literally means "filthy mass" and is now considered to be a racial slur. The burakumin still face prejudice based on where they live or their ancestors lived, and fear that Google's software can be used to easily pinpoint the old villages and match them up with modern neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Google Earth)

When Google Earth added historical maps of Japan to its online collection last year, the search giant didn't expect a backlash. The finely detailed woodblock prints have been around for centuries, they were already posted on another Web site, and a historical map of Tokyo put up in 2006 hadn't caused any problems.

But Google failed to judge how its offering would be received, as it has often done in Japan. The company is now facing inquiries from the Justice Ministry and angry accusations of prejudice because its maps detailed the locations of former low-caste communities.

The maps date back to the country's feudal era, when shoguns ruled and a strict caste system was in place. At the bottom of the hierarchy were a class called the "burakumin," ethnically identical to other Japanese but forced to live in isolation because they did jobs associated with death, such as working with leather, butchering animals and digging graves.

Castes have long since been abolished, and the old buraku villages have largely faded away or been swallowed by Japan's sprawling metropolises. Today, rights groups say the descendants of burakumin make up about 3 million of the country's 127 million people.

But they still face prejudice, based almost entirely on where they live or their ancestors lived. Moving is little help, because employers or parents of potential spouses can hire agencies to check for buraku ancestry through Japan's elaborate family records, which can span back over a hundred years.

Read the whole story at Associated Press:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h1ON4xXZci7XWpI8IxdZNg86ZYlAD97U56SG0?index=0

The Bones of Grover Krantz on Display

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Sat, 02 May 2009 08:14:00 +0000

"Professor's dying wish granted at Natural History Museum exhibit"

Image borrowed from Washington State Magazine.

... He was standing under spotlights in a huge display case — all 6 feet 3 inches of him except for a few bones missing here and there. His head was thrown back and his mouth was open, as if in a big laugh, and his arms were around one of his favorite dogs.

Here was professor Gordon S. "Grover" Krantz, and all, or almost all, of the phalanges, tarsals, metatarsals and the other 200 or so bones that made up his skeleton. Reassembled with wire, glue and metal.

...

The skeletons of Krantz and his beloved Irish wolfhound, Clyde, make up the striking display that comes at the end of the museum's current forensic anthropology exhibit, "Written in Bone."

The two are depicted mimicking an old photograph, with the skeleton of Clyde up on his hind legs and Krantz cradling the dog's forelegs in his arms.

They make a startling sight — cleansed of flesh and fur, revealed down to the bones in the dog's tail and the dental implants in Krantz's mouth.

Which is exactly what Krantz wanted.

Read the whole story at SalisburyPost.com:
http://www.salisburypost.com//Lifestyle/042009-bones

Image borrowed from SalisburyPost.com. Caption reads: The skeleton model at the Museum of Natural History was based on a photo of Gordon Krantz, a teacher of the study of bones at Washington State University. "It was an outlandish wish," his wife said recently. But "he wanted his bones someplace. ... He thought he would be a good teaching specimen." Illustrates BONES (category l), by Michael E. Ruane (c) 2009, The Washington Post. Moved Tuesday, April 14, 2009. (MUST CREDIT: Grover Krantz Papers -- National Anthropological Archives.)

Image borrowed from SalisburyPost.com. Caption reads: Fifth-graders from Charlotte, N.C., take in the display at "Written in Bone," a forensic anthropology study, at the Museum of Natural History. The skeletons of professor Gordon Krantz and his beloved Irish wolfhound, Clyde, are the realization of Krantz's ultimate wish. Illustrates BONES (category l), by Michael E. Ruane (c) 2009, The Washington Post. Moved Tuesday, April 14, 2009. (MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Linda Davidson.)

OK, so this post is not about Japan. It is about my former professor. One of the most interesting and challenging classes I took in grad school was Dr. Grover Krantz's course on Physical Anthropology. Cultural anthropologists might sometimes forget that we are doing science. Dr. Krantz lectured on the hard science of evolution, primates, bones, language origins, etc. and showed how these things are all related to modern humans and culture. One of the lessons I remember from Dr. Krantz was his explanation of lumpers and splitters. The former tend to lump things together in broad categories while the latter split things off into detailed categories and subcategories. Dr. Krantz was a lumper but he knew all about the details of the splitters as well.

Dr. Krantz was infamous for his belief in Bigfoot and his desire to shoot one down (to prove its existence perhaps as a modern day surviving giant ape known as Gigantopithecus). Before he retired, he made some of his skulls, bones and footprint casts available. I am proud to have a skull from a northeast Asian Homo erectus and a cast of a supposed Bigfoot footprint found in the Blue Mountains of Oregon in 1988. Here is the top view of the footprint.

That's Dr. Krantz's autograph on the bottom of the cast.

An obituary, with more information about the career of Dr. Krantz, can be found here. And here is an interview with Dr. Krantz that mentions Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson. Apparently Larson, too, was a student of Krantz and many of his cartoons had anthropological themes. Some of the characters seemed to resemble Dr. Krantz as well.

Image borrowed from runningafterantelope's photostream at Flickr.

Special thanks to E.S. in Oregon for the heads up on the bones.

Osaka Deaf Pantomime Group at Gallaudet

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:23:00 +0000

If you happen to find yourself in the Washington D.C. area over Golden Week, you might want to check out the free performance of the Osaka Pantomime Group at Gallaudet University (link).

If the images at the bottom of the poster look familiar, you most likely remember a past post about this group here at VAOJ.

This might be a good time to remind readers that this blog, while supporting the spirit of Fair Use, is still registered under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

"Shooting Culture" Project - Ethics of Visual Anthropology in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:19:00 +0000

It's been a while since I have posted on the ethics project, but rest assured it is ongoing. I have received many positive comments about previous posts and I hope to get more feedback when I present this project at the upcoming Anthropology of Japan in Japan Spring Workshop on April 25-26. For the purposes of this presentation I have named this named this project "Shooting Culture."

Presentation title and abstract:

Shooting Culture: Proposed Guidelines for Students of the Visual Anthropology of Japan

As part of the Visual Anthropology of Japan course I teach, I send my students out to photograph "Japanese culture." Students are to take their own original photographs to illustrate a weekly theme and post photos along with text on an internet blog. While there has never been a problem with the assignment, students have expressed concern about taking photographs in public. Aren't all shots taken in public fair game? Do we need to ask permission? Do we need a written consent form? Can we snipe photos from afar with our telephoto lens? Can we blur out the faces of individuals we shoot to protect their privacy? In this paper I propose a set of guidelines for students of visual anthropology engaged in photographing Japan, not as a prime directive but rather as a starting point for dialogue and development. Issues of concern brought up in this project include privacy and portrait rights; academic codes of ethics and conduct and photo posting guidelines; regulations pertaining to terms of service of internet blogging and photo/video posting services; information about Fair Use and Creative Commons; and laws in Japan pertaining to photographing in public, privacy and defamation. In this AJJ presentation I wish to solicit the advice and comments of anthropologists who have experience with visual projects in Japan. For more information on this project, see http://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/.

In addition there have been some interesting developments relating to this project in both legal and research areas. First the good news:

"Japan may adopt so-called 'fair use' in secondary use of copyrighted work"

Story from Breitbart.com, 3/24/09.

The Cultural Affairs Agency on Wednesday asked its advisory body to study a proposal for Japan to adopt the so-called "fair use" principle, which allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring the right holder's permission for the promotion of secondary use of such material, agency officials said.

The Cultural Council, an advisory body to the agency director general, plans to work out views on the proposal by the end of fiscal 2009, which the agency wants to lead to the revision of the copyright law, the officials said.

The government is also expected to propose an early introduction of the principle in an intellectual property strategy it plans to formulate around June.

At present, the copyright law bans in principle the reproduction of copyrighted material without the right owner's permission. This means that even posting a picture of an anime character taken at an amusement park on an Internet blog, for example, is technically prohibited.

The latest move is in response to a call from the government's intellectual property strategy headquarters for relaxing such regulations in line with the spread of the Internet.

The "fair use" principle, which originated in the United States, would allow reproduction of copyrighted material such as photos and writing work without seeking the author's permission as long as the secondary use does not harm the author's interests.

Under the principle, people can judge on their own whether a secondary use of certain copyrighted material is illegal or not based on a set of standards being introduced to measure possible negative effects of such use on the right-holder's market.

Among these standards will be whether secondary use is for commercial purposes and whether such use will lead to the spread of pirated versions of the original work, the officials said.

For every one step forward there is at least one step backward.

"TBS ordered to pay Y1.2 million for invading man's privacy"

Story from Japan Today, 4/15/09.

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday ordered Tokyo Broadcasting System to pay a man 1.2 million yen in compensation for invading his privacy by airing images of him during live TV coverage of a homicide scene in Tokyo two years ago. The court ruled that broadcasting images of the plaintiff, who drives a garbage collection truck, without his permission constituted an invasion of privacy and violated his portrait rights.

Presiding Judge Noriaki Sudo said in holding TBS liable for compensation, ‘‘The production staff who gave orders to the camera crew and edited the footage were negligent.’’ The court said that children teased the plaintiff’s son at school, saying his father had carried the victim’s body, and the boy was forced to change schools.

According to the ruling, in January 2007 TBS broadcast the face of the plaintiff who was collecting garbage at the murder site in Shibuya Ward where a man was murdered and dismembered by his wife, as well as the plaintiff’s exchange with a reporter, in its morning program hosted by popular MC Monta Mino.

The plaintiff had sought a total of 11 million yen in compensation from the TV station, Mino and other concerned parties. But the court ruled Mino was not responsible because he had no authority over the news gathering activities at the scene.

As if anticipating the ruling above in the current culture of extreme paranoid privacy, the Nihon Shinbun Kyokai (Japan Newspapers Publishers and Editors Association) recently met with government officials to encourage changes in the current Personal Information Protection Law.

"NSK Seeks Prompt Revision of Personal Information Protection Law"

Story from NSK News Bulletin Online, Number 90, April 2009.

The NSK Editorial Affairs Committee, in a hearing held by the Cabinet Office on March 27, demanded that the Personal Information Protection Law be promptly revised to eliminate abuse of the law and the deliberate concealment of information under the cloak of its terms.

The controversial law took effect in April 2005, setting rules on the use of personal information possessed by private businesses. In fear of excessive secrecy due to the law and the deliberate concealment of information by public institutions, NSK has publicly called several times for the law to be changed.

On March 27, Toyokazu Kondo, of the NSK Editorial Affairs Committee study group on human rights and personal information, attended a hearing held by the personal information protection committee of the Cabinet Office’s Social Policy Council. The committee is in the process of studying the implementation of the law.

In a verbal presentation and written submission made at the hearing, Kondo warned that there is now a conspicuous tendency at all levels of society toward refusing to release information on the pretext of the personal information protection law. Specifically, he referred to (1) a tendency of public institutions to use the law to justify concealing information; (2) growing refusals to grant media access to information on the grounds of personal information protection; and (3) a steadily declining awareness of the importance of the common sharing of personal information by society.

Kondo submitted to the hearing a brief report on a fact-finding survey conducted by the NSK Editorial Affairs Committee. The report said a survey of 58 NSK member media companies looked into adverse repercussions from the law’s application. The report cited numerous cases in which hospitals refused to release the identities and/or profiles of persons harmed as a result of criminal offenses or accidents, as well as cases in which university authorities refused to respond to media inquiries regarding the educational backgrounds of candidates running for public offices. Kondo told the hearing that these are typical cases of the law’s negative effects in which information that should be shared by society is not being made available.

Kondo emphasized NSK’s stand that a full-fledged review of the existing law is needed to implement fundamental solutions to the problems. “We should specifically limit the sphere of the law’s application and incorporate into the law specific calls to respect the social usefulness of personal information, in particular, to respect the use of personal information for the public good of serving the people’s right to know,” he stated.

Specifically, he proposed that a clause be added to Article 1 (the purpose of the law) and to Article 3 (the law’s basic objectives) calling for particular consideration to be made with respect to the usefulness of personal information in activities such as news reporting, which serves the public good and public interest. In addition, he proposed that the transfer to media organizations of personal information by businesses possessing such information be established as an approved exception to regulations under the law’s Article 16 (regulations on the provision of personal data to a third party) and Article 23 (exceptions).

Kondo also called for the inclusion of such a clause in a related law covering the protection of personal information by administrative organizations. He said that the Information Disclosure Law, enacted in 2001 to regulate public disclosure of information held by administrative organizations, and local government rules on information disclosure should be reviewed to take into account NSK’s insistence on these issues as well. He ended his presentation with a call for the committee to open full-scale deliberations toward a prompt and fundamental revision of Japan’s entire system for personal information protection.

In the midst of all this confusion regarding privacy and portrait rights, the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC) Image Use Protocol Task Force has published an extremely valuable web page.

IMAGE USE PROTOCOL GUIDE. Using Images from Japan for your publication. You can find out what to do here.

Link: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~ncc/imageuse/index.html

From their Introduction:

This web site is designed to give basic guidance to North American Japanese studies scholars who seek permissions for the use of Japanese images particularly in scholarly publications. By clicking the links below, you will access information that may smooth the process of obtaining the necessary permission to use images from those who hold image rights. We have included links to Japanese and American web sites that provide guidelines to American copyright practices governing the use of Japanese images in a range of circumstances from publications to presentations. Sometimes figuring out exactly which person or organization holds the rights to an image is tricky. We have provided suggestions for who might be the likely rights holder in a range of image types and uses. We also offer templates of request letters and permission applications modeled after those used by a number of Japanese institutions. They are bilingual (Japanese and English) in order to meet the needs of North American publishers and Japanese right holders. You may freely adapt these to your own needs when requesting permission for image use. We also offer a few suggestions about how you might speed the movement of your permission request through a Japanese organization.

The Right's Holders section discusses copyright holders, owners of objects, image owners and subjects in photographs. For the latter they state:

If a person is in the photograph, it is necessary for you to obtain the permission of the photographed person, or the successor or assignee of such rights, to avoid an infringement of the right of likeness or privacy under the privacy laws and/or right of likeness.

The Permission Request Templates (in English and Japanese) are especially valuable.

There are lots of useful links; of special interest for this project is the link to Japanese Copyright Laws (in English).

Link to Copyright Law of Japan:
http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/clj/index.html

NCC is mostly interested in publishing images in books and journals; I am not sure if they are considering internet blog projects like this one. I will be checking out NCC and the Japanese copyright laws in greater detail before my presentation. Stay tuned for more updates.

Homogenous Japan? There are at least 51 stereotypes...

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:22:00 +0000

(Image borrowed from Kick Style.)

...and there are still some missing. How about a Hanshin Tigers fan and a visual kei figure? Anyway, Peter Machat has created 51 Japanese figurines. And we thought they were all one...

Link to 51 Japanese Characters:
http://www.51japanesecharacters.com/

Once you get into the site, you can click and create 100,000 different characters through mixing and matching. Have fun. And ponder Japanese individuality.

"Act of defiance preserved Japanese-American story"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:38:00 +0000

(Image borrowed from Julian Ayers.)

When legendary Japanese-American photographer Toyo Miyatake was sent to a California internment camp with his wife and children during World War II, he smuggled a collection of camera parts in with him.

It was a small act of defiance that would leave a big legacy.

Inside, he built a makeshift camera with another imprisoned Japanese-American by connecting the lens to a drainpipe. Using film secretly delivered by Americans outside the camp, he took hundreds of photographs documenting the experiences of Japanese-Americans relocated to the internment camp following Japan's Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

As the number of surviving former internees dwindles, the photos have become a crucial historical record of a dark chapter in U.S. history.

So as not to forget the conditions they endured, a documentary film about Miyatake will be released and an exhibition of his photos held in Japan this year, the 30th anniversary of his death in 1979.

...

The documentary film will be shown in the hall of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography from April 11. The photo exhibition will open April 16.

Read the whole story at Asahi.com:
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200904040050.html

For more information about the film, including a trailer, and examples of Miyatake's work, see the website below.

Link to Toyo's Camera (in English and Japanese):
http://www.toyoscamera.com/

Special thanks to Myra in the VAOJ Honolulu office for the heads up on this subject.

Performing Naturalness: A film by Dada Docot...

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:37:00 +0000

My friend Dada from Here, there and somewhere else, sent me information about her new film. I really like it a lot as it brings up many important and interesting issues in a very short amount of time. We will be talking about immigration and foreigners living in Japan in Globalization class soon and I hope to use the video as part of my lecture.

My only critique is that some of the captions are difficult to read. Dada has mentioned that others have said the same and she is working to fix this problem.

Information from the YouTube page:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQiTIWKz7NI

Title: Performing Naturalness
Duration: 3min
Director/Editor/Actress: Ma. Ledda Brina "Dada" Docot
Cameraworks: Jong Pairez
Effects: Mike Garcia
Music: Fabien Claudel, Zikweb

Synopsis:

Living for about four years in Japan, one Filipina has grown quite tired of the "random" questioning of immigration police who inquire about her visa status. One day, she gets off at the Shinagawa train station (the stop closest to city's busiest immigration office) to try a little social experiment.

A part of a series of work on space occupied during mobility, the short film documents an instance of surveillance of foreigners in nothing but an ordinary day in Japan. It emphasizes that the everyday life of a migrant IS a performance. The foreign space accommodates or rejects, and as the "visitor," you "perform" roles so that the space receives you (well).

Festivals/Exhibits:
- ALAB: Ten Best Student Shorts, ACTIVE VISTA FILM FESTIVAL, Robinsons Galleria IndieSine, November 29, 2008.
- In Competition, Documentary Category, 20th GAWAD CCP PARA SA ALTERNIBONG PELIKULA AT VIDEO, for screening on Nov. 21, 2008
- Installation Piece for the exhibit "DISLOCATED JOINTS," Poetry in the Kitchen, Tokyo Japan, March 2008 (Using the version edited by Jong Pairez)

I asked Dada a few questions about her film and she was most generous with her answers:

Performing Naturalness was filmed guerrilla style. I thought that the immigration police in their civilian outfit do the same to us foreigners -- the shooting style somewhat replicated what they do in a surveillance society. I was quite surprised though that they did not seem to bother when they saw my friend with the 8mm camera. They asked about it and I simply replied that it is for an art project. They did not seem to mind and in fact they smiled. Whenever I get approached by the police, I always show them both my gaijin and Tokyo University ID cards. I guess the police did not bother to ask anymore when they saw my Todai card. My student card was quite powerful, I guess.

Perhaps you have also noticed that the Japanese faces were all blurred. The cameraman and I had a sort of a disagreement whether the faces should be concealed or not. I decided to conceal their faces -- exposing them in a video without their permission, I thought, would be too much. I felt I still had to respect their privacy, even if I also violate mine whenever they inquire about my identity as a foreigner.

Others who have seen the film said it was quite interesting. Foreigner friends in Japan could relate to the isolation of the character in the film. But of course we do not have the same experiences. Caucasian friends felt lucky that they were asked only once, or never.

About the style, the film is only 3 minutes because we used an 8mm camera. The "experiment" had a time limit as one roll of an 8mm film is only 3 minutes. I really intended to do this experiment only once (partly because it is expensive). Good thing my experiment succeeded. The footage was actually less than 3 minutes, some of the scenes shot by the cameraman were not used. I just wanted to emphasize my message of isolation, and I thought it worked by stretching the last scene using slow motion or repeating some frames.

I think Dada is an extremely gifted filmmaker and visual anthropologist. I understand she has won awards in the Philippines for her work and that Performing Naturalness will be screened at a film festival in New York. I look forward to her future work. If you want to see more of Dada, check out the preview to RESTLESS.

Link to Baad ng Pauno (RESTLESS)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLnOkP9t3Wg

Beauty in Contemporary Japan: Body/Comm Spring 2009 Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:26:00 +0000

This semester we once again explore the concept of ideal beauty in contemporary Japan. What characteristics are necessary to be considered beautiful? What do Japanese people do to become beautiful? These were the themes of this semester's poster workshop. Check out the posters below, as well as the students themselves, for some ideal Japanese beauty.

Common themes included youth, cuteness, big eyes, shapely legs, large (but not too large) breasts, good proportions, dyed hair, light skin and proper accessories. Is there anything missing from the list? What would you add?

Click here to see photos from previous semesters' workshops.

Spring 2009 Globalization Kobe Fieldtrip

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:58:00 +0000

Another new semester, another Globalization class fieldtrip to Kobe. Kobe never gets old and students make new and different discoveries of globalization in this wonderful city. Check out the pictures below to see a sample of what this semester's participating students experienced.

Photos and captions by Étienne:

Is that the Québec flag?

Some Japanized "Parisian-style" set

Greek clothes shop

Is that a Dutch windmill?

Reminds me my family summer trips to New England's seaside!

American jazz

Some American hippie culture?

A shop with a French-sounding name

Chinatown!

Cowboys and Indians!

Photos from Yurika:

Kitano area.

Kitano area.

Kitano area.

Photos and captions by Steven:

Introducing students to the Lock Up (It's a prison themed izakaya).

Kobe style!

This is how the Globalization prof would like to spend his retirement days...

Where else but in Kobe could you buy fruit directly from the Womb?

The Bruce Lee shop in Chinatown is always a must to visit...

...this time they were selling breasts, 395 yen each (apparently no discount by the pair).

Another perfect example of globalization/glocalization: introducing the Kobe Burger!

Former students who happened to be in Kobe on the same day.

Photo and caption by Angelica:

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for...globalization!"

Yes, another fun and successful trip to Kobe.

For pictures of previous Globalization class fieldtrips, click here.

"Human-looking robot smiles in Japan classroom"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:01:00 +0000

More on robots taking over Japan... Story (and photo) from Japan Today, 4/7/09:

Japan’s robot teacher calls roll, smiles and scolds, drawing laughter from students with her eerily lifelike face. But the developer says it’s not about to replace human instructors.

Unlike more mechanical-looking robots like Honda Motor Co’s Asimo, the robot teacher, called Saya, can express six basic emotions—surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, sadness—because its rubber skin is being pulled from the back with motors and wiring around the eyes and the mouth.

In a demonstration, the robot’s mouth popped open, its eyes widened and eyebrows arched to appear surprised. Saya pulled back on its lips to make a smile, and said simple pre-programmed phrases such as “Thank you,” while its lips moved, to express pleasure.

“Robots that look human tend to be a big hit with young children and the elderly,” Hiroshi Kobayashi, Tokyo University of Science professor and Saya’s developer, said. “Children even start crying when they are scolded.”

First developed as a receptionist robot in 2004, Saya was tested in a real Tokyo classroom earlier this year with a handful of fifth and sixth graders, although it still can’t do much more than call roll and shout orders like “Be quiet.”

The children had great fun, Kobayashi recalled, tickled when it called out their names. Still, it’s just remote-controlled by a human watching the interaction through cameras, he said.

Japan and other nations are hopeful robotics will provide a solution for their growing labor shortage problem as populations age. But scientists express concern about using a machine to take care of children and the elderly.

Ronald C Arkin, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said more research in human-robot interaction is needed before overly relying on robots.

“Simply turning our grandparents over to teams of robots abrogates our society’s responsibility to each other, and encourages a loss of touch with reality for this already mentally and physically challenged population,” he said.

Noel Sharkey, robotics expert and professor at the University of Sheffield, believes robots can serve as an educational aid in inspiring interest in science, but they can’t replace humans.

“It would be delusional to think that such robots could replace a human teacher,” he said. “Leading scientists, engineers and mathematicians, almost without exception, talk about that one teacher who inspired them. A robot cannot be that kind of inspirational role model.”

Kobayashi says Saya is just meant to help people and warns against getting hopes up too high for its possibilities.

“The robot has no intelligence. It has no ability to learn. It has no identity,” he said. “It is just a tool.”

But would he create a robot in human form, say, a fantasy friend with movie-star looks?

“Sure,” he says, “If you’re willing to pay.”

That made-to-order robot will cost about 5 million yen, he said.

"School for the deaf seeks funds to set up middle school division"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:54:00 +0000

From The Daily Yomiuri Online, 4/7/09:

Meisei Gakuen--the first school for hearing-impaired children to conduct its classes entirely in Japanese Sign Language--has been raising money to establish a middle school division, which would allow its students to complete their compulsory education without changing schools.

Meisei Gakuen, located in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, opened last April after receiving accreditation from the metropolitan government. The accreditation came after the central government designated the capital a deregulated structural reform zone.

Families with deaf children had long fought for the creation of a school that would conduct its classes in the sign language they use at home. Traditionally, schools for the hearing-impaired have not used sign language, instead opting to teach lip-reading and approximated speech with the help of hearing aids.

However, this approach often can prove confusing to hearing-impaired children. One classic example is that of the lip movements for "tamago" and "tabako." Though our mouths move in the same way when pronouncing these words, their meanings are completely different--egg and tobacco, respectively.

When children are taught only to communicate through approximated sounds and lip-reading, they often find it difficult to understand what they are being taught, and spend most of their time trying to keep up with what the teacher is saying.

At Meisei Gakuen this year, there are 15 preschoolers and 28 in grade school, seven of whom are in their final year of primary school.

To apply for the establishment of a middle school division, the school must have enough capital to operate for three years, according to metropolitan government regulations. If the school wishes to begin middle school classes by next school year, it must apply by June this year. To do so, it must raise another 30 million yen.

One supporter has been the Japan East Rugby Football Union. When the final game of the All-Japan Championship was held at the end of February, players from Eastern Quiet Typhoon, a deaf rugby team, joined a group of Meisei Gakuen students to distribute leaflets soliciting contributions.

"We're completely behind the school," 24-year-old player Kosei Samejima said.

"It's hard to study under the lip-reading approach," said Keijun Sasaki, one of the school's sixth-graders. "I really hope we get a middle school."

"I have a much easier time talking with my friends in sign language," said Sasaki's classmate, Nanami Miyasaka. "I want to study with them in middle school, too."

For more on Meisei Gakuen, click here and here.

Asian Women's Film Festival, Berlin, October 2009

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:15:00 +0000

From H-Asia:

The 1st Asian Women's Film Festival was successfully launched in October 2007 at the Cinema Arsenal, Berlin. More than 40 films representing diverse genres from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Hong Kong were screened. International guests attended the festival which also encompassed Q&A sessions, a symposium "The Women's Survival Guide to Filmmaking in Asia", and networking activities. The festival is scheduled to be held once every two years.

The AWFF welcomes film and video works directed, written, shot, edited and produced by Asian women. We are looking for works which question and challenge rules of normalcy regarding gender and ethnicity. The 2009 program will be divided into five sections: *New Currents, Asian-Diaspora, Short Films, Experimental and Documentary*.

Does it all have to be about identity politics? While this issue does play a significant role in our program, it is really not intended to be an exclusive criterion for selection. Rather, the festival is conceived as a platform where categories, genres and subjects themselves can be proposed, opposed, declined and negotiated; different ways of re/presentation performed.

For more information:
http://www.asianwomensfilm.de/2009/