Visual Anthropology of Japan

Update: Takashi Murakami

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:43:00 +0000

(Takashi Murakami Flower ball (3D), 2002. Acrylic on canvas mounted on board 39 3/8 inches diameter, 1 15/16 inches depth. Private Collection, courtesy of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris and Miami ©2002 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Image borrowed from ssrc.org.)

In April I blogged about the artist Takashi Murakami (link). Today H-Japan provides this announcement:

The SSRC in New York has just published the following feature about Takashi Murakami based on an interview with UCLA sociologist Adrian Favell. This may be of interest to subscribers following the ups and downs of Japanese contemporary art on the international stage since the Bubble years.

Link to "A Sociologist's Guided Tour of © MURAKAMI"
http://www.ssrc.org/features/favell_on_murakami/

English Picture Book about 1945 Okinawa Mass Suicides

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:36:00 +0000

Interesting visual methods are used to describe an important and controversial topic. Article from The Japan Times Online:

Twist in Okinawa mass suicides tale

Teacher based book about civilians ordered to kill themselves on own family tragedy

By MIE SAKAMOTO

Chie Miyagi, an English teacher in Okinawa, has published an English-language picture book to teach her students about the mass suicides involving local civilians during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa.

"A Letter from Okinawa" depicts a girl whose parents kill themselves under orders from the Japanese military on Tokashiki, one of the Kerama Islands. The girl lives separately from them on Okinawa's main island, where she has been drafted into the nurse corps.

The girl, Sachiko, sends a letter to her parents after surviving the war but never receives a reply. She later finds out that her parents died in March 1945 in a mass suicide.

At the end of the story, it is revealed that Sachiko is Miyagi's mother and that the story is based on her mother's life.

[...]

"A Letter from Okinawa," published last November, has an accompanying Japanese translation and is available for ¥700, including tax. For further information, phone Okinawa Jiji Publishing Co. at (098) 854-1622.

Read the whole article (link).

"Documentary on Forced Confessions Screened in Tokyo"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:24:00 +0000

(Photo by Taro Fujimoto; image borrowed from Japan Today)

From Japan Today (6/26/08):

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) on Monday night screened a short documentary film “Presumed Guilty Creating False Confessions” at its headquarters in Tokyo. The DVD version with English subtitle was also released the same day.

The 45-minute documentary, which the JFBA produced, is about the Shibushi case, in which police and prosecutors forced 12 people, including a local politician, to confess to buying votes prior in an election in Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture, in April, 2003. After being held in prisons in a local police station, known as “daiyo kangoku,” the 12 were tried and all acquitted in 2007.

DVD title: “つくられる自白～志布志の悲劇” (Tsukurareru jihaku - Shibushi no higeki)
Price: 2,415 yen
Available at book shops.

Read the whole article and reader comments (link).

Walking Advertisement?

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:37:00 +0000

T-shirts with company logos and famous brand clothes with their conspicuously located labels/tags have long served as walking advertisements, substitutes for the old fashioned walking sign board. But what is being advertised in this photo? Is this student standing on the bus serving as a willing walking ad for the Golden Arches?

McDonald's in Japan has had some interesting connections with fashion, as can be seen from their commercials.

McDonald's also has connections with pop culture as well. Here's Ronald McDonald doing para para...

Here he is doing a more modern song and dance...

Does this really make anybody feel hungry?

McDonald's is certainly associated with youth culture in Japan.

If McDonald's really has anything to do with the jeans the student on the bus is wearing, I wonder how they control the message. Do they limit the size of the jeans? Would super-size jeans sprouting the Golden Arches really serve as a good advertisement?

McDonald's also serves as an interesting example of globalization. Is McDonald's really American anymore? What is Ronald McDonald doing dancing para para and eating teriyaki burgers and moon viewing burgers? For more on this globalization aspect, check out a post on the subject by one of my students (link). Do American students wear the Golden Arches on their backsides? If so, what message is being sent?

Anthro-Related Resources

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:50:00 +0000

Here are some resources recently announced in H-ASIA that might be of interest to visual anthropologists.

The Institute of Oriental Culture

Description (from their web page): The mission of the Institute of Oriental Culture is to conduct research on Asia through a synthesis of our broad expertise in the humanities and social sciences. The region covered by our studies extends from East Asia to the Middle East, which we consider naturally to include Egypt and North Africa. Unlike studies bound by government and political issues, ours do not have specific jurisdictional borders determined by a map. We study the world with a focus on Asia.

There are many useful links to databases, articles and various other resources.

Link: http://www.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eng/front.shtml

The Research Cooperative

Description (from their web page): The Research Cooperative was established in 2001 as an international, not-for-profit organisation. Our aim is to help people anywhere develop skills and discover opportunities for writing, editing, translating, publishing, and other areas of research communication. The Cooperative welcomes volunteers, learners, people with experience, and professional services.

This seems like a good resource for cooperation and collaboration.

Link: http://cooperative.ning.com/

Asia Monitor Resource Centre

Description (from their web page): AMRC has developed over the years, but is still an independent non-governmental organisation (NGO) which focuses on Asian labour concerns. The Centre supports a democratic and independent labour movement promoting the principles of labour rights, gender consciousness, and active workers’ participation in work-related issues. [...] AMRC provides information, consultation, publications, documentation, and internships, and conducts research, training, advocacy, campaigns, labour networking, and related services to trade unions, pro-labour groups, related NGOs, academics, researchers, and professionals on labour issues.

Link: http://www.amrc.org.hk/

The China Beat

Description (from their blog): The China Beat examines media coverage of China, providing context and criticism from China scholars and writers.

This is a nice source and example of scholarly blogging.

Link: http://thechinabeat.blogspot.com/

"Visual Experience of Puppetry" and More JSL in the News

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:37:00 +0000

(Image borrowed from Deaf Puppet Theater Hitomi web page.)

Here is an article from today's Daily Yomiuri (link) about a theater company called "Deaf Puppet Theater Hitomi." Throughout the course of my research here in Japan I have been able to see some of their performances. They are quite wonderful - it is amazing how deaf and hearing people work together to incorporate sign language and puppetry into a theater production. If you have a chance to see them, please do.

Article text reads as follows:

Deaf Puppet Theater Hitomi, a theater company that includes members who are hearing impaired, will perform a voiceless puppet show on June 28 and 29 that uses various-sized boxes to represent more than 100 items.

Director Tsubame Kusunoki is said to follow the credo, "a puppet show is a visual performance," something he once heard that eventually inspired him to choreograph puppet shows.

Hako Boxes: Jiichan no Orugoru (Boxes: My grampa's music box) is visually oriented and makes use of puppet movements, including pantomime. The accompanying music is performed live during the show, and for audiences made up of the hearing impaired, the musicians add to the visual enjoyment by incorporating unusually shaped instruments.

The story features the relationship between family and society, and deals with a variety of electrical appliances, from washing machines and black-and-white TVs to cell-phones and computer games.

Beginning before World War II, a little boy named Senkichi becomes infatuated with a girl named Sumi. He one day gives her a music box. Years later, Senkichi comes back from the front and marries Sumi, and later have a daughter they name Yukie. By the time Yukie becomes a mother herself, everything, from their lifestyle to their familial relationships, has changed. Old Sumi begins remembering the past when she brings out the music box.

The Deaf Puppet Theater, which was established in 1980, is the only puppet company of its kind in the world, and has been invited to perform Boxes at an arts festival for the disabled in Cambodia.

"Hako Boxes: Jiichan no Orugoru" will be performed on June 28 from 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and June 29 from 2 p.m. at Setagaya Theater Tram in Tokyo. Admission: 3,500 yen for adults and 2,500 yen for children. For more information, contact Foundation Modern Puppet Center at (044) 777-2228 or visit deaf.puppet.or.jp

Link to Deaf Puppet Theater Hitomi web page (in Japanese):
http://deaf.puppet.or.jp/

Actually, I have been pleasantly surprised by the recent coverage of Japanese Sign Language in the Daily Yomiuri lately. Here is an article from June 12 (link) about the difference between JSL and Signed Japanese:

Japan's evolving sign languages a challenge for users and interpreters

By Yoji Yamahata / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

When it comes to sign language, you have probably noticed that some television news programs feature it, or you may have seen interpreters signing during lectures to convey what is being discussed. Often, the kind of sign language seen in such settings is Manually Coded Japanese--also called Signed Japanese. It is a system in which word-level signs are simply applied in accordance with the word order of standard Japanese. It can easily be learned by the hearing as well as those who become deaf later in life.

In contrast, Japanese sign language (JSL) is something that has developed spontaneously among hearing-impaired Japanese. For those using JSL, it is difficult to understand Manually Coded Japanese. Therefore, some JSL signers who also teach the language released a set of DVDs earlier this year, aimed at sign language interpreters and hearing people.

According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, there were about 276,000 recognized deaf people in the nation as of 2006, of whom about 64,000 communicated by sign language.

It is believed that modern JSL has its origins in signs that were used at a school for the deaf that was established in Kyoto in 1878. In JSL, which features a different grammatical system from that of Japanese, movements of not only hands, fingers and arms, but also facial features--with the mouth moving as if to pronounce "pa" and "po"--can supply grammatical elements. According to one unofficial estimate, there are about 57,000 people who communicate using JSL today.

On the other hand, Manually Coded Japanese is based on a system used at a sign language organization established in Kyoto in 1963. This type of sign language is often taught at clubs by hearing people.

According to the Education, Science and Technology Ministry, the nation's official education system for the deaf until the 1990s focused on training children to read lips and produce sounds. In recent years, more and more schools for the hearing-impaired have begun teaching Manually Coded Japanese as they believe that it can benefit such children.

Given this shifting history, it is often difficult for many middle-aged deaf people--who only know JSL--to understand people who use Manually Coded Japanese.

"In the case of Manually Coded Japanese, I can understand just about 20 percent of what is being signed," said Kayoko Sakata, 46, a lecturer at Kansai Shuwa College in Osaka, a school that teaches JSL to the hearing and sign language interpreters.

One of Sakata's colleagues, Kazuki Yano, 58, said, "I can feel at ease if we can enjoy service in JSL at hospitals [for example]."

Sakata and Yano are among the producers of a set of two DVDs titled Odoroki no Shuwa "Pa" "Po" Honyaku (surprising sign language: translations with "pa" and "po") released in March this year by Osaka-based publisher Seikosha. The discs, which run to 4-1/2 hours and are accompanied by a 192-page book, feature a list of vocabulary, give advice on how to express feelings and explain how expressions can be different between men and women or between generations.

"If sign language interpreters also have knowledge of JSL, they can give translations that allow the deaf to understand better what is being talked about," said Fumikazu Teraguchi, 42, a hearing employee of Kansai Shuwa College.

Prof. Akihiko Yonekawa of Baika Women's University in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, pointed out that there is often miscommunication among the deaf, saying: "Middle-aged people signing JSL find themselves not understood by the younger generations who are fluent in Manually Coded Japanese.

"It is desirable that [interpreters] can switch between suitable kinds of sign language depending on the audience they are working for and choose expressions that they can understand."

Of course this article over simplifies many things and I have problems with some of the claims and statistics cited, but still I am happy that such issues are being reported in a daily newspaper.

Here's another article from the Daily Yomiuri on June 12 about Meisei Gakuen school (link):

Kids connect at school in sign language

Tomonori Iwanami / Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer

With smiling faces all around, there was lively conversation among students in a classroom at Meisei Gakuen school in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo. Yet the classroom remained silent.

Opened in April this year, the private school is the nation's first school for hearing-impaired children offering classes based on Japanese sign language (JSL), which can be acquired naturally as a mother tongue by such children and features a different grammatical system from that of Japanese.

Traditionally, sign language has been discouraged in the nation's education of deaf people, which instead has mainly encouraged children to lip-read and make sounds. This approach was based on the theory that hearing-impaired children have to fit in with the life of the nondisabled, and sign language was thought to be a major obstacle for deaf children when learning Japanese.

However, such training has also resulted in a great burden on hearing-impaired children, said Principal Michio Saito, when The Yomiuri Shimbun visited the school in mid-May.

"They can live a happy life even if they use only sign language," he said. "Creating a school that allows children to study in sign language has been our hope for more than two decades."

Meisei Gakuen currently has 41 students studying in its preschool and primary school. Some of them live in Tokyo's neighboring prefectures, including two who come from as far as Shizuoka Prefecture.

The primary school offers almost the same curriculum as regular primary schools, but one exception is that sign language classes take the place of music lessons, giving students the chance to learn the rewards of expressing themselves in JSL.

Meisei Gakuen is set to open a middle school in a few years.

"It's really fun here," said fifth grader Nanami Miyasaka. "I want to become a kendo teacher in the future."

"What kind of school is suitable for children using JSL? Take a look and you can see for yourself," Saito said.

Many of the students appeared relaxed in class and confidently made presentations in front of other students--scenes that reinforced the principal's comments.

I had a post about this school in April that included a story from the Asahi Shimbun (link).

(Images borrowed from Meisei Gakuen web page.)

Here are two links for more information about the growing movement of accepting sign language as a real bona fide language and allowing deaf children to use JSL as their first language at school:

Link to Meisei Gakuen web page (in Japanese):
http://www.meiseigakuen.ed.jp/index.html

Link to Bilingual Bicultural Education center for Deaf Children web page (in Japanese):
http://www.bbed.org/

Let's hope these positive trends continue.

Monday Morning Fun: Sign Language Star Wars

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:33:00 +0000

Anything and everything can be said with the hands... The question is: would we "get this" if we didn't already know the story? This isn't real sign language per se, but gestures that could accompany a sign language in illustrating the story. Ponder the semiotics of it all, or merely enjoy the video on this early Monday morning.

Link to video:
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Sign_Language_Star_Wars/

Kyoto Police On Alert To Terrorism

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 07:47:00 +0000

Kyoto Station is an interesting place on many levels. The atmosphere, architecture and people intermingle to create visual treasures. One of my students did a blog on the "Anthropology of Kyoto Station" (link). Now, however, there is an increased police presence and signs announcing terrorism alerts. With various G8 meetings in Japan this year, Japan has been holding drills and publicizing its efforts to make the world feel at ease and/or increase paranoia. I have written before about the various photos that appear quite often in the Japanese media (link). Here's another example:

(Image borrowed from MSNBC.) The caption reads: A police dog bites the arm of a "suspect" during an anti-terrorism practice at the Tokyo shopping and business mall of Roppongi Hills on June 4, 2008. The training was held for the upcoming G8 Hokkaido summit.

See more photos of Japan's anti-terror efforts at the link below (and please don't ask me why they mixed photos of Mariah Carey in with them...).

Link to Japan G8 Security Training on MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24959708/displaymode/1176/

Back to Kyoto Station. When I was there recently, I saw the sign below.

In case you cannot read the text on the blurry picture (taken on my cell phone camera), it says: With the G8 Minister of Finance Meeting scheduled in Osaka, tighter security measures throughout the Hotel have been recommended by the Authorities. One specific measure that may inconvenience the guests of this Hotel is the removal of paper towels and trash cans during the following period: From Wednesday, June 11, 2008 To Sunday, June 15, 2008. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you in advance for your kind understanding and cooperation.

This observation was confirmed by a recent news article, "Security Stepped Up in Osaka." (Kyoto and Osaka are relatively close and linked together by several train lines.)

Police and other authorities tightened security throughout the city on Friday, both on the ground and across waterways, as the Group of Eight finance ministers meeting got under way here.

The Osaka prefectural police will deploy about 6,000 officers during the event, including guards posted at the Osaka International Convention Center in the city's Kita Ward, the main venue for the meeting, its neighboring facilities and major train stations.

Road access to areas near the venue is restricted until the meeting concludes on Saturday, and all vehicles entering sites near the venue may be subject to police inspections. On Friday, many drivers were asked to open their trunks, and police officers also checked beneath cars for suspect materials.

Many of the trash cans at train stations in the city have been sealed.

Link to "Security stepped up in Osaka" in The Daily Yomiuri, 6/14/08
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080614TDY02201.htm

Train stations in Japan have already been removing (the few and rare) trash cans and coin lockers because apparently terrorists like to place bombs in them. But why the removal of paper towels? Will this prevent terrorists from washing their hands? Luckily, the hotel did not decide to remove the toilet paper.

The hotel sealed the trash cans while the Kyoto Station authorities removed them all. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they removed the public ash trays as well.

Is this all a bit much? (Have I asked this question before?) While I was walking around Kyoto Station I saw a plastic bag with some sort of container in it - apparently litter. But it was suspicious because one rarely sees litter at Kyoto Station - it is incredibly clean. At least two security officers passed by the suspicious bag/litter, almost stepping on it, but did not seem to notice it. Is this the real kind of alert to terrorism that we can expect?

Koshien on a warm summer night...

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:18:00 +0000

Since the Hanshin Tigers are so hot (currently in first place, 8.5 games ahead of the Dragons, and riding a 6 game winning streak), it is difficult to get tickets to games. Koshien fills up and die-hard fans stay until the end and even longer. Sometimes one finds themselves trapped in their seats and only able to communicate with the beer vendors for news of the outside world.

"Interactive DVD for Shy People"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:08:00 +0000

(Image borrowed from the Avex Miterudake webpage.)

From Japan Today:

Avex Entertainment has introduced an interactive DVD called “Miterudake.” In the DVD, 50 women appear and just keep looking at you. This is for shy people to train themselves to get used to strangers. You can choose people of different ages and nationalities.

External Link:http://avex.jp/miterudake/

2,625 yen
Available from May 23, 2008

Check out the story at Japan Today to see some interesting comments about this "video."

"RACE Project on MSNBC"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:03:00 +0000

Also form the AAA eNews, June 2008:

Not necessarily Japan related, but a follow-up to an earlier post on RACE (Are We So Different? :: A Project of the American Anthropological Association). It's actually pretty cool, check it out.

The RACE Project’s timeline of racial milestones in U.S. history currently is being featured on the msnbc.com original series: “Gut Check: Multiracial In America.” The Gut Check series includes news stories and interactive media components that explore the growing number of Americans living in multiracial families and the issues they face. View the articles, video gallery, a state-by-state map and, best of all, the AAA timeline on the web.

http://gutcheck.msnbc.com

Anthropology News 2008 Fieldwork Photo Contest

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:59:00 +0000

From the AAA eNews, June 2008:

Anthropology News welcomes submissions for the AAA Fieldwork Photo Contest. AN will publish winning photographs in a fall 2008 issue of AN and online. Selected photographers will also be invited to exhibit their work at the AAA office.

For submission guidelines, see http://www.aaanet.org/issues/anthronews/photocontest.cfm

Deadline: August 15, 2008.

New Discussion Board on HIV/AIDS, Deafness and Disability

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:24:00 +0000

Leila Monaghan has started a new discussion board on HIV/AIDS, Deafness and Disability. She describes it as "a place to share information and ask questions. Any information you can share from all your different countries would be welcome." This is another good example of collaboration and open-access and a good source of information for these important issues.

Link to HIV/AIDS, Deafness and Disability:
http://hivdisability.proboards85.com/index.cgi

This is a scam targeted at deaf people...

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:22:00 +0000

This is a work in progress posting.

Warning, the "announcement" below is a scam targeted at deaf people. I have deactivated all the hotlinks in it. It is a blatant and poorly done as well with spelling mistakes and a strange layout that juxtaposes several different images and graphics. To my knowledge there is no "Confederation of the deaf" nor a "Prince Mayour Ola." Unfortunately it does steal the logo of a legitimate deaf related organization, RC Deaf Missions Malaysia. Its director assures me that they have nothing to do with this and are quite upset that their logo has been stolen and used for such a scam.

Have you received this scam e-mail? It comes as HTML code and has "LUCKY WINNERS OF THIS YEAR 2008 DEAF PROMO!!!" in the subject line. I am trying to ascertain how and why I received the mail and how widespread it is. If you have any information, please contact me or leave a comment.

**************

Dear Winner,

Confederation Of Deaf People™ hereby congratulates you and at the same time informing you that You are among the lucky winners of this year 2008 deaf promo® Money OrderSM sent to you from Prince Mayour Ola has been Approved.®

Money OrderSM : $500,000.00 USD

Winning Number : CZ982032214JH.

Deaf Site : Deaf Vp


	We will like you to get back to us with this information as follow Name: Address: State: City Country:

We will await your response back to this E-mail till the next 48,hours as all winner are to reply back immediately.

Domestic Winners Details
*We are goverment approved
*Non Scam E-mail
*Money Will be delivered to you in cash form no check or money order

We are proudly supported by...............
FBI SCAM PROTECTED
Note: Please do not reply to this E-mail if you are not a deaf, if you do and you were caught you will be handled over to our authourity, because we are GOVERMENT APPROVED

Thank you for reading our E-mail copyright®. We look forward
to satisfy all deaf arround the world because we don't want any deaf to suffer.
Sincerely,
Confederation of deaf people®



****************************** ****************************** ****************************** *******
REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE
internationaldeafalleviation2008@yahoo.com
Delivery Service**UPS Delivery Post-Man**

Walla! Mail - Get your free unlimited mail today

**************

Please be careful of this and other e-mail scams.

UPDATE: I have contacted various deaf people and deaf researchers but nobody has indicated that they received this e-mail. I on the other hand received the e-mail again on a different e-mail account. If you have any information, please share...

2008 大学日本手話勉強グループ春飲み会

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:35:00 +0000

Another semester has ended and thus it was time for another get together with the kids from the JSL study group and Deaf people from Osaka and Kyoto. We had a record number of 27 participants (15 Deaf, 12 hearing).

This year's event had much to celebrate. N has recently graduated and will enter graduate school in Australia. It was J's 21st birthday. All four sempai (who called themselves the Power Puff Girls) are leaving. Only two members from this semester will be back in the fall. There were many laughs and many cries. I was especially proud to see my students chatting away in JSL to my Deaf friends. Thank you to all who participated. I hope we can continue our friendship and fellowship, and the spread of sign language all over the world.

The JSL Study Group will be on summer break; we will start up again in early September. But stay tuned to VAOJ for more sign language related news.

Japanese Photographer Daido Moriyama

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Mon, 26 May 2008 10:12:00 +0000

(The Three Views of Japan No. 3 - Mutsu Matsushima [1974]. Image borrowed from artnet.com)

A life on the streets: Photography museum celebrates Daido Moriyama's 70th birthday

By DANIELLE DEMETRIOU
Special to The Japan Times, May 22, 2008

"I'm not always a stray dog. Sometimes I'm a cat," says Daido Moriyama. "Or an insect."

A stray dog with piercing eyes and a hint of a snarl may be the most famous of the monochrome images captured by the Japanese master of black and white photography. And as Moriyama nears his 70th birthday, it is clear that his feral days of roaming the streets, camera in hand, are not yet over.

"As long as I can walk, I will continue wandering the streets," he says. "The streets are my territory and I still wander them aimlessly with my camera."

Moriyama is among Japan's most important postwar photographers. Gritty and textured, stark and poignant, his images have long cast an unsettling spotlight on an ever-changing society.

Read the whole story:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fa20080522a1.html

Link to Moriyama daido's official web site:
http://www.moriyamadaido.com/

"Photographer Speared by Javelin at Utah Meet"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:27:00 +0000

This is not Japan or visual anthropology related, but I believe it illustrates the spirit of the Gonzo Visual Anthropologist.

Image and story from The Associated Press.

A newspaper photographer got a little too close to the action at the state high school track championships — and was speared through the leg by a javelin.

Ryan McGeeney of the Standard-Examiner was spared serious injury in Saturday's mishap, and even managed to snap a photo of his speared leg while others worked to help him.

"If I didn't, it would probably be my editor's first question when I got back," McGeeney said later.

The 33-year-old McGeeney, an ex-Marine who spent six months in Afghanistan, was taking pictures of the discus event and apparently wandered into off-limits area set aside for the javelin throw.

Striking just below the knee, the javelin tip went through the skin and emerged on the other side of his leg.

"It wasn't real painful. ... I was very lucky in that it didn't hit any blood vessels, nerves, ligaments or tendons," McGeeney said.

Much of the javelin was cut off at the scene. The piece in McGeeney's leg was removed at a hospital, and he received 13 stitches.

The javelin was thrown by Anthony Miles, a Provo High School student who said when he saw what had happened, "my heart just stopped."

"One of the first things that came to my mind was, 'Good thing we brought a second javelin,'" Miles' coach, Richard Vance, said Monday. He said Miles was "in a little bit of shock," but he assured the athlete that it was not his fault.

With a subsequent throw, Miles went on to win the state title in javelin for teams in Provo High's size classification, 4-A.

Alls well that ends well...

"Cigarette Machines May Get Face Scanners"

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:07:00 +0000

Want to buy tobacco? Look into the mirror to begin age verification. Caution: Looking young may prevent you from smoking.

The Finance Ministry may install automatic age-verification devices on all cigarette vending machines in addition to the identity card readers that are due to be fitted to all such machines by July, sources said.

A complicated application procedure means relatively few smokers have applied for the new Taspo ID cards, which carry a photo of the bearer and proof of his or her age.

Push the button for face scanning to begin. Continue to look deeply into the mirror.

But Fujitaka Co., a vending machine maker of Nagaokakyo, Kyoto Prefecture, has developed a scanner that can estimate a person's age in about three seconds based on the size and number of wrinkles and pouches around the eyes and mouth. The device uses a digital camera and is built into the vending machines. Customers simply press a button to get the device to check their age.

According to the company, the scanner is about 90 percent accurate. People who are only just over 20, the legal smoking age, or whose age is difficult to verify through facial features can insert their driver's license into the device instead.

Congratulations. You have the necessary bone structure, sags and crow's feet to be eligible to buy tobacco. Now insert money here.

About 1,500 such scanners are in use on a trial basis in 21 prefectures in the Tohoku and Kyushu regions, where the Taspo cards were introduced May 1.

The Finance Ministry has allowed cigarette buyers to use their driver's license as an alternative to the Taspo card to prove their age.

A ministry official said, "We'll make a decision on the validity of facial age-verification technology after looking into whether it can reliably prevent minors from purchasing cigarettes."

Story from The Daily Yomiuri Online, May 19, 2008.

Images borrowed from Fujitaka web page.

Bolded sarcasm courtesy of VAOJ.

See the story, Japanese smokers to face age test, at the BBC web site as reported on May 12, 2008.

Is this more weird Japan? Why is the government trying to make it so easy for people of legal age to buy tobacco? You can insert the special TASPO card, your driver's license, and now your face. The Japanese government owns 50% Of Japan Tobacco, the "Japanese government monopoly corporation for domestic tobacco sales. Also active in pharmaceuticals and food." I wonder why there has been no discussion of such age verification for alcohol and other adult-oriented vending machines?

Subtitles or Voiceover?

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:25:00 +0000

This is a debate that often erupts in Visual Anthropology class. Usually subtitles win out. But here is an interesting article from Japan Today that brings up some problematic (and unfortunate) issues regarding subtitles.

More recently, however, film distributors have become increasingly aware that younger audiences are unable to comprehend subtitles on current films. To simplify things, subtitle producers have been ordered to reduce the number of words flashed on the screen to the bare minimum, and use of Chinese characters has been cut.

But the comprehension problem may also be indicative of the dumbing down of the nation. Young adult moviegoers’ lack of familiarity with many basic historical facts, says the Sankei, in some cases has not progressed beyond middle-school level.

As a result, distributors are rapidly switching over to voice dubbing—not only for animated cartoons, but also for conventional cinema.

Link to 'What are Nazis?' Today's kids can't handle movie subtitles at Japan Today:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/what-are-nazis-todays-kids-cant-handle-movie-subtitles

How America Sees Japan: Sumo Car Wash

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:15:00 +0000

(As seen at Tokyomango...)

Solar Power? More Weird Japan...

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:00:00 +0000

(Image and text below borrowed from Japan Today.)

Caption: A model for lingerie maker Triumph Japan wears a “solar-panel bra.” The solar panel can display messages on the removable small electric board when the cell generates electricity. The bra is also equipped with pads designed to hold beverages so that the usage of cans and plastic bottles can be reduced, Triumph said.

Why?

Read comments and reactions to this photo.

Link to Japan Today Picture of the Day:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/view/solar-powered-bra

The manufacturer, Triumph Japan, has had some other interesting ideas, as you can see in the following two links. The warm biz might be practical, and the Hanshin Tigers' fun, but others are... well, you decide.

Link to 8 Best Bizarre Bras from Triumph Japan:
http://inventorspot.com/articles/best_8_bizarre_bras_triumph_inte_8275

Link to Triumph International Theme Undies:
http://japundit.com/sitemap/triumph-international-theme-undies/

"Yasukuni" Shown in Osaka

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:22:00 +0000

Documentary "YASUKUNI" screened at Osaka theater
(Kyodo News, May 10, 2008, 10:29 AM)

A movie theater in central Osaka began screening the controversial documentary film "YASUKUNI" on Saturday, becoming the first theater to do so in the Kansai area of western Japan.

The Seventh Art Theater in Yodogawa Ward will run the film by Chinese Director Li Ying till June 6. Depending on viewer turnout, the showing will be extended, it said.

Preliminary Report:

I was among the first people in Osaka to see Yasukuni this morning. It was my intention to get there well before the first 9:30 AM showing to see/photograph any trouble that might have been brewing near or inside the theater. I thought I might be lucky enough to get a ticket for the second screening at 11:55 AM or maybe even tomorrow.

When I arrived the only brewing trouble seemed to be coming from the media and its traveling circus outside the theater. I started taking some pictures when a theater staff member asked if I was there to see the film. I replied yes and was told to proceed on the other side of a rope. As I entered the customer line, the media swooped down on the foreigner.

No asking of permission, no acceptance of my claimed language difficulties, boom! I had two TV cameras shoved in my face and was being asked why I was there to see the movie. I replied that I was interested in Japanese politics. Why? I was asked. The questions got longer and longer and I felt as if they were attempting to put words into my mouth. Finally I politely said I was done. I turned around and there were more reporters and cameras aimed at my face, looking to get their shot. So I started taking pictures of them.

Disappointed reporters and cameramen turn away from the visual anthropologist.

I was ushered into an elevator and up to the 6th floor. I was asked not to take photographs. It seemed that I had three choices of tickets for the day: 1) a standing room only ticket for the 9:30 show, 2) a ticket for a special hall set up on the fourth floor for the 9:30 show, or 3) a ticket for the 11:55 show. I chose number 2.

The main theater on the 6th floor had about 130 viewers I was told. On the 4th floor in a large hall belonging to a Chinese restaurant a special screen and speakers were set up. About 100 people viewed the film there.

This photo is of the hall on the 4th floor set up to accommodate excess viewers. A few people were taking photographs so I quickly snapped this one. The hall quickly filled up before the film began.

There were many staff people ushering customers here and there. There weren't any uniformed police but there were some plain clothed security guards. Two sat in the rear of the hall; they were older men with scars and quite frankly, scary-looking. Before the film began, two more security guards came in and sat on each side in the front of the hall. They had earphones in their ears and handguns under their jackets.

The atmosphere was odd and tense. I felt as if I were at some illegal gathering... Many people seemed to come by themselves. There wasn't a whole lot of interaction between the members of the audience except for a group of older people who sat in the front of the hall. They all seemed to know each other; eventually one woman started passing out flyers for a "Viva! Cuba X Japan Fiesta" on May 20. The woman made a special effort to make sure I got a flyer. I was truly among a hotbed of radical Japanese.

After the film I was able to buy a film program/study guide (700 yen) and talk with theater staff members a bit. I waited my turn to take the elevator and was once again greeted by the media.

I was still processing the film in my mind, so when the microphone was jammed in my face again I said, "No comment..." More disappointed media. But other Japanese people were there to give their comments. I felt this was more appropriate anyway. This is a Japanese issue; why was the media swooping down on a foreigner to get his opinion?

So what is my opinion of the film? I will offer a few brief comments.

Overall, I felt as though I really didn't learn anything new from the film. The film portrayed, often times in a jerky and blurry video style, radical right wing activities at Yasukuni, but these were public events that seemed to demand an audience and documentation. They were intended to be public events, so I don't see how real nationalists would have a problem with these scenes. Perhaps some right leaning politicians might feel like they would want to hide such activities to an international audience...

In one scene, war veterans paraded into the shrine and prayed. The movie poster (seen below along with the movie program and my ticket stubs) highlights one of these public events.

What is odd about the movie poster is the position of the man's arms. What is the meaning of this man's gesture?

Actually, the gesture is captured/photographed at the wrong moment. The man holds his hands apart before bringing them together for a Shinto prayer-clap. The photo should have been of the prayer/clap itself. The hands outstretched taken out of context is suggesting some other meaning.

Li Ying focuses on a sword maker and much of the footage of the sword being made is quite beautiful. I suppose it is a juxtaposition of a beautiful art resulting in a deadly weapon. Li Ying at times seems a little aggressive when interviewing the sword maker. At times the sword maker seems to not know the answer, or perhaps not want to answer, some more politically motivated questions.

Overall, the film is interesting and might be educational to people who don't know much about the issues surrounding Yasukuni shrine. But one has to wonder if such people would come out to see this film anyway. All of the sensational protests and media coverage gave the film much more attention that it would have otherwise gleaned. A colleague has recorded and given me several clips of news coverage of the film and the screenings in Tokyo and Osaka. They all tend to show the more violent scenes from the film. This is yet another example of the media over-blowing an issue; but it also serves to give Li Ying free advertising for his film.

Does the film deserve all the controversy it has received? In the end, probably not. But the film certainly deserved to be made, and it deserves to be seen. Do check it out and offer your opinions here at VAOJ. What do you think of the film? How does the film serve to help us in out understanding of the visual anthropology of Japan?

(Special thanks to JH. Preliminary report written 5/10; additional text and photos added on 5/12.)

...and more Yasukuni articles trickle in.

Yasukuni: The Stage for Memory and Oblivion. A Dialogue between Li Ying and Sai Yoichi
Translated by John Junkerman, this discussion between "foreign" filmmakers in Japan appears in the latest edition of Japan Focus.

Link to "Dialogue"
http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2750

Photos of Hiroshima from the Robert L. Capp Collection

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:32:00 +0000

An announcement from H-Japan...

The Robert L. Capp collection at the Hoover Institution Archives contains ten never-before-published photographs illustrating the immediate aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing. These photographs, taken by an unknown Japanese photographer, were found in 1945 among rolls of undeveloped film in a cave outside Hiroshima by U.S. serviceman Robert L. Capp, who was attached to the occupation forces. Unlike most photos of the Hiroshima bombing, these dramatically convey the human as well as material destruction unleashed by the atomic bomb. Mr. Capp donated them to the Hoover Archives in 1998 with the provision that they not be reproduced until 2008. Three of these photographs are reproduced in Atomic Tragedy with the permission of the Capp family. Now that the restriction is no longer in force, the entire set is available below. Please contact Sean L. Malloy (smalloy@ucmerced.edu) if you have any information that might help identify the original photographer.

These are some very disturbing photos. Proof that visual anthropology is not always pretty. War is stupid. Nuclear weapons are stupid. What were they thinking? And what are they thinking now? View these pictures at your own discretion.

Link to Atomic Tradegy
http://faculty.ucmerced.edu/smalloy/atomic_tragedy/photos.html

UPDATE:

There has been some buzz on H-Japan about these photos actually being of Hiroshima.

David Palmer writes:

I would tend to agree with the Hiroshima Peace Museum assessment having serious doubts about these photos.

In late 2004, I presented the paper "The Missing 72 Hours: Are there Hidden Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Photos?" at the Kyoto Peace as a Global Movement III conference. It was based on an assessment of all known photos of the Hiroshima atomic bombing up to that year, including consultation with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on the issue. One interview I did with a Hiroshima hibakusha a year earlier led to him showing me photos he believed were such hidden photos never before seen - which he honestly believed - and which had been handed down from person to person for some 40 years or so.

We had the photos digitalized so that they could be circulated to a range of scholars in the US, Japan, and Europe. Eventually, a number of people in Japan identified them as the 1923 Kanto earthquake, and most likely the Korean massacres in Tokyo (Kanto-ku). Several elements in the photos indicated they were not Hiroshima or 1940s era. These included the buildings, burnt out, that do not match Hiroshima buildings - or terrain. Also, 1920s era straw hats (flat top with brim) were in these photos - something not characteristic of attire in 1945 Hiroshima. It turned out also that the photos were in the collection of the Tokyo Science Museum (which had liaised with the Hiroshima Peace Museum) - it was common after the earthquake to make post cards of the photos and sell them throughout Japan.

Certain parts of the Capp collection photos also have these characteristics. Note, also, that in one photo an arm has clearly been severed, as if cut off. This would be characteristic of the anti-Korean riots, not Hiroshima in August 1945.

Finally, the bodies do not have characteristics of radiation burns that are universal in Hiroshima photos.

The problem of Capp finding the film, however, raises more complex identification issues - but the key is the elements of identification within the photos. It might be useful, too, for those with the original film to have it analyzed for chemical makeup to try to determine the date the film may have been manufactured.

However, when the investigation I initiated - which turned out to be Kanto earthquake photos, not Hiroshima atomic bomb ones - included observations by Hiroshima hibakusha, who were volunteers at the Peace Museum - their response was that regardless of the fact that these were not A bomb photos, the images were very similar to what they remembered in their own experiences.

For 72 hours - as I indicated in my conference paper - there was a void of photography. After that period, official Japanese Imperial Army photos generally show the "atomic wasteland" and individual injuries. They are entirely different than the hibakusha drawings and paintings of a vast human catastrophe. The handful of photos by Matsushige Yoshito - taken some 1000 meters from the hypocenter - are all that we have so far of that 72 hour period. Japan's military tried to surpress all information - radio, printed, and photographic - of the Hiroshima atomic bombing immediately after it occurred because they feared it would ruin public morale. Subsequent US censorship obviously was aimed at preventing the truth of the catastrophe from impacting on world opinion.

This was a project I could not continue because I was denied funding, including from the Japan Foundation. I am convinced, however, that there are photos, somewhere, but it will take a team of researchers and reasonable funding to locate them and authenticate them. They are photos, I believe, that neither the Japanese government nor the US government want the public to see.

They reveal a horrendous war crime (by the US) and continued cover-up of military censorship (by both the US and Japan).

Ann Sherif writes:

Some of the photographs from the Capp collection supposedly of Hiroshima casualties appear in the book by Malloy, Sean L. Atomic Tragedy: Henry Stimson and the Decision to Use the Bomb Against Japan (Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2008)( p. 3, pp. 139-140). On p. 3 of the book. Malloy states ""Mr Capp donated these photos to the Hoover Institution Archives in 1998 with the provision that they not be reproduced until 2008. Mr. Capp has since passed away, and I am grateful to his wife and family for allowing me to reproduce these photos in time for inclusion here."

Golden Week 2008

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:14:00 +0000

Batch 1

Batch 2

Batch 3

Every picture tells a story. Taken together these pictures tell the stories of my Golden Week 2008. I am in every photo. Want to know the details? No narration for you - use your imagination... Can you make up your mind for yourself? Can you trust your own interpretations?

Design Fest at Tokyo Big Sight May 17-18, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (visual gonthros) — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:06:00 +0000

(Image borrowed from Design Festa web page.)

Design Festa, Asia’s biggest international art event, will be held for the 27th time in Japan at Tokyo Big Sight on May 17 and 18. The event, which started in 1994 and is held twice a year, is expected to attract more than 50,000 visitors from 69 countries, organizers said.

Artists from Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America will be exhibiting their works. Members of the public will be able to purchase artworks as well as meet artists of all persuasions, said organizers, adding that some 7,000 artists will occupy 2,600 booths. Design Festa will also feature outdoor and indoor stage performances, visual art, film exhibitions and workshops.

Admisasion is 800 yen per day or 1,500 yen for both days, in advance, or 1,000 yen at the door per day or 1,800 yen for two days. (From Japan Today, 5/6/08)

For further information, visit http://www.designfesta.com.

Lots of potential for visual projects...