More (?) Traditional (?) Japanese (?) Stuff to Buy -or- Which One is More Ridiculous?

Photos and text from: https://japantoday.com/category/features/new-products/wear-a-japanese-lantern-on-your-head-with-the-new-chochin-cap-from-kyoto

-OR-

Photos and text from: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-kim-kardashian-kimono-trademark-cultural-appropriation-20190625-story.html?fbclid=IwAR145ONMcJTr5jllmFDojb2aq3fQxsE9mWgCdTfDHRYuzgR7Ymrhdh4gFw8

Jalan Jalan (70): The alcove around the corner...

The Neko Project

Photo borrowed from Neko Project/Yuko FUKAGAWA

Project synopsis (from the website):

IN THE OLD DAYS, A MAN WAS TAUGHT TO FORGET HIMSELF. TODAY IT IS QUITE DIFFERENT: HE IS TAUGHT NOT TO FORGET HIMSELF AND HE ACCORDINGLY SPENDS HIS DAYS AND NIGHTS IN ENDLESS SELF-REGARD. WHO CAN POSSIBLY KNOW PEACE IN SUCH AN ETERNALLY BURNING HELL? THE APPARENT REALITIES OF THIS AWFUL WORLD, EVEN THE BEAST LINES OF BEING, ARE ALL SYMPTOMS OF THAT SICKNESS FOR WHICH THE ONLY CURE LIES IN LEARNING TO FORGET THE SELF.

SOSEKI NATSUME, I AM A CAT

This anthology I am a cat of Soseki in the Japanese literature reveals the importance and the necessity to sometimes have cat’s point of view on our crazy world. Cats have been significant in Japanese culture from Hello Kitty to the maneki-neko, from A Cat, A Man, and Two Women written by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki to The cat returns from Ghibli Studio, from Chiro, Nobuyoshi Araki’s cat to Sasuke, Masahisa Fukase’s cat, cats are omnipresent. When visiting Japan, no one could ignore cats everywhere in the streets but also their representations in bars or restaurants next to the tanuki.

This project is to offer Japanese photographers a challenge within the framework of an open call: to propose a series of very personal photographs on the theme of cat but with their own language, their own style, their own techniques.

A jury (described in the pages of this site) will meet in May 2018 to select all the series that will be published in a book – Neko Project Book (The release will be scheduled for 2019) by the publisher iKi.

In addition, this Neko project will lead to various proposals: different types of exhibitions, conferences and workshops, throughout Europe to express the important place of Japanese photography in worldwide photography expression.

URL: http://neko-project.com/about/

You can still see some exhibitions: http://neko-project.com/partnership/

Thanks to LD for the heads-up on this project.

Crazy Shopping in Tsuruhashi

Jalan Jalan (69): And here's the new signage for the neighborhood tachinomiya (I wish I could have been there for the unveiling...)

In case you forgot... 「Jalan Jalan (68): Neighborhood Tachinomiya Under Construction - a noren to protect the entrance and a cover for the whole building during renovation...」

UPDATE!

Here's what the original signage looked like. (Historical) Images taken from Google Street View.

G-20 in Osaka: Japan has already used young idol groups and cute mascots to woo and welcome politicians - what is next? -OR- yesterday it was monsters, today it's Osaka obachans...

'Here is Osaka wonderful city!': Granny group releases English rap video to welcome G20 summit

From The Japan Times, 6/22/19.

An Osaka-based “idol group” made up of women whose average age is 66 has released a rap music video in English to welcome the Group of 20 summit that starts in the city on Friday.

The video for “Oba Funk Osaka,” uploaded to YouTube, shows the obachan (older women) dancing through the streets and singing that the locals are “the funniest people in the world.”

Osaka obachan are known for being loud, witty, talkative and friendly. In the video they play on this stereotype, even offering candy they’re said to always carry with them.

“Up to now, we moved like we were undergoing rehab. But this time we nailed it,” said Eiko Funai, a 71-year-old who along with other members of the group performed in tiger-patterned outfits that Osaka women of a certain age are said to favor.

“We hope that people all over the world get energized after watching the video,” she said of the music with a James Brown-like intro and lines such as “Let’s talk! Let’s dance! Here is Osaka wonderful city!”

The release of the video by the group, Obachaaan, which formed in 2011 and now has seven regular members, came ahead of the two-day G20 summit to be hosted by Japan for the first time.

URL: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/06/22/national/lets-dance-osaka-granny-group-releases-english-rap-video-welcome-g20-summit/

Yōkai Senjafuda Digital Exhibition at University of Oregon Libraries

Figure in silhouette. Black slip with white text, orange slip with black text in upper right corner. Taishō period, 1912-1926. Gertrude Bass Warner Memorial Library. 

Description (from the web site): This digital exhibition focuses on tiny slips of paper—senjafuda 千社札—that depict Japanese ghosts and monsters—yōkai 妖怪. Both senjafuda and yōkai have their roots in Japanese popular culture in the early modern period (17th-19th centuries), and both continue to cast a spell on viewers today.

The phenomenon of senjafuda dates back to the late 18th century. They were originally made by pilgrims to paste on the walls of temples and shrines as a sort of devotional graffiti. Later they became collector’s items, and by the middle of the 19th century they had become miniature masterpieces of woodblock printed art. Senjafuda depict a dizzying variety of themes with meticulous craftsmanship and vivid, stylish graphic design.

Yōkai simply means “monster,” but it’s best understood as referring specifically to monsters (and sometimes ghosts) as imagined in early modern Japan, particularly as depicted in wood-block prints. From Mizuki Shigeru to Studio Ghibli, from The Ring to Yōkai Watch, Japanese popular culture (including anime, manga, books, and film) is full of yōkai imagery.

The University of Oregon’s collection of senjafuda is one of the largest in the world. It includes many senjafuda depicting yōkai. This exhibit uses senjafuda to explore yōkai culture, and yōkai to explore senjafuda culture.

The digital exhibition Yōkai Senjafuda is the result of a collaboration between the University of Oregon Libraries and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

URL: https://glam.uoregon.edu/yokaisenjafuda/page/welcome

2 pretty pics to celebrate a (hot) Friday...

Jalan Jalan (68): Neighborhood Tachinomiya Under Construction - a noren to protect the entrance and a cover for the whole building during renovation...

Yeah yeah yeah... I know... A lot of construction-destruction-reconstruction themes for the jalan jalan as of late. This tachinomiya is across from my neighborhood train station and is always a temptation when returning home from work. I was concerned when I saw it was under construction but to my relief it remains open even while the renovation work goes on.

Closed the next evening (as per usual on their Wednesday holiday).

Open the next day...

The next day - open even while the construction work goes on?

"'Children are the real victims of conflict' The global refugee crisis through the lens of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Muhammed Muheisen"

Photo borrowed from story on SBS.com.

Not Japan related (let's not get started by Japan's attitudes about refugees and asylum seekers...), but an important photography story none the less...

Jordanian photojournalist Muhammed Muheisen aims to bring to life the stories of refugees, migrants and internally displaced people, as well as the challenges they face settling in new countries.

The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has been documenting refugee crises across the Middle East, Asia and Europe for over a decade.

“Not everyone is aware of what is happening in our world," Muheisen tells SBS Greek.

"We always use the word 'refugee', but behind the word, there are people with homes and hopes, people who had memories and families but they were forced to leave their homes and look for a safer place."

Muheisen recently exhibited a selection of his work in Athens under the title 'Light on the Move'.

The featured images present the daily lives of refugees and internally displaced people from different parts of the world.

The photographic exhibition was co-hosted by the United Nations Migration Agency in Greece.

See/read the whole story: https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/greek/children-victims-conflict-muhammed-muheisen-refugee-photojournalism?fbclid=IwAR2dQJMDUknijMNc8bnEI9-hmnqeZRSIVRplCo_d334zuNbWfUfTfVRkbCw

"Photojournalist reveals unheard voices of 'Japanese wives' in N Korea"

Photo borrowed from norikohayashi.com: "NORTH KOREA 2017-2018" project.

See the UPDATE below.

Text from Japan Today, 6/17/19.

An award-winning photojournalist has shed light on forgotten Japanese women, who married Korean men and moved to North Korea in a 1959-1984 repatriation project.

"They have been in different settings since arriving in North Korea. Some of them have lost contact with their relatives in Japan, while some still wrestle with their conscience as they left their families in Japan behind," said Noriko Hayashi.

"Each of their lives is equally irreplaceable, and as most of them are getting old, we do not have that much time left to hear what they have to say," she added.

Recording their unheard voices and photographing their present-day lives, Hayashi will soon publish a book, "Japanese Wives Who Moved to Korea," on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the launch of the repatriation project.

It brought 93,000 people -- Koreans and their families including 1,830 Japanese wives -- to the North, which was hailed a "paradise on earth," with secure employment and housing.

Hayashi, 35, visited North Korea 11 times from 2013 to 2018 and met with nine Japanese wives. While North Korean guides or interpreters attended each interview, Hayashi said she did not feel too constrained by them.

...

Tokyo-based Iwanami Shoten Publishers will publish Hayashi's book, which will cost just over 1,000 yen with 32 photos, on June 20.

Read the whole story: https://japantoday.com/category/national/feature-photojournalist-reveals-unheard-voices-of-japanese-wives-in-n.-korea

This is a fascinating and very important project. It is unfortunate that no photos were included with the news story. Luckily Noriko Hayashi has a great website with information about her projects and lots of great and illuminating photos. This project isn't listed on her website yet but there are plenty of other photos from North Korea. And other places as well. I highly recommend checking out her work.

Noriko Hayashi's website: https://norikohayashi.com/

Of personal interest is a project about a young deaf boy in Cambodia living with HIV/AIDS. (VAOJ readers are familiar with my research on HIV/AIDS in Japan, especially concerning Deaf communities.)

https://norikohayashi.com/living-with-hiv-and-deafness-bunhengs-story

UPDATE!

The Japan Times (6/18/19) ran the same story with a picture.

Caption: Mitsuko Minakawa, one of the Japanese wives who moved to North Korea, holds her wedding picture, taken in 1960 in Hakodate, Hokkaido, at her apartment in Wonsan in August 2016. 

COURTESY NORIKO HAYASHI VIA KYODO

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/06/18/national/photojournalist-documents-unheard-voices-japanese-wives-went-north-korea/

Jalan Jalan (67): [you fill in the blank...]

New Resource: Digital Humanities Japan

Announcement from Paula R. Curtis via H-Japan:

The Digital Humanities Japan initiative is pleased to formally announce the launch of our website and its associated content. This includes a mailing list and a resource wiki.

Our wiki contains (among other things):

Scholars Directory - A submission form where you can list yourself a DH Japan scholar, including your current projects, skill sets, and contact information. We hope this will enhance everyone's ability to find collaborators and find new and fascinating work in the field.

Publications - An open-access google doc where you can list your publications or the publications of others related to the intersection of DH/Japan, whether informational blog posts or peer-reviewed writing.

DH Tools - A list of Japan-specific digital tools, as well as a database of broader DH Tools, separated by category.

There is much more on the wiki, and we hope that the present resources will help facilitate more work on the intersection of Japan and Digital Studies. We encourage contributions from the community to help our resources grow. Contact information is available on the DHJ site for those with any questions.

Mission Statement (from the website): Digital Humanities Japan is an international and interdisciplinary community of scholars and professionals interested in working with digital methods, tools, and resources for Japanese Studies. As a collective, we aim to foster collaboration between those with similar interests by promoting scholarly dialogue, holding workshops to develop technical skills and project ideas, and creating a central platform for the sharing of resources related to digital methods.

URL: http://dhjapan.org/

Jalan Jalan (66): Fun and Toys

Would you get on a tour bus with this Happy Angel?

Passing through Kyoto the other day we encountered this tour bus [ヒトミ観光バス] - the company is from Wakayama Prefecture. Looks more like Horrorman than a happy angel...

Horrorman at the Anpanman Children's Museum in Kobe.

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Society for East Asian Anthropology