Furukawamachi Shopping Arcade: Bowie was there in 1980, we were there in 2024!

"Bowie documentary blasts off at Cannes film fest"

Photos and text from Japan Today, May 26, 2022.

A high-octane documentary on David Bowie has delighted fans at the Cannes Film Festival which is having a vintage year for music lovers.

"Moonage Daydream" by American documentary maker Brett Morgen is a tour de force through the daring creativity of the pop icon who influenced rock music like few others.

It is not the only music doc at the festival, which also premiered "Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind" about the legendary rock'n'roller.

The film was made by Ethan Coen, one half of the Coen brothers film-making duo.

Both docs eschew expert talking heads in favor of a more immersive experience.

"I don't care what experts say," Coen told AFP at the festival. "Jerry Lee is a performer so I want to see the performance -- not what some expert thinks about it."

By the time he died in 2016, Bowie had sold more than 100 million records, from his first hit single "Space Oddity" to his final album "Blackstar", released just days before his death.

There was a massive wealth of clips, recordings, interviews, writings, movie performances and art by the artist -- five million items in all -- that Morgen went through to produce a mesmerising patchwork of sounds and images.

"It's not a biography," Morgen told AFP. "The film is meant to be sublime, and kaleidoscopic, and kind of wash over you."

Having seen "nearly every image in existence of David Bowie, I am more in awe of him today than at any point", Morgen said.

There was a temptation to simply call his film "Bowie", but he resisted, because "there's no definitive Bowie".

Critics gushed, with The Telegraph calling Moonage Daydream "wildly creative" and The Guardian, in a five-star review, saying it was "a shapeshifting epiphany-slash-freakout... a glorious celebratory montage".

That's not all the music to come at Cannes, which is also bracing for the world premiere on Wednesday of "Elvis", the new biopic from Australia's technicolour maestro Baz Luhrmann.

The film stars newcomer Austin Butler in the lead role, with Tom Hanks as his infamous manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Last year's edition was also packed with music, opening with the eccentric musical "Annette" by LA pop duo Sparks, and featuring a lauded documentary about The Velvet Underground by cult director Todd Haynes, and a biopic about Celine Dion.

Cannes was also the launchpad for "Amy" about the tragically short life of singer Amy Winehouse, which premiered in 2015 to enthusiastic reviews.

More broadly, this is something of a golden age for music documentaries as the genre moves away from the sort of simplistic, hero-worshipping films of old towards more innovative pieces of work.

Coen said he had been blown away by some recent documentaries -- especially "Get Back", the painstaking reconstruction of footage from The Beatles' last-ever gig by "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson.

"The Beatles one was fantastic. I could not get enough of it even though it was seven hours long," Coen said. "But it's like anything -- books or movies -- there's some good ones and a lot of bad ones."

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/entertainment/floating-in-a-tin-cannes-bowie-doc-blasts-off-at-film-fest

Movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSbbDCV45OI

Kinship 2

Bonus: https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2016/aug/25/david-bowie-tour-thin-white-duke-photos

"BOWIE x KYOTO x SUKITA - Masayoshi Sukita Photo Exhibition"

"Time-TIME BOWIE x KYOTO x SUKITA Masayoshi Sukita Photo Exhibition" will be held at the museum "Eki" KYOTO. In this exhibition, photographer Masayoshi Sukita will exhibit a photograph of Kyoto, which David Bowie loved, in order to organize the past time and re-engrave it in his heart.

Masayoshi Sukita was born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1938. After graduating from Nippon Photography Institute, studied under Shisui Tanahashi. Known for his diverse work in advertising, music and movies. Representative photo books include David Bowie's "Ki", ​​"Speed ​​of Life", "T-REX 1972", "YMO x SUKITA", and Kiyoshiro Imawano's "Soul". Filmed many domestic and foreign musicians, including the jacket of David Bowie's album "Heroes". In recent years, he has held David Bowie photo exhibitions in England, France, Italy, Germany, the United States, Australia, etc., and plans to publish a photo book "BOWIE x KYOTO x SUKITA" in April this year.

The first encounter between a photographer and a rock artist was in London in 1972. Then, the exchange between the two through photographs lasted for more than 40 years until 2016, when Bowie passed away. In particular, the time they spent in Kyoto on March 29, 1980 is said to remain in Sukita's heart.

In this exhibition, Sukita's work, which is a photograph of Bowie spending time in Kyoto, and a new work that Sukita took in Kyoto for this time will be exhibited.

Session April 3rd to May 5th, 2021
Venue Museum "Eki" KYOTO
Street address Kyoto Prefecture Kyoto City Shimogyo-ku Karasumaru-dori Shiokoji-dori Higashishiokoji-cho JR Kyoto Isetan 7th floor adjacent
Opening hours 10: 00-19: 30 (Admission is 30 minutes before closing)
Admission fee General 900 yen / University / High school students 700 yen / Elementary and junior high school students 500 yen
access Immediately after getting off at JR Kyoto Station

Website: https://bijutsutecho.com/exhibitions/7626?fbclid=IwAR3ULGS5jR1fD3DGnSorf5-yPJpObK6PF6WAperetJDA0iNhZ6hf6kQTBXc

Thanks to MK for the heads up on this.

Happy Birthday Bowie

Image borrowed from
 https://mymodernmet.com/david-bowie-ukiyo-e-woodblock-prints/ 

Click here for previous VAOJ coverage of David Bowie.

"Contemporary Woodblock Prints Reimagine David Bowie as Mystical Japanese Legends"

Image borrowed from My Modern Met.

When David Bowie died in 2016, fan tributes in all shapes and sizes started appearing in cities across the world to celebrate his music and life. Laid flowers, street art murals, and public installations popped up in London where the artist grew up, as well as in Berlin and New York where he lived during his career. However, although it’s well known that Bowie had a connection with these major European capitals, some might not know that he also had an affinity with Japan. His interest in Japanese culture began in the 1970s when he worked with fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto to create ensembles for his colorful alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust. He also worked with actor Bandō Tamasaburō who taught Bowie how to apply traditional kabuki makeup, which led to the entertainer’s iconic lightning bolt look.

One of the latest Bowie tributes comes in the form of two contemporary woodblock prints created by Masumi Ishikawa—one of the artists behind the Ukiyo-e Project. The first piece is inspired by Brian Duffy’s iconic photograph of Bowie featuring a red lightning bolt painted across his face. The image, originally used for the cover of Aladdin Sane (1973), was transformed by Ishikawa to mimic the woodblock style of the Kamakura period, in which Bowie is imagined as a legendary snake-taming sorcerer.

The second print was inspired by Terry O’Neill’s Diamond Dogs photograph from 1974 in which Bowie poses calmly beside an irate dog. The print sees “The Thin White Duke” reimagined as Takezawa Toji, a popular magician from the Edo period. The dog is stylized in the traditional style, appearing as a dragon-like mythical beast.

Source: https://mymodernmet.com/david-bowie-ukiyo-e-woodblock-prints/

"‘The Shoot Must Go On’: Masayoshi Sukita captures some of rock music’s most iconic figures"

From The Japan Times, 5/17/18.

Even if you don’t recognize the name, you probably know his shots. Photographer Masayoshi Sukita has captured images of rock gods and movie stars that deserve that most overused of epithets: iconic.

There’s Marc Bolan, face creased in orgasmic bliss and hair billowing behind him as he lunges towards the camera; a lipstick-smeared Masatoshi Nagase and Youki Kudoh, slumped against a hotel bed, on the set of Jim Jarmusch’s “Mystery Train”; the members of Yellow Magic Orchestra, sharing a table with a pair of mannequins on the cover of “Solid State Survivors.”

And then there’s David Bowie: lots and lots of Bowie. Sukita first captured the musician in London in 1972, at the peak of his Ziggy Stardust fame, and continued to photograph him for the next 35 years. His monochrome portrait on the cover of the 1977 “Heroes” album proved so indelible that Bowie was still referencing it decades later, even recreating the pose on Instagram, dressed as a member of Daft Punk.

In an introduction to Sukita’s 2011 collection, “Speed of Life,” Bowie wrote: “Whenever he’s asked me to do a session I conjure up in my mind’s eye the sweet, creative and big-hearted man who has always made these potentially tedious affairs so relaxed and painless. May he click into eternity.”

After nearly 60 years in the business, “eternity” is starting to sound just about right. But though Sukita has worked with some massive stars, and become a major name in his own right, he says he still prefers to meet his subjects as equals.

***

Sukita has had plenty of opportunity to reflect on his life’s work recently. The past few years have seen a flurry of retrospective shows, not just in Japan but also in France, Italy, Australia and the United Kingdom. Now the photographer, who celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this month, is the subject of a feature-length documentary.

Directed by music industry veteran Hiromi Aihara, “Sukita: The Shoot Must Go On” follows its amiable subject as he exhibits his Bowie shots in the U.S. for the first time, and catches up with a host of old acquaintances, ranging from Japanese music royalty (Tomoyasu Hotei, the members of YMO) to British fashion designer Paul Smith.

There are additional interviews with an assorted cast of figures from throughout his career, including Nagase, Jarmusch and fashion stylist Yacco Takahashi.

It’s not just a nostalgia fest, either: Sukita is also seen working in the studio with present-day guitar hero Miyavi, though their meeting didn’t go quite as planned. After waking up with a fever on the day of the shoot, the photographer had to spend several hours in hospital while his crew anxiously prepared for his arrival. Nevertheless, he proudly recalls that he managed to finish the job on schedule.

Read the whole article: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/05/17/films/shoot-must-go-masayoshi-sukita-captures-rock-musics-iconic-figures/

Sikita movie website: http://www.sukita-movie.com/

David Bowie Exhibition in Tokyo

Image and text from David Bowie is webpage.

DAVID BOWIE is, is the first international retrospective of the extraordinary career of David Bowie ‒ one of the most pioneering and influential performers of modern times. Over 300 objects including handwritten lyrics, original costumes, photography, set designs, album artwork and rare performance material from the past five decades are brought together from the David Bowie Archive for the very first time. The exhibition demonstrates how Bowieʼ s work has both influenced and been influenced by wider move ments in art, design, theatre and contemporary culture and focuses on his creative processes, shifting style and collaborative work with diverse designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre and film. Seen by 1.5 million people worldwide at sell-out shows in London, Chicago, Sao Paolo, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne, Groningen and Bologna, DAVID BOWIE is comes exclusively to Tokyo, its only Asian venue.



More information: http://davidbowieis.jp/en/

"Tachinomiya" - A Successful and Memorable Photo Exhibition/Event/Research Method

The exhibition/event "Tachinomiya" finished on a high note on Sunday after a two week run, proving to be an interesting and valuable research method. Thank you to all who came - Tenbun workers and patrons, university colleagues, students and former students, family, friends and new friends I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time. I received lots of good wishes and gifts as well as insightful comments and feedback. The Tenbun crowd examined the photographs intensely, pointed out new details and shared several suggestions for future research. Other visitors asked about theory, methods and techniques providing more inspiration. Thank you to Hoshigaoka Gakuen Head master and staff and Sewing Gallery staff for assistance and support.

There were many spontaneous happenings that added to the event including a visiting sketch artists who made drawing of people at the exhibition and a closing reception on Sunday. Extradiegetic elements added to the scene - the funky nature of the gallery itself, a music soundtrack comprised mostly of old American blues music inspired by drink (an a couple of new David Bowie songs from the Blackstar album) and six 1.8 liter bottles of sake donated by Tencho (they ran out by Sunday afternoon prompting visitors to go out and buy more...).

This exhibition was primarily for the benefit of the Tenbun crowd - as my thanks to them for their incredible cooperation and contributions. I found out during the exhibition that a regular Tenbun customer in a displayed portrait had recently passed away and that a woman appearing in a couple of photos was pregnant. This sadness and joy is a reminder that anthropology is about real lives and real people.

This exhibition in part started as a result of the "Shooting Culture in Japan" research dealing with photo methodologies, rules and etiquette; I was able to apply these things to create the beginnings of a visual ethnography of Tenbun, tachinomiya and Japan. This project will continue. Stay tuned to VAOJ for more news of future exhibitions, presentations and publications. For now, I need to catch up with work and sleep...

Shocked and Saddened by the Passing of David Bowie

No words can express the sense of loss that I and many others feel. Perhaps my old college roommate put it best when I expressed my loss to him. He wrote: "I totally get it. He was always there when you needed him."

Image borrowed from davidbowie.com

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: the best record ever made! "TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME"

David Bowie's love affair with Japanese style: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35278488?SThisFB

Like some cat from Japan - A tribute to David Bowie: http://features.japantimes.co.jp/david-bowie-in-japan/