Announcement: VAOJ Virtual Student Film Festival, May 16-23, 2014

The VAOJ Student Film Festival is going virtual! This semester, fifteen students have made short ethnographic films on a variety of Japan-related topics. As the last week of class is not the most convenient time for a film festival (especially with 15 films!), people in the past have requested that the student films be made available on-line. So from May 16-23 you can access all of their films here at the VAOJ site. Check them all out at your leisure and convenience. Coming soon...

Announcement: VAOJ Student Photo Exhibition, May 16-23, 2014

Twenty students from the Spring 2014 Visual Anthropology of Japan class will hold a photo exhibition beginning next week. Each student has been researching a particular topic dealing with Japanese culture and its representation, ultimately coming up with 10-15 prints as their final projects. The exhibition is in two parts: Students have chosen their 3 favorite prints and they will be in display at the Kansai Gaidai University Center for International Education student lounge. And then all of their photos will be displayed in a virtual exhibition on this VAOJ site. Check it out!

May 16-23, 2014

New Horizon of Anthropological Films from Japan

The Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology (JASCA) will hold their 50th Anniversary Conference jointly with the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) Inter-Congress in May, 2014. Several other anthropological organizations are participating as well.

The conference aims to attract well over 1000 international and domestic delegates to Chiba City in Greater Tokyo. The theme will be The Future with/of Anthropologies. The language of the conference will be English.

For more details: http://www.iuaes.org/japan2014/

This is probably the biggest anthropology conference of the year. One session might be of particular interest to visual anthropologists and filmmakers:

New Horizons of Anthropological Films form Japan

Convener: Itsushi Kawase (National Museum of Ethnology, Japan)

Currently, a considerable number of films have been produced by Japanese anthropologists centering on the variety of cultures in the world. Since 2006, more than 70 films have been presented in the film program in the annual meetings of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology. Some of them have been circulated and discussed widely in the internationally-acclaimed academic film festivals. The recent dramatic growth of the anthropological/ethnographic film platforms and visual anthropologists’ scholarly networks in the world have further facilitated the production and progress of methodology of anthropological filmmaking in Japan. Furthermore, several interdisciplinary audio-visual workshops led by anthropologists explore the new form of audio-visual storytelling and expand the practice of knowledge creation in humanities in conjunction with film, contemporary art and anthropology. This film program will present some of the latest films produced by anthropologists in Japan. We invite scholars who are interested in integrating film as the practice of doing anthropology and have the discussion on different audio-visual approaches to anthropological subjects as well as the different styles and conventions employed in the construction of films.

Date and Time: May 18th, 10:30- Venue: Room 304(3rd Floor), International Conference Hall, Makuhari Messe

For more information: http://www.cva-iuaes.com/japan2014/

"Law change would tape interrogations"

VAOJ has been covering this issue of visualization for some time now. Here's the latest from The Japan News, 5/2/14:

Chart borrowed from The Japan News, 5/2/14

Proposed changes to the criminal justice system are likely to require investigative authorities to record audio and video of the entire interrogation of suspects, according to Justice Ministry sources.

The proposals advanced by the ministry call for the entire process of interrogation by police and public prosecutors to be recorded in what has been called the “visualization” of questioning in Japan. Every stage of interrogation, from the arrest of a suspect to his or her indictment, would be subject to recording.

The proposed system would also authorize plea bargaining, an agreement between the defendant and prosecution in which the accused agrees to plead guilty in exchange for concessions from prosecutors.

On Wednesday, the ministry submitted its proposals to a sectional meeting of the Legislative Council, an advisory panel to the justice minister. Most of the proposals were approved by the council’s special committee on the establishment of a new criminal justice system, the sources said.

However, the committee is still divided over whether recordings should be limited to criminal cases subject to trial by the lay judge system, or whether the proposed method should be applied to all crimes. This will likely make it difficult for the committee to reach a consensus on the issue, according to observers.

Another change advocated in the proposals is an expansion of the scope of cases in which investigators may be authorized to use wiretaps as part of their investigations.

The special committee is scheduled to draw up a final report as early as this summer, and then submit it to the justice minister in autumn. The ministry will seek to submit bills aimed at translating the proposals into action to next year’s ordinary Diet session, including one designed to revise the Criminal Procedure Code.

Read the whole story: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001249839

Click here for previous VAOJ coverage.

"Digital eyes show your emotions for you"

Photo and text from Japan Today, 4/22/14.

Can’t be bothered to show anyone what you’re thinking? Then a Japanese scientist has the answer—a pair of digital eyes that can express delight and anger, or even feign boredom.

Building on a long line of slightly wacky and not-very-practical inventions for which Japan is famous, Hirotaka Osawa has unveiled the “AgencyGlass”.

“I wanted to build a system that is capable of carrying out social behaviors for humans,” he told AFP.

Just as robots can reduce the need for physical labor, the AgencyGlass—which looks like two small TV screens set in spectacle frames—aims to cut down its user’s emotional demands by carrying out their eye movements for them.

The two organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, which are connected to motion sensors and an external camera, show a pair of eyeballs that can appear to be making eye contact while the wearer is looking somewhere else entirely.

The wearer has to choose their emotion in advance—if they want to appear “attentive”, for example, they must switch it to this mode before putting the glasses on.

Osawa, of the prestigious Tsukuba University, said possible applications include for flight attendants dealing with irritating passengers, or teachers who want to project an image of kindness towards shy students.

“As the service sector grows and becomes more sophisticated, it becomes increasingly important that we behave by showing understanding to others,” he said. “That requires us to behave differently from our true feelings.”

Such “emotional labor” has caused some people to become deeply conflicted and develop emotional illnesses, Osawa said, adding that his technology could eventually help them.

The glasses weigh around 100 grams with the battery lasting roughly an hour, Osawa said, adding that the prototype cost just over 30,000 yen to make. They are currently not in production.

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/digital-eyes-show-your-emotions-for-you-2

47-47-47

Friday Fun! "This [American] Sign Language Rap Battle Is Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen"

This is way too cool. Thanks to my colleague MH for sharing this with me. Check it out!



Again, very cool. But one might ask why was a stoned rapper asked to judge the interpreters? Where were the deaf people?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/08/sign-language-rap-battle_n_5112402.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

"Stores sharing biometric face data"

Image and text from The Japan News, 4/6/14.

Automatically recorded images by security cameras of shoppers’ faces have been shared among 115 supermarkets and convenience stores in the Tokyo metropolitan and another area as an antishoplifting measure, without customers’ knowledge, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

Although the images are used mainly to prevent shoplifting, experts and industry bodies say it is necessary to make clear rules because providing people’s facial data to a third party could constitute an invasion of privacy.

The facial data in question was shared by 115 stores of 50 separate operators that have installed a shoplifting prevention system that a Nagoya-based software development company began marketing in October last year. The stores include major convenience stores operated by individuals under franchise contracts.

At these shops, security cameras film all customers’ faces. If a person shoplifts or makes an unreasonable complaint at one of the stores, security camera footage of the person is processed into facial data with the recognition system and classified into categories such as “shoplifter” and “complainer.”

They are then sent to the software firm’s server to be recorded. The facial images themselves cannot be browsed from other stores.

Once registered on the digital blacklist, however, a warning is issued to the staff of other stores—in a way only the staff can notice—when the face recognition system installed at these stores detects the blacklisted person visiting their stores.

At these stores, stickers are placed within the stores to inform customers that “face recognition security cameras are installed.” But customers are not informed that the stores are sharing the facial data.

Facial recognition—done through computer analysis of a person’s face—is a type of biometric recognition system used to confirm identity, age or sex, along with other specifics of individuals. Unlike fingerprints or iris recognition systems, it can collect information on individuals’ facial data when the subjects pass by security cameras. Facial recognition systems are known to identify a specific person with an accuracy rate of at least 99.9% and are used to identify terrorists at such places as airports.

Under the Personal Information Protection Law, facial images filmed by security cameras are considered personal information. The law allows such images to be filmed when they are used for crime prevention, but sharing the facial data could be a violation of the law that bans providing personal information to third party without the person’s consent.

Face data sharing could be a privacy invasion if the data is used for personal identification by relating it to his or her criminal records or buying history, for example.

Commenting on the facial data sharing, lawyer Yoichiro Itakura, an expert of personal information protection, said the data could be used in a way disadvantageous to customers as “stores can arbitrarily register specific shoppers as suspicious people, and they may then suffer unjust treatment at stores they have never visited before.”

Itakura also pointed out, “Even when someone is erroneously registered [as a suspicious person], he or she won’t be given an opportunity to complain about the mistake.”

An official of the Nagoya software development firm said: “The system has no problems. We just responded to the needs of the stores, which is their need to prevent shoplifting.”

Source: http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001187654

Sakura II: The Fallen Petals

It all ends too soon; delicate cherry blossoms are swept away by wind, rain, flowing currents and neighborhood women with their brooms...

Sakura I: Between Work and the Wind & Rain, This Year's Shots...

The timing of the cherry blossoms (full bloom during the weekdays) along with the chilly/windy/rainy weather made it difficult to go out and enjoy ohanami. Luckily I am blessed with many cherry trees behind my house so I can simply open the window and enjoy. I left early for work one day so as to get some sakura shots as is custom here at VAOJ. Happy Spring!

See previous sakura-related posts on VAOJ:
Spring 2010
Spring 2011
Spring 2012 pt.1
Spring 2012 pt.2
Spring 2012 pt.3
Spring 2013 pt. 1
Spring 2013 pt. 2
Spring 2013 pt. 3