The RAI's 'Meaning of Water' Photo Contest

I received an e-mail from my former student with the following information:

Something of interest to your vis anth students I'm sure...

Royal Anthropological Institute is having a photo contest on "The Meaning of Water".

The prize may not seem like much (25 pounds in Amazon giftcard form) but it's a published photo and open to undergrads!

For details click on the link below. Seems like there is a lot of water around here so therefore many opportunities for good water-related photos. Thanks, Richard!

http://www.discoveranthropology.org.uk/your-space/99-photos-.html

Selling back-to-school clothes to kids

School starts in April in Japan, so now all the major stores are beginning their back to school sales. But why use these mannequins? With their pale faces, odd expressions and postures, they are plain scary. Especially this one:


I have posted/pondered about the use of foreigner-looking mannequins in the past, but again, what is up with these pale faces?

And why foreigner-looking mannequins? I have heard one advertiser say that foreign models are used so that the Japanese customers can look at the clothes s/he is wearing more objectively. The advertiser states that there are a limited number of Japanese facial and body types, thus Japanese models might remind one of a friend or neighbor, which would distract for the clothes/products themselves.

Or maybe we can blame Colonel Sanders' presence in Japan? He certainly gets dressed up in a number of fashion styles. I think he is much more preferable to the pale faces above.

"Low-budget filmmaking workshop to be held in Tokyo by Stephen Cleary"

Announcement from Japan Today:

Stephen Cleary, one of the most experienced and respected story/script consultants and development experts in Europe will visit Japan in late February and teach a one-day workshop (in English) on the development of low-budget feature films.

Despite the excitement about low-budget production and new distribution channels, most low-budget films never get seen by audiences. Cleary will analyze some of the reasons for the failure of low budget projects, and some of the myths that surround the “new technology and new distribution paradigms” and suggest ways in which filmmakers can develop their stories to best position their films for festival success or commercial release. This is not a “recipe for success” approach, but a hard-headed industry-insider’s advice on how to best avoid failure.

Cleary was head of development at the UK Film Council. He then established ARISTA, a script and development workshop that was funded by MEDIA in Europe and which developed hundreds of European feature films. He was consultant for the METI-sponsored J-Pitch initiative, a development workshop to help Japanese producers make international co-productions. Currently, he works closely with National and Regional Film Agencies in Australia on projects, workshops and co-producing initiatives.

The workshop will be in English, and held at the Toho Gakuen Graduate School of Film Producing in Nishi-Shinjuku 5-chome (Oedo Line).

For: Producers, Writers and Directors
Time: 10:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Doors open at 10:10 a.m.)
Place: Graduate School of Film Producing
〒151-0071 東京都渋谷区本町3-40-6
山手通り・方南通り「清水橋」交差点角
都営地下鉄大江戸線「西新宿五丁目」駅 A2出口左手に徒歩3分

For filmmakers with projects in development (writers/directors/producers), Cleary will also offer consultation on specific projects. A full treatment (8–10 pages) or English script will need to be ready by Feb 20 at the latest. This story consultation involves a read of the material, and a two-hour intensive session on the story development. As these sessions are limited we have to prioritize them on a first come/first serve basis, and it may not be possible to accommodate every request. The consultation fee for projects is 50,000 Yen.
Individual consultation:

For: Producers, Writers and Directors
Date: Feb 22-26
Place: 100 Meter Films office
Fee: 50,000 yen

To book a place at the workshop on Feb 27 (8,000 yen) or to book an individual consultation, please contact Saki Watanabe at 100 Meter Films - saki@100meterfilms.com
100 Meter Films
Saneicho Mansion 201
Saneicho 4-12
Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 160-0008
Tel: 03-3358-3411
Fax: 03-3358-3459
Email saki@100meterfilms.com

New Spring 2010 Semester Student Blogs - Check Them Out!

Tsuyunoten Shrine (露天神社), Umeda, Osaka.

A new semester is already in its third week, so you know what that means: new student visual anthropology photo journal blogs. Students have already enthusiastically posted on their initial impressions of their new setting here in Japan and are now busy researching and photographing for their next posts about their Japanese neighborhoods (with inspiration from Ted Bestor's film, Neighborhood Tokyo). Please scroll down to access their blogs. Come often and leave comments. There are a lot of great photos to see and helpful information to read. But your comments and feedback will make our blogging exercise even more successful. We are all about collaboration, open dialogue and of course good visual anthropology. よろしく！

Scholarship for Visual Anthropology Students

Here is a scholarship from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan for students studying in Japan. Check out the details for the photo entry and the video entry below. Seems like something that a student of visual anthropology should be able to put together either as a new project or from a previous blog entry. Please note the tight deadline of February 15, 2010. Go for it and good luck!

2009-2010 SWADESH DEROY SCHOLARSHIP

The Swadesh DeRoy Scholarship is the annual scholarship award by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ). It was created in honor of a respected long-time journalist member to encourage and support university students interested in entering the journalism field.　Any current undergraduate or graduate student in Japan, or any Japanese student enrolled in an overseas journalism program, is eligible to apply. The award money is intended to help students further their journalistic pursuits and should be used for such purposes (e.g. language courses, travel, computer purchase, books, living expenses during a journalism internship).

Students are not required to provide receipts or a detailed financial accounting of how the money was spent, only a report to the Scholarship Committee of how they used the funds.

For 2009-2010, First Prize will be 300,000 yen, Second Prize will be 200,000 yen, and Third Prize will be 100,000 yen. Additional prizes totaling a half million yen may be awarded at the discretion of the judges.
Entries must be submitted no later than February 15, 2010.

Entries will be judged by a panel of veteran journalists in print, television and photography. The winning entry will be published in FCCJ’s monthly magazine No. 1 Shimbun. Winners will also be asked to submit a short article (200-300 words) detailing how the scholarship money is helping them in their journalism pursuits by June 30 for publication in the club magazine (comments may also be used in FCCJ promotion and fundraising materials).
Please see below for entry details and background on the FCCJ.

(Students interested in journalism are also invited to apply for the FCCJ’s Student Membership Program. Accepted students will be given a limited complimentary membership to the club for one year.)

ENTRY DETAILS

Students can apply by submitting an application form, resume, copy of their student photo ID, a brief statement explaining what you would use the prize money for, and ONE of the following：

PRINT ENTRY: An 800-1,200 word unpublished article in English on one of the topics listed below. Applicants are encouraged to include photos with their text, but are not required to do so.

NOTE: Priority is given to print entries that express original ideas, are clear and concise, and are well-researched, not to essays that are grammatically perfect. Non-native English speakers are free to consult with native speakers prior to submitting their articles, but there should be a minimum of outside editing. Entries from non-native speakers suspected of having been heavily rewritten by native speakers of English will be subject to investigation by the Scholarship Committee and to possible disqualification.

PHOTO ENTRY: A 200-250 word written introduction about what the photos are meant to convey as a journalistic work and a selection of at least ten 8x10 photos (color or black and white) on one of the topics with captions. Students may also submit a contact sheet or a group of digital photo thumbnails in addition to the photos. Entries must be printed photographs. Digital images on CDs and DVDs will not be considered due to the nature of the judging process.

VIDEO ENTRY: 1.5 minute – 3 minute television story package on one of the topics. Video contributions should be in spirit and principle the sole work of one individual although cited assistance from outside sources is permitted.

THE TOPICS (Choose one): NEW MEDIA versus OLD MEDIA: What Japanese Youth Think About The Future of News in Newspapers, TV, and the Internet

AWARDS
GRAND PRIZE: 300,000 yen
Second Prize: 200,000 yen
Third Prize: 100,000 yen

Special Mention Prizes: Up to a half million yen

REVISED DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: The deadline has been revised to February 15, 2010 (Overseas applications received after Feb. 15 will still be accepted as long as a copy of it is emailed to kubo@fccj.or.jp by the deadline)

An announcement will be made in early February and awards will be presented at a dinner honoring winners at the FCCJ in March or April.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Hitoshi Kubo
Yurakucho Denki North Building 20F
Yurakucho 1-7-1, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-0006
Email: kubo@fccj.or.jp
Tel: 03-3211-3161

2009-2010 SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS: Catherine Makino, Eric Johnston

Web page: http://www.fccj.or.jp/scholarship

More Security Cameras

From today's Japan Today:

16 security cameras installed on Akihabara streets

In a reaction to the 2008 stabbing rampage in Akihabara, the Kanda-Suehiro-cho neighborhood association installed 16 security cameras on streetlamps in the area Tuesday. These are the first surveillance cameras to go up in the Akihabara area.

After the June 8, 2008 incident, community leaders met with local police and Chiyoda Ward representatives to look into installing the cameras. The cameras cost nearly 10 million yen to purchase and install, a hefty price tag that was subsidised by both the prefectural government and the ward.

The cameras were also installed with hopes that the heightened security would provide a feeling of safety and stave off crime, attracting more people to the area, said an association spokesperson.

Another neighborhood association formed by local shop owners is planning to have a network of 35 security cameras installed in the area near Akihabara Station by the end of March.

The man arrested for the massacre, Tomohiro Kato, 27, will make his first court appearance on Thursday.

Source: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/16-security-cameras-installed-on-akihabara-streets

Yellow Peril? Go Tigers!

Happy Year of the Tiger. And Go Hanshin Tigers...

I happened upon this image when reading the recent article about Jack London's reporting of China and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. The article, written by Daniel A. Métraux, is called Jack London, Asian Wars and the “Yellow Peril.” Here is a brief description by the author:

Novelist Jack London (1876-1916), by far the most popular American writer a century ago, is these days remembered for his novels and short stories on the Yukon. The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and To Build a Fire have retained much of their early popularity, but his visits to Japan, Korea and Manchuria, his brilliant coverage of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), his short stories based in Japan and China, his essays predicting the rise of the Pacific Rim, and his call for mutual respect and better contact between Americans and Japanese are long forgotten. London deserves to be remembered, however, as a writer on Asia and the Pacific who directly confronted Western racism against Asians, denounced such concepts as “The Yellow Peril” and showed great sympathy for Japanese and Chinese in his literature.

This fascinating article can be found at Japan Focus:
http://japanfocus.org/-Daniel_A_-M__traux/3293

Anyway, Métraux included the above image and credited it to MIT's Visualizing Cultures. There I found an interesting set of postcards from the same era illustrating relationships between Russia and Japan. Here is a brief description from the MIT Visualizing Cultures web site:

Imperial Japan’s 1904–05 war against Tsarist Russia changed the global balance of power. The first war to be depicted internationally in postcards is captured here in dramatic images from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection of Japanese Postcards at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Some really interesting visual images can be found here.

Do check it out.
http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yellow_promise_yellow_peril/index.html

Lots of other interesting stuff to look at can be found at Visualizing Cultures as well.

New Film: Shugendô Now

Image borrowed from Shugendo Now Welcome Page

An announcement from H-Japan brought this film to my attention. Here is a brief description form the film's web page:

How does one integrate lessons learned from nature in daily life?

This feature documentary is an experiential journey into the mystical practices of Japanese mountain asceticism. In Shugendô (The Way of Acquiring Power), practitioners perform ritual actions from shamanism, “Shintô,” Daoism, and Tantric Buddhism. They seek experiential truth of the teachings during arduous climbs in sacred mountains. Through the peace and beauty of the natural world, practitioners purify the six roots of perception, revitalize their energy and reconnect with their truest nature – all while grasping the fundamental interconnectedness with nature and all sentient beings.

How does one return to the city after an enlightening experience in the mountains?

More poetic than analytical, this film explores how a group of modern Japanese people integrate the myriad ways mountain learning interacts with urban life. With intimate camera work and a sensual sound design the viewer is taken from deep within the Kumano mountains to the floating worlds of Osaka and Tokyo and back again.

Might the two be seen as one?

For more details:
http://www.shugendonow.com/Shugeno_Now/Welcome.html

The film will be screened in the near future at these places:

Festival du film ethnographique du Quebec
29 January (Friday) @ 5:15pm
Concordia University's J.A. De Seve Cinema (1400 De Maisonneuve Boulevard West)
www.fifeq.ca

Green Mountain Film Festival
20 March (Saturday) @ 12pm
21 March (Sunday) @ 2pm
Montpelier's Savoy Theater, 24 Main Street
www.greenmountainfilmfestival.org

And of course there's a trailer at YouTube:



Seems like a very interesting and beautiful film - looking forward to checking it out.

Nippon Connection Festival

Photo borrowed from body. space. time. – Japanese Video Art Exhibition
(curated by Masayo KAJIMURA and Saskia Wendland) http://www.nipponconnection.com/nippon-2009/programm-culture-eng.html

Here's an announcement for a very interesting Japanese film festival in Germany. brief description comes from the event's web page:

From 15th to 19th April Nippon Connection once again presents exciting and creative cinema from Japan in Frankfurt. With more than 150 features and short films, the festival showcases a broad scope of current Japanese film production, from avant-garde and anime to blockbusters and documentary films, many of them German and European premieres. Over 20 filmmakers will present their work personally in Frankfurt.

Japanese Film Festival
April 15 - 19, 2009
Frankfurt on the Main

For more information:
http://www.nipponconnection.com/nippon-2009/index-eng.html

"Bestseller by hearing-impaired Ginza hostess - truths and lies"

(Image borrowed from Amazon.co.jp)

Form today's Japan Today:

A two-hour TV drama that aired this month, based on the success story of a Ginza hostess who overcame her hearing disability through written communication with customers, earned high ratings.

However, some have publicly questioned the truth of her touching tale, including Kohei Hatsuda, manager of Ginza club “M” where the author of the bestseller, Satoe Saito, used to work. “The book describes her as the ‘Number One Ginza Hostess’ but a small club like ours can accommodate a maximum of 10 customers. There is no way that can make her the top hostess in all of Ginza. Her monthly sales were just about average compared to the other hostesses too.”

He criticizes the title of the book, “Hitsudan (written communication) Hostess.” According to the manager, “She rarely communicated with clients in writing. She can read lips to understand the customer and for the most part, she spoke back and wrote only when her words were inaudible and hard to understand. That was the extent of it.”

Of course, not everything about the 25-year old woman written in the book is fiction. Born in Aomori, Saito lost her hearing before she was 2 years old and attended a school with special courses for those with hearing disabilities. She learned to read lips and use her voice to speak. While in junior high school, she had conflicts with her mother, strict in her daughter’s education so that her disability would not become a lifelong handicap. Saito started smoking and drinking, quit high school and changed jobs several times, until she found herself in the night entertainment business. Her autobiography depicts her tireless effort as a hostess overcoming her disability, working at one nightclub after another using written communication to entertain clients.

When it was learned that she would be writing an autobiography, she had already left “M” and was working at another club, which refused to have photos taken for the book. The managers of “M” decided to help her out by letting the publisher do their photo shoots at their club. After the book came out in May 2009, many flocked to “M” to meet Saito, who decided to work there again.

But according to the mama-san, she had become arrogant, showing up at the club only once a week, and absolutely refusing to communicate through writing. “I asked her to communicate by writing because some came to the club out of admiration for her effort as depicted in the book, but she wouldn’t listen. She’d identify wealthy-looking customers and ask for gifts. Some of those men were clearly disappointed in her.”

The last blow was when she held a publication party, inviting the customers of her fellow hostesses. “In a place like Ginza where each hostess has her own clientele list, her action is a major taboo. The other hostesses were offended and then on Sept 30, she said she was quitting via email. After all the support we gave her, this is the outcome?” laments the manager of “M.”

The book’s publisher Kobunsha and the mama-san of Saito’s current workplace refute such critical comments made by her former employers, which happens to include the mama-san of an Aomori nightclub and first mentor who educated the disabled hostess in the know-how of the business.

But bottom line, that’s the nature of the night entertainment industry. Hostesses are for-sale goods from the club’s perspective, while the women who work there will find any means to achieve popularity and profitability. Vain or humble, true or untrue, it’s all about making money.

Read the story and reader comments:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/shukan-post/view/bestseller-by-hearing-impaired-ginza-hostess-truths-and-lies

I'm sorry I missed this one on TV. Why don't I hear about interesting things on TV until it's too late? But there is always the book to check out (see image above) and YouTube clips:



Not having seen the drama or read the book yet, I cannot comment about its portrayal of deafness, Deaf culture or sign language. I would imagine because of the extraordinary setting of the story that it might not have provide much information about the normal lives of deaf people in Japan. I wonder if this is another application of the deafness as deficit model where the poor handicapped person overcomes her disability and people feel good about it (and others make money from it...). Did anybody catch the drama? Comments, please.