News Sushi #72: Morsels of News from Japan and Beyond
News Sushi #72 And we keep serving News Sushi!
Editor Note:It is Friday and that means it is time for the World Famous, soon to be Intergalactic Famous, News Sushi from our very own, Hamish Downie. Hamish brings us a decidedly different slant on Pop Culture as viewed through the lens of a non-native living in Japan.
Thank you Hamish, for your insights.
Hello all you beautiful people who like, read and share this little labour of love of mine.
I’m currently supervising putting together a work in progress cut of the time to send to a festival here in Japan. I’m also working with Deron on demos for the soundtrack, which I’m absolutely loving. I think the Christmas song her wrote for the film is probably going to be a new classic which will completely outlive the film!
If you remember last week’s BTS from Thea’s music video shoot, well, the song is available for download now…
And guess what? It’s made it into the US iTunes Dance top 10!!! Congratulations Thea!
So much rain… we have been having some massive downpours lately, so I’m glad that Chi-Yow Lee came up with this cool new dobbit cartoon – as the kids would say – it’s such a mood:
Gay politician wins Upper House seat with LGBT support
In some happy news, the Japanese election has finished for another year (they seem to happen all the time), and a gay politician has made it into the upper house (Senate/House of Lords) of the DIET (parliament). Hopefully, he’ll be able to start the conversation about marriage equality in this country.
Gay politician wins Upper House seat with LGBT support：The Asahi Shimbun：The Asahi Shimbun https://t.co/qSNSKwXoUA
— Hamish Downie (@hamishdownie) July 23, 2019
Primeval forest rises again in Osaka gardens
This reminds me of the news in Wakayama where some 2000 year old seeds were discovered, and then lo and behold – when planted – they sprouted!
Primeval forest rises again in Osaka gardens – The Japan News https://t.co/lAdD4vP6bM
— Hamish Downie (@hamishdownie) July 23, 2019
Confidence
Gosh, all of us indie creators need a little confidence in our lives!
Actions you can do… Homestar Runner
Gion Festival
Here’s some video footage of a festival in Gion recently. It’s always too hot down in the basin city that is Kyoto (hot, humid, and no air can get in or out)… but, that doesn’t mean that they locals don’t celebrate!
Happening now in #Kyoto #Japan, the lead hoko chariot, of Gion Matsuri Festival Parade, sets off.
祇園祭の長刀鉾の出発です。#京都 #祇園祭 #長刀鉾 #JapanVideo #JapanTravel #HappeningNow pic.twitter.com/cMer8Dkcce
— RobKendrew (@rob_kendrew) July 17, 2019
Kyoto animation studio fire
Every time you cover a tragedy, there are people who make the story and coverage better. So thanks to the Kyoto Police and Fire Department for actually talking to a foreign reporter, and for @Brian_Ashcraft and @rolandkelts for context and @JezebelKat https://t.co/PgA0Ua7BsX
— Jake Adelstein/中本哲史 (@jakeadelstein) July 18, 2019
It’s hard to talk about Kyoto and not mention this horrific incident. There are a lot of theories as to why it happened, which you can read about in the above article. I just want to say how heartbreaking this all is. All of those hard-working animators. All those families. What a waste.
Back to some good news…
The Silver Star Hall, which operates the cinemas “Cinema Harvest” and “Cinema Roble” in Oyama city, Tochigi prefecture has started pair (meaning ‘couples’) discount (2 persons for 2400yen) which includes same sex couples!
Cinema in Oyama, Japan to allow same sex couples to receive a "pair discount" i.e. couples discount ticketshttps://t.co/Q42L73l9JT @ILoveGayJapan @ILoveGayMovies
— Hamish Downie (@hamishdownie) July 23, 2019
And the Festival Director of Filmfest Homochrom (which I hope makes a comeback!): Martin
bye for now x
