News Sushi #84: Morsels of News from Japan and Beyond
News Sushi #84 And we (Hamish) keep serving the best 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 (ありがとうございました) Hamish, for your insights.
こんにちは！Which means “Hello”!
We are mostly ok here in Osaka, the Typhoon was a bit of a non-event where we are here. But, Tokyo was hit pretty hard by the Typhoon, and even registered a small earthquake. Some geeky fans were commenting that Godzilla may rise from the seas!
In all seriousness, it was a pretty bad event. You may be interested to know that some companies chose to stay open during the earthquake. This created a mixed response from Twitter, as we can see below:
Luckily, I wasn’t required to work. We have a public holiday coming up next week to commemorate the coronation of the new Emperor. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to all the Nationalist Vans that will be driving around blasting propaganda during the day. But, I do look forward to sharing this movie with you when it eventually comes out:
Go! Go! Second Time Gaijin (Trailer) from Primolandia Productions on Vimeo.
I hope the new Emperor oversees a wonderful era for us all.
Things are looking up for me this week. So many wheels turning in the background… and I can’t talk about any of it! But, maybe soon! For now… we’ll be okay!!!! Thanks to Thea’s new mix of “We’ll be Okay”…
Thea also has a new track coming out, called:
Feed my Soul feat. Thea Riley
We have a new exhibition from “The Container” in Shibuya…
Defiance and Decadence Under Apartheid
アパルトヘイト下の抵抗と堕落
Billy Monk | ビリー・モンク
21 October, 2019 — 6 January, 2020
Opening night reception and publication launch: 21 October, 19:30-21:30
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Film screening of A Shot in the Dark (2019) and QA with director / custodian of the Billy Monk Collection, Craig Cameron-Mackintosh: 25 October, 20:30-22:00 (RSVP essential, limited seats)
[photo caption: Anticlockwise from top: Billy Monk. The Catacombs, 1967; The Catacombs, 3 April 1969; Outside the Catacombs, 14 October 1967; The Catacombs, 3 November 1967. Courtesy of Billy Monk Collection.]
Defiance and Decadence Under Apartheid, the exhibition of Billy Monk at The Container, launches for the first time the photographer’s works in Asia (we have featured the same exhibition also in Hong Kong, with our partners Boogie Woogie Photography). The selection of photographs for this exhibition is unique: some are from the original series presented in 1982 at the Market Gallery, some are from a newer series shown in 2019 by the Billy Monk Collection, and some, are showcased for the very first time—images that have never been exhibited before anywhere in the world.
The selection is tailored specifically to Asian audiences and introduces also some images of Japanese and Hong Kongese sailors and Asian tourists who frequented the port of Cape Town, that give insight to the varied and multifarious crowd at The Catacombs. It is a rare opportunity to see what real-life subculture looked like in South Africa during the apartheid era, where individuals were restricted not only for their skin colour, but also for affiliation with other unpopular social groups, such as gays, transgender women, prostitutes, and late night revelers. In Monk’s photographs we can find them all—rubbing shoulders with one another and creating a permissive social bubble, where everything is acceptable and everyone is welcome. It is perhaps ironic to identify in the clutter and disarray the archetypical Japanese salarymen, suited and booted, taking to a bit of late night karaoke, in an embrace with local women, or just passed out on a bench, as if it were the last train on the Yamanote line.
Defiance and Decadence Under Apartheid offers a glimpse of moments of happiness under oppression, and teaches us what we know already—that human spirit, love and acceptance are stronger than any discriminatory rules or restrictions imposed by any governing authorities.
For additional information about prints, please contact us by email info@the-container.com.
Mayonnaise or Takoyaki Ice Cream anyone?
Out now in convenis: mayonnaise and tamagoyaki ice cream bars | I don't know how to feel about this https://t.co/UdzICTzog6
— Pheebz (@PheebzEatz) October 14, 2019
It’s almost begging to be a movie… now it will be two!
Almost 500 years ago, a tall African man arrived in Japan. He would go on to become the first foreign-born man to achieve the status of a samurai warrior, and is the subject of two forthcoming Hollywood films. https://t.co/nxzognFdT9
— Ian Thomas Ash (@DocumentingIan) October 14, 2019
Sepha has a wonderful new article for us:
On being told “you aren’t Japanese enough”… I’m often told I’m not Australian enough, or not Western enough…
A reminder of the always beautiful sand sculpture…
HOT LINK OF THE WEEK
From instagram:【Shinjuku outreach program】
Every Friday from 20:00 to 22:00, we wear a matching uniforms and distribute a variety of prevention and positive support messages, such as condoms, to the bars and clubs in Shinjuku Nichome.
This is a project to promote the ideas of sex and health throughout Tokyo. If you are interested, please DM me or apply on akta.jp
Let’s promote positive happy sex life together ٩( ‘ω’ )و
Bye for this week!
「またきんようびね！」
