Sunday, December 20, 2009

Shoichi Kina Speaks about U.S. Military Expansion in the Documentary ANPO



The film ANPO is a sequel to Wings of Defeat, which includes rare interviews with surviving kamikazi pilots. It portrays the movement against U.S. bases through the eyes of artists and musicians:

ANPO opens as a squadron of F-16 fighter jets thunder directly over local traffic to land on Kadena, the largest U.S. airbase in Asia. Ten miles south, the urban homes that crowd Futenma Marine Corps Air Station shake from the numbing drone of C-130 cargo planes whose novice pilots repeatedly practice “touch-and-go” take-offs and landings. The U.S. base at Futenma is one of 30 bases in Okinawa, an island that makes up only 1% of Japan’s land mass while shouldering the burden of 75% of the U.S. military installations in Japan. That presence includes over 28,000 American troops, rivaling  the number deployed to the active war zone of Afghanistan. America’s military presence was negotiated in 1951 under the terms of the lopsided U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, known in Japan as “ANPO.”  Under its provisions, American soldiers who rape Japanese women and girls are often protected from local prosecution. Prime farming lands have been confiscated from farmers to extend air force jet runways. Civilians are killed in hit-and-run accidents by drunken US servicemen with few held to account. In one particularly egregious case, a woman collecting shell casings to sell was shot in the back and killed by a US soldier who served no time for her death.
Protests by Japanese enraged by the onerous terms of the security treaty have generally been ignored by Japan’s ruling party. Yet for a brief window of time during the summer of 1960, shopkeepers, children and housewives joined a coalition of artists, farmers, students, laborers, and intellectuals in a series of massive demonstrations to block the renewal of the treaty. Tens of thousands of protestors marched on the Japanese parliament to demand an end to the unequal partnership with Washington. Among the protesters was a small cadre of Japan’s most talented artists. They used the creativity of their paintings, film, photography, manga, and music to give a powerful voice to the protests and to document the many ways in which the American military presence has intruded upon Japanese life and sovereignty.
Please spread the word about this film and post this clip on your websites!

Charles Douglas Lummis on U.S. Military Expansion @Osaka (Tues, Dec 22) @ Kyoto (Wed, Dec 23)

Charles Douglas Lummis at a book signing event
Charles Douglas Lummis, a San Francisco born, resident of Okinawa who contributed extensively to the anti-Vietnam movement in Japan has been invited to speak in Kyoto and Osaka this week about U.S. military expansion. He is prolific author, most well-known for his book Radical Democracy and for his outspokenness about his experience in the U.S. Military as noted in his self-introduction at the Oakland Table:
I entered U.C. Berkeley in 1954 on a Navy ROTC contract, and accordingly, when I graduated in 1958 I entered the U.S. Marines for three years, the third of which I spent in a military base on Okinawa. (Much of my life since then has been spent trying to figure out how I could have let such a thing happen.)
In a recent article entitled Yes We Can (But We Won't): Obama, Hatoyama, and Okinawa, Lummis writes about the resilience of Henoko and Futenma residents in opposing U.S. military bases.

Tuesday, December 23rd, Osaka: The Relocation of Futenma & Okinawa's Burden

Two Kansai organizations, the Citizens Group Against the Imposition of Bases in Okinawa and Osaka Action to Prevent the Construction of Bases in Henoko have invited Lummis to share his thoughts on the burdens that Okinawans face because of U.S. military colonization.

The event will take place at the Hirao Okinawan Kaikan which is in the heart of the vibrant Okinawan community in the Taisho ward in Osaka. This Okinawan community was born after the further amplification of Japanese colonization during the Taisho Era (1912-1925) brought economic crisis to the Ryukyu islands. This period is otherwise known as the "sotetsu jigoku," or "Cycad Hell" because the cycad was the only food that many Okinawans could find to eat at the time.

Mass starvation forced many Okinawans to migrate to Osaka in search of work in factories, although they were often turned away from employers, many of whom displayed signs on their windows stating "Ryukyuans and Koreans need not apply!" Facing ethnic discrimination and difficulties finding work, Japanese assimilation policies wreaked havoc on Okinawan culture and language. However, after ownership of the Ryukyus was transferred to Japan in the 1970s, a grassroots movement in the Taisho ward gained strength and started a housing movement to address Okinawan homelessness while the community began revitalizing its culture making the Taisho district a hub for lovers of the Okinawan festival dance Eisa.

This event on such an important issue in a region so rich in cultural survival is one not to be missed.

To get to the Hirao Okinawa Kaikan, get off the train at JR or Subway Taishou (大正) Station and then take the bus at platform 4 or 5 to Hirao (平尾)
A map in Japanese can be found on this page.

Event start: 7pm (Doors open at 6:30pm)
Entrance fee: 1000yen

For more information about the Osaka event contact the Okinawa Bunko.
Telephone: (06)6552-6709

Wednesday, December 23rd, Kyoto: U.S. Military Realignment and Okinawa

The Kyoto Organization Against the Strengthening of the Imperial System has also invited Lummis to speak in Kyoto on Wednesday, December 23rd at the Kyoto Buraku Liberation Center which is located five minutes walk on foot to the north of Kuramaguchi Station.

Event start: 1pm (Doors open at 12:30pm)
Entrance Fee: 500yen

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

How to Cool the Earth: Vegetables and Walking (Cool Earth Parade: Sat, Dec 12th)

"A lot of people with similar motivations to better the world all congregated in one place. I wish it would happen more often!"


What is Sam Dreskin (pictured left) referring to? The 7th Annual Kyoto Vegetarian Festival of 2009 held in Okazaki Park last October (formerly the "Veggie & Peace Festival"), an annual event to bring together:
vegetarian-, environment-, and peace-minded people from all over the country. An event for all ages, the festival gives you a place to enjoy vegetarian food and listen to music while learning about vegetarianism,the environment, and more. The Vegetarian Festival provides a place for people of all ages and nationalities to learn about a healthy lifestyle, while bringing attention to problems like the degrading environment and World Hunger.
With the goverments of the world waking-up to the realities of global warming and climate change, this year's festival focused on the following themes:
★Living a healthy life, both mentally and physically
★Respecting life, not just of humans, but of the animals with which we cohabit the world
★Realizing how pollution and food over consumption can degrade the environment
★Introducing organic retailers throughout Kyoto
★Providing a place to learn from NPOs
Over 80 different organizations, earth-friendly goods suppliers, and NPOs converged together sharing the multitude of ways in which we can fulfill the festival's ideals. Local vegetarian cuisine, including Deep Kyoto favourites Deep Kyoto favorites like Sunny Place, Falafel Garden, Mikoan, Caffe dell' Orso and Cafe Millet were cooking up a storm while masseuses from Malinka were soothed our souls with their dexterous hands.

Organic Beer from Yamaoka (left) and healist Malika(far right) from Malinka
NPOs such as Make the Rule/Kiko Network were informing the public of the need for Japan to move beyond the Kyoto Protocol and make even more drastic cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to prevent further global warming.

Members of the Kyoto Make the Rule/Kiko Network Team selling furoshiki to raise money.
Seven activists from the Make the Rule/Kiko Network team are in Copenhagen at the Climate Conference advocating that Japan makes a law to reduce greenhouse emissions. One of the members, Mutsumi Hirooka explained:
Although Japan is obligated by the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse emissions by 6% against 1990 levels by 2007, emissions had actually increased by 8.7% . While government officials misleadingly brag about meeting the Kyoto Protocol goal in 2009 by reducing emissions by 6% in one year, the accumulative effect of the increase in GHG in the atmosphere is not taken into consideration, meaning the emissions are now 15% higher than the original target.
At present, Prime Minister Hatoyama is pledging to reduce emissions in Japan by 80% by 2050, on the condition that other countries make the same pledge to reduce emissions, increasing his pledge for emission cuts by over 65%. The highest Former Prime Minister Aso would commit to was 8%.

While the festival has come and gone, the Vegetarian Festival 2009 website provides a wealth of information for those interested in pursing a lifestyle sustainable to the environment in both English and Japanese. The meat industry wreaks havoc on the environment, 18% of greenhouse gases originating in the livestock industry. When one beef rice bowl requires over 2 tons of water to produced, versus 120 liters for a bowl of udon, the benefits to the earth of reducing meat consumption are quite obvious.

As Sam noted:
It is important that we see this as part of a daily lifestyle instead of a one day thing. The vegetarian festival inspires us to make the change by showing how easy, delicious, and full of love a vegetarian lifestyle can be.
In addition to reducing our consumption of animal products, walking is much kinder to the earth than riding around in gas guzzling automobiles. This weekend, walk a little more in solidarity with the "Cool Earth! Kyoto Action 2009” Parade. The Parade will send a message from citizens in the Kansai Area to the Climate Conference in Copenhagen taking place December 7th – 18th.

DATE: Saturday, December 12, 2009
PLACE: Kyoto City, Japan


Download English flyer here:
http://gaj.s263.xrea.com/internal/091212_flyer_eng.pdf
Download Japanese flyer here:
http://climatekyoto2009.blogspot.com/

PARADE STARTS AND ENDS AT KYOTO CITY HALL
2:00pm Gather in open air space at front entrance of Kyoto City Hall /
Rally begins
2:30pm Parade Departs
4:30pm Parade returns to Kyoto City Hall / Parade ends


Dress colorfully, bring instruments, carry a placard you made, or just
bring yourself.

Organized by:
“A Cool Earth! Kyoto Action 2009” Organizing Committee
Co-sponsored by: Kyoto Ecology Center
Supported by: Kyoto Prefecture and Kyoto City
Endorsed by: Japan Environment Exchange (JEE) Kyoto International
School and other organizations.

Details follow:
The parade will leave from Kyoto City Hall at 2:30pm, go west to
Karasuma Rd., turn south to Shijo Karasuma, turn east to Shijo
Kawaramachi, turn north, returning to Kyoto City Hall at around 4:30pm.

Join any part of the parade. Come with fun costumes, placards, musical
instruments, or just bring yourself.


Kyoto City Hall access:
Tozai Line (Kyoto municipal subway line)
Get off at: “Kyoto-shiyakusho-mae”, and you are there.

Contact information:
Kiko Network: 075-254-1011 E-mail: Kyoto@kikonet.org
Chikyu Ondanka Boshi Kyoto Network: 075-251-1001
E-mail: syodanren@mc2.seikyou.ne.jp

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Ainu Art Project meets Kyoto (Dec 1-6) and Oki Tonkori Set (Fri, Dec 4th)

"Politics" can often be a huge turn off for many people. Mastering the art of political discussion often involves access to control over media, and actions based on "realpolitik"concerns, rather than the real issues. Therefore, it is no wonder, that politics, often driven by its left hand, consumerism, many times leaves a bad taste in the mouth, breaking down vehicles of communication. Keeping that in mind, the Ainu Art Project was formed to achieve what is considered a very political objective, the survivance of Ainu culture within Japanese society, through art that inspires people, encourages communication, and leaves a positive impression that lingers in the soul.

At a lecture at the Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture in Tokyo, Koji Yuki, one of the founders of the project, emphasized the importance of sustaining the activism of Ainu people like his father, who fought constantly against an extremely difficult situation. The project's activism, however, comes to life in a different form- art. Realizing the power of art and culture in transforming negative stereotypes in society, the Ainu Art Project offers more than just a performance for the audience, but a glimpse of life and Ainu people taking on Ainu culture in various ways through their everyday lives. He provides reggae as an powerful example of a form of music helped people through a difficult period and emerged as a status of "cool" amongst younger generations. In a Reuters interview he noted, "By using the important cultural tool of music instead of speaking to an audience from a stage, Ainu feelings can be communicated differently. I think it's very effective."

Voices has another excellent interview with Koji Yuji, where he describes that through through coming to terms with his Ainu identity, the Ainu Art Project was born:
I was born in Hokkaido as an Ainu. During my childhood, discrimination against the Ainu took many forms. So, I did not like to be Ainu at all. I left home early for Tokyo hoping to have nothing to do with the Ainu. However, I could not escape from a burning question of who I am. When I heard that the Ainu People were building "Itaomachibu", Ainu"s traditional wooden ship, I came back to Hokkaido to join. While building the ship with friends young and old, I felt at home. I was deeply grateful for learning the wisdom of our ancestors. I enjoyed picturing us going to an open sea in this special ship.

However, the ship was actually sent to a museum. I was shocked. I was deeply sad to see the ship leaving our hands without even touching the ocean of our land. Our ship became a showpiece. I felt that the ship was dead not alive. At that moment, I asked myself again, "Who am I?" My response was "I am Ainu, not dead. I am living in this modern society." I did not want our culture to become only "good and old." I did not want our identity represented as a souvenir for tourists. I really wanted to carry our voices and expressions as Ainu from our generation. In 2000, three of us who worked together building the ship formed an artist group called the Ainu Art Project.
The Ainu Art Project will be displaying woodblock prints and embroidery work at Sakaimachi Garaw, a beautifully maintained machiya in the heart of Kyoto from December 1st through 6th from 11am-19pm. Machiya are known for their distinctive long shape that facilitated the business endeavors of merchants by opening up a space to display goods in the front of the house and a place to live in the back.



Each woodblock print has a story to tell about Ainu conceptions of coexistence with nature, each story encapsulated in one powerful image. The prints are available for purchase and the one below will be welcomed into my home soon.
Although the wolf no longer exists in the lands of Japan due to the ravishes of humankind, it lives on through the voice of this woman who continues to tell the wolf's story.

The week of art, expressing the Ainu in modern society, will culminate with Ainu storytelling and a talk led by woodblock print artist and Ainu Art Project founder Koji Yuki, and a live performance by Nagane Aki on the tonkori and mukkuri, two Ainu instruments.

Reservations are required for Sunday's December 6th's performance from 3pm-4pm (Email- sakaimachi-garow@h8.dion.ne.jp).

Entry is 2500yen. Kabocha Ratashikep, a traditional Ainu dish, and Ochatsuke flavored with the fruit of the Kihada tree, the only citrus fruit native to Hokkaido.
The fruit of the Kihada (ki =yellow hada =bark) tree, used extensively in traditional medicine, cooking, and in dyeing fabrics.

On another note, Oki and his tonkori will be funkin' up Kyoto Friday night at Club Metro at 10pm.



Tickets 3000yen at the door, 2500 in advance (Ticket Pia Code = 339-170 and Lawson Code = 55616).

See you there!


-
Jen Teeter