Learn and Teach Japanese

Michigan based documentary film and photographer [excerpt from July 26, 2017 screening announcement in Ypsilanti, Michigan]

Trailer for the film: https://vimeo.com/103453868

Threshold Whispers of Fukushima trailer vol. 2

vimeo.com

Threshold: Whispers of Fukushima trailer vol. 2 - Music Edition. This documentary film illuminates how several individuals have decided to live in the wake of the ...

"The issues of Fukushima are very complicated and delicate, and there is no easy way to explain what the problem actually is. The mass media especially tends to create TV programs which are unnecessarily sensational, and they consciously edit those programs to make viewers emotional. So, now, I refuse the offer to do interviews for those programs. Also, Fukushima has changed much since the disastrous events occurred. Locals hesitate to speak about it. It's because of resignation to the unchanging conditions, or fear of exacerbating the situation within the community by speaking to outsiders. It seems better not to talk about anything.

In such conditions, I think 'Threshold: Whispers of Fukushima' became a very unique work. Toko omitted explanations, as much as possible, and connected people's calm honest talk (like they're speaking to themselves) and live music performances by the interviewees, to allow them to tell their life stories. Perhaps this is not even really a movie about "Fukushima". Even if she shot it in Fukushima, the theme of the film is not "the accident" nor "lost home", rather, it is a fundamental human theme: "what is 'living one's own life?'". Each individual has their own purpose in life, joy, and goal. Everyone is different from each other. Therefore, no one can truly say "my way of living is right or yours is wrong." After experiencing the confusion created by the accidents in Fukushima, I deeply feel this. How interesting that everyone in this movie, including me, said this same thing, although by coincidence.

Please watch this film once, just putting aside all preconceptions or background knowledge of Fukushima. And, if you can reconsider your own way of living life and your own sense of value by experiencing our stories, if you can perhaps reconsider the meaning of living on this planet Earth, and how we may to continue to live…… if this movie allows you to feel this… I can say this project succeeded." – Yoshimitsu Takuki

--------- And recently one of the groups who got featured in the movie Yamakiya Taiko ensemble played at Blissfest in MI! If you are interested, check out these clips! They are amazing!

https://youtu.be/eM2Q3fqzuFU &

Kazane 風音 by Yamakiya Taiko, at Blissfest, Michigan USA 2017

youtu.be

"Kazane" (Sound of Breeze) - a letter from our village... composed by Genki Endo "風音" 故郷のから吹く懐かしい風が今を教えてくれる。強く優しく懐かしい風の音… アメリカ・ミシガンのBlissfestのセカンドステージでの最終日の演...

https://youtu.be/TuL4XLQLJmU

(Actually they played at Power Center last year, and so, you may have seen them in person! The fantastic residency was actually supported by CJS, CFWPS, and U of M SMTD!)
And lastly, here is the message clip from the leader of the clip about the movie: https://www.facebook.com/octoberbabiestoko/videos/10212324297756439/

-- Toko Shiiki: http://tokoshiiki.com

Current documentary project: "Threshold: Whispers of Fukushima"
http://thresholdfukushima.com

October Babies: http://octoberbabies.net

2017-07-13

recent blogs - visual and language materials for Japan; Japanese language

--cross-posting from H-Japan of July 12, 2017

<><>Member Blog: New Online Digital Resource (Everyday Japanese Culture and Society)

https://abritishprofinjapan.blogspot.jp/

a British prof in Japan

abritishprofinjapan.blogspot.jp

A blog about life in everyday Japan written by a British professor

Responsible person(s): Chris Burgess

Synopsis: Regular snapshots of everyday life in Japan with a nature and language focus plus musings on Japanese culture and society for Japan language learners and Japan lovers in general.

Content type: Short posts on life in everyday Japan with images and reading recommendations. Also a "Resources" section with links and information on Japanese Studies tools and sites

<><>Re-Envisioning Japan: Japan as Destination in 20th Century Visual and Material Culture

https://rej.lib.rochester.edu/

ReEnvisioning Japan

rej.lib.rochester.edu

Re-Envisioning Japan is an open-ended recuperative project based on an original collection of tourism, travel and educational ephemera in a wide range of media.

Responsible person(s): Joanne Bernardi
Synopsis: Creative digital curation of an original physical collection of travel and educational ephemera about Japan
Content type: High resolution images, moving images, audio materials, interactive timeline

Intended audience: Academic community and general public

Host institution: University of Rochester

2017-06-22

film - So Long Asleep: bringing some of the 1940s forced laborers' mortal remains back to Korea

---[Pr. David Plath writes, 6/2017]

So Long Asleep (60 minutes) follows an international team of East Asian volunteers as they excavate, preserve and repatriate the remains of Korean men who died doing slave labor in Hokkaido during the Asia-Pacific War. On the 70th anniversary of the end of the war we travel with them as they carry 115 sets of remains on a pilgrimage across Japan and over to Korea for reinterment in the Seoul Municipal Cemetery. Using a dark past to shape a brighter shared future the project offers an upbeat model for remembrance and reconciliation that could be adapted widely.
The film and the repatriation project are featured in a 4-page special segment of the Spring 2017 issue of Education About Asia.
See the DER website to view a trailer. Dialogue is in English, Korean and Japanese; in the DER edition the dialogue carries English subtitles. Separately, project participants have prepared editions with subtitles in Korean and in Japanese. For the Korean version, contact Professor Byung-Ho Chung (bhc0606at gmail) and for Japanese contact Professor Song Ki-Chan (kichans at hotmail).

An extended essay by Pr. Chung about the project appears in Asia-Pacific Journal; Japan Focus online magazine, as well, http://apjjf.org/2017/12/Chung.html

Coming Home after 70 Years: Repatriation of Korean Forced ...

apjjf.org

1. Excavation. A chance encounter drew me into the work of excavation and repatriation of the remains of Korean forced labor victims in Hokkaido.

2017-04-02

documentary forthcoming about two Ainu families in Nibutani

Story from March 12, 2017 at Japan Times

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2017/03/12/issues/seeing-ainu-want-seen/#.WOHRNYiLRhG

It may interest students of Japanese life and language; or those interested in photography and video documentary.

2017-02-22

peformance art - New Sumie, dancing brush with live music

Part of the February special exhibit at the Kokaido Hall in downtown Echizen city (Fukui-ken) has been a few demonstrations of the visual artist at work; in this case at the gallery, but with related events this time at Shokaku-ji, about 150m to the west, or so.

The artist, Ueda Miyuki (site requires Flash support, so IE browser), uses traditional materials (ink, brush, washi Japanese paper) for today's themes with her dancing sumi-e brush performance event - meaning very large pieces of Japanese paper and live music to motivate the artist - note that she paints with left hand but later was writing address information with right! Among the collected video clips, below, the last one with Tibetan singing bowls is particularly riveting.

*Performance 2017-02-19, preparing the way - https://vimeo.com/204826192

New Sumi-e, Ueda Miyuki prepares brushs and ink for performance 2-19-2017

vimeo.com

For more than a decade Miyuki Ueda has combined live music and innovative visual art made from traditional materials (Japanese washi paper, ink and brush; surfaces…

*Performance 2017-02-19, first ink - https://vimeo.com/204826215

*Performance 2017-02-19, autobiography installation, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpwitteveen/32159822604

*Performance 2017-02-19, completing the details - https://youtu.be/OU_klPZ4PF4

*Performance 2017-02-19, adding red details - https://youtu.be/-PRRiTj0g94

*Performance 2017-02-19, after the performance, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpwitteveen/32849421332

*Performance 2017-02-19, Temple (Shokaku-ji) sutra and Singing Bowls - https://youtu.be/XtDW1UdUUhs

2017-02-17

Sonic Japan - audio recordings around the society

Sound recordings bring listeners up close to the immediacy of the context and events at hand. The Sonic Japan project has collected a variety of settings to let you explore the many cultural places around the society and language of the Japanese islands. Thanks to the initiative of colleagues in Australia, Japan, and the USA, this project has taken full form. Details of method, funding, contributors and links to follow via Twitter, Facebook, or the collection itself at Soundcloud can be found at http://sonicjapan.clab.org.au/about and this website also groups the recordings to browse by map, by places list, and by cultural theme. The soundcloud address is https://soundcloud.com/sonicjapan/

sonicjapan | Free Listening on SoundCloud

soundcloud.com

Sonic Japan is a collection of sound recordings made in Japan that enables listeners to traverse an array of themes pertaining to everyday life through a ...

2017-02-08

documentaries in Japan, Kazuhiro Soda's filmography

The current scholar-in-residence this year at U-Michigan is Kazuhiro Soda. His Feb. 9, 2017 lecture will probably be video recorded (in English mostly).

Commonly these days the events are recorded and can be viewed online in 2-3 weeks.

=-=-=-=-= Excerpt from announcement link, https://www.ii.umich.edu/cjs/news-events/events.detail.html/38037-6859806.html
The Power of Observation: How and Why I Make "Observational" Documentaries
Kazuhiro Soda, Toyota Professor in Residence
[guiding principles]

1 No research.
2 No meetings with subjects.
3 No scripts.
4 Roll the camera yourself.
5 Shoot as long as possible.
6 Cover small areas deeply.
7 Do not set up a theme or goal before editing.
8 No narration, title, or music.
9 Use long takes.
10 Pay for the production yourself.

His filmography includes "Campaign" (2007), "Mental" (2008), "Peace" (2010), "Theatre 1" (2012), "Theatre 2" (2012), "Campaign 2" (2013), and "Oyster Factory" (2015).

2016-12-02

airplane - predeparture safety instructions

Listening practice from middle November 2016 domestic flight between Komatsu and Fukuoka,

2016-09-23

putting archaeology online - "virtual tudors"

The high value ship, The Mary Rose, has formed an online source for getting to know the period and place from which it comes.

[excerpt]

A skull, the team add, can offer a number of insights. "You can estimate the sex of an individual, you can estimate the ancestry of an individual and you can certainly diagnose the pathology of an individual: things like scurvy and a number of other conditions," said Nick Owen, a sport and exercise biomechanist also from Swansea University.

At the heart of the project is a technique known as photogrammetry. For each of the skulls, around 120 high resolution photographs were painstakingly taken from many different angles, with the in-focus sections digitally stitched together to produce the final, state-of-the-art, 3D models.

[full story] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/05/new-mary-rose-website-to-help-public-and-scientists-unravel-wrecks-mysteries

[project online], http://www.virtualtudors.org/

2016-09-18

New J.E.T. Program (Japan English Teacher) video 2016

This gorgeous video may inspire students of Japanese to teach English in Japan!

https://youtu.be/dRjTHcz0JQw

-------------------------------------------------------

Amanda Rollins, Program Coordinator

Japan Foundation, Los Angeles

5700 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100

Los Angeles, CA 90036

(323)761-7510x113

2016-09-02

annual enrollment for high schoolers - Reischauer Program (online)

<application deadline for the 2017 RSP is October 14, 2016>

The Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/fellowships/reischauer_scholars_program is an online course for high school students sponsored by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) at Stanford University. Named in honor of former Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer, the RSP annually selects 25~30 exceptional high school students from throughout the United States to engage in an intensive study of Japan. Selected students will participate in this online course on Japan from February to June 2017.

Currently entering its fourteenth year, the RSP is an intensive and engaging course. Students are introduced to a broad overview of Japanese history, literature, religion, art, politics, economics, and contemporary society, with a special focus on the U.S.・€・Japan relationship. Top scholars and diplomats interact directly with students in online virtual classes, and offer both American and Japanese perspectives on many historical and contemporary issues. The RSP also provides students with a chance to meet like-minded peers with an interest in Japan, U.S.・€・Japan relations, and/or global perspectives. As a student-centered course, a strong emphasis is placed on encouraging students to share and appreciate the diverse perspectives that each student brings to the RSP learning community. RSP students also connect directly with the Japanese high school students of the Stanford e-Japan program, which is an online course that SPICE offers on U.S.-Japan relations and U.S. society to students in Japan.

Students who successfully complete the course will earn Stanford Continuing Studies Program (CSP) credit and a Certificate of Completion from SPICE, Stanford University. The RSP equips participants with a rare degree of expertise about Japan that may have a significant impact on their choice of study and future career. Students do not need to know the Japanese language to participate in this course. There is a student fee for books and the Stanford Continuing Studies credits.

The 2017 Reischauer Scholars Program is currently accepting applications from all current high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors (Classes of 2017, 2018, and 2019) in the United States.

For more information and to download the 2017 Reischauer Scholars Program application, please visit http://reischauerscholars.org http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/fellowships/reischauer_scholars_program. The application deadline for the 2017 RSP is October 14, 2016. All applications must be postmarked by this date.

Please visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/reischauerscholars https://www.facebook.com/reischauerscholars/.

Thank you for your interest in the RSP. Please contact Naomi Funahashi, RSP Manager and Instructor, at nfunahashi [at]stanford.edu with any questions.

2016-07-25

kyara Ben (character Bento)

Feature story Sunday morning on National Public Radio (USA), web version includes photos:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/07/24/486941516/japans-lunchbox-trend-kyaraben-takes-lunch-prep-to-another-level

[Excerpt]

Packing your child's lunch calls for a whole different level of preparation in Japan. There, moms often shape ordinary lunch ingredients like ham or rice into cute little pandas, Pokemon or even famous people's faces.

It's called character bento, and there's considerable pressure to produce these cute food creations. Tomomi Maruo has been teaching how to make character bentos, or "kyaraben" for short — at her home for the past 13 years.

"My kid brought kyaraben to the kindergarten and his friends saw the bento and moms started asking me how to make kyaraben so that's how I started teaching," Maruo said.

[related story-1] These Parents Make Lovely Lunch Bag Art. Not Everyone Is Pleased

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/04/29/401283301/these-parents-make-lovely-lunch-bag-art-not-everyone-is-pleased

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/02/04/170583365/in-japan-food-can-be-almost-too-cute-to-eat

2016-07-14

visual essay - Japan's exclusion zone around Fukushima reactors

Something to share with teen and older students, as well as colleagues:

This visual essay appeared today at Digital Photography Review.
Compare the interactive media essays at Magnum Photos,

Walking Kesennuma after the 2011 tsunami, part 1, http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/tsunami-streetwalk-1-kesennuma
Kesennuma streetwalk, part 2, http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/tsunami-streetwalk-2-kamaishi

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

[excerpt from DPReview, http://www.dpreview.com/news/6195625964/photographer-captures-the-ruin-of-fukushima-s-exclusion-zone]

Keow Wee Loong, a Malaysian photographer currently based in Thailand, snuck into the zone with his fianceé to document the current state of Fukushima's abandoned towns – and what was left behind. From a supermarket picked over by wild animals, forgotten laundry at a laundromat and a wall calendar forever frozen on March 2011, his photos show the eerie remains of daily life brought to an abrupt halt.

You can see more of his Fukushima photos and his photography on his Facebook page.

2016-06-25

easy news in Japanese

Nhk easy news is a good site for quick video news clips of Japanese current events in Japanese with English subtitles or without,

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/

2016-06-02

learning Japanese with music

The Japan Foundation, Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai launched a new website named "みんなで聞こう　日本の歌" yesterday.
URL： http://nihon-no-uta.jp<http://nihon-no-uta.jp/>
The site is made for Japanese Learners or anyone who is interested in Japanese songs, language and culture all over the world.

--"Listen Together : The Songs of Japan" is a site where you can search for and listen to Japanese songs that suit your interests and the level of your Japanese language ability.
--Target audiences: Students of Japanese language who wish to experience the language and culture of Japan through Japanese songs.
People from around the world who are interested in Japanese songs, language, and culture.
Site features Japanese songs can be searched for using various methods such as genre, theme, level of Japanese language difficulty, title, view ranking, and so forth.

Pages can be browsed and music videos played using not only PC's but also tablets or smartphones. You can listen to Japanese songs anywhere, anytime.

Lyrics subtitles are available on the pages where songs are played, and can be displayed in hiragana, katakana, or romaji. Even people who find Japanese kanji and the written characters difficult can still enjoy Japanese songs. Also, lyrics cards are available to be downloaded.

Any questions should be addressed to the Kansai Center: http://www.jfkc.jp/index_en.html

2016-05-26

visual culture - exhibit & outdoor art

Beginning June 10 at the Siebold museum for Japanese Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands; announcement with photos here (in Dutch),
http://www.sieboldhuis.org/tentoonstellingen/detail/te_mooi_om_weg_te_gooien._verpakkingsdesing_uit_japan

Title translates "Too beautiful to throw away - package design in Japan"

curious bus stops, Nagasaki prefecture

Seen this week at Atlas Obscura, where the search word 'japan' brings up a variety of curious photo stories.

This town near Nagasaki is peppered with fruit-flavored bus stops.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/konagai-japan-fruit-shaped-bus-stops

2016-05-19

visual treat - cultural landscape

The group of images for the matsuri food vendor stalls, the family crests, and the decorative envelops all can be shared and used for discussion among students.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
theme, "typology" (sets of related images)

[kanban, stall signs at festival time]
Many festivals are held in summer in Japan. There are lots of street stalls, and each shop has colorful shop curtain. --Kotoko Nomoto
   https://www.flickr.com/photos/141902803@N02/26483406363

[kamon, family crests]
Japanese family emblems.   --Hikaru Kokami
   https://www.flickr.com/photos/141814370@N02/26481713914

[kinpu, money envelops]
This envelope is used celebrating event. For example wedding ceremony. If you use them, you have to follow the manners. --Minami Takagi
   https://www.flickr.com/photos/141842068@N06/27053979456

2016-04-19

popular songs to teach beginning high school students

--- thanks to M. Homan:
"Yosaku" 与作 is a good one for students. Each single line or two lines is a full sentence (but in informal/plain form) with basic grammatical structure. The song is sung slowly enough, with echo lines "hei, hei, ho" and "ton. ton, ton" in between each line of the verse, that it's easy to think ahead to the next line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYTiffYu4JI

Many Japanese think "Yosaku" is a traditional folk song. It is not. It came out in the late 1970s, written by Nanasawa Kiminori 七沢公典 with the most popular version being the one by Kitajima Saburo 北島三郎.

--- thanks to Elena Yoo:

an old song, but contemporary enough, I think. The song includes lots of good vocabulary words and grammar rules, too. My students won't stop singing... http://youtu.be/C35DrtPlUbc

2016-03-24

teaching materials - theme of 3.11 disasters

From: Inter University Center Stanford Admin, levy@iucjapan.org Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Subject: I.U.C. 311 project update -- please share the news!

The IUC is pleased to present new Japanese teaching materials for the advanced high school level, themed around the disasters of March 11, 2011.
The materials, which use manga, are available for FREE download at http://www.iucjapan.org/html/311_material_j.html

Please share the news with all who might be interested!

Special thanks to the U.S.-Japan Foundation and Norman Masuda for making this project possible.

2016-01-13

online supplemental sources for learning language(s)

Ways to use audio recordings from the Internet to fill the parts of your day productively and flexibly.

General Webpage (46 languages referenced), http://www.openculture.com/freelanguagelessons

Japanese collection of resources,

Foreign Service Institute Japanese – Web site
- Student guide, textbook, glossary, flashcards (PDF) and nine audio lessons (MP3).
JapanesePod101.com – iTunes Free – Feed
- Over 100 quality lessons aimed at the beginner. Users give it high marks.
Kanji Characters – iTunes Free
- Learn the proper form and stroke for several important Kanji characters. From Emory University.
Learn Japanese Symbols – iTunes Free – Feed – Web Site
- These lessons teach students how to work with Japanese symbols, such as Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana.
Let's Speak Japanese Basic – YouTube
- 26 video lessons produced by the Japan Foundation.
Let's Learn Japanese Basic II – YouTube
- 25 video lessons produced by the Japan Foundation.
Survival Phrases iTunes Free Feed
- Learn the must-know phrases for traveling in Japan.

Bookmark our free Japanese lessons section.

see also update of January 12, 2016 at JFLALC offices in Los Angeles,

http://www.jflalc.org/jle-teaching-resources.html#Otherteaching

2015-11-29

songs to practice Japanese; aid memory; have fun

More than 50 songs are included in the "Japanese for Elementary School Students" (Shougakusei no Nihongo) Book/CD set.

You can view the Table of Contents and hear 3 audio samples at http://www.jessiplus.com/jessi/book.list.of.songs.html

The home page is http://www.jessiplus.com/jessi/

A book review from Oshirase, Volume 12, No. 1: Winter 2004 is available at http://www.jessiplus.com/jessi/book-review.html

2015-11-02

long video - Tokyo & student protests

Beginning students of Japanese may benefit by seeing 1 minute of the 1 hour 54 minute video recording in order to show young people standing up to the recent central government law about government secrecy.

Intermediate students may benefit by seeing selected points in the movie to learn vocabulary or to reflect upon social conditions these days.

Advanced students may benefit from the unfiltered, natural Japanese of this context recorded "in the wild."

Here is an excerpt from the blog article where the video appears:

Source Article, http://seaa.americananthro.org/2015/11/student-protests-return-to-tokyo/

---EXCERPT

After Prime Minister Shinzō Abe proposed the State Secrecy Act in 2013, anti-nuclear activists and legal and media scholars were outraged, viewing the law as a serious attack on press freedoms and government transparency. In response, there were intermittent protests, usually as part of the anti-nuclear demonstrations through which the Students Against the Secret Protection Law (SASPL) generated both large numbers in their demonstrations and media attention in their effort to block its passage.

Direct link to video, 1:54, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udN0s4ITAPo

2015-10-28

high school summer Japanese support

annual program via Youth For Understanding:

spreading the word to students about opportunities to apply for the 2016 Youth for Understanding
scholarships to study in Japan this summer.

Links to the scholarships are below. Note the first two on this list
require a $3,000 contribution towards tuition but the Kikkoman Scholarships
are full scholarships (student pays Visa fees and needs personal spending
money). There are 3 Kikkoman National full scholarships and 14 Kikkoman
FCCLA full scholarships (students must be dues-paying members of Family
Careers and Community Leaders of America).

Please let me know if I can provide any additional materials for you or
your organization. We do have brochures, posters, flyers, etc. and I am
happy to have them sent to you. Please let me know if you are interested. I
would greatly appreciate any thoughts you may have on how to recruit high
school students of Japanese for these scholarships.

Japan-America Friendship Scholarship ($3K contribution by student)
http://yfuusa.org/scholarships/japan-america-friendship-scholars-jafs-17.php

Japan-US Senate Youth Exchange ($3K contribution by student)
http://yfuusa.org/scholarships/japan-us-senate-youth-exchange-jusse-18.php

Kikkoman National Scholarship - Full Ride (3 in total)
http://yfuusa.org/scholarships/kikkoman-national-scholarship-20.php

Kikkoman FCCLA - 14 full ride scholarships for members of FCCLA
http://yfuusa.org/scholarships/kikkomanfccla-scholarship-11.php

Field Director - Illinois
Youth For Understanding USA
(p) 815.274.5253 (f) 989.777.3270 | yfuusa.org

2015-06-10

summer & Japanese Garden in Grand Rapids, Michigan

5 design concepts built in to this garden are given in this blog article, https://meijergardens.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/five-main-concepts-for-understanding-the-richard-helen-devos-japanese-garden/

2017-08-23

2017-08-20

2017-07-17