しあわせ » culture

Frank Chickens, Comedy Gods, Ride Again!

ロバート — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:37:50 +0000

My friends Frank Chickens have become the obscure outsider candidate in a Rage Against The Machine style attempt to subvert the Fosters Edinburgh Comedy God Award public vote. It all started with a rant by Stewart Lee at the organisers where he mentioned the Chickens as possibly the most obscure act of the past 30 years. (They were nominated for a Perrier Fringe Award in 1984). Now it seems to have gained traction, via twitter and elsewhere, and the Chickens are currently number one in the online poll! Let’s keep them there. They are nice guys and would quite like to win an award.
In the spirit of Mr Splashypants –
Vote now – Vote often – Spread the word!

––update 01Sep10––
They won!
Yay for the skewed results of Internet voting!
I could hear the clenching of teeth in the Foster’s PR’s statements about the win.

Ninagawa at the Barbican in May

ロバート — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:25:23 +0000

Ninagawa returns to the Barbican Theatre London for 4 days in May (5th to the 8th) in what might be becoming an annual event I hope. I’ve seen the two previous productions, Coriolanus and the kabuki version of Twelfth Night. This time it’s not Shakespeare. It’s a play about the famous swordsman Musashi, the author of the Book of Five Rings.
It’ll be entirely in Japanese with English surtitles. The Japanese is usually difficult and fast, however I found the women’s voices easier to follow and it helped that I knew the English versions of both the previous plays and could even remember some speeches from Coriolanus I had memorised for an exam over 20 years ago. I must re-read Eiji Yoshikawa‘s epic novel so I can follow things a bit easier. It’s a great book, although I believe the play starts where this book ends so maybe I’ll be able to find out what happens to Otsu.
I hope for some great swordplay, the literally blood-spattering finale of Ninagawa’s Coriolanus in the manner of Kurosawa’s Sanjuro was such an impressive image. I have expectations of some skillful stagecraft.

My wife tells me the lead actors are quite famous in Japan and expects there to be lots of Japanese women there because the actor, Tatsuya Fujiwara, is a bit of a heart-throb! You might have seen him as Light in DeathNote. It’s only playing for 4 days and when I booked tickets last night, all the cheap seats were unavailable and a fair amount of the stalls and circle were sold as well. So available seats are from ￡28 to ￡40.

The cheap seats might still be available as freebies if you are under 25 as part of Barbican’s free-B events

Review of the production in Japan.

image from kirainet’s flickr photostream used under creative commons license

D.T. Suzuki Documentary screenings

ロバート — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:05:49 +0000

If you have ever read about Buddhism you are certain to have come across the writings of D.T. Suzuki.
I was recently contacted by a director of a film about Suzuki’s life. There are screenings in the UK in November. While the film isn’t in Japanese, I think it will be of interest to people interested in Japanese culture and Buddhism. I’ll let Michael Goldberg tell you himself after the jump.

There will be 3 free public screenings of “A ZEN LIFE – D.T. Suzuki” at universities in the UK next month.

“A ZEN LIFE – D.T. Suzuki” is a 77-minute documentary in English about Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) the Japanese lay Buddhist, prolific writer and teacher credited with introducing Zen Buddhism to the West.

With an excellent grasp of English, Daisetsu Suzuki was highly successful at getting Westerners to appreciate the Japanese mentality, and Japanese to see the merit of Western logic. He earned widespread respect for his deep insights into Eastern and Western religions and philosophies. The effect he had on Western psychology, philosophy, religious thinking, and the arts was profound.

A variety of excerpts from Dr. Suzuki’s talks about Zen and Buddhism, Christianity, and psychoanalysis punctuate the film. Inter-faith dialogue and mutual respect were, in his mind, keys to peace. Interwoven with film footage, photos and audio recordings of D.T. Suzuki are interviews of many people who knew him, including Huston Smith, Gary Snyder, Robert Aitken, William Theodore de Bary, Donald Richie, Mihoko Okamura, and Dr. Albert Stunkard, with rare historical footage of Fr. Thomas Merton, John Cage, Erich Fromm, and the voice of Christmas Humphreys.

A pioneer in improving East-West relations, his numerous writings in English and Japanese, translated into many languages, serve as an inspiration even today. Daisetsu Suzuki’s message is all the more important now, in light of contemporary conflicts stemming from divergent ways of thinking.

SCREENINGS IN THE UK

Glasgow
Monday, 23 November, 6:30 pm
Interfaith Chapel, University of Glasgow, West Quadrangle
Screening followed by Q&A with director
No reservation necessary
For further information about the Glasgow screening,
please contact Joan Keenan, Interfaith Chaplaincy,
on 0141 330 5419 or joan.keenan@admin.gla.ac.uk

Manchester
Tuesday, 24 November, 5:15 – 7:30 pm (doors open 5 pm)
Arts Lecture Theatre, Lower Ground Floor, Samuel Alexander Building
University of Manchester
Screening followed by Q&A with director
No reservation necessary for the Manchester screening

London
Thursday, 26 November, 6:30 – 8:30 pm (reception afterward)
Brunei Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Russell Square
University of London
Screening followed by Q&A with director and panel discussion
Please reserve in advance for the SOAS event by contacting
info@azenlife-film.org, ts@soas.ac.uk, or tl3@soas.ac.uk
or call 01442 890882

These events are sponsored by
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

2 preview clips can be found on YouTube:

Very truly yours,
Michael Goldberg
Executive Producer / Director
The DT Suzuki Documentary Project
Japan Inter-Culture Foundation
www.azenlife-film.org

Frank Chickens Rides Again!

ロバート — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:30:27 +0000

Frank Chickens will be at the Japan Matsuri in Spitafields Market on Saturday 19 September. They expect to be on stage around 1:20 until 1:50.

Practice your singalong with this video of We Are Ninja (Not Geisha) on YouTube.

Nagisa Oshima season at the BFI

ロバート — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:16:30 +0000

A season of films by Oshima the director of the infamous Realm of the Senses (愛のコリーダ), and the notable Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (with a famous soundtrack) is playing at the NFT London from today until the end of October. Details on BFI’s website.

Children Full of Life – 涙と笑いのハッピークラス

ロバート — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:33:02 +0000

I came across this film today on Japan Probe. It reminds me a bit of “The Queen’s Classroom” except this is a real look inside a classroom in Japan’s primary school system.
The original 涙と笑いのハッピークラス―4年1組命の授業 was made by NHK in 2003. It follows a year in Mr. Kanamori’s 4th grade class. It is very different from the western classes I know of. Not least because of the teacher’s relationship to the children, the discussion of matters such as death, the group solidarity, and the willingness of children to write.
The video on YouTube, Children Full of Life, is CBC’s version that is subtitled and has an English commentary. It’s well worth watching before it inevitably gets taken down.

(But for the gold standard in fly-on-the-classroom-wall documentaries search out Etre et Avoir)

Terracotta Film Festival London

ロバート — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:20:45 +0000

As part of the Terracotta Film Festival at the Prince Charles cinema over the bank holiday weekend, there are three Japanese films being screened.

After School Saturday 23 May 16:15
High Kick Girl Sunday 24 May 18:40
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 Friday 22 May 20:45

Details at the festival site. There are also films from Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia if you are a fan of Asian cinema.

Thanks to Paul at London Japanese Language Meetup for the heads-up!

BBC Four Japan season

ロバート — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:51:22 +0000

BBC Four has a season of Japan related programs at the moment called Hidden Japan. Also on their web site there is an amusing series of Japanese word of the day to watch. If you miss any you can catchup using iPlayer. Unfortunately online versions via the BBC are most likely restricted to the UK (or those with the knowhow to have their IP appear in the UK) so I’ve changed the embedded video to a YouTube video that should work for everyone.

Photographs of Old Japan

ロバート — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:36:55 +0000

For several months I’ve been following Okinawa Soba’s fascinating photostream at Flickr. He has an enormous collection of Meiji period photographs mainly by a photographer called T. Enami which he is generously sharing via his flickr account. His comments make for interesting reading as well. He is what might be called cantankerous and I’m sure would be an interesting companion over a drink or two in a izakaya.

(original photo from Okinawa Soba used under creative commons licence)

Urashima Taro Puppet Show – updated.

ロバート — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:48:37 +0000

I was recently sent a press release by Nakamura Aya-san the creator / performer of the interesting puppet performance Urashima Taro. It’s nice to see that the people I write about read my little blog, if a little daunting at times though.
The show has now finished development and is showing at various venues in London.
I saw the show for the first time last May and it should be interesting to see how it has developed.
I can heartily recommend Shunt as a venue and night out, so combine it with seeing this play.

From Nakamura Aya-san

Rouge28 Theatre is presenting the final stage of Urashima Taro. This piece
combines bunraku-style puppetry, Japanese toy theatre, shadows and dramatic
acting to unfold a cruel and sinister tale inspired by an ancient Japanese myth.
It tells the story of a young fisherman who finds himself trapped by some
mysterious ladies.

We have received support from Arts Council England, UK-Japan 150, the Puppet
Centre Trust and Central School of Speech and Drama to develop this final stage
of the piece.

We will be performing Urashima Taro between mid-March and mid-April at Shunt
Lounge, Little Angel Theatre, Horse+Bamboo Theatre Centre and Central School of
Speech and Drama. You can find details bellow.

The performance at the Little Angel Theatre will be followed by a discussion
about the influence of Bunraku on contemporary British Theatre. Guest speakers
will include Nenagh Watson (former doo-cot) and Mark Down (Blind Summit).

Performances:

- Horse+Bamboo Theatre Centre in Rosendale (Lancashire) on Friday the 13th
of March at 7.30pm.

- Shunt Lounge on 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th of March and 1st, 3rd and 4th of
April at 8pm except Saturdays at 9pm. You can not book performances in advance,
all tickets are allocated on a first come first served basis.

- Little Angel Theatre on Thursday the 2nd of April at 8pm.

––old event––
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