ZOOM JAPAN No.003

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All the latest news &exclusive articles on today’s Japan

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Editorial

Japanese restaurants areblooming across London,Paris, Amsterdam and Ber-lin as Europeans fall in lovewith Japanese cuisine.Alongside this passion for

gastronomy, Europe now also seems to beaddicted to manga. People of all ages are lite-rally devouring these comic books with whichthey can escape to a variety of different worlds.Good food is also savoured in Japan, andTokyo is now the city with the highest num-ber of Michelin restaurants in the world.However, the Japanese are showing less andless interest in manga these days and in orderto regain readers, editors have been launchingnew collections of manga focusing on storiesabout cuisine, a tactic that is seeing much suc-cess! Bon appétit.

THE EDITORIAL [email protected]

NEWS

A DAY IN JAPAN by Eric Rechsteiner

Fifteen months after the triple catastrophe of March 2011, returning to normal seems to be the main local preoc-cupation. On June 25th produce from the sea in the Fukushima area was back on sale. Elsewhere, many rice fieldshave been replanted. Rice is not officially contaminated by the radiation so it is deemed safe to eat.

May 23rd 2012 in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture

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Front cover picture by Jérémie Souteyrat

2 ZOOM JAPAN number 3 july-august 2012

SOCIETY Poverty increasesFor the past few years statistics relating to

poverty have continued to drop. 16 % of

Japan’s population is affected by poverty,

yet as the authorities keep on trying to

reduce welfare benefits, charities point out

that 4 to 5 million people who are entitled

to benefits are, in fact, getting nothing. In

the end only 2.1 million people are

receiving the benefits they are entitled to.

POLITICS Noda out of hisdepthNot everyone in the Democratic Party

agrees with the government’s plans to raise

consumption tax. There are quite a few

opponents to it, including Ozawa Ichiro,

who might cause a split in the coalition

that has held power since 2009.

This situation could ultimately lead to

Prime Minister Noda’s resignation.

Is the number of umbrellas that have been

bought in Japan this year. Typhoon season

is back already so umbrellas are

everywhere. Most of them are made with

see-through plastic and are not very

resistant to gusts of wind.

130 000 000

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http://www.toraya-group.co.jp/paris/

http://www.matsuri-restaurant.com/

NEWS

The split between the press and itsreadership grows wider by the day, with newspapers accused of not coveringthe recent anti-nuclear powerdemonstrations fully.

How many demonstrations took placeexactly? How many people gathered out-side the Prime Minister’s office to protest

against the re-commissioning of two reactors at theOi nuclear power plant near Fukui? 11,000, 45,000?It is certainly no use loo-king for the answer inthe mainstream Japa-nese press, at least notin the major newspa-pers, as such details havebeen conspicuouslyabsent. “Something isrotten in the state ofDenmark”, Marcellustold Hamlet and in asimilar way, somethingseems rotten in theempire of the Japanesepress. One should notforget that the Land ofthe Rising Sun has the largest newspaper readershipin the world. Although this number has decreasedover the past twenty years the Yomiuri Shimbun andAsahi Shimbun still each sell more copies daily thanany other newspaper in the world. But how muchlonger will this last? Many Japanese are angry aboutthese organs of the press not covering all of the newsand failing to report on the thousands of people whohave recently gathered together to protest. Backin September, when Oe Kenzaburo, winner of the

Nobel prize for Literature and journalist KamataSatoshi were able to rally over 60,000 people in thestreets of Tokyo to demonstrate in favour of rapidnuclear decommissioning, most newspapers failedto send any journalists to cover the event, with otherssettling for just a small picture with a caption. Onthe 15th and 22nd of June thousands of people inTokyo gathered outside the Prime Minister’s resi-dence to express their disapproval with the decisionto recommission Oi nuclear power plant. Once morethe Japanese press buried their collective heads in

the sand, an attitude thatJapanese people will no lon-ger accept. On the social net-works messages calling outfor the boycott of newspa-pers are legion and news-desks have been overwhel-med with letters criticizingtheir attitude and negligence.Some newspapers have reac-ted positively to this, parti-cularly the Tokyo Shimbun.Part of the Chunichi groupbased in Nagoya, TokyoShimbun has stood out fromthe crowd with its strong anti-

nuclear stance over the past few months. In a shortnote published on the 23rd of June, the newspaperadmitted its mistake and tried to explain why it hadnot covered the demonstration in the previous week.Newspapers across Japan now need to do some soulsearching. Out of all of the country’s great institu-tions the press is the only one to never have under-taken any kind of reform, while for years demandingthat other establishment bodies should embracechange. ODAIRA NAMIHEI

MEDIA Bad press

july-august 2012 number 3 ZOOM JAPAN 3

A flyer calling for protestors to demonstrate on the 22nd

of June, between 6.00 and 8.00pm, outside of the

Prime Minister’s residence.


http://www.sorestaurant.com/

http://www.okamura.co.uk

http://www.jpbooks.co.uk/

http://www.yutaka.co/

FOCUS


Years go by but in the world of manga eve-rything seems to stay the same. In 2005 thesales of graphic novels surpassed those of

manga compilation magazines and the gap betweenthe two formats continues to widen, indicating thatJapanese readers’ relationship to manga has radicallychanged over the past decade. Most magazines arein decline but the situation has been saved by therising sales of manga in graphic novel form. 2011was full of lessons to be learnt from the successes ofShingeki no kyojin by Isaya Hajime and ThermaeRomae by Yamazaki Mari. For Kodansha, one ofJapan’s leading publishers, good sales of Shingeki nokyojin helped save a year that had not started off too

well, due to the end of the best-selling series NodameCantabile and the temporary absence of Vagabondfrom the shops during the year. Shingeki no kyojin isremarkable for having sold over a million copies ofits 6th volume published in December2011. The series has been serialised inBessatsu Shonen Magazine, one of itspublisher’s less important imprints thathas never before experienced such a dra-matic rise in sales. The first volume of Shingeki nokyojin was published in March 2010, with a distri-bution of only 40,000 copies. By that autumn, salesstarted to grow and had reached 250,000 copiesby October. Then, three months later, sales rose to750,000 after being awarded the coveted first placeranking in the annual best manga awards held byprestigious comic guidebook, Kono manga ga sugoi

[This manga is great]. Since then, each new volumehas sold like hot cakes, although the magazine itselfremains relatively unknown. Another example ofsuccess among Kodansha’s publications is Saint Young

Men by Nakamura Hikaru. This best sel-ler reaches sales approaching a millioncopies for every edition printed and likeShingeki no kyojin, it appears in one ofthe publishing group Morning 2’s less

important magazines. This phenomenon is illustra-ted even better by Thermae Romae. The series, writ-ten by Yamazaki Mari, is published in Comic Beammagazine, which again, is far from being one of themost prominent publications on the market. Howe-ver, this did not prevent Thermae Romae from accu-mulating sales of over 5 million copies when publi-shed in graphic novel form, although Comic Beam’s

TREND Manga are now devoured in manydifferent forms2011 and 2012 saw a marked change in theway Japanese people read comic books.

Jérémie Sou

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Silver Spoon by ARAKAWA Hiromu is on its way to becoming a best seller in Japan.

Magazines areno longer selling as well.


FOCUS


actual circulation remains confidential. This switchin popularity to the graphic novel format has beenone of the great lessons learnt this year by the mangapublishing sector. This situation contrasts sharplywith how it used to be not so long ago, when rea-ders of manga magazines were the main driving forcebehind sales of the graphic novels. From now on, other means of distribution need tobe developed in order to consolidate and maintainmanga sales. Many readers first discover a storythrough its animated version or as an adaptation forTV or cinema, before reading it in its original form.This explains the large gap between the sales ofmanga magazines and manga books to a great degree.Nevertheless, this development also prompts publi-shers to show more imagination in their choice ofstories, going for maximum diversity in the largenumber of series they commission in the hope thatjust one may attract a large readership. It is also whythey continue to create a broad range of differentmanga magazines to meet the expectations of spe-cific groups of readersShogakukan publishes Big Comic and Original BigComic, one to promote new talent and the otherfocusing on the tried and trusted. Publishers pay alot of attention to the response they get from theirreaders and try to anticipate what they want in orderto guarantee a better and more stable return thanthey have received in previous years. Manga adapta-tions into animation or television shows, whetherfor TV or the cinema, have become substantialsources of revenue for publishers, whose mainincome comes from copyright and indirect sales.The profit to be made by publishers from thesesources is so good that they now take part directlyin the production of television shows and featurefilms, from which they can earn a great deal on salesof tickets and DVDs. When you consider that manyof today’s great blockbusters at the cinema areactually movies adapted from manga, you will surelyunderstand why publishers are so keen to invest inco-production. During the first six months of 2012,Bokura ga ita [We Were There] by Obata Yuki, Uchukyodai [Space Brothers] by Koyama Chuya and Ther-mae Romae were all adapted for the cinema andbecame big hits. This is one of the reasons why publi-shers do not show much concern when one of theirmagazines is losing a lot of money, because they knowthey will be able to raise income elsewhere and thisis all that matters in the long run. They are also awarethat they will no longer experience the high levelsof success from previous years, when weeklies suchas Shonen Jump enjoyed sales of 6 million copiesevery week. Now, Shueisha is happy to publish anddistribute a mere 3 million copies of its leadingmanga magazine, and this only made possible partlyin thanks to the colossi One Piece by Oda Eiichiroand Naruto by Kishimoto Masashi. The success of

L IBRARY

The top 4

Here is a selection of the best selling manga seriespublished in 2011.

Giants have devoured ahuge proportion ofhuman life on the planet.A small group of humanstake refuge in a giganticfortified town, protectedwithin three concentricenclosures but one daythe main character Erendiscovers that the Titanshave succeeded in findinga new way in.

ISAYAMA Hajime, Shingeki no kyojin, Kodansha ed.,2009, an on-going serial with 7 vol. published so far.

This shojo manga (mangafor young girls) is about ahigh school student whofalls in love with one of herschoolmates who has asuspicious past. It has beenadapted into an animationand a film for cinemarelease. Miki Takahiro (alsothe director of Solanin)directedthe very success-ful movie version.

OBATA Yuki, Bokura ga ita, Shogakukan ed., 2002,serialisation has ended with 16 volumes published

This manga is about foodand how important theother four senses arewhen tasting it. Theauthor places greatimportance on theappearance of the foodas well as its smell, tex-ture and taste, which areall presented in minutedetail.

SHIMABUKURO Mitsutoshi, Toriko, Shueisha ed.,2008, an on-going serial with 18 vol. published so far.

The story of two bro-thers who dream of tra-velling in outer space.The first is recruited tobecome an astronautand walk on the moon.The second is not solucky, but is still admit-ted as part of a spacetraining programme.

KOYAMA Chuya, Uchu kyôdai, Kodansha ed., 2008,an on-going serial with18 volumes published so far.

these series as graphic novels is much greater andsince it’s debut in 1997, over 260 million copies ofOne Piece have been sold in Japan with the first printrun of every new volume selling at least 4 millioncopies, which must no doubt satisfy its publisher.In addition, publishers are also turning their eyes toanother new sector: online editions, even if resultsare still quite modest. After having argued aboutit for a long time, the leading publishing housesappear to have decided to start taking better advan-tage of this opportunity and according to a 2011report on electronic manga, 80% of the revenue gene-rated by online publications in Japan stems frommanga. This is encouraging publishers to take moreinterest in their customer’s reading habits, especiallywith the advent of smart phones and tablet compu-ters. However, specialists believe that it will still takea few years for the digital market to supplant tra-ditional paper publications.In the meantime, publishers are trying to determinehow their readers’ tastes are evolving in order tocreate new series, or promote those that have not yetgained enough public interest. In December everyyear since 2006, they await Kono manga ga sugoi’srankings that have an obvious impact on sales. Overthe years this annual publication by Takarajima hasbecome one of the main barometers for measuringmarket trends. Divided into two parts, one for men,the other for women, the ranking is the result of care-ful research by specialists and readers and sets thetone of what will be on offer the following season.Since 2006, Kono manga ga sugoi has singled outPluto by Urasawa Naoki, Saint Young Men, Baku-man by Oba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi and Shin-geki no kyojin. In its 2012 awards published lastDecember the publication picked out Hana no zubo-rameshi [Hana’s sloppy meals], the story of a youngwoman’s mishaps in the kitchen, being charmed bythis delightful comedy and it’s charismatic main cha-racter. By ranking it first in the awards, the publica-tion also highlights a strong trend towards food rela-ted manga.Another much anticipated ranking is Da Vinci’smonthly literary review that focuses on new mangain the making. In its February edition ArakawaHiromu’s Silver Spoon, a story that takes place in anagricultural college in Hokkaido, came second. Afew days after the magazine was published, SilverSpoon received the Great Manga award of 2012 forthe year’s best story, which also impacts strongly onthe chosen publication’s sales. It is still too early totell (although 500,000 copies of the second volumepublished last December have already been sold)but this distinction seems to agree with readers’tastes. They become greedier by the day and arehappy to devour stories about delicious dishes, givingthem an appetite for more!

ODAIRA NAMIHEI


FOCUS


With Fullmetal Alchemist, ArakawaHiromu has become one of the grea-test names in manga, both in Japan and

in the rest of the world. Her talent is greatly applau-ded and it is well known that everything she touchesturns to gold. Gin no saji (Silver Spoon) is proofof this. It is an original story that may come as a sur-

prise to Fullmetal Alchemist readers when they firstdip into it because its content has nothing to dowith fantasy. With Silver Spoon the author turnsher back on alchemy for a more down to earth uni-verse that is very dear to her: agriculture. Arakawais from Hokkaido, the main island north of Honshuthat is famous for it’s agricultural wealth, and sheeven studied for some time at an agricultural col-lege. That kind of school is also the setting she choseto tell her story . To make her characters more belie-vable, Arakawa meticulously investigated details ofher past, which helps make the setting and the psy-chology of the characters more realistic. SilverSpoon’s hero is Hachiken Yugo. His first year at theagricultural college has just begun and he will notonly discover life in the school community but aboveall will learn a great deal about the production offood. How an adorable little piglet is turned intodelicious slices of bacon is something he had nevergiven a thought to before but it is a reality that hewill need to face up to during his studies. The mainpoint of interest in this award-winning story (win-ner of the best manga award 2012), lies in how itinforms the readers about some of the principles ofagriculture, of which many probably know very lit-tle. Arakawa Hiromu also stresses the importanceof paying attention to the environment and defen-ding sustainable agriculture, so as to ensure respectfor a natural balance. She is in tune with the current Japanese preoccupa-tion with food, particularly since March 2011, and

INITIATION From producer to consumer

Arakawa Hiromu has taken a bold step withher new manga about agriculture.

the problems with radioactive contamination cau-sed by the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclearpower plant. The author also pays tribute to theregion where she was born by describing local tra-ditions and highlighting how close knit the peo-ple in that area are. Without being too moralistic,Silver Spoon nevertheless raises some great moralprinciples. The manga also explores the questionsfarmers have to face in relation to life and death whenhaving to send their pigs and cattle to the slaughter-house. Similarily to Fullmetal Alchemist, Silver Spoonis a sort of tale of initiation, but focussing on youth,and this seems to to be at the root of its popularitywith both critics and a growing readership. Firstpublished as a serial in the weekly magazine ShonenSunday, the manga has already been collected toge-ther into four graphic novels, with over half a mil-lion copies sold. The distinction it was awardedduring the spring should give it a tremendous boost,especially as an increasing number of Japanese aredrawn to the countryside in Hokkaido and havehopes of living there one day. Arakawa Hiromu, atrue comic book alchemist, has succeeded in crea-ting a brilliant story that also relates to current trendsin manga. I wish her many congratulations.

O. N.

REFERENCEGIN NO SAJI - SILVER SPOON by Arakawa Hiromu,Shôgakukan, 2011, an on-going series with 4 volumes published so far.

A drawing by Arakawa Hiromu in response to being

awarded the Great Manga prize of 2012 last March.



FOCUS

Over the past few years, jidaigeki ( Japaneseperiod films) have made a comeback inmovies. Samurai films are acclaimed both by

the audiences they entertain and the directors whofind in them an opportunity to express their talent ina different way. Kitano Takeshi’s Zatoichi and MiikeTakashi’s 13 Assassins are wonderful demonstrationsof this. The success of these feature films illustrate theJapanese need for traditional points of reference ata time when their country is in deep crisis. Althoughthey are based on fiction, the fact that they are stee-ped in a period that is rich in history (the Edo era)is enough to satisfy viewers. They are also sensitiveto the literary references dealing with Japan in the16th and 17th centuries, when severalgreat figures in the nationalhistory werealive. Thiscraze can alsobe found inmanga, with quitea few successfulhistory based publi-cations appearingduring the past fewyears. Among the manyhistorical charactersfrom this glorious period,OdaNobunaga is perhapsthe most famous.

Born into a well-establishedaristocratic family from centralJapan, whose influence wasalready widespread during the16th century, Oda Nobunagafound himself in the midst of a feu-dal power struggle when he succee-ded his father as adviser to the Vice-governor of half of Owari province.He took up arms to unify the province and fought thedaimyo of the neighbouring regions. After allying him-self to Tokugawa Ieyasu, his eastern neighbour, heconquered Mino province to the north, and transfer-red his residence from Kiyosu castle to Gifu, nearNagoya.

He was endowed with a very inquisitive nature andhelped to establish relations with the Portuguese whoreached Japan for the first time in 1543, Nobunaga

permitted them to preach Catholicism and to buildchurches right up to the outskirts of Kyoto. In addi-tion, the imperial court perceived him to be a militarychief with a great capacity to end civil wars, which ledto him being appointed Second Minister, one of thehighest positions in the government hierarchy. As arenowned military leader, Nobunaga often surpri-sed his enemies with his battlefield mobility and he

was also the first strate-gist in Japan to use firearms methodically on aregular basis. Being very open to innovation, he ledJapan in its first steps towards modernization.

Taking his impressive historical profile into conside-ration, it is not so surprising that many mangaka areinspired by the character of Oda Nobunaga to createstories that describe him either as a great hero or a hear-tless warrior. For example, he ordered the assassina-tion of his younger brother Oda Nobuyuki whom hesuspected of conspiring against him. Among the manga that depict him in a rather nega-

HISTORY At Mr. Nobunaga’s serviceBy using the historical figure of OdaNobunaga as a character, mangaka havesucceeded in creating several veryimaginative stories.

tive light is Samurai Deeper Kyo by Kamijo Akimine(a series that appeared between 1999 and 2006 in38 volumes), in which he is portrayed as a bloodthirstywarrior who is extremely cruel and wants to dominatethe world by terrorising it. More recently, two othermanga have also chosen to tell the story of this greatlord. Nobunaga Concerto by Ishii Ayumi (an on-goingseries with 6 volumes published so far) has appearedin the monthly magazine Shonen Sunday, Get Sun,since 2009. Although it initially went unnoticed, thestory is now getting more attention from critics andreaders alike. In this tale Saburo, an ordinary highschool student with poor grades in history, is trans-formed into Oda Nobunaga, whose personality ismarkedly changed under Saburo’s influence. With ameticulous sense of rhythm and a pleasant brush stroke,Ishii Ayumi has succeeded in writing a widely acclai-med story. The same goes for Nishimura Mitsuri(story) and Kajikawa Takuro (art) for Nobunaga no

shefu [Nobunaga’s Chef ] that was firstpublished in 2011, with

4 volumeshaving alreadybeen released. Ittells the story ofKen, a cook whofinds himself in 16th

century Japan afterfalling down a crevasseand soon becomes OdaNabunaga’s personalchef. This is mainly amanga about food but toa background of varioushistorical events thatinvolve the Chef. It attractsa large readership who areable to satisfy two passions inone story: history and gastro-nomy! The twist is that Kenmakes use of his modern dayexperience to introduce new fla-vours, all the while having to adaptto the needs of the moment. Publi-shed in the weekly magazine Manga

Times (Hobunsha ed.), Nobunaga no shefu is a beau-tiful illustration of the ability of mangaka to make useof history when writing modern and dynamic sto-ries that are impossible to put down.

O. N.

REFERENCENOBUNAGA NO SHEFU by Nishimura Mitsuru andKajikawa Takuro, Hobunsha ed., an on-going serieswith 4 volumes published so far.


FOCUS


Published in the popular weekly magazineAsahi Geino that covers Japanese show busi-ness, Meshibana deka Tachibana [Detective

Tachibana’s food stories] is gaining a followingamong food lovers. Detective Tachibana’s round,greedy face encourages the readers to tasteand share the delicacies he describes.Tachibana is a chatterbox.Whether he is withhis col-

leaguesor with asuspect, healways startsto recountstories aboutthe origins ofthis dish or that.However, be war-ned, refined cuisine isnot Detective Tachi-bana’s thing. This is astory about working-classfood, everyday dishes of thekind that you might eat insmall restaurants near railwaystations. The first story of the5th volume, released last April, isabout makaroni sarada [macaronisalad], a very simple everyday dish.Our friend Tachibana embarks on ascientific description of the best way to prepare thisrecipe and dumbfounds his colleague, leaving outno detail, even down to the point of comparing theprice of macaroni in various grocery shops. Readerslike his joviality but that is not all. In its 2012 edi-tion, Kono manga ga sugoi ranked Meshibana Deka9th among the best manga of the year, which hasgiven it a whole new popularity. It is part of the gro-wing trend for manga that focus on food, this genretaking up an increasing amount of space in books-hops. In Japan, these kinds of comics are called“gurume manga”, meaning gourmet comics, althoughMeshibana deka Tachibana is not really what you

could call astory for true

gourmets. The main cha-racter eats very little but his first

mission is always to describe what he isabout to eat, or what he would like to find on

his plate. He does not describe the ingredients inminute detail, but rather the pleasure he takes ineating. Tabii Tori’s drawings capture these momentsperfectly and highlight Tachibana’s facial expres-sions of gastronomic pleasure. Another reason forits success is the detective’s straightforwardapproach. He is neither a gourmet, nor an ace chefbut is a character that many ordinary Japanese canidentify with. It is easy to feel close to him, becauseof the uncomplicated way he describes his favou-rite dishes, even instant noodles. This lovable loud-mouth succeeds in convincing the reader by temp-ting him with various dishes. Such an unpretentiousapproach to cooking may reassure many readerswho, these days, lack the means to eat any diffe-rently. This could also explain why this manga waschosen to appear in a popular magazine.

The recognition he received from reviewers encou-rages us to believe that Detective Tachibana will be

PASSION A cop sits down to eatThis is a story about a talkative cop who likesto eat, but most of all loves to talk.It is to be consumed enthusiastically…

around for quite a few years to come, amusing hisreaders with his funny facial expressions whenconfronted with small plates of food. That is whatboth Japan and its manga can offer, a surprisingblend of invigorating stories to bury oneself in andawaken an appetite for more. Reading clearly encou-rages a good appetite!

O. N.

REFERENCEMESHIBANA DEKA TACHIBANA by Sakado Sabei andTabii Tori, Tokuma Shoten ed., an on-going serieswith 5 volumes published so far.


MUSICMao’s great leapAbe Mao is not very well known outside

Japan but this young woman who has just

released her fourth album deserves wider

recognition. She is a songwriter who crafts

her songs in the same way as goldsmiths

make jewellery. Over the years, she has

gained in confidence and reveals a mature

approach to lyrics and the topics she sings

about. Abe comes from Kyushu, and lived

with her mother after her parents divorced,

which is probably why

she pays so much

attention to

relationships between

people. This is an

album to be listened

to over and over

again.

Tatakai wa owaranai, PCCA-03595.

T HIS MONTH’S EVENT

Broken Blade is a manga by YOSHINAGA Yunosuke thatwas first published in Japan in 2007. Published byFlex Comics, it still appears in Comic Blood and nownumbers 9 volumes. It’s a story about Lygatt, ayoung boy who does not possess the same aptitudefor magical powers as those around him, to mani-pulate quartz from a distance. Despite this “handi-cap”, he still remains particularly close to the Kingof the country in which Broken Blade takes place. Waris about to break out and despite the weakness ofhis magical powers, Lygatt finds himself at the heartof the conflict. The story is set in a universe that isessentially fantastic and futuristic, with its own mechaand magic. As is now customary, this manga wasalso adapted into an animation in 2010. Producedby I.G. Studios and directed by AMINO Tetsuro whois already well acquainted with mecha series, havingdirected Macross 7and Mobile Suit SD Gundam. Thisseries of 6 movies is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. The creators did not spend a great deal of timeon the story but the same cannot be said about theanimation. The visual production quality of Bro-ken Blade is very impressive, from the dirty, grimy,beaten up look of the fighting robots to the spraw-ling landscapes they battle in, everything appearsto have been carefully thought about and meticu-lously implemented. This is a pleasant surprise asit is not always easy to find such good quality anime.Such quality may be down to Amino being assistedby HABARA Nobuyoshi, who had previously workedon the TV shows D. N. Angel, Negima!, and ShamanKing. The script was by Sogo Masashi (known for TVshows Gantz, Bleach and Kiddy Grade) and the cha-racter design by Norita Takushige (a key contribu-tor to the TV show Gurren Lagann and the movieRockman. EXE: Hikari to Yami no Program). Ove-rall Broken Blade is an entertaining and carefully craf-ted anime with a solid story that has something tooffer all types of anime fans.

ODAIRA NAMIHEI

Broken Blade by AMINO Tetsuro, MVM, 300 minutes.Available on DVD and Blu-Ray

DVD Broken blade ismaking a killing

LITERATURE I am a catThe narrator of this tale is a cat who

belongs to an English teacher ill at ease with

himselfand who suffers from depression and

stomach pain. He observes the sick society

of the Meiji era all sorts of intellectuals

parading through the house of his master,

meditating on the meaning of life.

While one struggles to develop theses on

things such as suicide by hanging and the

workings of a frog’s eyes, another amuses

himself playing around with exotic

European words and customs that nobody

has ever heard of. There is even a Zen monk

who has made a

vow of renunciation

and prays that the

master will do

likewise. This whole

class of out-of-work

intellectuals has to

submit to

competition from

money thirsty

materialists such as

the master’s

neighbour, who

represents the new emerging industrialist

class in Japan. I am a cat talks about such

eclectic subjects as marriage, a theory on

the eyesight of frogs, baseball, stomach

pain, and Zen philosophy! This story was

first published as a serial between 1905 and

1906, which explains the unusual layout of

the chapters: each a little sketch that

describe an episode or a day in the English

teacher’s life. This is a book that you should

read and re-read over the summer.

Gabriel BernardI am a Cat, NATSUME SOSEKI, translated by ITO Aiko,

Tuttle Publishing, £18

EXHIBITION JapaneseinfluenceIt is often said that the Japanese copy

others to first reproduce and then

improve on an object. In the case of

Japanese gardens however, it seems to be

the other way around in that the

Japanese heavily influenced the British.

This is made obvious in this beautiful

photography and text based exhibition

that demonstrates the great importance

and influence of Japanese design. The

exhibition is very well organised and is

meant to both educate and be accessible

to as many people as possible. It runs

until September the 13th.

Visions of Paradise – the Japanese Garden in the UK

The Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Road,

London SE1 7LB - Tel. 0845 0944584

CULTURE



http://www.jem.suzuki.co.uk

CULTURE


I n Great Britain at least, a memorable anniversaryin the history of Japanese cinematography hasbeen overlooked. Very little was said in France

either about the 22nd of April 2012, a historical datethat marked the 100th birthday of film directorSHINDO Kaneto! Alas, Shindo died shortly after-wards on the 29th of May. Although generally renow-ned only for being the director of a single movie, TheIsland (Hadaka no shima, 1960), since 1951 Shindohad actually directed over 45 movies, finishing withhis last and most well known film, Ichimai no hagaki[Postcard], shown at the Tokyo festival in 2010. TheIsland has his fifteenth film and demonstrated hisinternational recognition when it was unexpectedlyawarded the best movie prize at the Moscow Inter-national Film Festival in 1961. The movie’s sound-track by Hayashi Hikaru was also part of its success,a haunting melody in a film that is close to beingtotally silent. The director patiently and poeticallydescribes the laborious everyday life of a family ofpeasants throughout the seasons, on an arid littleisland in the Inland Sea, using beautiful black andwhite pictures. The Island remains one of the outs-tanding classics of a great era in Japanese cinema andit was the turning point in Shindo’s career. In reality,

he was already known to Westernreviewers for one of his firstmovies, Children of Hiroshima(Gembaku no ko, 1952), in whichhe explicitly describes the fate ofchildren after the atomic bombwas dropped over the city of hisbirth. Shindo started out as assis-tant to one of his great mentors,MIZOGUCHIKenji and experien-ced all of post-war Japanesecinema, from Toho to Shintoho totoho, especially during the periodwhen he was politically engagedand affiliated to the communistparty. Shindo was the scriptwriter for a few dozenmovies in the 1940s, most notably collaborationswith his colleague YOSHIMURAKozaburo with whomhe would go on to later found an independent com-pany called Kinda Eiga Kyokai (The modern filmsociety) in 1950. This gave him the impetus to under-take independent productions and direct some sociallyengaged, polemical movies such as Shukuzu [Life ofa Woman, 1953], Okami [Wolf, 1955] and DaigoFukuryu maru [Lucky Dragon No 5, 1958]. The lat-ter film became almost as well known as The Islandand is a true story about a fishing boat that was irra-diated after American nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll.

Thanks to the BFI, you can now watch some ofSHINDOKANETO and YOSHIMURAKozaburo’s mostbeautiful movies. Less well known than his KindaiEiga Kyokai partner, Yoshimura’s own career startedin 1929 at the Shochiku company. His debut as adirector dates back to 1934 but even after this he wasstill just assistant director to OZU Yasujiro and SHI-

MAZUYasujiro and it was the movie Danryu (WarmCurrent), released in 1939, which finally started tobuild his own reputation. His film Anjoke no butokai(The Ball at the Anjo House, 1947), starring famousactress HARA Setsuko, was awarded Best Film of theyear in 1947 by the renowned film magazine KinemaJunpo and this film marked the beginning of Yoshi-mura’s long relationship with SHINDO. YOSHIMURAdirected over 60 movies in total, including Itsuwa-reru seiso (Clothes of Deception, 1951) and Yoruno Kawa (Undercurrent, 1956) and he too playeda great part in post-war Japanese cinematography. Wecan only thank the BFI’s initiative, which allows usto watch and re-watch Shindo’s Onibaba (1964), Yabuno naka no kuroneko (Kuroneko, 1968), or Fukuro(The Owl, 2003) and Yoshimura’s Osaka monogatari(Osaka Story, 1957), Onna no saka (A Woman’sUphill Slope, 1960), and Echizen take ningyo (Bam-boo Doll of Echizen, 1963) . This is one seasonnotto be missed!

GABRIEL BERNARD

Two great figures of Japan’s post-warcinema will be celebrated in an exhibitionat the BFI Southbank, running until the30th of July. It will be a good opportunityto discover their best movies.

CINEMA A well deserved tribute to Shindoand Yoshimura

PRACTICAL INFORMATIONBFI SOUTHBANK, Belvedere Road, South Bank, SE18XT. The Box Office is open daily from 11.30 am –8.30 pm. Phone: 020 7633 0274

The Island by Kaneto Shindo

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CULTURE

Noh theatre’s inheritance stems from the oldestforms of Japanese theatre. Its origins lie in reli-gious celebrations that used to take place in

the countryside, in order to amuse the deities and conse-quently to insure their benevolence towards the har-vest. These performances including dances, costumesand masks are known as Kagura. After the arrival ofBuddhism and its new kinds of ceremonies in Japanaround 650 AD, Kagura with its allegiance to the olderrites of Shinto, started to lose prestige. The perfor-mances became more secular in meaning, yet were stilljust as festive. These new forms of entertainment werecalled Gagaku and Bugaku, then during the 9th cen-tury Sangaku evolved and finally Sarugaku (Lit:“Mon-key games”) was added to the repertoire, featuring acro-batics, magic tricks and comedy. It was during theMuromachi era, under the authority of the AshikagaShoguns, that the father and son actors Kanami andZeami established the rules for what was to becomeNoh. They kept the main outline of Sangaku but chan-ged its form completely. Inspired by the new schoolof Zen Buddhism, which was now rapidly expanding,they wrote new texts and imposed strict rules for theuse of kimonos, masks, music, and even the stage itself.In the space of twenty years they managed to com-pletely transfigure the ancient and popular yet bois-

trous Sarugaku into a refined art aimed at the Japa-nese military and political elite. Masks have alwaysplayed a dominant role in Japanese culture. At approxi-mately 20 cm high, Noh masks are sculpted fromcypress wood that is then covered with a layer of whitepaint on to which the masks’ characteristic yellowis applied. Black ink is then used for the eyebrowsand the hair. All of this is then covered with a verythin layer of lacquer. The eyes are thin slits, makingit hard for the actor to see.By now you may be curious about this intriguing artand wish to attend a performance yourself. It so hap-pens that one will take place Christ Church in Lon-don’s Spitalfields on September 7th at 6.30pm and atSt Bartholomew in Orford, Suffolk, at 3pm on Sep-tember 9th. Actors and musicians from Tokyo Univer-sity of the Arts will perform Sumidagawa [The SumidaRiver], a 15th century play by Kanze Motomasa. As

a ferryman is taking on board passengers to ferry acrossthe Sumida River, a woman appears, wracked withpain: she is looking for her long lost son. The ferry-man tells her that the pilgrims across the river arepraying for a little boy who died just a year before andthe mother soon finds herself standing over her son’stomb. As she prays, she thinks she sees the child’s ghost,but the shadow disappears at dawn. Did the motherreally see her child? Sumidagawa will be followedby Curlew River, an adaptation of the same Noh play,composed by Benjamin Britten, with a chorus of Bri-tish singers. The soloists and instrumentalists are fromTokyo University of the Arts, and the music direc-tor is Dominic Wheeler. Curlew River embodies anunconventional fusion of music and drama with ele-ments borrowed both from Japan and medievalEnglish mystery plays. Not to be missed!

GABRIEL BERNARD

On the 7th and 9th of September, two highquality shows will be presented in Londonand Orford in Suffolk, which combineclassical Japanese theatre and British tradition.

EVENT Noh in Britain? we say yes!

PRACTICAL INFORMATIONSumidagawa : 6.30 pm on the 7th of September 2012at Christ Church in Spitalfields, LondonCurlew River : 3.00 pm on the 9th of September 2012at St Bartholomew in Orford, Suffolkhttp://sumidagawa-curlewriver.com/


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CULTURE

Anthony Rausch lives in TohokuJapan’s northernTohoku region, in Hirosaki, a city that the Japaneseappreciate for its castle and the thousands of cherrytrees that surround it. Every year, hordes of Japa-nese visit Hirosaki to enjoy the transformation ofthe castle and surrounding park, when the whiteand pink cherry trees are in bloom. Born in the Uni-ted States, Rausch has now lived in the region for22 years and has savoured every moment of it. Heis a professor at Hirosaki University and by wor-king with the regional press he has learnt to unders-tand and interpret local customs. He has recentlypublished “Japan’s Local Newspapers: Chihoshi andRevitalization Journalism” (Routledge), an excel-lent book in which he reveals the role of small pro-vincial newspapers. This work results from meti-culous observation inside a newsroom in thenorthern prefecture of Aomori.

Can you give us a short explanation of the role oflocal newspapers in Japan?Anthony Rausch : The major question for most localnewspapers is whether they view themselves as com-plementary to or substitutes for national papers. Arole as substitute would demand that they includedinternational and national news, predominantly poli-tical and economic, along with local news. A comple-mentary role would allow the local newspaper to

INTERVIEW The press embodies local identitygraphy, literature, and arts. The paperis providing for the creation and sus-tenance of local identity for its readers– in a manner that is both highly detai-led and educational but which alsostrongly reaffirms identity of place forthe reader. In addition, the papers devotespace to themes and issues of impor-tance to various sectors of the popula-tion – whether it be the aged who areconcerned about health issues, youngparents who are concerned about edu-

cation, or more recently, residents who seek history,context and detailed information on nuclear powergeneration in Japan. Many local newspapers accom-plish this through ‘themed rensai,’ long-running andhighly in-depth columns devoted to a specific theme.

During the events of 3.11, local newspapers seemto have played a crucial role (for example the Ishi-nomaki Hibi Shimbun). What is your take on this?Anthony Rausch : Over the past year, I have lookedat three newspapers specifically from affected areasfocusing on 3.11 disaster-related content: the Fukus-hima Minpo of Fukushima Prefecture, the KahokuShinpo of Miyagi Prefecture and the Toonippo ofAomori Prefecture. What I found was on the onehand, what one would expect, but on the other, some-thing very illuminating relating to how the local news-paper was covering the event. First of all, there was atrend to prioritize the event as news, from directlyafter the event until mid-summer (July), after whichmany of the ‘themed rensai,’ the long-running andhighly in-depth columns referred to above were ini-tiated. While this might be what is expected, thedisaster, as an immediate news item, is replaced bythe longer view contextualizing it and the event itselfis replaced by other news items. These hese themedcolumns were very revealing in the topics they took

The local press plays an important role inthe far flung regions of Japan, but how itworks is quite a mystery. A respectedacademic reveals some answers.

forego such international and nationalcoverage and instead focus on strictlylocal themes. Local newspapers in Japan– defined here as newspapers that ope-rate at the prefectural level – actuallyadopt both patterns: in essence theyserve both as substitute and comple-mentary newspapers. This is evidencedby analysing local newspapers, whereyou find that the front page is usually amix of a big national story along withtwo or three more local stories, afterwhich the next few pages are dominated by natio-nal and international stories, with local news provi-ded with exclusive space in several pages near the endof the paper. This dual character can also be confirmed in reader-ship patterns, where for most prefectures there is afairly even balance of readership percentages for bothnational and prefectural level newspapers, with thenational average at 43% for a national paper and 45%for a prefectural paper. People are reading both levelsof newspapers – even though the prefectural papersdiligently cover national news along with local news.Of course there are a handful of prefectures for whichthe prefectural newspaper readership drops below10% with a correspondingly high percentage for anational paper; conversely, there are also ten-plus pre-fectures where the readership levels of local news-papers is above 60%, with a corresponding lower per-centage for a national paper. This is most likely atestament less to the role of the newspaper than to thelevel of reading that constitutes a big part of daily lifefor Japanese.That being said, the local newspaper also contributessignificantly to both sense of location for the readerand sense of self for the reader. In this regard, the pre-fectural newspapers of Japan devote space not just to‘local news,’ but also to local history, culture, geo-

REFERENCEJapan's Local Newspapers: Chihoshi and RevitalizationJournalism by Anthony Rausch, Routledge, 2012.



http://www.iij-exlayer.com/index_en.html

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up. For the Fukushima newspaper, the focus was pre-dominantly on the nuclear power plant disaster, in avery post-event reflective view. For the Miyagi news-paper, the columns focused on testimonies of theevent, retellings of the event through the words ofsurvivors. This was complemented by themes rela-ted to recovery, in part focusing on the physical pro-gress of recovery, in part on the human aspect ofkizuna, (human ties and bonds). Finally, the Aomorinewspaper began a column mid-summer entitled“Lessons from Fukushima”, which, focused on thenuclear disaster, but very quickly expanded the extentof content to themes such as governance and policyconsiderations, the technology of nuclear power, andthe reality of Japan’s propensity for earthquakes, allvery forward looking considerations. Consideringsuch media functions as social utility in terms of infor-mation; agenda setting in terms of policy direction;hype in terms of perpetuating rumour and hyste-ria; narrative development yielding human intereststories and social value creation in terms of contentthat leads to informed citizenry, the local newspa-pers seemed able to strike a balance by avoiding thenegative trends that can occur in post-disaster mediacoverage, while still emphasizing the positive contri-bution that media can produce in terms of re-esta-blishing community consciousness and promotingan informed citizenry and intelligent debate.

How do you see the future of local newspapersin Japan ?Anthony Rausch : The answer to this question isreflected in the sub-title of the book: revitaliza-

tion journalism. I have read my local Aomori news-paper for nearly twenty years. One of the trends thatI have noticed over the past five to ten years is theuse of the ‘themed rensai,’ the long running columns,in a manner which can be interpreted as contribu-ting to the revitalization of the area. This revitaliza-tion is both identity related and economics related.Japanese consciousness is highly Tokyo and urbancentric. It is simply a fact of life for a country that isso small, has such efficient transportation and hostsone of the most dynamic cities in the world. Thisextends to other regions as well, with much of thefocus on outlying areas being centred on a dominantmunicipality. I see the future of the local newspaperas countering this centralization tendency. This on-going practice of a widely read local newspaper focu-sing not just on local news, but on the history andcharacter of its host area, brings to local residentsa new appreciation of their locale. For local residents,this appreciation can provide an understanding thatthe value of an area is more than just economic mea-sures of production and growth. As Japan is goingthrough its demographic transition due to depopu-lation and regional population shifts, it is importantthat the value of outlying rural areas is reinforced bytheir inhabitants. Along with that, I have noticedevidence of my local newspaper providing contentin these columns that can contribute to the economyof Aomori – not in the creation of a new economy,but rather in the revitalization of the existing eco-nomy. So I see the future of the local newspaper asbest served by the local newspaper providing for thefuture of its host locale. And in this highly tech-

nological and globally connected world in whichwe live, that for me is the truest meaning of a localnewspaper. Interview by GABRIEL BERNARD


CULTURE

On March the 12th 2011, the day after the earthquake

and the tsunami, the Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun’s team

of journalists published their first handwritten mural

newspaper. They did this for a whole week, before the

rotary press was put back into use.


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EATING & DRINKING

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There is a scene in the quirky 80s film comedy‘Tampopo’, where an old ramen master teacheshis young pupil the correct way to eat noodle

soup.“First you must observe it in its entirety,” explainsthe aged teacher, “and then caress the noodles with yourchopsticks to show affection”. He then instructs his stu-dent never to begin with the focal point of the dish, theslices of pork belly known as chashu, but instead to placethem to one side, whispering: “see you again soon”!Of course, it’s not necessary to visit the cinema to appre-ciate a good bowl of ramen, but watching this film doesgive an idea of how deep the world ofthis deceptively simple dish can be.Every neighbourhood in Japan seemsto have a legendary local ramen res-taurant, recommended through wordof mouth and with a queue of hun-gry diners outside. Now at last Lon-don may have its own.Ittenbari opened in Soho in Marchthis year. It is partnered with Ryu-kishin, a small chain of ramen restaurants founded bycelebrity chef Matsubara Tatsuji in Sakai, a tough indus-trial area of Osaka.There are four basic varieties of ramen: shio (salt),shoyu (soy sauce), tonkotsu (pork) and miso (beanpaste). At Ittenbari the speciality of the house is shioramen, the hardest of the four to perfect because ofits delicate flavour. Ramen is filling and tasty, but also fast. This is becausemost of the work goes in to the preparation beforehand.At Ittenbari the soup base and the stock are cooked sepa-rately for six hours and flavoured with mussels, prawns,scallops, gobo (burdock root) and a long list of otheringredients. Many of these, such as a special kind of sea

Choosing a bottle of sake can be quite adaunting prospect. Bottles come in all shapesand sizes, each decorated with graceful butindecipherable kanji. A good place to startthough is to focus on quality. Gekkeikan Hou-rin Junmai Daiginjyo, for example, has wonMonde Selection’s gold medal for five years ina row. But before we drink, let’s break downthat name. Gekkeikan is thename of the brewery (one ofJapan’s most prestigious, with ahistory going back 400 years).Hourin is the brand name ofthis particular sake, and JunmaiDaiginjyo describes its exacttype, or ‘special designation’. A sake’s quality is down to how extensively therice used in its production has been ‘polished’to remove the bran and leave the all importantinner starch. This will then turn to sugar andferment to produce alcohol. Other factorsgoverning the quality include how much extraalcohol is added, how long it is left to matureand even the kind of wood used for the barrelsit is stored in. Junmai Daiginjyo is a premiumsake with nothing added, made from just riceand water. It is worth bearing this in mindwhen you drink it and marvel at the com-plexity of flavour achieved from just these twoingredients. It has a fruity aroma, a mild,sweet and layered taste but nevertheless at 15per cent also has quite a kick to it. This sakegoes well with a light meal, fish or chicken, orcan be enjoyed equally well just on its own.Kanpai!

RESTAURANT Oodles of noodles atIttenbari

salt, are sourced directly from Japan.The dish is finally put together in an open kitchenat the front of the restaurant. Noodles are cooked forexactly 70 seconds (60 if you prefer them hard boiled),added to 360cc of soup stock and toppedwith spring onions, bamboo shoots, specially preparedboiled egg and the all-important chashu. We tried the shio and shoyu ramen (same base soup butwith different stock) and both were delicious and heartywith the shoyu having a stronger taste and the shio alighter, clearer broth.The seafood flavours, nurtured over those many hours

of cooking, are balanced wonderfullyand once the noodles, pork and othertoppings are gone you can’t resist lif-ting the bowl and slurping down thelast of the soup. We also enjoyed thekatsu curry, breaded deep fried porkcutlets, crispy on the outside butmoist and succulent within, servedwith curry sauce, rice and pickles.Ramen restaurants are always relaxed,

lively places and Ittenbari is no exception. Ramen is adish you can’t help but making noise when eating andit goes perfectly with a glass of coldbeer and a plate of gyoza (grilleddumplings), although it’s perhapsbest not to start talking to yourfood, even if you are an ancientramen master!

Alexis Brown

REFERENCEITTENBARI 84 Brewer Street, London W1F 9UBphone 020 7287 1318, www.ittenbari.co.uk

Raise your glass toJapan’s brewers

Gekkeikan Hourin Junmai Daiginjo300ml £10.50, 720ml 36.90, 1.8L £76.70Japan Centre www.japancentre.com* price may be subject to change


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EATING & DRINKING



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Since the end of March there has been a certainsoap opera broadcast on Japan’s NHK at 8amthat has achieved a passionate following.

“Gegege no nyobo” is an adaptation of Mura Nunoe'sautobiography in which she tells of her life marriedfor forty years to the famous mangaka Mizuki Shi-geru. Mura tells the story of her time spent togetherwith this giant among comic strip creators, one of thefew still left alive. The success of this television showhas renewed public interest in Mizuki’s work as wellas the many places he frequented throughout his life.French readers discovered Mizuki in 2007, when hismanga “NonNonBâ to ore” (Drawn and Quarterly)received first prize at the Angoulême graphic novelfestival and this international recognition even encou-raged those who had never been interested in mangabefore to discover a unique universe of strange stories,full of the bizarre creatures, monsters and ghosts(yokai) which have evolved as part and parcel of Japa-nese folklore. Evidence of this tradition can be seen inartist Toriyama Sekien’s (1712-1788) famous Gazuhyakki yako [The Illustrated Night Parade of a Hun-dred Demons], a fantastic inventory of all of Japan’s

mythical monsters published in 1776. Irish authorLafcadio Hearn introduced the Japanese love for mons-ters and ghosts to Europeans with the works “InGhostly Japan” (1889) and “Kwaidan, Stories and Stu-dies of Strange Things” (1903), which in turn influen-ced the Japanese ethnologist YANAGITAKunio in hisundertaking to comprehensively research themonster stories found in local folklore.In Nonnonba Mizuki recalls an elderlyservant telling him many old storiesand legends populated with strangeand fantastical creatures and thestrong impression that these lefton him. As a consequence, all ofthese supernatural charactersconsistently haunt his work.Among his most popular andmemorable works, Gegegeno Kitaro, a tale about a lit-tle ghost who becomesdisillusioned withhuman nature, ranks asa first class story.Kitaro is one of thefirst of Mizuki’s cha-racters that the travel-ler encounters whenvisiting Sakaiminato,where the master ofmanga horror is wor-shipped as a hero. Thetrain between the portand Yonago, the nea-rest big city, is decora-ted with Kitaro repro-ductions and this setsthe tone for the visitor,immersing him in the

strange universe of Mizuki Shigeru almost as soonas he gets off the train. Proud of this heritage, theauthorities have re-named the main street leading fromthe station in his honour and the first statue a tou-rist encounters there portrays the author sitting at his

Sakaiminato is the birthplace of mangakaMizuki Shigeru, a charming port city thatpays tribute to his comic strip characters.

DISCOVERY Monsters and all that

PRACTICAL INFORMATIONHOW TO GET THERE Sakaiminato is more than 900km northwest of Tokyo. The best way to get thereis to take an 80-minute flight from Haneda airportto Yonago (5 flights a day) and from thereSakaiminato is a 40-minute train ride away.Taking a bus from Tokyo (Runs once a day andtakes 11 hours) is the cheapest solution, or iftravelling from Osaka you can catch atrain (3.1/2 hours) or take the bus as far as Yonago(3.1/2 hours, 18 services per day).

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Gangi kozo, the fish eater.

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characters you will already have met in the streets.Yôkai Manjû (Hideous Manjû) sell manjû (little cakesfilled with red bean paste) in the shape of charac-ters from Gegege no Kitaro. Situated right oppositethe museum dedicated to the author and his mons-ters, this delightful shop is never empty. For many,boxes filled with tasty morsels and wrapped in specialKitaro paper, make an ideal souvenir of their trip downMizuki Shigeru Road. If not, then they will surelyreturn home with pictures of Kappa’s Fountain (kappano izumi) where Kitaro can be seen imitating the Bel-gian little peeing boy for the amusement of visitors,or the Spook’s Warehouse (Yokai Soko) whose wallsare covered with beautiful paintings of hideous loo-king monsters. Before leaving don’t forget to drop

desk. It is a warning to the tourist that he is about toenter a new world populated with over a hundred dis-torted and sometimes terrifying beings, whose soleaim is to entertain. Statues and reproductions ofMizuki Shigeru’s characters await the visitor all theway along Mizuki Shigeru Road. Many stop andadmire these statues although one might expect theywould run screaming from their grotesque appearance!Though they may well be scary, there is still somethingcharming and attractive about these characters. InMizuki’s work at least they are reminders that ghostsand monsters are there to reawaken man’s conscience,which has a tendency to fall dormant over time. Thestatues are also there to whet your appetite and thelocal shops overflow with sweets in the shape of the

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S A K A I M I N A T OStation

Kappa’s Fountain

The Spook’s Warehouse

In the land of Mizuki Shigeru

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The monster sanctuary

Sakaiminato Terminal, Information Centre

Sea and Life Museum,Daiba Park

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100 m

River TaishôIn this humid area you can see many characters from Mizuki’s manga such as Kitaro portrayed as the little peeing boy and the main cast of Sanpei no kappa, as well as Ratichon as a swimming champion.

Mizuki Shigeru MuseumAs well as its tribute to the authorand his work, collections of monsters from all over the worldare exhibited at the museum. It is open from 9.30am to 5pm (6pm in the summer). Entrance costs 700 yen.

Still used by the port authorities, these buildings have been part of the Mizuki tour since 2001. In that year, the exterior was covered with huge murals of monsters.

Do these creatures live up to yourexpectations? Take a visit and findout! Kitaro’s father Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) will be there to welcome you.

The Kitarô train that runs between Sakaiminato andYonago

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by the post office where the post is stamped with a spe-cial commemorative postmark. Some fear they willhave an overdose on monsters in Sakaiminato but theymay rest assured that the city also has many other assetsjustifying a visit lasting several days. After leavingMizuki Shigeru Road and the epo-nymous museum, you need only turnleft to find yourself walking along theSakai Channel that leads to the sea.Sakaiminato is a port city and one ofits greatest specialities is the snow crab. Sakaiminatoprovides 60 % of the Japanese production of this deli-cacy so it goes without saying that the local cuisineis definitely worth tasting. Every year, in mid-Octo-ber, a seafood festival (Suisan matsuri) takes place inthe fish market that presents a great opportunity tofeel the pulse of the city. You can taste delicious crabsoup early in the morning while watching several fas-cinating local customs. Other than crab, Sakaiminatoalso produces a lot of mackerel, with autumn and win-ter being the best times to eat this fish, when its fleshis most succulent. Saba misoni (simmered mackereland miso) and other delightfully tasty fish speciali-

ties can be found in the many little restaurants dottedaround the town. It would be a great pity to miss Sakai-minato in autumn but you could try visiting in springinstead, another good time to take advantage of thecity’s treasures. The weather is good and in Daiba Park

close to the Sakai Channel you canadmire 350 cherry trees in bloomaround a wooden lighthouse builtat the beginning of the last century.It is a pleasant walk that can be pro-

longed to take in another green area running along-side the sea, heading to another park called YumeMinato. Here we can find another of the City’s trea-sures, the Yume Minato tower with its observationplatform from where you can enjoy the beautiful sce-nic landscape around the port. To end your visit, havea look at the hot water fountainby the entrance to thetower and you will then be ready to try one of the city’smany fine restaurants. Following a good night’s sleep,turn the television on at 8 am and watch an episodeof Gegege no nyobo but don’t wait too long as theseries is only scheduled to run until September 25th!

GABRIEL BERNARD

Kitaro, Ratichon, Medama-oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) and Neko-musume. The main characters in Kitaro’s adventures areedible too!

R ECOMMENDATION

Who hasn’t dreamt of owning one of those prettyceramic dishes that make food look so good whenit is presented to you? Who hasn’t ever wanted toget hold of one of those handmade tea sets, whose

uneven finish is so beautiful? Japanese handicraftsare found everywhere and each region has its owncraftsmen capable of turning raw materials intoworks of art. You can discover them throughout thearchipelago, from north to south, but seeking themall out requires time and money. An easier solu-tion is to go to Kamakura, south of Tokyo, and visitthe shop owned by Kuno Keiichi. A pupil of thefamous folklore scholar Miyamoto Tsuneichi, Kunohas travelled around the whole country for years,searching out the best craftsmen and he now sellstheir work in his little shop just ten minutes awayfrom Kamakura station (west exit). The shop is situa-ted in a residential area and, with its wooden gateand hedge, resembles somebody’s house rather thana boutique. Once inside though you will find it hardto resist buying up everything in sight. There are allkinds of artefacts, from simple bowls to ceramicdishes and, thanks to his many contacts, Kuno canoffer items made by some of Japan’s most talen-ted craftsmen. On the whole, prices are reasonablealthough some objects can be very expensive. Inany case, you are certain to find a unique pieceeither to please yourself or for one of your friends.

Odaira NamiheiHow to get there Moyai kogei 2-1-10 Sasuke, 248-0017 Kamakura Open 10.00am to 4.30pm (closed on Tuesdays)Phone : 0467-22-1822 www.moyaikogei.jp

A handmade guarantee

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NIHONGO

PIPO IN JAPAN

One of Japan's major assets is its amazinglyefficient infrastructure and transport sys-tem and this is very much appreciated by

European visitors who set off to explore the islandsof the archipelago. Some say that everything alwaysworks in this society, with the obvious caveat of whensevere natural disasters such as typhoons and earth-quakes intervene. The key to making everything workso smoothly is that there is very little improvisationand a lot of forward planning. Everything is organi-zed for you so just sit back and enjoy the journey! Dis-covering Japan through its language does not have tobe a battle either and with a little planning you canavoid a succession of unwelcome surprises, rapidlyleading to a complete feeling of wellbeing. Delightarises in the first steps of your journey, with the tem-porary absence of words to describe what you are hea-ring and seeing. It is also a pleasant way of learningthat being talkative is not necessarily considered a vir-tue in Japan and sometimes you may even spend awhole day without saying a word. When paying forshopping or at a restaurant, many Japanese simply takeout their wallet without a word and some fast foodchains such as Matsuya and Yayoiken have automaticticket dispensers that allow you to order without evenhaving to see the waiter. Nevertheless, a new custo-mer is always greeted warmly with:

いらっしゃいませ！Irasshaimase !Welcome!

LANGUAGE Plunging into therealm of sign language

It is hard to not notice what surrounds you, evenwithout words to describe it.You stand silently in a city flooded with sounds, inthe streets, in the shops, when using the myriad ven-ding machines or on public transport.

ドアが閉�

まります。ご注意��

下��

さい！Doa ga shimarimasu. Gochûi kudasai !Caution ! The doors are closing !

Even the trucks talk… When they reverse, a femalevoice(used to distinguish the warning from the soundof the engine) intones loudly and repetitively:

バックします！Bakku shimasu !I’m reversing!

The Japanese language is everywhere, yet withoutknowing what they mean, all these words are butsounds, shapes and colours. An assault on the earsand eyes that may, one day, completely overwhelmyou. Those who say they don’t need to speak Japa-nese to live in Japan are missing out on an essentialexperience. To understand the language is also tounderstand the environment of the people who useit and bring it alive.

PIERRE FERRAGUT

Advertisements, street signs, billboards, video screens… Keep your eyes and ears open,you are about to meet the Japanese language!

PRACTICETHIS MONTH’S WORD

感激��

(kangeki) : Deeply felt emotion

初��

めての日本…��

感激��

です。

Hajimete no nihon… Kangeki desu.My first visit to Japan… fills me with emotion.



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ZOOM JAPAN No.003

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