A protest and a pen both tell the story.

Flames rip through the scene of the New York skyline as the image of Japanese fighter planes make figure eights across the air. The PanAm Building and Empire State Buildings are engulfed in a sea of smoke and fire. ANPO: Art X War opens to graphic artistry of skulls and machine guns in the backdrop of a memorial for a middle-aged woman shot dead by an MP on a military base.

On the street called gutter alley an elder journalist recounts how the Okinawa n street got its name, only to be harassed while filming by two US Military serviceman in full camouflage uniform. Photos recount the visages of a time attempting to forget itself but found wanting.

A painting of a faceless hobbled Japan wrapped in bandages and barbed wire embodies the sentiment of the strangle hold the US had over Okinawa and indeed Japan. The 1960's and 70's ANPO protests began as a youth protest where students linked arms and marched to the Parliament building to oppose the occupation at the hands of the US. With banners raised and spirits high they gathered young and old, fathers, mothers, and children as they screamed out “overturn Kishi”. The Tokyo trials included 28 members of the Japanese cabinet were indited as war criminals by the ally forces post war.

The grave of the fireflies as well as other notable work display the trauma that was the post WWII Japan. As firebombing civilian targets during the war by US forces left many Japanese and Okinawa citizens with a bitter taste for US foreign policy. PM Kishi was seen as having given the country's political future over to the US in order to gain and maintain power and influence. The All-Japan Labor Movement called for the ouster of the US forces. Wearing armbands and head bands they went on strike to protest the occupation.

Images of Japanese women under the arms of US servicemen and paintings of women engaged in sex acts. Japanese women lured into the entertainment industry by false add in the newspaper. Stand-alone photo of a five-year-old girl run over by a military convoy when she was crossing the street to follow her older sister to school. Setting the stage for resentments as the US capitalized on the spoils of war. In the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, we see the faces and the bodies of the survivors decay and scars decades later in images of a 1961 photo book. Though the average person did not escape the bombing, their clothes survived, many stained with the blood of their once owners. The only remnants of their once vibrant fashionable lives. Forever encapsulated in the regiments of their class and station.

Paul Robeson was an instrumental not only for his rendition of the negro spiritual “Go Down Moses” (1953) but for his outspoken criticism of US racism and Imperialism in the East. ANPO was one of those issues most criticized by the artist. Soon after ANPO re-ratification was passed Kishi stepped down as PM. With the notion being that the nation needs to focus on economic development not on political unrest. But the signing of the de-occupation agreement was only a pretext for backdoor arrangements to keep US bases on Okinawa and Japan for decades to come.

More modern protests persist to remove American bases from Okinawa. US forces are known as the mysterious stink on Japan. Leaving a stench of humiliation and servitude in the face of the occupier.

Following class, we embarked on a pilgrimage of presence on the hottest day of our journey thus far. Traveling to the nearby Yoyogi Park, we were tasked with meandering around, finding some imagery that caught our attention and making an artistic observation. Further rendering our observed object or atmosphere as a sketch or drawing. The afternoon found us dispersing into the foliage in all directions as we discovered our surroundings capturing the essence of the green space on the bleach white canvas of the page. Finding myself on a bench where the shade of the trees enveloped my body so that only a single ray of glimmering light kissed the edges of my socks. 

There I discovered the one tree amongst the forest that had been topped. Its termite infested trunk stripped of half its protection from the elements. Yet there was still a clinging to life about this decapitated arbor two branches on one side had leafy green foliage. Despite the weathering of time, insect infestation, and the trimmings of man this tree stood in noble defiance. Saying to the world I'm not done yet. I still have work to do. Even if it's to nourish the roots of the next generation I still have substance and purpose. Before I was aware of the passage of time my fingers took flight capturing the statement that was this rebel. Standing and refusing to give in to the invading army that was ravaging its core. The minutes ticked by, and I soon completed my sketch. With my task completed, I departed the scenery of our quest into the afternoon heat. Fondly thinking of the time spent in reverence for the time I had left. Time before I become food for insects. What statement will I make. Will I in my last moments still cling to life or will I succumb to the ravages of entropy. Time will tell.   

 

Who is Japanese? Social Construction of Race

 Today, we started the day back in classroom 415!  It felt like it had been a long time since we all met together in the classroom, and it was a refreshing change of pace. 

The theme for this day was a discussion about who is Japanese – a social construction of race. Prior to class, we read about Naomi Osaka, an Olympic tennis player. She was met with a lot of criticism for representing Japan in the Olympics, despite being a Japanese citizen and half-Japanese. Her mixed-race identity led to harsh backlash from both the US and Japan about who she is “allowed” to represent, and this backlash got worse when she lost a match she was predicted to win. As she presented the torch during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, many individuals wrote, “Why is it her? She’s not purely Japanese”. 

This reading, along with the Murphy-Shigematsu about mixed ethnicity, prepared us to watch a documentary educating us about the experiences of “Hafu”, or mixed Japanese individuals living inside and outside of Japan. The name of this documentary is “Hafu: The Mixed-Race Experience in Japan”. This documentary was very impactful, as it guided us through a range of stories from individuals who identify as Hafu. From a young boy who struggled with bullying due to his mixed identity as Japanese and Mexican, to an older adult exploring his Ghana half and raising money in Japan to contribute to building schools in Ghana. The main theme of this documentary was “identity”, and what this means as a mixed-race individual in Japan. In Japan, many mixed individuals always feel the need to prove their “Japaneseness”, and face prejudice for not being 100% ethnically Japanese. However, we learn about the community they built for each other and the communities they are able to find. Only 3.4% of babies born in Japan are mixed race, contributing to the stigma that surrounds the few mixed-race individuals. However, this number is growing, and I am really interested to see how this, as well as the increased amount of immigrants coming to Japan due to the lowering population size, will impact Japan’s culture and acceptance of people outside the standard. 

I want to share 3 impactful moments from the documentary that I wrote down: 

1. When David as a child cut his leg playing and the other children were surprised to see that his blood wasn’t green, it was the same color as theirs. 

2. When Alex recounts how he was bullied, saying that he was tripped, called names, and looked down upon.

3. When Fusae recounts when she found out that she was half Korean and her mom telling her, “Be prepared someone might not want to marry you because you are half Korean”

After the documentary, we got into small groups (counting off was surprisingly challenging!) and talked about our experience watching the documentary and the parallels of this to our own life. In my group, we talked about our experience of being mixed culturally. To expand, I am 100% Indian, but I was raised in the US, making me feel half Indian and half American. We talked about how this experience of multiculturalism compares and contrasts with being biracial. 

Following this interesting class period, we were free for the day! After chilling in the AC for a bit, a few of us went to a mini-pig cafe in Harajuku. It was so interesting and fun to play with the pigs – what a unique experience. I reflected on how the pigs had humanistic qualities, where they were jealous when another pig got more attention, and they enjoyed cuddling up to people they met. If even pigs and humans share qualities, how can we discriminate between humans of different races?

After this, I went to Karaoke with a few more people from our program, as well as some Japanese friends we had met on this trip (that also go to UW). It was so much fun! We talked about what we learned, and we found out that one of the Japanese friends we made was also biracial, and he resonated with what we told him we learned. 

Overall, such a fun day. I look forward to learning more about underrepresented groups in Japan, and how this compares and contrasts with minority groups’ experience in the US.

teamLab Planets Day!

Following some refreshing free time in the morning and afternoon, we met up as a class in the evening to visit the teamLab Planets art exhibition in Odaiba. I had always seen pictures of teamLab Planets on social media and thought of it only as a place where people could take cool pictures for their Instagrams a la selfie museum pop-ups. However, finding out that the exhibition was actually an experimental full-body art installation, I was very excited to see what we would experience. 

After an hour-long trip to Odaiba, we arrived at the holy land. We were all so very excited to rip our shoes off and dip our dawgs in the water!

The exhibition was divided into 2 main sections, water and garden. The water one was personally my favorite as it involved many textures that stimulated my sense and engaged my entire body. The textures involved harsh and sitting waters, and rough, soft, and smooth floors. It was truly an experience to engage audio, visual, and kinesthetic senses across a 3D space— the pictures cannot capture the magic that was felt in person.

Reflecting on the experience, I begin to think about how this type of art pushes not only the boundaries of how we consume art but how we experience and interpret our everyday lives. In an interview with WIRED, Takashi Kudo puts it this way:

“If I go to a museum and I see art hanging on the wall I don't feel any connection to it, it's just a painting on the wall. However, if you're part of the art, if you play an integral part, then you can connect with it”.

The way that teamLabs pushes the boundaries of what an art exhibition has allowed them to communicate feelings and beauty that would be hard to communicate with just 2 senses alone.

I think of the connections this exhibition had with the use of technology in modern Kabuki. While the Kabuki show we saw did not include higher-tech features, I wonder how it would be to actually experience one with the projections and holograms. In the way that projections in teamLabs were able to highly immerse us in art, perhaps it could also further supplement the storytelling abilities of a traditional Kabuki. How can this experimental digital art connect people? 

Kudo sums up his interview by saying that they “want to make a city itself become art…”. This notion to me is very inspiring. If we think of art as not only a visual or audible format but as an experience that is integrated into the design of the physical environments, I wonder how the relationships between art and our daily lives can change. Perhaps we can start seeking a more meaningful place out in a sometimes monotonous fast-paced life.

Anyways,,, fun day :D

Narratives of Asylum Seekers: A Visit to Sophia University

Today, we visited Sophia University to learn about the contemporary narratives of asylum seekers in Japan. 

Our day began at 9:15AM. For the few late-starters in the group such as myself, it meant either grabbing an apple or unfortunately missing out on breakfast. We boarded the JR line to Yotsuya and took a brief walk to Sophia University. 

Once there, we were greeted by our guest lecturer, Professor David Slater. Professor Slater is a socio-cultural anthropologist who, among many other projects, is working on connecting with and supporting asylum-seekers in Japan. 

The first part of his presentation laid out the social and political landscape of Japan as it pertains to their immigration policy. In short, the policy is extremely stringent, resulting in one of the lowest refugee acceptance rates in the world. Of course, the immediate question that came to mind was why this was the case. Professor Slater proposed a few explanations, but among them what stood out most to me was his allegorical take on “trash”.

In a poll taken by the general Japanese population, people were asked their position on whether they supported the extant immigration policies. In the early 2000s, the number of people satisfied with the extant policies was around 60%. This statistic was shocking. When asked why, the survey-takers would respond that it was because foreigners did not know how to sort the trash. We laughed in confusion, but Professor Slater was dead serious. He went on to explain that it really wasn’t about the trash; it was indicative of the reticence Japanese had for foreigners due to their stark cultural differences and the fear of one’s culture clashing with another. There were also fears that foreigners would drive out local businesses, increase crime rates, or were applying for refugee status to exploit Japan's resources.

It is important to note that while these were the recorded attitudes at the time, a more recent poll done in 2020 shows that the public opinion on Japan’s immigration policies has shifted drastically in favor of more refugee assistance. Then the next natural question came: if popular opinion was now in support of asylum seekers, what was the issue? The issue lied in the de facto treatment of refugee applicants.

While the UNHCR boasts its support for refugee applicants, our discussion with students at Sophia University’s Refugee Support Group (SRSG) revealed that the reality couldn’t be further from such claims. SRSG’s missions is to not only support asylum seekers, but to also share their stories in the most authentic way possible. 

A poignant interview with an asylum seeker from Cameroon revealed to me the significance of memory in our study of political movements and injustices. During the interview, he characterized his memories as a burden, that if he hung onto to them, he would have gone mad. I was struck by this, as I never thought about having memories, aspirations, and time to contemplate as luxuries. But as he pointed out, when one is held in a detention center indefinitely and every day one risks deportation, contemplation only leads to despair and insanity.

We closed out our day by having lunch with the Professor and student leaders from SRSG. I ordered the University’s “capricious meal”. As the name suggests, it was a mosaic of experiences. You had in one corner, a cold spaghetti salad. In another, a lightly dressed salad. But dominating the plate was this steaming patty draped over by a tomato sauce all over some steamed rice. With such a diverse landscape, it was hard to tell how to move forward.

(Click here to watch a video recap of our day :D)

Introduction to Traditional Theater

 

Below is a short video that summarizes our fifth day in Japan, I hope you enjoy it!

    

Memory and National History

    To start out day 3, we met at a bright and early 9:15 at the NYC gates to travel to the Yasukuni Shrine, continuing our practice of the complicated train system. As a part of the readings given for today, we learned how Yasukuni Shrine is a large honoring site, where the spirits of several who served and died in the wars are enshrined. While several of us dressed in longer pants and more formal clothing for the honoring of the shrine, we learned that the ideas surrounding Yasukuni have several meanings, and our observations throughout the day displayed the complexity of Japan’s narratives. 

    Our walkthrough past the large wooden tori gates and lion statues started with a statue of the vice-minister of war, Omura Masujiro, and followed with several other landmarks including the purification well, misters, and several tied Omikuji, or fortunes. 

 

    To continue our exploration of Japan’s complicated memory, we entered the Yushukan Museum, found near the shrine. Although entertaining with large stamps along the way and several impressive technological structures, the museum depicted lots of heavier stories and letters from those lost in war. It was interesting to observe all the different stories and ways of thinking, especially in several soldiers expecting to die for their country but being excited about the honor gained from serving Japan. No pictures were allowed in this museum, but I felt that I was able to connect with several aspects of this museum deeper, and created drawings of items that resonated with me, or those that helped me take a step back from the heavy messages found throughout.  

    After lunch around the area, we continued our travels on the train to Ueno Station, another central station in the circular JR line of Tokyo, and a larger historical station facing North, where several used to travel to find work. Connections along the way showed small pockets of history as well, with parts of the Edo castle visible from the station, as well as the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace, as similarly seen the day before.

    A short walk from the station allowed us to end up at the Tokyo National Museum, where we continued exploring depictions of Japan’s history, several valuables, and gorgeous artworks. 

After our own walkthroughs of the dizzying large museum, we split off for the evening, where some of us explored around the city. A quick trip to Akihabara proved its fame for technology and media advertising, and continued exploration at Don Quijote in Shibuya demonstrated the extent that department shops could expand.

Overall, it was incredibly interesting to look through several different lenses of Japan throughout the day. We saw reminders of past actions with Yasukuni shrine conflicting with the honor and remembrance seen throughout Yushukan museum, displays of talent and gorgeous treasures in the Tokyo National museum, and the overwhelming development of the city in cutting edge technology and all sorts of merchandise. Japan's identity as a country is shifting, but aspects all over the city hold important pieces of history, and all intertwine to create the complicated picture we are learning more about. 

Waseda University and Guest Lecture

 We started our day with a brief introduction to Waseda University and the GLFP program. We learned about the opportunity for a one-year exchange with Waseda through the GLFP program and a bit about the daily life of Waseda students. 

We followed this introduction with a walking tour of the campus, where our tour guides showed us the libraries, classroom buildings, and other interesting spaces where Waseda students can spend time. This extensive walking tour culminated in a lunch in the Waseda University cafeteria, where we noted the difference in taste/price of food between here and our Local Point. 

After our vast amount of free time following lunch, we toured the Haruki Murakami library. We learned about Murakami's donations and endeavors to research and translate literature, as well as a bit about his writing process and personal life. 

After some more free time, we were able to listen to a guest lecture by Prof. Susanne Klien of Hokkaido University. She informed us of the increasing crisis of kodokushi, or "lonely death", wherein a person dies and their body is not discovered for a long period of time. This unfortunate phenomenon has resulted in a new "Loneliness Minister" being appointed in Japan to help deal with the high levels of depression caused by loneliness felt across Japan. She also told us of the new rise in the number of Japanese people moving from crowded cities to rural areas to pursue a quieter, alternative lifestyle, and the differences in social life/expectations between the city and rural areas. It was interesting to think about how much of a cultural change it would be to relocate like this, even without leaving the country. 

We were also able to meet some of the Waseda students who will be studying abroad at the University of Washington next year, and are so excited to see them again in the fall! 

National Identity: The Tokyo Imperial Palace and Meiji Shrine

We started our Tuesday morning in Classroom 415, where we shared reflections about our explorations of the city from the day before. Some of us, like me, had gone to Yoyogi Park. Others had wandered the streets around Shinjuku Station or the neighborhood by the NYC. Davinder then taught us about the subway lines in Tokyo to provide context for one of our readings, Tokyo Ueno Station. The novel is written by Yû Miri, an author of Korean descent who lives in Japan. We discussed and learned about the experiences of Koreans in Japan, experiences that have been historically and are still ones of xenophobia, consumerism, violence, and invisibility. 

After a hurried lunch and brisk walk to Yoyogi-koen Station, we visited the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Encircled by a moat, white walls, and wooden gates, the Imperial Palace, with its vast but beautiful gardens, could only be accessed by walking bridges. In the gardens, we saw hydrangeas, carp, a bamboo grove, a black snake, open fields of grass, and the Fujimi-Yagura Watchtower. 

After about an hour of wandering the gardens, we walked to a nearby Starbucks cafe for a short break before heading to Tokyo Station. The red brick building reminded some of us of a British train station or school, an interesting display of a more Eurocentric architectural style, especially right after the traditional Japanese architecture of the Imperial Palace. The architecture changed again when we visited the National Diet Building, which reminded me of the U.S. Capitol Building with its white stone columns.

After another subway ride, we arrived at Meiji Shrine. We passed through giant wooden tori gates of the Shinto shrine, took photos in front of a wall of sake barrels, wrote prayers and wishes at the main shrine building, and received waka, a type of Japanese poetry. As the day drew to a close, a group of us walked to the nearby streets of Harajuku for a rewarding dinner of ramen. 

Although the Imperial Palace and the Diet were impressive centers of power, both felt somewhat removed from the rest of Tokyo. Located at the heart of the city (as Davinder showed us with a drawing of the Yamanote subway line), the palace and the Diet were the ultimate representations of Japanese authority, politics, and national identity. Yet, they were kept inaccessible behind guarded moats, walls, and gates, unlike the Meiji Shrine, where the tori gates invited, rather than excluded, the public. Although the shrine also maintained a state-centric narrative as it was built in honor of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, it had a sense of openness, providing opportunities for visitors to participate in their own process of meaning-making. Back at the Imperial Palace and the Diet, political decision-makers and leaders of Japan were the ones who determined what it means to be Japanese through policies, architecture, culture, and even the types of plants in their gardens. 

However, these narratives of national identity do not always fully represent everyone, for defining who or what is “Japanese” inherently defines who or what is not “Japanese”. Our visit prompted these questions for me: What narratives are made visible at the Imperial Palace and the Diet, and which, in turn, are obscured? Who represents Japan—the imperial family? Politicians? Japanese citizens? Koreans, ethnically mixed communities, and/or migrant workers, upon whose labor Japan was built, yet who the country still does not always accept? These questions challenged me to consider how I would create spaces for sharing hidden or invisible stories from these communities at these centers of state power. I was reminded of one of our readings, “Observation As An Act of Creation”, in which writer Artur Deus Dionisio demonstrates how art can serve as an “Interruption” of our assumptions about what we perceive or know. Perhaps, through their work, artists, filmmakers, and authors (such as Yû Miri) “interrupt” narratives of invisibility imposed on them and their communities, thus challenging and expanding the idea of what it means to be Japanese.