Anna Takayama interviewed me about the origins of my film ANPO. If you’re interested I hope you’ll take a peek here
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Postcard from Futenma
Most U.S. military bases in Japan open their gates to the Japanese public one day each year, to foster “friendship.” (I recently translated an essay by Japanese filmmaker Nishikawa Miwa, a Hiroshima native, who recalls her one and only visit to the Marine Corps base at Iwakuni as follows: “When I travel to the U.S. today, my poor hold on the English language often results in the frayed nerves of miscommunication, but never have I felt as distanced from Americans as in my memory of the hours I spent on that base. It was as though a bewildering wall, see-through but thick, loomed between us, transcending any language barrier.” Click here to read a report about a recent Open Base Day fiasco on Okinawa.
Okinawa High School Baseball Team National Champs
The Japanese equivalent to the World Series is the annual National High School Baseball Team Championship. This summer, for the first time in history, the Okinawan High School team won. It didn’t feel like an accident to me, given the rage and betrayal so many Okinawans feel over the previous prime minister’s empty broken promise to move a dangerous American airbase off the island. As it turns out, the connection between that outrage and the team’s victory was much deeper than I cold have imagined.
The team’s ace pitcher Shimabukuro Yosuke, lived right next to the controversial and dangerous Futenma Air Station in 2004, when a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed into the Okinawa International University campus. The helicopter burst into flames and debris flew in front of the apartment building where he and his family lived. Already a student leader, he was chosen to address the 30,000 local residents who rallied to express their outrage. Apparently his leadership skills, honed at a peace rally, helped carry his team to victory over all the other high schools on mainland Japan. Their welcome home victory party in Okinawa was something to behold! (from Tokyo)
ANPO poses questions for future
One of the many interviews I’ve had here to promote the release of ANPO in Japan in September was published in the Japan Times.
ANPO update from Tokyo
Staying in super muggy Tokyo promoting the theatrical release of ANPO in Tokyo on September 18th, after its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12th. Hoping to see many folks there! It’s fascinating to watch the mood shift here, as the reality of Hatoyama’s resignation settles in and many folks here sense that a fundamental power shift is underway, between China’s economic ascendancy, the U.S. Ambassador’s visit to Hiroshima and many American politicians openly questioning U.S. military base presence internationally, including Rep. Barney Frank, Ron Paul and others…
ANPO World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival
The ANPO team is delighted to announce that the film has been invited for its world premiere at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival, on the evening of September 12th. “Charting creative impulses born of hardship, ANPO is a poetic rumination on how artists respond to a nation’s trauma” is how the Toronto International Film Festival’s catalogue description closes. To read the full description click here
Fukasaku film review
A recent review of Under the Flag of the Rising Sun, available on Netflix, highlights exactly the kind of filmmaking that I strove to emulate when making ANPO. The film, directed by Fukasaku Kinji in 1971, is in my view one of the best films about war ever made. It will also help you understand that Fukasaku wasn’t interested in yakuza per se, but in the fundamental relationship between the individual and the state, a subject he often spoke about. Read review
Barney Frank weighs in on Okinawa Marines
Representative Barney Frank has started a campaign to comprehensively review U.S. military expenditures overseas. One of his special targets are the 15,000 Marines still stationed on Okinawa, which he calls “a hangover from WWII, which ended 65 years ago” He was recently interviewed on NPR and his characteristically blunt language is a breath of fresh air.
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Futenma Fallout analysis
I recommend a very thoughtful blog posting breaking down the story behind and surrounding the fallout over Futenma’s relocation.
Chalmers Johnson on Futenma Backstory
Read Chalmers Johnson’s op-ed in the L.A. Times. Especially note the backstory of how the U.S. bases were initially created in the wake of WWII, which never seems to be mentioned in the U.S. or the Japanese press. It helps to explain why so many Okinawans feel inherently resentful of the bases.