Love for Japan

Japan a magical place full of contradictions, excess and minimalism, chaos and order, futurism and a profound anchor to an ancient past. Thanks to my good friend Makiko Niimura, I was able to spend roughly a year of my life dedicated to everything Japan during which time I read everything anthropological and literary under the sun and visited Tokyo and the back alleys of Kyoto meeting craftspeople who have not deterred from the ancient techniques. I love Japan with all my heart. Here’s a piece I wrote for Brandchannel (tweaked severely to suit the purposes of branding at the time) and some images I’ve come across this morning (below) as the world sits in stunned silence over what is still going on in the beautiful otherworldly land that is Japan. Also take the time now to look at the two designers I brought in as curator to the first Women in Design show during the London Design Festival this past September, On Za Line, Chisato Ishikawa (whose work never made it through customs sadly), Natsuki Shigeta‘s subversive Yukata robes, and an earlier post on the ‘Gathering Jewelry’ of Naoko Ogawa, a feature on Five Japanese designers and artists including Emiko Oki, Rie Isono, Hina Aaoyama, architect Kazuyo Sejima, and Kyouei Design and a tribute to the imaginative worlds created in the photography and video work of the late Nagi Noda. But first, from the last few days in Japan..

"ONE, TWO, THREE, POUR: Women poured hot water into cups for tea before the closing session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Monday. (David Gray/Reuters)"

“Japan’s major religious groups are still developing responses to the disaster, but experts say the impulse toward maintaining a positive outlook will likely translate into calls for Japanese to help friends and neighbors clean up and rebuild.” -CNN, How Japan’s Religions Confront Tragedy

the Amida triad (Amida, "Pure Land", a strain of Buddhism)

“where Christianity, Judaism or Islam are often preoccupied with causes of disaster – the questions of why God would allow an earthquake, for example – Eastern traditions like Buddhism and Shinto focus on behavior in reaction to tragedy.” – CNN

We love you Japan

Radiation risk for pregnant women in Japan.

Celebrate Japan. At the Wapping Project in London "Yohji's Women" (celebrating designer Yamamoto) and at the V&A

First Sushi Restaurant With All-Female Chefs Opens In Japan (Before the quake news) – “In what some consider a blasphemous move, a sushi restaurant in Tokyo has hired only female sushi chefs. Masanori Nakamura, owner of Sushi Nakamura, tells the Wall Street Journal, ‘My ex-colleagues say I’m a real fool for doing this, but I thought it would be fun. Sushi is an industry that has a long tradition of discriminating against women.’” – via Jezebel

Attention Japanese Cultural Scholars

“U.S.- Japan Women’s Journal is seeking submissions for our upcoming issues. USJWJ publishes articles on a wide range of topics related to gender and welcomes submissions from all humanities and social science disciplines. Send your paper title, abstract of 200-250 words, and contact information by email attachment by April 1, 2011 to receive consideration for inclusion in our 2012 issues. Authors whose proposals fit the scope of USJWJ will be invited to submit full-length papers for the referee process.” (for more info contact rev-jou@josai.ac.jp)