On Nov. 14 (Friday), the Information Communication Team held a showing of “Iwaki Note (FUKUSHIMA VOICE) with English subtitles” at the University of Tsukuba, International Students Center. After the showing, the student directors and participants all took part in a group discussion and deepened their thoughts and understanding of the movie and of the earthquake.
The foreign students who saw the movie commented that they were glad to learn about the situation in Fukushima, that they saw the strength of Japan and that they wished they could show the movie to the people back in their countries. They also asked the student directors about the safety of the radiation problem in Japan. The cross-border discussion was conducted in a mixture of English and Japanese, and became far more heated than expected. (Iida)
Preview: Catastrophe & Art, 7th Session
Creative Reconstruction: Catastrophe & Art, the 7th Session will invite Setsuko Ozawa, part-time Assistant Professor at Tsuru University and ask her to give a lecture on the theme, “The Hiroshima Panels”. Please come and take part, as anyone is welcome to attend. Please also note that the lecture is on Saturday from 13:30. (Akagi)
Date & Time: Nov. 15 (Saturday), 13:30 to 14:45
Venue: 5C416
Itako team takes part in Hinode Junior High School Festival
Oct. 11 (Saturday): Joint-production of Festival Signboard
In preparation for the school festival at Hinode Junior High School in Itako city, we collaborated with the students of the art club to create the stage signboard. Last year and the year before last, we also made the signboards together using designs that the college students had created. But this year, the junior high school students created the design and we gave them our support to complete it. Since a large number of us divided the work among us, the signboard was finished in less time than we had planned. Then, the art club teacher came up with an impromptu workshop to make key chains with plastic boards. As it gave us a chance to mingle with the students that we could not talk to when making the signboard, we had a very good time.
Nov. 1 (Saturday): Preparations on the eve of the Hinode Junior High School Festival
At the Festival, a section was set up to introduce the light art project for the Lantern Festival at Choonji Temple. It was our hope that the exhibit will introduce to the people who did not come to the Lantern Festival the activities of the Itako team, and that it would inspire some dialog about the region. The concept of the project, photographs of the gatherings with the junior high school students, photographs of the lighted lanterns, the layout of the lanterns and comments by the visitors to the Lantern Festival were displayed in chronological order.
Nov. 2 (Sunday): The day of the Festival
Some people stopped by and carefully looked at the exhibit, and some parents even took photographs in front of the exhibit panels. We also saw some students talking with one another as they looked at the exhibit. We were also awarded a certificate for a special prize in the exhibition division from Hinode Junior High School. By having many people look at our work, I believe that we have achieved our goal to inform people of our activities.
What was surprising was that the Festival Decoration Project that we had done the year before last has been carrying on. It was continued by teachers and students who had volunteered. As with the stage signboard, it make us very happy when proposals by the Itako team are continued by the students. We hope that the events that we were involved in will help strengthen the ties among the local people as they plan and conduct these events, such as in the case this time with Hinode Junior High School.
(3rd Year at School of Art & Design, Ogasawara)
Preview: Catastrophe & Art, 5th/6th Sessions
Creative Reconstruction: Catastrophe & Art, 5th/6th Sessions will be carried out in 2 consecutive sessions. The 6th will invite Naoyuki Kinoshita, Professor at the University of Tokyo and ask him to give a lecture on the theme, “The Russo-Japanese War & The Arts”. The 7th will invite Eriko Kogo, Associate Professor at Meisei University and ask her to give a lecture on the theme, “Disasters and Picture Postcards: Examples from the Great Kanto Earthquake”. Please come and take part, as anyone is welcome to attend. (Akagi)
Date & Time: Nov. 14 (Friday), 6th Session from 16:45 to 18:00, 7th Session from 18:15 to 19:30
Venue: 5C416
Notice: “Iwaki Note (FUKUSHIMA VOICE) with English subtitles” will be shown at the University of Tsukuba, International Students Center
On Nov. 14 (Friday), “Iwaki Note (FUKUSHIMA VOICE) with English subtitles” will be shown at the University of Tsukuba, International Students Center, Room H. Although it is intended for foreign students, Japanese students and people outside the university are also welcome to take part. After the showing, the student directors will offer greetings from the stage and a group discussion involving all participants will be carried out. Please take part. (Iida)
Screening of “FUKUSHIMA VOICE”
Time & date : 11.14（Fri） 16:00～18:30
Place : 留学生センター教室H
Cost: Free!
Eligibility :
International students of the U. of Tsukuba,
Japanese students, faculty and staff,
and people from outside the university!
Program :
15:45 Open
16:00 Introduction & screening（86min）
17:30 Workshop :
Explanation from the production staff,
Q & A, Group Discussion
18:30 End
“Iwaki Note (FUKUSHIMA VOICE)” shown at the University of Tokushima
On Nov. 1st and 2nd, “Iwaki Note (FUKUSHIMA VOICE)” was shown at a symposium called “Fukushima-Tokushima, Let’s Shine Together Project”, held at the University of Tokushima. It was a project by Kakuhisa Ono, who appeared in “Iwaki Note (FUKUSHIMA VOICE)”. At the talk event after the showing, the production staff and student directors came on stage, as well as the guests, Shinko Shimomura, who also appeared in the film, and Yoshio Satomi, who conducts study tours of the districts near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and of the disaster-stricken areas. After the talk event, an opportunity to speak with the participants in the World Café style was organized, and a discussion was carried out under the theme of “Fukushima now”, covering the issues that are relevant now and how to give support to these issues and the ways to keep the tragedy of the earthquake from fading into oblivion. The proactive approach of the participants, who each spoke from their own points of view, once again confirmed me of the importance of the dialog after the film showing. I would like to thank Mr. Ono and all those involved.
(Iida)
“Iwaki Note (FUKUSHIMA VOICE)” shown at the Mega Quake Risk Management Project
On Oct. 23 (Thursday) at Tsukuba University, “Iwaki Note (FUKUSHIMA VOICE)” was shown at the Special Meeting of the Mega Quake Risk Management Project. After the showing, the 2 student directors and production staff came on stage and, reflecting on the period when they were collecting material, spoke about their experiences and thoughts. Some in the audience had come from outside the prefecture, and during the Q&A period, many people expressed their opinions and what they thought of the film.
I would like to thank the people who came and the project members.
(Iida)
Preview: Catastrophe & Art, 4th Session
Creative Reconstruction: Catastrophe & Art, the 4th Session will invite Mari Komoto, Professor at Japan Women’s University and ask her to give a lecture on the theme, “Forms In Conflict: World War I & The Arts”. Please come and take part, as anyone is welcome to attend. (Akagi)
Date & Time: Nov. 7 (Friday), 16:45 to 18:00
Venue: 5C416
Yui Team’s “Yui’s Pottery Workshop Lunch Party”
Oct. 19, Sunday, “Yui’s Pottery Project 2014” Lunch Party
We asked the people who took part in the workshop, those who had sent their vessels as an invitation, and last year’s Yui Team members to come together for a lunch party. The party was held to promote communication and interaction through the lunch using the bowls and sakura motif cups made during this year’s project.
We cooked with the participants who had volunteered to join us. We made kenchinjiru, fried hikina, which is a local dish of Fukushima prefecture, and added to these planned dishes, the participants brought in taro potatoes, sweet potatoes, komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) and many other vegetables and other homemade dishes. The atmosphere was very friendly with the participants, who were full of energy, helping and teaching us how to make the dishes as we prepared for the lunch party. During the lunch, people reflected on the dishes they had created, and spoke about the words the recipients of the dishes had said to them, about the reaction when they saw the dishes, about the earthquake, about the current refugees situation 3 and 1/2 years after the nuclear power plant accident, about things on their minds now, and even about their hobbies and interests, touching on a wide range of subjects.
Finally, while we were delighted to hear that some people said that they would definitely like to come back again next year, we also pulled ourselves together to prepare for the next project. We would like to continue with the project in which the participants can enjoy making pottery and also bring out the best of our originality as the “Yui’s Pottery”. We would like to hold meetings to discuss what we had learned in the interaction this time and apply our experience to improve future initiatives. (Noguchi, 3rd Year at School of Art & Design)
Vacant Properties Team: After the open air screening at Hojo
On Saturday, Oct. 18, an open-air movie screening was held in a place where there used to be a movie theater (Now, a vacant lot.) in Hojo Shopping Center.
After a survey of vacant land and houses conducted in the spring semester, we tried to come up with ways to make use of these unoccupied spaces. During the course of our discussion, we found out that there used to be a theater (movie) in the Hojo Shopping Center. We were moved by the enthusiastic tone of the local people who spoke about their memories of the theater, and decided to carry out this event.
We planned the event in the hope that the memory of the very lively and busy Hojo Shopping Center in the Showa Period would bring joy across all generations and inspire urban development of the Hojo community. That is why we created the original movie, “Memories of Hojo”, and even tried to make baked sweet potatoes in the Showa style. The preparations were far harder that we had anticipated, but many people from the local area came, the baked sweet potatoes and amazake (sweet rice wine) were well received, and all in all the event was a great success.
The local people gave us enormous support not only by taking part in the shooting and in the conducting of interviews for the movie “Memories of Hojo”, but also in the set up and clean up on the actual day. We feel that we were able to successfully carry out the event thanks to all the people who gave us their support, such as letting us borrow things for the screening and so on. The entire event, including the preparation period in which a small team of us worked on our assigned tasks, was a great experience for me as well.
Some people mentioned that the black and white movie was a bit difficult for children to follow. We would like to take in such comments and other thoughts and wishes of the local people and continue to further promote in the revitalization of the community by making use of vacant properties.
(Shimoda, 4th Year at College of Education)
