My AP Stories for 2024

My AP Stories for 2024

Link to My AP Stories for 2023 and previous years

And here goes for 2024, a year that I start out as a Winner for The Associated Press Best of the Week for my quake coverage.

My AP Story March 15, 2024 on Nissan and Honda working together on electrification and intelligence technology.

Watch the Video here.

My AP Story March 13, 2024 on the failed rocket launch by Space One.

My AP Story March 12, 2024 on Hayao Miayazaki and Japan’s Oscar wins.

My AP Story March 8, 2024 about Kyoto’s geisha district fighting over-tourism with keep-out signs.

My AP Story Feb. 25, 2024 on the opening of a semiconductor plant.

My AP Story Feb. 20, 2024, an obit on the founder of the Daiso 100-yen shop chain.

My AP Story Feb. 9, 2024 in which I interview Mika Ninagawa, and do Photos and Video.

My AP Story Feb. 3, 2024 on the Japanese Embassy’s message about Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl.

My AP Story Jan. 30, 2024 about a pig cafe.

My AP Story Jan. 31, 2024 on the Olympic trial, where the defendant denies the payments were bribes.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Jan. 29, 2024 on a lawsuit demanding a stop to “racial profiling.”

My AP Story Feb. 13. 2024 on a new president at a Toyota subsidiary fighting a scandal.

My AP Story Jan. 30, 2024 on Toyota’s Akio Toyoda stressing a global vision.

My AP Story Jan. 29, 2024 on Toyota apologizing for cheating on testing _ again.

My AP Story and My AP Photo Jan. 23, 2024 on a film that documents how single moms are poor.

My AP Story Feb. 15, 2024 about Japan, now the world’s fourth largest economy.

My AP Story Jan. 22. 2024 on a Toyota subsidiary cheating on vehicle safety tests.

My AP Story Jan. 19, 2024 on the poetry reading at the Imperial Palace.

My AP Story Jan. 18, 2024 on Uniqlo’s lawsuit against a rival retailer over a hit bag.

My AP Story Jan. 15, 2024 and My AP Photos of the men alleging sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa expressing dissatisfaction at the company response.

My AP Story Jan. 10, 2024, updated Jan. 11, 2024, on how people are dying after getting rescued from quake damage.

My AP Story Jan. 9, 2024 on a woman who runs a fish store telling us how determined she is to rebuild Wajima. The neighborhood cat below:

My AP Story Jan. 8, 2024 about the thousands of people who have lost their homes.

My AP Story Jan. 7, 2024 on the rescue operations in the snow.

My AP Story Jan. 6, 2024 on a miracle rescue.

My AP Story Jan. 5, 2024 on survivors being found beneath rubble.

My AP Story Jan. 4, 2024 on the losses people are enduring.

Click on the link below for heartbreaking video of the man in the photo above seeing the body of his wife.

https://apnews.com/64165a70a05c4d628681647d99acd202

My AP Story Jan. 4, 2024 on rescue efforts after the quakes in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The version that appeared Jan. 3, 2024 in The Stars and Stripes, without the updates that continued into the following day.

My AP Story Jan. 2, 2024 on the death toll from the quakes in Ishikawa climbing.

My AP Story Jan. 1, 2024 when the major quake and tsunami hit.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Jan. 1, 2024 that’s a global New Year’s roundup.

THE CULTURE OF TOILETS

Having just returned from visiting the U.S., I was struck by how bathrooms (both toilets and bathing facilities) are really super nice in Japan _ clean, everything works, the hot water actually comes out in ample quantity, the tiles aren’t cracked, overall pleasant design/appearance if not just outright intelligent etc. _ and all this is available for those living in cheap housing, staying at affordable at hotels/inns, and of course public spaces.

When you think about what Freud theorizes, the state of toilets speaks a lot about the thinking in a society, about its views on “equaltity,” what is treasured, and the innermost darkest obsessions. (maybe, anyway).

Here ICYMI is the AP Story I did when the Wim Wenders project was first announced and he talks about the film’s setting and the deep meaning of “restrooms”

https://apnews.com/article/science-oddities-entertainment-japan-05a4d0139ed0002ba137e43ff962e1f1

A Letter to Isaku

A Letter to Isaku

This came from a corner of my desk when I was cleaning up recently. It’s a letter I wrote to Isaku as part of a school requirement. I still like this letter, and I will keep it.

Spring 1998

Isaku

When you were still unborn, you were already someone I knew very well. I could feel you thinking inside my stomach, sucking on your thumb, looking at your tiny toes, jumping with surprise _ with me _ when something startling happened, like a dog barking out of the blue.

I hope I don’t embarrass you with this letter, which Brother John O’Donnell tells me you will have to read before your schoolmates. But I would like you to know that I love you very much. And nothing will change that, ever.

These days, I feel you are sometimes unsure about your future. That’s understandable. Like other Sophomores, you are still so young, yet important decisions are coming up on you fast.

Having two nationalities, two cultures and languages may seem a bit confusing, but it merely opens up more choices for you. You don’t have to close the doors of opportunity too hastily. You have plenty of time. Be strong and believe in yourself, although it is OK to be weak, and you are not alone. Many people, including your teachers and friends who care about you, are there to help you.

I hope you do your best in your studies and try to grow up to be a fine young man. The world is a beautiful face, but it is filled with many problems and needs young people like you to care and at least give it a good try to bring about a change for the better.

I thank God every day for making you part of my life. I thank God for keeping you safe.

It is only after becoming a mother and watching you gradually grow into adulthood that I finally know why God chose to come to us as a little boy who grew up among us. He knew that would make it so easy for us to love Him. It seems such a very simple and so obvious a fact, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.

Have a good retreat,

Mom

OUR NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA AN OFFICIAL SELECTION AND SCREENING IN LA

NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA: Meditation On An Under-Reported Catastrophe By A Poet is an Official Selection. Screening at LetLive Theater in Los Angeles SAT March 2, 2024 7:30 p.m. I am happy, grateful, honored. Thanks to my theater and film directors, Carla Blank and Yoshiaki Tago, my brilliant tireless multicultural cast, my dedicated crew and team, everyone who stuck with and believed in my writing.

WHY I REPORT IN ENGLISH by Yuri Kageyama

Why I Report in English by Yuri Kageyama

This is something I just happened to find in my desk, typed up (yes, typed _ remember those days?). It’s an essay about why I am a reporter, and why I report in the English language that I wrote I think in the 1980s. Perhaps I was applying for work? It is long before I joined The AP. I am not changing the wording, but have put it down exactly the way it is typed on the sheet of paper, except for the four changes made in red in pen that were already there. I might write it differently today. But I feel exactly the same. So here goes:

Ever since I can remember, I have been of both worlds _ American and Japanese. As a child of a Japanese “salaryman” who had dreams of pioneering science by crossing borders, years before the Japanese business Establishment decided “internationalization” was fashionable, I was constantly thrust back and forth between two very different, sometimes clashing, cultures.

I will not pretend that the experience was always pleasant. It was often stunning, confusing and painful. One moment, for instance, I was expected to be the submissive, demure Japanese girl, who laughed shyly covering her mouth. The next moment, I found myself having to turn into an assertive, no-nonsense American, who could outtalk and outperform any male.

Gradually I have come to accept this dichotomy. In a sense, I now cherish it as a privilege. I took to switching cultural allegiance for convenience. I would claim my “Japaneseness” when watching Ennosuke Ichikawa Kabuki, but I would, with no qualms, claim “Americanhood” while appreciating soul rhythms at an Earth, Wind and Fire concert.

It is, after all, an eyeopener to perceive that many of society’s rules are arbitrary. What passes as positive in one culture may be absolutely taboo in another, and vice versa. As a perpetual outsider, one can see through much of the false pretentious aspects of social norms and values and hope to grasp more accurately the universal human essence.

Reporting in English about Japanese matters, therefore, came naturally to me. Explaining the East to the West has been my persistent pastime. It is something I do well, I think, because it is part of my fate.

Earlier this year, I flew to Iwo Jima to cover the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s annual services for the war dead there. The sandy island speckled with gnarled tropical vegetation appeared, at first glance, barren except for the military bases.

Yet, upon closer inspection, strange voices seemed to fill the hot, dry air _ chants verging on song, rising and falling. So many people, both American and Japanese, have died here, the voices seemed to be saying. Their blood covers this island. Even if it has been washed away, the fact of history that thousands died here will never be erased, the windlike voices were saying.

Two monuments stand on Iwo Jima _ the one put up by Americans with the Stars and Stripes and the other of gray stone built by Japanese with a graphic depiction of the map of Japan. As though staring into two alien worlds with unmoving granite eyes, the two monuments remain apart on opposite sides of the same hill.

The visit held a revelation for me. Obviously, Japan and the U.S. are two separate countries that have even waged war against one another. Today, many of the misunderstanding and barriers that divide the two nations are still close to insurmountable. But thanks to a slightly aberrant upbringing, the two worlds are totally at peace within myself.

It is this unconditional yet effortless peace between Japan and America I know so intimately that I want to keep in mind when I work as a reporter.

MY TWO POEMS IN ISHMAEL REED’S KONCH

My Two Poems in Ishmael Reed’s KONCH

My two poems are published in Ishmael Reed’s KONCH online magazine Winter 2024 issue.

What a thrill. And what company I keep.

My AP Author Page

My AP Author Page

This is the link to My AP Author Page, that one place where you can see all my stories, photos and video for The Associated Press:

https://apnews.com/author/yuri-kageyama

My Poetry and Essays in Ishmael Reed’s THE PLAGUE ISSUES OF KONCH 2023

My Poetry and Essays in Ishmael Reed‘s THE PLAGUE ISSUES OF KONCH 2023

Ishmael and Tennessee Reed collected 62 contributions from people in China, Japan, Europe, Africa and the U.S. to write about their COVID experiences. And one of them is yours truly. The online collection of works crisscrossing the world and spanning two issues of KONCH literary magazine is coming out as a real-life book publication in 2024. On the cover is a photo taken in Venice of the poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, thinker and my forever mentor Ishmael Reed, standing next to a plague doctor (who else?) I am so happy, excited and honored. I can’t wait to get a copy.

REPORTER AT WORK PORTRAITS

REPORTER AT WORK PORTRAITS Photos by my colleagues over the years that are evidence I do my best as a reporter.

AP Photo by Eugene Hoshiko

Photo during my interview of Japanese prosecutors for My AP Story March 8, 2023.

AP Photo by Itsuo Inouye

Photo during my interview of Yayoi Kusama for My AP Story Aug. 7, 2012.

At the FCCJ front row, brown hoodie for My AP Story April 12, 2023.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 in Tokyo, (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

Photo during my interview of Akio Toyoda for My AP Story March 6, 2013.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 in Tokyo, (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)
Guitar player of Queen Brian May speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Tokyo, Friday, Sept. 23, 2016 in Tokyo, (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

My AP Story Sept. 23, 2016, when I spoke with a rock legend, who kindly called me “AP’s journalist of conscience.”

Sometimes my sources are a bit mechanical but cute. My AP Story July 13, 2015 on the Pepper robot when I am in an AP Photo, which is unusual.

Sometimes the photographer and I end up in pretty abandoned areas like the no-go zone in Fukushima. My AP Story April 29, 2014 that I filed from this trip.

Monday, April 28, 2014 in Sagamihara, (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

And at other times, the photographer and I end up meeting extraordinary people who were hidden in their moments of glory. My AP Story May 18, 2014 when I interview Mr. Haruo Nakajima. My AP Obit Aug. 8, 2017.

We also do 360 video and end up being in that circle. This is from My AP Story Nov. 16, 2017 at a Toyota plant. Turn your cursor in the video below to see a 360 degree view of the plant:

A Photo by Shizuo of Andy and myself interviewing a Nissan executive for My AP Story Sept. 12, 2017.

Takashi Murakami took this selfie after our interview for this AP Story Dec. 31, 2015.

MY AP STORIES 2023

MY AP STORIES 2023

My AP Author Page where you can see all my stories, photos and video in one place.

My AP Stories for 2022 with links on the site to some earlier years. And My AP Stories for 2023:

My AP Story Dec. 14, 2023 on the Olympic bribery trial, in which the main defendant Haruyuki Takahashi asserts his innocence.

My AP Story Dec. 8, 2023 on Nintendo canceling and postponing events over threats.

My AP Story Dec. 5, 2023 on the ongoing Tokyo Olympic scandal trial.

My AP Story Nov. 18, 2023, an obit on religious leader Daisaku Ikeda.

My AP Story Nov. 8, 2023 on Nintendo working on a Zelda live-action film.

My AP Story Nov. 3, 2023 with my photo and video when I interview the director of the new Godzilla film.

My AP Story Nov. 29, 2023 on Toyota selling part of its stake in Denso.

My AP Story Nov. 1, 2023 on Toyota’s earnings getting a big boost from the cheap yen.

My AP Story Oct. 29, 2013 on the G-7 trade meeting.

My AP Story Oct. 25, 2023 on the Tokyo Mobility Show.

My AP Story Oct. 10, 2023 on the latest in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics bribery trial.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Oct. 7, 2023 when I interview director Yoji Yamada.

The story gets highlighted in Kabuki by Shochiku Oct. 14, 2023.

My AP Story Oct. 12, 2023 on Toyota’s move on EV batteries.

My AP Story Oct. 2, 2023 on the ongoing Johnny’s story whose name is now Smile-Up.

My AP Story Sept. 21, 2023 on Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli becoming Nippon TV’s subsidiary.

My AP Story Sept. 16, 2023, an obit on Kabuki actor and innovator Eno Ichikawa.

My AP Story Aug. 29, 2023 about Ryuichi Sakamoto’s final film.

My AP Story Sept. 2, 2023 with My AP Photos on Vocaloid star Hatsune Miku, 16 from 16 years ago.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Aug. 23, 2023 on digital clones in Japan.

My AP Story Oct. 6, 2023 in which I interview the CEO of major Tokyo developer Mori, and My AP Photos.

My AP Story Sept. 21, 2023 with the tender offer completed.

My AP Story Aug. 7, 2023 about Toshiba announcing a buyout offer.

My AP co-byline Story Sept. 15, 2023 on Arm’s IPO.

My AP Story Sept. 13, 2023 with the company setting up the compensation panel, foregoing pay.

My AP Story Sept. 7, 2023 on Johnny’s apologizing and promising compensation.

My AP Story July 13, 2023 about people coming forward alleging sexual abuse at Johnny’s.

My AP Story Sept. 4, 2023 about how the men who have come forward are hopeful, and fearful, ahead of the company’s first news conference on the scandal.

My AP Story Aug. 29, 2023 about a team looking into sexual assault allegations at Johnny’s and demanding Julie resign.

My AP Story Sept. 12, 2023 about companies dropping Johnny’s stars from ads.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Aug. 4, 2023 about a U.N. group looking into the allegations at Johnny’s and how seven men saw that as a big step forward.

My AP Story and My AP Photo Aug. 14, 2023 on the men who came forward on the abuse speaking to the special team set up by Johnny & Associates.

My AP Story and My AP Photo Aug. 31, 2023 on Nissan Leaf batteries being reused for a portable power station.

My AP Story Aug. 31, 2023 on a retail chain being sold to a U.S. fund.

My AP Story Aug. 15, 2023 on Japan’s economic growth surging on strong exports and tourism.

My AP Weather Story Aug. 6, 2023.

My AP Story June 29, 2023 on Fender’s first flagship store opening in Tokyo, and My AP Photo below.

My AP Story May 29, 2023 about the comic who poses naked but, don’t worry, is wearing … pants.

My AP Video and My AP Photos that go with My AP Story. Thanks to Tony for sharing his Story.

My AP Story Aug. 9, 2023 on Sony’s financial results hit by a strike in the U.S. movie sector.

My AP Story Aug. 8, 2023 on SoftBank Group’s earnings report.

My AP Story July 6, 2023 on MyNumber in Japan.

My AP Story June 12, 2023 about Johnny’s in-house investigation on sexual abuse.

My AP Story June 19, 2023 on how wages and prices are rising.

My AP Story June 14, 2023 about how Toyota shareholders rejected a proposal on climate change.

My AP Story June 13, 2013 on Toyota’s EV initiatives.

My AP Story, My AP Photos and My AP Video June 2, 2023 about Maholo, who is French and Japanese _ and a Kabuki star.

My AP Story June 1, 2023 about Toyota’s liquid hydrogen racing car.

And My AP Photos when I get close to Akio Toyoda aka Morizo, who drove the hydrogen racing car.

My AP Story May 27, 2023 about Le Mans to include hydrogen vehicles.

My AP Story May 30, 2023 about Toyota, Daimler Truck, Hino, Mitsubishi Fuso joining forces in ecological technology.

My AP Story May 20, 2023 about Toyota disclosing improper crash tests.

My AP Story May 18, 2023 about Japan’s prime minister meeting with chip makers.

My AP Story May 15, 2023 about the apology from the talent agency mired in a sex scandal.

My AP Story May 17, 2023 on Japan economic growth.

My AP Story May 11, 2023 on Nissan’s earnings.

My AP Story May 11, 2023 on SoftBank’s earnings.

My AP Story May 11, 2023 on Honda’s earnings.

My AP Story May 12, 2023 on a data breach on 2 million Toyota vehicles.

My AP Story May 10, 2023 on Toyota’s earnings results.

My AP Story May 2, 2023 on BYD EVs starting to crack the Japan market and My AP Photos.

My AP Story May 1, 2023 about Jack Ma being a professor at a Japanese university.

My AP Story April 26, 2023 on Honda outlining its EV strategy.

My AP Story April 21, 2023 with My AP Photo, in which Toyota’s new president vows to push ahead with EVs.

My AP Story April 21, 2023 on a verdict in the Olympic bribery trial.

My AP Story April 15, 2023 on Takeshi Kitano’s latest film headed to Cannes.

My AP Story April 14, 2023 in which I interview Makoto Shinkai about his filmmaking.

My AP Story April 12, 2023 on a former Johnny’s Junior alleging sexual abuse.

My AP Story April 11, 2023 on climate change in Japan.

My AP Story April 3, 2023, an Obit on Ryuichi Sakamoto.

My iPhone snapshot of Ryuichi Sakamoto during my interview.

My AP Story April 6, 2023 about the Olympic scandal and the Sapporo election.

My AP Story March 24, 2023 on Toshiba’s tender offer.

My AP Story March 19, 2023 on how the hit WBC pepper-grinder move is out in high school baseball.

My AP Story March 8, 2023 on how women prosecutors are fighting crime, gender inequality.

My AP Story March 6, 2023 and My AP Photo (below) on One Piece going Hollywood.

My AP Story March 7, 2023 on Roki Sasaki at the World Baseball Classic, which makes it into the Stars and Stripes.

My AP Story March 17, 2023 on business leaders from South Korea and Japan agreeing to work together.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story March 19, 2023 on a North Korean missile launch.

My AP Story March 14, 2023 on Trevor Bauer signing with a Yokohama club.

My AP Story Feb. 26, 2023 on a young Ukrainian making Japan his new home.

My AP Story and My AP Photos March 9, 2023 on Nissan’s electrification move.

My AP Story Feb. 28, 2023 about Dentsu and others getting charged in the Olympic bid-ridding scandal.

My AP Story March 9, 2023 about Japan’s economic growth staying flat.

My AP Story March 10, 2023 on the next central bank governor.

My AP Story Feb. 14, 2023 on a scholar being nominated to head Japan’s central bank.

My AP Story Feb. 27, 2023 about Nissan accelerating its shift toward electric vehicles.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Feb. 18, 2023 about North Korea firing yet another missile.

My AP Story Feb. 17, 2023 on an Olympic bribery scandal trial opening in Tokyo.

My AP Story Feb. 14, 2023, an Obit on Shoichiro Toyoda, the son of Toyota’s founder.

My AP Story Feb. 13, 2023 on Toyota’s new leadership team.

My AP Story Feb. 6, 2023 with Kelvin Chan in London about Nissan and Renault balancing their mutual shareholdings.

My AP Story Feb. 4, 2023 on the prime minister’s aide being forced to leave over discriminatory remarks.

My AP Story Feb. 8, 2023 on arrests, now in a bid-rigging investigation into the Olympics.

My AP Story Feb. 2, 2023 on Kadokawa promising better governance in the Olympic scandal.

My AP Story Feb. 2, 2023 on Honda’s hydrogen plans.

My AP Story Feb. 2, 2023 on Sony’s new managerial leadership.

My AP Story Jan. 30, 2023 on Nissan, Renault balancing out the shares they hold in each other.

My AP Story Jan. 20, 2023 on Japan’s inflation.

My bit on the Japanese minister is part of this AP Story Jan. 18, 2023 on the Davos World Economic Forum.

My AP Story Jan. 13, 2023 on Akio Toyoda talking about converting old cars into ecological ones.

My AP Story Jan. 26, 2023 on Toyoda stepping aside as CEO.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Jan. 6, 2023 on Samurai Japan at the World Baseball Classic.

I’m also a Contributor to this AP Story Jan. 10, 2023 about a Rangers pitcher signing with SoftBank.

My AP Story Jan. 2. 2023 on the Emperor greetings well-wishers.