What’s in a Name
By Yuri Kageyama
Oct. 17, 2021 at a Japan Writers Conference presentation on lyric poetry by Michael Frazier
Yuri in Japanese
Means “superior reasoning”
But all while I was growing
Up
I was Julie
Because Julie sounds like Yuri
And no one can say Yuri
Though Julie really
Doesn’t sound like
Yuri
Yooo-Lie
Yoo hoo really
At All
It’s just a way to
Make sure
a Kid gets it
That who she is
Yellow face gook smile slant eyes
Doesn’t matter
At All
MY CREATIVE WRITING IN THIS NEW BOOK
Great company I keep in BIGOTRY ON BROADWAY, an anthology edited by Ishmael Reed and Carla Blank, Baraka Books, September 2021.
From the publishers on the book cover:
“How do intellectuals and scholars feel about how members of their ethnic groups are portrayed on Broadway? How would we know? Very few of them have the power to rate which plays and musicals are worthy and which are flops, and above all, be heard or read. The American critical fraternity is an exclusive club.”
A review in Library Journal Sept. 1, 2021:
“Blank and Reed offer an incisive, critical take on Broadway’s past and present; discuss an alternative vision that incorporates the perspectives missing from Broadway; and look toward a more inclusive future. A book for all readers interested in the history of Broadway musicals, theater criticism, and the role of whiteness in Broadway’s misrepresentations.”
Fukushima is the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. It will take decades and billions of dollars to keep the multiple meltdowns under control. Spewed radiation has reached as far as the American West Coast. Some 100,000 people were displaced from the no-go zone. But now, years later, the 3.11 story hardly makes headlines.
Journalist Yuri Kageyama turns to poetry, dance, theater, music and film, to remind us that the human stories must not be forgotten. Carla Blank, who has directed plays in Xiangtan and Ramallah, as well as collaborated with Suzushi Hanayagi and Robert Wilson, brings together a multicultural cast of artists to create provocative theater. Performing as collaborators are actors/dancers Takemi Kitamura, Monisha Shiva, Shigeko Sara Suga and musicians Stomu Takeishi, Isaku Kageyama, Kouzan Kikuchi and Joe Small. Lighting design by Blu. Video projected on the stage is by Yoshiaki Tago, who has turned the performance into an award-winning film.
NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA is a literary prayer for Japan.
It explores the friendship between women, juxtaposing the intimately personal with the catastrophic.
The piece debuted at La MaMa in New York in 2015, with music led by Melvin Gibbs. An updated version was presented at Z Space in San Francisco in July 2017. The film was completed in October 2018.
“A powerful reflection on the corruption and greed of men and their indifference to human life.” _ ISHMAEL REED
OUR “NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA” honored at festivals around the world:
FINALIST Official Selection Swedish International Film Festival Oct. 30 ~ 31, 2021.
Official Selection International Migration & Environmental Film Festival Oct. 9 ~ 16, 2021 streaming online on Xerb TV.
Official Selection Los Angeles Asian Film Festival 2021.
Official Selection Jade Jaguar Cinema Festival in Brazil Aug. 22-31, 2021.
Official Selection Universe Multicultural Film Festival Aug. 27-29, 2021 (postponed; new dates to be announced).
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE WRITER/SCRIPT DOCU-DRAMA FEATURE Official Selection WRPN Women’s International Film Festival Spring 2021.
FINALIST Official Selection New Year Film Festival February 2021.
FINALIST Official Selection Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival February 2021.
HONORABLE MENTION Official Selection London International Monthly Film Festival February 2021.
BEST ECOLOGY DOCUMENTARY Official Selection Best Film Awards January 2021.
Official Selection FINALIST Beyond the Curve International Film Festival January 2021.
SEMI-FINALIST Official Selection Jelly Film Festival January 2021.
Official Selection Vancouver Independent Film Festival January 2021.
Official Selection Toronto International Women Film Festival January 2021.
BEST DOCUMENTARY Official Selection Rome International Movie Awards January 2021.
FINALIST Official Selection Flixze Film Festival Jan. 5 ~ 6, 2021.
Official Selection Kalakari Film Festival May 15, 2021.
GRAND FESTIVAL AWARD – CINE DANCE POEM and WORLD PREMIERE at the Berkeley Video & Film Festival SAT Nov. 2, 2019, 6 p.m. East Bay Media Center Performance Space
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE WINNER Royal Wolf Film Awards December 2020.
NOMINATED BEST DOCUMENTARY BIMIFF – Brazil International Monthly Independent Film Festival November 2020.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Madras Independent Film Festival October 2020 Edition.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY Sicily Independent Film Awards August 2020.
FINALIST Official Selection Montreal Independent Film Festival September 2020.
Official Selection Motion Pictures International Film Festival November 2020.
Official Selection Silent River Film Festival in California August 2020.
Official Selection Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival June 2020.
SELECT SHOWCASE Official Selection at the Guam International Film Festival (2019~2020), airing on PBS Guam June 2020.
Official Selection ARTS X SDGS film festival New York April 2020.
Official Selection 2020 Oniros Film Awards in Italy.
FINALIST BEST ASIAN FEATURE FILM at the New Vision International Film Festival in Amsterdam September 2019.
Screened online at the Japan Writers Conference Oct. 16, 2021.
Screened online at the Toronto Film Channel Aug. 31, 2020.
Screened online at the Brazil International Monthly Independent Film Festival Dec. 9, 2020 through Dec. 15, 2020.
NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA Meditation on an Under-Reported Catastrophe by a Poet
Written by Yuri Kageyama | Directed by Carla Blank
Film directed by Yoshiaki Tago with camera work by Tago and Kate McKinley. Editing by Eri Muraki.
“Yuri, you did a great job. Stay hard and blunt and don’t mince words. Yours was a powerful reflection on the corruption and greed of men and their indifference to human life.” _ Ishmael Reed.
Photo by Tennessee Reed
Photo by Tennessee Reed
Photo by Tennessee Reed
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dofrman
For the San Francisco performance, we had genuine Bon Daiko drum music performed by Isaku Kageyama with shakuhachi and fue by Kouzan Kikuchi, joined by Joe Small (taiko/percussion) and Stomu Takeishi (bass), delivering mesmerizing renditions of Bon and minyo from Fukushima, as well as other Japanese tunes. The Bon idea of the dead’s homecoming and the abstracted repetitive dancing in a circle serve as a symbol of the piece’s message of death, yearning for family and future generations, and gratitude for the harvest and peaceful everyday life. Juxtaposed with the experimental choreography by the director Carla Blank, incorporating collaborations with the performers, Takemi Kitamura, Monisha Shiva and Shigeko Sara Suga, Bon dance was transformed on the American stage, and presented as a dignified and artistic motif of modern movement. Bon Odori continues to bring people together in the Japanese American community _ and communities all over Japan.
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
Photo by Tennessee Reed
From the director
This performance is a collaboration among all its participants, some who have worked together since 2015, and some who in 2017 helped create this new development of the piece. Through email conversations and intensive rehearsals we arrived at our choices of the particular dramatic scenes, music, video, dances and other action you will see. The Bon Odori dances and music, which provide transitions between the scenes, are based on traditional celebrations that occur throughout Japan during the late summer to honor the ancestors: Soma Bon Uta and Aizu Bandaisan from Fukushima, Yagi Bushi from Tochigi and Gunma near Tokyo, and Tanko Bushi from Fukuoka, besides Tokyo Ondo, which continues throughout Bon Odori (The Death Dance). Great thanks to Takemi Kitamura, who taught us the four dances you will see and who also created the movement for the Prologue solo and Epilogue trio, inspired by a line dance from Aizu, the westernmost region of Fukushima, where annually it is offered in remembrance of 19 of the over 300 Byakkotai warriors , teen-age sons of samurai in the White Tiger Battalion who in 1868, during the Boshin Civil War, committed ritual disembowelment (seppuku or hara-kiri) because they mistakenly believed a fire had consumed their lord’s castle, which would mean their city had been captured and their families killed. For me, this dance particularly resonates because of where it comes from, how contemporary its formal choices appear, and how as the strokes of the blades go every which direction, it becomes a metaphor for the ways life can slice us also. It has been my great pleasure to realize Yuri Kageyama’s work with all these wonderful, dedicated performers.
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
Photo by Tennessee Reed
Photo by Tennessee Reed
Ishmael Reed came up with the title for my performance piece: “NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA: Meditation on an Under-Reported Catastrophe by a Poet.” As that suggests, the piece is about my vision as a poet. My spoken word pieces, delivered to accompaniment of various kinds of music, address racism, stereotyping, sexism and the search for love. They seek to address what society sees as “bigger” issues, such as the Fukushima accident, the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and the journalistic mission. For me, they are all connected.
Photo by Tennessee Reed
Photo by Tennessee Reed
All those themes provide the driving force in my storytelling that has over the years always sought to bring closer to home the perennial repetition of people’s betrayal, selfishness and smallness.
The Fukushima disaster is the biggest story of my life _ both as poet and journalist, those sides of my writing identity which have in the past remained so painfully separate. They have now come together. We have all come together in this effort _ all of us, of different backgrounds, cultures and disciplines. We have become one. It is clear we have each done our best to share our talent, our passion and our lives, to raise questions, to connect _ and to bring hope.
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
What people are saying about NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA: MEDITATION ON AN UNDER-REPORTED CATASTROPHE BY A POET.
Yuri Kageyama, with her epic poem, has earned a place among the leading world poets. This work proves that the poet as a journalist can expose conditions that are ignored by the media. _ Ishmael Reed poet, essayist, playwright, publisher, lyricist, author of MUMBO JUMBO, THE LAST DAYS OF LOUISIANA RED and THE COMPLETE MUHAMMAD ALI, MacArthur Fellowship, professor at the University of California Berkeley, San Francisco Jazz Poet Laureate (2012-2016).
NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA is a commentary on what it means to be human in the 21st Century. While we are divided by race, ethnicity, language, geography and culture, the essence of our humanity remains constant. In NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA, the cast, director and playwright all come together to create a montage of courage, uncertainty and hope in the face of disaster. _ Basir Mchawi producer, community organizer and radio show host at WBAI Radio in New York, who has taught at the City University of New York, public schools and independent Black schools.
Awesome music and dancing! The haunting drumming, dazzling satire and the golden heart of a poet in protest. Nothing is under control when the environment is under siege. Aluta! _ Sandile Ngidi poet, Zulu/English translator, journalist and critic.
Her collage-like piece weaves together lyrical monologues, sword dance, film and live music that blends jazz, taiko drumming and minyo folks songs. In the Fukushima of 2017, goes one line late in the play, “the authorities say they are playing it safe, when no one really feels safe.” _ Lily Janiak writer for The San Francisco Chronicle.
A vital story of our times. Spoken word and music from a talented multicultural ensemble. A beacon of light in a darkening world. _ Paul Armstrong artistic director at International Arts Initiatives, a Vancouver-based nonprofit for cultural advancement through the arts and education.
I welcomed NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA _ into my consciousness, with deep gratitude, seeing it twice, two days in succession _ all the while marveling at the tough yet faithful production and its dedication to truth-telling. _ David Henderson poet, co-founder of Umbra and the Black Arts Movement, author of ‘SCUSE ME WHILE I KISS THE SKY. JIMI HENDRIX: VOODOO CHILD.
NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA echoes the mourning of Bon Odori dance to warn us again and again that the nuclear age of post-World War II Japan has never ended. _ Hisami Kuroiwa movie producer and executive for “The Shell Collector,” “”Lafcadio Hearn: His Journey to Ithaca,” “Sunday,” “Bent” and the Silver Bear-winning “Smoke.”
Strong threads of a woman’s point of view …. Excellent ….The issue of motherhood in looking at Fukushima is well done. And the candid shots of Obon in Japan are fantastic in the background. As are the shots of rows and rows of radioactive materials in plastic bags, just left in rows upon rows in Fukushima. I thought the production was very good, technically excellent, and very illustrative of a Japan we don’t hear about after the 2011 triple disaster. Go see it. _ Peter Kenichi Yamamoto poet in San Francisco and coordinator at the National Japanese American Historical Society.
NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA is a memorable performance with well-researched narratives that throws you into a quest for humanity. _ Midori Nishimura Stanford University professor and medical doctor.
A powerful message not to forget: Fukushima. _ David Ushijima San Francisco business professional in retail, mobile, sensor-based and connected devices, Internet of Things.
It’s the kind of piece that keeps this from being forgotten. With all the other things going on in this world, we can forget about this, and we have a distance from them. But this kind of piece can remind us to return to it and continually reconsider the choices we make in our society. _ Adam Hartzell writer at koreanfilm.org
Great music …. It left such an impression. A splendid performance. _ Seiko Takada musician, “Kaizoku” vocalist/guitarist.
NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA is a powerful artistic response to disaster, informing us and inspiring us to compassion. _ Ravi Chandra San Francisco-Bay Area poet, writer and psychiatrist.
A truly emotional experience. _ Liliana Perez child psychologist and Ph.D.
Fukushima: Excellent musical accompaniment to poignant poetry, with minimal yet imaginative staging and choreography. _ Nana pianist and New Yorker.
What a delight …. See this show and be transported magically. _ George Ferencz co-founder of the Impossible Ragtime Theater, resident director at La MaMa (1982-2008), who has also directed at the Actors’ Theater of Louisville, Berkeley Rep and Cleveland Playhouse.
News that enraptures and engages through Sound. A Poet sings of the unreported calamity at Fukushima. _ Katsumi a Japanese living in New York.
The arc of history in every nation has its sadly forgotten men, women and children. Hauntingly powerful, NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA draws our eyes and hearts back to an ongoing, under-reported tragedy. _ Curtis Chin Milken Institute fellow and former U.S. Ambassador.
Everyone who took part in this performance, and those who came to see it, although of different races and thinking, all felt clearly the existence of what we know is so important …. I have lived to see many people who hurt others out of selfishness, betrayed others without qualms, and then went on to hide what they had done. But in the end, what is desired is not achieved, leaving only hunger, and, because of that, the cycle gets repeated …. I pray more people will be able to feel love through seeing this performance. _ Toshinori “Toshichael Jackson” Tani dancer, member of TL Brothers and instructor.
“News From Fukushima” gave me shivers for an hour. _ Michael Frazier, poet and educator.
Bios of the artists in
NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA Meditation on an Under-Reported Catastrophe by a Poet
Cast, crew, filmmakers, director and writer of NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dofrman
THE PLAYWRIGHT
YURI KAGEYAMA is a poet, songwriter, filmmaker, journalist and author of “The New and Selected Yuri” and “The Very Special Day.” Her spoken-word band the Yuricane features Melvin Gibbs, Eric Kamau Gravatt, Morgan Fisher, Pheeroan akLaff and Winchester Nii Tete. She is published in ”Breaking Silence,” “On a Bed of Rice,” “Pow Wow,” Cultural Weekly, Y’Bird, Konch and Public Poetry Series. http://yurikageyama.com/
Carla Blank
THE DIRECTOR
CARLA BLANK is a writer, editor, director, dramaturge and a teacher and performer of dance and theater for more than 50 years. She worked with Robert Wilson to create “KOOL _Dancing in My Mind,” inspired by Japanese choreographer Suzushi Hanayagi. She directed Wajahat Ali’s “The Domestic Crusaders” from a restaurant reading in Newark, California, to Off Broadway and the Kennedy Center. http://www.carlablank.com/bio.htm
THE ACTORS
Photo by Tennessee Reed
TAKEMI KITAMURA, choreographer, dancer, puppeteer, Japanese sword fighter and actor, appeared in “The Oldest Boy” at Lincoln Center, “The Indian Queen” directed by Peter Sellars; “Shank’s Mare” by Tom Lee and Koryu Nishikawa V; “Demolishing Everything with Amazing Speed” by Dan Hurlin and “Memory Rings” by Phantom Limb Co. She has worked with Nami Yamamoto, Sondra Loring and Sally Silvers. http://takemikitamura.com/
Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
MONISHA SHIVA is an actor, dancer, choreographer and painter, appearing in “The Domestic Crusaders” and “The Rats,” for theater, and independent films such as “Small Delights,” “Carroll Park,” “Echoes” and “Ukkiya Jeevan.” A native New Yorker, she has studied classical Indian dance and Bollywood, jazz and samba dancing, and acting at William Esper Studios and Studio 5. http://www.monishashiva.com/Monisha/home.html
Shigeko Suga Sara. Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
SHIGEKO SARA SUGA, actress, director, artistic associate at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and Flamenco and Butoh dancer, has performed in 150 productions, including Pan Asian Rep.’s “Shogun Macbeth” and “No No Boy.” She dedicates her performance to her nephew Ryoei Suga, who volunteered in Kesennuma after the 2011 tsunami and now devotes his life there as a fisherman and monk. www.shigekosuga.com
THE MUSICIANS
STOMU TAKEISHI is a master of the fretless electric bass and has played and recorded in a variety of jazz settings with artists such as Henry Threadgill, Brandon Ross, Myra Melford, Don Cherry, Randy Brecker, Satoko Fujii, Dave Liebman, Cuong Vu, Paul Motian and Pat Metheny. He tours worldwide and performs at various international jazz festivals.
Kouzan Kikuchi (L) and Stomu Takeishi. Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
KOUZAN KIKUCHI, shakuhachi player from Fukushima, studied minyo shamisen with his mother. A graduate of the Tokyo University of the Arts, he studied with National Treasure Houzan Yamamoto. He has worked with Ebizo Ichikawa, Shinobu Terajima and Motoko Ishii. In 2011, he became Tozanryu Shakuhachi Foundation “shihan” with highest honors.
Joe Small (L) and Isaku Kageyama. Photo by Annette Borromeo Dorfman
ISAKU KAGEYAMA is a taiko drummer and percussionist, working with Asano Taiko UnitOne in Los Angeles, film-scoring extravaganza “The Masterpiece Experience” and Tokyo ensemble Amanojaku. A magna cum laude Berklee College of Music graduate, he teaches at Wellesley, University of Connecticut and Brown. http://isakukageyama.com/
JOE SMALL is a taiko artist, who is a member of Eitetsu Hayashi’s Fu-un no Kai and creator of the original concert, “Spall Fragments.” He has apprenticed for two years with Kodo, researched Japanese music as a Fulbright Fellow and holds an MFA in Dance from UCLA. He teaches at Swwarthmore College. www.joesmalltaiko.com
THE LIGHTING DESIGNER
BLU lived in New York for 20 years and was resident designer at the Cubiculo and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. A Bessie Award winner, he was lighting designer for renowned dance theater artists such as Sally Gross, Eiko and Koma, Ping Chong, Donald Byrd, Nancy Meehan and Paula Josa Jones.
THE FILMMAKER
YOSHIAKI TAGO, whose video was part of the live performance, has made NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA into a film. Tago also directed “A.F.O.,” “Believer,” “Worst Contact,” “Meido in Akihabara.” His short “The Song of a Tube Manufacturer” won the runner-up prize at the Yasujiro Ozu Memorial Film Festival in 2013. He served as film adviser for Takashi Murakami, and has worked with Nobuhiko Obayashi, Takashi Miike and Macoto Tezuka. He is a graduate of the prestigious Tokyo film school founded by Shohei Imamura.
YOSHIAKI TAGO
From the playwright
The two sides of who I am _ poet and journalist _ have long been separate. I am a poet, first and foremost, I felt, and reporting is what I do for my job. But the 2011 Fukushima disaster brought those two sides together in a way that was undeniable, imperative and honest. I am filled with gratitude toward my collaborators, who have turned my words and ideas into a moving, convincing and honorable piece of theater. In this work, we defy the boundaries of cultures, race, generations and genres to tell the story about how our world has created a catastrophe. We don’t pretend to have all the answers. But it’s an important story.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Akiyoshi Imazeki for photographs of Fukushima for video by Yoshiaki Tago for “Decontamination Ghosts;” Z Space, especially Drew Yerys, Minerva Ramirez, Wolfgang Wachaolovsky, Jim Garcia, Julie Schuchard and Andrew Burmester; Alex Maynard and Adam Hatch for the use of Starline Social Club for rehearsals; Mark Ong of Side by Side Studios for the poster design; Annette Borromeo Dorfman for program design and photographing the performance; Sally Gross, Ping Chong and Meredith Monk for help finding our cast; Ishmael Reed for ongoing support and Tennessee Reed for photography; Hisami Kuroiwa for her wise counsel, filmmaker Kate McKinley; LaMaMa Experiemental Theatre for showing the work in New York in 2015; Melvin Gibbs, Sumie Kaneko, Hirokazu Suyama and Kaoru Watanabe for the music at La MaMa; Bob Holman for presenting an initial reading at Bowery Poetry Club with Yuki Kawahisa, Pheeroan akLaff and Tecla Esposito; Makoto Horiuchi; Yoichi Watanabe and Hiromi Ogawa of Amanojaku taiko in Tokyo; all the members of the Yuricane spoken word band who inspired the poems and stories that developed into this work, and, last but not least, the people of Fukushima.
Yuri Kageyama reports from the no-go zone in Fukushima. Photo by Kazuhiro Onuki.
A World Premiere screening at the Berkeley Video and Film Festival Nov. 2, 2019. From left to right: Festival founder and organizer Mel Vapour, director Carla Blank, writer/poet Yuri Kageyama and camera-person Kate McKinley. Photo by Tennessee Reed.
Accepting the award at the Berkeley Video and Film Festival Nov. 2, 2019. From left to right: Camera-person Kate McKinley, director Carla Blank, festival founder and organizer Mel Vapour and writer/poet Yuri Kageyama.
Photo by Tennessee Reed.
In Amsterdam in September 2019 for the New Vision International Film Festival, where News From Fukushima was a Finalist Best Asian Feature Film.
I talked about our film and all my great collaborators at the Silent River Film Festival, which screened NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA August, 2020.
https://www.facebook.com/SilentRiverFilmFestival/videos/644827306160921/
https://www.facebook.com/SilentRiverFilmFestival/videos/1021079638326778/
THE VERY SPECIAL DAY IS NOW A VERY SPECIAL FILM
A collaboration with stop motion artist Hayatto.
Story written and read by Yuri Kageyama.
THE VERY SPECIAL DAY is an Official Selection at the International Migration & Environmental Film Festival Oct. 9 ~ 16, 2021, Semi-Finalist at the Serbest International Film Festival and Honorable Mention France International Film Festival and Monza Film Fest September 2021, Official Selection at the Big Sur Film Festival April 2021, Winner in Best Animation at the Beyond the Curve International Film Festival February-March 2021, Official Selection at the Phoenix Shorts Festival March 2021, Nominated Best International Short Film at the Brazil International Monthly Independent Film Festival, Finalist Official Selection Paris International Short Festival, Official Selection New Year Film Festival and Hollywood International Golden Age Festival, Honorable Mention Official Selection London International Monthly Film Festival, all February 2021, Quarter Finalist at the Jade Jaguar Film Festival in Brazil in August 2021, won Best Animation at the New Wave Short Film Festival, Milan Short Film Festival, Madras Independent Film Festival, Award of Excellence in Animation Directing at the Montreal Independent Film Festival, Finalist Best Children’s Film at Indie Short Fest (Los Angeles International Film Festival) and the LA Sun Film Fest, in 2020, Official Selection Finalist Seoul International Short Film Festival, Semi-Finalist Jelly Film Festival and Finalist Official Selection at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival, in January 2021, Best Animation Short Winner at the Royal Wolf Film Awards and Special Jury Selection at the Roma Short Film Festival, both in December 2020, Official Selection Kalakari Film Festival May 15, 2021, Cyrus International Film Festival, New York Tri-State International Film Festival and the Silicon Beach Film Festival, Nominated Best Animation the Motion Pictures International Film Festival, Finalist Official Selection at the Sicily Independent Film Awards, the Pune Short Film Festival, Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival, Grand Jury Award Oniros Film Awards in Italy, Finalist Official Selection at the Košice International Monthly Film Festival, all in 2020. It won the Silver Award Spotlight Short Film Awards, Honorable Mention Los Angeles Film Awards, New York Film Awards, Festigious International Film Festival and Top Shorts Film Festival, Award of Distinction Canada Shorts Film Festival, Best Animated film at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival and was part of the Best Global Shorts film festival, in 2019.
“Your film brought us enormous pleasure and exhibits excellence in artistry and craftsmanship in noteworthy fashions.” _ Hans Krause, New Wave Short Film Festival.
“Brilliant concept and excellent execution. The structure works well.” ＿ Nami, Roy and the Los Angeles Film Awards team.
“This movie is a true wonder. All marvelous: The drawings, the music, the story, the narration. It’s like a wonderful dream. Your creative universe is magic.” _ Mitsuru, writer and poet, author of “Akai Geisha.”
A birthday is very special for any little boy. And a little boy is very special for any parent.
This is an everyday but very special story about the trials and joys of growing up in an imperfect world.
A story that’s a bit sentimental but honorable and true, written for all the children in the world.
May they stay safe, may they enjoy peace, may they find love and may they know who they really are.
Music by Kouzan Kikuchi, Hiroshi Tokieda, Ryan Carter and Isaku Kageyama.
Copyright All Rights Reserved by the Artists. August 2019.
“All my works deal with the theme of love, and I put a lot of love in my work. As soon as I saw Yuri’s THE VERY SPECIAL DAY, I felt the same kind of love in the story and knew at once it should be made with my stop motion. Stop motion requires arduous time: Each item is made by hand and moved a little bit at a time to create movement on film. A minimum of eight frames is needed per second. The number of handmade parts is considerable. I make everything myself_ alone but with love. Although, or perhaps because, it requires so much work, time and love, stop motion relays a nostalgic sense of warmth and frailty. When finally completed, it fills me with an emotion that makes me forget all the hard work that went into it. People will likely react in different ways to THE VERY SPECIAL DAY, but I can say it is filled with love. After all, everyone has his or her own ‘special,’ and everyone realizes that what makes for this special ultimately is love, the greatest amorphous theme for humanity. I hope my work will help people around the world rediscover the meaning of love.” _ Hayatto
ONLINE SCREENINGS:
International Migration & Environmental Film Festival Oct. 9 ~ 16, 2021 on Xerb TV.
Serbest International Film Festival Sept. 23 ~ Sept. 30, 2021.
France International Film Festival Sept. 15 ~ 21, 2021.
Beyond the Curve International Film Festival FRI April 23 ~ TUE April 27, 2021.
Brazil International Monthly Independent Film Festival MON March 8 ~ MON March 15, 2021.
Silicon Beach Film Festival FRI Nov. 13 ~ THU Nov. 19, 2020, extended through Thanksgiving.
TUE Nov. 10 ~ WED Nov. 11, 2020 at the Motion Pictures International Film Festival.
My AP Stories for 2021 are below. Please click on the highlighted links to read my AP Stories, and to go to My AP Stories for 2020, and My AP Stories for 2019 and 2018:
My AP Story Oct. 22, 2021 in which I interview Carlos Ghosn.
My AP Story Aug. 19, 2021 on our interview with Greg Kelly, a former Nissan executive standing trial in the case of Carlos Ghosn.
My AP Story Sept. 29, 2021 on the prosecutors closing their case, asking for two years in prison.
My AP Story and My AP Photos Oct. 8, 2021 of a tour of Nissan’s “intelligent factory.”
My AP Story Sept. 28, 2021 on Toyota adding Renovo to its Woven Planet team.
The AP Story Sept. 25, 2021, to which I am a Contributor, on the Quad summit at the White House.
My AP Story Aug. 20, 2021 an obituary on Sonny Chiba who played martial artists in many films, including “Kill Bill.”
My AP Story Aug. 17, 2021, an obit on the “Godfather of Sudoku.”
My AP Story Aug. 16, 2021 on Japan extending and expanding the coronavirus state of emergency.
My AP Story July 30, 2021 about the Tokyo Olympics collecting lots of spit in an effort to curb COVID.
A great “memory shot” by Kii Sato of where I did a video interview for The AP on the Olympic opening ceremony. It was just across the street but because of blocked off traffic I had to make a giant detour and was drenched in sweat when I finally got there. But Yes, I did the interview!
My AP Story Aug. 5, 2021 on what Japan’s “emergency” means during the Olympics.
My AP Explainer Story July 30, 2021 on Japan’s state of emergency.
My AP Story July 27, 2021 on Japan’s disbelief, support after Naomi Osaka’s elimination.
I interviewed the Blue Impulse pilot and the youngster who ran with the torch-runner for this AP Story July 30, 2021 about memories of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
My AP Story Aug. 29, 2021 on Japan aiming to fully vaccinate its people by October or November.
My AP Story Aug. 19, 2021 about Toyota scaling back production due to pandemic-related parts shortages.
My AP Story Aug. 18, 2021 on Japan’s trade data.
My AP Story Aug. 16, 2021 on Japan eking out growth in a gradual recovery from the pandemic.
I’m a Contributor to this AP Story July 31, 2021 about the Japanese Olympic judo team.
My AP Story July 19, 2021 about the American father and son accused in the Carlos Ghosn escape getting sentenced to prison terms by a Japan court.
My AP Story July 19, 2021 about Toyota, a top Olympics sponsor, pulling Games-related TV ads.
My AP Story July 21, 2021 on Toyota adding to its technology partnership.
My AP Story and AP Photos July 18, 2021 on the protest against the Olympics and more.
My AP Story July 19, 2021 about the Japanese composer tendering his resignation.
My AP Story July 18, 2021 on the Japanese composer for the Tokyo Olympics apologizing for perpetrating abuse.
My AP Story Aug. 10, 2021 on SoftBank’s earnings.
My AP Story July 15, 2021 on Toyota investing in digital mapping.
My AP Story July 13, 2021 about Fujifilm finding new niches, record profits amid pandemic.
My AP Story July 7, 2021 on Nissan’s CEO testifying in court about Carlos Ghosn’s compensation.
My AP Story July 21, 2021 about Japan’s exports, imports zooming amid a pandemic recovery.
My AP Story July 5, 2021 about the Tokyo city assembly election amid pandemic Olympic fears.
My AP Story July 3, 2021 on the mudslide that tore through Atami.
My AP Story July 2, 2021 on the Americans accused in the escape of Carlos Ghosn. Michael Taylor, choking over tears, told the court: “I stand here today a man whose life has been destroyed because of this.”
My AP Story June 30, 2021 on SoftBank denying it’s pulling the plug on the Pepper robot.
My AP Story June 25, 2021 about Toshiba’s shareholders’ meeting.
My AP Story June 21, 2021 on the first day of the Japanese companies’ mass vaccination drive. I also did AP Video today.
My AP Story June 20, 2021 on the arriving Uganda Olympic team having a member test positive for COVID.
My AP Story June 15, 2021 about vaccine laggard Japan stepping up shots with company efforts.
My AP Story June 29, 2021 on the Taylors apologizing to the court.
My AP Story June 14, 2021 on the Taylors’ trial starting.
My AP Story June 13, 2021 on the trial of the two Americans suspected in Carlos Ghosn’s escape.
My AP Story June 7, 2021 on Toyota reaching a settlement over bullied engineer’s suicide.
My AP Story May 26, 2021 about Carlos Ghosn’s interview defending Greg Kelly on trial in Japan.
My AP Story May 23, 2021 about IOC’s Coates getting a backlash on his remark about the Olympics being held even in an emergency.
My AP Story May 21, 2021 when he made the remark.
My AP Story May 20, 2021 about TV stars playing lovers really getting married.
My AP Story May 18, 2021 about Japan’s economy shrinking as pandemic dries up spending.
My AP Story May 14, 2021 on the petition demanding cancellation of the Olympics being submitted.
My AP Story May 12, 2021 on Greg Kelly testifying in his trial, saying he just worked for Nissan’s best interests.
My AP Story March 26, 2021 about how the Nissan-Renault rift is getting highlighted at the trial of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly.
My AP Story May 11, 2021 on Carlos Ghosn’s answers to prosecutors being read by the defense lawyer in the trial of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly.
My AP Story May 6, 2021 about a petition drive demanding the Olympics be canceled.
My AP Story May 3, 2021 about nurses dismayed by Tokyo Olympics’ request for help.
I’m a Contributor to this AP Story May 19, 2021 about doctors asking to cancel the Games.
My AP Story May 6, 2021 on Nintendo profits booming as people staying home turn to games.
My AP Story May 1, 2021 on the torch relay detoured and other Tokyo Olympics developments.
My AP Story April 28, 2021 on June trial set in Japan for the Americans accused of helping Carlos Ghosn escape.
My AP Story April 27, 2021 on Toyota acquiring Lyft.
My AP Story April 14, 2021 on the president of Toshiba stepping down.
My AP Story April 13, 2021 on the late Nintendo president and his book.
My AP Story April 12, 2021 on Japan’s celebrating Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters win.
My AP Story April 15, 2021 about ruling party politicians expressing doubts about holding the Olympics.
My AP Story April 7, 2021 on Toshiba saying it had received a preliminary acquisition proposal.
My AP Story April 1, 2021 about the Bank of Japan survey showing optimism about a recovery.
My AP Story March 30, 2021 about how some medical experts aren’t convinced about holding the Olympics.
My AP Story March 21, 2021 on Hitachi acquiring GlobalLogic for $9.6 billion.
My AP Story March 24, 2021 on Toyota, Isuzu, Hino setting up tie-up in truck technology.
My AP Story March 23, 2021 on Japan spending billions on coronavirus tracking app for absent Olympic fans.
My AP Story March 22, 2021 about Japan charging two Americans in the escape of Carlos Ghosn.
My AP Photo and My AP Story March 5, 2021 and AP Interview with the chief defense lawyer for Greg Kelly on trial in Japan on charges related to Carlos Ghosn’s compensation.
My AP Photo and My AP Story March 4, 2021 about animation film “Demon Slayer” striking a chord with pandemic-era Japan.
My AP Story March 18, 2021 about the Tokyo Olympics being hit by another scandal over sexist comments.
My AP Story March 18, 2021 on Japan raising tariffs on U.S. beef after hitting import limit.
My AP Story March 12, 2021 on Japan’s post office tying up with Rakuten.
My AP Story March 2, 2021 explaining what might be ahead for the American father and son being extradited to Japan on suspicion of helping Carlos Ghosn skip bail and escape to Lebanon.
My AP Story March 1, 2021 on the prime minister’s PR chief resigning after lavish meal tied to broadcaster.
My AP Story Feb. 26, 2021 on Japan partially ending the state of emergency, while keeping it for the Tokyo area.
My AP Story Feb. 24, 2021 on Nissan’s former chief executive testifying in a criminal trial.
My AP Story Feb. 19, 2021 on Honda’s tapping a research expert as its new president.
My AP Story Feb. 14, 2021 on another protest in Tokyo against the military coup in Myanmar.
My AP Story Feb. 11, 2021 about thousands of people from Myanmar in Japan demanding democracy back home.
My AP Story Feb. 15, 2021 about Japan’s economy growing in the final quarter of 2020 in a gradual recovery from the pandemic slump.
My AP News Alert and Story Feb. 13 ~14, 2021 on the strong earthquake that hit northeastern Japan.
My AP Story Feb. 10, 2021 on Toyota’s earnings recovering from effects of the pandemic.
My AP Story Feb. 9, 2021 about Nissan staying in the red amid pandemic, Japan criminal trial.
My AP Story Feb. 9, 2021 on Honda’s profits rising despite pandemic damage.
My AP Story Feb. 8, 2021 on SoftBank’s profit zooming on lucrative investments.
My AP Story Feb. 8, 2021 is the Markets report for the day.
I’m a contributor to this AP Story Feb. 12, 2021, the day Mori is expected to officially resign.
I’m a contributor to this AP Story Feb. 4, 2021 about a Japanese Olympic official facing calls for resignation after a remark apparently belittling women.
My AP Story Feb. 3, 2021 on Sony’s profits booming on “Demon Slayer” hit.
My AP Story Feb. 1, 2021 on how Nintendo’s profits are soaring as people play games during the pandemic.
My AP Story Jan. 12, 2021 on the testimony of Nissan’s former COO on how the automaker sought to hide Carlos Ghosn’s pay.
My AP Story Jan. 7, 2021 on Japan declaring a state of emergency for Tokyo, and three nearby prefectures, after coronavirus cases surge.
My AP Story Jan. 8, 2021 on the first day for Japan under the state of emergency.
My AP Story Jan. 11, 2021 on the Japan material for The Latest on the virus.
My AP Story Jan. 10, 2021 on the Japan material for The Latest on the virus.
My AP Story Jan. 9, 2021 on the Japan material for The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic.
My AP Story Jan. 6, 2021 on coronavirus cases reaching a daily record in Tokyo.
My AP Story Jan. 4, 2021, a co-byline with our AP Sports Writer, on pandemic worries looming as the countdown clock for the postponed Tokyo Olympics hits 200 days to go.
My AP Story Jan. 1, 2021 on the emperor turning to video for his New Year’s Day message.
Magic 50 of COVID-19 Poems by Sandile Ngidi and Yuri Kageyama (From Aug. 31, 2020 ~April 5, 2021. All rights reserved by the artists.)
1 (S)
Poetry kins us to these basal stems.
Moisture is life.
Gardens petals fresh & resilient.
Mother breathes songs of roots strong.
Words curate a healthy leaf mass, fruits defying leaf scorch defining these heavy seasons.
Plumes as words dancing in the winds.
2 (Y)
Dragonflies flutter by the slowly swelling river.
Moisture is life.
Blue-green of their wings play in the light.
Mother cries songs of currents deep.
Leaves of Grass bend soft with the seasons, shining dew recalling these tears of birth.
Plumes as words dancing in the winds.
3 (S)
Far in the somewhere of dazzling seas,
nothing stops the seasons of fruitful friendships.
Dancing field to field feeding the imagination,
it’s the spring of delights, radished words.
Grass gesturing towards well-shaped flower leaves, moistured mosaics of words.
Life.
4 (Y)
Plumes as words dancing in the winds,
Tiny sparrows warble, not in fun but fear,
Scattering like debris, dirt, weeds and words,
Over oceans and deserts, swamps and streams,
The now of Dreams connect the All of history, the eternity of Forgotten nightmares.
Yes, Life.
5 (S)
Across seas the rooster is red,
Crowing in the weeds.
Greek sea edge sinking Black lives.
The wind is nightmarish.
In drying Eldorado Park, slain Nathaniel Julies is rising.
Fresh gardens strut their stuff,
A poetry skyline in full sun,
greening the eversick landscape. Life.
6 (Y)
Poetry whispers in tanka and haiku,
Across oceans, red, blue, yellow and black,
Repeating of pain, repeating of life,
Repeating of love? Repeating,
Iwao Hakamada just smiles and believes
In God.
7 (S)
After the soft rains,
Blooms fresh.
My epistle is no flower.
Naked, Black and pregnant,
Woman shot beast-like on a darkened Mozambique road –
Drowning soldier-savagery
Shamed seasons.
Lizalis’idinga lakho,
God of Black women now rise,
in tanka-maskandi cries.
Poppies.
8 (Y)
She is duped and gets easily used;
She is defiant and easily explodes;
She is vain, obsessed with appearance;
She let herself go, looks fat and shabby;
She is too quiet and can’t speak up;
She is psychotic and can’t shut up;
She is all these things, all at once,
Deranged.
9 (s)
Would you dance naked on your veranda
seeing madigras brass band
mad boots on grass,
killing your soul’s shongololo?
Beyond the gleam of your silverware, the sun still shines.
Shun the sun if drunk in the polemic of your vomit.
The palm tree is tall still,
yet peaceful.
10 (Y)
Her robe translucent like briny waves
An ancient pagoda zooming to a giant moon
She will never come back
To an earth that’s unjust, unequal, unfree;
She will never look back
At those who have sought to capture her
Her eternal dance
Gagaku
11 (S)
We hello each other,
a morning ritual.
He walks into the dew,
whistling with the ancestors.
Mapholoba, a shepherd breathing poverty.
This dark mist, common as whites walking their dogs.
Seeing them pee with glee.
Peace.
His dogged legs a plea.
Ulaka lwabaphansi.
12 (Y)
Four an unlucky number,
sounding the same
as the word for “death,”
the 442 has two fours
and a two,
any even number unlucky,
divisible,
inevitable separation coming,
and Go For Broke they did,
from desert Camps,
to win what they never had,
the right to be American,
not an enemy.
13 (S)
Casting a warm eye on this land
my line to kiss her forehead
give her gladness sandwiches
water my mother’s spinach
add black pepper to the seasons
good taste into the bowl
a poetry pot firing the broil
simmering hope
the slow dawn of a brighter day.
14 (Y)
Taking a lazy walk next to this river
the gulls kiss the tips of the water
children laugh in floppy hats
I remember my father’s beatings
my mother’s Edamame
cooked in Salt, served with cold beer
a poetry pot firing the broil
simmering hope
the slow dawn of a brighter day.
15 (S)
Stratus clouds in the skies
Wishing blue skies smiled
Chuckled like Louis Armstrong
The air was friendly
Night undaunting
Unbanning lazy solitude strolls
Poets oets perching in trees
Chickening every silly sunset
Dazzled by darkness
Her seductive light.
16 (Y)
Skyscraper windows
Unblinking light
Dot the aging skies of night
With stories each window tells
That age-old face of every city,
Tokyo, LA, Johannesburg,
Breathing suicidal loneliness
With violence smoothed only by time
His seductive weeps
Await that trickle of dawn
17 (S)
after a long trip is a place
where one returns
changes into fresh clothes
puts the heavy load down
drinks cold water
eats porridge and amasi
while the dog licks wounds back to health
where suicidal fantasies die
hopelessly lacking any poetic imagination.
18 (Y)
sighs of exhaustion breathe through
the night, screams of wind choked silent,
kissing pleats on rain-filled waters,
river to river, sea to sea, blood to blood,
is it dawn somewhere else?
do the birds care enough to remember
the messages from that somewhere else?
19 (S)
He says hi
inkabi back from jail
straw grass world
exhaustion
brute storms
leopard lonesome
blood-heavy yoke
motherless calf
can’t be licked for first milk.
He’s a local
no hate blues.
Do I offer my hand
to the killer-ox
talk weather
disgust Bushiri?
20 (S)
Body seducing sleep
Swinging on her axis
Tell the night be tight.
Behind the sun sleep is light.
In dreams lovers kiss the ground in flight
Saliva no dread on Covid lane.
Children dance the morning dew into song.
Laughter.
Phezu komkhono!
Bujitsu
21(Y)
That needed daily fix of kimchee,
Granpa’s growling snores
Rattles shoji screens,
Like gently shaking maracas:
Where miso soup cooking,
And cooking and cooking
Wafts through
The peppermint morning air.
22 (Y)
Memories repeat
Even in dementia eyes:
A ring that sparkles,
Gem of yellow,
Rainbow and diamond,
Promising a love eternal,
Fool-proof, never betrayal,
Like the immeasurable,
Unfailing Worth
Of Truth and
Freedom.
23 (S)
In a deadly pandemic
blackened skies
hellish eyes
greed so pathetic
so trump-manic
muzzled jingle bells
Wakashio in Mauritius
shits oil
kills marine life
kills food
kills kanji
even after Fukushima
drills invade the Okavango
kill life
kill laughter
Pula.
24 (Y)
Death nudges closer
The pandemic world we share,
Skin cracked of disinfectant,
Sweat dripping on masks,
Prayer and hope,
Remembering music:
Winston Monwabisi “Mankunku” Ngozi
25 (S)
Pain pierces the heart like an assassin’s knife.
See the restless sea.
Shingled memories, the coffee blues.
Rumours of Christmas in the warming moist air.
Humming with the moon, its tears.
Pleading for the lost lotus flower seeds.
Impepho.
26 (Y)
one pandemic year
blurs
into the next,
those who hate
must hate
blinded to truth and fact
but we recognize
more than ever
what is important,
and who
27 (S)
America, poop fools climb walls in tantrums.
Haters copiously eat garlic.
Whiteness is no guesswork.
Hard stools on TV.
For COVID-19 deaths to be sweet & swift.
Trumps.
In my hood, the owl headlines death.
A cry for a strong midrip.
Palms.
28 (S)
The stubborn heaviness in our shoulders.
The bloodshot eyes, now we know,
our lives are being irrevocably torn apart.
Those who are ill, dying and dead, are familiar names.
Family.
Friends.
Beloved ones.
Death is no longer a metaphor.
The nightmare. The nightmare.
The nightmare.
29 (S)
Since we are already here.
Poetry of faith at the full.
Kindly keep these sandwiches, too.
To be shared at the golden hour
That poets dream of,
Even as it madly thunders.
30 (Y)
Our poem will end
When we overcome;
We will celebrate
For once,
An end
As we always do
With beginnings
31 (Y)
Laugh, belittle, ridicule,
Call me naive
Over-blown
Narcissistic,
Easily duped,
Those names,
Whatever is up
Entitled sleeves,
To silence stereotype enslave.
32 (S)
The dread of your dying wick.
A single lung blighting all joy.
Memories of your dead mother.
Your pus-filled body.
A cry for green stones of home. Hot springs.
Jail is sad.
Prisoners die at this cursed hour.
Now on my kneeling mat, milling the moon.
33 (S)
At the local dumpsite, I flinch
improvise a mind-soul spin.
Kids playing atop the site,
happy-hip outdoor crib with a view.
Good times rolling like Kamala Harris,
dogs fighting over smelly nappies.
Kids running away, stained condoms
popping up.
They are doing it.
34 (Y)
it used to be simple
getting on a plane
breathing without a mask
touching a doorknob
and not being afraid
it used to be simple
laughing on an elevator
just going out
hugging someone
you love
35 (S)
Ziyagiya ziqethuke.
Mqombothi plastic cups.
Lives dangling on the lion’s jaws.
Ease the storm beloved ancestors.
We miss the magic of hugging the clay pot.
The odd belch.
The tickling cold stir on lips.
The Khongisa spirit.
Songs against thunder and disease.
Rain.
(Section 35 was written by Sandile Ngidi on the day of the death of legendary South African vocalist, and his friend, Sibongile Khumalo, evoking the spirit of one her great songs, a prayer to the gods of Africa. Let us mourn in prayer this collective loss as we face a world torn by the pandemic.)
36 (Y)
Shivers of monster icebergs
Fevers of raging forest fires
Fuzzy spikes running amok
Vessels organs flesh and muscle
Dropping phlegm immunity bombs
More virus more virus more virus
Tentacles piercing nails red-blue
Hoping to wipe out Humanity
Weighing who gets to live
Which rich nations get vaccines first
37 (S)
The vaccine arrives in the rain,
I wave on TV,
frown lines of relief.
Puppy-happy, playing fetch
The bride is here, for
migrants too.
Waves crash onto shore,
a swash of stars
arresting the frozen hours.
Maize seedlings ready, hands to earth.
Fresh starts.
38 (Y)
Yurikamome float like lotus
Heaven on earth
This river of fruit and birth,
Tender Flowers,
A moment in this pandemic Hell
That enslaves, rapes, steals,
Infections of greed and envy
39 (S)
Humming leaves giving rhythm to the reticent day.
Fruits.
Mapholoba off to his cattle post.
Our morning ritual in flight.
Salutes to sunrise.
Laughter shared like bread.
A mbhubhudlo bond.
Songs.
The heaven of village handshakes.
Palm leaves.
40 (Y)
Hot pink buds are shaking dew,
Airplanes roar over clouds of spring
And the weeping of sirens,
Piercing the city smog;
We wonder if it’s COVID-19
Or some other emergency;
We pray for anshin anzen,
Safe and secure,
As elusive as those broken promises.
41 (S)
Sibiya’s laughs are boiled maize kernels we throw in the air,
Right into our mouths.
Sweet rain drops.
In the wasp-killing sun, we breathe dreams into the soil,
Muting the weeping sirens.
The soil’s ulnar verse spreads and breaks like seawaves.
We are silk songs.
42 (Y)
We wake up today to the Earth shuddering,
Rumbling in fear of human evil,
Magnitude 7.3 almost midnight.
We wake up today to water levels sinking
In reactors that sank 10 years ago
Meltdowns in Fukushima,
Half-cracked containers spewing,
No one gets close without dying;
Remembering human greed,
Evacuating in fear of radioactive imperfection.
43 (S)
You ntanga yethu, David Sibisi.
Walking talking with stoic grace.
Broomcorn strong.
Smile bristles giving the day her delayed radiance.
Some milk cows perished in the recent hellish rains.
But you braving the forest,
giving the village her health.
Brooms.
44 (S)
It’s a year since that freezing wind struck,
left its bloodied knife on the floor.
The winding path of pain, indefinite tracks on a hill.
The dead can’t smell the flowers, and play with their dogs anymore.
Yet memory drapes each day with protean seeds.
45 (Y)
Smell the soy sauce cooking
See the squints stab desert skies
Hear the heartbeat taiko vibration
Feel the texture of kimono silk
Taste the ocean sashimi brine
So Simple: Has it been a year?
We are alive we mourn filled with love
Can you remember how that love made you afraid?
46 (S)
Empty lands,
where brutal spiderworlds
silence women.
In the name of tradition,
the kikuyu loses her green heart.
Tribesmen betray justice.
Blowing their noses at a woman,
as she cries for justice.
When her speech is chilli hot,
her eyes a stubborn flame.
47 (Y)
Vagina warm and snug,
Dark and tight Slant Eyes,
Shot at a Massage Spa;
Skin as smooth as China Silk,
Straight Black Hair a Tightrope,
Shot at a Massage Spa;
Serve your addiction
But Not racially motivated,
Shot at a Massage Spa;
He just had a bad day,
The women are dead.
48 (S)
Sunny days are darkening at load-shedding speed.
Seasons of foul stench.
Skunks squealing with careless glee.
Children too happy to play outside.
Far from the smell of the political millipede.
To wink at the transient sunrise.
Holding on to its warm scarlet scarf.
49 (Y)
Oblivious to the pandemic,
Sakura buds fatten,
Burst in benevolent explosions,
Millions of screams
Crying out to Stop Hate,
Pink pompoms spilling Pink Periods
On a timeless Manuscript
Of pavement and dirt.
50 (S)
Bright skies and the sea full of grace, heroic balsamic kisses.
Hugh Masekela’s Homeric bloom.
Bliss.
It’s the season of the kindest sunlight.
Petunias strutting their lot in lilac, red –
And Hughey’s enduring love petals.
Hip grazing in the April grass.
Haiku today Sept. 23, 2021
By Yuri Kageyama
リストカット
悲鳴をあげるは
彼岸花
wrist cutting syndrome
you can hear the screaming
higanbana
Haiku March 27, 2021 by Yuri Kageyama
Give Me That Power
To keep Dreaming My Dream if not just
To Live in My Dreams
ゆめおもう
ゆめをいきるは
夢の中
It was Dr. Martin Luther King, who said: “I have a dream,” those words that spoke years ago that powerful message and legacy of Black Lives Matter. Why has our dream as Asians in America so often and so long been lost? Called foreign, invisible, docile, cheap, expressionless, model minorities, we have been silenced, and we have sometimes turned willingly silent, out of fear and the desire to survive in that American conversation between white and Black. Our story has yet to be fully told, explored or studied, even dreamed.
Haiku Sept. 20, 2021 by Yuri Kageyama
墨田川
jet skiおじさんぶっとばす
松田聖子
These days, I live by the Sumida River, which retains much of its Edo Period character. Some recent elements are jarring, such as the people on blaring jet skis that zip up and down the waters on weekends and holidays. The irony of the old pop music that was playing, “Aitakute” by Seiko Matsudo, juxtaposed with this alleged image of hip defiance, was a true Tokyo haiku moment for me.
Haiku March 24, 2021 by Yuri Kageyama
つえをつき
見上げる空に
初桜
Cane in his hand,
He looks up for a long time
First cherry blossoms
The world suddenly looks like a splendid and hopeful place when sakura starts to bloom, right about this time in Tokyo. It happens without fail every year. But it’s so dazzling it feels unexpected. This morning, an old man was gazing up at a tree, probably the first cherry blossom tree he saw on his walk. His eyes, behind the glasses, I knew had seen so much, and was seeing all of that, again, in the flowers.
3.11 ON OUR MINDS I’m going to share, if I may, some of my stories I did for The Associated Press, covering the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disasters that slammed Japan in 2011, and my followup stories over subsequent years. I am grateful to all the sources who spoke with AP, to The AP for this experience that has shaped me, and to journalism. Here goes:
My AP Exclusive Story May 27, 2011 on how the Fukushima tsunami plan was just a single page.
My AP Impact Story May 1, 2011 on the ties between the Japanese nuclear industry and its regulators.
My AP Exclusive Story Dec. 7, 2012 on how Japanese scientists took utility money.
My AP Story May 23, 2013 on this: “Keeping the meltdown-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in northeastern Japan in stable condition requires a cast of thousands. Increasingly the plant’s operator is struggling to find enough workers, a trend that many expect to worsen and hamper progress in the decades-long effort to safely decommission it.”
My AP Story July 10, 2014 on how stigmatized nuclear workers are quitting.
My AP Story March 10, 2010 on soy sauce’s miracle “comeback.” “RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (AP) _ When the tsunami warning sounded, workers at the two-centuries-old soy sauce maker in northeastern Japan ran up a nearby hill to a shrine for safety, and watched in disbelief as towering waters swallowed their factory.”
