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
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 Poetry in Ishmael Reed’s KONCH
My poetry gets published in Ishmael Reed’s KONCH MAGAZINE.
“Fearless at 90” in KONCH magazine Winter 2024 issue.
What a thrill. And what company I keep.
My reading of the poem with bass by Toshiyuki “Turner” Tananashi. Tokyo 2024.
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:
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.
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 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.
THE BROKEN FRAME a poem by Yuri Kageyama
The ambulances are screaming. We look up and see a big tear in a steel fame right by our apartment building. We wonder but figure it’s not a murder because we don’t read about it, and there aren’t that many murders in Tokyo. Every time we see the broken frame, we wonder who it could have been. And what might have driven this individual, whom we don’t know and never will know, male or female, young or old, happy or unhappy, probably unhappy, literally over the ledge to a dark deep definitive leap of death. It does not make us feel very good. Every time we see that broken frame. A few weeks later, the frame gets fixed. And we stop wondering.
I still like this Story I did for The Associated Press some time ago when I interviewed a former kamikaze pilot. It was still online at The Detroit News.
“News From Fukushima _ Meditation on an Under-Reported Catastrophe by a Poet,” directed by Yoshiaki Tago, gets a screening at Libra Hall in Tokyo SUN April 23, 2023, followed by My Poetry With Music.
The film documents a theater performance in San Francisco in 2017, directed by Carla Blank, starring Takemi Kitamura, Monisha Shiva and Shigeko Sara Suga with music by Stomu Takeishi, Isaku Kageyama, Kouzan Kikuchi and Joe Small. Lighting by Blu. Video by Yoshiaki Tago. Written by Yuri Kageyama.
We also did A Reading of My Poems with music. In the order they were read: “I Am The Virus” (please see below for the recording), “Hiphop Fukushima,” “Nothing Happens,” “ode to the stroller,” written and read by Yuri Kageyama with music by The YURICANE band featuring Nobutaka Yamasaki (piano), Takuma Anzai (drums), tea (vocals), Hiroshi Tokieda (bass) and Hideyuki Asada (guitar).
Yuri Kageyama · I Am The Virus _ a poem by Yuri Kageyama with piano by Nobutaka Yamasaki
I AM THE VIRUS
a poem by Yuri Kageyama, read with piano by Nobutaka Yamasaki. First published online in KONCH Magazine in 2020, compiled into a book in 2024, THE PLAGUE EDITION OF KONCH MAGAZINE, edited by Ishmael Reed and Tennessee Reed.
I am the virus
I thrive on mossy envious egos
They keep showing up
Offices, clubs, picnics,
Choosing being seen, hoarding
Over social dis-tan-cing
I am the virus
I fester in corona-shaped clusters
Commuter trains, cruises, crowds
Peering at the Olympic torch,
I love the naming “Chinese virus”
The taunts, attacks on slant-eyed people
I am the virus
I cower when folks stay in
Takeout food, work from home,
A meter apart on solitary walks,
Wearing masks, washing hands,
Mixing aloe and alcohol
I am the virus
The crazy evil devoured
By doctors, vaccines, canceled concerts
Turning into live-streamed music,
People who remember to tell those they love
How much they really love them.
All PHOTOS by On Lim Wong.