Yuri Kageyama

THE VERY SPECIAL DAY A VERY SPECIAL FILM

THE VERY SPECIAL DAY BECAME A VERY SPECIAL FILM IN 2019.

Story written and read by Yuri Kageyama.

An Award Winner and Official Selection at this film festival in San Francisco Oct. 27 ~ Oct. 30, 2022, the San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival. THE VERY SPECIAL DAY screened at the San Francisco Public Library Oct. 29, 2022.

At Herbst Theater in San Francisco to accept the award Oct. 30, 2022.

Ishmael Reed and Carla Blank kindly came out to the award event. Thanks always to Ishmael and Carla for believing in me and my poetry. “Yuri Kageyama strikes again,” he says.

“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.

“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.

HAIKU FOR MY FATHER by Yuri Kageyama

HAIKU FOR MY FATHER by Yuri Kageyama

A dead man’s desk

Snacks he’s forbidden to eat

Magic tricks for grandchildren

My father died in his 70s, a big man with big ambitions, prone to cruelty and violence but just as quick with his brilliance, generosity and humor. He calmed down a bit with age. And it was natural he was far more loved by his grandchildren, who found him just hilarious, than by his daughters, who had found him oppressive. His desk upstairs had to be cleaned out after he died. My mother found bags of treats like nuts and kakinotane he was secretly eating, because his doctors had put him on a strict diet for his heat condition. She also found toy magic tricks he had also bought secretly and had been practicing to impress his grandchildren. They adored him, played games, ran around outside with him, going fishing or going on goofy rides at a tiny park. They would laugh and laugh with this old roly-poly man, who was really just one of them, never mind he was a former NASA engineer and university professor. My mother used to say my father always acted as though he couldn’t care less if his grandchildren visited or not. She wondered why he would say such an obviously untruthful thing. That was my father, too proud and too big and strong to admit to any weakness, like missing his grandchildren. There is nothing as heartbreaking as love because even love must come to an end with death. But love that can’t be expressed openly, and must be stashed away like magic tricks in the drawer of a desk. I don’t know what to call such love. But it is love.

LOVE SIMPLY a love poem by Yuri Kageyama

LOVE SIMPLY a love poem by Yuri Kageyama

To be near hurts

To be far hurts, too

Love simply hurts

To live hurts, to die hurts

Watching you die hurts even more

Love simply hurts

To know you hurts

To have known you hurts

Love simply hurts

But to not know you, not hurt for you

Is simply not a choice

It’s simply love, simply love

Haiku For Toru by Yuri Kageyama

Haiku For Toru by Yuri Kageyama

deleting emails

name of dead colleague pops up

i’m thinking of you

^___<

Funny how the most unpoetic of activities can become all of a sudden emotional. That, to me, is a haiku moment. And I tried to capture that, as well as honor and express my gratitude for the long years of working with this colleague. I know I will think about him, now and then, like today. Feb. 9,2023.

FOR WOMEN ONLY

For Women Only _ A poem by Yuri Kageyama

For Women Only _ A Poem by Yuri Kageyama

perfume,

rubbing shoulders,

we rattle silently over the tracks

blouses, tucked bags, even powdered chins,

up too close to really see;

we sense only relief

we smell no greasy beards or sweaty suits or

beer breath of the morning after _

this morning commuter train

“josei senyo sha”

reserved

for women only,

introduced to protect the gentle sex

from those groping dark hands

preying prying fingers, stroking thigh,

poking panties,

pretending to be penises

right in public transport,

“josei senyo sha”

this is the kindness of Japanese society:

let chikan go unchecked,

forgiven for their mischief,

and give us, women, this special spot

farthest from the action

farthest from the ticket gates

the first car up front,

and the most dangerous

if we crash

What it means to be a woman of color _ A poem by Yuri Kageyama

What it means to be a woman of color _ A poem by Yuri Kageyama

It’s the John Coltrane quartet all in one

Spiritual like Jimmy Garrison’s bass

McCoy Tyner’s resonant chords

The smarts of Elvin, the Love Supreme of the saxophone:

We can be all things, and more, just to get a chance to show we can play

^___<

It’s the courage of the 442 all in one

That integrity to raise one’s hand to serve

Even out of an arid desert “internment” camp,

Defying death, our Purple Hearts, wounds of body and soul:

We work a hundred, thousand times harder to prove we are American

^___<

It’s Martin Luther King’s dream all in one

We may fall to an assassin’s hatred

Our honor smeared by fake allegations

But we still stand, for freedom, and forgive every one:

We still have that, in us, despite what you have done to us.

My AP Stories 2022

Here goes with My AP Stories in 2022. My AP Stories for 2021 and more links there for the previous years. My AP Stories for 2023.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story and My AP Photos Dec. 31, 2022 on New Year’s around the world.

I filed the Japan reaction for this AP Story Dec. 31, 2022 on Pope Emeritus Benedict’s death.

My AP Story Dec. 31, 2022 on a landslide in northern Japan.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Dec. 31, 2022 on North Korea’s missile firings.

My AP Story Nov. 28, 2022 on Toru Kubota, who was freed from a Myanmar prison.

My AP Story Nov. 25, 2022 on the widening investigation into Olympic corruption.

My AP Story Nov. 22, 2022 in which I interview Takashi Murakami on his collaboration with Post Malone.

My AP Story Nov. 17, 2022 on Japan’s trade data showing record high imports and exports.

My AP Story Nov. 16, 2022 on the new Toyota Prius.

My AP Story Nov. 15, 2022 on Japan’s economy.

My AP Story Nov. 11, 2022 on four of Japan’s biggest rock stars forming a band.

My AP Story Nov. 11, 2022 about Japan vying for “last chance” as major chips producer.

My AP Story Nov. 8, 2022 on the Americans convicted in Ghosn escape returning home.

My AP Story Nov. 9, 2022 on how Nintendo is counting on a new movie, theme parks and merchandising to keep growth going.

My AP Story Nov. 8, 2022 on Nintendo’s earnings for the fiscal first half.

My AP Story Oct. 22, 2022 on the husband of a former princess passing the NY bar.

My AP Story Oct. 25, 2022 about the push for My Number digital cards.

My AP Story Oct. 27, 2022 explaining the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy.

MY COVERAGE OF OLYMPIC CORRUPTION

My AP Story Oct. 19, 2022 on the widening Olympic bribery scandal.

My AP Story Oct. 4, 2022 on a publishing executive getting charged in the Olympic scandal.

My AP Story Aug. 17, 2022 on prosecutors making arrests on suspicion of bribery related to the Olympics.

My AP Story Sept. 6, 2022 on the scandal widening with more arrests, Takahashi formally charged.

MY STORIES FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS EARLIER THIS YEAR

My AP Story Oct. 21, 2022 on the new German CEO at Japan’s Olympus.

My AP Story Oct. 13, 2022 on the new EV company bringing together Sony and Honda.

My AP Story Oct. 8, 2022, an Obit for Toshi Ichiyanagi.

My AP Story Sept. 30, 2020 where I chat online with Digital Minister Taro Kono.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Oct. 10, 2020 about tourists from abroad returning.

My AP Story Oct. 5, 2022 on a U.S.-Japan workshop on bioethanol in Tokyo.

My AP Story Sept. 29, 2022 on the NBA in Japan and My AP Photos.

My AP Story Sept. 25, 2022 when Floyd Mayweather Jr. wins in a exhibition fight in Japan.

My AP Story Sept. 24, 2022 on his comments ahead of the exhibition.

My AP Story Sept. 3, 2022 on rescued dolphins swimming free from a sanctuary in Indonesia.

My joint byline AP Story Sept. 28, 2022 on Vice President Harris in town.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Sept. 23, 2022 about the protest against Shinzo Abe’s state funeral.

My AP Story Aug. 26, 2022 with My AP Photos and My AP Video on Japanese salarymen becoming TikTok superstars.

My AP Story Sept. 24, 2022 on another storm hitting Japan.

My AP Story Sept. 19, 2022 on the storm hitting southwestern Japan and traveling northward to Tokyo.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Sept. 1, 2022 on a robot that stocks shelves at a convenience store.

My AP Obit Aug. 18, 2022 on fashion designer Hanae Mori.

My AP Obit Aug. 9, 2022 on Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake.

My AP Obit Aug. 30, 2022 on Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera.

My AP Story Aug. 3, 2022 about Japanese journalist Toru Kubota’s friends demanding his release from detention in Myanmar.

My AP Story Sept. 2, 2022 on Nissan eager to leverage U.S. tax breaks on electric vehicles.

My AP Story Aug. 31, 2022 on Toyota investing in battery production in the U.S. and Japan.

My AP Story Aug. 29, 2022 about Honda and LG setting up a battery JV in the U.S.

My AP Story Aug. 2, 2022 on Hino falsifying emissions and mileage data for 20 years.

My AP Story July 27, 2022 about monkeys attacking a Japan city.

音がすると思ったら猿が網戸触ってた😱　デカいやん‼️ めっちゃ怖い😢#山口市　 #猿　 #山口市猿　 #野生の猿 pic.twitter.com/L9y0mUi3Xz
— トモチー (@tom73328051) July 23, 2022

My AP Story July 18, 2022 on South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers talking to mend ties.

My AP Story and My AP Photos July 8, 2022 on a Japanese company stopping production of matchbooks. (I also did AP Video.)

My AP Story July 8, 2022 on how the attack on an ex-prime minister stuns Japan reputed for gun control.

My AP Story July 10, 2022 on how a homemade gun was used in the assassination.

My AP Story July 11, 2022 on how the Unification Church distanced itself from the assassination.

My AP Story July 29, 2022 on Sony’s profits rising despite waning interest in video games.

My AP Story July 28, 2022 on Nissan’s profits plunging on lockdown, chips shortage.

My AP Story July 8, 2022 on the death of Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of “Yu-Gi-Oh!”

My AP Story July 15, 2022 on how Toyota’s Japan flagship Crown is debuting on global markets.

My AP Story June 28, 2022 about Japan bracing for a return of tourists from abroad.

My AP Story and My AP Photos June 23, 2022 on a Japanese high court rejecting paternity harassment claims.

My AP Interview and AP Photos June 17, 2022 with Naomi Kawase about her Olympic films.

My AP Photos and AP Story June 19, 2022 on Juneteenth abroad to which I’m a Contributor.

My AP Story June 28, 2022 on Toshiba shareholders approving 13 nominations to the board.

My AP Story and My AP Photos June 12, 2022 on protests in Sapporo and Tokyo against bidding for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

My AP Story June 8, 2022 on boxing champion Naoya Inoue. My AP Interview from 2021.

My AP Story June 8, 2022 on Japan’s economy contracting, but at smaller rate than thought.

My AP Story June 7, 2022 an obit on former Sony chief Nobuyuki Idei.

My AP Story June 2, 2022, in which I interview poet Shuntaro Tanikawa.

My AP Video and My AP Story May 25, 2022 on how the declining yen is a blessing for some, burden to others.

My AP Story May 27, 2022 on a Kisho Kurokawa’s capsules coming down.

My AP Story May 30, 2022 on a territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan.

My AP Co-Byline Story today on the official Tokyo Olympics film on the athletes completed.

My AP Story May 13, 2022 on Nissan mulling a third auto plant in the U.S.

My AP Story May 11, 2022 about Wim Wenders making a film about fancy public restrooms in Japan.

My AP Story May 6, 2022 on musicians coming together in a video collaboration for Ukraine.

My AP Story April 27, 2022 on a Japan railway powered entirely by renewable energy.

My AP Story April 21, 2022 about U.S. drone company Zipline starting to deliver medicine in Japan.

My AP Story April 20, 2022 on an Ukrainian opera singer praying for peace through song.

My AP Story April 8, 2022 about “Tokyo Vice.”

My co-byline AP Story May 10, 2022 about an All Japan committee promoting the Sapporo Olympic bid.

My AP Story April 7, 2022 about famed directors denouncing sexual abuse in Japanese filmmaking.

My AP Story April 16, 2022 on American lawmakers meeting with Japan’s prime minister.

My AP Story April 12, 2022 on Honda’s electrification strategy.

My AP Story April 8, 2022 on Nissan developing a “game changing” battery for electric cars.

My AP Story June 3, 2022 on Toshiba considering going private as an option.

My AP Story March 24, 2022 on Toshiba shareholders voting down the latest restructuring plan.

My AP Story March 3, 2022 on the verdict for Greg Kelly, cleared on all counts except for charges in one of the eight contested years. He gets to go home because his sentence was suspended. The defense is appealing, asserting complete innocence.

My AP Story March 16, 2022 on the Tokyo prosecutors also appealing the verdict for Greg Kelly.

My AP EXPLAINER Story March 1, 2022 on the verdict for Greg Kelly, an American on trial in the Carlos Ghosn scandal.

My AP Story March 10, 2022 on the U.S. government seeking the two Americans in prison in Carlos Ghosn’s escape be allowed to serve the rest of their time in the U.S.

My AP Story Feb. 24, 2022 on how a Japanese woman influenced Jamaican music.

My AP Story March 24, 2022 about a widening scandal at top brokerage SMBC Nikko Securities.

My co-bylined AP Story March 16, 2022 on Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Olympics.

My AP Story Feb. 28, 2022 on how Japanese manga has gone global.

My AP Story March 4, 2022 on Japan’s Honda, Sony joining forces on new electric vehicle.

My AP Story March 1, 2022 on Toshiba’s CEO stepping down amid restructuring efforts.

My AP Story Feb. 16, 2022 on Kirin selling its China venture to an investment fund.

My AP Story Feb. 8, 2022 on SoftBank turning to IPO for its stake in Arm.

My AP Story Jan. 24, 2022, our obit on French fashion designer Manfred Thierry Mugler.

My AP Story Jan. 28, 2022 on Toyota going to the moon.

My AP Story Jan. 7, 2022 on Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa speaking about his recent trip to outer space.

My AP Story Feb. 15, 2022 on the economy growing on the back of improved consumer spending and exports.

My AP Story Feb. 1, 2022 on Toyota apologizing for employee’s suicide after overwork and power harassment.

My AP Story Jan. 28, 2022 on a high-profile departure at SoftBank.

My AP Story Jan. 27, 2022 on the Renault-Nissan alliance investing in electric vehicles.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Jan. 25, 2022 on Japanese skateboarders.

I worked on this AP Story Jan. 22, 2022 on the Tonga volcanic eruption.

My AP Story Jan. 21, 2022 on the shortage of parts caused by the coronavirus pandemic further denting production at Toyota.

My AP Story Jan. 20, 2022 on Japan’s imports and exports reaching record highs.

My AP Story Jan. 18, 2022 on Japan expanding COVID measures.

My AP Story Jan 12, 2022 on Japanese Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa confident about balancing COVID controls with economic growth.

My AP Story Jan. 9, 2022 on the Japanese prime minister saying a deal has been reached on the U.S. military to stop COVID’s spread.

My AP Story Jan. 7, 2022 about Japan kicking in restrictions to curb COVID infections in Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima.

My AP Story Jan. 6, 2022 on Japan asking U.S. forces to stay on bases as COVID cases jump.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Jan. 5, 2022 on North Korea firing a suspected missile.

My AP Story Jan. 4, 2021 on Japan’s Prime Minister promising coronavirus boosters and new measures against the omicron.

My AP Story Jan. 1, 2022 on the emperor’s message for the New Year.

No Tears _ a poem by Yuri Kageyama

No Tears
a poem by Yuri Kageyama

We do not weep, scream, even whimper,

Too scared to speak out;

Tears seek sniffles of sympathy,

Pleas want cuddles of resolution.

Born into darkness with no escape

We stay silent.

“Mama, I’m sorry, mama,”

Is not Something we say.

We drink in all those words

Like the salty tears we do not taste;

Just wait in fear,

Filled with hatred.

And the blind groping for justice,

The secret tongue-biting vow of revenge;

We we do not ask for pity,

We do not cry.

THE VERY SPECIAL DAY _ A CHILDREN’S BOOK by YURI KAGEYAMA with PICTURES by MUNENORI TAMAGAWA; Also A FILM BY HAYATTO

Cover for the children's book THE VERY SPECIAL DAY by Yuri Kageyama with pictures by Munenori Tamagawa.

THE VERY SPECIAL DAY is also a film by stop motion artist HAYATTO (August 2019). PLEASE WATCH FOR SCREENINGS.

The trailer:

A birthday is very special for any little boy.
And a little boy is very special for any parent.
This book is an everyday but very special story about the trials and joys of growing up in an imperfect world.
THE VERY SPECIAL DAY by Yuri Kageyama (first published in KONCH, Ishmael Reed Publishing Co., 2013).

A TOKYO FLOWER CHILDREN 2016 publication picture book, with Illustrations by Munenori Tamagawa, Book design by Fengshui Iwazaki.

FOR ORDERS for the book, please go to this artist Munenori Tamagawa’s link , or write to us, using the contact section of this site.

A story about how a defiant young woman tries to make a birthday a very special day for her child all by herself.
A story about how discrimination begins in the home, and how the fight against discrimination also begins in the home.
A story about ice cream at a birthday party and French Fries at the aquarium.
A story about how “they didn’t like us because we were Japanese American, and not Japanese.”
A story about how stars can be that cure-all ideal but no-cost spiritual present.
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.

Reading THE VERY SPECIAL DAY at Inokashira Koen Tokyo SUN. Oct. 23, 2016. Photo by Junji Kurokawa.

OUR READING OF THE VERY SPECIAL DAY at Inokashira Koen, Tokyo, SUN Oct. 23, 2016. Featuring Live Painting by Munenori Tamagawa, the illustrator of the book.
Left to Right: Yuri Kageyama (writer and storyteller), Hiroshi Tokieda (bass), Munenori Tamagawa (visual artist), Ryan Carter (guitar) and Kouzan Kikuchi (shakuhachi). PHOTOS by Junji Kurokawa.

Our Reading of THE VERY SPECIAL DAY at Inokashira Koen SUN Oct. 23, 2016. Photo by Junji Kurokawa.

So I thought about what could be a very special day for Mama, and so I asked her: “Mama, what would you like to do on your funeral?”
Mama stopped moving all of a sudden, and I thought she might even spank me because it was so all of a sudden, though she hardly ever ever ever spanks me.
That was how sudden it was.
Then she went back to normal and said, “I want a lot of beautiful music.”
So I said very quickly to catch up with her suddenness, “Mama, I will play that music. I will.”

_ Excerpt from “The Very Special Day,” a story first published in KONCH: Ishmael Reed Publishing Co. 2013, and a TOKYO FLOWER CHILDREN picture book, published 2016.

More photos from Inokashira Park courtesy park organizers:

BOOK PARTY free admission
featuring LIVE PAINTING by Munenori Tamagawa and poet Yuri Kageyama’s YURICANE spoken-word band with Kouzan Kikuchi (shakuhachi), Hiroshi Tokieda (bass), Trupti (vocals), Hirokazu Suyama (tabla).
Special Guests Kenwood Dennard, Biankah Bailey, Jacqueline Mujaya , Taylor Mignon and more.
SUN Aug. 7, 2016 2 p.m. Infinity Books. 1F Komagata Bashi Heights Bldg , 1-2-4 Azumabashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, 130-0001
SAT Aug. 13, 2016 2 p.m. Demi Cafe in sora Gallery. 3-14-1 Honcho Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo 85-0012