THE YURICANE BACK AT THE PINK COW SAT APRIL 4, 2015 TOKYO JAPAN
PHOTOS BY EBA CHAN
Hirokazu Suyama Jackson
Excerpts from “NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA: MEDITATION ON AN UNDER-REPORTED CATASTROPHE BY A POET” debutng at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York September 2015, directed by Carla Blank with dance and music.
Yuri Kageyama – spoken word
Hirokazu Suyama Jackson – drums
Yuuichiro Ishii – guitar
Nobutaka Yamasaki – keyboard
MYTHICAL MONSTER
A Poem by Yuri Kageyama
Catfish sleeps
Buried in the mud
Of meltdown metal
A black-light coastline
Fifty reactors
Tomari to Genkai
Catfish moves
And the Earth rumbles
Sways its tail
And skyscrapers crumble
Swishes a whisker
Bridges, roads shatter
Catfish grows
Bigger and bigger
Eight snake faces
Eight dragon tails
Volcanic eruption
Yamata no Orochi
Monster lives
Our daughters and sons
Every year, a sacrifice
Hundred eight brave samurai
They’re all dead,
Trying to kill it
We will be presenting excerpts from our performance piece set to open at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York, N.Y., September 2015.
We will be on toward the end of the evening, which goes on 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. SAT April 4, 2015.
Please take part in our poetic journey of everyday life, defying the borderlines of race, gender and cultures, to examine the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and other cosmic and innermost issues of importance.
By poet Yuri Kageyama and The Yuricane band featuring Hirokazu Suyama (drums, percussions), Yuuichiro Ishii (guitar), Nobutaka Yamasaki (keyboards). FREE ADMISSION
Great California-style food and drinks at The Pink Cow in Tokyo’s Roppongi, but you have to pay for those.
TURNING JAPANESE a poem by Yuri Kageyama
Film and Photos by Ian Thomas Ash
Reading by Yuri Kageyama Wincester Nii Tete on percussion and Hiromichi Ugaya on bass at The Pink Cow in Tokyo for a “Looking At Fukushima” event May 7, 2013.
TURNING JAPANESE
a poem by Yuri Kageyama
Turning Japanese is not masturbation
Could even be for sale
So be proud
Take architecture:
We take space that’s smaller than a toilet
Create a garden to express the Universe
Todaiji Temple grandeur hierachy
It doesn’t even use any nails
Turning Japanese is not masturbation
Could even be for sale
So be proud
Take ikebana:
Flowers and herbs and blades of grass
Sculpture ecology Basho-esque balance
Homage to God’s perfection of design
It doesn’t even last a week
Turning Japanese is not masturbation
Could even be fore sale
So be proud
Take law and order:
Our trains are clean, run always on time
Apology on the PA if they’re two minutes late
The homeless politely take off their shoes
To get in their cardboard homes
Turning Japanese is not masturbation
Could even be for sale
So be proud
Take politics:
They tell us we have a democracy
Imported direct from the US of A
A new prime minister every year or so
What’s his name _ Koizumi, Abe, Fukuda, Aso, Hatoyama, Kan, Noda _ Abe again?
Please remember!
Turning Japanese is not masturbation
Could even be for sale
So be proud
Take women:
Excuse me, I mean, Take girls:
Uniform miniskirts, eyelash extensions
Never have jobs or grow older than 13
But grow Barbie’s breasts
Turning Japanese is not masturbation
Could even be for sale
So be proud
Technology:
Robots, Pokemon, gadgets galore
Attention to detail, precision with vengeance
We get everything right _ unless something goes wrong
Like a nuclear meltdown
Turning Japanese is not masturbation
Could even be for sale
So be proud
Celebration
Revolution
Masturbation
Nuclear nation
Hydrogen explosion
Can I have your attention
Masturbation
Radiation
Nuclear nation …..
The Asian American Journalists Association presents “LOOKING AT FUKUSHIMA _ An Evening with Hiromichi Ugaya,”
a talk, photo slideshow and discussion session with a veteran journalist documenting a post-nuclear disaster landscape.
THE PINK COW
5-5-1 Roppongi Minatoku Tokyo Roi Building B1F
TUESDAY May 7, 2013 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
2,500 yen for a Great Buffet is the only charge. Drinks pay as you go at the bar.
A public English-language event.
Come on time to catch a musical performance opening the event.
Musicians and poets welcome for Jam Open Mike to close the event.
Hiromichi “Hiro” UGAYA is a veteran journalist, photographer and educator, who has devoted his life recently to intensive coverage of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and the plight of the tens of thousands of people the accident has displaced. A former reporter at Asahi newspaper and writer for AERA magazine, he has authored more than half a dozen books on security issues, media criticism, Internet technology and Japanese pop culture. A graduate of Kyoto University, he holds a Master’s in International Security Affairs from Columbia University. His latest book “Fukushima’s Lost Seasons” is a poetic photo essay of the serene flowers and trees of the region that have been invisibly devastated by radiation. He is also a bassist and performs regularly at Tokyo clubs.
