KJ News Archive

September 24, 2006: Kyoto Journal 's evening of poetry and music, Saturday September 23rd was a wonderful occasion, with a very fine reading by Edith Shiffert, now in her 9th decade. She has been writing poetry in Kyoto for over 40 years. [CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE]

Dennis Maloney of White Pine Press also read, from the recent reissue of The Kanginshu, translated by the late David Jenkins and Moriguchi Yasuhiko, and his own translations of Yosano Akiko. Michael Hofmann, noted local sumie-painter, showed some paintings. Preston Houser played shakuhachi, accompanied by well-rehearsed crickets and random water-harp (suikinkutsu).

Held at contributing editor Sherry Nakanishi's beautifully restored Kyoto Nama Chocolat Organic Tea House. In Okazaki, one street east of Okazaki-michi (which runs past the east side of Heian Jingu), 100 meters south of Marutamachi, on the east side of the street. Tel. 075 751 2678.

Thanks to all who came to share this event!

August 30: Local KJ contributor Jenny Hall, photographer and writer, has a new website, featuring a superb collection of photos from her travels around the world, especially the hinterlands of Asia. See her article "Heart and Seoul," in our online selection from our special issue on Korea, KJ #60.

Jenny is a contributing editor to our forthcoming special issue, Gender in Asia, and is also the travel editor for Kansai Time Out.

August 22: Message from Sally McLaren (guest editor of our upcoming Gender in Asia special issue):

Just got back to Kyoto tonight from Earth Celebration 06 (see Jean's notes here) on Sado ga shima. It was extremely hot this year and the collaboration was very unusual – taiko & tap/jazz/hip-hop – still digesting it all. As usual, Kodo put together a superbly organised and creative event.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out at the KJ stall – Deidre, Micah, Luigi, Rashida, Jenny, Ted and Anna. We did a lot of PR and I'm sure that there will be some new KJ readers as a result. Deidre, Micah and Luigi lugged across a table, chairs and canopy on the ferry - thank you so much!

Many thanks to all. For a close-up account of a previous Kodo Earth Celebration, see Lee Frank's article in KJ #58, with photos by Albie Sharpe.

July 27: KJ is pleased to welcome a new KJ intern, Helen Polychronakos, from the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, in Vancouver. Helen earned her B.A. and M.A. in English Literature at McGill University, Montreal. Her previous experience in Japan includes volunteering for the Karenni Rainbow Foundation, Osaka, (planning fundraising activities for educational projects in refugee camps in Thailand, plus visiting and writing about the camps), and with Women Helping Women, Kyoto. She has worked as a teacher in Osaka and Oita and also as a volunteer reporter and editor with Amnesty International Thailand, in Bangkok. She will be helping out with the final editing of our upcoming Gender in Asia issue (#64) before taking a trip to Thailand to do some follow-up reporting for KJ on her connections there.

July 23: The 8th World Assembly of Religions for Peace, first convened in Kyoto in 1970, and held every 5 years, will be held at Kyoto’s International Conference Hall from Aug 26 to 29. Over 2,000 participants including 500 religious leaders will discuss “Religions for Peace: Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security.” Among special guests: Mohammat Khatani, former President of Iran; Kjell Magne Bondevik, former P.M. of Norway; and Ann Veneman, executive director of UNICEF.

July 12: KJ has published a number of articles on the Penan people of the Sarawak rainforest and their struggle to protect their heritage:

"In Sarawak the Sky is Falling" Wladislav De,e KJ#15 (1990)
"Emerging from Terra Incognita" - an interview with Anderson Mutang and Bruno Manser - Beth Lischeron, KJ#22 (Radicalism of Cultural Continuity special issue)
"Between Two Worlds" - Carolyn Winstone, KJ#24 (Allure of the Exotic issue)
"Lakei eh Metat - Man Who Has Disappeared" - a tribute to Bruno Manser by Keith Harmon Snow, KJ#53 (Just Deeds special issue)

They are still struggling:

ACTION ALERT:
Malaysia Must Stop the Violence Against the Penan and Logging of Their Rainforests
By Rainforest Portal, a project of Ecological Internet, Inc.
http://www.rainforestportal.org/

July 9, 2006

TAKE ACTION: Insist Malaysian authorities respect native customary land rights and boundaries of Penan's last remaining ancestral rainforest reserves.
http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=penan

Malaysia's indigenous Penan peoples are again resorting to logging road blockades to protect their native customary land rights and last remaining ancestral rainforest reserves. Logging workers of Malaysian Interhill logging have already dismantled a Penan logging road blockade near Ba Abang in the Middle Baram region of Sarawak on the Island of Borneo. Now the Police and Federal Reserve Unit are reportedly moving into the Baram region to break at the behest of Samling logging a long-standing second blockade erected by the Penan to protect the boundaries of their last remaining large rainforest expanse. There exists great potential yet again in Sarawak for deadly violence against indigenous peoples striving to protect their way of life and rainforest habitats.

July 1: Our 2005 KJ news items have been moved to KJ News Archive page, so this page will load faster...

June 17: Naomi Hennig, who has been interning with us as a designer/artist this last 6 months, will leave Kyoto at the end of June. She did some fine illustrations and layouts for #63 and #64; more of her work is posted at www.hellonaomi.com
We thank her for her time and fine work here, and look forward to remaining in touch after she goes back to Germany.

June 6: KJ #63 has been mailed out to to subscribers and distributors.Many thanks to all contributors and volunteer staff.

If you aren't yet a subscriber, now is a good time to sign up. See our Subscriptions page for details - it's easy to subscribe on-line. We think this is another classic issue...

Our cover story, an interview with Ainu art historian Kitty Dubreuil, by Jean Miyake-Downey and Rebecca Dosch-Brown, provides an impressive overview of an indigenous culture that is both ancient and still thriving. The same could be said for the Kalachakra Empowerment Ceremony, as performed last January in Amaravathi, India, by the Dalai Lama and reported on for KJ by participant Keith Harmon Snow.

For a full description and complete list of contents, please check out our Current Issue page.

May 1: What would you do if your baby were stolen by Chechen kidnappers? Or if you discovered you were living next door to an Irish terrorist? Or if you were a North Korean woman who was sold to a Chinese peasant as a wife*?

These are some of the dilemmas faced by characters in Russell Working's new book of short fiction, The Irish Martyr, released by the University of Notre Dame Press.

A number of the stories are drawn from his experiences as a reporter in the States and abroad. They have appeared in places like The Atlantic, Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope, The Paris Review , and TriQuarterly.

"The Irish Martyr is a powerful, brave and dangerous book that takes us to the borderlands where religion and geopolitics rip apart the lives of ordinary people. These are stories about torture, decapitation, rape, kidnapping and trafficking in women and babies. They are about men and women caught in the meat-grinder of history, caught between trying to survive as human beings and the vicious tools of dogma, ideology and greed. Russell Working knows the dark corners of the world, he knows the personal underside of the news stories we have become all too accustomed to seeing on our TV screens. He writes straight from the heart, with a moral indignation that is palpable." —Douglas Glover, author of Elle and The Enamoured Knight.

*Russell's "Dear Leader" appeared in KJ #52, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize

April 14: Pico Iyer's "On the Rope Bridge," an evocative and thoughtful first-hand account of travels in Tibet featured in KJ #57, received a special mention in the 2006 Pushcart Prize volume (XXX, p. 479).

March 25: An update re our Orhan Pamuk review in KJ 62:

To clear up any confusion that may result from the headline ("Pamuk in Exile: A Retrospective") in KJ 62 of the review of Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul and other titles by the same author, it should be noted that when this review was written Pamuk's fate was unclear, but that at no time did he offIcially go into exile (though a New York Times editorial stated that he had left Turkey).

James Dalglish, our reviewer, sent a corrected headline but it was received too late to make it into the published version. He would like to emphasize that Pamuk never actually went into exile. To the great relief of his many fans and supporters in Turkey and abroad, this case was dismissed in mid-January but the court's decision was not seen as an affirmation of freedom of speech, rather a concession to international pressure. As Pamuk's lawyer, put it, "The court dropped the charges not because the trial violated freedom of speech..." but because "...there was a missing approval by the Justice Ministry to proceed with the case."

For more information, see the following article:
Court Drops Charges Against Author for 'Insulting' Turkey
By Sebnem Arsu
The New York Times, January 23, 2006

See also:
Charges dropped against novelist accused of insulting "Turkishness"
The Associated Press
The International Herald Tribune, January 23, 2006

Feb 17: New posting on Encounters: "The Barber" by Dustin Leavitt, from #62

Jan 29: New issue, #62 ...

#62 opens with a penetrating new essay by preeminent environmental writer & poet Gary Snyder, entitled “Writers and the War Against Nature.” Presented at an international literary festival, “Writers Working for Peace,” in Seoul in May 2005, it's in part autobiographical, chronicling the writer’s early realizations and his more recent insights into the role of the wild in human experience, and the role of humans, especially writers, artists and performers as “members of the organic world.”

Cover by Jack Madson, who is featured in "Migrating Genius: the Art & Life of Jack Madson" by Stewart Wachs.

Online subscriptions here. Inside Japan, a full year's subscription (4 issues) is just 3,200 yen, including direct mail to your door. Elsewhere in Asia, US$39; beyond Asia, US$50. Great value, an appreciated gift too!

Jan 25: Brother Anthony of Taize, translator of many volumes of Korean literature, especially postwar poetry, and contributor of the article "Pain and Truth: A Pilgrimage with Some Korean Poets" in KJ #60, our special Korea issue, visited Kyoto to give a remarkable and very moving public reading on Sunday, January 22nd (more details and photos).
The event also featured modern dance, to kayagum music by a Korean Living National Treasure composer, and a demonstration of Korean tea ceremony. We hope that this will be the first of an on-going series of KJ New Issue events. Details will be announced here...

Dec 28, 2005: Newly added, a page of Guidelines for Writing Articles for KJ.

Dec 19: KJ is "the site of the month" at KOStudies.com, an excellent Japanese/Asian multicultural and historical resource run by Stephen Burge, originally from England, now living in the U.S.A., after having lived in Fukuoka and the coal mining districts south of Kitakyushu, who became interested in the multi-cultural aspects of the area after meeting so many people of Korean descent living in the area. Bookmark this site! Thanks Jean for making the contact.

Dec 4: A new page for KJ Meetings. Photos by Tierry Le.
Also, basic advice on interviewing, linked from our Submissions Guidelines.

Dec 3: Pushcart Prize - Best of the Small Presses XXX
KJ was recently honored by being invited again this year to nominate six pieces published within this year for The Pushcart Prize project.

Since 1976, the organizers, led by Bill Henderson, out of Wainscott NY, have selected the best of non-mainstream publishing for an annual anthology that has featured more than 400 presses and thousands of writers of short stories, poetry and essays. Nominations "may be any combination of poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot... We welcome translations, reprints and both traditional and experimental writing."

We chose the following for our nominations:

In the Footsteps of 'The Way of Haiku' by Michael Fessler (#59)
In Spite of Ourselves by Frank Stewart (#59)
Manners of Speech: coming to terms with Kyoto's code by Philip J. Cunningham (#59)
Pain and Truth - A pilgrimage with some Korean Poets by Brother Anthony of Taize (#60)
South of the Border: Consumed by Divisions by Donald Kirk (#60)
Painting Cambodia by Karen Coates (#61)

Results will be announced by Pushcart in April, and the anthology will be published in late fall 2006

Nov. 23: Last Sunday, Founding Editor/Art Director John Einarsen and Associate Editor Stewart Wachs gave a well-illustrated two-hour presentation ("Nineteen Going on Twenty: The Story of Kyoto Journal Magazine" to SWET (Society of Writers, Editors and Translators) at Sophia University's Central Library in Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo. A great opportunity to make new connections and give KJ a little more exposure within Japan. Many thanks to Lynne Riggs for her great work in organizing the event!

Nov. 17: One of our march photos, and a link to the KJ page appeared on Bartcop's site (scroll down, way down...) yesterday – must have been within hours of posting them here. Many thanks to whoever facilitated that connection! Thanks also to Bob Brady for a link on Pure Land Mountain – check out his comment on Bush's meeting with the chief priest of the Buddhist temple, Kinkakuji.
Another report on one of the marches here.

Nov 15: Street protest this moonlit evening re Bush's visit to otherwise peaceful Kyoto. Several different marches and demos. More photos here.

And a relevant link to an article from #51, Getting Beyond Good vs Evil: A Buddhist Perspective on the New Holy War by David R. Loy:
"The new war against terrorism, like the long-standing tension between Israel and the Palestinians, and like many earlier conflicts among Jews, Christians and Muslims, can be viewed as an Abrahamic civil war. These encounters are so violent and so difficult to resolve not only because they draw on old historical tensions, but because the opponents seem to share some very similar views about the struggle between good and evil. This essay originates in the curious fact that the al-Qaeda understanding of good and evil — the need for a holy war against evil — is also emphasized by the administration of George W. Bush. "

Oct 26: KJ has been nominated again, for the 9th consecutive year, by Utne magazine for their prestigious Independent Press Awards – this time for International Coverage:

"It's time again to shine light on the alternative press and celebrate our favorite magazines. Throughout the year, we read, skim, and glean from more than 1,300 periodicals-from hand-scribbled zines to manicured glossies-and countless Web sites in search of the most inspiring, enlightening, and meaningful prose to share with our readers. The Utne Independent Press Awards toast publications that make us laugh, cry, wonder, argue, read aloud, act out, photocopy, and even, truth be told, buy personal subscriptions."

"Kyoto Journal stands out as an important independent media voice. We are pleased to honor your accomplishments with an Utne Independent Press Award nomination," said editor Karen Olson.

Everyone who has given their time to this publication has played an important part in enabling the magazine to be what it is – many thanks to all our volunteer staff, and contributors!

Oct 1: Contributing editor Sherry Nakanishi and husband Hirofumi have opened a tearoom in their old Japanese house virtually next-door to founding editor John Einarsen's place — Kyoto Nama Chocolat Organic Tea House. Healthy organic teas, tanpopo coffee, cakes, meals, and Hirofumi's superb hand-made mouth-watering chocolates... In Okazaki, one street east of Okazaki-michi (which runs past the east side of Heian Jingu), 100 meters south of Marutamachi, on the east side of the street. Tel. 075 751 2678. Pictured, some of KJ clan enjoying lunch after our meeting today.

Sept 23: A fine new review of #60, our Korea issue, from David Frazier, of POTS magazine,Taiwan (who previously published KJ contributor Scot Ezell's accounts of life in an aboriginal community in Taiwan).

Aug 22: Many of KJ's contributing editors and others who play key roles in in this publication are involved in other publications as well, so we have added a new page, Related Publications, to showcase some of their achievements.

Aug 19: World-famous taiko drumming band Kodo's Earth Celebration Festival is on this weekend (19 - 21) on Sado Island.

"Kodo takes to the stage solo on Friday evening to start the celebration, then on Saturday our special guest Carlos Nunez brings his 4-man ensemble all the way from Galicia, Spain to share their unique style of Celtic music. For the Sunday evening finale Kodo and Carlos will share the stage with calligrapher Koji Kakinuma who faces the challenge of capturing the spirit of this incomparable collaboration with brush and ink. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event not to be missed..."

KJ #58 (Freeing Spirit") features an inspired profile of this unique event, by Lee Frank, based on his experience and a number of interviews with core members last year. And KJ is again represented at the festival, this year by Ben Newton and Jacob Young (Ben's story of their trip is posted here).

Jean Miyake Downey writes on grassroots nonviolent social change, multiculturalism, and the hidden influences cultures exert upon each other. She is multicultural herself, with Scottish, British, Welsh, Irish, Cherokee- American and Japanese roots. A KJ contributing editor, her "Dragonfly Island Pilgrimage, a Journey through Multicultural Japan" appeared in KJ #56. Making excellent use of the Web in her research, she's a steady source of remarkable finds, and we are delighted to share them on our site, as an ongoing compilation.Thanks Jean!

Also, since interviews and profiles are such an essential part of KJ, we have a new page listing them in back issues. We hope to post more of the articles themselves on this site – when we get time...

Good Day Books, in Tokyo, is the largest used English bookstore in Japan. They also feature two ongoing in-house events:

Hiroshima. Nagasaki. 60 years on.
Necessary evil, or an unprecedented act of WMD terrorism?

"In the Shadow of the Atomic Bomb: 60 Years of US/Japan Relations"
by Jun Hoshikawa, July 17, 2005, at Schreiner University, Texas.
(Author of "Views from Two Ground Zeros," in KJ #59)

"Recreating Memory," by Paul Scott (KJ #53, Just Deeds)
Testimony from Yamaoka Michiko, who at 15 years of age survived the Hiroshima bombing.

Dr Harold Agnew, with the plutonium core of the Nagasaki bomb.
"About three-quarters of the US nuclear arsenal was designed under my tutelage at Los Alamos. That is my legacy."
BBC: The Men who Bombed Hiroshima

See also, Children of the Manhattan Project -- especially their interactive message board (and Atomic Bomb General Store). Interesting browsing...

Japan correspondent Kjeld Duits features a special collecion of Hiroshima-related sites on his excellent Japan News site.

KJ #60, our special issue on Korea has been mailed out to subscribers and contributors, and is now on sale in bookstores in Japan. Many thanks to guest editor Bob Fouser for all his work in helping to put this one together. This is the first time that we have focused specifically on one country within Asia. We held a launch party in Kyoto on the evening of June 19th (sincere apologies to anyone who may not have received an invitation due to overzealous spam blocking).

This being also our 60th issue, it provided the opportunity for a special presentation to founding editor John Einarsen (and Midori). Many thanks to Eric Luong and Sherry Nakanishi for organizing the event, and to Yamaguchi Gembei and Shim Yeon-kyoung, the kind owners of Somushi, the wonderful Korean teahouse venue.Thanks also to superb dancer Yotsuyanagi Ikuko, of Miyagi Ballet Studio, Kim Kyonja and Chung Yun-nam, who played funky Korean kayagun (koto) and changgo (Korean drum), and "Kamihito" (Ebina Takehito) for his inspired song and chant. (See event photos here)