Japanese radicalism & counterculture
On 26 June, the Tokyo High Court handed down a ruling in an appeal filed by three bereaved family members seeking damages from the state over the death of left-wing activist Hoshino Fumiaki in 2019. They claimed that the 73-year-old’s … Continue reading →
I am very pleased to announce the publication of my book Pink Auteur, Red Outlaw: Adachi Masao and Japan’s Cinema of Revolution on September 1. Published by Awai Books, it is a decade-in-the-writing critical biography of the filmmaker and activist, … Continue reading →
This year has seen the publication of Wakayama Tadataka’s photo book Threshold from Akaaka, the latest in a growing corpus of photographic practices that engage with the legacy of the Narita Airport protests and the current landscape in the Chiba … Continue reading →
The far-left group Chūkaku-ha issued an extraordinary statement on 11 September announcing that a leading member of its youth wing, Ishida Mayumi, had been dismissed from his senior positions in the Central Student Committee and Politburo, and expelled due to … Continue reading →
News Post Seven published an extensive four-part interview in July with a 21-year-old woman identified only as Ninomiya, described as “Chūkaku-ha’s mystery beauty”. More than the “respectable” sections of the media, the tabloids are inclined to give coverage to Japanese … Continue reading →
Yoshida Dormitory has reached a settlement in its long-running lawsuit with Kyoto University. Japan’s oldest student dormitory had launched legal action in 2019 to prevent the university from demolishing one of the buildings over safety concerns. In the deal announced … Continue reading →
While the famous and infamous inevitably attract admiration and attention in abundance, a very particular strain of curiosity is reserved also for their offspring. Children of the Revolution is a well-received 2011 documentary by Shane O’Sullivan about two women whose … Continue reading →
A new film by possibly the oldest working director in Japan and last surviving auteur of the New Wave should be major news in its own right, but the most recent work by Adachi Masao has attracted attention so far … Continue reading →
On 1 January 2024, Noto was hit by a major earthquake, especially devastating Wajima and Suzu at the end of the peninsula. This is a long personal essay about my experience of the earthquake. New Year’s Day, 2024 We are … Continue reading →
One of the reasons I have been less active here recently is my involvement these past two years in a research project with Dr Gary McLeod with the University of Tsukuba investigating rephotographic practices and coastal change in the Tōhoku … Continue reading →