Club News - January 2014

FCCJ EXHIBITION:
Photographs by Everett Kennedy Brown

EVERETT KENNEDY BROWN’S PHOTOGRAPHS HAVE appeared in No. 1 Shimbun before as both reportage and artworks, and now his large-format series impresses from the walls of the Main Bar and Masukomi sushi restaurant. This month’s exhibition features his photographs from the Boso peninsula where he lives. The photographs are of the present day, but are taken using a wooden 19th-century camera, and the glassnegatives are developed by an old-fashioned wet-plate process. But they are timeless images, reflecting the continuum of the life-by-the-ocean theme of the series. The process and look of the contemporary but seemingly historical photographs fits alongside the back-and-forth of the sea that is their subject.

---

Everett Kennedy Brown is a writer, fine art photographer, FCCJ Member and former bureau chief of European Pressphoto Agency. His latest book is 日本力.

Heard at the Club

This is the first time we’ve had a law that covers all agencies and ministries. This is a good step forward.

CLUB NOTES . . .

MUSIC-BUSINESS LEGEND CLIVE DAVIS (ABOVE LEFT) SAYS THE INDUSTRY has a bright future despite the unfortunate tendency of many people not to pay for music they download or stream from the internet. Speaking at a Dec. 19 press conference at the club, the former head of the Columbia, Arista and J Records labels said he doesn’t accept the premise that the digital revolution has destroyed the traditional record-company business model.

Acts that Davis played a key role in discovering, signing and nurturing during his amazing career include Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith. He is now chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment.

And Davis said he doesn’t expect Sony to sell its entertainment properties, despite the urging of some shareholders who see such a move as the company’s best hope of reversing its declining fortunes.

— Steve McClure

FCCJ WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS

IF YOU AREN’T ONE OF THE INCREASING NUMBER OF FCCJ members who are now accessing our renewed website for information, updates, multimedia links and making reservations for Club events, then we hope you’ll visit www.fccj.or.jp and let us know your thoughts, comments and suggestions to improve the service.

We’re also expanding our social media presence. The Club is now tweeting regularly on updates of events, activities and other items of interest, so look for us and get reminders @fccjapan and on Facebook, at fccjapan.

If you’ve missed a recent press conference at the Club, but would like to catch up, go to our website and click on the Club News & Multimedia section at the top of the page. Under the pull down menu is a link to our YouTube channel which at press time hosts 43 videos.

The most watched in recent times had been the Naoto Kan event covered in these pages, but that was eclipsed by the appearance of Miss International 2012, who accused the head of a talent agency of stalking and threating her. That event has now been watched by some 50,000 viewers.

WILL ALL THE 99-YEAR-OLDS IN THE HOUSE RAISE THEIR HANDS

FCCJ’s oldest member, Chuck Lingam, celebrated his 99th birthday in the Club on Nov. 30, 2013 with some 20 friends. Chuck, born in Singapore in 1914, arrived in Japan in 1935. Chuck is an Open Table regular.

NEW MEMBERS

MIKE FIRN is the Japan Business Correspondent for China Central Television’s (CCTV) English-language channel.. He has lived in Japan for more than 13 years, reporting for CCTV, Al Jazeera and Bloomberg and contributing articles to newspapers including The Daily Telegraph and China Daily.

NEW IN THE LIBRARY