Issue:
FILM COMMITTEE RECEIVES INDUSTRY AWARD
The FCCJ’s Film Committee was honored at a ceremony in early March with a Cine-Culture Club Award for its “contributions to the development of cinema culture” and its “domestic and international promotion of Japanese cinema.” Sponsored by the Japan Fashion Association, it was among a number of commendations given across a range of fields, including product and technology development, cultural activities and regional promotions. The award was accepted by Film Committee Chair Karen Severns and her partner Koichi Mori, who have together coordinated over 150 film screenings with more than 300 Q&A guests over the past 10 years.
NUMBER 1 SHIMBUN COLLECTS DESIGN AWARD
Cutting open Kim Jong-un’s head wins Number 1 Shimbun an award or at least the illustrative representation of such on our November 2016 cover about the journalists analyzing North Korea has done so. Designer Andrew Pothecary submitted the cover to the Society of Publication Designers (SPD) Annual Design Competition and achieved a “Merit” win. The New York-based SPD has been running for 52 years and is “dedicated to promoting and encouraging excellence in editorial design.” This year’s jury was co-chaired by designers from Condé Naste Traveler and Texas Monthly and included 36 jury members including design, illustrator and photographic representatives from the New Yorker to Popular Mechanics.
JOIN THE FILM COMMITTEE . . .
. . . at 7:00 on Tues., April 25 for a sneak preview screening of writer director Kiyoshi Sasabe’s moving Yaeko’s Hum, the fact-based story of an educator who becomes a devoted caregiver when his wife develops early-onset Alzheimer’s. A poignant argument against the outsourcing of care, the film stars Takeshi Masu as the loving husband whose devotion not only enhances Yaeko’s quality of life, but allows her to live long past the disease’s typical survival rate. Yaeko is played by Yoko Takahashi, returning to the screen for her first role in 28 years, playing both younger and older versions of the former music teacher who can no longer remember the lyrics to her favorite songs, but loves to hum them. The director and his two stars will be there for a Q&A session following the screening.
(Japan, 2016; 112 minutes; Japanese with English subtitles.)
REINSTATEMENT (REGULAR MEMBERS)
DARRYL GIBSON is a freelance journalist and consultant for international sporting events in Asia, Europe and North America. He wrote his first news story for the Gazette at the University of Western Ontario in October 1967. He has been a television reporter and cinematographer; radio reporter; newspaper reporter and bureau chief; foreign correspondent for the Canadian Press in Asia based in Tokyo from 1981 until 2004; freelancer for newspapers, magazines and wire services around the world; for radio, including a decade with NPR, and television; and sub-editor and Asia editor at Kyodo News from 1980 to 2015. After retiring from Kyodo in 2015, he spent seven months in Italy before returning to Japan.
REED STEVENSON rejoins the FCCJ after a 14-year hiatus, following his return to Tokyo as technology editor at Bloomberg. His last stint in Japan was reporting for Reuters from 1996 to 2002. In between, Reed’s bureau chief assignments with the news agency took him to Seattle, Amsterdam and Dubai. He joined Bloomberg in San Francisco four years ago. A graduate of an international school in Yokohama and the University of Pennsylvania, he’s enjoying the benefits of deflation in Japan and looking forward to catching up with news colleagues in Tokyo.
PROFESSIONAL/JOURNALIST ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Malte Jaspersen, Kyoto Sangyo University
Satoko Hirano, Heaps Co., Ltd.
Yukako Kimura, Arttrav Inc.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Julio Arias, Delegation of the European Union
Setsuko Ogata, Otsuka Kagu Ltd.
Megumi Aiba, Dentsu Inc.
Makoto Hirabayashi, Mr Japan Co., Ltd.
Togo Hosaka, Hack Japan Holdings Co., Ltd.
Shinichiro Komatsu, Support Co., Ltd.
Akinobu Oguchi, Kinseiryuhou Association
Mysa Ohkawa, SMBC Trust Bank
Kan Takahashi, Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
Shoichi Yamamura, Intervision
Fallacies in the Allied Nations’ Historical Perception as Observed by a British Journalist
Henry Scott StokesHamilton BooksGift from Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact
Five Years After: Reassessing Japan’s Responses to the Earthquake, Tsunami, and the Nuclear Disaster
Keiichi Tsunekawa (ed.)University of Tokyo PressGift from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Terebi dokyumentari o tsukutta hitobito
Nihon Hoso Kyokai Hoso Bunka Kenkyujo (ed.)NHK ShuppanGift from NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute
Crouching Tiger: What China’s Militarism Means for the World
Peter Navarro; Gordon G. Chang (Foreword) Prometheus Books
Ricoh goes local to revitalize regional economies
At Ricoh, our business is creating and providing solutions across a vast spectrum of needs in industry, commerce, government, science, medicine, everyday life and more. And we've learned that success in finding solutions requires deep understanding of problems and the processes behind them. It requires close engagement.
One 'meta-issue' now engaging us is the matrix of challenges facing communities beyond Japan's three major metropolises: regions facing rapid population loss and economic decline as society ages and young people opt for the big city bright lights. The question is, how can we help revitalize these regions?
In search of answers, Ricoh is making comprehensive local collaboration agreements with prefectural and municipal governments across the country. The aim is to identify challenges and potential solutions by targeting key concerns, ranging from education and culture through public health, tourism and economic development to disaster response and reconstruction.
Since big advances usually start with small steps, early initiatives are geared to the local scale, for example: advice on reducing electric power consumption, photographic mapping of communities, sharing knowledge on diversity and work-life balance, and an educational program for kids we call "Science Caravan."
At Ricoh, this is how R&D and CSR go hand-in-hand.
