Issue:
JOIN THE FILM COMMITTEE . . .
…on Wed., Feb. 24 at 7pm for the mysterious, mesmerizing While the Women Are Sleeping, by acclaimed director Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing, The Joy Luck Club, Smoke). Marking his first made-in-Japan production with an adaptation of a short story by Spanish writer Javier Marías, Wang has attracted a top-notch cast, including “Beat” Takeshi Kitano, essaying his first lead role in 12 years in a film by another director. Hot actor Hidetoshi Nishijima plays a blocked writer, vacationing at a plush Izu resort with his wife, who notices a beefy older man (Takeshi) and a comely young lass, obviously intimate, but not father and daughter, lounging by the pool. Kenji’s interest rapidly grows into obsession and finally, something possibly worse. Wang’s frequent producer Yukie Kito and star Shiori Kutsuna will be on hand for the Q&A, just days after returning from the film’s world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival.
(Japan, 2016; 103 minutes; Japanese with English subtitles.)
FCCJ HACKS & FLACKS
The FCCJ's annual Hacks & Flacks party was attended by hundreds on Friday, Jan. 29. This opportunity for PR, government and business representatives to meet and mix with journalist Members opened with a speech from 1st Vice President Peter Langan (top). The traditional celebratory smashing of the saké barrel (provided by Born Saké) was handled by PAC committee representative Justin McCurry, Langan, Club President Suvendrini Kakuchi and Secretary Mary Corbett (above). The saké helped supplement the food and drink (above left) and smoothed the interactions in this informal atmosphere. It was so successful that one participant suggested to President Kakuchi that the event should be held more often.
Discount LexisNexis Subscriptionsfor FCCJ Members
The FCCJ is pleased to offer members a substantial discount on subscriptions to LexisNexis’ news database service, Nexis.com
The Members-only deal allows for flat-rate access at¥7,900 per month – offeringbig savings on a service that normally costs ¥126,000 per month
The service will be billed by the Club. The FCCJ benefits from all subscriptions sold under this arrangement.
Nexis provides access to news and information from more than 34,000 sources, including Kyodo News, Jiji, Yonhap, Xinhua, AP, Reuters, AFP, all major world newspapers and specialist news sources. Also included is a database of U.S. and international company information, biographical databases, country profiles and a U.S. legal database.
For those already in on the secret, the application form is available on the FCCJ website or from the 19F Club office.
REGULAR MEMBERS
YUSUKE KUBO is senior producer of BS-TBS, producing “Through Foreign Journalists’ Eyes,” a news program featuring foreign correspondents discussing current affairs, domestic and international. He has worked in the news section of Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from 1993, covering news as a cameraman, correspondent and producer. He was the resident correspondent in Bangkok, and has covered the turmoil following the Asia financial crisis, the India-Pakistan Kashmir conflict and the Afghanistan War from 1998 to 2001. Kubo was born in Fukushima City.
TOM REDMOND is Japan Stocks editor for Bloomberg in Tokyo and deputy head of the team covering Asian equities. He is also an occasional reporter, writing mostly on Japan-related topics including shareholder activism and corporate governance. A native of Dublin, Ireland, he has been living in Tokyo since 1997 and is fluent in Japanese.
PROFESSIONAL/JOURNALIST ASSOCIATE MEMBER
Katsuhiko Waza, BBC World Japan Limited
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Nathan Floyd, Suntory Holdings Limited
Russell Saito, Impact Foundation Japan
Miaw Wen Shieh, Taipei Economic & Cultural Representative Office
Ayako Doi, Konica Minolta, Inc.
Yukari Fukushima, The Pokemon Company,
Mami Iwamoto, Konica Minolta, Inc.
Yukihiko Komatsuzaki, Familymart Co., Ltd.
Yasuhiro Kawakami, Toyo Reizo Co., Ltd.
Kentaro Miura, Dentsu Public Relations Inc.
Yukie Ohta, En-Japan, Inc.
Hasumi Ozawa, Suntory Holdings Limited
Koji Ohta, Dentsu Public Relations Inc.
Kimiaki Shimizu, System Communications, Inc.
REINSTATEMENT (ASSOCIATE)
Kai Hielscher, Deloitte Tohmatsu Tax Co.
Tatsuya Fujisaku, Mitsubishi Corporation
Drawings of Mr. Fuji, a Symbol of Japan's Culture and Art: Katsushika Hokusai's Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji
Kikumi Sasuga (Supervisor); Kazutada Yoshida (Text by); Takeo Yamasaki and Takahiko Sakai (Translators)Bijutsu ShuppanDonated by Takeo Yamasaki
Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World
Ian BremmerPortfolio Penguin Donated by Ian Bremmer
Jio ekonomikusu no seiki: jizerogo no nihon ga ikinokoru michi (The Age of Geo-Economics)
Takashi Mitachi; Ian BremmerNihon Keizai Shimbun ShuppanshaDonated by Ian Bremmer
Love, Sex, and Democracy in Japan during the American Occupation
Mark McLellandPalgrave Macmillan
Neurotic Beauty: An Outsider Looks at Japan
Morris BermanWater Street Press
SUPPORT YOUR CLUB MAGAZINE
Please send your story ideas to no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp, and be sure to note whether you have (or have access to) visuals.
Our rates are ¥20 per published word, ¥20,000 for a front cover photo. Photo essays: ¥15,000 for full-page photos and ¥5,000 for smaller shots. All payments will be made in chits to your member account.
80 years on, still imagining the future
Eighty years ago this month, on February 6, Kiyoshi Ichimura founded Riken Kankoshi, as a spin-off from the Riken Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, to make sensitized paper used in reproducing blueprints. But that was just the first focus of Ichimura's imagination and ambition. Within two years, the renamed Riken Optical Co. began producing optical devices, including cameras.
Once peace was restored, Riken Optical began producing cameras under the Ricohflex brand from 1950. Then in 1955 came a breakthrough innovation: the Ricopy 101 diazo copier, the world's first copier suitable for office use — which quickly became ubiquitous in offices across Japan.
As the company's products gained worldwide popularity, by 1963 it was time to harmonize the brand and corporate identities under a new name: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
Although the name changed and it grew to become a global enterprise, Ricoh's vision and principles were continually guided by Kiyoshi Ichimura, who led the company for 32 years until his death in 1968. Even today, as Ricoh seeks to extend the frontiers of optical technology, Ichimura's indelible imprint still shapes our thinking: imagine. change.
