THE EVENTS Wed., 2/28/07 Anime screening & director’s talk The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) 7pm @ MIT Room 32-123  Map of MIT: http://whereis.mit.edu Anime director Mamoru Hosoda will screen and discuss his feature film “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” (Toki o kakeru shôjo, 2006, Kadokawa/Madhouse), which was awarded Best Animation of the Year at the Japan Academy Awards (2/07). This high school drama is based on a classic short story by sci-fi writer Yasutaka Tsutsui. Hosoda reinterprets the tale for today’s generation of youth through crisp storytelling and stylish visuals. This preview screening is free and open to the public, though space will be limited to first 300 guests. This film would be appropriate for teens and up. Thursday, 3/1/07 HIP-HOP JAPAN book launch dialogue w/ author 4 - 5:30pm @ MIT Room 4-237 Map of MIT: http://whereis.mit.edu MIT professor Ian Condry will discuss his recently published book Hip-Hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization (2006, Duke U Press). Discussion will be lead by local hip-hop scholars Thomas DeFrantz, MIT, author Dancing Revelations (2004, Oxford) and Murray Forman, Northeastern U., author of The ‘Hood Comes First (2002, Wesleyan). Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. Miss Monday in concert Japanese hip-hop artist from Tokyo + local hip-hop sensations . . . Akrobatik and Danielle Scott Doors 8:30, Show: 9:00p, Mar. 1 (Th) @ The Middle East (Upstairs) 272 Mass Ave., Cambridge, MA Tickets required: $8 Adv. / $10 Door (18+) Miss Monday, female rapper from Japan, with her group. Her major label albums include “&I” (2006), “Miss Rainbow” (2004), “Natural” (2003), and “Free Ya” (2002). More information and sound samples online: http://www.missmonday.com Don’t miss this opportunity to hear irrepressible Japanese hip-hop from one of Tokyo’s hottest artists. This show will also feature local hip-hop stars Akrobatik and Danielle Scott. Friday, 3/2/07 Panel Discussions “Love and War in Japanese Pop Culture” 1 - 5pm @ Harvard CGIS (South), Room 020 Case Study Rm. CGIS South is 1730 Cambridge, St., Cambridge, MA. The Visual -- 1 pm Susan Napier (Tufts / U Texas) author, Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle "Where Do We Go From Here? Japanese Popular Culture After the Millennium" Roland Kelts (U Tokyo) author, Japanamerica: how Japanese pop culture invaded the US "The Japanamerican Mobius Strip: Two Cultures, Intertwined and Allied, Against All Odds." Adam Kern (Harvard) author, Manga from the Floating World: comicbook culture and kibyoshi of Edo Japan “Manga Culture and its Discontents” Kostas Terzidis (Harvard) author, Algorhithmic Architecture “The Cute, Sharp, and Edgy: Disney turned anime by NTT DoCoMo” Design -- 3:30 pm Marcos Novak (UCSB) artist, transarchitect, and designer, http://www.centrifuge.org “Atom Heart Phoenix: Evolving Reincarnations, from Tetsuwan Atomu to Inochi” Larry Kubota (Komazawa U) filmmaker, Black Current Productions ““Making Japanese Cinema for the World Audience:  Black Current Productions” Afro Samurai screening and discussion with the creator Takashi Okazaki 7 p.m. @ Harvard (Fri., Mar. 2) Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium Gund Hall is 48 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA Manga artist Takashi Okazaki will discuss the concept and origins of Afro Samurai, a character he created in an indies comic, and which has been remade by Tokyo-based Gonzo studios as an anime mini-series, starring Samuel L. Jackson, for SpikeTV. We will screen one episode of this anime, in which an African-American samurai must battle “Number 1” to avenge the killing of his father. The show is an example of a new style of global anime: created in Japan, starring American actors, aired first in the US and then broadcast in Japan. Afro’s quest symbolizes the global circuit of today’s media, viewed through lens of race, violence, and technologies of war. Warning mature content: The show is rated TV-Mature, designed for adults, and may be unsuitable for children under 17 (violence, sexuality, language). After screening one 25-min. episode from the 5-part series, we will discuss the project with Okazaki, with questions and discussion from the audience. Free and open to the public. Saturday, 3/3/07 Panel Discussions “Love and War in Japanese Pop Culture” 1 - 5pm @ MIT Room 32-124, Stata Center, MIT Map of MIT: http://whereis.mit.edu Culture -- 1 pm Laura Miller (Loyola) author, Beauty Up: exploring Japanese beauty aesthetics “Extreme Makeover for a Heian-era Wizard” Christine Yano (U Hawaii) author, Tears of Longing: nostalgia and nation in J. pop. song “Face Off for Japanese Cute” Ian Condry (MIT / Harvard) author, Hip-Hop Japan: rap and paths of cultural globalization “Future Anime: Time Travel, Shojo and Director Hosoda Mamoru” Politics -- 3 pm David Leheny (U Wisconsin) author, Think Global, Fear Local: sex, violence, anxiety in Japan "Japan, America, and the Realities of Liberty City: The Politics of Restricting the 'Grand Theft Auto' Games'" Theodore J. Gilman (Harvard) author, No Miracles Here: fighting urban decline in Japan and US "Matsuzaka and the Red Sox: Global Baseball Comes to Boston” Ueno Toshiya (Wako U) author, Urban Tribal Studies: a sociology of club and party cultures  “Critical Theory in Japan:   Conversion and Transfiguration” The presentations will take place as panels that will encourage discussion and dialogue with the audience. Free and open to the public. CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS, UPDATES AND BIOS OF THE PARTICIPANTS. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE. (I.C.)http://whereis.mit.eduhttp://whereis.mit.eduhttp://www.missmonday.comhttp://www.centrifuge.orghttp://whereis.mit.edushapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4
Cool Japan 2007 Feb.28-Mar.3 Love and War in Japanese Popular Culture  A four-day conference at MIT and Harvard exploring the power and import of Japanese popular culture.  2/28 Anime screening with director Mamoru Hosoda 3/1 Live show Miss Monday (LEFT), rapper from Japan 3/2 - 3/3 Panel discussions about Japanese pop culture and more . . . Free and open to the public
Highlights from the line-up Mamoru Hosoda Award-winning anime director discusses his work  Miss Monday Japanese rapper brings her powerful style to Cambridge  Interdisciplinary scholars critically discuss pop culture’s influence  Afro Samurai manga artist Okazaki discusses TV series based on his comic   Info on the CJ Project What is the Cool Japan research project? Since January 2006, Ian Condry (MIT) has been organizing the research project Cool Japan: Media, Culture, Technology at MIT and Harvard. The project involves colloquia and international conferences to examine the cultural connections, dangerous distortions, and critical potential of popular culture. Past event posters coming soon Cool Japan 2006: Violence and Desire John Russell (Gifu U) Giant Robots and Bandai Sharon Kinsella (MIT) Tak Toyoshima “Secret Asian Man” cartoonist and Weekly Dig editor Listen to the podcasts: www.anime-pulse.com Email list: To be added to the announcement list for updates and upcoming events, please email Prof. Ian Condry at condry AT mit.edu Sponsors: MIT Japan Program, Harvard Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, the Harvard Asia Center, MIT Foreign Languages and Literatures. Special thanks to: Christine Phillips, Nancy Lowe, KC Cortinovis, Stacie Matsumoto, and Adrienne Giovino. http://www.animepulse.comshapeimage_4_link_0
website created 1/19/07
updated 2/26/07
Miss Monday
(C) 2006 Takashi Okazaki, GONZO / SAMURAI PROJECT
 
Samuel L. Jackson is
Afro Samurai