Veteran's interview

Hoshide san is doing a great job in space. I am happy to see his smiling face on TV! I can't wait to hear about his mission when he gets back.

A few days ago, I interviewed Mr. Masazumi Utada, an 88-year-old veteran of World War II. It was part of my volunteer work. I have been a member of NGO called "Senjyo taiken eizo hozon kai"--an organization which tries to preserve videos of ex-soldiers' interviews.

Mr. Utada was sent to New Guinea in 1944 and survived in the severe condition. Since the Japanese military had no way to send food, medicine, nor weapons to the soldiers, so many people died in the jungle due to the starvation and malaria. He said they ate anything that looked edible, such as weed, frogs, snakes, grasshoppers, maggot, even their own shoes...

He also told us how they had killed native people and how sorry he was.

After two hours of interview, Mr. Utada said, "We must not go into war again. Never!" I believe we the younger generations must learn from the history and carry on the messages.

Exotic Japan?

I found these dolls at a shop in Nice.

I think they supposed to be Japanese geisha but ...hmmm... When I watched a Hollywood movie "Sayuri" I felt the same way.

It is great that people in other countries are interested in Japanese culture but I think it is important to let them know the REAL culture.

So many foreign people can't tell the differences of Japanese, Chinese, or Korean. After all, we are all Asian. Maybe it is the same everywhere. I can't recognize cultural differences of African countries, to be honest.

But if I decided to make a movie or a doll of that country, I would research them and try to make them with much respect. What do you think?

Anyway, in early morning of June 1st Japan time, Japanese astronaut Mr. Akihiko Hoshide is going to the space!! I am quite excited because he is my friend. When I was hosting a TV show about 5 years ago, he was one of our guest. Mr. Hoshide and I got along pretty well and have kept in touch ever since. He invited me to the Kennedy Space Center to see him off but I couldn't arrange the schedule...

So, I am getting up early tomorrow morning to watch his shuttle to launch on TV. Ganbatte!!

My trip to Cannes

At the film festival, if you wanted to see the movie at the main hall in the evening, there was a dress code for everyone. Men needed to wear suits & bow ties while women needed to wear dresses. It was a unique and fun experience to dress up and watch movies!

Anyway, I love movies so I never got tired of watching them. But I found that many movies of the Cannes' competition section are quite depressing...

So, one day I decided to watch a movie which was not in the competition of Cannes' but in the Berlin's.

It was a German film called "Cherry Blossoms -Hanami-" which I enjoyed very much. I was in tears throughout the whole movie. If it ever come to your countries, please watch it.

Bonjour!

I am back from Cannes! It was a great trip.

I enjoyed great food, nice view, and the atmosphere of the International Film Festival.

Although it rained for several days but when it cleared up it was just beautiful with the blue skies and clear ocean. (The French Riviera is called "Cote d'Azur" in French which means "the Blue Seaside".)

In the area, there are many small villages. The buildings there are old and pretty like the picture on the left. It was fun walking around the village.

This is a view from Eze Village which is about 20 minutes bus ride from Nice. We ate French cuisine there.

More reports on Cannes will be up soon! (^^)

And the International Film Festival!!

I am going to Cannes

I am leaving for Cannes in Southern France on Wednesday! It is part of my job but I am quite excited!
I have been to Nice before, but never been to Cannes. Has anybody been there? If yes, please let me know good places to visit there!

Japanese dance

I have studied Japanese Dance ("Nihon buyo" or "Nichibu") quite a while. We had a performance the other day. I danced "Urashima", a dance based on Japanese old tale "Urashima Taro", and "Tsukiji Akashicho" which is based on a picture of Geisha painted by Kiyokata Kaburaki.
"Urashima" is Otoko Odori (a male dance) and "Tsukiji Akashicho" is a female dance.
It was difficult dancing totally opposite kinds of dance....But my friends who came to see the performance seemed to enjoy them.

Now I feel sore all over my body!!

Golden Week

Today is "Greenery day" or "Midori no hi" in Japan. So, I went to Shinjuku Gyoen (my favorite park in Tokyo) to enjoy fresh green. The photo on the left was taken at Japanese garden.

It usually costs 200 yen to get in the park, but today was free of charge.

It was drizzling for a while so I also enjoyed the smell of green.

I like to be in Tokyo during the Golden Week. It is much less crowded here.