Arts & Design
Doris Moromisato: ‘La poeta que hay en mí irá a hibernar’Un libro enamorado y amargo a la vez. Así describe Doris Moromisato su último poemario ‘Paisaje terrestre’, con el que anuncia además, su retiro de la poesía por un largo período. ‘Ahora la narrativa se parece más a mí’, confiesa, con la irreverencia de la activista y militante que, eso sí, nunca podrá dejar de ser.
ShastaYama 2007 - A Magical ExperienceBy Gary Ono ShastaYama (literally, Shasta mountain) is the name of the annual taiko festival held in the beautiful pine-forested town of Mount Shasta nestled at the base of the majestic Mt. Shasta. Mt. Shasta, at 14,162 feet, is often compared to Mt. Fuji for its similar spiritual beauty and size. Mt. Shasta offers different appearances throughout the day with the changes of time of day and weather conditions. Of course the season makes a difference to its appearance as well.
Glenn Kaino - Interview with an ArtistBy Bobby Okinaka Glenn Kaino (b. 1972) is one of the artists whose work is on display in the One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum (the exhibition runs until May 4, 2008). His installation entitled “Graft” features two stuffed animals, one a salmon masquerading in shark skin, the other a pig cloaked in a cow’s hide. Simply wearing a mask is not a strong enough metaphor for social identity; here Kaino demonstrates the sometimes absurd lengths people go through to find place or acceptance.
Tomokazu Matsuyama: Brooklyn’s Edo PeriodBy Alexandra Chang The Brooklyn neighborhood Williamsburg crosses into Greenpoint just after the empty expanse of McCarren Park. It’s a brisk walk on a cold day, and veering onto Lorimer Street, I search for 31 year-old artist Tomokazu Matsuyama’s apartment for a studio visit. I pass one 1950’s family duplex after another down the vinyl-sided street. Greenpoint has become the latest haven for artists living and working in New York City. I can never remember the number. Matsuyama welcomes me to his apartment, waving me over from the center of the block five doors over. Walking up the stairs to his apartment, I slip off my shoes and enter, looking around, eager to see his new works.
The Biennale: Notes and ThoughtsBy Eric Nakamura In celebration of its 50th issue and in collaboration with the Japanese American National Museum, the pop-culture magazine Giant Robot has assembled works by ten cutting-edge artists from around the country in Giant Robot Biennale: 50 Issues. This exhibition is the first in the National Museum's Salon Pop series that includes collaborative displays that focus on Asian American pop culture. The public’s response to the exhibition has been extremely positive with its largest ever opening to date.
Book Review: Shortcomings by Adrian TomineBy Bobby Okinaka When a newborn baby comes into the world, everything is a wonder. The bright lights, the strange noises, the sensation of being surrounded by tall strangers poking around overwhelm the senses. The baby enters the world a blank slate waiting for instruction. And yet, on some basic level, it already has everything it needs to know to face life. No one taught it how to blink, how to cry, how to kick its chubby legs. This is performed by instinct. Shortcomings, a graphic novel by Adrian Tomine, is life by instinct.
Nisei cartoonist Jack MatsuokaBy Ken Kaji Most Nisei will remember Jack Matsuoka’s drawings from the seventies published in Hokubei Mainichi, along with his series, Sensei, and his book about relocation camp life entitled Camp II, Block 211 (Japan Publications, Inc., 1974). Matsuoka was born in Watsonville in 1925 and later attended a single semester at Cleveland School of Fine Arts in Ohio before being drafted into the army. He was just a teen when he drew the cartoons of Camp II, Block 211, a humorous and poignant depiction of life in Poston relocation camp. Ken Kaji visited Mr. Matsuoka, now retired, at his home in Fuji Towers in San Jose, California.
Beyond UltramanBy Mark Nagata The opening night of the new museum exhibition called Beyond Ultraman: Seven Artists Explore the Vinyl Frontier was exciting for me, but also surreal. To see my artwork and some of my Ultraman and Japanese toy collection outside of my home made me look at them in a new light -- these toys really do represent more than a child’s playthings. In my case, what started as a gift during childhood had spawned a hobby and now a full time career.
La herencia documental de Kiyoshi SatoEl pasado martes 17 de julio falleció don Kiyoshi Sato, experimentado fotógrafo que retrató durante más de seis décadas eventos de la colectividad peruano japonesa. Muchos álbumes conservan como reliquia las fotos captadas por este recordado creador de imágenes. El señor Kiyoshi Sato (Yamagata, Japón 1919 - Lima, Perú 2007), poseedor de un carácter vivaz e inquieto, decidió a los 16 años realizar una travesía de 40 días para conocer el extranjero. Su destino, Perú. Aquí lo esperaba su tío Heikichi Sato, quien trajo del Japón el oficio de la fotografía, instalando Fotografía Oriental en la cuadra 7 de la Calle Billinghurst (hoy Mercado Central), quien transmite la magia y la pasión por la fotografía a su sobrino llegado del Japón.
Lo japonés en polkas criollas de antañoPor Humberto Rodríguez Pastor A mediados de la década de 1910 comenzó a editarse como semanario “El Cancionero de Lima”. Cada número tenía 8 ó 12 páginas, era de formato A6 (10 x 15 cms.), estaba enumerado y se imprimía con regularidad. En esas páginas se publicaban canciones de moda, aquellas que estaban en las calles y barrios, en los mercados y en los parques, en la garganta de los limeños de esos años. 
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