Kyoto Journal Issue 58

¥980

(US$9)

Dancing for the Dead
The Story of Pianist Fujiko Hemming
Butoh Dancer Kazuo Ono at 98
The Poetry of Vi Thuy Linh
The Rebirth of Kagura Shinto Performance in Japan’s Midwest

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FREEING SPIRIT

Editing KJ, over the years we’ve learned to listen to what the magazine itself wants to be. Each issue, even one starting without a set theme, seems to give voice to a particular set of related concerns, making its own connections, developing resonances, becoming in a sense an open conversation. Once a topic emerges, we’re no longer surprised when yet another unsolicited submission turns up, further illuminating some essential aspect of what’s already in the works. Going with the flow, we seek out additional material to nudge the conversation along…

Our 58th issue started out bundling articles on traditional performing arts, but soon let us know it wanted to dig deeper. In diverse disciplines, we found common ground and shared aspirations: ‘Super-Kagura,’ reviving traditional Shinto dance; the Kodo taiko drumming group’s Earth Celebration; the massively popular Awa Odori street dance festival; Ohno Kazuo — a butoh dance pioneer at 98; Ikemiya Masanobu, a Japanese Buddhist ragtime wizard; Fujiko Hemming, a classical piano virtuoso prevailing over deafness; Biung, a successful Taiwanese aboriginal musician returning to his roots; Don Kirk, a veteran war reporter in Baghdad; Shinji Kazue, a cross-cultural psychotherapy interpreter; Ishido-sensei, a master of ikebana … Within each story we heard different aspects of the urge towards seeking and achieving wholeness, in individuals and communities, until we knew that this issue had found its theme… Freeing spirit.

 

Contents:

Earth Celebration – Lee Frank, with photographs by Albie Sharpe
Conversation:
Dance Kitchen – Dustin W. Leavitt, with photographs by Hosoe Eikoh
Poetry:
Seasons, and Harvest – Poetry by Vietnamese poet Vi Thuy Linh, trans. Laughlin Clarke
Dancing for the Dead – Ginevra House
A Child of All Time: Butoh Dancer Kazuo Ohno at 98 – John Barrett, with photography and design by Markuz Wernli
‘Super Kagura’: The dramatic rebirth of sacred Shinto performance in Japan’s midwest – David Peterson
Biung Back Home – Scott Ezell; painting by Tang Min Sho
A Ragtime Roshi’s Musical Peace – Stewart Wachs
Ramble:
Habitat of Spirit – Robert Brady
The Silence Before the Cadenza: The story of pianist Fujiko Hemming – David Greer
In Translation:
Reflections of a Psychotherapy Go-between: An interview with Shinji Kazue – Stewart Wachs, illustrated by Tiery Le..
The View from Zhaoxing – John Brandi reflects on the world from a Dong village in China
Stifling Spirit: KJ contributing editor Donald Kirk, on the ground in Baghdad, reflects on Iraq, North Korea and Vietnam – with illustrations by Chung In-Kyung
Encounters:
Revisiting the Punjab – Rolf Towers-Picton
Head Shop Booty – Margaret Stawowy, illustrated by Tiery Le..
An Ikebana Journey – Jenny Hall
Reviews:
Afghanistan, by Chris Steele-Perkins — Matt Larking
Heart of Kashmir, by Kash Gabrielle Torsello — Matt Larking
Neutral War: A Novel of Soul-Chilling Barter, Bioterror, and High-Stakes International Poker, by Hal Gold — Justin Ellis
The New Shiatsu Method: Helping the Body to Heal Itself, by Ryokyu Endo, Michael Christini, Tzvika Calisar — Deidre May
Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan, by Miyeko Murase — Lauren W. Deutsch
Mavo: Japanese Artists and The Avant-Garde 1905-1931, by Gennifer Weisenfeld — Lauren W. Deutsch
Mirror of Modernity, Invented Traditions of Modern Japan, Ed. Stephen Vlastos, — Lauren W. Deutsch
The Man Who Saved Kabuki: Faubion Bowers and Theatre Censorship in Occupied Japan, by Shiro Okamoto, translated and adapted by Samuel L. Leiter — Ken Rodgers
Tales from Japan, and Ichi, Ni, San, Shi… Go! 500 Rivers and Other Tales from Japan, CDs by Jonatha and Harold Wright — Chris Caldwell
Sherry, CD by Sherry Nakanishi — Tomita Tamita
Miracle – Jon Hamblin

Cover Image by Markuz Wernli
98pp
published November 20, 2004

 

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