Saturday, November 25, 2023 at Yokohama Cinemarine — The documentary film “Yokosuka 1953” is currently showing at Yokohama Cinemarine. The documentary follows the search for the mother of Barbara, like my friend Belle, who is a GI baby born to an American Occupation Forces soldier and a Japanese woman after World War II. I will appear at a…

2023年11月25日（土）横浜シネマリンにて —

渋谷の馬鹿騒ぎから銃事件まで —

Rethinking Halloween: From Shibuya Streets to the Realities of Guns — The Halloween Hysteria Halloween in Shibuya, a bustling district in Tokyo, is not only famous in Japan but also known around the world, attracting many foreigners. I’ve never attended, nor have I ever desired to be there on that particular day. However, through annual news coverage, I’ve come to understand the chaotic scene…

Interview with Belle / Her Stripper Days — Four years after the end of World War II, Reiko was born in Sapporo, the capital of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which was under Allied occupation. Her mother was a 17-year-old girl living in Sapporo, and her father was an American soldier. …

失恋をきっかけに不眠症になったわたしは、勤務先のブラック企業に命じられて取材に行ったインチキ除霊所で、奇妙なものを見た…… — 呆れ返る部屋だった。 天井近くにお札や御幣（ごへい）が乱雑に乗った神棚があるかと思えば、その下の白壁には風呂敷大の曼荼羅図が掛かり、部屋に置かれた唯一の家具である飴色の水屋の上には、瀬戸物のマリア像とサイババのフォトフレームが仲良く並んでいるのだ。そのひきだしを開ければ、コーランが出てくるに違いない。 そしてそれらすべてを凌駕するのが、目の前にいるこ …

Lessons from Earth Gods and Foxes — One of my friends recommended that I read Kenji Miyazawa’s “The Earth God and the Fox.” This story revolves around a rugged earth god who falls in love with a beautiful birch tree, becoming intensely jealous of a clever fox who also vies for her affection. The central theme of…

My search for Belle’s mother is being featured in a documentary from NHK — Last summer, my friend of ten years, Belle, asked me to help her find her mother. Belle is a GI baby, born four years after the end of World War II. GI babies are children born to U.S. …

世界に名高いゲイタウン二丁目、性産業と闇社会がうずまく歌舞伎町、東京を統べる都庁……さまざまな顔を持つ新宿には、深い女たちの歴史があります。 —