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Naoki 56, had it all in Japan’s bubble economy days: he ran a business with 70 staff, drove a brand new BMW, and lived in a 6 bedroom house. But when Japan’s economy crashed in the early 1990s he lost everything, ending up divorced (for the third time) and penniless - 'A Story of Love and Hate.' Tuesday, 3rd November, SOAS.
Photo Credit: 'A Story of Love and Hate.'
Japanese Events in London: 2nd - 8th November 2009
Quick reminder! If you are interested to sign-up on our January beginners Japanese class, please do so now! Places are running out. Also, some other housekeeping to mention is our new links page. If you can think of an intersting link please contact us. Subjects include: Japanese Language Resources, Japanese Language Blogs and cultural resources.
This Tuesday, 3rd November 2009 come and book a seat for 'A Story of Love and Hate.' ‘A Story of Love and Hate’ was screened earlier this year as part of BBC Four’s Japan Season, attracting unanimous critical acclaim. It went on to win Best International Documentary at the 2009 Norwegian Documentary Film Festival and Special Jury Prize at the 2009 Nodo Doc Fest, Trieste, Italy. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Sean McAllister, who has been making documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 for over 12 years and who received a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 for his film, ‘The Liberace of Baghdad’.
Sean McAllister’s latest documentary tells an unusual love story of survival in the world’s second richest economy. Naoki 56, had it all in Japan’s bubble economy days: he ran a business with 70 staff, drove a brand new BMW, and lived in a 6 bedroom house. But when Japan’s economy crashed in the early 1990s he lost everything, ending up divorced (for the third time) and penniless.
He was saved from homelessness by his new girlfriend, Yoshie 29, who took him in, despite living in a tiny one-room apartment. At his age, the only job Naoki can find is part-time at the post office, which means working 7 hours a day and earning just £4,000 a year. Yoshie now has to find extra jobs to support him: working 15 hours a day in three jobs.
To reserve your place, please call the Japan Society office on 020 7828 6330 or 
email events at japansociety.org.uk
The show starts at 7.00pm at the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG. This event is free – booking essential.
We have a clash - also on the same night - the Japanese Conversation Group meet for thier 'first Tuesday of every month event,' in a central London pub called The Clachan. They begin at 6.30pm with a pay-as-you-go bar, and finish around 10.30pm. These events are very friendly and provide an informal atmosphere for Japanese speakers of all nationalities to come together and speak Japanese. For more information please visit the Japanese Conversation Group website. The address is: The Clachan, 34 Kingly Street, London W1B 5QH and costs: £5 members and students; £7 non members.
This Thursday 5th November 2009, the Japan Foundation, have an event titled: ‘Talking Contemporary Japan.’ This is designed for adult learners interested in updating and refreshing their knowledge about Japan whilst practising their Japanese language skills in a series of evening classes at the Japan Foundation London Language Centre. Classes are conducted in Japanese and participants should have Japanese language ability equivalent to JLPT level 2 or above.
And, on Friday 6th November 2009, the Japan Foundation, in association with the London International Festival of Exploratory Music (LIFEM) have organised a talk on "Music Beyond Labels - Exploring New Music from Japan." In recent years, a growing number of Japanese musicians have appeared on the UK music scene. In a previous blog post, we wrote about Soil Pimp & Sessions for example. This recent popularity has been attributed to the uniqueness and versatility of Japanese music and musicians, appealing to the desire of music fans to experience something new and original. For this event, the Japan Foundation has invited UK-based Japanese artist, DJ Scotch Egg, who has gained a reputation for mixing music from techno-related genres, including gabber and chiptunes, to talk about his musical career and artistic philosophy.
He will be accompanied by Franck Stofer, of the artist agency, Sonore.. Franck has been a passionate advocate of the creativity of contemporary Japanese music, and will share his views on the state and nature of the music scene in Japan.
If you are interested in Japanese music in London, you might want to read a previous blog post regarding a montly Japanese gig in London.
