CitySwitch urban interventions – Exhibit

Event: CitySwitch urban interventions
What: Exhibit
Start Time: Tuesday, February 23 at 5:00pm
End Time: Saturday, February 27 at 8:00pm
Where: Hunter St Mall & Renew HQ 3 Morgan St Newcastle AUSTRALIA

CitySwitch is an international exchange between Japan and Australia, where urban designers, architects and artists workshop ideas over 5 intense days, to collaborate on the creative activation of urban spaces.

23-27 Feb 2010

CitySwitch Lab invites you to downtown Newcastle to collaborate with a team of architects, artists, and designers from across NSW and Japan for the 2nd international workshop on urban revitalisation.

… “We are working on the ground to create four catalytic interventions within downtown Newcastle”

… “Artists, architects, creators, and thinkers of the city are all invited to take part in the workshop”

You can join in on the workshop (each day), come to free lectures (Tues/Weds/Thurs 8pm), or come and view the completed exhibitions/installations/projects (Saturday 27th, from 2pm).

The workshop includes the collaborative design and production of four different urban intervention projects, a series of international lectures, and a range of social events. The workshop culminates in a public show to exhibit, critique and celebrate the works on Saturday the 27th of February.

**International guest creators include: Satoru Yamashiro (Tokyo, Japan), Toshinori Esumi (Izumo, Japan), Jin Hidaka (Japan) and Jun Inokuma (Tokyo, Japan). **

Full details http://cityswitchlab.org/newcastle/index.php

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Momoyo Torimitsu Miyata Jiro Performance #Melbourne #robotics

Watch as life-size robotic businessman Miyata Jiro crawls his way commando-style through the Melbourne CBD battlefield like so many before him.  Tended to by his lovely nurse artist Momoyo Torimitsu – performances are not to be missed!

12 February 2010,  from 6:30pm – beginning at The Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, 25 Collins St, Melbourne

13 February 2010, the Arts Centre Precinct – check out experimenta.org for times!

15 February 2010, Collins Street– check out experimenta.org for times!

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Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki face 10 years in prison for defending #whales, you can do something to help.

Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are two Japanese activists who have found compelling evidence of corruption within the Japanese whaling program last year. Instead of investigating the whaling industry, Japanese authorities responded by arresting Junichi and Toru. They have been denied their liberty for over 6 months, awaiting trial later this year.

Show solidarity with Junichi and Toru – ask the Japanese Government to free the Tokyo Two and put whaling on trial instead.

SIGN THE PETITION

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13th Japanese Film Festival, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne

13th Japanese Film Festival will be delivering another fantastic  line-up, bringing about a rhapsody of film festivity to three Australian cities.

Canberra 18, 19, 21, 22 November 2009
Sydney 24 November-1 December
Melbourne 3-8 December

For more information go to http://13th.japanesefilmfestival.net/news.html

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Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto the legacy of Gundam

The legacy of ‘Gundam,’ a 30-year-old science-fiction automaton
by Euan McKirdy for The Wall Street Journal

Like something out of a science-fiction movie, the robot stands 18 meters tall and towers above the tree line. But to the thousands of visitors who have come by Odaiba’s Shiokaze Park just outside Tokyo, it is a familiar sight. It’s Gundam.

Excerpt:
The statue, a “life-size” replica of the television anime (Japanese slang for animated series) character created in 1979, was erected this month and will stand in the park through August. It was built by Bandai, the parent company of Sunrise, the animation studio that created the original series, “Mobile Suit Gundam,” to celebrate the iconic cartoon’s 30th anniversary and acknowledge the $528 million franchise of spin-offs, toys and books it has spawned in that time. Some fans even say the fictional robot has played a part in Japan’s rise in the world of robotics engineering and technology.

Set 100 years in the future on extraterrestrial mining colonies (colonies established on other planets or moons for the purpose of extracting minerals) as well as on Earth, “Mobile Suit Gundam” imagines a radical future, where robots are commonplace. A renegade faction, the principality of Zeon (an extraterrestrial colony), has declared war on Earth Federation (a global government of the future) in a bid to become independent. The weapon of choice (created by Zeon but quickly replicated by Earth) is a “mobile suit,” a robot driven by a human pilot who sits inside. The RX-78 Gundam — named for the fictional alloy, Gundanium, from which it is made — is used by a young pilot in defense of Earth. more…

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The Happiness Realization Party of Japan Introduces Its New President

Ryuho Okawa, Leader of the Religious Organization Happy Science, Becomes President of the Party

TOKYO–(Marketwire – July 30, 2009) – The Happiness Realization Party of Japan, formed May 27th this year, announced that it held an executive committee meeting on July 22nd and appointed Ryuho Okawa, the founder of both Happy Science and the Happiness Realization Party (HRP), as their new president. Okawa will run in the next general election as the party’s first ranking candidate of the Tokyo Proportional Representation bloc.

In May this year, Okawa decided to launch the HRP in his aim to bring forth substantial change in Japan’s political scene. At his public seminar held in Tokyo on July 22nd, Okawa himself announced that he has decided to run in the election as the president of the HRP in order to strengthen the party’s unification and the ability to hold the reins of government. He stated, “The HRP is building its policies based on where we would like the country to stand 20 to 30 years from now. The people of the nation may not understand us immediately but I plan to say what needs to be said.”

Since the late 1980s, Okawa had voiced countless suggestions directly and indirectly to politicians in Japan from his intention to nurture Japan to become an independent and more reliable country. His decision to establish HRP and run as president was made to enable this effort to yield a more direct and concrete result through the party’s involvement in politics.

The HRP has 345 candidates in all constituencies and Proportional Representation Blocs in Japan and is currently the largest political party within the country. The party says it aims to be the primary party of Japan through the next general election.

While Ryuho Okawa will be responsible for the policy makings of the party, Kyoko Okawa, his wife and former party leader has taken the position of Chief Advertising Officer of the party and will run as the first ranking candidate of the Tohoku (North-Eastern) Proportional Representation bloc.

For more information see www.hr-party.info

Editor’s note: Ok this definitely caught my eye. Snappy title, don’t you think? GG

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Japan CREAM Festival Competition

International Festival For Arts and Media Yokohama 2009, a pioneer project of ‘Creative City Yokohama’, could not be categorized as either an ordinary film festival or a contemporary art exhibition.

CREAM competition craves a new visual expression, or works that cross the borderlines between different genres of art such as contemporary art, film, performing art, music and etc., and therefore inspire and influence the future generations.

Submissions due 31 July

Find out more at http://ifamy.jp/en/competition.php

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Toilet paper machine made in Japan

Office supplies vendor Nakabayashi has come up with an in-office machine that turns used copier paper into toilet rolls. According to the company, the machine, which weighs 600kg, can produce about 48 toilet rolls over a 24-hour period from around 7.2kg of used copier paper. The machine costs JPY9m. Unfortunately, there is no information on the cost or volume of chemicals needed to run it.

Cited Japan Inc

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Makeup booths debut in stations

When a girl’s gotta go, she’s gotta go — to do her makeup, that is. Tokyo Metro has just installed a makeup booth facility at Ikebukuro and JR is going to put one in at Yokohama in June. The stations will be charging just JPY300/ hour for women to touch up their faces in private, as well as try out samples that are provided by sponsors to the stations. The booths come in a cluster, and include a mirror, vanity cabinet, hair dryer, and of course the cosmetic samples.

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Japanese Gay Art new blog and Melbourne exhibit

Masahiko Takagi has started a Japanese gay art blog, www.japanesegayart.com. It’s fairly new but they have already uploaded an interview with Jiraiya, well known erotic artist.

Also exhibiting some works in Melbourne at Hares & Hyenas queer bookshop in Fitzroy, from Saturday May 16th. The bookshop has just added a new café, and is having an opening party for the café Sunday the 17th, from 3pm. The address is 63 Johnston Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia.

Other plans for exhibits in 2010, include events for Midsumma in Melbourne and Mardis Gras in Sydney.

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