|
|
||
|
The Yoshinkan Aikido dojo in Takadanobaba, Tokyo. This was the first time I’ve photographed, or even seen, Aikido and was for my new job. I was very kindly invited by 7th Dan master Jacques Payet. My first impression of Aikido training was that it looks like a mixture of effortless grace and intense pain — no doubt depending on which side of the attack you are.
One of the reasons I haven’t been posting much recently is that late last year I took a job as the editor of EURObiZ Japan, a new magazine for the members of the European Chamber of Commerce in Japan. I’ve enjoyed freelancing immensely, so it wasn’t an easy decision. But it was definitely time for a change and a good opportunity to see the other side of the editor’s desk. I did, however, first produce this swansong to my five year long freelance career. I wrote a bit about what worked for me, and what I think correspondents will need to do faced with a moribund media and galloping technology. The article was carried in Spotlight Japan. I’d be interested to hear what people think.
Foreign Correspondent 2.0 By Tony McNicol For the Japan-based foreign journalist 2009 has been a tough year. As we all know, media everywhere are in big trouble. Once hallowed organizations are laying off staff in droves or even going out of business. Here in Japan, foreign bureau were already reducing staff and upping sticks to Beijing even before the economic downturn. There can hardly have been a worse time for the Japan correspondent. Or perhaps it isn’t all that bad? As full time correspondents find themselves grounded freelancers may get a chance to spread their wings: especially if they are ready to experiment with a plethora of new media; audio, video, blogs, social networking, to name just a few. As they say in Japanese ‘pinch ni chance’ – opportunity in adversity. As a Tokyo-based freelancer with five years experience writing and photographing Japan – here are some suggestions: mainly for myself, but also for other foreign writers in Japan. 1. Say bye bye to the bureaux The roaming correspondent dispatched to far flung outposts across the world several years at a time has gone home and probably won’t be back. In his place is the freelancer or stringer on a modest retainer. While correspondents would have been given time and assistance to acclimatize and learn about their new postings, freelancers need to hit the ground running. Journalists doing the work of correspondents will be the country long-term, if not actually Japanese nationals with English skills. Tsukiji fish market is quickly turning into the photo destination in Tokyo. It’s colourful, chaoatic and real. It’s open 24 hours a day and about 10,000 people work there. What could be better? (Just ignore the fact that officially the public, including tourists, aren’t allowed in the market). I took my first photos at Tsukiji about two years ago. I wouldn’t quite call it a project, but I’ve been back plenty since for various food and drink related stories. When I met Mitsuyasu Uchibori he gave me a business card that read “Summelier No 001″. He is Japan’s premier vinegar sommelier. (Su-memlier is a pun on the Japanese word of vinegar, su.) And quite the showman . . . Uchibori runs a 130 year old vinegar company in central Japan and a chain of drinking vinegar shops in Takashimaya department stores. The vinegar boutiques sell a range of fruit vinegars. As I’ve written on this blog before, Tsukiji is about my favourite place in Tokyo. For anyone who’s interested in food – indeed in Japan – there is a lifetime’s worth of stuff to see, eat, learn and photograph. These photos are from a long feature I did recently on fugu (blowfish). Someone I interviewed for a story on kamaboko very kindly introduced me to the main fugu dealer, Otsubo Suisan. One of their staff holding a worried looking blowfish: As you may know, fugu is famous mostly because it is (well, can be) incredibly poisonous. There’s a poison in the skin, gonads and especially liver of the fish that’s 1000 times the strength of cyanide. I writing this from frigid December Bath in the UK. Brrrr. I think these photos are actually making me feel colder. At the end of summer I travelled up to Katsunuma in Yamanashi prefecture. The area is home to Japan’s largest winemaker, Mercian, and 80 odd little wineries open for visiting and tasting. Katsunuma’s wine-making traditions go right back to the Meiji period. Somewhat improbably, Japan actually has a native wine-grape, the Koshu variety. The story is that seeds came along the silk road from Europe centuries ago and were grown in the Katsunuma area to produce eating grapes. It was only after Japan opened to the West that the grapes were used to make wine. Apologies for the long silence. It has been quite a busy few weeks at Tokyo Photojournalist, to say the least. I have just started editing a new magazine. More on that anon. In the meantime, here is a set of photos I took in the Autumn. When I saw this press trip advertised to J-Power’s Isogo power station in Yokohama, I knew I couldn’t say no. The plant is one of the most efficient coal power stations in the world. Rather apropos with the Copenhagen conference in progress. Perhaps only Japan would have an event celebrating “2nd class food”? It’s probably something to do with the fact that even the fast food in Japan tends to be very good. This year the B1 Grand Prix was held in Yokote-city up in Akita prefecture. B1 stands for B-Class Gourmet, foods like yakisoba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, koroke and oden. As one person I interviewed put it, “The price may be b-class but the taste is a-class”. Over two days some 260,000 people attended. (I guess there isn’t that much to do in Akita?). Some of them queued for over two hours for their favorite foods. I had a lot of fun photographing the visitors . . . A selection of photos from a personal project I’ve been working on recently. Street photography is pretty much how I started out, and I still love it. But not much time for wandering the backstreets of Tokyo these days. For want of imagination I’ve called the project Tokyo Red. Other name suggestions welcome!
For a notably low-key city, Fukuoka has a fair few superlatives to its name. It is Japan’s closest city to Korea which means it can lay claim to being Japan’s oldest city. In other words, it was the first beachhead of civilization from the Asian mainland. These days Fukuoka has some of the strongest business links with Asia. I was down there a few months ago to do a story on a Chinese company, then stayed an extra day to work on a travel story. The main theme of my travel piece was Fukuoka “yatai” street stalls . . . |
|
|
|
Copyright © 2010 Tokyo photojournalist: photos and features from Japan. - All Rights Reserved |
||
Recent comments