<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">This has been rough to watch play out, for the reasons Aaron notes. Uplink is such a precious place for independent film and of all modes and budgets. Still, when I saw the initial news, somehow I wasn't surprised. Asai-san has an edge about him. The reactions have been moving and complicated. Here are a few things that circulated on Twitter for those that haven't seen. <div><br></div><div>Markus</div><div><br></div><div><div><img src="cid:ii_kbk77y4o0" alt="Appeal1.jpg" width="232" height="412"><br></div><div><div><img src="cid:ii_kbk7877k1" alt="Appeal2.jpg" width="232" height="412"><br></div></div><div><div><img src="cid:ii_kbk78cv22" alt="Response.jpg" width="257" height="412"><br></div></div><div><div><img src="cid:ii_kbk78htj3" alt="Fukada.jpg" width="291" height="412"><br></div></div><div><div><img src="cid:ii_kbk7b0ks4" alt="Screen Shot 2020-06-17 at 11.04.39 PM.png" width="412" height="338"><br></div></div><div>And Asai's statement: </div><div><br></div><div><p style="font-size:16px;margin:0px 0px 25px;padding:0px;border:none;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,メイリオ,"\00ff2d\00ff33  \00ff30\0030b4\0030b7\0030c3\0030af","\00ff2d\00ff33  \0030b4\0030b7\0030c3\0030af","Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro","\0030d2\0030e9\0030ae\0030ce\0089d2\0030b4  Pro W3",Meiryo,Osaka,Osaka-等幅,sans-serif">元従業員の方々から訴訟を提起されたことに関して、真摯に受け止めております。不適切な言動があったことを深く反省し、謝罪致します。本件の解決に向けて、誠意をもって対応をして参ります。</p><p style="font-size:16px;margin:0px 0px 25px;padding:0px;border:none;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,メイリオ,"\00ff2d\00ff33  \00ff30\0030b4\0030b7\0030c3\0030af","\00ff2d\00ff33  \0030b4\0030b7\0030c3\0030af","Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro","\0030d2\0030e9\0030ae\0030ce\0089d2\0030b4  Pro W3",Meiryo,Osaka,Osaka-等幅,sans-serif">社としてもハラスメントの再発防止に努めていく所存です。</p><p style="font-size:16px;margin:0px 0px 25px;padding:0px;border:none;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,メイリオ,"\00ff2d\00ff33  \00ff30\0030b4\0030b7\0030c3\0030af","\00ff2d\00ff33  \0030b4\0030b7\0030c3\0030af","Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro","\0030d2\0030e9\0030ae\0030ce\0089d2\0030b4  Pro W3",Meiryo,Osaka,Osaka-等幅,sans-serif">改めて詳細なコメントを発表します。少々お時間をいただけますようお願い申し上げます。</p><p style="font-size:16px;margin:0px 0px 25px;padding:0px;border:none;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:justify;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,メイリオ,"\00ff2d\00ff33  \00ff30\0030b4\0030b7\0030c3\0030af","\00ff2d\00ff33  \0030b4\0030b7\0030c3\0030af","Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro","\0030d2\0030e9\0030ae\0030ce\0089d2\0030b4  Pro W3",Meiryo,Osaka,Osaka-等幅,sans-serif">2020年6月16日<br>有限会社アップリンク<br>取締役社長　浅井隆</p></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><span style="color:rgb(136,136,136)">--- </span></div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:small"><font face="courier new, monospace" color="#274e13"><b><img src="https://drive.google.com/a/umich.edu/uc?id=1i0izwlsrcSvQgU4nMCzTLiOhmdDMm-xZ&export=download" width="56" height="96"><br></b></font></div><div style="font-size:small"><font face="courier new, monospace" color="#274e13"><b>Markus Nornes</b></font></div><div style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:"courier new",monospace"><font color="#38761d"><b>Professor of Asian Cinema</b></font></span></div><div><font size="1" color="#38761d"><font face="courier new, monospace">Department of Film, Television and Media</font><span style="font-family:"courier new",monospace">, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, Penny Stamps </span><span style="font-family:"courier new",monospace">School of Art & Design</span></font></div><div style="color:rgb(136,136,136);font-size:small"><font face="courier new, monospace" color="#6aa84f"><br></font></div><div><font face="courier new, monospace" size="1" color="#93c47d"><b>Department of Film, Television and Media</b></font></div><div><font face="courier new, monospace" size="1" color="#93c47d"><b>6348 North Quad</b></font></div><div><font face="courier new, monospace" size="1" color="#93c47d"><b>105 S. State Street</b></font></div><div><font face="courier new, monospace" size="1" color="#93c47d"><b>Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285</b></font></div><div style="color:rgb(136,136,136)"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 9:44 PM Gerow Aaron via KineJapan <<a href="mailto:kinejapan@mailman.yale.edu">kinejapan@mailman.yale.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space">Four former employees of Uplink, the film theater and distribution company, have sued the president of the company, Asai Takashi, accusing him of repeated instances of power harassment. They said he continually yelled at and berated employees, even in front of others, forcing them to write apologies and work overtime without pay. The four have made their names public and held a press conference. Major news agencies, as well as the wide shows, have taken up the story. Here’s one story:<div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.cinra.net/column/202006-uplink_skkskcl" target="_blank">https://www.cinra.net/column/202006-uplink_skkskcl</a><br><div><br></div><div>This has been a major shock for the indie film community in Japan since Uplink has been instrumental in enabling even the smallest of art and experimental films to get a theatrical release. Asai has also been active in defending alternative culture, even suing the authorities two decades ago when police tried to prevent him from selling a Robert Mapplethorpe photo book. When theaters had to close down due to COVID-19, Asai was one of the leaders in arguing the case for the importance of small theaters. </div></div><div><br></div><div>My Facebook feed has been full of comments by people who know Asai. Everyone condemns what he did, but a few mentioned their regrets over knowing it happened, but never saying anything about it. One TV report I saw used the term “yarigai sakushu やりがい搾取”--perhaps “exploiting rewarding work”—to describe exploitation of the desire of people to work at place, often associated with culture, that is contributing to society in a positive way. I am afraid there is probably a lot of that in Japan, with many culture-related institutions depending on young people working for little or no money, but Asai brought it into the foreground by harassing those who were being exploited in that way.</div><div><br></div>Asai made a quick apology on the company website and says he will make a full comment in a day or two.<br><br><div>
<div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div>Aaron Gerow<br>Professor<br>Film and Media Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures</div><div>Chair, <span style="text-align:-webkit-auto">East Asian Languages and Literatures</span></div><div><span style="text-align:-webkit-auto">Yale University</span></div><div>143 Elm Street, Room 210<br>PO Box 208324<br>New Haven, CT 06520-<span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px">8324</span><br>USA<br>Phone: 1-203-432-7082<br>Fax: 1-203-432-6729<br>e-mail: <a href="mailto:aaron.gerow@yale.edu" target="_blank">aaron.gerow@yale.edu</a></div><div>website: <a href="http://www.aarongerow.com" target="_blank">www.aarongerow.com</a></div><div><br></div></div></span><br></div></span><br></div></span><br></div></span><br></div></span><br></div></span><br></div></span><br></div></span><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br><br>
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</blockquote></div>