corr: asking your inputs about the Bunkacho project, the National Center for Media Arts

[Hideaki Fujiki]

I have received quite a few messages on and off list. Thank you so  
much! One thing that has become clear is that the ideas I received  
are almost completely absent on Japanese websites and blogs, perhaps  
all 704,000 sleds I hit on google. This is also the case in the June  
4 symposium in which the four brains of the center plan--Hamano  
Yasuki (prof. at Tokyo U.), Satonaka Machiko (cartoonist), Tosa  
Nobumichi (artist), and Moriyama Tomoe (curator)--expressed their  
opinions (http://ameblo.jp/akihiko/entry-10274113451.html).  So it  
seems very significant to address researchers' viewpoints and  
demands, though  I think I should be careful about this politically  
sensitive issue. I might post later. Many thanks again!

Hideaki Fujiki





On 2009/06/12, at 22:37, Ariane Beldi wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> This message is only superficially related to this fascinating  
> discussion,
> but since you are talking about early Japanese animation, I can't  
> help but
> signal the forthcoming retrospective on 60 years of animes at the next
> Locarno International Film Festival
> (http://www.pardo.ch/jahia/Jahia/home/lang/en) in Switzerland. Here  
> is the
> Website with the description of this part of the festival and an  
> upcoming
> detailed program: http://www.mangaimpact.ch/.  These events are being
> organized in cooperation with the National Museum of Cinema of Torino,
> Italy. If I'm not wrong, the museum will also be holding a special  
> exhibit
> on Japanese animation until the end of this year.
>
> Since I live in Switzerland (though not in Ticino, the Italian- 
> speaking area
> where the Festival takes place) and plan to attend it at least for  
> a few
> days, if anyone is interested and would like some information about  
> travel
> and accomodation arrangement, I'll gladly try my best to help you.
>
> I apologize that one of my only contributions to this mailing list  
> is not
> directly linked to the topic and hope you will not mind too much.  
> However,
> reading your discussion reminded me of an article about this coming
> retrospective, which said that most of the animes that will be  
> presented
> come from Western collections. Apparently, it is only recently that  
> Japanese
> institutions have decided to keep archives of these productions.
>
> Again, I'm sorry for intervening here with this announcement only  
> slightly
> related to the topic of your discussion.
>
> Best,
>
> Ariane Beldi
>
> Ph.D. Candidate
> Doctoral School in Media & Communication Studies
> University of Geneva, Switzerland
> http://www.unige.ch/ses/socio/communication/bienvenue.html
> _______________________________________________________
> beldi9 at etu.unige.ch
> http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=591868073
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/arianebeldi
> http://arianebeldi.wordpress.com
>
>
> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> [mailto:owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu] De la part de Eija
> Niskanen
> Envoyé : vendredi, 12. juin 2009 02:17
> À : KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Objet : Re: corr: asking your inputs about the Bunkacho project, the
> National Center for Media Arts
>
> I would add to Aaron's great list:
>
> The center should have a preservation and restoration program for  
> Japanese
> early animation, and should actively collect any historical documents
> related to early animation.
>
> It would really be a waste of money to build another manga museum,  
> as Kyoto
> already has a great one, so part of the funds should rather go to  
> supporting
> Kyoto Manga Musuem and arranging mutual cooperation between the  
> Center and
> Kyoto Manga Museum. Same goes to NFC.
>
> Eija
>
> 2009/6/12 Sarah Teasley <sarah.teasley at rca.ac.uk>:
>> In response to Aaron's reply, hear hear!
>>
>> Following on Aaron's points 6) and 8), I would adapt the phrasing of
>> his 8) and add that the point, in the end, is how cool Japan is
>> towards its own media history, and how confident Japan is that
>> animators, game designers, media artists, other 'geijutsuka' and
>> 'kurieta-' and the companies that they run and/or that employ them
>> will continue to produce work with skill, originality and verve,
>> whether or not the Bunkacho builds a generator for them.
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> Sarah Teasley / sarah.teasley at rca.ac.uk
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11 Jun 2009, at 22:19, Aaron Gerow wrote:
>>
>>
>>         I've been watching the news on this and have had my  
>> worries too.
>> There's a lot of politics going on, but building one more box with no
>> plan is not going to help much. I also fear the usual rush for "new
>> media" which forgets the entire history of cinema behind it.
>>
>>         Quickly, here are some things I would stress:
>>
>>         1) Do not build anything until a clear plan has been made for
>> how the facility should be used. This plan should be made not by
>> government bureaucrats, but by researchers, fans, and industry  
>> figures
>> in equal numbers. Personally, I think it is important that the center
>> should be a research and exhibition center first (the NFC's  
>> problem is
>> that it is a preservation facility first, leaving research as an  
>> after
> thought).
>>
>>         2) Crucial is defining its place amongst the various  
>> media. If
>> it does anime, clearly it does film, since much of anime was  
>> produced on
> film.
>> If it does include non-film media, will it include TV? How is manga
>> "new media"? What of computer games? How are all these to relate to
>> existing archives like the NFC or the Kyoto Manga Museum or NHK?
>> Personally, I think mixing anime, manga and anything "cool" is a
>> problem: it is stretching too far, is confusing (it has no principal
>> other than some vague pop culture or market-based definition), and
>> steps on many toes. I would drop manga and focus on anime, TV,
>> computer games, and media art, though of course allowing for research
>> and exhibitions exploring connections with other media like film.
>>
>>         3) As a research center, it should have not only a library  
>> and
>> viewing facilities, but space for conferences and workshops. Viewing
>> should be easy and inexpensive for individual researchers. The center
>> should have a publication arm that produces academic journals,
>> exhibition catalogs, and full-length monographs. The center should
>> both employ a full staff of researchers--who have time for research
>> and the freedom to be inventive in research and programming--and have
>> fellowships for one-year research projects on site. A research center
>> cannot succeed without connections to academia, so the Bunkacho must
>> cooperate with the Monkasho to create academic programs at nearby
> universities to further media research.
>>
>>         4) The Bunkacho must coordinate with industry to collect not
>> only important end products, but also materials related to  
>> production,
>> including internal company documents. NHK and the other TV networks
>> have been terrible at making available their full catalogs: the law
>> should require them to deposit all that in the center for free,
>> unrestricted viewing.  The Bunkacho must also work with companies to
>> have them waive copyright for use of stills, etc. of any publication
>> produced by the center, or for any materials that a scholar uses from
>> the center in class or in publications. The center should be thought
>> of as not following industry, but leading it in terms of its  
>> cultural, not
> economic aspects.
>>
>>         5) As an exhibition site, the center should not only hold
>> regular series, but also regular festivals and lecture series for the
>> general public. It thus needs various size halls for such  
>> exhibitions,
>> some of which can be rented for scholarly or community media events.
>>
>>         6) The center should not just be thought of as an
>> international promotion site for the industry's products, but an
>> independent cite for critical research and discussion. It can work in
>> concert with industry, but its needs should trump that of  
>> industry. It
>> should thus focus primarily not on introducing Japan's new products,
>> but on critically examining their history, culture, ideology, etc.
>> Only such an institution will get the respect of foreign researchers.
>> To further the international aims of the center, it should also
>> sponsor international fellowships, translations of critical works,  
>> and
> subtitling of historical media works.
>>
>>         7) The center must be fully budgeted for at least a decade
>> after it opens, which means lots of money for staff, publications,  
>> and
>> events. That is the problem with hakomono gyosei: fund what's good  
>> for
>> your construction company buddies, but not what will actually fill  
>> the
>> box. If they want to avoid the impression that this is just Aso's pet
>> project, this center should not be built until other related
>> institutions like the NFC are reformed and fully funded.
>>
>>         8) The point, in the end, is not to show cool Japan, but to
>> show how cool Japan is towards its own media history.
>>
>>         A bit quickly written (I probably forgot a lot) and probably
>> totally unrealizable, but I hope this helps. Thanks for the chance to
> dream a bit.
>>
>>         Aaron Gerow
>>         Assistant Professor
>>         Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
>>         Yale University
>>         53 Wall Street, Room 316
>>         PO Box 208363
>>         New Haven, CT 06520-8363
>>         USA
>>         Phone: 1-203-432-7082
>>         Fax: 1-203-432-6764
>>         e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
>>         site: www.aarongerow.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Eija Niskanen
> c/o Hirasawa
> Koenji-kita 4-2-10
> Suginami-ku
> Tokyo 166-0002
>
>
>