Presentation Follow Up–Frauenkirche

At the outset of Kamanaka Hitomi’s film “Hibakusha at the End of the World,” the narrator tells us that while “Hibakusha” commonly refers to Japanese victims of the atomic bombs, it will be used in the film to refer to all victims of radiation.  I was quite interested in this statement for a number of reasons: it opens the possibility of a biologically based world citizenship, it brings up issues of collective lawsuits being pursued internationally, and it also calls to mind the role of Japan in the international “community of victims.”  In addition to these semi-positive associations and possibilities, the statement also made me think about some of the potential pitfalls of an identity based on horrific victimization.  Indeed, what does it mean to define oneself as a victim?  What does this exclude?  Is victimized subjectivity progressive, or does it prevent an exploration of fact?

Facing Fear

Nori was present on the first day of our class, and by chance I conducted a personal interview with him.  Having met only a few of my classmates prior to the first session, I had no idea that I was interviewing our guest of honor.  He was immediately likable and obviously somewhat nervous about just what he had gotten himself into.  We talked for a good five minutes about his university town, his website, his major, his jobs, and, of course about the fact that Sapporo was even colder than Chicago.   We talked, in short, like two people who were casually meeting for the first time; which is , obviously, exactly what we were.

The fact that the pleasant banality of our first meeting surprised me, I think, deserves some explanation.  Thinking on the matter later, I was surprised not only by how easy he was to talk to, but also by my own surprise.  I don’t know what I had expected, someone larger than life perhaps.  After all, he had been in captivity in Iraq, been subjected to right wing rants in Japan, and was now playing the role of a traveling speaker/activist.  Despite all of this however, he was just a normal person, slightly nervous about the spotlight.

What this experience has taught me, is that people who do amazing things are, in the end, just people.  There is, I believe, not much that can encourage people to stand up for their own believe more than coming to the realization that amazing people are humans, each facing their own fears, yet pushing beyond.

Thanks Nori!

Rokkashomura as Activism

While visiting our class, Kamanaka Hitomi refused to define herself as activist.  Activisism in Japan, she argued, tends to turn people away, for upon hearing that an event such as a film is an activist project, they assume they will be bombarded with ideologically motivated falsehoods.  In order to prevent such a knee jerk reaction to her own film, Kamanaka claimed that she produced her film objectively, giving equal attention to supporters and opponents of the plutonium processing plant in northern Japan.  She desired to erase her own prejudices, thus facilitating individualized reactions to the film