tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58132973007510510202024-03-13T23:07:47.158-07:00Eclipse Rising - Zainichi Koreans in the United StatesEclipse Rising is a US-based Zainichi Korean group founded in the winter of 2008, by a diverse group of Zainichi Koreans who came together to recognize and celebrate the rich and unique history of Koreans in Japan, promote Zainichi community development, peace and reunification, and work for social justice for all minorities in Japan.Eclipse Risinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-67681942471383971412018-09-03T17:30:00.000-07:002018-09-04T16:45:53.849-07:00Justice for "Comfort Women": Upcoming EventsDear friends and allies,<br />
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Founded in 2008, Eclipse Rising is one of (if not) the only US-based Zainichi Korean social justice organization with members and families in both Japan and the US. For the past three years, we have been closely worked with diverse organizations and individuals throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, and mobilized our communities throughout Japan, to help build the memorial, "Women's Column of Strength," in San Francisco.<br />
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We will continue to work with our allies to demand justice from the Japanese government and educate the public about the wartime sexual violence that still continue to this day.<br />
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So it is a real honor to be able to spread the word about a number of wonderful events taking place during the 3rd week of September to celebrate the first anniversary of the memorial, and amplify the voices of “Comfort Women” especially now, in the face of massive historical denialism. We hope to see many of you at these events!<br />
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1) <b>The First Anniversary Ceremony of the SF Comfort Women Memorial</b><br />
by "Comfort Women" Justice Coalition<br />
Free and open to the public<br />
Saturday, September 22, 11AM<br />
St. Mary's Square (651 California St)<br />
Followed by “The March for True Justice for ‘Comfort Women’” from the St Mary's Square to the City College of San Francisco Chinatown Campus (4 short blocks)<br />
Info: http://remembercomfortwomen.org/<br />
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2) <b>Community Celebration (Luncheon) followed by Thematic Workshops and the Screening of "Da Han”</b><br />
Free and open to the public<br />
Saturday, September 22, 1PM<br />
City College Chinatown Campus (808 Kearny St)<br />
Info: http://remembercomfortwomen.org/<br />
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3) <b>San Francisco Photo Exhibition of the "Comfort Women"</b><br />
Free and open to the public<br />
<u>September 4 through September 20</u> (Mondays through Fridays)<br />
California State Building<br />
350 McAllister Street, San Francisco<br />
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<u>September 21 through October 19</u><br />
City College of San Francisco Chinatown Campus<br />
808 Kearney Street, San Francisco<br />
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4) <b>Truth & Justice: Remembering “Comfort Women” Exhibit</b><br />
by Education for Social Justice Foundation (ESJF) and the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (The Korean Council)<br />
Monday, September 17 to Saturday, September 22<br />
Monday, 9/17 & Tuesday, 9/18: Docent tours<br />
Wednesday, 9/19, Thursday, 9/20 & Saturday, 9/22: 1 – 6 pm <br />
Friday, 9/21: 4 – 9 pm<br />
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Manilatown Heritage Foundation<br />
868 Kearny St, San Francisco<br />
Free Admission<br />
Inquiry: sungssohn@gmail.com<br />
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4) <b>Fourth Conference on WWII in the Philippines - Resistance, Retaliation, Reconciliation & Rescission</b><br />
By Bataan Legacy Historical Society, Memorare Manila 1945, the USF Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program and Kasaman at USF<br />
Open to the public, $20 Registration fee (Lunchbox included)<br />
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Saturday, September 22, 10AM-4PM<br />
University of San Francisco McLaren Conference Center<br />
2130 Fulton St., San Francisco, CA<br />
TO REGISTER: http://bataanlegacy.org/future-events.html<br />
Inquiry: info@bataanlegacy.org<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-45985724470654012822018-08-21T19:27:00.000-07:002018-08-21T19:29:35.265-07:00Statement of Endorsement: "Support Fukushima/Remember Hiroshima & Nagasaki" event in LA<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1">Eclipse Rising endorses the event held in Los Angeles on August 8, 2018 called "<b>Support Fukushima/Remember Hiroshima & Nagasaki</b>."</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This event was sponsored by the <u>San Fernando Valley Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League</u> and <u>Fukushima Support Committee</u>.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Below is our statement of endorsement that was read during the event, which focused on remembering the Korean victims and survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Memories of the past are shaped as much by the present moment. As Zainichi Koreans, or the descendants of postcolonial Korean migrants and exiles in and from Japan, we rise in solidarity with all the victims and survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, regardless of their heritage. We also remember that not all the victims have received the equal attention in the stories of these atrocities. We remember our Korean ancestors who came to Japan during the colonization and struggled for survival in the face of harsh poverty and discrimination,</span> <span class="s1"><span class="s2"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/05/25/the-forgotten-story-of-tens-of-thousands-of-koreans-who-died-in-hiroshima/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.aa4cdbded3c6" target="_blank">only to perish in the atomic bombings</a></span>. Those who survived have continued to suffer from the after effects of the radiation, as well as</span> <span class="s1"><span class="s2"><a href="https://www.wiseinternational.org/nuclear-monitor/387-388/forgotten-korean-victims" target="_blank">the lack of public recognition and support</a></span>. After all, the atomic bombings also functioned as medical experimentation, and Korean survivors significantly lacked access to immediate and long-term medical care due to racism and poverty. Some of them have since returned to their homeland, which then became divided into North and South by imperialist powers. Hibakusha who resided in Japan received some survivor compensation from the Japanese government, but those Korean hibakusha who returned to South Korea have only received partial compensation, while nothing has been done to the hibakusha in North Korea. There are also</span> <span class="s1"><span class="s2"><a href="http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Japanese%20American%20Hibakusha/" target="_blank">Japanese American survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki</a></span>. The dominant narrative goes that the Japanese are the only people who have been victimized by atomic bombings, but the victims actually include not only Koreans but also</span> <span class="s1"><span class="s2"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marshall-islands-nuclear-bombs-radiation-2016-6" target="_blank">people in Marshall islands who have had 67 times of nuclear tests between 1946 And 1958</a></span>.</span> <span class="s1"><span class="s2"><a href="http://www.republicoflakotah.com/2010/native-americans-bear-the-nuclear-burden/" target="_blank">Native Americans</a></span> like the Navajo people also suffer from uranium mining that supplied for these tests. We caution against such a nationalizing narrative of victimhood that erases, flattens, and reduces historical complexities and geopolitical nuances.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">More than seven decades have passed since the end of the World War II. We must critically interrogate what we choose to forget or remember, and how we negotiate our collective memories. Relationships among people of East Asian descent remain contentious, and as diasporic folks we, too, are haunted by the trauma of colonialism, warfare, and unspeakable violence accentuated by displacement and migration. Without overriding Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and without nationalizing the suffering of the victims and survivors, we must also juxtapose the painful memories of the hundreds of thousands of women and girls who were systematically coerced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army. In the context of the competition and collusion between Japanese imperialism and US imperialism, we must also never forget the racist internment of Japanese Americans. We must also learn from the way in which Okinawa became a racialized battlefield on which the Japanese and US forces have fought against each other to the detriment of Okinawan people's sovereignty and cultural survival. The politics of scapegoating and the politics of victimhood are intertwined for the profit of those in power.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Less than 10 years ago, Fukushima became another focal point of a nuclear disaster and subsequent erasure of non-Japanese and immigrant survivors as well as workers involved in the cleanup process. The 3/11 disasters reminded us of the painful history of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquakes, in the aftermath of which many Koreans, Okinawans, and communists were massacred. Today, we face the resurgence of ultraconservative sentiments across the globe, exacerbated by neoliberal social structure that turns racialized bodies into even more disposable labor. It seems that fear and historical amnesia fuel each other, driving us further toward alienation. The Abe administration is propagating neoliberal rhetorics of sexism, queerphobia, racism, and xenophobia, tacitly endorsing the rise of hate speech in Japan. Mayor of Osaka, a city with a long history of Zainichi Korean livelihood, has been consistently demanding the city of San Francisco to reject</span> <span class="s1"><span class="s2"><a href="http://remembercomfortwomen.org/" target="_blank">the “Comfort Women" memorial, which Eclipse Rising helped establish last year in multi-ethnic solidarity with the victims and survivors</a></span>. In the US, as we know, the Trump administration has been enbolding and enabling dangerous white supremacists, who threaten the safety of immigrants, women, people of color, indigenous peoples, disabled and sick people, Muslim communities, and queer and trans people. Now is the time to renew our commitment to remembrance and to educating the younger generation about the historical truths. Whether atrocious history of the 20th century would repeat itself relies entirely on our effort to confront the past and the ongoing legacies of colonialism and imperialism. Memories of the past are shaped as much by the present moment, and they can also shape our future. We are the sacred generation tasked with remembering who we are and reimagining what it means to be a human. We must cultivate the courage and patience to remember what we may want to forget, so that we can keep struggling for justice and collective healing.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">August 8, 2018</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Eclipse Rising</span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-22958285711882201802018-01-29T22:12:00.003-08:002018-01-29T23:05:33.160-08:00Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) Endorses the "Comfort Women" Resolution!<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: magenta;"><b>A Historic Win:</b></span> AAAS has become the nation's first national academic association to officially take a stand in solidarity with Comfort Women for their demand for justice!</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We are extremely proud to announce that the Association for Asian American Studies Board of Directors unanimously voted to endorse the "Comfort Women" Resolution! This is a win for women’s rights, human rights, and most especially a measure of justice for our grandmothers, both those who have passed on and those who are still here with us. This victory is an attribution to the decades-long movement, led by the brave women who came out to tell their stories over 20 years ago. Community members, activists, and academics have followed suit, telling and memorializing our grandmother’s stories and rightly pointing out the unimaginably twisted atrocity inflicted and institutionalized by the Japanese imperial army, and forcefully denied as "official position" by the current Japanese government. Politicization of the issue, away from the human rights issue that it is, and Tokyo's active whitewashing of its militaristic past have put tremendous pressure on the scholars working on the issue of wartime sexual slavery and threatened our academic freedom. <br /><br />In light of the recent news that Japan is threatening to boycott the South Korean Olympics due to President Moon publically rejecting the so-called 2015 “agreement” between South Korea and Japan, which did nothing to “resolve” the “Comfort Women” issue and instead completely silenced the demands by surviving grandmothers, the AAAS endorsement of the “Comfort Women” resolution is an important step in acknowledging and denouncing institutionalized sex slavery and </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">resisting</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">historical denialism. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />We will follow up with another email with an exciting list of presentations, panels, and our annual “Comfort Women” section meeting at the 2018 gathering in San Francisco, but for now, please see the statement below. The <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/eclipserising/activities/aaas-comfort-women-resolution">original resolution submitted</a> for endorsement included over 100 signatories.<br /><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>AAAS Board of Directors Statement on Supporting the Comfort Women Resolution</b></span></div>
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<br />2018 Association for Asian American Studies Conference<br />March 29-31, 2018<br />Westin St. Francis, San Francisco, California<br /><br />Regarding the campaign to “Support Remembrance of ‘Comfort Women’ and Their Endangered History,” the Association for Asian American Studies Board of Directors supports the following statement: <br /><br />That the call to stand with the survivors of Japanese Imperial Army’s heinous atrocity of sexual enslavement system euphemistically known as the “Comfort Women” system as resistance to the current administration of Japan to whitewash its militaristic past is an important point. Mainstream Japanese institutions are complicit with Japanese government’s active denial and denigration of the truths and truth-bearers of this mass human rights violation the world cannot afford to banish into oblivion, as the world grapples with contemporary threats of colonial sexual violence again.<br /><br />There was a careful distinction made between the Japanese government and its complicit institutions, and individual academics of Japanese ancestry. It is the former – the government and complicit institutions – that are the target of concern, and not individual scholars per se. The similarity of the “Comfort Women” denialism to the Holocaust denialism is also a matter to think about.<br /><br />Because the US government does not oppose or protest the reprehensible actions of the Japanese government with respect to our right to historical truths, justice, education and academic freedom, it falls to civil society organizations like the AAAS to take up the call by the former Comfort Women grandmothers and their supporters to stand in solidarity with them as they make a principled demand for unequivocal acceptance of WWII era Japanese military sexual slavery, and justice. Academics in Japan who speak out against the Japanese government’s policies are subject to intimidation and retribution, and so it is crucial that the AAAS stand in solidarity with Japanese academics who protest the denialist actions of the state of Japan.<br /><br />Specifically, the Endorsement “Supporting Remembrance of ‘Comfort Women’ and their Endangered History calls upon members of AAAS to educate, through courses, forums, and other means, the students, faculty, and staff on their campuses of the realities and truths of arguably the largest-scale mass human trafficking system of the 21st century, and the survivors of this horrific system whose stories are systematically derided and discredited by the Japanese government; to encourage further integration of this often-hidden history into relevant teaching curricula; and to forge alliances with academics and students conducting research on this subject.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
[<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/eclipserising/activities/aaas-comfort-women-resolution">Click here for the original resolution submitted</a>]</div>
<br /><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-69278200488606722182018-01-24T18:33:00.000-08:002018-01-24T18:33:50.894-08:00Shame on Shinzo Abe, Taking the Olympics Hostage as Global Calls for Justice Pierce the 2015 “Comfort Women” Agreement[repost from the "Comfort Women" Justice Coalition website / <span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">「慰安婦」正義連盟ウェブサイトより再掲]</span><br />
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Shame on Shinzo Abe, Taking the Olympics Hostage as Global Calls for Justice Pierce the 2015 “Comfort Women” Agreement</h1>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On January 9, 2018, the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) announced its position, in alignment with the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, that the 2015 ROK-Japan Agreement fails to take a “victim-centered” approach and does not constitute a true resolution of the issue of the Japanese Military “Comfort Women” System. Subsequently the ROK urged Japan to make a sincere apology to the victims, whom, with hideous dehumanizing violence, the Japanese Imperial Army had sexually enslaved as “war ammunition” for Japan’s imperial wars of aggression in dozens of countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Signalling displeasure with the ROK’s demand, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will reportedly boycott the Winter Olympics in the ROK next month, while stubbornly insisting that the Agreement had already resolved the “Comfort Women” issue — “fully and irreversibly.”</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This Agreement, however, not only lacks official documentation, but fulfills none of the principled demands that, during the two decades preceding it, victims had outlined, as follows:</span></div>
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1. Acknowledgement of Japan’s military sexual slavery<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2. Comprehensive investigation into the crimes<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />3. Official and legally-bound apology<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />4. Government reparations to all victims<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />5. Prosecution of the criminals<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />6. Ongoing education in Japan’s history textbooks<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />7. Construction of Memorials and Museums to remember victims and to preserve history</div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Government of Japan (GOJ) used the 2015 Agreement effectively as a vehicle for shielding itself from having to fulfill any of these demands rather than restoring the victims’ dignity by means of a genuine resolution. The true goal of the Agreement is to promote the illusion that Japan has indeed apologized while simultaneously insisting the crimes did not occur. In the Agreement, the GOJ even prohibits the ROK from using the term “sexual slavery” and disapproves of memorial statues, while spending half a billion dollars for allegedly “recovering the honor and dignity” of the victims.</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A sense of irony is not lost on us, when Prime Minister Abe accuses the ROK of foul play by allegedly breaking “an international and universal principle” of diplomacy in demanding Japan’s sincere apology. Isn’t it Japan that is engaging in foul play, to deceive the victims and the conscientious people of the world about the true intent of the Agreement? In complicity with the GOJ, all major Japanese press outlets, including Asahi, Yomiuri, and Mainichi, normalize the GOJ’s deception. With hateful language against Korean and Chinese communities, they recently mischaracterized our “Comfort Women” Memorial in San Francisco as a symbol of Japan bashing, while attacking our multi-ethnic and transnational solidarity for upholding the fundamental principles of justice and human rights. Instead of showing any hint of remorse, the Japanese media escalates the GOJ’s hateful anti-ROK propaganda.</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By taking the Winter Olympics hostage, in a desperate measure to punish the ROK, Mr. Abe has hit a new low. What Japan needs in a leader today is integrity and commitment to humanity for a peaceful tomorrow. We call on the peace-loving people in Japan to join the international “Comfort Women” justice movement in denouncing the GOJ’s deception, demanding a full investigation of the Abe administration’s faulty diplomacy in the name of the Agreement, and leading a nationwide act of atonement for Japan’s past crime. By refusing to confront its imperial aggression, Japan has not only failed to end its racism and nationalism but is already turning back onto a path of full-blown fascism under the Abe administration. While the GOJ and the United States consider the “Comfort Women” issue as a mere stumbling block in their re-militarization agenda, it is the victims’ principled demands to the GOJ that will guide us on an alternative path to a peaceful and prosperous world free from fear of sexual violence, where all women, girls, and all people can live a life with respect and dignity.</span></div>
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January 18th, 2018<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“Comfort Women” Justice Coalition</div>
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<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">日本軍「慰安婦」制度の犠牲者に公式謝罪を拒否し、オリンピックを盾に不当な韓国叩きを続ける安倍首相の欺瞞を、世界市民は決して許さない。</strong></h3>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2018年1月9日、韓国政府は日本軍の「慰安婦」問題を巡る2015年の韓日「合意」は被害者中心のアプローチに欠け、「慰安婦」問題の根本的な解決にはあたらないと発表した。この結論は先の2016年2月に、国連の女性差別撤廃委員会が発表した内容と合致するものである。文大統領はさらに「日本が真実を認め、被害者の女性たちに心を尽くして謝罪し、それを教訓に再発しないよう国際社会と努力する」ことが、完全な解決への条件だと示唆した。「慰安婦」問題の犠牲者は、韓国のみならずアジア太平洋地域にある何十もの国々の出身者で、日本帝国による侵略戦争の為の「兵站」として、日本帝国陸軍、海軍により強制的に「性奴隷」とされ非人間的で卑劣な暴力の被害を受けた。韓国側の発表を受け、安倍首相は加害国の長として誠意と反省の念を持って答えるどころか、逆に不快感をあらわにし、「慰安婦」問題は「合意」により最終的かつ不可逆的に解決されたとの従来からの立場に固執した。マスコミによれば、首相は「慰安婦」問題を理由に来月韓国で開催される冬季五輪のボイコットをちらつかせ、直前まで出席の有無を発表しないとみられる。</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">このいわゆる「合意」には公式な書類もなく、犠牲者が長年に亘り求め続けてこられた要求事項を一つも満たしていない。犠牲者の要求とは次の7点である。</span></div>
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1、日本軍性奴隷制度を事実として認める<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2、この犯罪の徹底した調査<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />3、公式で法に基づく謝罪<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />4、政府による全被害者に対する補償<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />5、犯罪者の処罰<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />6、継続的な歴史教育・歴史教科書への記載<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />7、犠牲者を記憶し歴史を保存する為の記念碑・記念館の建設</div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2015年の「合意」は初めから、当事者の意向を無視し、犠牲者の尊厳の回復と「慰安婦」問題の真の解決を目指しておらず、むしろ「合意」の主たる目的は日本政府がこれらの責任から逃れることにあった。「合意」の中で日本政府は被害者の「名誉と尊厳の回復」のために10億円の拠出を約束する一方、韓国政府に「性奴隷」という名称そのものの使用を禁じ、世界的な「慰安婦」記念像建設阻止を図っている。つまり一方で日本軍「慰安婦」制度という犯罪そのものを否定しながら、同時に日本はすでに犠牲者に謝罪したという幻想を作り出そうとしたのだ。 韓国政府が日本の自主的な、心からの謝罪を示唆したのに対し、安倍首相は韓国は「合意」を履行せず日本の裏をかき「国際的で普遍的」な外交の基本を逸脱したとして、韓国政府を責めたてている。しかし法的にも外交的にも一切拘束力のない「合意」を盾にして、その真の目的を隠し、犠牲者と良心的な世界の市民を姑息にも騙そうとした安倍政権こそが責められるべきではないだろうか?国際人権法の違反者である日本政府が、韓国政府を国際的外交の原則の違反者として責めたてるのは、皮肉以外の何物でもない。しかし残念なことに、朝日、読売、毎日など、日本の大手マスコミ各社も日本政府の欺瞞を批判するどころか、日本政府に追従し日本政府の異常な主張をあたかも正常であるかのように報道している。我々が正義と人権の原則に則って、民族の枠を超え国際的な団結の象徴としてサンフランシスコに建てた「慰安婦」像に関しても、日本のマスコミはあたかも反日の日本叩きのシンボルであるかのように報道し、一部マスコミは韓国系・中国系のアメリカ市民に対する差別的なヘイトスピーチを 紙面上で繰り返している。今回の「合意」に関する報道でも、過去の罪に対する日本の国家としての責任に基づく後悔、反省の念のかけらも見られず、日本政府によるヘイトに満ちた反韓国のプロパガンダをただ繰り返すのみだ。</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">「慰安婦」問題を盾にオリンピック出席を渋らせ韓国政府を懲らしめようと躍起になる安倍氏は、国家の長としてこれまでにも増して醜態をさらしている。今日本が平和な未来を建設する上で必要としているのは、人間の尊厳に基づいた世界市民の共存を志す、誠実で清廉な指導者である。</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">我々は今後、これまでより一層多くの平和を愛する日本の市民の方々が、国際的な「慰安婦」正義運動に積極的に加わり、日本政府の欺瞞を暴き、「合意」の名の下に安倍政権が行った不正に満ちた外交の責任を正し、「合意」を無効とし、日本が過去に犯した犯罪を償うための全国民的な運動を繰り広げて行くことを望む。植民地・帝国主義の過去ときちんと向き合うことを避け続けることで、日本はその民族差別や偏狭なナショナリズムの深刻な問題を未だに抱え続けているばかりでなく、安倍政権のもと戦前のファシズムに逆戻りする道をひた走っている。日本政府もアメリカ政府も共に、「慰安婦」問題をアジアの(再)軍事化を妨げる厄介な外交問題としてしか捉えていない。日本の与党の指導者たちは安倍首相のオリンピック出席を求め、このまま慰安婦問題をうやむやにすることも企んでいるようだ。</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">しかし安倍政権のこのような政策は、世界の潮流に逆行している。例えば、アメリカの黒人女性活動家によって始められた#MeToo運動は海を越え、世界中の女性やトランスジェンダー・ジェンダークイアの人々を奮い立たせている。私たちはアメリカ社会の中の性暴力と対峙する中、日本の「詩織さん」の訴えについても読んだ。ここで忘れてならないのは、この世界的運動が始まる何十年も前に、日本軍「慰安婦」制度のサバイバーのおばあさんたちは声をあげ、特に性差別、民族差別、植民地主義が交差し増幅させた暴力の被害者として、果敢に日本政府に立ち向かい正義と女性の人権を求める運動を牽引してこられたことだ。その歴史の流れの中に現在の女性の人権と尊厳を求める運動がある。サバイバーのおばあさんたちが長年にわたって訴え続けてこられた要求を一つ一つ実現させていく道こそが、性暴力を恐れることなく、全ての少女、女性、そして全ての世界市民が尊厳を持って生きていくことのできる、平和で豊かな世界を実現させる唯一の道である。</span></div>
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<span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">世界の皆さんとの連帯を心から願いつつ。</span></div>
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2018年1月18日<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />「慰安婦」正義連盟</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-86790218919644530282017-07-06T17:40:00.000-07:002017-07-06T17:42:19.676-07:00CWJC 2017 Summer Lecture Series: "Justice for Comfort Women"<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Dear friends,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">As you may know, as cofounders of Comfort Women Justice Coalition (CWJC) in San Francisco, our member has been working hard to organize this very rare and special opportunity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">As Prime Minister Abe and the government of Japan has been employing various strategies to undermine the volumes of backbreaking research and documentation to support the undeniable facts of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery as part of its militaristic past during WWII (for which we Zainichi Koreans in Japan continue to suffer its legacies of colonial racism in postwar Japan), we believe that it is of utmost importance to help reveal more new studies coming out to render the hidden voices of hudnreds of thousands of victims of this horrific system of colonial sexist violence visible, and validated, once and for all. Only then, will justice be won, to pave the way for a future where the fundamental human rights of all girls and women are protected in the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br />Thanks for your interest, and we hope you can join us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Please join us for the CWJC 2017 Summer Lecture Series "Justice for Comfort Women" on <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204);">July 7th</span> (at SFSU) and <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204);">July 19th</span> (at Cathay House Restaurant, SF). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">We are delighted to sponsor two lectures by Prof Peipei Qiu (co-sponsored by SFSU Asian American Studies Department) and Prof Su Zhiliang (co-sponsored by Global Alliances), the esteemed authors of the critically acclaimed book, <strong><i>Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves</i> </strong>(Oxford University Press, 2014). The book has been named <span style="text-align: center;">Best Book of the Year by the Chinese American Librarians Association and received numerous raving reviews. Publishers Weekly, for example, stated that </span><span style="text-align: center;">"This vital work, combining exemplary scholarship and humanitarian activism, should prove valuable to a wide </span>audience and indispensable to specialists."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Professor Qiu's topic is "Comfort Women"-Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves During the Asian Pacific War. Profesor Su's topic is Road to UNESCO Recognition of Nanjing Massacre and the "Comfort Women" in the Memory of World Register. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">This is a rare opportunity that allows us to learn directly from those scholars on their decades of scholarship that has significantly expanded and revised our understanding of the so-called Japanese Military "Comfort Women" system. </span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tRP5tkDWXAI/WV7WjPXpN4I/AAAAAAAAHi0/QDLhBQJdY6AEpLmf2Kmm-0pKqzZS-O1rACLcBGAs/s1600/cjwclectures2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="500" height="219" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tRP5tkDWXAI/WV7WjPXpN4I/AAAAAAAAHi0/QDLhBQJdY6AEpLmf2Kmm-0pKqzZS-O1rACLcBGAs/s320/cjwclectures2017.jpg" width="320" /></a><strong><span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Professor Peipei Qiu's talk</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Fri, July 7, 2017</span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">San Francisco State University, Library 121</span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Professor Su Zhiliang's talk</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Wed, July 19, 2017</span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">4:30pm - 5:30pm</span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cathay House Restaurant</span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">718 California Street, San Francisco </span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Banquet with Professor Su Zhilian</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">at Cathay House Restaurant (after the public lecture)</span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">$25 per person.</span></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Must RSVP at <a href="mailto:tkinukaw@sfsu.edu" target="_blank">tkinukaw@sfsu.edu</a> </span></div>
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More information at: <a href="http://www.remembercomfortwomen.org/">www.remembercomfortwomen.org</a><br />
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miholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03661700103253863949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-1829319330992992782017-02-26T16:09:00.003-08:002017-02-26T16:18:12.779-08:00Upcoming Event: Zainichi-themed Film Screening in Berkeley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="color: #31849b; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED...</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Film screening of </span><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><i>The Sky Blue Symphony</i></span></b><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">, </span><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">a documentary </span><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">by the Zainichi filmmaker </span><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Yeongi Park</span><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"> from Japan</span><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"> about Zainichi Korean youths in "Chosen Gakko" (Korean Schools) in Japan. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15pt;">The Director will join us from Osaka in person to show and discuss the film, and share first-hand account of what's going on in our communities on the ground in Japan!</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1147273085" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Date: Thursday, March 2, 2017</span></span> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Time: 6:00-8:30pm</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Location: </span></b><b><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Room 141, </span></b><b><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Giannini Hall, UC Berkeley -- </span></b><b><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">off Hearst Street</span></b><b><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"> (10 minutes from Downtown Berkeley BART); map link: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://goo.gl/maps/Rs3wovwbXjm&source=gmail&ust=1488239243004000&usg=AFQjCNHneuUK7hspce2nLK0BbZc2QCtrgQ" href="https://goo.gl/maps/Rs3wovwbXjm" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #386eff;">https://goo.gl/maps/<wbr></wbr>Rs3wovwbXjm</span></a>)</span></b></div>
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<i><span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">*FREE! Light refreshments will be served</span></i><span style="color: #1049bc;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">*Language: Japanese and Korean, with English subtitles</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15pt;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1147273086" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">6:00pm</span></span> Reception with the Director</span><span style="color: #1049bc;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15pt;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1147273088" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">8:00pm</span></span> Q&A, Discussion with the Director<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #31849b; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">Join us!! See you there!!</span></i><span style="color: #31849b;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15pt;">Sponsored by: Eclipse Rising, Zainichi Corean Social Justice Organization</span><span style="color: #1049bc;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1049bc;"><span style="color: #386eff; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15pt;">EclipseRising [at] gmail.com</span><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1049bc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15pt;">*******</span><span style="color: #1049bc;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>About Yeong-I Park, DIRECTOR, CINEMATOGRAPHER/DP, EDITOR</b><br />Born in Japan in 1975, as a third generation Korean in Japan. Graduated from Kanagawa Korean Middle and High School, and from Korea University in Japan (majored in philosophy). Studied film and movie at the Vantan Academy. His short film “Wearing,” made for the graduation work was shown at film festivals in Japan, North and South Korea. He has participated in motion picture production of many genres since. “Sky Blue Symphony” is a master compilation of his diligent efforts capturing the Korean schools, their students and activities all over Japan for the past decade.<br /><br /><b>Director Statement</b><br /><br />The Korean Schools in Japan, where Koreans born and raised in Japan attend, have a long history of discrimination and persecution. They have been exposed to violence because they have a relationship with North Korea. However, nobody has dealt with the relationship in detail. Though their roots are in South Korea, why do they call North Korea their homeland? Why do they look full of hope and tell their dreams with confidence in spite of so much hardship? I made this film to seek the answer to these questions.<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />This documentary mainly filmed the 2 week-long trip of the Zainichi Korean students who attend one of Japan's 60 Korean schools to North Korea (DPRK). As third and fourth generation Koreans born and raised in Japan, students' visit to their ancestral home country is profound, as captured in film through their talks, singings, and other interactions with their Korean brethren there. At Panmunjom, which is a symbolic place of the tragic division of our one Korea, looking over to the South, the land of their ancestors’ birthplaces, they are overcome by the realization of the tragedy of the war -- and the deep, indelible mark left upon their own lives and struggle with identity and belonging. What does "homeland" mean to these students, born as "alien" in the former colonial metropole, in a country that refuses to accept them as members of the only society they know to be home, and seek to reclaim their cultural and ancestral heritage through a most vilified country in the world?</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-88611523479020332652017-02-05T19:09:00.003-08:002017-02-05T19:09:54.832-08:00Please endorse the 2017 AAAS Resolution Proposal to Support "Comfort Women"<div style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Dear Eclipse Rising supporters,</span></div>
<div style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="background-color: white;">We have an urgent, time-sensitive request, to endorse the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) resolution proposal, “Supporting Remembrance of ‘Comfort Women’ and their Endangered History” before the <b>Feb 10 deadline.</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Step 1, Sign up for 2017 membership:</b> Sponsors must be current, 2017 AAAS members or lifetime members. Anyone can become a paid member! If you haven't already renewed your membership, see link below, as we push together to get this resolution approved by the board at the 2017 AAAS conf<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">erence in Portland! Membership ($40-130): <a href="https://aaas.press.jhu.edu/membership/join" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">https://aaas.press.jhu.edu/membership/join</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Step 2:</b> To endorse, simply fill out this short endorsement form by Feb 10 or sooner: <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0UE_lePJQdfXRZv-nJO496fqH6jkHA5lnXQ8j6AjAQy27kg/viewform?c=0&w=1" rel="nofollow noopener" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSd0UE_lePJQdfXRZ…/viewform…</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In order for the resolution to qualify for a board vote in Portland this year, we need a total of 10 co-sponsors and 100 endorsers, all of whom must be AAAS members for 2017 by the time of the <b>submission (Feb 10)</b>. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">So please endorse today, and please help us spread the word by forwarding this message widely to fellow AAAS members (and would-be members)! For your information, an updated letter and resolution proposal to the board are below.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Thank you and we’ll be in touch again soon. In the meantime, please contact us at: comfortwomenresolution@gmail.com.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Thank you,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="background-color: white;">“Comfort Women” Section Chairs,<br />Grace J. Yoo, San Francisco State University<br />Kay Fischer, Chabot College<br />And “Comfort Women” Section Members</span></div>
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Eclipse Risinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-80938754696309834552016-10-31T10:14:00.000-07:002016-10-31T10:14:12.276-07:00ハンセン病隔離政策を生き延びる在日朝鮮人の金泰九さん:An Ode to Zainichi Heroes<i>Note to readers: We apologize that this post is only available in the original language (Japanese) of the author at the moment. The life of Mr. Tegu Kim, to whom the tribute below, offers a glimpse into other faceless, nameless Zainichi victims of Japan's legacy of forced permanent quarantine/isolation (akin to lifelong imprisonment without parole) of those affected by Hansen's Disease since early 1900s through as recently as the '90s (inspired by the Eugenics ideology that prevailed even following WWII and defeat of Imperial Japan). If you are interested to learn more, we are happy to share our resources on this matter or the life of Mr. Tegu Kim. </i><br />
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金泰九(きむ・てぐ)さんは、20代で発病した。その時彼は、大阪市立大学生。<br />
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<wbr></wbr>結婚もし、大阪で餃子屋さんを経営して、とても繁盛した。<br />
長身と、男前、頭脳明晰、経営力有りで、<wbr></wbr>順風満帆の生活を送っていた。</div>
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栄養不足の状態も、発病の原因と言われているハンセン病は、<wbr></wbr>生活苦に追い込まれた、在日朝鮮人、<wbr></wbr>被差別部落民等に多く襲いかかったのではないかと考えた私は、<wbr></wbr>ハンセン病療養所を尋ねた。</div>
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その中で出逢った一人が金泰九さんだった。</div>
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彼は、皇室が大きく後押しした、<wbr></wbr>無ライ県運動場の中で強制的に岡山県の療養所に送られた。<br />
大阪に残された妻は、自殺した。</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">施設は、当時でも粗末だった。現在撤去され、歴史が埋没される危機に直面している。</span></td></tr>
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彼は、ハンセン病療養所の中で懸命に生きた。</div>
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ハンセン病隔離政策の第一人者、光田けんすけ医師が、<wbr></wbr>園長を務めていた。</div>
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光田に対する、元患者の捉え方は、今も真っ二つに別れている。<br />
光田のお蔭で、生きてこられたと、<wbr></wbr>屋根付きの銅像に手を合わせる人々も少なくない。</div>
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金泰九さんは、入所当時から、光田の優勢思想を見抜いていた。</div>
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光田は、自分や、自分の妻にまで、ライ菌を注射し、<wbr></wbr>ハンセン病は、移らない事を知りつつ、完全隔離を国会で提言し、<wbr></wbr>反抗する患者に対する懲罰規定を設けさせ、<wbr></wbr>全国の療養所に懲罰房を作らせた。</div>
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療養所とは、名ばかりで、強制的に入所させられた患者たちは、<wbr></wbr>すぐさま、療養所の建築、整備作業、<wbr></wbr>重傷者の看護等に駆り立てられた。食べ物も少なく、<wbr></wbr>自分たちで魚を捕り、木を切って焼いた。枝を一本切っただけで、<wbr></wbr>懲罰房、そして、罰則としての断種がされた。</div>
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金泰九さんは、<wbr></wbr>光田をはじめとする療養所の不当な対応に抵抗する運動の先頭に立<wbr></wbr>った。この闘争はハンセン病療養所の歴史に名を残す出来事だ。</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">金泰九さん</td></tr>
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金泰九さんは、無知な私に、夜が更けるまでお話しして下さった。<wbr></wbr>内緒の話しも沢山して下さった。<br />
大田さんが出した写真集の中で、若き日の金泰九さんを見つけ、<wbr></wbr>電話すると、「よく、わかったね」と、<wbr></wbr>ゆっくりとやさしさと深さを感じる、いつもの声でおっしゃった。</div>
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私は、「金泰九さんは、もし、ハンセン病に、なってなければ、<wbr></wbr>男前の長身で、エリートの金持ちやから、女たらしの、<wbr></wbr>成金野郎になってたと思うわ」という、<wbr></wbr>とんでもない失礼なことばにさえ、温かい笑い声をくれた。</div>
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ゴマの葉が大好きで、お刺身に朝鮮の酢味噌をつけて、食べるのも好きだ。</div>
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いつも時間に遅れる私を、心配しながら、待っていてくれ、<wbr></wbr>いつもより遅めの昼食を食べる。</div>
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講演会に出掛ける事も多く、<wbr></wbr>背筋のシャキッと伸びた彼のジャケット姿は、<wbr></wbr>出逢った頃の70代から今も変わらずカッコイイ。<wbr></wbr>着替えを手伝っていた時、黒い靴下の下に白い靴下を見た。「<wbr></wbr>皮膚の表面に感覚が無いという、ハンセン病の後遺症で、<wbr></wbr>固いものを踏んでも分からなくて、<wbr></wbr>そのままにしておくと壊死するから、<wbr></wbr>血がわかるように白い靴下を履くんだ」と。</div>
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80歳を祈年に自叙伝を出された頃、<wbr></wbr>火傷で手の指を何本も切断する手術をうけた。<wbr></wbr>療養所の水道からは、熱湯は出ない。なぜ?と私は、思った。</div>
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私は泰九さんの所に行って聞くまで分からなかった。</div>
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お客さんにお茶を入れてくれるポットだった。<br />
ポットのお湯を入れ換える時、熱湯をかぶった。</div>
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はぁー。ため息。</div>
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分からなかった私も私だが、そんな事、予想出来たはずだ。<wbr></wbr>どうして療養所は、<wbr></wbr>ポットのお湯の入れ換えは職員がすると決めていなかったのか!</div>
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あれから10年、10月18日(郷ひろみと同じ)、<wbr></wbr>90歳になる前日に、金泰九さんは、重病者病棟に入られた。</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">お昼寝する金泰九さんと添い寝する著者</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
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沖縄の高江では、リーダーの博じいが、不当逮捕された日。<br />
私の中では、リンクする。<br />
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泰九さん、まだ逝かないで下さい。<br />
近いうちに、また逢いに行くよ。ゴマの葉と、刺身と、<wbr></wbr>酢味噌持って</div>
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<i><b>岸本眞奈美 (きしもと・まなみ)</b></i></div>
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<i><i><i>兵庫県生まれ育ち。</i></i>被差別部落解放運動に鍛えられ、理不尽を糾弾し、正義と勝利を自ら勝ち取る戦いを実践を通してまなぶ。<br />
</i><i>草の根の当事者らによりそい、根付いた人権・反差別運動に幅広く携わる。エクリプス・ライジングの訪日や、日本での活動を定期的にサポートしている同志でもあり、日本での解放運動の大先輩でもある。今回は、金泰九さんが危ないという連絡を(2016年10月半ば)受け、ぜひとも彼の生きた存在、意義、そして我々在日の歴史を残そうと、寄稿をお願いした。</i></div>
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miholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03661700103253863949noreply@blogger.com2日本, 〒701-4501 岡山県瀬戸内市邑久町虫明653934.6802055 134.247625800000049.158171 92.939031800000038 60.20224 175.55621980000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-58421441236823861202016-06-25T12:24:00.003-07:002018-01-24T18:45:23.785-08:00On becoming a Queer Zainichi Korean<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Happy Pride!! Eclipse Rising member Haruki Eda reflects on his experience as a Queer Korean navigating boundaries of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and nationality as he relocated from Japan to the U.S. in search of knowledge and community. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">June 25, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oakland</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I arrived in the United States from Japan 10 years ago with a student visa, in San Francisco, on August 18, 2006, I was a 19-year-old gay Japanese. Or at least that’s who I thought I was at that time. Filled with hope and anxiety, I started my college at San Francisco State University, where I was determined to study the politics, history, and culture of LGBT social movements. I had no concrete plans but vaguely thought I’d go back to Japan after learning as much as I could, so that I could start contributing to the LGBT movements in Japan. By the time I graduated, however, I’d realized I had so much more to learn, about myself and my own history as a descendant of Korean postcolonial exiles in Japan, commonly known as Zainichi Koreans. It was the knowledge shared by radical queer and trans people of color (QTPoC) that inspired and challenged me to cultivate a sense of authentic self, however fleeting it may be, by uncovering hidden stories and building meaningful relationships. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I always knew I was “half” Korean because my parents would tell me occasionally that my father is a zainichi kankoku-jin (South Korean resident of Japan). I remember telling my 1st-grade classmates that my dad is a kankoku-jin (South Korean) and bragging how I can say annyonhaseyo and kamusasamunida. My classmates in this half-rural, half-suburban town didn’t even know what Korea meant until much later. I didn’t really know either. You can’t reject or accept something you don’t understand, and young kids always know that. So my Korean heritage was neither rejected nor accepted by my peers or myself, though it was vaguely acknowledged. We just didn’t know why and how it was supposed to matter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Inheriting from my mother all the privileges that come with a Japanese name and citizenship, however, I never really thought of myself as Zainichi; I was just “half” kankoku-jin and full Japanese. I would enjoy my grandmother’s Korean food at the family reunion on every New Year’s Day, and I would enjoy not having to even think about what it meant to be in this family for the rest of the year. It was just a family I was born into, a network that existed, and somehow I hesitated to inquire too much because I felt like I was supposed to know all about it already. It wasn’t community to me. My father uses his Korean name, so I didn’t have to think about how to hide, and because I only have a Japanese name, I didn’t have to think about how to disclose. My Koreanness was just a fact, a piece of information, with no real meanings or stories behind it. It wasn’t knowledge to me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Meanwhile, though, I had much bigger concerns as I realized I was sexually attracted to boys. The realization was timely, sudden, and swift, when I found a gay porn magazine at a local bookstore when I was eleven. I already knew the concept of homosexuality, but I didn’t know the word gei as a non-derogatory term to refer to it. It was fortunate that I encountered this magazine, this word, almost as soon as it became clear that I liked dicks better than boobs. I realized there’s a community out there, and I realized there’s knowledge out there. And I must get there. And there was San Francisco, the United States of America, the Western world, the real modernity, beyond the horizon of small gay enclaves of global Osaka or cosmopolitan Tokyo. At least I knew I was “half” Korean and fully gay, and I was not going to live like a normal straight Japanese people all around me. I might as well try something different. So I studied English and applied to SF State because it seemed like the best place for studying queer theory. (My favorite band Third Eye Blind was from the Bay Area, so that alone would have convinced me to move there.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">With my freshly and so smoothly issued F-1 visa on my Japanese passport, with my parents’ full financial support, and with little trace of my Koreanness on any of my documents, I landed at SFO as a gay Japanese international student. I assumed I would fly out from the same airport four years later as a gay Japanese college graduate. That never happened. It never happened because I went to SF State, the home of Ethnic Studies and other legacies of the longest student strike in U.S. history. I met so many committed activists and dedicated scholars creating knowledge and community together, on and off campus, as students and as teachers to each other. I jumped right in as soon as I felt confident enough in my English: I founded an organization for Queer Asian students on campus; I volunteered at a local HIV service organization for Asian and Pacific Islander communities, and I worked as an RA in university housing to be in charge of the International Learning Community. I learned that a community is something I build. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">During these years, I made sense of my gender and sexuality through my connection to the local Queer Asian communities. I learned how my gender and sexuality impact the experiences I have in this world, in this country, always already mediated by my race, ethnicity, nationality, and citizenship. And much of it is actually that I am heavily protected by my male, cisgender, and able-bodied privileges. I tried to interrogate and challenge myself in order to learn what I am here to do. I came to recognize my queerness, rather than my “homosexuality,” as I navigate and negotiate various boundaries constructed around gender and race, within the bigger narrative of modernity and coloniality. Trying to understand how history and social structure intersect with desire, I conducted research and wrote papers on racial representation in gay porn. I learned that knowledge begins with a question. I was no longer a gay Japanese, but I was a proud Queer Asian, a radical queer of color. I graduated from college with this knowledge and community. But I had more work to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Even though I was starting to make sense of my racialized queerness, I didn’t really know what to make of my Koreanness, especially in relation to my queerness. Each time I met another Korean person from Korea, I would tell them that my father is Korean, “but I don’t really speak Korean.” I felt the need to clarify how inauthentic I am before they did so by asking me if I spoke Korean. It might have been a habit I developed as an openly queer person, since I usually made sure to somehow indicate my queerness when I met someone new. I didn’t want people making assumptions about me or asking me rude questions, so I would put everything out on the table first. In retrospect, though, while I was never ashamed of my Koreanness or queerness, I was unconsciously ashamed of my inability to explain what they mean for myself. It was my escape to let other people decide what those things mean to them on my behalf, rather than articulating my own sense of existence through my body. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I never had Zainichi Korean friends while growing up in Japan, and my Korean friends from Korea didn’t have any answer to my inauthenticity. Only when I started meeting Korean Americans, many of whom queer or trans, I finally had a space to let out my confusions and questions and anxieties about my Koreanness. I was able to ask real questions about what Korea means and what it means to be Korean. And soon enough, through multiple personal connections, I was invited to a report-back event of a Korean American delegation to North Korea. The event was put together by Eclipse Rising, a Bay Area-based Zainichi Korean community organization, and two Zainichi women who went on this delegation were explaining why North Korea behaves the way it does, because of the historical and geopolitical contexts of U.S. imperialist involvement in East Asia since the World War II. They mapped out so clearly how Japanese colonialism, the national division, and the ongoing Korean War have everything to do with the stories of discrimination my father used to tell me about. My journey became deeper than ever on that day when I had my first Zainichi Korean friends, my first Zainichi Korean knowledge and community.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Koreans in Japan are subject to legal discrimination based on their nationality, whether South Korean nationality or now defunct Chosen nationality of pre-division Korea. Until 2000, all special permanent residents in Japan, most of whom are Korean, were required by the law to be fingerprinted when they turned 16: all the fingers, not only the tips but the entirety of the fingers, as if their criminality is a given. They are still required to carry the alien registration card with them at all times, and if they were unable to produce the document upon inspection by the police, they could be prosecuted under the Criminal Law. According to Japan’s immigration policy, one must have a Japanese parent to obtain citizenship at birth. Being born in Japan does not result in full legal rights, although taxation is the same as for citizens. Many Zainichi Koreans reject the option of naturalization, because nationality and ethnicity are very closely conceptualized together by Zainichi Koreans, and the legal process is just slow and long and uncertain enough to discourage them from applying. Without citizenship, they face enormous difficulties obtaining employment or legal protection, or getting approved for marriage by their Japanese partners’ families. Meanwhile, they are policed and punished for practicing or exhibiting any hint of Koreanness through language, culture, name usage, or political expression. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The attacks on Korean schools in Japan are emblematic of these oppressive systems. Immediately after the end of colonization, Koreans who decided to remain in Japan, at least temporarily because of the political uncertainties in the Peninsula, grasped the opportunity to educate their younger generation about their history and culture in their own language, with their own Korean names--all denied under the colonial rule. The schools they built, however, became a target of repression by the Japanese police, which was desperate to regain their authority after Japan’s loss in the war. The Allied Forces, led by the U.S. military, viewed the Korean schools as a breeding ground for communist insurgencies, so it authorized violent raids of some schools as well as the community organization that established them. Korean schools have survived and thrived despite such heavy repression since then, but their curriculum is still not considered to be an equivalent to the standard Japanese education, and graduating from a Korean school does not lead to a legally meaningful diploma. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I started learning about Zainichi Korean history, I immediately saw the similarities between Zainichi Koreans and people of color in the U.S., particularly how both communities have valued culturally relevant education and defiantly challenged the reproduction of mainstream knowledge that only maintains the system of oppression. There is a reason why I was kept from my own history and why I did not fully identify as Korean, and it wasn’t me. Thus I came to a definition of Zainichi Korean identity that is not based on legal documents or even a set of certain cultural experiences that supposedly make someone an authentic Zainichi Korean. It is an incoherent, indeterminate identity category that is articulated most clearly when we mumble that we don’t speak Korean, that we don’t know what Koreanness means, that we’re not so sure if we’re really Korean, but we’re questioning it, we’re trying to understand it, and we’re creating knowledge about it through our bodies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Zainichi Koreans are connected to people of color in more ways. The U.S. military is an institution that violently exploits us all, by constructing a scapegoat figure of the Muslim terrorist, by recruiting working-class youths of color, by stealing, occupying, polluting, and radiating the land and water all across the world but especially displacing Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific, by raping and sexually exploiting women and children around the bases, by propagating oppressive and mediocre views of racialized masculinity and femininity among young Americans, and by murdering us, over and over again. In fact, all the violence and oppression that the Japanese nation-state has inflicted on Zainichi Koreans were encouraged by the U.S. empire in its attempt to establish economic and military control over the Asia-Pacific region. The division that Zainichi Koreans have internalized, between the pro-North Chongryun and the pro-South Mindan, wasn’t entirely their fault but deeply embedded within the competitions and collusions among Japan, the United States, North and South Koreas, China, and Russia over the past hundred years. Yet the mainstream discourse of the Korean division does not have a solid grasp of the workings of gender and sexuality in the geopolitics of the Trans-Pacific. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Radical QTPoC community organizers have taught me how geopolitics operates on multiple scales. They have challenged me to interrogate how our everyday experiences of power and violence at the hands of the nation-state directly reflect what's going on at the planetary level of border-making, displacement, capitalist exploitation, military-police-prison-medical industrial complex, and neoliberal education. They have inspired me to think and imagine beyond what I see, and to reach deeper into myself and farther out to distant shores of history waiting to be remembered. They have taught me my duty to uncover connections I wasn’t meant to recognize I have. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And this is why I care about the dignity and rights of the former Comfort Women, whose unspeakable trauma remains under the threat of collective amnesia. This is why I care about the lives and deaths of my Black brothers and trans sisters and Muslim friends and refugee families, who continue to be targets of state terrorism. This is why I care about La Mission as not just a figure of nostalgia but as a real community that's crumbling apart precisely because of gentrification triggered and trivialized by wealthy IT companies and their uneducated employees. This is why I care about Ferguson as much as Fukushima, Oakland as much as Okinawa, and Hawai’i as much as Hiroshima. This is what it means for me to be a Queer Zainichi Korean, to tell our stories and create community and knowledge, to care for one another and heal together, to commit to the highest standards of critical thinking and solidarity and love. </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-61817210349772157832016-02-24T22:47:00.000-08:002016-02-24T22:47:11.512-08:00Suppressed Ethnic Diversity, and Multicultural Education as Resistance in Osaka, Japan<span class="im"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>A Community Roundtable</b></span>, featuring Special Presenter: <b>Kwangmin Kim </b> Executive Director, Korea NGO Center, Osaka; Founder, Award-winning 'Minami Children's Classroom’ Program for Minority Kids</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br />Wednesday, March 02, 2016 6-7:30pm </b><br /><u><b>Chinatown Meeting Rm, SF Public Library Chinatown Branch</b></u><br /> 1135 Powell St, San Francisco, CA <br />15 min. walk from Powell Street BART, OR </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Bus Line #30 & 45 (Stop: Stockton & Pacific Ave)</span><span class="im"><br /><br /><i><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">“Kwangmin’s
perspective from the often-hidden part of Japan will surely enliven our
conversation to understand what's going on now and what’s at stake for
genuine peace and security in Japan and the region.” </span></i><br /><i><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">– Miho Kim Lee, Comfort Women Justice Coalition, Japan Multicultural Relief Fund</span></i></span><br />
<span class="im"><i><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"></span></i><i><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "American Typewriter"; font-weight: normal;">Japan is long known as a
"homogeneous" country, but in reality, it's always been ethnically
diverse. Osaka is home to the largest convergence of various ethnic minorities,
including the Ainu, Ryukyuans, <i>Buraku-min</i> (Japan's ‘Untouchable Caste’
people) and <i>Zainichi</i> Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese residents.</span><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "American Typewriter"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "American Typewriter"; font-weight: normal;">In recent years, Prime
Minister Abe's ultraconservative, nationalist ideologies have fueled
large-scale intensification of, and moral support for xenophobia, racial
profiling and hate crimes against Koreans and Chinese in particular. The
Abe Administration has also been re-militarizing Japan while denying Japan's
atrocities during WWII, and actively demonizing North Korea and China -- the
same 'enemy' against which the U.S. is creating a bulwark, with Japan
and South Korea, against China's rising influence.</span><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "American Typewriter"; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "American Typewriter"; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "American Typewriter"; font-weight: normal;">In the context of this harsh reality,
Kwangmin and other community advocates are employing innovative intervention
approaches through public education, among other venues. Kwangmin will share
the stories of the growing population of Asian migrants of Japan, and their
families and particularly children, as they adapt and embark on their journey
to find their rightful place in the community and society at large.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "American Typewriter"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-themecolor: text2;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "American Typewriter"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-themecolor: text2;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Cosponsored by: Asian Americans for Peace & Justice | Comfort Women Justice Coalition | Eclipse Rising | Japan Multicultural Relief Fund | Japan Pacific Resource Network | SF Nabi Fund | NoNukes Action | SeSaMo | Veterans for Peace, SF Chapter | Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom/SF </span></span></span></div>
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kyunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15529085548962884470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-85368778128410398452016-01-26T20:08:00.003-08:002016-01-26T20:08:56.820-08:00Commemorating Oh Deok-soo, a Director who Became a “Zainichi Director”
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jan 16, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Shota T. Ogawa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">Film director Oh Deok-soo passed away from lung cancer on
Sunday. He was 74. Oh is known for his feature-length documentary films on
Zainichi Koreans (Resident Koreans in Japan) including </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">Against Fingerprinting </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">(1984) and </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">The Story of Koreans in Postwar Japan: Zainichi </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">(1997).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I met Oh late in his life. In 2010, when I first interviewed
him for my doctoral project, I was surprised to learn that he had as many
questions for me as I did for him. In the years following, it became my habit
to pay him a visit when I was back in Japan not only to seek advice on my
dissertation, but to report on my life in the U.S., for he was always
interested in hearing about the different and diverse ways in which Zainichi
Koreans live today. While I cannot write a personal tribute informed by
intimate familiarity, I want to offer a brief summary of his resume in the way
I believe he would have liked to see it told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Born in 1941 in Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture, Oh first
entered the film world as an assistant to Nagisa Oshima, working on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Violence at Noon </i>(1966) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sing a Song of Sex </i>(1967), before
working for Daiei and Toei in their film divisions through the late 1960s and
the 1970s. Some of the better known television productions he worked on include
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Guardsman </i>(starring Ken Utsui,
Daiei/TBS, 1965-1971), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Lone Wolf </i>(starring
Shigeru Amachi, Toei/NTV, 1967-1968), and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Key
Hunter </i>(starring Tetsuro Tamba and Sonny Chiba, Toei/TBS, 1968-1973). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh was a familiar presence in local film festivals and
public symposia, particularly since completing his lifework, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Story of Koreans in Postwar Japan</i>,
in 1997 which involved working closely with grassroots groups across Japan that
co-sponsored its production and realized a nation-wide tour of the film. In
addition to making his own films, he was active in organizing screenings of
others’ works that highlighted the historical presence of Koreans within
Japanese cinema. In the screenings he organized for the History Museum of
J-Koreans in Azabu, for example, he showcased the works of Zainichi Korean
directors such as Sai Yoichi, Lee Sang-il, and Kim Su-gil alongside films made
by Japanese directors that depicted Zainichi Koreans in interesting ways. Each screening
was accompanied by a guest speaker who might be the director, a staff member,
or a viewer with a special attachment to the title, and a post-screening
discussion followed by a party gave the event a unique communal character. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In recent years, he had branched out into exhibiting his own
photographs and probing the possibility of curating a museum exhibition of
picture books and school textbooks written for Korean children in Occupied
Japan. His multifaceted activity as a filmmaker, collector, curator, and
cultural organizer stemmed from his work on the monumental documentary, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Story of Koreans in Postwar Japan</i>, for
which he had to condense a vast archive of music, photographs, home movies,
newsreels, and material artifacts into its running time of four-and-a-half
hours. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The unique ways in which Oh’s professional and artistic
career developed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">around</i> rather than
fully <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">within </i>cinema were also a
product of circumstances. In an interview with film scholar Takashi Monma in
2005, Oh recounts that most studios had stopped hiring assistant directors when
he graduated from Waseda’s Theater Department in 1965. Even in Toei’s TV
division (Toei Tokyo Production) where he received most of the training and
rose to the rank of Chief Assistant Director, he was still on an irregular
contract with limited benefits or job security. The second half of his time at
Toei was thus spent on a prolonged strike that demanded improved labor
conditions for contract employees. It was only by taking up freelance
assignments to write screenplays for film, television, and manga, while
collectively running a franchised noodle shop that Oh and his fellow strikers
of Toei Production Company Labor Union were able to live through the 1970s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was paradoxically during the prolonged strike that Oh
found the key to direct his own films. Through befriending the editors of the
Zainichi Korean magazine <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Madan </i>and
later cofounding its informal successor <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jansori</i>,
Oh became involved in the burgeoning movement of young Japan-born Zainichi
Koreans that sought to build a public sphere that overcame the Cold War
division. When the anti-fingerprinting protest broke out in 1980 and developed
into a major social movement by 1985, he found himself ideally situated to
document the movement from within, thanks to the significant overlap between
the target audience of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jansori </i>and
the main actors of the protest movement. He founded his independent production
company Oh Kikaku for the project which was completed and screened within a
year while the protest was still ongoing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On a number of occasions, Oh raised objection to the label
“Zainichi Korean film director” which he found constricting. But no other
director has so consistently explored the interrelation between Zainichi and
film, or to rephrase in his preferred expression: what it means to be Zainichi
Koreans living at a time when we have access to historical film documents. If
it is apt to call him a representative Zainichi Korean film director, it is not
because his interest was limited to Zainichi Korean issues, but because he took
up the challenge of weaving Zainichi Koreans’ social concerns into the fabric
of cinema. It is in this spirit that we can appreciate the opening scene of his
maiden film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Against Fingerprinting</i>, that
shows an alien registration card set on fire. This was, he told the audience at
a screening, a visual homage paid to Kei Kumai’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nihon retto </i>(1965) that featured a visually striking shot of ants engulfed
in flame against the backdrop of the map of Japan. With Oh’s documentaries, we
can learn about Chesa (a Korean ceremony of ancestor worship) to a-ha’s “Take
On Me,” or make unexpected connections between Zainichi Korean history and
Anton Chekhov’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three Sisters </i>or with
Yoshio Tabata’s postwar hit, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kaeribune </i>(Repatriation
Boat). He made Zainichi Korean history cinematic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At a time when Directors Guild of Japan is chaired by Sai
Yoichi and Eiren (Motion Picture Producer Association of Japan) have nominated
works by Sai, Lee Sang-il, and Yang Yong-hi to compete for the Foreign Language
Oscar in the Academy Awards, it appears all but certain that Zainichi Koreans
have gained citizenship in the world of cinema. Oh’s legacy might be understood
in the reverse term. Instead of making it in the film business, he made cinema relevant
to as many Zainichi Koreans as he could.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">*****</span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>Shota T. Ogawa</b> is Assistant Professor of Japanese at University of North Carolina at Charlotte who is writing a book manuscript tentatively titled Visualizing Zainichi: A Cinematic Counter-History of Koreans in postwar Japan. </span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-23513999533078605002016-01-08T17:13:00.000-08:002016-01-08T22:02:49.266-08:00DO NOT SILENCE THEIR VOICES: FIGHT DENIALISM, ERECT THE COMFORT WOMEN MEMORIAL IN LIGHT OF KOREA-JAPAN “COMFORT WOMEN AGREEMENT”<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Eclipse Rising</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<i>US-Based Zainichi Coreans for Decolonization,
Reunification and Zainichi Community Development</i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText">
On December 28, 2015, the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
and Japan jointly announced that they had reached a “final and irreversible”
settlement agreement on the long-standing issue of the Korean “Comfort Women.”
The “Comfort Women” system (1932-1945), or Japanese military sexual slavery,
was a widespread and systematic racist, colonial violence against women. Its
central feature was the rationalized procurement, imprisonment, rape, abuse,
torture, and brutalization of an estimated 200,000 women and girls. One of the
largest organized systems of exploiting and trafficking of women in the 20<sup>th
</sup>century, the violence resulted in mutilation, death, or eventual suicide
of victims.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
This latest so-called agreement is nothing more than
Japan’s attempt at permanent erasure of an extraordinary human rights atrocity
that continued for over a decade with impunity. As such, it amounts to an
unjust silencing of the victims and their principled demands for apology and
atonement, and turns its back on the fundamental understanding of women’s
rights as human rights. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Eclipse Rising stands in solidarity with the victims in
rejecting the “agreement” for its failure to restore their dignity and human
rights. While this “agreement” was ostensibly hailed as settling the “Comfort
Women” issue, none of the victims were consulted. In fact, it leaves out other
“Comfort Women” from other parts of Asia: 11 countries in all. It also
prohibits South Korea from ever raising the issue in any other international
body, including the United Nations, leaving Korean victims without a
governmental advocate.<span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Despite the gravity of the offenses, no actual written
agreement was ever produced; rather, the two governments issued separate
national statements summarizing the negotiations. Furthermore, in this
“agreement,” Japan refused to accept the term “coercion” to describe the
“Comfort Women” system, constituting a dubious regression from the 1993 Kono
Statement (made by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono that acknowledged
Japan’s role in the coercion of girls in the “Comfort Women” system).</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Despite the fact that the Allied Forces had full knowledge
about the existence of this heinous institution, the United States, Japan, and
South Korea colluded to silence and erase this history for over forty years
since World War II. Under escalating militarization and wars in post-WWII Asia,
US military presence and bases grew. Doubly victimized, many former “Comfort
Women” continued to suffer sexual exploitation in camp town prostitution long
after they were “freed” from Japanese sexual slavery. <br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Indeed, survivors had been
forgotten and abandoned by local, national, and international communities for
too long. This is the backdrop to the impassioned indignation displayed by a
former “Comfort Woman” Lee Yongsoo <i>halmoni</i>, as she learned of the news
and confronted the Korean Vice Foreign Minister: <b>“Why are you trying to kill
us twice?”</b><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
We deny the assertion by the governments of the United
States, South Korea, and Japan that this so-called agreement is a step in the
“right direction.” To the contrary, we assert that it takes us several steps
backwards. The settlement cannot be said to be official government action, as
it lacks either cabinet approval or parliamentary endorsement in either the
Korean or Japanese legislatures.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
We note, also, that to date, the Japanese legislature has
never passed a resolution of acknowledging state responsibility for the
“Comfort Women” system or other atrocities committed by the Japanese military
during WWII. Thus, this and all prior statements remain subject to
equivocation. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Japan’s payment of $8.3 million into a settlement fund is
widely recognized as compensation to the victims. Is it not then peculiar that
Foreign Minister Kishida has repeatedly claimed this payment does not at all
constitute “reparation,” but rather, a part of “a Korea-Japan joint venture”?
Thus, he rejects any suggestion that Japan admits culpability. Billed as
“humanitarian support,” this payment constitutes mere charity and hush money
from the Japanese government. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
The “final and irrevocable” nature of this settlement also
leaves out any requirement on the part of Japan for ongoing documentation and
education of Japan’s responsibility for the “Comfort Women” system. In fact,
Prime Minister Abe has led the way towards denial and erasure of not only the
victims but the facts of history inconvenient for its PR objective to “improve
Japan’s image.”<span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
In 2015, Japan tripled its public relations budget to $500
million, part of which is dedicated to an elaborate global campaign to deny or
dilute its role in WWII, most aggressively with regard to the “Comfort Women”
system, and other atrocities, such as the Nanjing Massacre. In fact, the latest
history textbook omits such facts, while glorifying its militaristic past. Such
history education renders a whole post-WWII generation of Japanese citizens vulnerable
to national amnesia, if not denial, about Japan’s own history. The Japanese
government’s demand to remove the “Comfort Women” memorial erected near the
Japanese Embassy in Seoul undermines any belief that Japan has engaged
earnestly and in good faith, as is expected in diplomatic negotiations. <span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Furthermore, this “agreement” runs counter to the 2014
Recommendations to the United Nations Human Rights Bodies on the Issue of
Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery (Comfort Women). Various UN treaty bodies,
including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW), as well as the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, have
repeatedly urged Japan to make reparations to the victims, officially
acknowledge legal liability, conduct investigations and prosecutions of those
responsible, and educate the public about the atrocities — so that it is not
repeated again. And yet, this “final and irrevocable” settlement does absolutely
none of these things. Rather, it permanently banishes the very existence of the
victims and their principled demands into an irrelevant past where they are
forgotten and abandoned — again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
The UN Special Rapporteur on Systematic Rape, Sexual
Slavery and Slavery-like Practices During Armed Conflict has established that
in totality, the “Comfort Women” system constitutes crime against humanity, to
which statutory limitations do not apply, and that Japan does indeed bear legal
liability. Navi Pillay, former High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United
Nations has stated that this “is a current issue, as human rights violations
against these women continue to occur as long as their rights to justice and
reparation are not realized.” </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Thus, we must urgently take collective action to resist
and condemn this historical erasure and denialism masquerading as a just,
permanent, solution. As the first city in the country to ratify CEDAW, and as
people of conscience, we call upon all San Franciscans to stand with the
grandmothers, and build upon the unanimously passed Comfort Women Memorial
Resolution here in San Francisco — and urgently support the building of the
Comfort Women Memorial.<span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Eclipse Rising will not relent in seeking justice for all
“Comfort Women” through education and memorialization so that we can one day
create a world in which the fundamental rights of all girls and women take
primacy over political expediency, national interests and regional “security”
—<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and eliminate the use of rape and
violence against women as a central strategy of war. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
We honor the grandmothers for galvanizing a global
movement against military sexual violence, and making a tremendous contribution
to the establishment of this violence as a crime against humanity. Their
efforts have helped overturn one of the most widely-accepted, unjust “norms” of
humankind, and leave all women and girls a legacy of hope.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
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<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="font-size: small;">January 08, 2016</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><a href="mailto:eclipserising@gmail.com"><span class="Hyperlink0"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">eclipserising@gmail.com</span></span></span></span></a><br />
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<br />kyunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15529085548962884470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-2791820775090838282015-08-17T17:21:00.000-07:002015-08-17T17:23:21.885-07:00Eclipse Rising's 'The People's History of Japan' mini-series: a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of Japan's colonial aggression and WWII: (2) Jiichiro Matsumoto (1887-1966) <div style="clear: both; font-family: Helvetica; orphans: 2; text-align: center; widows: 2;">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
April 1955, Jiichiro Matsumoto (1887-1966), a leader of Buraku liberation
movement, a politician, and a proponent of “Suihei-undo (Horizontal movement,
i.e., Buraku liberation movement) of the world,” participated in Bandung
Conference in Indonesia, where leaders from thirty newly post-colonial states,
along with observers from national liberation movements throughout the colonial
world, gathered. The photo is a reminder of the central role played by this
Buraku liberation leader in the Third World Internationalism in the 1950s,
which brought together Third-World radical grassroots activists and political
leaders from all over the world.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">According
to AAPA (Asian American Political Alliance) Newspaper (vol. 1, no.4, 1969),
“the Bandung Conference was one of the major impetus in the development of the
Third World consciousness among the nations of Asia, Latin America and Africa.”
The AAPA Newspaper went on to quote from Chou Enlai’s speech at the conference.
He maintained, despite their ancient civilizations and contributions to the
world,</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> “ever
since modern times, most of the countries of Asia and Africa in varying degrees
have been subjected to colonial plunder and oppression, and have been thus
forced to remain in a stagnant state of poverty and backwardness … we Asian and
African countries, which are more or less under similar circumstances, should
be the first to cooperate with one another in a friendly manner and put
peaceful coexistence into practice. The discord and estrangement created among
the Asian and African countries by colonial rule in the past should no longer
be there. We Asian and African countries should respect one another and
eliminate any suspicion and fear which may exist between us.”</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matsumoto
was a friend to Chou Enlai and a regular participant of many international conferences.
Matsumoto’s principle of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fukashin fukahishin </i>(Do not invade, Do
not allow getting invaded) was reflected in the Ten Principles for Peace
declared at the Bandung Conference. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
1952, prior to Bandung Conference, Matsumoto had also played a leadership role
in founding the Asian Ethnic Friendship Association</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">. The Association
originated in a deep regret of Japan’s invasion of Asian countries. The
founding statement of the Association maintained: “If Japan desires to become a
truly independent and democratic country and to contribute to world peace,
Japan must establish friendly relationships with all ethnic groups in Asia.”
The statement continued: “Asian people, who reside in Japan, would take the
central role in this Association. The Association would promote mutual
understanding and friendship among all Asian ethnic groups, based on the
principle of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fushin fukashin</i>,
equality, and mutual support.” According to Kazuaki Honda at the library of the
Human Rights Research Center, the Association reached out to Koreans, Chinese,
Indians, Mongols, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Thai, and Indonesians, who were
residing in Japan, to become co-founders of the Association. (It would be
interesting to find out how leaders of each group responded to the invitation.)</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Matsumoto
was also befriended by American civil rights activist and renowned performance
artist Josephine Baker. In an interview, Matsumoto recalled his encounter with
Baker:</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“When
Ms Josephine Baker visited Japan, I had an opportunity to meet with her and
witnessed her suffering as a member of an oppressed race, which was engraved
into her brown skin. I deeply empathized with her determination to devote
herself, even to the last drop of her blood, to eliminating unjust
discriminations from the world. [It was because of my encounter with Baker] I
started to participate in [the International League against Racism and
Anti-Semitism]. Baker’s suffering and determination reminded me of my own lived
experience of suffering as an oppressed person in Japan, my determination to
end discrimination, and my struggles over thirty years. That is why I was
delighted to promise her to work with her.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05557023317996439043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-31544911167911663542015-08-14T01:53:00.000-07:002015-08-14T01:53:06.294-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Eclipse Rising's 'The People's History of Japan' mini-series: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of Japan's colonial aggression and WWII</i></b></span></div>
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Eclipse Rising members may be Koreans but we are all born and raised in Japan, and consider Japan to be our home -- it is where our own families live, work, play, worship and raise our children and bury our dead. We continue to live under a virtual 'apartheid' system wherein we are denied citizenship, thus excluded from protection of Japan's constitutional rights, right to compulsory education, fair employment, and access to public resources such as pensions and welfare services. We are given no voting rights and cannot participate in electoral politics in Japan. This remains the case even as we are now third, fourth, or even fifth generation Zainichi Koreans born and raised in Japan. </div>
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While we denounce and protest racist subjugation of our peoples and continue to call for genuine emancipation from Japan's colonial rule that should have been delivered to us when we were liberated in 1945, we are proud of the little-known history of the people of Japan who spoke up and out against injustices in their time and bestowed upon us a proud legacy. They are our honored forebearers, our <i>Senpai</i>; while nationalities may differ, we are united by shared values and principles of peace, justice and equity.</div>
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When we look back at Japan's modern history through the lens of what unites us, we find abundance of evidence that the people of Japan have weaved a rich history of their courageous activism and resistance for what is truly in the interest of their own families and communities. It is high time that we Nikkeis take the initiative to elevate evidence of the People's history of Japan and honor its legacy as stewards of its cause into the future.</div>
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It's a daunting task, but we have to start somewhere. In this mini-series, we'll introduce one tidbit of a blast from the past at a time that introduce, and illuminate, the undeniable truth of a proud social movement led by diverse people throughout the country -- ranging from the <i>Buraku-min </i>(the 'Untouchable Caste' people of Japan), workers, farmers, women, Japan's colonial subjects including the Koreans and Chinese, and more.</div>
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"Stop the War! Use the Money for the War, to Feed the Unemployed! ABSOLUTELY OPPOSED TO IMPERIALIST WAR" --- political poster, circa 1933-4. Source: Photo Archive of the National <i>Suiheisha's </i>60-year History; Ed., Buraku Liberation League Central Office, 1982.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7qop2M7iBe0/Vc2hpBWj9pI/AAAAAAAADZE/ZPatew5KdsY/s1600/IMG_5653.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7qop2M7iBe0/Vc2hpBWj9pI/AAAAAAAADZE/ZPatew5KdsY/s640/IMG_5653.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />miholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03661700103253863949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-37518189421697393492015-08-14T01:04:00.001-07:002015-08-14T01:04:38.806-07:00miholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03661700103253863949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-19381177605221955922015-08-12T09:23:00.001-07:002015-08-12T09:23:13.078-07:00"A legacy of WWII, Korean residents test nation’s ability to accommodate non-Japanese" (Japan Times)As we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the "liberation" this month, we also know that the liberation is yet to come as imperial system that had put Koreans and other colonial subjects in the position of "second class citizen" during the colonial occupation is still alive and well in Japan. The third-, forth- and fifth-generation Koreans born and raised in Japan -whose condition is a byproduct of not only Japanese colonization, but also unending Korean War, the Cold War, and thriving War on Terror -struggle to gain recognition and equal access to resources as full members of the society to this day.<br />
------------------------------------<br />August 10, 2015<br /><br />
"A legacy of WWII, Korean residents test nation’s ability to accommodate non-Japanese"<br />by Eric Johnston<br /><br /><a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/08/10/national/history/legacy-wwii-korean-residents-test-nations-ability-accommodate-non-japanese/#.VctpZLf9H81">http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/08/10/national/history/legacy-wwii-korean-residents-test-nations-ability-accommodate-non-japanese/#.VctpZLf9H81</a><br /><br />
Underneath the train tracks of JR Tsuruhashi Station, it’s easy to wonder if you’re still in Japan. The smell of <em>yakiniku </em>barbecue
permeates the air and the narrow warrens of shops offer all sorts of
Korean foods, including the ever-popular kimchi pickles. Advertising
posters are often in Korean, and the shop owners chat with each other in
the same language.<br /><br />
The Tsuruhashi district is known nationwide and,
increasingly, abroad as one of Japan’s main Korean neighborhoods. It’s
part of Osaka’s Ikuno Ward, home to over 24,000 resident Koreans. That’s
nearly 20 percent of the total ward population, the highest ratio of
resident Koreans nationwide.<br /><br />
There are no official statistics on the total number of
ethnic Koreans with Japanese nationality, but about 430,000 Koreans live
in Japan as foreign nationals with permanent residency. Of these, about
370,000 hold special permanent residency, as they or their forebears
came to Japan between 1910 and 1952 as colonial subjects.<br /><br />
The Kansai region, particularly Osaka, Kyoto, and Hyogo
prefectures, are home to the largest numbers of Korean residents. Today,
the Tsuruhashi “Korea Town” area attracts locals and tourists from
around Japan and the world. It has a reputation as being one of the few
remaining traditional working-class neighborhoods of “old” Osaka, the
one that hasn’t yet been transformed into a cold, gleaming, upscale
cultural desert of Italian and French fashion house chains and fast food
restaurants — as one finds in many other parts of the country.<br /><br />
“Tsuruhashi and the Ikuno Ward area are one of many areas
settled by Koreans during Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
They did a lot of dredge work on the rivers and canals in the area, and
were mostly laborers,” said Kwak Jin Woong, head of the Tsuruhashi-based
Korea NGO Center.<br /><br />
The occupation lasted from 1910 to 1945. During that time,
millions of Koreans, who were legally Japanese citizens even though they
faced discrimination, came to Japan to work. After 1940, many were
forcibly brought to do the toughest, dirtiest, and most dangerous jobs.
By the time Japan surrendered in 1945, there were about 2 million
Koreans living in the country.<br /><br />
The U.S.-led Allied Occupation offered them the chance to
return to their homeland and about 1.4 million did. The roughly 650,000
who remained did so for a variety of reasons. Some had worked in Japan
before 1940, had children born in Japan, and felt more Japanese than
Korean. Some had prospered, or believed their economic prospects would
be better if they remained in Japan. And some simply were too poor to
return to Korea.<br /><br />
Occupation officials were not quite sure what to do with the
large population of Koreans who remained. Officially, the American
government wanted them to be treated as either “liberated nationals” or
“enemy nationals.” But in May 1947, the Japanese government passed the
Alien Registration Law, which declared that Koreans and Taiwanese were
now to be considered foreigners. As such, they were required to carry
identification papers.<br /><br />
When the Occupation ended in 1952 with the signing of the
San Francisco Treaty, which returned sovereignty to Japan, the
government formally revoked the citizenship of Koreans in Japan. The
peninsula had been divided into North and South Korea and the Korean War
was raging.<br />
An estimated 90 percent of Koreans in Japan changed their
nationality to South Korean, and two civic groups were formed: Mindan,
which supported South Korea, and Chongryon, which supported North Korea.<br /><br />
About a decade later, in 1965, Japan and South Korea
normalized relations, but those who supported North Korea were
effectively stateless.<br /><br />
In 1959 the North Korean government launched an effort to
draw Koreans from Japan by promising them the rewards of a socialist
paradise. By 1967, Chongryon had gotten about 89,000 Koreans in Japan to
resettle in the North<strong>, </strong>according to Soo Im Lee, a
professor at Ryukoku University, in her 2012 report “Diversity of
Zainichi Koreans and Their Ties to Japan and Korea.” Zainichi is a name
for Japan-based ethnic Koreans.<br /><br />
Those that remained in Japan suffered discrimination in public life and from society, and they remained second-class citizens.<br /><br />
However, the Japanese government exploited the existence of
Mindan and Chongryon, using their executives as quiet back-channel
liaisons between Japanese politicians and the governments of South and
North Korea.<br /><br />
It would be revealed in the late 1990s that some Chongryon members also served as spies for North Korea in Japan.<br /><br />
In stories that sounded like the plots for fiction
thrillers, Korean residents in Japan who had become disillusioned with
North Korea wrote books about how they had received coded instructions
over short-wave radio and made secret trips to Pyongyang to deliver
suitcases full of cash.<br />
They also mapped parts of the coast on the Sea of Japan,
where North Korean agents sought isolated beaches on which to land at
night by rubber boat. The mappers would include information about the
nearest train station for agents to continue their journey.<br /><br />
By the end of the Cold War in Europe in the early 1990s,
much had changed. In 1991, the Japan-South Korea Foreign Exchange
Memorandum gave pro-South and pro-North Korean residents in Japan the
status of special permanent residents. Previously, only those with South
Korean nationality had enjoyed special permanent residency status.<br /><br />
At the same time, the past 20 or 30 years had seen some
positive changes. The requirement that Korean residents be fingerprinted
was abolished. Some municipalities now allow Korean residents to vote
on certain local ordinances. More public-sector jobs are open to Korean
residents than in the past.<br /><br />
However, problems remain. Kwak noted that many major
Japanese firms remain reluctant to hire Korean residents, and that
discrimination in jobs and housing hasn’t disappeared. More worrisome
for many Korean residents is the rise of anti-Korean hate groups like
Zaitokukai, which verbally abuse Koreans and make death threats toward
them.<br /><br />
A survey by the Organization of Korean Youth in Japan
between June 2013 and March 2014 of 200 Korean residents under 30 years
old showed that about a third of them avoided discussing Japan-Korean
history in public and on the Internet. In an August 2014 report to the
United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,
the Lawyers Association of Zainichi Koreans (LAZAK) called on the U.N.
to pressure the Japanese government to prohibit the use of public
facilities by groups promoting or inciting racial discrimination.<br /><br />
Just this month, the Diet has also begun to debate a bill
that not only Korean residents in Japan but human rights activists have
long sought: a law that would ban public racial discrimination at the
national and local level. Kim Chang Ho, a lawyer with LAZAK who helped
prepare last year’s report to the U.N., called the bill a major step
forward to secure the rights of foreigners, but noted it faces tough
political hurdles.<br /><br />
“The bill was jointly submitted by the Democratic Party of
Japan, the Social Democratic Party and independent Upper House member
Keiko Itokazu. But the Liberal Democratic Party has taken a very
cautious stance, so it’s unclear as to whether . . . the bill will be
enacted in the current session,” Kim said.<br /><br />
If enacted, the bill would benefit not only Koreans but all
foreign residents in the future. It is part of the larger effort by
Japan to come to grips with not only its historical legacy in Korea in
the pre- and postwar period but the more general question of how
Japanese in the future want to live with foreigners in their midst.<br /><br />
“For many years, Japan’s policy toward resident foreigners
was one of ‘assimilation,’ which basically meant ‘make them the same as
Japanese.’ Now, it’s evolving toward ‘integration,’ which allows for
more differences,” Kwak said. “Hopefully, though, we’ll see the day when
the official policy and social mindset in Japan is one of ‘coexistence’
with Korean residents and foreigners, which will respect and protect
differences.”<br />
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<br />kyunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15529085548962884470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-82768941767227854712015-04-03T11:47:00.000-07:002015-04-03T11:47:55.734-07:00<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Support Nan Hui!</span></b></div>
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<i>April, 1, 2015</i> -- Eclipse Rising member Kei went to Sacramento today (actually close by) for Nan Hui Jo's sentence hearing. It was extended to April 28, since a new trial lawyer took her case. He is supposed to be one of the best criminal lawyers in the country and we're hoping he might be able to contest the jury's decision to find Jo guilty. The sad thing is that she'll have to be detained at the Yolo County jail until then.</div>
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Today's experience hit many of those who attended, hard. We had a short debrief afterward. It was shocking to see Jo, herself, looking so small in a striped green jumpsuit and shackles. It was even more shocking to see the father of Jo's child in person at the hearing. This is the man who admitted in court he abused her "once," was described by the DA as a "victim" since he claimed Jo kidnapped his child, and now has full custody of their daughter. I was told by the campaign organizers that unfortunately there are too many cases similar to Jo's where the abused is punished.</div>
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Despite all the struggles, there are 4 things you can do to support! I wanted to encourage you all to take part in one way or another and please share this with your networks. The following, I wrote for my students. You may want to check out their f<a href="https://www.facebook.com/standwithnanhui?fref=ts" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">acebook page</a>and official <a href="http://www.kaceda.org/standwithnanhui-campaign/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">campaign page</a> for up-to-date info and background info.</div>
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1.) The organizers of her campaign are asking folks to write her letters in the mean time. If you can write in Korean, great, but if not, English should be fine, since she'll hopefully receive help translating. She's also a photographer and an artist, so if you want to draw her pictures, I'm sure she'd love that! She is finding a lot of comfort in these letters. Please read the following guidelines for letters at this link: <a href="https://ilearn.sfsu.edu/ay1415/bit.ly/dearnanhui" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">bit.ly/dearnanhui</a></div>
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2.) The new trial lawyer costs a lot of money, so the campaign needs help fundraising! If you are part of an organization, or would like to organize a fundraiser, please do so! Here's the link to the online fundraising page: <a href="https://crowddefend.com/campaign/stand-with-nan-hui-2/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://crowddefend.com/<wbr></wbr>campaign/stand-with-nan-hui-2/</a></div>
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3.) No matter what happens with her criminal case, Jo is still at high risk of being deported to Korea and never seeing her child again. The little girl has already been cut off from calling and speaking to her grandparents in Korea. She only speaks Korean and is cut off from any communication with family members who she really knows and speak the language. You can still call, email, or tweet ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and demand they drop the deportation hold on Jo. Click on the following link to see the ways you can contact ICE and CBP: <a href="http://www.bit.ly/1BKhC70" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">bit.ly/1BKhC70</a>.</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">4.) Follow the case on social media (</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/standwithnanhui?fref=ts" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/<wbr></wbr>standwithnanhui?fref=ts</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">) or (@STANDWITHNANHUI on Twitter) and stay tuned for details about the new sentence hearing court date: April 28. We need to pack the court room this time and can use as many bodies to show support!</span>miholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03661700103253863949noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-61970288913869451342015-02-25T16:36:00.000-08:002015-02-25T16:36:42.540-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>Critical Voices From "Japan" </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">is
presenting 4 films in February & March in the Bay Area. Thank you
to those who came to the screening of "Our School" and "Sayama"! </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 16px;">Here's our next film!!! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">My Heart is not Broken Yet </span>(2007, dir. Ahn </i></b></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;"><b><i>Hae Ryun</i></b></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i>: English subtitles)</i></b></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;"><b><i> </i></b></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"></span></span><br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Presented by Eclipse Rising</span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Co-sponsored by Asian Women United and SFSU Asian American Studies Department<br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Opening introduction by Professor Grace J. Yoo, Asian American Studies<br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span><b><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1263094286" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Tuesday, March 3, 6:30 pm</span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span><b>J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 121</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">San Francisco State University </span>(</b></span></span><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.sfsu.edu/%7Esfsumap/graphics/sfsu_map_c.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>map</b></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>, </b></span></span><a href="http://www.sfsu.edu/%7Eali/map.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>directions</b></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>, </b></span></span><a href="http://parking.sfsu.edu/sfsu-parking" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>parking</b></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b>)</b></span></span></span></div>
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Suggested donation: $3-15 (no one turned away for lack of funds)</div>
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<br />Ms.
Shindo Song is the only Korean resident who has sued Japanese
government for the human rights violation she experienced as a “comfort
woman.” Born in 1922, Ms. Song was forced into sexual slavery for
Japanese imperial army in China at age 16. In 1993, nearly half a
century after the war ended, Ms. Song sued Japanese government,
demanding an “official apology.” Even after losing the 10-year-long
courtroom battle in 2003, Ms. Song wasn’t defeated and stayed strong as
she told her supporters, <b>“Although I lost the case, my heart is not broken.”</b>The
documentary was made possible with the donations of 670 individuals who
have built a loving and trusting relationship with Ms. Song, and it
portrays her as someone who’s more than just a “former comfort woman,”
but a super witty, talented, kind and caring human being.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Trailor (Japanese): </span></span><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://youtu.be/dM02FM51Ng4%E2%80%8B" target="_blank">youtu.be/<wbr></wbr>dM02FM51Ng4</a></span></div>
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<br />For questions, e-mail Kei Fischer at: <span style="color: black;"><a href="mailto:kfisch@sfsu.edu" target="_blank">kfisch@sfsu.edu</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Also save the date for our last film showing from Critical Voices from "Japan" series!!</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span></span><br style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal,"Segoe UI","Segoe WP",Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">For details, please visit our</span></span><b style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal,"Segoe UI","Segoe WP",Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </b><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/870582239652950" style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal,'Segoe UI','Segoe WP',Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" target="_blank"><b>FB event page!!!</b></a><span style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal,"Segoe UI","Segoe WP",Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"></span></span><ul style="font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal,"Segoe UI","Segoe WP",Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">
<li><b><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1263094287" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">March 10</span></span>: Iitate Village</b>: Investigates the challenges of a farming village in Fukushima after the nuclear disaster@ <b>New Parkway, Oakland 7p</b></li>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">P.S.
Eclipse Rising is leading the global petition to stop Abe regime of
Japan to deny Japan's imperial past and miseducate youth using
revisionist history textbooks! Please sign and spread the word!!<br /><a href="https://www.change.org/p/say-no-to-revisionist-history-that-glorifies-japan-s-wwii-aggression-stop-prime-minister-abe-from-miseducating-japan-s-children-truthtodaypeacetomorrow" target="_blank">Say NO to ‘Revisionist History’ that glorifies Japan’s WWII aggression and war crimes! </a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">#TruthTodayPeaceTomorrow</span></span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: wf_segoe-ui_normal,'Segoe UI','Segoe WP',Tahoma,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"></span></div>
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kyunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15529085548962884470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-41948624811152037402015-02-23T11:46:00.000-08:002015-02-23T11:46:46.390-08:00Eclipse Rising presents "Critical Voices from 'Japan'" Film Series (Feb & March 2015)!!!!!<span class="fsl">2015 is a very important year for Zainichi Koreans as it marks:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span class="fsl">the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II;</span> </li>
<li>the 50th anniversary of the (re)establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Republic of Korea (South Korea);</li>
<li>the 4th anniversary of the 3/11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters that hit the greater Tohoku region.</li>
</ul>
<span class="fsl">
In commemoration of these historical "endings" and "new beginnings"
that have continued to shape our lives in Japan and beyond, Eclipse
Rising is thrilled to present a social justice film series in
collaboration with other progressive organizations!!!<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Save the dates for Critical Voices from "Japan"!! </b></span><br /> (film descriptions at the end)<br /> - Feb 17: Our School: Depicts every day <span class="text_exposed_show">life of Korean school in Japan @ New Parkway Theater, $8<br />Opening remarks by the award-winning filmmaker, Deann Borshay Liem<br /> <br />
- Feb 24: Sayama: Follows an untouchable buraku couple's life after
unjust conviction and decades of incarceration of the husband, Mr. Kazuo
Ishikawa<br /> @ New Parkway Theater, $10<br />Discussion with Asian Prisoner Support Committee & East Point Peace Academy </span></span><br />
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">- March 3: My Heart Is Not Broken Yet: Humanizes a former Korean "comfort woman" residing in Japan, co-sponsored by Asian Women United<br /> @ </span></span></span></span><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">J. Paul Leonard Library Room 121, San Francisco State University, $3-15 suggested donation (No one turned away for lack of fund)<br /> <br /> - March 10: Iitate Village: Investigates the challenges of a farming village in Fukushima after the nuclear disaster, co-sponsored by No Nukes Action <br /> @ New Parkway Theater, $10<br />Poetry reading by Suzy Huerta<br /> <br /><span style="color: blue;">Check out our Facebook event page for updates!<br /><span style="color: black;">https://www.facebook.com/events/870582239652950/</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9RyYiSN5yUQ/VOuDWrbG1VI/AAAAAAAAPHQ/rVffWsDHz6A/s1600/ER%2Bfilm%2Bseries%2Be-flyer-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9RyYiSN5yUQ/VOuDWrbG1VI/AAAAAAAAPHQ/rVffWsDHz6A/s1600/ER%2Bfilm%2Bseries%2Be-flyer-1.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">--------------------------<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>---- film descriptions --------------------------</span></span></span></span></span></span> <br /><br /><b>FEB 17 </b><br /><b>OUR SCHOOL</b> (2006, Dir. KIM Myung Joon: English subtitles) <br />-<i>THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO THE SCREENING </i>:)<br />
Our School depicts the every day life of Koreans in Japan or "Zainichi
Koreans," particularly, the "North Korean" school and 3rd generation
Korean students. It illuminates an invisible aspect of North Korea
through the history of the diaspora of Korean people who believed in one
unified and liberated Korea. It offers a poignant counter-narrative to
the popular representation of "North Korea" as seen in The Interview or
any other media in the West or in Japan. Through Our School, a narrative
put together by South Korean director, Kim Myung Joon, we witness a
very small but misunderstood community of Zainichi Koreans who dream of a
unified Korea that transcends the Cold War and negotiate complicated
systems of nationality, identity, and belonging as Koreans in Japan.<br /> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> <b>FEB 24<br /> SAYAMA</b> (2013: Dir KIM Soung Woong)<br />
Sayama follows everyday life of Mr. Kazuo Ishikawa and Ms. Sachiko
Ishikawa in their struggle for justice. Kazuo, a descendant of buraku
--Japan’s outcast group-- was wrongly convicted of rape and murder of a
schoolgirl in Sayama-city in 1963 (known as the “Sayama Case”) and
imprisoned for more than 30 years until he was conditionally released in
1994. At age 74, Kazuo and Sachiko still continue their weekly
demonstration at the Tokyo High Court to demand retrial and seek
justice, in addition to touring all over Japan to meet their supporters
and raise awareness around the case. Although one tends to see Kazuo and
Sachiko simply as “freedom fighters,” the film does a beautiful job
humanizing the tireless warriors by showing the “back-stages” where they
get to do “ordinary” things such as doing house chores, having haircuts
and going on a vacation. Director Kim invites all of us to join the
movement and be part of Kazuo’s dream of getting back to school after
retrial. <br /> Official website: <a href="http://sayama-movie.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://sayama-movie.com/</a><br /> Trailer: <a href="http://sayama-movie.com/notice/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://sayama-movie.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>notice/</a><br /> English Trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2KeJwGCcJY&feature=youtu.be" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>watch?v=s2KeJwGCcJY&feature<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>=youtu.be</a><br /> <br /> <b>MARCH 3<br /> My Heart is Not Broken Yet</b> (2007: Dir. AHN Hae Ryung)<br />
Ms. Shindo Song is the only Korean resident who has sued Japanese
government for the human rights violation she experienced as a “comfort
woman.” Born in 1922, Ms. Song was forced into sexual slavery for
Japanese imperial army in China at age 16. In 1993, nearly half a
century after the war ended, Ms. Song sued Japanese government,
demanding “official apology.” Even after losing the 10-year-long
courtroom battle in 2003, Ms. Song wasn’t defeated and stayed strong as
she told her supporters, “Although I lost the case, my heart is not
broken.” The documentary was made possible with the donations of 670
individuals who have built loving and trusting relationship with Ms.
Song, and it portrays her as someone who’s more than just a “former
comfort woman,” but a super witty, talented, kind and caring human
being. <br /> Official website: <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.co.jp%2FWallStreet%2F7486%2F&h=wAQHLOe7k&enc=AZOinNm7TBVkFpmCQ1FNr7QSOlJYxdNZ34MA00FuLP4SQK_BEIha4rZjqj0XL0XuZwA&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>www.geocities.co.jp/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>WallStreet/7486/</a><br /> Trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=JP&hl=ja&v=dM02FM51Ng4" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>watch?gl=JP&hl=ja&v=dM02FM5<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>1Ng4</a><br /> <br /> <b>MARCH 10<br /> Iitate Village</b> (2012: Dir. DOI Toshikuni)<br />
“Iitate Village” follows 2 families and several villagers in the rural
farming town of Iitate in the Soma District of Fukushima, Japan during
the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku Tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear disaster. Famous for its beef, most residents depend on cattle
breeding, yet due to radiation contamination, we witness the families
having to throw out fresh milk, sell off their cows, and slowly shut
down the very farming facilities their families have depended on for
generations as a way of life. Within a month, the town is forced to
evacuate its residents and we observe the nuanced challenges that result
from family separation and what was once a tight-knit community quickly
dissipates. Doi interviews these family farmers in their most
vulnerable and intimate moments when they are forced to let go of all
they know: their families, their farms, their livestock, their way of
living, and most importantly, the town of Iitate, a place that Minori
Takahashi, a young mother, called, "A place you come home to, where
you're comfortable, you belong."<br /> Official Website: <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdoi-toshikuni.net%2Fj%2Fiitate%2F&h=eAQFeeROW&enc=AZNKO8N8-Qlbv_Wh4p26jMYz9s2iwnARxVh78UXLY0YsWCJEgo3SXM7ipbMQfg1R0n4&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://doi-toshikuni.net/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>j/iitate/</a><br /> Trailer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmrfiF4nQBE" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>watch?v=FmrfiF4nQBE</a></span></span> </span></span></span></span>kyunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15529085548962884470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-9513685318565861292015-02-05T02:06:00.001-08:002015-02-10T18:12:51.463-08:00Reclaiming the Cherry: Questioning what it means to be from "Japan"Note: I was moved to share this piece as a way to convey my deeply personal motivation for supporting the <a href="http://chn.ge/1AH44aa" target="_blank">global petition campaign currently under way</a> to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan to stop the whitewashing of Japan's wartime history in history textbooks in Japan. In order to contribute to peace in the region, and peaceful Japan that reflects our values, I believe we must reclaim what it means to be from Japan on our own terms, rather than assume what it has come to represent in the minds of the far-right revisionists in power in Japan today. Only then, there is a potential for a perspective that is wholly Nikkei and also sides with the victims and not the aggressors, shielded from the characterization of the historical revisionist issue as a matter of geopolitical maneuvering by China and Korea vying to squeeze Japan out of the evolving sphere of influence in the region.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Join our social media photo campaign and use</span><a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/truthtodaypeacetomorrow?source=feed_text&story_id=913169315394843" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; text-decoration: none;"><span aria-label="hashtag" class="_58cl" style="color: #6d84b4;">#</span><span class="_58cm">TruthTodayPeaceTomorrow</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"> and sign the online petition at </span><a href="http://chn.ge/1AH44aa" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">chn.ge/1AH44aa</a> today!<br />
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**********<br />
I've had the privilege of getting to know the members of a small Native American Tribe up in Shasta the last decade. Despite unimaginable violations and assault by settler government(s) and corporations that seeks to obliterate them "from the map," they continue to carry out their traditional ways of life and fight for their right to exist as a unique nation of peoples. It was at one of their ceremonies, an elder said to me, "we always say 'you must know where you come from in order to know who you are, and also, where you're going, and supposed to go.'"<br />
<br />
This elder, actually is by blood, a Nikkei, Japanese American. And she's also a proud Tribal elder and fierce advocate for social justice and human rights. She sighed upon learning about Japanese government's attempt to deny its own history of aggression and wartime atrocities. She later posted on Facebook:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">From Meiji times, Japan has deliberately embraced American white supremacy attitudes, making white supremacy policies and stand in the world in order to build an empire. White supremacy, violence, hate go hand in hand with what destroyed Japan from the inside out.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span>
She also said to me: "When Japan lost their clan ways, they lost their path." This surprised me. The reason for the surprise, is that from my experience, very few people know of any Japan other than one that these revisionists refer to, such as the Japan that actually was full of hundreds of 'clans,' such as Emishi, Satsuma, Kumaso and Izumo, and oh so many more, that flourished with their respective distinct cultures and ways, even languages. One needed an interpreter travelling from Kyushu to Honshu. I doubt she knew, but after I thought about it, I came to a realization, that she spoke universal truth not just about Japan but human souls, as well as nations. She didn't need to know that Japan <i>actually</i> really had 'clans' prior to 'Contact.'<br />
<br />
Nikkeis must reclaim our indigenous roots in the land that Abe now calls "Japan" on our own terms in order to transcend the failed historic legacy of White Supremacist ideology-influenced Imperial ideology and the worldview Abe is trying so hard to revive with his administration as a vessel to resurrect the Empire to its past glory.<br />
<br />
Our ancestors in Japan less than two centuries ago may not have identified as "Japanese" the way Abe defines "Japan" today. In fact, they may not have identified as Japanese over Korean. For example, Izumo had long historic relationship with the Shilla Dynasty, and their religious worldviews are more similar than that of Izumo and Yamato to the north, both part of what is now "Japan." Asuka era left us with many historic shrines still frequented by the faithfuls in Kyoto and beyond -- and it's recognized as fact, that Asuka began when fallen princes from warring states in what is now the Korean peninsula fled and settled there. When you see a map of the Far Eastern Archipelago (I just made this up but it suits the worldview I choose to have for that region much better than Japan/Korea binaries) as a mediterranean without any regard to today's modern nation-state boundaries, you might be surprised how we've managed to come so far with this unquestioned, deeply imbedded assumption, that the Far East is divided into territories neatly divided into three: China, Korea, and Japan. There are literally thousands of islands splattered all over the fringe of the continent. Of course cultures and civilizations mixed every which way for tens of centuries.<br />
<br />
In that context, in retracing our 'roots,' how helpful is it, if at all, to use today's definition of "Japan" as unit of analysis and reflection? Really, is "Japan" even relevant to our hidden story of where we REALLY come from?<br />
<br />
What if, by accepting "Japan" to be however it is defined by the Abe regime, we are inadvertently internalizing the impact of an explicit strategy of conquest Meiji leaders exercised for the sake of national cohesion? Local 'kami' worshipping practices and rites were made illegal (while only State Shintoism was recognized 'Japan's official' religion); language was homogenized ; US creators of public education system (designed to support settler expansion) were recruited to Japan to appropriate indigenous controlled territories (Hence, first university is Hokkaido, Ainu territory)... and the list goes on.<br />
<br />
And so, I feel quite easefully, the elder made a very astute -- observation. Indeed, "Japan" had implemented a line of strategies designed for conquest of what was truly a diverse, multiethnic, multicultural archipelago, as gleamed from the US vis-a-vis mostly Native Americans. The clan roots would give this truth away. God forbid that we relcaim any roots other than one Abe would like us to believe is ours.<br />
<br />
Therefore, I'm willing to bet, the "Japan" that is a victim of racist bullying by the international community, is not referring to the Japan that most of our ancestors would have identified with. Abe's grandfather (first post-war Prime Minister Kishi) was in a leadership position for the Imperial Japanese government, which unleashed unspeakable tyrannic rule over the Japanese people -- our ancestors -- and fiercely repressed and exploited farmers and rural peasants throughout Japan to fuel its empire-building effort. Japan's war capacity was built on the backs of our farmer and merchant ancestors, women, elders and children. Life was so incredibly difficult, so many chose to jump on a boat destined for some faraway distant land (like the United States) they knew nothing about. Nikkeis around the world share this history. Massive emigration from Japan in early 20th century is interestingly timed with the succession of popular riots and rebellion throughout the country for excessive taxation and other exploitative government practices. many of our ancestors stood up to protest the Japanese government - run by people Abe strongly identifies with, ideologically, and politically. He fashions himself a self-appointed 'heir' to THIS throne.<br />
<br />
Only in the "clan ways" we can trace the courageous legacy of our great-grandparents standing up to power, scaling the walls of the <i>kura</i> to liberate rice for the children, organizing and founding Japan's first national farmers cooperative, or the socialist party, or the <i>Suiheisha</i>, organization led by the bold and brave Burakumin which published modern Japan's first human rights declaration in history....<br />
<br />
When we lose our "clan ways" we simply are left with "Japan" and it is unidimensional. We are simply consuming the Japan that is served up by the Abe regime and are fine with that because in absence of it, there is only emptiness. But if we choose to heed the message of the elder, then we just may come to discover, that our roots and the roots of Abe's are not only quite distinct, but at odds....<br />
<br />
When Imperial Japanese Army occupied new territory, they planted cherry trees on the school grounds as they did so throughout schools in Japan. Public education was a means through which to instill imperial ideology and cultivate absolute, unconditional loyalty and surrender to the Emperor. As the cherry flower petals fluttered away with the slightest of a breeze at the height of its blooming beauty, as the Emperor once stated, "see, that, is the most virtuous way of life..." to give up one's life at the height of his youth. This, is how Kamikaze fighter spirit was born. Becuase the value of one's life is "lighter than goose feather." Yes, he was speaking about your life, and those of our ancestors. But probably not Abe and his ancestors.<br />
<br />
<br />
In the course of its Empire-building effort, the Imperial Japanese Army appropriated cherries for its symbol precisely due to its sacred standing among the Japanese. The planting and harvesting of rice, our lifeblood, was informed by the timing of wild cherry blossoms in the mountains. Without cherry flowers, our ancestors would not have existed at least in the way we understand today. We can either reclaim our cherry flowers as source of life as our ancestors surely did, or as signifying the disposable nature of human life in absolute, unconditional service to the holy Emperor and his country, as the fascist leaders of WWII Japan (and Abe now carrying their torch) would have liked us to embrace with joy and gratitude.<br />
<br />
Looking inward and backward is like looking into a hologram. It's never what it seems, and it's all of what it seems, all at the same time. It's hard to see past the distorted images or collages of pieces of images... but the important thing to note, is that you take that first step, acknowledging, but not engaging, all that illusion. All the path lead to the same place at the end of the day, as the elder would say. As long as you continue to seek the truth. When you do, you will know, to distinguish illusion from what is real.<br />
<br />
<br />miholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03661700103253863949noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-66596178899196086662015-01-09T11:10:00.004-08:002015-01-09T11:10:54.345-08:00Co-sponsored by Eclipse Rising!<br />
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
1/20/14 Report In Berkeley from Fukushima by Chieko Shiina<br />
<br />
<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_428026045" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Tuesday</span></span>! <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_428026046" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Jan 20, 2015 at 7 pm</span></span><br />
BFF Fellowship Hall<br />
1924 Cedar Street, Berkeley, CA 94709<br />
<br />
Wheel-chair accessible via the ramp on Bonita Avenue.<br />
(At Bonita Ave, one block east of MLK Way & three blocks west of Shattuck Ave)<br />
This location is wheelchair accessible via the ramp on the Bonita Avenue side of the building.<br />
Suggested Donation $5 - 10 No one turned away for lack of funds!<br />
<br />
Chieko Shiina, an anti-nuclear activist from Fukushima, Japan will be
visiting California in January and will be speaking in Berkeley about
the present situation for the children and people of Fukushima as well
as the growing repression of anti-nuclear activists and rise of
militarization including the introduction of the Abe administration of
secrecy laws.<br />
The contamination of the people of Fukushima and Japan continues.
Children and families are getting sick. There is a growing epidemic of
thyroid cysts and surgeries. The statistics are being covered up by the
Japanese government. Additionally, Shunichi Tanaka, the chairman of the
Nuclear Regulation Authority is preparing to release thousands of tons
of contaminated radioactive water into the Pacific ocean.<br />
<a href="http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201412130042" target="_blank">http://ajw.asahi.com/article/<wbr></wbr>0311disaster/fukushima/<wbr></wbr>AJ201412130042</a><br />
This will be lethal to life in the oceans! It will reach California and
the entire Pacific rim. The Abe government in power is continuing to
tell the Japanese people that they can "overcome" radiation, and that
they can de-contaminate Fukushima. Chieko Shiina is an anti-nuclear
activist in Fukushima who has been fighting to get emergency healthcare
to the residents. They are organizing against the restart of Japan's
remaining 50 nuclear plants, which the Abe government wants to restart.<br />
<br />
The SF Bay Area “No Nukes Action Committee” has been campaigning to
protect the people of Fukushima and Japan, and to keep other Japanese
nuclear plants closed. The Committee also opposes all nuclear plants,
including the PG&E operated Diablo Canyon nuclear plant on the
Pacific coast over earthquake faults and near San Louis Obispo. They
have monthly rallies to speak-out at the Japanese Consulate in San
Francisco on the 11th of every month at <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_428026047" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">3:00 pm</span></span>.
The consulate is located at 275 Battery St/California St., San
Francisco, near the Embarcadero BART Station. Next action is on <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_428026048" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Sunday, January 11, 2015 at 3:00 PM</span></span>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Sponsored by No Nuke Action Committee<br />
<a href="http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">http://nonukesaction.<wbr></wbr>wordpress.com/</a><br />
Co-Sponsored by<br />
BFFU Social Justice Committee<br />
<a href="http://www.bfuu.org/events/social-justice" target="_blank">www.bfuu.org/events/social-<wbr></wbr>justice</a><br />
For more information call <a href="tel:510-495-5952" target="_blank" value="+15104955952">510-495-5952</a>Eclipse Risinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-52719133059781526462014-12-02T22:55:00.000-08:002014-12-02T22:55:40.526-08:00<span id="x_x_OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><span id="x_x_OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><span id="x_x_OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><span id="x_x_OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><span id="x_x_OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">
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<div>
<br /><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Eclipse Rising is co-sponsoring the following event next week in San Francisco. Please consider attending or helping to spread the word, thank you!</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-family: tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Don't
miss this event coming up next month, to hear the Voices of people's
movements in the Philippines, Korea and Okinawa and how they are
resisting US Militarism and the Asia-Pacific Pivot. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">VOICES OF THE PEOPLE: RETHINKING THE ASIA-PACIFIC PIVOT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span><span>Tuesday, December 9th</span></span></strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Doors: <span><span>6 pm</span></span></strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Program: <span><span>6:30 pm</span></span></strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">518 Valencia St., SF</strong></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Food, drinks, and childcare will be provided. Donations welcome. <br />
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><strong style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Speakers:</strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Ko You Kyoung (International Women’s Network Against Militarism, South Korea)</strong><br />
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br />
</span></span><strong style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Raymond Palatino (BAYAN, Philippines)</strong><br />
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br />
</span></span><strong style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Yoko Fukumura (Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, Women for Genuine Security)</strong><br />
<span style="font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">Sponsored
by the Center for Political Education, Women for Genuine Security,
BAYAN- USA, Anakbayan, Eclipse Rising, Veterans for Peace, Asian
Americans for Peace and Justice, and the Asia Pacific Islands Peoples’
Solidarity (Bay Area).</span><br />
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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<div class="x_x_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">People’s
resistance to militarism in the Asia-Pacific region is growing as the
U.S. military increases its presence under the auspices of the so-called
“Pivot to Asia.” At the same time, communities in the U.S. increasingly
face a rapidly militarized and violent police force in our
neighborhoods, streets, and schools.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div>
<div class="x_x_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The Center for
Political Education, Women for Genuine Security, and the Asia Pacific
Islands Peoples’ Solidarity (Bay Area) is excited to host an evening of
story sharing with an international roundtable featuring activists from
the Asia-Pacific region.</span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Ko YouKyoung (International Women’s Network Against Militarism, South Korea)</span></strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">
is a longtime peace activist in South Korea as the former director of
the National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by U.S. Troops in Korea.
She </span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">is also a member of the Korean Women’s Network Against Militarism, SAFE-Korea, and the Pyeongtaek Peace Center.</span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Raymond Palatino (BAYAN, Philippines)</span></strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">
is an activist and writer in the Philippines. He’s the Southeast Asia
Editor in the Global Voices, an online citizens’ media network, and
contributor to the ASEAN Beat of the Diplomat magazine. He’s also the
chairperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Metro Manila.</span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div>
<div class="x_x_MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Yoko Fukumura (Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, Women for Genuine Security)</span></strong></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
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<div>
<div class="x_x_MsoNormal">
<strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Moderator: </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Rhonda Ramiro (BAYAN USA)</span></strong></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Sponsors:</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"> Center for Political Education, Women for Genuine Security, BAYAN-USA, Anakbayan, Eclipse Rising, Veterans For Peace,</span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Asian Americans for Peace and Justice, the Asian Pacific Islands Peoples</span><span style="font-size: 15px;">’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> Solidarity (Bay Area)</span></strong></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
</span></div>
</div>
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<br />
Eclipse Risinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-65431149119763247532014-04-13T19:34:00.003-07:002014-04-13T19:34:51.633-07:00[Reportage - part 1] A couple living without nationality -One Zainichi Korean filed a lawsuit to renounce his South Korean nationality, was denied and is still trying <a href="http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/632419.html">http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/632419.html</a><br />
<br />
<h4>
One Zainichi Korean filed a lawsuit to renounce his South Korean nationality, was denied and is still trying </h4>
By Park Hyun-jung, Hankyoreh 21 staff reporter
His father had turned his back on the world. It all happened quite
suddenly. Then, on his way to file a death notice for that father, the
twelve-year-old boy found himself facing a situation he never saw
coming: he didn’t officially exist. There were no documents at all to
certify his parents’ marriage, or his own birth.
Where did his roots lie?
His grandfather was born over a century ago in Changwon, South
Gyeongsang Province. He traveled to Jiandao, Primorsky Krai, and
Sakhalin in search of work, before finally heading over to Hokkaido. His
long journey ended when he settled down in Japan’s Shimane Prefecture.
There, around 90 years ago, the father was born. The boy’s mother was
also a Korean, having made the voyage to Japan at a very young age. At
the time, Koreans were considered Japanese subjects. It was after World
War II that the country stripped the Koreans and Taiwanese living within
its boundaries of their Japanese citizenship. When filling out
foreigner registration documents, the father gave his nationality as
“Chosun,” or “Korean.” In the meantime, two governments, in South and
North, were established on the Korean Peninsula.<br />
In 1965, the military government in Seoul normalized relations with
Tokyo. The boy turned eight that year. His father, now working for the
Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan), began listing his nationality
as “South Korean.”<br />
It‘s impossible to raise a son without documents. It took two years, but
the mother finally got the documents in order. The three characters of
the boy’s name were spelled out on the father’s family register: “Ko
Kang-ho.” The boy then had South Korean nationality. He hadn’t wanted
the change; he hadn’t wanted to become Japanese either. When the family
decided to naturalize as Japanese citizens, he was the one who held them
back. Like other Koreans living in foreign lands, he suffered from
identity confusion. He thought that identity was something he recognized
in himself, not something he looked for from a country, be it the
Republic of Korea or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Nationality was just a “symbol.”
Fifty-four years old. Now middle-aged, the son still felt the same. He
decided to speak out about the thoughts he’d had over the years. His
mother was gone by then. In 2011, Kang-ho filed with the Ministry of
Justice to renounce his citizenship. He was forfeiting all rights and
responsibilities as a South Korean. But the government would not accept
the request. By the terms of the Nationality Act, the only people who
can renounce South Korean citizenship are people who have multiple
nationalities or have gained foreign citizenship. An attached
explanation said it was part of an effort to reduce the number of
stateless individuals.
Kang-ho currently lives in Japan as a “Special Permanent Resident”, as a
Zainichi Korean according to the terms of San Francisco Peace Treaty of
1951. If he gave up his South Korean citizenship, he would not be a
citizen of any country. But he was a man who would not back down. He
filed suit with Seoul Administrative Court, asking for the rejection to
be overturned. He argued that it was a violation of basic rights to
allow only people with multiple nationalities to renounce citizenship.
The lawsuit was completely without precedent. In March 2012, the court
in the first trial rejected it, ruling that a person had a right to a
nationality, but not to become stateless. The appeals court reached the
same conclusion. Attorney Lee Seok-tae, who filed the suit on Ko’s
behalf, continued to appeal to the Supreme Court, calling the measures
“a restriction on the freedom to abandon nationality without any
consideration of concrete circumstances, at a time when various basic
rights are being recognized in other countries without regard for
citizenship, such as freedom to relocate.”
According to the European Convention on Nationality, which went into
effect in 2001, people are allowed to renounce citizenship when “there
is a lack of a genuine link between the State Party and a national
habitually residing abroad (Article 7)”. Ko Kang-ho’s case is similar.
But in late 2012, the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal. He had taken
the fight to court and lost.
“Laws reflect the values of that society,” he said. “I didn’t really
expect to win the case.” Why, then? He had questions he wanted to pose
to the Republic of Korea: How did it treat Zainchi Koreans in Japan?
What kind of country is South Korea today? What is its dream for
unification?
<b><i>[“Both the North and South Korean governments claim Zainichi
Koreans as their own nationals, but it’s only recently that they’ve been
pushing that policy seriously. When you consider that both have long
taken an approach of neglecting their own people, there’s no reason a
Zainichi Korean should belong to either system.” - from a statement by
Ko Kang-ho]</i> </b>
In the heart of Kyoto, Japan’s capital for a thousand years, many
traditional homes can still be found in the narrow alleys around Nijo
Castle, a World Heritage Site where Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa is believed
to have stayed. The house, bearing a nameplate reading “Ko Kang-ho/Lee
Mi-o,” was built about 90 years ago. On Feb. 11, a Hankyoreh reporter
pushed against the wooden slat gate. It let out a knocking sound as it
moved to the side. Beyond the roughly two-meter-wide doorway, a
third-story roof that had not been visible outside suddenly hove into
view. Sunlight shone down on the kitchen through a square hole at its
top: fermented soybean paste, green tea, safflower. On the refrigerator
and the wall by the sink were various pasted memos in Korean and
Japanese. The doorway to the left of the kitchen led up to another door.
In a bookcase next to the kitchen table was a complete collection of
all sixteen volumes in South Korean novelist Pak Kyung-ni’s “Land”
series. Familiar items, in an unfamiliar setting.
“Welcome.” The voice that rang out was high and gentle. This was
Kang-ho’s wife Ri Mi-oh, 55. A doctor of respiratory medicine, she
treats patients with terminal cancer at a hospital in Kobe, a city in
nearby Hyogo Prefecture. The date of the visit happened to be a national
holiday: National Foundation Day, commemorating the accession of
Japan’s first emperor Jimmu. Other holidays include Showa Day, which
honors the birthday of the late emperor Hirohito, and the Emperor’s
Birthday, for current emperor Akihito. Kang-ho, who has run a dental
clinic for over two decades in Otsu, a city in Shiga Prefecture, did not
take the day off for holidays connected with the Japanese imperial
family.
Similar round faces, similar friendly smiles - the couple even had
similar jobs. They almost looked like brother and sister. About ten
years ago, a swollen-faced Ri was recommended to Kang-ho’s clinic by a
friend after a bad tooth diagnosis. The treatment was good, but he
didn’t seem to know much about making money. He didn’t recommend
expensive treatments like implants that aren’t covered by insurance. He
didn’t accept payment from fellow Koreans, and he offered patients some
of his own homegrown vegetables. On Jan. 1 2000, just three months after
they met, they were married. It was a wedding between two foreigners
living in Japan.
Ko Kang-ho knows hardly any Korean. His father hadn’t wanted to send him
to one of the Chosun Korean schools operated by the General Association
of Korean Residents in Japan (pro-North Korea Chongryon). But the boy
with the Korean name didn’t spend much time with Japanese friends
either. Mostly, he just read books and newspapers. He considered going
to university in his father’s country, but the household wasn’t well-off
financially. In 1976, he enrolled in an engineering college to study
ship-making. His plan was to get a job at a South Korean shipyard after
graduating and join the organized labor movement. But caring for his
widowed mother and younger siblings left him unable to study for the six
years after he enrolled. He wondered if there was anything he could do
for the Zainichi Korean community. Finally, he changed course and went
to dental school.
Mi-oh does speak Korean well, as she attended a Chosun school. Her
father was a Korean from Jeju, while her mother was Japanese. Her mother
had been resolute enough to leave home where her father insisted,
“women don’t need to go to university.” Her fateful encounter happened
one day while she was studying at the house of her brother, an exchange
student in Tokyo. In the yard of a friend’s house, she saw a shabby
clapboard home, barely fit for a dog. Inside lived a poor Korean
teenager. This was the young man who would become Mi-oh’s father. The
grandfather objected, but Mi-oh’s mother went ahead with the wedding.
Since they were of two different nationalities, they decided to give
their first child Japanese nationality and their second Chosun
nationality. Mi-oh was the second daughter. Proud and assertive, she had
hopes of leaving Japan someday to live elsewhere. If she left the land
where she was born and raised, maybe, she imagined, she could be free.
Was there something she could do that would let her become
self-sufficient right away, something she could do outside of Japan? A
job where she could help others. She finally settled on becoming a
doctor.
“Chosun” isn’t a recognized nationality. Mi-oh has no passport, and
people without passports have a difficult time traveling from one
country to another. One substitute for a passport is a document from the
Japanese Ministry of Justice permitting “reentry,” which serves as the
necessary identification for border crossing. Any overseas travel
requires at least two or three months to prepare the necessary
documents. But it’s a process that has allowed her to visit the US and
the United Kingdom, although she was unable to travel to Ireland.
Traveling to South Korea is also a tall order. She has to receive a
“travel certificate,” a temporary passport issued by the South Korean
government. It was not until 1996, during the administration of
President Kim Young-sam, that she was able to set foot in the country.
The authorities had permitted her visit after she explained that she
wanted to visit her father’s grave in Jeju Island. After he passed away
in 1991, it had taken four years for his remains to make their way home.
Under the brutal military dictatorship, it was inconceivable for her
relatives in Jeju to try to contact the family. Her father was once a
member of Chongryon, though she claims he was forced out.
In 2010, with the Lee Myung-bak administration in office in South Korea,
Mi-oh and a friend paid a visit to the Toji (“Land” as referred to in
Pak Kyung-ni’s series) Foundation of Culture in Wonju, Gangwon Province.
Stopping in a restaurant during her trip, she saw the Vancouver Winter
Olympics being broadcast on TV. “Kim Yu-na’s performance was so
beautiful,” she recalled. It was her last memory in South Korea. While
Kim Yu-na was going for a second Olympics gold earlier this year, Mi-oh
was being prevented from making another trip. She made two consulate
visits for the necessary procedures, but her efforts were in vain. “The
employee at the consulate told me, ‘You’ve been there ten times now. If
you’ve seen what a good country South Korea is, why don’t you change
your citizenship? All it takes it one procedure and you won’t have to
come here every time anymore,’” she recalled. “And I said, ‘I’m willing
to come to the consulate twenty or thirty times if it means I can go to
South Korea.‘”
Her plight is shared by around 30,000 other people with Chosun
nationality in Japan. Her husband Kang-ho decided that he could not sit
by in silence any longer. It was one of the reasons he gave for wanting
to renounce his South Korean nationality.
Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
<a href="http://h21.hani.co.kr/arti/special/special_general/36714.html" target="_top">http://h21.hani.co.kr/arti/special/special_general/36714.html</a>kyunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15529085548962884470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-82761223912010057162013-07-03T18:14:00.002-07:002013-07-03T18:14:35.598-07:00Help us fundraise $1000 this summer!!!!Dear Eclipse Rising supporters!<br /><br />Our core members have made a pledge to <b>raise $1000</b> this summer for the <a href="http://relief.jprn.org/" target="_blank">Japan Multicultural Relief Fund</a>, co-founded by <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/eclipserising/about-us" target="_blank">Eclipse Rising </a>and <a href="http://jprn.org/" target="_blank">Japan Pacific Resource Network,</a> as a commitment to <b>a diverse and just Japan</b>!<br />
<br />Please consider<b> <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/2ajeug?utm_campaign=Emails&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">donating here</a>, </b>today<b>. </b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NofJflicrDI/UdTMNGDng9I/AAAAAAAAAQs/aC6iIYKEecI/s594/343154_1363144868.2511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NofJflicrDI/UdTMNGDng9I/AAAAAAAAAQs/aC6iIYKEecI/s320/343154_1363144868.2511.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />It's now been over 2 years since the Tsunami/Earthquake disaster
struck the Northeast region of Japan, but the most vulnerable people are
still impacted. So far we've supported several communities including
immigrants, foreign-residents like Zainichi Koreans, single mothers, the
elderly, and the disabled. Projects have included a multilingual
hotline, emergency transportation, distribution of food and supplies,
reopening schools, securing shelters, and launching a multicultural
community center. <br />
<br />These projects are unique in that they are not only about temporary
relief, but also building power among victims and building a thriving
multicultural community in the region. <br /><br />Any contribution will
help! If 10 of our friends donate $20 today, we are $200 closer to
reaching our goal. Our members have already personally donated to
inspire you!<br />
<br />Please see our <a href="http://relief.jprn.org/index.php" target="_blank">fund website</a> (but remember donate at link below) to read about the impact we have had already.<br />
<br />Please <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/2ajeug?utm_campaign=Emails&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email" target="_blank"><b>DONATE</b></a> at our Go Fund Me site, in order to help us keep track of our efforts to <b>reach $1000 this summer. </b><br />
<br />Also, as the fund is almost entirely supported by volunteers, we are always <b>looking for more volunteers</b>! If you are interested in helping, even a few hours this summer, it can go a long way. Please contact me directly. <br />
<br />THANK YOU!<br /><br />Peace, Love, Solidarity,<br />Kei Fischer<br />Co-coordinator, co-founder, Eclipse Rising<br />
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Eclipse Risinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813297300751051020.post-80133559267793734062013-03-23T11:08:00.002-07:002013-03-23T11:08:43.802-07:00Photo campaign from Memory of a Forgetten War screeningCheck out the tumblr page!<br />
<a href="http://peaceinkorea.tumblr.com/#/#">http://peaceinkorea.tumblr.com/#/#</a><br />
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<a href="http://peaceinkorea.tumblr.com/#/#">About the Blog</a></h1>
<span>The
Korean War (1950-1953) was devastating. It pitted military forces from
the United States, South Korea, and 16 other countries against North
Korean and Chinese combatants. Three years of fighting took a horrific
human toll – the deaths of 3 million civilians and nearly 1.5 million
combatants. It decimated Korea’s natural and social infrastructure and
left 10 million Koreans separated from family members for over half a
century. The hostilities from this war persist today because the
fighting ended in an armistice agreement, not a peace treaty. A legacy
of this 6 decades of unremitting animosity prevents the reunion of tens
of thousands Korean Americans separated from relatives in North Korea
and keeps the United States and especially North Korea perpetually at
the brink of war.</span><br /><br /><span>The new film, Memory of Forgotten
War (ww.mufilms.org) brings these concerns to light and asks audiences
to stand for an end to the Korean War and reconciliation among the
warring parties.The mosaic of faces in this Peace in Korea blog is
evidence of the expanding call for the United States to commit to ending
the armistice agreement and bringing to a close America’s longest,
modern war.</span></div>
Eclipse Risinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06322536581178435742noreply@blogger.com0