All photos by Dan Ryan

It was a little like the scenario in that Kinks song “Lola”, but only in passing. I met her in a little place called Seoul Bar, which is in a rundown section of northeast Tokyo called Sanya. At first I thought her was a him, and she sounded like a man but…

The lipstick should have given me a clue, but it was confusing initially, even more so because his, sorry, her English was pretty rusty, and my Japanese was horrible. She took an interest in me because I was American. When she was still fully he, he used to work for Americans in the ‘60s. Or the ‘70s, but doing what I never completely figured out. But we managed fitfully to communicate, and after a few minutes I thought he was a pretty interesting woman.

She’d had the money at some unspecified point in the past to start the process of becoming her true self, to transition from male to female. Her family, which might have included a wife and kids, never understood nor approved of what she needed to be. They disowned her many years ago.

However, it was obvious she was accepted in Seoul Bar, but also treated a bit like an oddity. When another bar patron took a schoolboy jab at her breasts, it bothered me. It was playful, but far from respectful. But it was nearly 13:00, in a bar in a crummy part of town, and everyone was drinking. So maybe my standards were unrealistically high. Hell, she even wanted me to take a feel of her tits. She was proud of them. I declined.

She was also proud of her hands, justifiably I thought, but seemed frustrated by lingering facial hair. My guess is whatever hormones she used to take had worn off some time ago. She also said she still had the male parts she’d been born with.

I left the Seoul Bar when the karaoke was about to start and went out to the shōtengai to take more pictures. After about five minutes, I noticed my ladyfriend walking in the same direction I was. She had bar-snack crumbs on her face, and in the outdoor light I could really see how worn and shabby-looking she was. Yet as she waved her hands around at my camera, her manicured nails were still noticeable, as were her few female bumps and curves. She looked more like a woman standing up outside than she had hunched next to me in a chair in the dark little bar we’d been in.

She and I walked together for a few minutes. She didn’t mind me taking pictures of her. In fact, she carried herself with a little bit of the vanity some women seem to naturally have, whether their looks entitle them to such vanity or not. But the fact that this woman, this shabby, incomplete woman, carried herself in this way instantly earned a small measure of my respect. It took, for lack of a better term, balls.

We came to a stop when she spotted a man she knew, a friend I suppose, a guy I had photographed previously. He was pretty goddamned drunk. But she wanted to go talk to him.

Like I said, she was proud of her breasts and not shy about playing with them in public. I didn’t ask her to do this. I don’t know enough Japanese to get that far. But she posed for me a few times out there in the street, and this is where her hands always ended up. You’ve got to roll with these things in some parts of Tokyo street life.

Then she walked over to talk to her friend. It was a short conversation. The guy in the gutter made a slow lunge for my ladyfriend’s crotch. Her response, as I barely understood it, was to offer to show the man that he would have gotten a handful of male goodies if she had let his fingers reach their target. This was a little bit too much for me, the idea that this incomplete woman was prepared to whip out her male equipment in the street.

So I walked away. But you know, I never even got her name.

———————

Reporting and photography for this story was done in April, 2012.

Author’s note: This is an excerpt from my second Amazon Kindle photo essay book, “Tales from Seoul Bar: A Tokyo Panic Stories Mini-book”. You can buy a copy here.

Dan Ryan is a journalist, photographer, and poet. His work has been published by Scholars & Rogues, tsuki Magazine, Giant Robot, Kizuna, Jack Move, Zero Hedge, and Japan Subculture Research Center. You can see more of his Tokyo work at Dan Ryan’s SmallStories. He recently created a Kickstarter project to fund his next photo project in Tokyo. He lives in Brisbane, California.

The award is given in honor of the late Michiel Brandt, a former MIIS student from Japan who died of leukemia while preparing for a career in this field and received her MA in International Policy Studies posthumously in December 2012. Michiel-chan aka Mimi-Chan (ミミちゃん） was one of the founders of this blog and my BFF.

The prize is made possible by generous gifts from Michiel’s family and friends in Japan and the United States. This award is designed to encourage students with professional aspirations to work in this field with the hopes of eradicating and/or preventing human trafficking.

Amy Sands, Provost of Monterey Institute of International Studies and the staff of Japan Subculture Research Center wish to extend congratulations to Elena on receiving this prize and good luck as she begins to pursue her career and fights the good fight.

Michiel wrote a very eloquent and heartfelt essay on why she wanted to work to stop sexual slavery. From 2006-2007, when I was working on a US State Department sponsored study of human trafficking in Japan, including the supply side and the traffickers–Michiel was an invaluable research assistant and translator. The essay is below.

On Modern Slavery: Thoughts on Human Trafficking by Michiel Brandt

Michiel Brandt in 2008, after a day of fact-checking early drafts of Tokyo Vice.

Michiel Brandt was my closest friend and a comrade in arms in the fight against human trafficking. (Photo/November 2011. Saint Marianna University School of Medicine Hospital). She was a very brave woman. It’s good to see her remembered.

Japan is a giant nuclear pressure cooker. Let’s hope it doesn’t get set off.

full article is in the Japan Times (May 5th, 2013)  On April 15, two alleged terrorists in Boston killed three people, injured more than 170 others and terrified a nation — for about $100 it cost them to modify pressure cookers into bombs. We should be glad they didn’t come to Japan, where they may have been able to explode a ready-made nuclear dirty bomb, kill untold thousands, render huge swaths of the country uninhabitable — and get paid by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) in the process. I wish I were kidding. Japan has more than 50 gigantic nuclear “pressure cookers” ripe for exploitation by terrorists. And they wouldn’t even have to lay siege to the facilities. Instead, they could just walk into a nuclear plant and leave with enough weapons-grade plutonium for a small atomic device — which later could be detonated wherever they chose. How?

In Japan, getting access to a nuclear power plant is very simple: fill out a job application.

It is now more than two years since the start of the nuclear crisis following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and there are still no mandatory background checks for workers at its nuclear facilities. After the three reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex in March 2011, it became clear that Tepco, the plant’s operator, was allowing members of Japan’s organized crime groups, the yakuza, to staff the well-paid cleanup — just as they had been allowed into plants long before then. Indeed, members and associates of the Sumiyoshi-kai (Kanto) and Kudo-kai (Kyushu) mobs have been arrested for their roles supplying labor to Tepco and its Kansai cousin, Kepco. So the dirty secret that yakuza-linked workers and companies have long sustained Japan’s nuclear industry — along with yakuza members themselves, ex-convicts, wanted criminals, and drug addicts working there — is now public knowledge. Although many yakuza groups claim to have a protective role in society, most of their members are sociopathic felons who would commit theft, assault or murder to make a little money. And if you consider the black-market value of a little plutonium, you may feel a tad uneasy knowing such people have long had access to it — and can still get their hands on nuclear materials. Don’t worry, though: Last month the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said a panel will be set up to discuss atomic energy security issues, and it will consider introducing a system to investigate the backgrounds of workers to avoid acts of terrorism at nuclear plants. Specifically, it seems the panel will examine ways to check whether nuclear facility employees are drug addicts or have a criminal record, among other issues, in order to screen out anyone who could potentially get involved in terrorism. The panel will comprise NRA Commissioner Kenzo Oshima and outside experts. However, one expert who will not be on the panel is Haruki Madarame, former chief of the now-dissolved Nuclear Safety Commission. He is currently being investigated by prosecutors for alleged criminal negligence. But hey, let’s not dwell on the past. The good news is that the NRA is thinking about making nuclear plants safer in the future. They may even reach the same conclusions that the Nuclear Security Expert Commission of the Atomic Energy Commission announced … in September 2011. Of course, why take action when you can spend more time debating about taking action? The AEC makes recommendations for nuclear energy policy. However, that 2011 report, titled “Basic Nuclear Security Assurance,” doesn’t give a positive view of Japan’s countermeasures. For the rest of the story …

Reference materials for the article and those interested in Japan’s nuclear issues 

A few source materials for the article are below for those who would like to know more. 原子力防護専門部会 (Nuclear Security Expert Commission of the Atomic Energy Commission aReport on Basic Nuclear Security ) Their full report, which discusses the threat from dirty bombs made out of nuclear facility materials, is on-line. (Japanese only) For a prescient look at  the crisis that came, see Japan’s Nuclear Roulette from 2004 For a comprehensive history of Japan’s troubled and corrupt nuclear industry, Jeff Kingston’s essay from Contemporary Japan is a must read. Also very prescient. The Melting Sun: Japan’s Nuclear Follies 

For another view of the problems at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and Japan’s nuclear security problems, Professor Kingston’s recent article: Power Politics: Japan’s Resilient Nuclear Village is a very succinct and chilling read.

TEPCO is beyond parody sometimes but we try.

Radcliffe-san has been preparing to play the role of a newspaper journalist for over 10 years–more or less. To write for a newspaper, you have to read the newspaper. The Daily Prophet is one of the most respected in the industry; almost always first with the scoop and only occasionally very wrong.

Mike Fleming broke the news on Deadline this afternoon that Daniel Radcliffe will play Jake Adelstein in the film adaptation of TOKYO VICE:  An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan.

The text of the release is as follows:

Tokyo Vice (UK edition)

Daniel Radcliffe is set to star in TOKYO VICE. Veteran music video and commercial director Anthony Mandler will direct, based on a script by acclaimed playwright JT Rogers. Le Grisbi Productions’ John Lesher and Adam Kassan are producing. The film is eyeing a start date of first quarter 2014.

Radcliffe will play American reporter Jake Adelstein who, while working at the Yomiuri Shinbun newspaper in Tokyo, covered a beat that included murder, vice, and the yakuza. The film will be based on Adelstein’s memoir of the same name and focus on his encounters with yakuza boss Tadamasa Goto, also known as the “John Gotti of Japan”. Adelstein investigated the notorious gangster at great personal cost and sacrifice, braving death threats, before finally exposing Goto.

Adelstein, who will be working with Rogers on the script, is still an investigative reporter. He currently writes for The Daily Beast, The Japan Times, and The Atlantic Wire. His second book, THE LAST YAKUZA(editor Tim O’Connell), will be published in 2014.

Radcliffe has had a busy schedule since starring in last year’s thriller THE WOMAN IN BLACK. He starred as Allen Ginsberg in this year’s Sundance hit KILL YOUR DARLINGS, which was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. He also recently wrapped the horror film HORNS and the romantic comedy THE F WORD and he has just signed on to star in FRANKENSTEIN for 20th Century Fox and Davis Entertainment. This June, Radcliffe will return to the West End stage, starring in Martin McDonagh’s acclaimed comedy THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN.

Mandler has helmed videos for such artists as Rihanna, Jay-Z, The Killers, and Muse.

Rogers’ plays include BLOOD AND GIFTS (National Theatre, London; Lincoln Center Theater, New York City) and THE OVERWHELMING (National Theatre, London; Roundabout Theatre, New York City). He was nominated for the 2009 Olivier Award as one of the writers of GREAT GAME: AFGHANISTAN. He is also a winner of the prestigious Pinter Prize.

Lesher produced last year’s END OF WATCH, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. He also produced BLOOD TIES, Guillaume Canet’s English language debut, starring Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, and James Caan, which will premiere at Cannes. Lesher is currently in production on Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s BIRDMAN, starring Michael Keaton, Ed Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, and Naomi Watts. He is in pre-production on BLACK MASS, to be directed by Barry Levinson and star Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger, as well as David Ayer’s war film FURY, which will shoot in the fall and star Brad Pitt.

Radcliffe is represented by UTA, UK agent Sue Latimer at ARG, and attorney Fred Toczek. Mandler is represented by UTA, Management 360, and attorney Michael Schenkman. Rogers is represented by WME and attorneys Marc Glick and Stephen Breimer. Jake Adelstein is repped by UTA and William Clark Associates.

You can learn more about Jake Adelstein in Peter Hessler’s excellent profile, “All Due Respect: An American Reporter Takes on the Yakuza” in the January 9, 2012 issue of The New Yorker. 

Jake’s next book, THE LAST YAKUZA:  A Life in the Japanese Underground, a singular, in-depth, occasionally humorous, often dark, but inspiring tale about the life of former gang boss T. Mochizuki, aka “The Tsunami,” his unlikely friendship with the author, and the history of Japan’s ubiquitous mafia is being edited by the incomparable Tim O’Connell at Pantheon as this is being written, and will be released in Fall 2014.  Other English language publishers are James Gurbutt at Constable & Robinson in the UK, and Henry Rosenbloom at Scribe in Australia/New Zealand.

1) Memoirs of a Geisha  (2005)

Directed by Rob Marshall and starring Zhang Ziyi as a ravishing prewar geisha by the name of Sayuri (‘white lily’), this particular vehicle sinks to basement level lows of pigeon-holing and cultural misunderstanding. As a Japanese female I just don’t feel like forgiving this one – the emotional damage is irrevocable. To make things worse, national acting treasure Ken Watanabe makes an appearance and seals his fate as an enabler for Hollywood filmmakers to cater to the white male fantasy regarding all things Japanese – namely, geishas. The one bright spot is Kaori Momoi as a hard-as-nails proprietress of a geisha house. The lone authentic presence in a film hyped up on false pretensions.

2) The Last Samurai (2003)

Just as Japanese women could never escape the geisha issue, Japanese men will always be associated with the samurai. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Hollywood just HAD to up and star Tom Cruise as a disillusioned ex-Union soldier who finds redemption and rebirth in the samurai racket in Meiji era Japan. The story (penned by Jon Logan) is just wrong on so many counts one forgets to feel offended. Most discouragingly, the film was wildly popular on both sides of the Pacific, which goes to show you: the samurai racket (like the geisha racket) is good business. How it affects the yen rate is anyone’s guess.

3) Lost in Translation (2003)

Don’t get me wrong – I love Sofia Coppola as much as the next girl movie afficionado. But the thoroughbred filmmaker of the Coppola clan whose sensibility radar is always spot-on when it comes to charting the emotions and mindscapes of the under-29 woman, ran into some major static at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku. As a poignant and appropriately jaded love story between Bill Murray as the slightly weary Hollywood actor come over to shoot a commercial, and Scarlett Johansson (who was all of 18 at the time) “Lost..” is a 4-star affair. But Coppola’s cut-out portrayals of Tokyo are sterile and silly and the Tokyoites who make brief and regrettable appearances…spare us the embarrassment please. No wonder the Murray-Johansson couple hardly ever venture out of the hotel.

4) You Only Live Twice 

The Japanese have had always had a soft spot for James Bond but after Sean Connery spent time here for this movie, he became Main Man 007 man as far as the archipelago was concerned. At the time of the film’s release (1967), Connery was sited in fashion magazines as the dude in the suit, who never, ever wore undershirts and whose hairy chest held a ferocious appeal, especially to Japan’s first Bond girls Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama. He left behind a massive inferiority complex from which the nation’s male populace never fully recovered. Shame on you, Bond-san.

5) Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

Okay, so this isn’t a movie about Japan, but as a depiction of a Japanese male it’s practically the cinematic equivalent of a hate crime. The Hollywood classic that stars  Audrey Hepburn as It Girl of Lower Manhattan, Holly Golightly and the buffy George Peppard as her neighbor slash would-be lover, the film is absolutely delightful. But once Mickey Rooney comes on as a mysterious Japanese man called “Yuniyoshi,” we start feeling a leetle uncomfortable. Rooney is outrageously made-up: protruding teeth, slanting eyes behind thick glasses and spiky black hair heavily pomade-ed. So as a poster boy endorsing Japanese internment during WWII, Yuniyoshi-san is perfect. Otherwise we can do without him, thanks very much.

6) Hachiko: A Dog’s Tale (2009)

You can’t grow up in Japan and not know the loyal dog Hachiko (he went to Shibuya station everyday to greet his master coming home from work) or choose the dog’s statue in front of Shibuya Station as a meeting spot. Hachi is to the Japanese what Cheerio’s may be to the American – so much a part of our daily fabric that it seems weird, really weird when Hachiko shows up in a Hollywood movie starring Richard Gere. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom (whose feature debut is called “My Life as a Dog”), the whole thing feels forced, contrived and highly artificial. Hachiko doesn’t belong in a manicured suburban town among all those white picket fences, and Gere as the college professor who opts to be his American master, well…the word “jarring” comes to mind.

7) Wasabi (2001)

Around the time this film was released, France had a kind of amorous fling with Japanese culture and one of the byproducts was this film by Gerard Krawczyk. The equivalent of an haute couture dress souped up on Akiba culture, the film has great ideas and (probably) benevolent intentions. Unfortunately they don’t quite work together. Too bad, as it pairs Jean Reno as a Parisian cop once married to a Japanese woman, and our very own Ryoko Hirosue in a role pitched halfway between a pouting, flighty anime girl come to life and Reno’s comprehensive guide to Tokyo. The result is a chaotic hodgepodge of vignettes that show up the city as a kind of noisy, plasticine pleasure palace.

Ultimately, the film caters to a frayed stereotype: that given the choice, a Japanese will choose brutality over love, and death over life

8) The Pillow Book  (1996)

This is an ambitious undertaking by British auteur Peter Greenaway, but his sensibility that created such visually resplendent (and often grotesque) pictures like “Drowning by Numbers” and “The Belly of an Architect,” failed when it came to a rendition of  “The Pillow Book” (a collection of essays by 10th century court scribe Seishonagon). For lovers of the truly weird, the film provides much fodder: Vivian Wu stars as the extremely sensuous Nagiko, who inspires her calligraphy master dad (Ken Ogata) to paint characters all over her face and body. Later, she meets her match in Jerome (Ewan McGregor) who proves himself masterfully creative with the brush as he is with other uh, physical skills. For the record people, this has nothing to do with Seishonagon’s book and still less with calligraphy.

Try reading the actual book instead. Sei Shonagon was the Kaori Shoji of her day: acerbic, funny, and a great essayist.

9) Ai no Corida (In the Realm of the Senses) 

When this opened in Paris back in 1976, people lined up for hours for the pleasure of seeing one of the most controversial films of the 20th century. In Tokyo it was banned from opening at all and when that was cleared many theaters refused to show it. Based on the real-life story of servant girl Sada Abe (Eiko Matsuda) and her master Kichizo Ishida (Tatsuya Fuji), “Ai no…” takes Japanese eros to a whole new dimension.  Director Nagisa Oshima is masterful in his no-holds-barred depiction of an all-consuming sexual obsession between a man and a woman. But ultimately, the film caters to a frayed stereotype: that given the choice, a Japanese will choose brutality over love, and death over life.

10) Rhapsody in August (1991)

Somehow Richard Gere makes it into at least two of the worst ten movies about Japan. Hopefully, he can be in more before the decade ends.

A well-crafted story commemorating the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki by Japanese cinema giant Akira Kurosawa, this marked his first-time collaboration with Asiaphile Richard Gere. Gere plays the relative of an old woman whose husband had died on that August day and now with dementia setting in, she often relives the day that deprived her of her parents, husband and many friends. There are plenty of opportunities to make Gere’s character feel remorse about what the US did, but Kurosawa was apparently in a forgiving mood, and the movie spares Gere any major discomfort. As it is, we never get closure.

Kaori Shoji writes about movies and movie-makers for The Japan Times and is also a writer for the International Herald Tribune and other publications. Well known for her sharp wit, some have likened her to “the Dorothy Parker of Japan.”

 *Editor’s note: The 10 Worst Films About Japan are not necessarily in order of suckiness. Thank you. 

Koji Kitahara, one of Japan’s national heros, poses during an interview with JSRC. (Photo: A. Pagnotta)

At New Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Japan (Narita Airport), airplanes start to take off around six in the morning every day and continue  non-stop until 11 PM. The noise of the airplane flying above his head strikes the attention of the new visitor in the region. The majority of the houses in Narita are equipped with a soundproof system.  The walls of these households have been “deafened” and the insulation construction of the houses are provided by the Narita Airport Company. This house is different. The owner of the house, Koji Kitahara, is one of the few remaining residents who has not surrendered his property or his fight in a more than 40 year conflict between the residents of Narita, Chiba Prefecture and the government of Japan which has tried to forced them off their land.

Koji Kitahara (91) during an interview with JSRC was explaining the chain of events he recollected in his book.

In order to discourage and harass the last farmers who struggle against the purchase of their land, the city of Narita and the Chiba Prefecture have closed the routes used by the farmers by placing construction sites on them. The farmers are then forced to use other routes to get to their fields. Another form of harassment consists in encircling the houses with iron fences, according to the old fighter.

The New Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Japan aka Narita Airport is a symbol of Japan’s eminent domain progress gone amuck. In the period circa 1966, the Japanese Cabinet ostensibly chose the farm land as  the site of a the airport in Chiba Prefecture’s Narita area because it felt that was the only flat land in the Kanto area that could be quickly expropriated and developed. Of course, there also were reports of insider trading in which politicians bought major plots of land in the area before plans were officially announced.  The attempts to build Narita airport did not go well, when the local citizens and landowners of the farm villages first learned of the expropriation through local newspapers—long before receiving formal notification from the Japanese government.  The dwellers of the area were broadsided, angry and many of them opposed the airport development. Nearly fifty years have passed since the project began and the struggle isn’t over yet.

An airplane taking off less than 30 meters from Mr. Hagiwara’s vegetable field. A control tower was installed there for the police force to observe the movements of the protesters.

There were a number of historical factors at work in the need for the airport. With the rise of the American aggression in Indochina, the principal airport of Tokyo, located on the island of Haneda had become overloaded by one third to half of the air traffic of charters and other American military vessels directly linked to the Vietnam conflict. In 1966, the government of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato decided to take over a village in Sanrikuza, situated at about sixty kilometers away from Northern Tokyo.

The land on which Narita Airport is currently located was managed for a long period of time as State property under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister in office. Once evacuated in April of 1969, the government provided the land to its Ministry of Finance. Getting rid of the Shimosa Goryo ranch, which occupied most of the necessary land, easily allowed the authorities to start its project, with 500 hectares of land in hand. Reportedly, some historical sources indicate that the police force had terrorized the local population and beaten up the oldest leaders of the farmers, which attracted nationwide attention and provoked the sympathy of millions of Japanese workers and students, who came from all over the country to support the farmers and join their struggle.

Toho Farm near Narita Airport

Narita, 成田: the Decreasing Green Fields

 More than four decades have passed since the beginning of the bloody warfare against the construction of Narita Airport. In Narita, which Chinese character means “increasing fields,” green domain of vegetables and rice used to stretch in great distances. After the war, Mr. Koji Kitahara had decided to settle in that place after his return from his duty in the Japanese Navy. The lands were open. He was 21. Koji Kitahara is 91 years old this year. He became the Secretary General and Leader of the League Against the Construction of the Narita Airport. His legs are tired and his back is weaker now, but he still represents the symbol of a historical struggle. A while after Japan’s defeat and the blast of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs, a short transition sustained before a radical down turn occurred in the Japanese governance. “When I was young, the military defeat of my country had opened a new perspective to the Japanese youth, which gave us a feeling infinite liberty for a better future, ” Koji Kitahara remembers.

“The sun has not yet risen on the dreams of my younger days.”

In 1966 however, Japan decided to build an international airport in Narita, a province situated at about 64 kilometers away from central Tokyo. As noted above, despite  the Japanese laws securing the rights of land dwellers and residents , the government started to purchase land from the legal owners without the acknowledgement of the inhabitants.*

For Koji Kitahara, the government can only blame itself for the long protracted struggle.  ”It means that it was nothing but natural to fight to protect the rights that the government itself had granted to its people. Of course,” he added, “Nobody knew if it was possible, but it was necessary to give it a try. That’s why I accepted to undertake the mission given to me by the farmers, and never during these last 48 years, have I failed to do my duty.”

Portraits displayed in Kitahara’s living room, remembering the past struggles.

According to Kitahara, five thousand people having committed “infractions against the power of the State” have been arrested during the struggle and about twenty people have died on the side of the protesters who were galvanized and supported by the members of Japan’s extreme Left Wing, or Japan’s Red Army, known for their incredible violence. Numbers vary according to different sources. The National Police Agency refused any interview with this reporter in regard to the exact number of deaths and the causes of these deaths.

The Narita International Airport Company said three members of the police force died during the conflict. According to police sources, the violence escalated very quickly within a year of the original decision to build the airport, as radical left wing groups flocked to the site. Among the deaths, one of the most brutal was in 1977, when one police officer was burned to death when mob of fifty radicals in red helmets tossed molotov cocktails at the security forces outpost. There have also been civilian casualties. A construction worker burned to death in 1983 when a time-bomb went off at the living quarters of a firm doing basic construction work at the airport; another worker was severely injured.

The spokesperson of Japan’s Communist Party also denied the number of deaths related to the historical struggles and stated that “[The Communist Party of Japan] has no links to the current and past struggles of the farmers of Narita.”

Koji Kitahara concludes with a desperate look in his tired eyes that the partisans of the struggle have paid their efforts with “unprecedented sacrifices.” “What happened here could never happen in a western country,” he declared.

Interview by JSRC and Koji Kitahara at his place.

 Koji Kitahara’s house is located in the continuity of the Runway A of Narita Airport, which is 4000 meters long. He is a widower, and currently lives with his first son and his daughter in law. Mao style painted portraits of him hang on the walls of his living room, some old memories of the struggle. Kitahara has been arrested four times in total. According to him, he was only exercising his most legitimate rights. He expected the protection of these fundamental rights from his government.

However, the construction of Narita Airport is not yet achieved, due to the stubbornness of the farmers and there are still a few of them who still refuse to sell their land.

Half a century of sacrifice but no regrets

 “The Japanese government offers as much money the inhabitants require, under the condition that they accept the finalization of the airport.” Kitahara explains. He has received many offers from the Japanese government, he said, exhausted. “But I never ceded,” he added with a sudden burst of pride. “In those moments, the authorities threw me in prison for violating the public order, I suppose.” But for Kitahara and his comrades, the class of the workers and the farmers need a union and a good management of their force in order to preserve the strength of their union.

Vegetable fields located inside the runways

 The land, which Mr. Takao Shito, 62, and his father before him, rented out to their owner had been sold to the Narita Company, which filed a legal complaint and a demand of expulsion. United, the farmers participated in the hearings of the lawsuits as witnesses against the owners and the company.

In Iwayama, the field and the small greenhouse are situated at the frontier of the runway B of Narita Airport. “There used to be a lane here.” Says Takao Shito, pointing his finger at a 3 meters high iron fence that cuts a route in the middle. “The city of Narita sold the land on the other side of that fence to the people of the Narita Airport Company.”

Takao Shito (62) poses in between the Narita Airport construction site and his land.

The land on which Shito grows his vegetables had been chosen by the communist activists and the farmers to be the headquarters of the struggle because of its favorable location. About a hundred meters from his greenhouse where he cultivates sweet potatoes, passing a field of neglected grass, there is a tower of steel. The tower used to measure about 63 meters in the past, and was the symbol of the struggle. The tower was built right in the forefront of the runway B, making it hard for  the airplanes to land securely.

Koji Kitahara poses in front of the protesting tower, now hugely reduced.

The tower was high and proud in the past. Now, it is partly demolished  and leaves have grown along the steel bars. The remains of the tower look tired but solid, like Koji Kitahara, who walks prudently on the soil where the grass reaches up to his weak knees.

Koji Kitahara showing the old headquarter barracks of the activists.

Takao Shito lived in Ichikawa and worked in the restaurant industry before he took over the farm left by his father in Narita after his death. The lawsuit made by the Narita Airport Company against Shito started in 2006. For more than ten years, Shito had seen the construction sites flourish around his land. “I knew what I would have to deal with this before I moved here. I saw the issues my father had even before he handed his farm to me,” he explains, almost apologetically. The Narita Company wants to buy 60 percent of Mr. Shito’s land and would pay him a monetary compensation. But he replies with conviction that if he lacked 60 percent of his land, he could never make a living with his job. “The noise from the construction sites are unbearable. I can hardly sleep at night.” Although the lawsuit had not reached any conclusion yet, the construction started in full swing around his fields.

Interview with Takao Shito (62) at the border line.

Like Takao Shito, there are other farmers who live in the area from their cultivation. It is very difficult to determine the exact number of citizens who oppose the construction of Narita Airport. “Opposing the construction of the airport is like opposing the national policy, that’s why men like me are considered as being dissidents. More strictly speaking, we are considered as anti-social forces (like the yakuza).” Koji Kitahara explains.

The other side of the wall

In 1966, the Ministers’ Council formalized the decision to construct The International Airport of Narita, and planed to build an airport that had three runways. As of today, only one of them is entirely finalized. It is the runway A, which measures 4000 meters. The construction of the runway B started in 1999, and became operational in 2002, and ended by 2009, after being extended to 2500 meters from 2180 meters in 2002.

Takao Shito posing at the border between his land and the airport property. (Photo: A. Pagnotta)

In 2001, the international airport allowed the take off of about 360 flights per day. With the half way operational runway B in 2002, the airport had about 450 take offs per day. In 2013, the number of take offs increased to 600 per day. For security reasons, the Narita Airport Company did not disclose the total costs for building the airport. “Runway B is constructed on a soil which is still inhabited, that’s why we currently are unable to extend it and we are unable to predict by when the land will be ceded to the airport in the future,” The spokesman of the airport explained. He also reported  that the number of policemen who were killed during the bloody struggles was three in total. Koji Kitahara claims the number of protesters whose death was caused by the fights reached 20. Some sources report up  to 5000 Japanese citizens who were arrested due to the conflict, mostly for disrupting the public order.

Interview with Mr. Susumu Hagiwara, 65, chief of the Toho Farm and Deputy Director General of the League Against the Construction of the Airport of Narita.

The vegetable field in the middle of the runway

 Mr. Susumu Hagiwara, 65, is the chief of the Toho Farm and Deputy Director General of the League Against the Construction of the Airport of Narita. A few communist students come to support his farm work. Susumu Hagiwara explains that, compared to the farmers in other regions of Japan, his family and he endure an additional and undesirable amount of stress, due to the lawsuit hearings that take place two to three times a month in far distanced tribunals. His Sundays are often dedicated to demonstrations, he said. “I am tired in the sense that I am not only doing my job as a farmer. Other than that, I have to organize reunions, discussions and anti airport demonstrations. I have been doing this in the last 48 years of my life.”

When interrogated about his health, Susumu Hagiwara explains that pollution from the airplanes in the air is very much comparable to the ongoing leak of radioactive materials in Fukushima. “We are unable to predict what will be the effects of the gases on our health, not to mention the loss of hearing. It is difficult to prove the impact of, for example, the tires, which burn when the airplane lands, or the smell of kerosene on our children’s health. For us, it is currently impossible to conduct a scientific research about the health damage from living near the airport and demonstrate it to the opposition. The government says the pollution from the planes is not much different than the exhaust fumes from cars.  Japan, and other countries too do not take the environmental issues into consideration very much.”

The vegetables cultivated by Susumu Hagiwara are sold in local supermarkets. The Narita Airport Company does not conduct research on the safety of these vegetables, which are raised organically.

Susumu Hagiwara lives about 300 meters east from the Narita Airport site, in his Toho farm.

“If Japan continues to expropriate the lands from the farmers, then it will soon have trouble in the food supplies. The answer to this is food import.” Susumu Hagiwara exclaimed.

Yoshiro Yagami, 34, former communist student still helping the farmers’ struggle.

“I haven’t sacrificed anything, on the contrary, what I won is the world.”  Yoshiro Yagami, 34, former  student

Yoshiro Yagami, 34, is a former student. He studied at the University of Kyuushu, in Southern Japan. He came to Tokyo to support the farmers of Narita and ended up staying near Mr. Susumu Hagiwara and found a reason to live in fighting this struggle. Yagami is not married but he says he is a lucky man. “If I hadn’t encountered the struggle of the people of Sanrizuka, Narita, I would have been a man incapable of thinking about someone else but just myself. Thanks to my encounter with these destitute workers, I was given a chance to to join the struggle of the world’s oppressed people. It surpasses the nations’ border. I haven’t sacrificed anything.  I won the world when I joined this battle.”

Yoshiro Yagami moved eight years ago to a place that is about 2km away from the airport of Narita. With the Narita security law, people are not allowed to move into the restricted zone.

Unfair and Unjust 

  “The government had taken the land. This was part of a twisted arrangement made by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP.)”  Robert Whiting, author of the best selling non-fiction book, Tokyo Underworld cites the Narita Airport debacle as one representative of Japanese corruption. According to  his research, certain people linked to Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, had bought some land in Narita, and suddenly the government announced the construction of an international airport at that place. The price of the land per square meter had exploded. “Those who bought the land in that area had won a fortune. This is the twisted side of the story. And there were those farmers who didn’t want to leave their land, but they were forced to. It took ages to displace them, and even nowadays some are still struggling. Koji Kitahara is a real hero, and there aren’t any real heroes left in modern Japan,” Robert Whiting commented.

“No farmers ever wanted to see an airport over there. And there was no reason to build an airport one and a half hours away from central Tokyo. (Actually fifty-six minutes with the Narita Express.) What the government had done with those farmers was simply unfair.” Robert Whiting said.

Japan has different laws than the U.S. with regard to private property expropriation.

“The law on expropriation protects the tenant and cannot delocalize someone from the place he/she is living.” Robert Whiting explains. It is possible to displace some people in some other countries, such as the U.S., however it is theoretically forbidden in Japan. “It is in those occasions that the Japanese mafia intervenes efficiently. The mafia terrorizes the difficult people. But the government had no rights to displace these people from their houses. This is the reason Mr. Susumu Hagiwara is still there.”

. 

Toho Farmers taking a break.

And so what’s next?

The farmers of Narita have learnt to recognize the airplanes after living in those conditions so long. “It’s bit like Palestine,” Tomio Hagiwara, 44, explains as he points at the police anti-riot headquarters located on the other side of the barbwire, which separates the cabbage fields of his father-in-law. Tomio Hagiwara has lived in Narita for about ten years, after he married the daughter of Susumu Hagiwara. (In Japan, sometimes the man can take the last name of the woman he marries.) He has a little daughter called Momoka, 8. The little girl participates quietly to the daily meetings of the farmers, sitting proudly next to her grandfather, the old resistance fighter.

Her father entered the conflict 24 years ago, while he was still a university student. Japan’s Communist Party supported these farmers because they desired to gain their votes. Some sources report that the Japanese Communists from the “Red Army” or activists from the extreme Left Wing had ferociously fought against the authorities. Today, the spokespersons of the Communist Party say that they “never participated to incidents implicating farmers in Narita, now and in the past.”

Tomio Hagiwara explains that the Communist Party of Japan had detached itself from the opponents to the construction of the Narita airport as soon as people got injured and killed. Tomio Hagiwara does not vote for the Socialists, nor does he for the Communist Party anymore.

Tomio Hagiwara meditating as he is observing the airplanes on the other side of the fence. (Photo: JSRC)

Living in the fear of an airplane crash

“It’s really tiresome to fight all the time. But each family has its personal reasons to give up their land.”

Tomio Hagiwara is a father. He admitted that he fears an airplane crash may hurt his entire family. In April 2009, a Fedex Express cargo plane crashed on the Runway A in an attempt to land in extreme wind conditions, causing the death of its pilot and co-pilot. “We do fear the accidents that might happen. Once I saw an airplane going past the runway. If the airplanes go past the runway to a certain point, they crash right into us–in our working fields.”

Tomio Hagiwara thinks that his daughter Momoka, who is 8 years old, will decide on her own if she wishes to live on the land of her ancestors later in her life. He explained that if he was depressed or stressed because of his living conditions, he couldn’t stand where he stands today. “What keeps me strong without deviating from the purpose of my fight is the help from the students and the those people involved in other social struggles, such as the struggle of the anti-nuclear activists. We are all struggling for the right to live in the land of our ancestors and make an honest living.”

Tomio Hagiwara poses in his vegetable field in front of an airplane preparing to take off. (Photo: A. Pagnotta)

* In 2003, however, the Supreme Court found that the taking of property at Narita was constitutional and in compliance with the Land Expropriation Act. Until that time, the consensus was that the taking of the land was in violation of Japan’s own laws. Marissa L.L. Lum has written an excellent piece A Comparative Analysis: Legal and Cultural Aspects of Land Condemnation In the Practice of Eminent Domain in Japan and America, which is worth checking out if you’d like to understand the legal and social issues involving Narita Airport in greater detail.

The National Police Agency in their White Paper on Crime circa that period noted, “少年を主体とした暴走族は、車による暴走行為にとどまらず、その機動力を利用して、広域にわたって強盗、強姦等の悪質な犯罪を行っている。
　暴走族の少年に対する補導状況について、最近3年間の推移をみると、表4－6のとおりで、犯罪によって補導された少年は、昭和51年は2,309人で、前年に比べ減少したが、強盗、強姦、放火等の凶悪犯で補導された暴走族の少年は、51年には172人と著しい増加傾向にあり、暴走族の悪質化が一層浮き彫りにされた。
〔事例1〕　暴走族「生無魔道」グループは、暴力団山口組組員を相談役に置いて、同組を背景に入会金5,000円、月会費3,000円を徴集していたが、同グループの少年がグループから脱会しようとしたところ、落とし前と称して5万円を恐喝したほか、同様の方法で脱会者15人から総額53万円を恐喝していた（京都）。
〔事例2〕　暴走族「狼」グループの少年5人は、アベックを襲って強姦することを共謀し、深夜暴走中アベックを見つけては、その女性をグループのたまり場であるアパートに連行し、輪姦を続けていた（静岡）”

Over time, changes in the laws and massive police crackdowns started putting the gangs out of business, but some of the members can’t leave the past behind. Jamie Morris’s new film is a documentary on the fading out of the bosozoku focussing on one former member who wants to keep the speed demon tradition alive.

The web site explains the film, Sayonara Speed Tribes, as follows: Japan’s infamous ‘Speed Tribes’ – kamikaze styled biker gangs- have, for decades, delighted would-be rebels and terrorized the general public. Idolized in the underground, demonized by the mass media and hunted by the police, their numbers continue to dwindle into extinction. As an OB (Old Bro) Hazuki is tasked with passing on a dying tradition, but more importantly he must search out a new road or become extinct himself.

Check out the trailer here below: (just click on the image)

We at JSRC haven’t had a chance to see the entire film yet but from what we have, it looks damn interesting. If you’re interested in Japanese subculture, fast and furious rebellion, and motorcycles–catch this film when it opens this week in Shimokitazawa.

April: 12th/13th/20th 7pm (50 mins running time)
Tollywood Theatre, Shimokitzawa:http://homepage1.nifty.com/tollywood/map/map.html
TICKETS: ¥1,000
FOR RESERVATIONS: info@figure8productions.com

Check ahead, the film may be sold out but you can always take your chances and go anyway. Live on the edge.

If you can’t catch the film, details of getting the DVD are here.

On February 25th, 2013 Shin Gil Ung, the
Principal of a Tokyo Korean Junior-Senior High School and two students gave a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. (Photo: FCCJ)

Nicholas A. R. Fraser

Why is Japan punishing zainichi Korean schools for North Korea`s bad behaviour? In December of last year newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed Hakubun Shimomura, the incoming Minister of MEXT, (Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) to announce publicly a proposal to revise the Free High School Tuition policy established in 2010 by the Kan administration. The proposed amendent is designed to effectively eliminate ethnic Korean schools from recieving subsidies that cover students` tuition. According to Shimomura these schools “Have close ties with the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, and given the lack of progress on the abduction issue, [the public] will not understand if we provide the tuition waiver to such schools.”  This move was followed less than two months later Yuji Kuroiwa, Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, who announced that, in response to North Korea`s latest missile launch his government would suspend 63 million yen in subsidies given to ethnic Korean schools (also known as Chosun schools) operated by the General Asociation of Korean Residents or Chongryun.

Shin Gil Ung
Principal, Tokyo Korean Junior-Senior High School. (Photo: FCCJ)

When considering the decisions by the Abe and Kuroiwa policies to cut funding to Chosun schools, one wonders how exactly does this put pressure on North Korea? The linkage between ethnic Korean school subisidies and Japan`s policy toward North Korea arose in 2010 when the DPJ government announced that it`s Free High School Tuition program would, under specified conditions, include international and minority schools and that it was considering including Chongyrun`s schools. In response, some politicians called for the Chosun schools to be excluded due to their link with North Korea. Perhaps the most vocal opponent of the inclusion of these schools in the national subsidy program was Hiroshi Nakai. In early 2010, when Mr. Nakai was the acting Minister of State for the Abduction Issue, he claimed that including Chongryun schools in the school subsidy program “Would amount to supporting North Korea directly. That defeats the purpose of our sanctions.” After considerable debates, the organization known for its support for  North Korea was allowed to have its schools apply for and recieve subsidies from the national government.

Two Korean students, in Tokyo. (Photo: FCCJ)

Have these ethnic Korean schools been fronts to collect and send illegal remittances to North Korea as Mr. Nakai seems to claim? The short answer is that Japan`s politicians would be right to link Chongyrun with North Korea but wrong to assume that its schools are the key organizational bond between the two. Historically, these schools were the product of a business empire run by a zainichi Koreans` organization that did send large sums of money to North Korea. A number of Chongryun`s leaders and prominent members were even rewarded with posts in North Korea for their efforts in Japan. Established in the early postwar period, this organization sought to prepare Japan`s first and second generation resident Koreans for a return to unified Korean state under Kim Ill Sung. Aggravated by years of discrimination in Japan, and inspired by the image of an economically powerful industrializing North Korea that was independent from the U.S., many zainichi Koreans joined Chonryun. Its membership soared during the 1960`s and 70`s claiming over 80% of the Korean population in Japan. Influential postwar Japanese politicians like the Liberal Demoratic Party`s Kakuei Tanaka allowed Chongryun to develop a nation-wide system of financial institutions including credit unions and banks. It was through these banks and credit unions that Chongryun-affiliated zainichi businesses were able to flourish and send money to support North Korea as well as establish an unofficial lobby for Pyongyang.

Even if Japanese lawmakers wanted to put pressure on North Korea by targeting Chungryun`s financial and business institutions instead of its schools, the post-bubble recession has already led to the financial ruin of those organizations. In the 1980`s, the zainichi Korean organization`s financial institutions were showing profits exceeding a billion U.S. dollars from real-estate, pubs, prostitution and pachinko parlors. By 1990, Chongryun`s banking system was worth 25 billion dollars. Despite Japanese sanctions, these institutions were involved in sending 600-800 million dollars annually in remittances to Pyongyang for the purposes of buying foreign currency. Yet for the past twenty years Chongyrun`s illegal fundraising operations have largely collapsed due to the failure of most of its credit unions and banks. During the early 1990`s, the zainichi Korean business empire increased its remittances to a tanking North Korean economy from a pool of steadily declining profits. In 1997, the Japanese government injected over a trillion yen into 16 of Chongryun`s eighteen credit unions to guarantee the deposits of their clients. Despite this bailout, by the end of 2000 all but three of these financial institutions had collapsed. More recent evidence of Chongyrun`s troubled financial status was revealed in a ruling last year by the Japanese Supreme Court. In late June 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that Chongyrun must auction off its headquarters building to compensate the Resolution and Collection Corporation to which it owes 62.7 billion yen. In other words, North Korea`s Japan-based fundraising machine has for the past fifteen years been struggling to sustain itself and in the process has virtually bankrupted Chongryun.

What the Abe and Kuroiwa governments seem to overlook is that depsite its infamous support for North Korea during cold war, Chongryun has since distanced itself from Pyongyang and refocused its energies on maintaining the resident Korean community`s ethnic identity. In 2002, the organization dissolved its `study groups` which served as de-facto organizational links to the Workers Party of North Korea. With regards to the Chosun schools, since 1993 Chongyrun dropped the ideological portion of its program and began to emphasize issues uniuqe to Korean residents in Japan as well as Korean history, culture and language. These schools have also been reformed to teach students the language and history of Japan, which has facilitated a better transition for students  for whom it has become possible in recent years to enter Japanese universities upon graduation.

The question remains. What impact will the decisions made to cut public subsidies to zainichi Korean schools have? While North Korea has denounced these cuts, the only effect it will have is an increase in donations to Chosun schools compared with previous years as that government has played a key role in supporting their operations since the financial decline of Chongryun. From Shimomura`s statement, it is clear that the abduction issue played a role in this decision. The Sukuukai, a key lobby group on the abduction issue, has protested and been opposed to the subsidy of Chosun schools since the issue was debated in 2010.

Criticisms have also been made by that group that about the way in which the abduction issue is taught in Chongryun`s schools, implying that they encourage students to be unsympathetic to Japanese concerns. According to Mr. Shin Gil Ung, principal of the Tokyo Korean Middle and Highschool, Chongryun`s schools openly teach and condemn North Korea`s abductions of Korean and Japanese citizens. In response to crticism that Chosun schools train students to be political supporters of North Korea he states, “We don`t ask students to be loyal to Kim Ill Sung or Kim Jong  Ill…When we refer to the fatherland it means a unified Korea.” While the Sukuukai claims to speak for those whose relatives have been abducted, their opposition to Chosun schools is not shared by Mr. Shigeru Yokota whose now famous daughter Megumi Yokota was abducted in the 1970s. He has stated publicly that, “Since students of these schools have no responsibility for this abduction issue, it doesn`t make sense to put the responsibility on them.” What adds weight to Mr. Shigeru`s statement is the fact that the decisions made by the Abe and Kuriowa governments are in violation of Japan`s human rights commitments and its constitution.

Notes

Hiroshi Nakai in 2010, “giving money to the school(s) would amount to supporting North Korea directly, that defeats the purpose of our sanctions”–Youtube video

Changing Power Relations in Northeast Asia: Implications for Relations Between Japan and South Korea, pp. 167

Sonia Ryang. North Koreans in Japan: Language, Ideology, and Identity. Boulder: Westview Press, 1997. , chapters 1 and 2.

A cherry flower blossom scene in Omotesando. last week.

This cherry blossom viewing season has been punctuated with rain, cold weather, and grey skies. But at last, the spring is here. If you haven’t gotten to savor the pristine beauty of the sakura, now’s the chance. Here are some of the finest places to catch the remains of the sakura before they’re gone, gone, gone.

Inokashira Park: Located in the easternmost edge of western Tokyo, Inokashira Park is close enough to the center of Tokyo to be easily accessible 20 minutes from Shinjuku by the Chuo Line but far enough to enjoy the greenery that western Tokyo provides. The park is a popular destination during the cherry blossom season, and there are many food stalls in the area, a large lake surrounded by sakura trees, and paths lined with even more sakura. Towards the end of the sakura season, cherry blossom petals fall like snow, covering the ground with a thick blanket.

Naka-Meguro: Hundreds of cherry blossom trees line both sides of the Meguro River, creating a breathtaking sight. This area is one of the most popular in Tokyo for flower viewing. During the weekends the area is hard to navigate due to the thick crowds of people, so this spot is best enjoyed on a weekday.

Shinjuku Gyoen: Despite being a popular hanami spot, Shinjuku Gyoen is still large enough for everyone to enjoy without feeling as if they’re being packed into a tin like sardines. There are hundreds of cherry blossom trees in the park, making it easy to find an open spot with a spectacular view. A no alcohol allowed rule in place prevents drunkenness and rowdiness, making this spot popular for parents with children. There’s a 200 yen fee to enter the park, hardly a fortune and well-worth the scenery inside.

Tokyo Midtown: Despite being smack dab in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, Tokyo Midtown hosts at least 150 cherry blossom trees and several events and activities ranging from horse carriage rides along the Sakura-lined path during the day and a sakura light-up at night that will make your cherry blossom viewing experience more enjoyable. The outside café, which has a great view of the cherry blossoms, and the art featured during the cherry blossom season are well-worth checking out.

Aoyama Cemetery: As eerie as the location sounds, Aoyama Cemetery is far from spooky with hundreds of trees that bloom each spring. The cemetery also contains the graves of several notables including Toshimichi Okubo, one of the founders of modern Japan; Henry Spencer Palmer, the Times’ first correspondent for Japan; and the owner of Hachiko. Yes, Hachiko, the famous dog whose statue serves as a popular meeting place in front of Shibuya station. For history buffs or for someone who wants something different from the same old picnic in a normal park, Aoyama Cemetery is the place to be. (Editor’s note: Also a great place to dump a body that you’ve been hiding in a  refrigerator for the last few months. With Spring, things start to rot. Now is the time to start a new life. If you can’t lug it to the cemetery, try renting a boat. See Four More Ways To Enjoy Your Flower Viewing Experience)

Ueno Park: With a long, wide path lined with cherry blossom trees, brightly colored lanterns that contrast sharply with the pale pink of the sakura petals, dozens of food stands, and hundreds of people Ueno Park looks like one big matsuri during the weekends. Shinobazu Pond, which is home to a small island with a Buddhist temple on top of it, is also surrounded by cherry blossom trees, creating a picture-worthy sight that is worth the heavy weekend crowds.

Kunitachi: Two large avenues are located near Kunitachi Station, which is located on the Chuo Line: Daigaku Dori, which runs from the south of the station, and Sakura Dori. Both are lined on both sides with Sakura that run more than a kilometer long. It isn’t possible to picnic under the shade of the trees, but the area is perfect for those who wish to take a stroll without having to trip on picnickers or blue tarp.

Koishikawa Korakuen: The perfect escape from the tall iron structures and busy streets of Tokyo, this garden is located only five minutes away from Iidabashi Station. The garden was built in the early Edo Period and is one of the oldest in Tokyo. During the cherry blossom season, several trees located next to the pond bloom, and their weeping branches brush the surface of the water. The entrance fee is only 300 yen, but the elderly and young receive a discount. The peacefulness of the park and the absence of the large crowds of flower viewing people usually seen in Inokashira Park or Naka-Meguro make this spot ideal for the older crowd.

Cherry blossom tree next to a pond at Koishikawa Korakuen

And four more ways to enjoy your flower-viewing experience.

1. Eat the limited edition sakura-flavored sweets available: In the beginning of spring, department stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores sell sakura-flavored sweets until the end of the panama season. When the flowers are in bloom, stands pop up selling sakura-flavored mochi, rice buns, jam, cake, and many more in addition to the usual festival snacks such as sausages and yakisoba. All these treats go perfectly with your flower-viewing experience. The downside: you can only these for a short time.

2. Go see a hanami light-up: Who said that you can only enjoy cherry blossoms during the day? Tokyo Midtown, Naka-Meguro, and many other areas install lights so that you can enjoy these blossoms in the evening in addition to the daytime. These spots are perfect for a romantic stroll with your date.

The lit up cherry blossoms (夜桜）have an ethereal charm.

3. Rent a boat: Inokashira Park and Chidorigafuchi offer boats for rental for a small fee. Sumida River also offers cruises. See the blossoms from the water. Do what one couple I found in Inokashira Park: open up a bottle of champagne and bring along a picnic basket. (Editors Note: Also, the perfect time to get rid of that dead body you may have laying around in the closet. Don’t forget to properly weigh down the body bag. Only sakura petals are meant to float at this time of year)

4. View the Sakura from above: Head to Tokyo Tower or Mori Tower to see the cherry blossom trees from a different perspective. Mori Tower is also host to a cafe which serves sakura-flavored sweets, green tea, and even sakura smoothies.

You’ve probably never heard of Sanya. The Tokyo City Government doesn’t acknowledge its existence, and you won’t find it on any official maps. Sanya is more or less Tokyo’s skid row, where people, mostly men, end up when the other parts of this immense, gleaming city have stopped offering comfort and opportunity.

Sanya is where  the Japanese outcasts, food animal butchers, leather tanners, and other professions considered “unclean” by Japan’s traditionally Buddhist ruling class, aka the burakumin, or dowa, plied their trades for centuries. These tradesmen may mostly be gone, and the smell of the blood they spilled long-since drifted away, but the stigma of what Sanya once was remains, and it clings to the many of the people who live and work here.

Sanya is a blue-collar place, where an aging population of day laborers lingers on the fringe of Tokyo society. Many laborers have drinking problems, and they’ve ended up in Sanya to hide their abuses from their families. Sights like this fellow are pretty common, except in rainy weather.

And even then Sanya has a shōtengai dotted with little bars and liquor stores.

xxx

For many men in Sanya, government welfare assistance is available but is a problematic thing. Applying for it requires identity verification by contacting an applicant’s family. Most Sanya men who have fallen on hard times and taken to excessive drinking don’t want this. They would rather their families not know where they are or how they live. Revealing this would mean bringing unbearable shame upon their loved ones.

So when you’re down in Sanya and public assistance isn’t an option for some reason, what do you do? You go private, to a small outfit like Sanyūkai NPO, a non-religious non-profit organization. The Sanyūkai NPO and the free medical clinic within it is run by a couple of foreign missionaries who have been doing charity work in Sanya since the early ‘80s.

xxx

Deacon Jean LeBeau, the director of Sanyūkai NPO, is a French-Canadian Catholic with the Quebec Foreign Mission Society. Deacon Jean has been in Japan for 41 years, including 28 years in Sanya. He’s a humble, affable man, who would rather speak Japanese than either English or his native French.

Sister Rita Burdzy, head nurse of Sanyūkai clinic, is an American from St. Louis, Missouri who came to Japan in 1981. She is a nun with the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic of Ossining, New York, a Roman Catholic order whose members devote their lives to service overseas in specialties such as medicine and agriculture. Sister Rita holds a Japanese nursing license and is the nurse in charge of most of the activities at the clinic.

It’s a small facility, with only two beds in the examination room. Hundreds of ailing men have passed through this place since it opened in 1984. And somehow it manages to keep doing the job.

In addition to Sister Rita, medical services are supplied by a volunteer roster of over 30 medical doctors and registered nurses. Doctor Kanade Hagiwara, an urologist at a general hospital in Tokyo, is one of those volunteers. She treats patients at the clinic on the fourth Saturday of each month. The NPO is not a religious organization, and therefore does not insist that either volunteers or clients adhere to any one faith, or have any religious faith at all.

Within the clinic, the one concession to spiritual matters is this hand-made banner and the shrine beside it, which is dedicated to recently-departed clients and patients of the clinic.

Since Sanya does not officially exist, Sanyūkai clinic has an address in Kiyokawa, in Taito-ku ward, on a small street that could easily pass for an alleyway. Outside the clinic, unless it is raining or bitterly cold, men in need of clinic services sit on benches and wait, often with Sister Rita and Deacon Jean (whose back is shown) somewhere nearby.

But the men who gather outside Sanyūkai clinic tend to make it more of a social venue than the dreary medical waiting-room scene you might expect. They’re a diverse group, even though most are older day laborers who get less and less work as they age. The men in the middle and the right fall into that category. The guy on the left is a transplant from nearby Asakusa, whose reasons for ending up in Sanya are not entirely clear.

But this man, who died of a brain hemorrhage in June 2012, used to own a bar next to the clinic.

While this fellow is a professional cook who does not always get daily work.

If the men who frequent the Sanyūkai clinic share one thing, it is a quality Sister Rita calls ningenkusai (人間くさい), which she says “Is a quality of being very human, of smelling comfortably human. Of being full of human traits.” She adds that this is the best English translation she could offer for a concept that she says is uniquely Japanese.

With obvious fondness, Sister Rita goes on to say that despite their backgrounds and personal secrets, “These men have a purity of heart and are very charming. There is no guile in these men.” She sums things up by saying when men come to the clinic off of Sanya’s streets and ask for help “No questions are asked. We’re a family.”

And you can feel the truth of it when she says it.

So, there’s no crime story here, and no breaking scandal. It is surprising, and shameful, that a city like Tokyo has had a problem like this for so long. But at least the phenomenon of homeless and chronically drunk and unemployed street men isn’t being ignored. Good people are on the case. People like Sister Rita and Deacon Jean.

Reporting and photography for this story was done in April, 2012.

Author’s note: This is a condensed, reworked excerpt from my recent Amazon Kindle photo essay book “Ningenkusai: Part One of Tokyo Panic Stories”. You can buy a copy by following the appropriate link at Abiko Free Press.

Dan Ryan is a journalist, photographer, and poet. His work has been published by Scholars & Rogues, tsuki Magazine, Giant Robot, Kizuna and Jack Move. You can see more of his Tokyo work at Dan Ryan’s SmallStories. Dan is also an editor and co-founder at Abiko Free Press. He lives in Brisbane, California.