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週刊NY生活[English Edition］

VOICES From

THE NEW YORKERS"Weathering with You"at Anime NYC
Justin Tedaldi
On Nov. 17,
more than 3,000
fans gathered intheSpecial
Events Hall ofthe Javits Centerfor the East
Coast premiereof “Weatheringwith You,” thelatest animated film from celebrated
writer/director Makoto Shinkai.
The screening served as theClosing Film event of the annual
Anime NYC convention, which in its
third year drew a record 46,000 fansover three days. This hotly anticipated new film from Shinkai and producer Genki Kawamura is the follow-up to their critically acclaimed
global smash “Your Name” (2016),
the highest-grossing Japanese film ofthe decade.
Produced in English and set fornational release in January by New
York’s own GKIDS (who backed
last year’s Academy Award-nominated anime film “ Mirai” ),“Weathering with You” follows highschooler Hodaka, who runs awayfrom his remote island home toTokyo and quickly finds himself
pushed to his financial and personal
limits. After befriending the brightand strong-willed Hina, Hodaka witnesses her strange and wonderfulability: the power to stop the rain andclear the sky. Together the twodevelop a successful “sunshine”
startup, but what happens whenmanipulating the weather leads toeven greater problems?
A crowd-pleasing story with elements of comedy and romance that
wed the supernatural elements of“Your Name” with the more adultconcerns of Shinkai’s earlier work
“The Garden of Words” (2013),

THE

SHUKAN NEW YORK SEIKATSU

2019年（令和元年）12月14日（土）JAPAN VOICECOOL JAPAN from New Yorkers’ Viewpoints
Kana
Usumurasaki
get Awardfrom BWAC
Using Japan’s Forms of Beauty toQuestion the Japanese Sense ofHappinessRoar in Apollo Theater Japanese singer wins,two pairs from Yoshimoto Creative Agency
gets their applause as well
Amateur Night 2019 final round(super top dog) was held November
27th at the Apollo Theater in Harlemand Japanese singer Azumi
Takahashi won with an impressive
98 points. She’s the first Japanese
singer to win in the 85 years historyof this competition and won$20,000.
Two pairs as the first ever “finalsguests” as an Asian impressed thecrowd of Apollo known for theircriticism.
The winners of Yoshimoto
Amatuer Night Japan, which con-sists of four dancers ranging in agefrom 14 to 22 and NY Producer special award winning singer,
WAKASA, also performed confidentially as they represented Japan.
Famous R&B singer Joe Gray
had a farewell ceremony that night
and the CEO of Apollo Theater gavea speech as well. In the finale, all theperformers climbed up on the stage
and the crowd yelled “Japan!”. Theceremony was live-streamed to thewhole world.
(Kimiko Matsuo/Translated byKanta Hakamata)“Weathering with You” serves up
unforgettable animation in its exquisite lensing of an unusually gloomy
and rainy Tokyo. Japanese rock band
Radwimps, also returning from “YourName,” provide solid music andsongs.
“Weathering with You” premieres
in the New York metropolitan areawith dubbed and subtitled fan pre-view screenings Jan. 15-16. The
film opens nationwide Jan. 17. For
moreinformation,visit
https://gkids.com/films/weathering-with-you.
Justin has written about
Japanese arts and entertainment
since 2005. For more of his stories, visit http://jetaany.org/magazine

THE JAPAN VOICE is the English Edition of SHUKAN NY SEIKATSU
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Contemporary Artist Kana
Usumurasaki won a certificate ofrecognition for her entry in"Color", an exhibition held by
Red Hook-based Brooklyn
Waterfront Artists Coalition's(BWAC). Her work was selectedby the Museum of Modern Art(MoMA) PS1’s assistant curator,Jocelyn Miller. The work of art,
“Self binded happiness (Red andwhite)” is made from red andwhite cloth sewn cylinders tied
into a knot. Its design suggests thelook of a tied obijime (a thin ropetied around a kimono sash). The
red and white colors further symbolize Japan.
The artist, Kana Usumurasaki,
said, “I wanted to express the ideaof being bound to your culture, ofhaving a mold−is this a lucky
thing, or a binding curse? ... In
American culture, being bound isa hindrance, it’s thought to equal
unhappiness, and so I wanted torepresent that contrast.”
Usumurasaki uses the cultural
backdrop of an obi knot to ask offitting into a mold: is it a blessing
or a curse? The piece’s double
meanings make for a fascinatingpiece of art, particularly in how it
critiques forms that represent
esteemed aspects of Japan’s culture and traditions.
Usumurasaki is a contempo-rary artist born in Tokyo in 1988.
While a student in Asagaya Art
School’s IC department (ImageCreation department), she took
part in a film company’s creationof movie previews. After she
graduated, she began work at adesign firm until coming to theUnited States in 2016. In 2018 heroutdoor installation of a chashitsu(traditional Japanese tea room) at
Mana Contemporary Miami
earned her recognition. This year,her major work of art, an installation entitled “Crow people” waschosen for exhibition by South
Korea’ s Czong Institute forContemporary Art.
She came to New York three
and a half years ago, and throughinteracting with artists from allover the world, she was given
cause to re-examine her roots inJapanese culture. "Using Japanese
forms of beauty as a theme for awork of art has allowed me toleave those forms behind me.
[This is important for the future]since I’m always thinking about
my past. [I don’t want] to be held
captive by old ideas, but to alwayshave new concepts and new ideas
to continue to make art from,” shesaid.
(Ryoichi Miura/Translated byMarie Calloway)

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