The magazine of The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan

December 2019 Vol. 51 No. 12 ¥400

The battle for

Hong
Kong

How the new breed ofjournalists covers the protests

In this issueVol. 51, Number 12

December 2019contact the editors

no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp
Publisher FCCJTHE FRONT PAGE

From the President by Thomas Høy Davidsen
Freedom of the Press:
Journalist says Chinese interference behind
work-visa denial in Vanuatu
by Sri Krishnamurthi
From the archives:
Super-feminist & author
by Charles Pomeroy

4
4

5

FEATURES

See you in
Pyongyang? 6
by Simon Farrell

SIMON FARRELL

Page 6:
Hammer, sickle
and tourist visas inNorth Korea

Turmoil on the streets of Hong Kong
by Pio d’Emilia

12

PROFILEJohn Ashburne
Freelanceby Eric Johnston

8

IN MEMORIAM

Sadako Ogata
by Anthony Rowley

10

Lens craftby photographer Members
FCCJ

DECEMBER 2019

FCCJ BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Thomas Høy Davidsen,
Jyllands-Posten
1st Vice President Monzurul Huq, Daily
Prothom Alo
2nd Vice President Robert Whiting, Freelance
Treasurer Willem Kortekaas, Associate Member
Secretary Takashi Kawachi, Freelance
Directors-at-Large Khaldon Azhari,
PanOrient News
Mehdi Bassiri, Associate Member
Warren Devalier, Associate Member
Abigail Leonard, Freelance
Kanji Kazuo Abiko, Freelance
Associate Kanji Makoto Honjo,
Associate Member
Ex-officio Peter Langan, Freelance
FCCJ COMMITTEE CHAIRSAssociate Members Liaison Keiko Packard,
Yuusuke Wada
Compliance Kunio Hamada, Yoshio Murakami
DeRoy Memorial Scholarship Abigail Leonard,
David SatterwhiteEntertainment Sandra Mori
Exhibition Bruce Osborn
Film Karen Severns
Finance Willem Kortekaas
Food & Beverage Robert Kirschenbaum,
Peter R. Tyksinski
Freedom of Press Abigail Leonard
House & Property Peter Langan,
David Satterwhite
Human Resources Willem Kortekaas
Information Technology Albert Siegel
Library, Archives & Workroom
Koichi Ishiyama, Suvendrini Kakuchi
Membership Andrew Horvat, Peter O’Connor
Membership Marketing Abigail Leonard,
Willem Kortekaas
Professional Activities Tetsuo Jimbo,
David McNeill
Public Relations TBA
Publications Gavin Blair, Geoff Tudor
Special Projects Haruko Watanabe
Foreign Press in Japan Robin Harding
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Marunouchi Nijubashi Building 5F
Marunouchi 3-2-3 Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0005
Tel: (03) 3211-3161 Fax: (03) 3211-3168 fccj.or.jp

CLUB NEWS

Asa-kai; FCCJ Exhibition; Join the Film Committee;
Press conference voices; The Club Poet; New Members;
New in the library

Editor Gregory Starr
Art Director Andrew Pothecarywww.itsumo-music.jp/design
Editorial Assistant Naomichi Iwamura
Photo Coordinator Michiyo Kobayashi
Publications committee members
Gavin Blair, Freelance (co-chair)
Geoffrey Tudor, Orient Aviation (co-chair)
Warren Devalier, Associate Member
Sonja Blaschke, Freelance
Albert Siegel, Freelance

15-17

19

Published by the FCCJ All opinions contained within
Number 1 Shimbun are those of the authors. As such,these opinions do not constitute an official positionof Number 1 Shimbun, the editor or the Foreign
Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
Please pitch and send articles and photographs, oraddress comments to no.1shimbun@fccj.or.jp
Read the Number 1 Shimbun online:
fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun
Cover illustration: Andrew Pothecary3The Front Page

FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear fellow Members
It is with some trepidation that I sit down to pen
my first “Letter from the President” to you all—along with some humility and hope for our future.
Together, and with the help of our tireless staff,
we’ve managed to complete the often-tumultuous
move, and are finally settling into our new premises. I played no partin this and can only look in awe upon the magnitude of the work.
With the move receding in our collective rear view mirror, wemust now look forward. A new challenge lies ahead, one that may
not be as obviously complicated, but could prove to be an equallytricky balancing act: Attracting new members while taking care ofexisting ones. In other words, bringing the club into the 21st century
without losing touch with tradition.
One obvious area in sore need of improvement is our online
presence. We need a far stronger voice on social media in all its
many forms, as this is where both journalism and the younger
generations live and breathe. We need a stronger website, to better
use as a launchpad for online marketing. We need to strengthen
assets such as the Number One Shimbun, both digitally and in print.
On top of that come the traditional, yet no less important
activities such as our press conferences and social events. Our
online platform is no substitute for these, merely a powerful way toannounce their presence from the digital rooftops.
All of this, sadly, is a matter of survival. The Club’s future depends
on our ability to increase our membership. In many ways, wejournalists stand apart from society in our role as watchdogs, but inone sense our Club is an exaggerated version of the demographic
problem haunting modern Japan: We are losing an increasing
number of members due to age-related issues.
Of our total membership, 64 percent is over 60 years of age. Our
total membership now stands at 1,791, after a decline of 18 percent
over the past 10 years—a trend that is likely to continue. Every cloud
has a silver lining: the good news is that we lose few members forreasons not age-related. But it also means we need to work twice as
hard to grow the club.
In order to increase our total membership by 100, we need atleast 200 new members to compensate for the members lostto natural causes and for resignations. Quite a task! We need thecollective support of the entire membership to accomplish this.
I would ask everyone’s help in introducing the club to friends
and acquaintances. We are prepared to give one-month’s guest
memberships to prospective members to allow them to experience
the club before they hopefully make the decision to join. We areworking on improving the quality of our professional programs andon bringing in more interesting events.
So a huge thank you to our general manager, Marcus Fishenden,for both helping us through the move and minimizing the inevitableadjustment pains of settling in. The same goes to our librarian
Moriwaki-san, for her tireless work in supplying top-notch research
to members. And to our PAC-staff, Saikawa-san and Ito-san,for working hard to keep our club on the journalistic map via ourpress conferences.
And last, but certainly not least, a huge thank you to the manymembers who have volunteered their time to help me get up to
speed on the many intricacies of the club. The club rests on people
like you and that leaves me hopeful. Because we are quite a crowd.
I wish you all a happy holiday season, and hope to see you at the Club.
– Thomas Høy Davidsen
4

FREEDOM OF THE PRESSFROM THE ARCHIVES

Super-feminist & author

Journalist says Chineseinterference behind workvisa denial in Vanuatu
By Sri Krishnamurthi
A JOURNALIST LOST HIS work permit in Vanuatu
in what many believe is an attack on media
freedom. On Nov. 7, Dan McGarry, media directorof the Vanuatu Daily Post Group, announced
that his application for a work permit was
rejected after 16 years in the country. McGarrybelieves that pressure from China was behind therejection.
“This all began when we broke a story about how
six Chinese nationals had been detained without
trial or access to legal counsel,” said McGarry.
“Four of them had their Vanuatu citizenshipunlawfully revoked without ever seeing the inside“In July, the prime ministersummoned me and berated me
for my ‘negative’ reporting.
‘If you don’t like it here,’
he told me, ‘go home.’
But Vanuatu is my home.”of a courtroom. All of them were summarily
deported to face prosecution in China,”“In July, the prime minister [Chariot Salwai]
summoned me and berated me for my ‘negative’reporting,’ said McGarry. “‘If you don’t like it here,’
he told me, ‘go home.’ But Vanuatu is my home.”
Within days of these reports surfacing,complaints were lodged with the Media
Association of Vanuatu about the Daily Post’s‘negative’ reporting. No evidence was provided tosupport these complaints, but the timing leaves
little question as to how and why they came about.
Said McGarry, “The government can dress it up
any way they like, but the evidence is clear: Thisis an attack on a free and independent media in
Vanuatu. But Vanuatu is not Hong Kong, and it’s
not China. This fight isn’t over yet . . . by a longshot,” he said.
McGarry’s employers, Trading Post Ltd,
were just as surprised with the decision andpledged to support him. The Daily Post rejects
the allegations, and is of the opinion that thedecision is illegitimate and flawed on its own
DECEMBER 2019

FCCJ

merits. They intend to fight it.
McGarry has received support from
the Media Association of Vanuatu and its
89 members, which have urged Prime
Minister Salwai to take a close look at all thecontributions the Vanuatu Media Industry
has made and all that McGarry has done inpromoting the development policies andprojects over the last four years of
the government.
The Director of the Pacific Media Centerand editor of Pacific Media Watch, Professor
David Robie, also condemned the action
by Vanuatu, saying it was “outrageous
authoritarianism” and called for the visa to
be granted.
“Dan McGarry is one of the leading
investigative journalists in Vanuatu and thePacific and has a commitment to development
values,” Professor David Robie said. “Dan has
also been a strong media-freedom advocate . . .
publishing the truth and holding the powerfulto account. His loss to Vanuatu would be a hugeloss to the region as well a loss to Vanuatu.”
He vowed to continue his fight to stayin Vanuatu and maintain standards of afree and independent media. “I’m gutted,
personally. I’ve devoted 16 years of my life tothis country’s development,” said McGarry, aCanadian who was in the process of getting
Vanuatuan citizenship.
“But the groundswell of support we’veseen, both at home and overseas, is heartwarming and humbling,” he said. “We will
pursue this appeal aggressively, and fightfor justice to the last.” ❶Sri Krishnamurthi is a journalist with the PacificMedia Center’s Institute for Pacific Research. This
article is republished from Asia Pacific Report.
https://asiapacificreport.nz
FCCJ

DECEMBER 2019

Betty Friedan—super-feminist, author, and former
journalist—made a humorous point during a professional
luncheon at the FCCJ on Sept. 27, 1995. Seated to her
immediate left are Club president Jim Lagier (AP) andformer president Gebbard Hielscher (Suddeutsche
Zeitung). Her reputation as a leading activist in thefeminist movement in the US attracted a high turnout by
female Members, as can be seen in the photo.
Born in 1921 into a Jewish family in Peoria, Illinois,
as Bettye Naomi Goldstein, Freidan became active injournalism at a young age. She graduated from Smith
College with honors in 1942 with a major in psychology
while editing the school’s newspaper. In 1943, while on a
fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, shebecame increasingly active in politics, favoring Marxism.
Under the name Betty Goldstein, she worked from1946 to 1952 as a journalist for UE News, a labor union
publication. She retained this as her pen name following
her marriage to Carl Friedan in 1947, a union that
produced three children but ended in divorce in 1969.
Betty Freidan became a leader in the US women’s
movement after publishing her 1963 book, The Feminine
Mystique. She followed that by co-founding the National
Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966. She served as
first president of that organization until 1970, the year
she went on to organize a successful women’s strike for
equality with men. This was followed by organizing otherfeminist groups, whose activities led to the passageof laws that favored women’s rights reform. Although
her personality was described as “famously abrasive,”
she was not considered an extremist. The author of six
books, Freidan remained active in women’s advocacy
and politics until the late 1990s
The recipient of many awards and honors, Friedan diedof congestive heart failure at her home in Washington,
D.C., on February 4, 2006, her 85th birthday.

– Charles Pomeroy
editor of Foreign Correspondents in Japan,
a history of the Club that is available at the front desk5

North Korea: Leadership and tourism

See you in Pyongyang?

On point
A mural in a train
station aims toinstil positivity inthe populace—andin visitors?

Is North Korea loosening its restrictions on
foreign visitors? Or just wooing them withmore of the comforts of home?

C

ould North Korea’s bullish tourism slogan of “Seeyou in Pyongyang” mean the secretive dictatorship iswarming to visitors?
On a recent trip, I found the rules and people remarkably
relaxed. As expected, we were not allowed to leave our hotel
grounds (one on an island, the other in a gated compound)
without an official guide. But we spent much of the last 48
hours unescorted at a trade fair and on the Beijing-boundovernight train.
Yes, I was obliged to dress well and bow deeply at revered
monuments to supreme or eternal leaders. But before we visited the ghoulish, garish mausoleum of the country’s first two
leaders—Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il—an Australian
member of our group politely declined due to his Christiansensitivities and was happily allowed to stay on the bus.
Taking photographs of almost anyone, anywhere, at any
time, was allowed—subject, naturally, to asking first. And I
learned how to legally shake off your guide and obtain unlimited cheap global internet without causing trouble or offence.
We could even call abroad from our hotel room and keep
our cameras, cellphones, laptops, notebooks, pens, recorders
and any other devices or instruments, if declared on entry.

the Chinese Visa Application Service Center, in Toranomon.
After I asked for a double-entry visa to transit China via North
Korea, the official said: “Why do you want to go there? Terrible place North Korea. Don’t steal any ashtrays or paintingsfrom the hotel like that American did.” He meant the tragiccase of student Otto Warmbier, who died in 2017 of botulism
or torture—according to conflicting accounts—after being
repatriated in a coma 15 months into his 15-year sentence of
hard labor for attempting to steal a picture.
I was mildly rebuked during my visa interview for writing“Hong Kong” under “previous countries visited” rather than“China (Hong Kong).” When my interrogator saw “media” inmy company name, I thought the game was up. But she kindly compromised by asking me to write and sign two lettersdetailing my job and pledging not to work in China.
My North Korean visa was waiting in Beijing the day before
my flight to Pyongyang on North Korea’s state-owned Air
Koryo. The airport queue for the 90-minute flight was barefaced sanction-busting: huge parcels of tightly wrapped consumables and commodities had formed tidy lines before any
passengers arrived. Every Korean checking in looked laden
down with at least three times the baggage allowance.

FROM TOKYO, I APPLIED for a North Korean visa by paying a
refundable (if visa is declined) deposit online with a specialist
travel agent in Beijing. The all-inclusive trip was marketed asfeaturing Pyongyang’s signature Mass Games, InternationalFilm Festival, and Autumn Trade Fair, plus the Korean Demilitarized Zone, restaurants, cultural sites and monuments.
As the trip went through Beijing, the next step was to go to

AT CLEAN, SPACIOUS, AND efficient Pyongyang International
Airport, easy-going officials smilingly eased me through athrong of Chinese tourists at customs, barely glancing at mybags and quickly stamping my tourist visa card.
The 20-minute bus drive to the 47-story Yanggakdo International Hotel set the tone for much of what we saw ofPyongyang—spotless with fresh flowers decorating apart-

6

DECEMBER 2019FCCJSIMON FARRELL

By Simon Farrell

ment and shop balconies, and pavements
WHO COULD PASS UP a visit to the Kumfull of well-dressed pedestrians. Luxury
susan Palace of the Sun to see the preEuropean and Asian cars vied with elecserved remains of Kim Il-sung and Kim
tric bicycles. Charm offensive or typicalJong-il lying in state, bathed in blood-red
airport route?
light inside their transparent crystal sarThe hotel façade was a thin, shiny metalcophagi? An estimated 1.5-kilometer-longand glass frontage concealing a roughsubterranean moving walkway—closelystone eyesore of reality. The spacious lobmonitored by static soldiers and secretby was bright and airy, but gloom set in asservice types glaring through sinister
Guardedwe entered the shabby lift. There was nodark shades—glides foreign visitors and
The author at
button for the mysterious fifth floor, said to houseselected North Korean high achievers at funeral
the borderspies who operate secret cameras in some guest
pace through bizarre wet shoe-cleaners and powerrooms. But my local source claimed that Otto admitted in
ful full-body air blowers (to remove dust and detect hidden
court stealing the picture of Dear Leader Kim Jong-un fromdevices) into a somber and grey zone of utter silence.
the staff-only second floor, not the also off-limits fifth floor,
In groups of four, everyone must bow at the feet and sides
as widely reported.
of both bodies in separate chambers. Adjoining rooms disSpying-on-guests is a myth, anyway, claim some tourism
play hundreds of their possessions: mementos, uniforms,
industry insiders. Authorities have a much more effective
arms, gifts, medals, images and awards from governments,
tool to control tourists and discourage espionage or journaluniversities and organizations mostly from communist
ists: keep visitors busy and tire them out with early power
countries or other dictatorships: Gaddafi, Castro, Zhedong,
breakfasts, whirlwind tours, boozy lunches and late dinnerCeaușescu, Tito, Stalin, Khrushchev, Arafat, Guevara. Africa
movies. Then it’s back to the room for Al Jazeera English TV’sis well-represented, especially Nigeria, but noticeably nottake on global affairs and local news and dramas controlled
South Africa. Peru gets many mentions. There’s also a Peaceby the government’s Propaganda and Agitation Department.
Medal from Japan and a photo with former visiting US PresiNo time for naps, let alone a rendezvous or dead drop.
dent Jimmy Carter.
Our promised tickets for the 17th Pyongyang International
On the last day, I orchestrated a mini-revolt by asking
Film Festival red carpet opening ceremony never materialeveryone if they really could take any more temples, monuized. We got instead sincere apologies, official goody bags,
ments and facades. No! I sold this to our long-suffering guideand a private showing of Comrade Kim Goes Flying in a cavby gently explaining that we had democratically voted in aernous art deco cinema decorated with North Korean propademocratic country: she laughed and set us free. Well, almost.
ganda and film posters.
We wandered the Pyongyang International Autumn Trade
Fair for two hours, guideless, rather than the 15 minutes
AT DINNER, ONE QUITE professional guide seemed wellunder escort as originally planned. I was allowed to forego
briefed on global issues but angry about Japan; she was
the group dinner and movie in exchange for sundowners withconvinced that Tokyo was lying about its citizens being kidanother guide in my hotel’s top floor revolving restaurant. We
napped. The often credible-sounding guides occasionally let
were rewarded with a breathtaking 360-degree dusk view ofthemselves down with claims such as: “There is no crime inegrets and ibis silhouetted against the 12-minute rush hour
North Korea because we teach our children manners, respectand murky Taedong River, both slowly snaking through theand honesty.”
barely lit pastel-painted suburbia.
The same charming guide casually pumped me over beers
In the lift going down, a young Westerner told me free Wi-Fi
about my job, passport, life, and family, until I showed her a
was accessible in the casino. It was deep in the bowels of thephoto on my cellphone; she then quickly and expertly swipedhotel, one of the country’s three casinos. It warms up about
through dozens of my images uninvited and out of my reach.
8pm, shuts at 3am, and is smoky and noisy. But the big draw
Just curious, a cultural thing, or something sinister?
is unlimited Wi-Fi if you spend (and lose) just $10.
One of our group got quite mouthy with the same guide,
And so I sat until closing time, sending and receiving LINEbut it was soon forgotten. Guides often try to divert tourists
and email messages and enjoying the BBC, Japan News andto softer destinations such as UNESCO sites, Buddhist temjust googling, apparently without censorship or monitorple, souvenir shops, and more monuments. But they are hard
ing. With my guide’s proud boast still ringing in my ears thatsells competing with more interesting sites.
“North Korea doesn’t have Internet; we have Intranet,” I was
Pyongyang’s marbled subway claims the world’s longest
delighted to swap messages and images with several surmurals, deepest escalators, and cheapest tickets. At the Koreprised Tokyo compatriots after a week of online silence.
an Demilitarized Zone, where the Korean Armistice AgreeOf course, revealing these hacks to hacks so openly like thisment was signed to cease hostilities in 1953, one can endure
may result in the authorities closing such loopholes. But by
loud lectures on “American Imperialism.” The uneventful
not revealing them, nobody would know and nothing would
three-hour drive from Pyongyang, with farmers and builders
be gained, right?
toiling alongside the pothole-scarred road, was our only rural
I did feel that—like Vietnam, China and Cuba before them—view of the week.
North Korea is loosening up because it knows that hard-curThen there’s the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War
rency visitors require certain freedoms and respect, and that
Museum—an eerie monument to perceived injustices andit’s pointless denying them the basics they enjoy at home. ❶victories. You are seated on a moving 360-degree journeyaround a movie-set-like bloody battleground, with graphic
Simon Farrell is publisher and editor-in-chief of Mansion Global Japan,
exhibits of captured enemies’ personal and military items.
BCCJ ACUMEN, ACCJ Journal and The Canadian at Custom Media.
FCCJ

DECEMBER 20197

Series: Profile

John Ashburne
Freelance

By Eric Johnston

KAZUKO ARIMURA

J

8DECEMBER 2019

FCCJ

as a Kyoto-based writer from the legendournalist, author, and photograary, Kobe-based publisher David Jack,pher John Ashburne has always
HE FOUND HIMSELF IN
owner of the late, and still much lamentfollowed his own path. It led him to
OTHER JOBS . . . PLAYING
ed, Kansai Time Out magazine, which
Kyoto, where he is one of the very few
IN A PUNK BAND AND
ran from 1977 to 2009. “Dave gave me
successful foreign freelance journalists based in the ancient capital. From
WORKING ON A ROAD GANG the freedom to cover stories I wanted
to write, and do so in my own voice,” hethere, amidst the ancient temples andsays. “I met plenty of interesting charshrines, Ashburne contributes, or hasacters, including former British PM Edward Heath, Richard
contributed, articles and photos to the Wall Street Journal,
Branson, and sumo wrestler Chad Rowan, aka Akebono.”
Forbes, the Japan Times, Newsweek Japan, Gourmet Traveler,
The interview with Branson remains vivid in his memory.
Kyoto Journal, and a host of in-flight magazines, among others.
“I thought I’d been asked to be there as the photographer,” heKyoto has a very different information-sharing culture
recalls. “But three minutes before the meeting, Dave turned
than Tokyo. Ashburne says the key to journalistic successto me and said ‘John, you ask the questions.’ I had to wing it,
there is that one must be extraordinarily patient and persisbut found out I could do it.”tent—and not facing an immediate deadline.
“Things move forward at a much slower pace in conservaALONG THE WAY TO becoming an established freelance writtive, traditionalist Kyoto,” Ashburne says. “Building sources
er, Ashburne found himself in other jobs and projects, fromand contacts over time is the only way to get things done.
playing in a punk band to working as a laborer on a road gangThat means, naturally, you often approach stories over a lonlargely made up of Japan-born Korean residents. A key turnger gestation period. Though I still manage to find myself
ing point was when he met his wife, a remarkable woman who
hurtling towards deadline more often than not.”gave him access to many doors in notoriously closed Kyoto
A proud Yorkshireman, Ashburne arrived in Japan over 30that would not have been possible otherwise. Those contacts,
years ago. He came at the suggestion of a friend, after decidhe says, plus an ability to speak Japanese, are crucial for jouring a stint as a low-paid grunt at an Oxford-based publishingnalists to succeed in Kyoto.
company owned by Robert Maxwell was not his life’s callIn addition to his writing, Ashburne is also a talented phoing. He first ended up in Gunma Prefecture and found a job
tographer. His works took first prize in the Mazda Internacommuting to a small Tokyo publisher, where he sub-edited
tional Photo Contest two years in a row, and were voted thematerial for high school textbooks.
best in Japan a third year. Photography is a love he’s had since
Ashburne turned up to work one day to find the building surchildhood when the powerful impact of war photographs inrounded by cops and angry men with punch perms and knockhis local newspaper deeply moved him.
off Ray Ban shades. “The rightists had taken exception to the“I grew up in Yorkshire with the massive Sunday Times andinclusion of sections on the Nanjing Massacre and the Comfort
its photographs dropping through our letterbox,” Ashburne
Women we were preparing,” he says. “As a naive newcomer tosays. “I suppose I was an unusually aware seven-year-old,
Japan, I hadn’t even considered that anyone might find thesebecause the Vietnam War filled my mind. First it was images
topics controversial. I certainly didn’t imagine they’d still beof Phantom F-4s. Later, with Don McCullin’s ‘Shell-shocked
ruffling feathers more than three decades later.”U.S. Marine: The Battle of Hue,’ and AP Photographer Nick
Ut’s ‘Napalm Girl.’ Those images were seared into my mind, to
BUT LIFE IN GUNMA became a bit isolated. After numerous visthe point where, by 1979, I wanted to be a war photographer.”
its to Kyoto, Ashburne, like so many others, fell in love with theThat didn’t happen, though the belief in photography as
city’s gallery and art scene. He made lots of Japanese friends,
a form of journalism remains strong. Despite his love of the
including musicians and arty types. “Once I started chatting to
written word, Ashburne has a modicum of distrust in its abilthe Gunma scarecrows on a fairly regular basis, I knew it was
ity to reveal truths and elicit emotions in the ways that thetime to make the next train ticket one-way,” he says.
best photography does. Still, he says, at the end of the day,Yet unlike most foreigners who come to Kyoto to seriously
he’s a freelance writer, a journalist.
(sometimes too seriously) study traditional Japanese history,“I’m one of those poor souls stuck between starvation andarts, crafts, culture, or Zen Buddhism, Ashburne was drawn
liberation, desperation and desire,” he concludes. “All I canmore to the Kyoto that doesn’t appear in tourist postcards,
really hope for is a paycheck, a byline, some laughs, and theacademic symposiums, government propaganda, or coffee
hope that sometime, somewhere, I’ve helped to tell the truth,
table photo books. “I’m very much interested in what you
large or small.” ❶might call the Kyoto Underground, the alternate society ofradicals, musicians, people of the buraku, and others.”
Ashburne got lucky again when he received his first real break
Eric Johnston is Senior Kansai Correspondent with the Japan Times.
FCCJ

DECEMBER 20199

In memoriam

SadakoOgata
A DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC
of FCCJ Associate Member
Sadako Ogata, who passed away
in October at the age of 92, was
her simple and sincere humanity,
particularly manifested in her
work with international refugees.
Along with the compassion andcare she displayed went a fiercely
egalitarian attitude toward the roleand status of women in society.
She was a role model for womenin Japan, where male dominancehas long been accepted as partof the natural order of things.
She led by example rather thanexhortation, by simply getting onwith the job.
She was, like her late husband
Shijuro Ogata (also an FCCJ
member), a self-deprecating
person, yet able to project an auraof authority and quiet competence.
They both could “walk with princes
and with commoners,” and they
did—in her case with figures at
the highest levels of diplomacy; inhis, with the most senior figures ininternational finance.
A front-page photographaccompanying the Japan Times’ reportof Mrs. Ogata’s passing showed atearful Bosnian refugee woman
embracing her during her lengthy
period as head of the United Nations
High Commission on Refugees(UNHCR). She had strength thatenabled her to remain calm andcollected in the face of strife. Machiko
Kondo, wife of FCCJ Board member
Robert Whiting and a retired senior
UNHCR official who worked closelywith Mrs. Ogata, recalls her being
asked by a reporter during a visit toa region suffering a severe refugee
crisis whether she ever became
emotional at seeing the difficulties
that refugees faced.
“I cannot go around with tears in myeyes” was her response. “I have a lotof work to do.” She went on showing
exemplary devotion to duty at a timeof life when many people believe they
have earned retirement and rest.
10

Club news
As well as being amember, Sadako
Ogawa appeared
many times at
the FCCJ. On
this page, in 1992
before a press
conference when
she was with
the UNHCR;
opposite, in 2013,as chairpersonof the World
Economic Forum,
Japan

When I profiled her for the Singapore
Business Times in 2013 she was still a
commanding presence at 86.
Mrs. Ogata had a relationship with
the United Nations spanning more than
30 years, including being appointed as
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
from 1991 to 2000, then co-chair of
the Commission on Human Security,and then chairperson of the UNICEF
Executive Board. From 2003 to 2012
she was head of the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA).
That career began in the late1960s, when she was a lecturer
in international relations at theInternational Christian University inTokyo. She was asked if she would join
the Japanese delegation to the United
Nations General Assembly in New York.
Mrs. Ogata hesitated to take the UN
opening, as her career until then had
been as an academic. After graduatingfrom the University of the Sacred Heartin Japan she had obtained a Masters ininternational relations at Georgetown
University in Washington and then a
PhD in political science at the Universityof California, Berkeley. She also had two
young children at the time.
“There was a big family discussion
and it took a little time,” she told me.
“But my father [former diplomat
Toyokazu Nakamura] told me, ‘Your
grandfather and grandmother willtake care of all that. You go.’ I had
studied at Georgetown University andhad my Master’s already, so going to
the United States was not something
new. But being married and withchildren—it was a big difference.” Mrs.
Ogata duly left for New York, leaving
her husband, son and daughter behind.
That initial two-month stint on theJapanese delegation began her longdevotion to official duty.
FCCJ Regular Member Haruko
Watanabe says that she was the firstfemale Japanese journalist to coverMrs. Ogata in New York when she
was appointed Japan’s first female
UN minister. “Mrs. Ogata,” she says,“convinced me to keep working injournalism rather than limiting myself
to academic research. The result
is that I am the simple and happy
DECEMBER 2019

FCCJ

‘Haruko-san,’ rather than the bookish‘Dr. Watanabe.’”Guiding other people along theircareer paths seems to have been
one of Sadako Ogata’s gifts. Sachiko
Sakamaki, another journalist andformer Regular Member of the FCCJ,
remembers that, “Mrs. Ogata wassomeone who inspired me when I
was in college to do work related
to international affairs.” There are
numerous such examples.
While Ogata is well rememberedat the FCCJ for the 10 occasions on
which she gave press conferences at
the Club in her roles for the UNHCR
and JICA, Club Members recall otheraspects that were displayed during herlong association with the FCCJ. Former
FCCJ president Kaz Abiko told me that
Mrs. Ogata “loved tennis.” “She used tocome to the Tokyo Lawn Tennis Club
regularly on weekends,” he recalled.
“After I joined the Club in 2006, we
occasionally played together.”Mrs. Ogata, a former All Japan Tennis
Championships player, learned thesport as a child from her diplomat
father. Says Abiko, “When she was astudent at the University of the Sacred
Heart, she successfully lobbied theuniversity to build two tennis courts on
its campus, and she helped organize thetennis team. Empress Emerita Michiko,another Sacred Heart graduate, wasanother of her tennis friends.”“She was about 80 years old when I
was playing, so that she could not move
fast on the court,” says Abiko. “But I
was impressed by her steady groundstrokes. I still remember her beaming
smile when we won a mixed-doubles
match against fellow Club members.”
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
once offered Sadako Ogata agovernment position. Her husband
Shijuru told me in a conversation
before his passing in 2014 that Koizumi
once called him to ask whether it was
acceptable to offer Mrs. Ogata thepost of minister of foreign affairs.
“Why don’t you ask my wife,” Mr. Ogata
responded, rejecting the idea that it wasa husband’s prerogative to decide suchmatters. In the end, she turned down
the position, but did become an advisor
to the minister of foreign affairs.
Mrs. Ogata came from anelite family. She was the great
granddaughter of Inukai Tsuyoshi,
who was prime minister of Japan in
the 1930s. Her grandfather, Yoshizawa
FCCJ

DECEMBER 2019

PM Junichiro Koizumi
once called her husband
to ask whether it was
acceptable to offer
Mrs. Ogata the postof minister of foreign
affairs. “Why don’t
you ask my wife?” Mr.
Ogata responded
Kenkichi, was a Japanese foreign
minister and her father a diplomat
who insisted that Ogata maintain her
English lessons wherever the family
went. Hence her spoken English wasof a quality that could put many native
speakers of their language to shame.
She was strongly aware of theneed to protect human dignity evenamong refugees. “Refugee work is
not just about charity or protection[of people],” she told me. “It is reallyabout the relationship between
state and society.” She was at theheight of her career at a time when
what she called the “disintegrationof states” became a major threat tohuman security. The former Soviet
Union, Ukraine, Yugoslavia were all
federated states that disintegrated.
Citizens were turned into refugees. In
Africa, too, she said, countries became
independent and were expected toprotect their own citizens, so there
were many refugee protection issues.
Citizens were no longer under thecover of former empires. They had tobe protected by their own new state
and there is inevitable conflict. “Those

were the times when there was a lotof fighting, a lot of persecution anddeath,” said Mrs. Ogata. “I worked very
hard at that time.” In recognition ofher work, Russian president Vladimir
Putin awarded Ogata the Order of
Friendship of Russia in 2001 (one ofmany foreign decorations she hasreceived).
Did she think that the value of thework she and others did with refugees
had been fully recognized? “It willneed a lot of work to put the principles
and the regulations in the Refugee
Convention into practice,” she said.
“There is a whole lot of refugee-related
international law [to be enacted],
particularly with regard to internallydisplaced persons.”
Ogata was as passionate about therole of women in society as she wasabout the welfare of refugees. WhenI suggested that women appeared
to be achieving greater professional
success and recognition now in Japan,
she responded smartly (and also alittle tartly): “It’s about time. In termsof education, [the system in Japan]
is fully open to women. There arecertainly professions in which womenare doing very well such as in theareas of medicine, finance and local
politics,” she said.
Many Japanese women are “quite
emancipated,” she said. “I think what
kept them behind were child welfare
arrangements.” The education system
in Japan is not a problem. It’s thehealth and welfare part that was not
sufficient. In the past, kindergartensand nurseries were under different
government ministries, and that madeit very difficult for mothers. . . . That
has been changed and mothers havemore [free time now].”
I asked Mrs. Ogata what advice shewould offer to young Japanese women
who are about to start climbing the
career ladder? “Carry on,” she replied.
“Try to do whatever you want to do.”That could be a fitting epitaph for awoman who was an inspiration to somany others.

– Anthony Rowley

Anthony Rowley is a former president andfirst vice president of the FCCJ. During a longcareer in journalism he has worked as Business
Editor and International Finance Editor of the
Far Easten Economic Review and prior to thaton the Times of London. He is the author ofseveral books.
11Freelance in the front line

Turmoil on the streetsof Hong Kong
While traditional media covering the protests is sufferingfrom shrinking pocketbooks and fewer reporters,
freelancers using new techniques and support groups
are taking up the slack.
By Pio d’Emilia

PIO D’EMILIA“I would say my worst experience was when I was tear-gassedby police in the face. The burning sensations lasted many hours.
The uncertainty of not knowing what could happen next also wasa big psychological factor. Events and information flood in fromall over the city and it is hard to gauge, especially when you can’t
afford a local fixer. You know something is horribly wrong
with society when you feel safe among the protestors but
fear the police.”— Sean Fleck, 50, “stock footage and filmmaker”
ment protests, at times some very violent ones. The police
force has become increasingly violent and reckless, something, to be honest, that we are used to witnessing in othercountries. (Mine included; remember what the police didduring the 2001 G-8 in Genoa?) But this sort of thing wasnever seen before in Hong Kong. Now protesters, along with
doctors, first-aid volunteers, social workers—and many journalists—are being beaten, tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed andarrested. Some were clearly and directly targeted.
One day, I was coming out of the Hong Kong Polytechnic
University campus in in Tsim Sha Tsui, which after being
occupied by the protesters, had been sealed off and literally
put under siege by the police. It was on Monday, Nov. 18, aftera violent, but unsuccessful attempt to “clean” it up. I saw with
my own eyes fellow journalists (mainly local), who were wearing yellow “press” jackets and had their hands raised, being
grabbed and dragged into police vans. None of the police
attempted to identify them or ask for their credentials.
A few of us foreign journalists even took photos andvideo of this shameful behavior. They let us go, but I
was really worried. In fact, I’ll confess, I was scared.
In this splendid, but now deeply wounded anddivided city of more than 7 million that is struggling to preserve and defend its “system,” the jobof journalism has become increasingly difficultand dangerous. All the more so for those among
us—an ever-increasing number—who are not fulltime employees of big media, and cannot afford
fixers, translators, or insurance; those who don’t
have official assignment letters and have to keep
expenses as tight as possible. I am talking about
the hundreds of young and old, generous, motivated, brave colleagues who keep us informed
about the situation in HK beyond the usuallyshort, very episodic “breaking news” reports on the
big networks.

S

THERE IS NO WAY to check just how many journalists there
actually are. Some people say a few hundred, some say morethan a thousand. Many come and go, like myself.
For months, Hong Kong has been torn apart by antigovern12

Protection at work
Freelance journalist
Sean Fleck covered
up and marked out
as a journalist.

AIDEN ANDERSON

ean Fleck, who hails from Desert Hot Springs, California, is one of the hundreds of foreign reporters, mainly freelancers, who have been constantly covering the HK crisis over the last months. It
is thanks to him and his colleagues, rather than themainstream media and big networks, that the world
has been kept regularly informed about what isgoing on in the once-peaceful, rich, and fascinating “fragrant harbor.”
Journalists are not required to mention theirprofession or purpose of visit on their Hong
Kong arrival cards. Journalists on a temporary
assignment or even those without a proper visa
don’t have to lie or be afraid of being found out, as
in many other countries. Even during these difficultand politically tense days, most foreign nationals geta three-month visa, and can find themselves quickly
on the road, free to report.
While it definitely is part of China, the “one country
two systems” still works most of the time, at least as far as
freedom of the press is concerned. Beside a few, some very
serious, cases of harassment and blatant violations of the rules(widely reported and denounced even on the local media),Hong Kong is still heaven to report from compared to manyother places. “We don’t know how long this is going to last,”
says Tom Grundy, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Hong Kong
Free Press. “But we will certainly fight to keep it going as longas we can. HKFP is a very active “run by journalists and backed
by readers” non-profit, online news source, which specializes
in front line reporting.

DECEMBER 2019

FCCJ

FCCJ

DECEMBER 2019

FOR YEARS I WAS a freelancer, so I feel lots of sympathy andrespect for these people. I’ve watched them in action on the“battlefields” of Hong Kong, constantly on the front line,
trying to get the best shot. But they also are always helping
each other, in a kind of group solidarity which is increasingly hard to find among mainstream media journalists.
I believe they deserve our gratitude. They are the ones
who are risking their lives to get as close as possible to theaction, to get the best shot and then spend time to edit,
select and send it out in the hope that somebody will use
it—and pay for it. It’s something that no one does if they
don’t love their job, if they’re not sincerely committed, if
they don’t consider the job, no matter how dangerous anddifficult, a duty and a privilege.
Being accurately and promptly informed is fundamental
in this situation, where the apparently leaderless, multifaceted “movement” organizes all kind of actions at the very lastminute. And just as the “movement” uses several more or less“open” chats on different platforms (mostly Telegram), journalists have set up their own network.
Some, like “Kwan Kung Temple” (https://t.me.kwan
kungpress), have close to 10,000 members (once they register, very few bother to sign out) and is run by a group of local
media in both Chinese and English. It is available on Telegram and has several different “subchannels.” Among those,“take an interview” or “looking for a fixer” are some of themost useful.
You can post a request for an interview, specifying thedetails and conditions and wait for an answer. Replies tend tocome after a few minutes, directly to your Telegram accountor via the forum. I have personally used this chat to interview
a former policeman who resigned after he realized his son
was a protest frontliner, and to meet several protesters who
successfully escaped from the “occupied” PolyU. It is also avery efficient way to get updates on the actions of the day,press releases and links to local media and their livestreams.
13

Freelance in the front line

Club news
At
the
Club

WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE?
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM A
COLLEAGUE, AND WHAT YOU SHOULD
NOT EVEN ASK FOR?

Protest and survive
Top to bottom: theauthor on the streetsof Hong Kong;the “stonehenge”
arrangement of bricks
readied for throwing;
Hong Kongers call fora “free Hong Kong”;
a protester holding
the symbol of theprotests—an umbrella

Pio d’Emilia is the East Asia Correspondent for Italy’s Sky TG24.
14DECEMBER 2019

FCCJ

Tokyo has a long history of wooden buildings
and a long history of sustainable urban design.
After the Olympics, I hope Tokyo can show thisbuilding as an example to the world.”

Asa-kai are the FCCJ’s breakfast meetings bringing topics
that will be of interest to different Members. The Asa-kai
on Nov. 15 was titled Dental Health and Mental Health—the
Missing Link. The event looked at that link, especially inolder people­—an often overlooked subject, yet one that isa real and important one, as clinical research in Japan andelsewhere has demonstrated.
Three eminent and practicing Japanese dental experts—
Hiroshi Kawazu, Hideo Kawahara and Akira Uehama—whoare all prominent members of the Japan Academy of Clinical
Dentistry explained the link, including using video evidence.
Their findings show that the connection between simply
chewing properly and good brain function is more direct
than is often realized—and such chewing habits need to be
cultivated from an early age.
For a country such as Japan and for many others that have
rapidly aging populations, recognition of the need to tackle
age-related conditions has far-reaching medical, social andeven financial implications.

YOSHIKAZU TSUNO

THE FCCJ YOUTUBE CHANNELPIO D’EMILIA / RAFFAELLA CITTADINI

A list of helpful links for Hong Kong reporters can be found at theend of this article on the FCCJ webpage.
www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun.html

THE 1964 OLYMPIC BUILDINGSWERE DESIGNED TO BE VERY HEROICGESTURES AND VERY VERTICAL.
INSTEAD WE TRIED TO CREATEHORIZONTALITY, INTIMACY AND WARMTHAS A MESSAGE FROM TOKYO.

YUUSUKE WADA

“I thought after 2020, we should design a new
Tokyo using wood, and I designed the Olympic
stadium as a hint. I learned about Japanesetradition through the eyes of Frank Lloyd
Wright, who wrote about the transparency anddeep eaves of Japanese buildings. I tried toapply those to the national stadium.

“Kwan Kung Temple” can be joined simply by sending a message to the above-mentioned link; the on-duty administrator
will double check your identity and you are on.
ANOTHER CHAT GROUP THAT is particularly
helpful is “solo journo support group.” Thisis on WhatsApp and is a little bit more complicated to join. But once you are in, you arereally . . . in. The group was founded by Laurel, a local, brave and very competent journalist, and is open to all bona fide journalists and cameramen, after a double check of
their identity. It is mainly an informal chatline for exchanging all kind of information.
It is extremely useful for solo journalists whoneed updates on what is going on and where,
in order to decide what to cover.
Before signing-in, you are advised to go to Google Docs,
search for “HK Protests 101 for Journalists,” and read it carefully. It is a precious, constantly updated and very detailed
document which deals with all sorts of logistical, technicaland legal information any journalist would need while covering the protests on their own. The sections titled “Front line
Conduct & Police Precaution,” “Gear and Protective equipment,” and “preventive medical measures” are particularly
useful, along with a very detailed segment covering what you
should do in case of arrest, including hotline numbers
and lawyer contacts.
Once you are member of this chat, you can counton literally hundreds of colleagues who shareyour job, your responsibilities and (hopefully)
your values. Which bring us to a delicate issueof solidarity vs competition. Where do you
draw the line? What can you expect from a colleague, and what you should not even ask for?
I’ll quote my friend from Desert Hot Spring,
Sean Fleck: “That is a very good question. Firstand foremost, we are here to do a job, so basicallyeveryone is looking to get the best shot or story. I feelthat solidarity and cooperation are essential, and that if
you act professionally and are curious you usually can getwhat you want. The last thing you want to be doing is fightingwith other journalists because you never know when you may
need help.”
I consider our job a privileged one. This is particularly
true when somebody pays you a good salary and foots yourexpenses, like in my case. Unfortunately, the number of people with this kind of support is shrinking while the numberof freelancers is increasing. So we owe them a lot. We should
show them respect and gratitude. And pay them decently. ❶ASA-KAI

Kengo Kuma,“Tokyo and architecture
beyond 2020,” Nov. 5
FCCJ

DECEMBER 2019

Videos of all our press conferences—aswell as some events like the Asa-kai—areon the Club’s YouTube channel. Simply go
to YouTube and search “FCCJ Channel”.
Subscribe and you will see our videos listed when you visit
the site, hit the bell logo next to the “Subscribe” button if
you want to be alerted when new videos are uploaded.

15

Club news
At
the
Club

FCCJ EXHIBITIONCHARLIE COLE/PPS‘Tank Man’: Charlie Colememorial photo exhibition

Charlie Cole won the World Press Photo of theYear in 1989 for his instantly recognizable “Tank
Man” photo that depicted a lone protester staring
down four tanks in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.
The American photographer passed away
aged 64 at his home in Bali in early September
after apparently suffering complications froma motorcycle injury he sustained in Japan in thelate 1990s.
Cole arrived in Japan in 1980, and over the
next two decades, he shot many telling moments
in and around Asia for publications including
Newsweek, Time, the New York Times and the WallStreet Journal.
When Newsweek sent him to China in late June
1989, to cover the student protests, his presence
on a hotel balcony overlooking Tiananmen
Square incurred the wrath of Chinese authorities
who, within minutes, forced their way into his
room to retrieve the film. But Cole, suspecting
a possible visit, hid the roll inside the lid of his
toilet. Managing to avoid police surveillance, Colebrought the precious image to the AssociatedPress office in Beijing and had it immediatelytransmitted to Newsweek in the U.S.
“I think his action (the white-shirted man)
captured people’s hearts everywhere, and whenthe moment came, his character defined themoment rather than the moment defining him,”
Cole told a BBC interviewer in 2005.
Charlie, we will not forget you.
16

“FOR THE MEDIA, THERE
IS SOME SIGNIFICANCETO THIS ONE-YEAR
ANNIVERSARY SINCE
MR. GHOSN’S ARREST.
BUT MR. GHOSN IS FIRMLY
FOCUSED ON PREPARATIONSFOR THE TRIAL AND RIGHTNOW HAS NO PLANS TO
APPEAR BEFORE THE MEDIA.
MOST OF THE LEAKS FROM
THE PROSECUTION WERE
MADE BEFORE WE BEGANSERVING AS HIS LEGAL
DEFENSE, AND WE WERENOT IN THE POSITION DO
ANYTHING ABOUT THEM. IF
WE DO SEE THE NEED TORESPOND TO LEAKS,WE WILL.”
Junichiro Hironaka, Carlos Ghosn’s
Defense team lawyer, Nov. 10

JOIN THE FILM COMMITTEE…
. . . on Tues.,
Dec. 3 at 6:45
p.m. for a sneak
peak at the yearend blockbusterto-be, Talking
the Pictures,
an exuberant
love letter toclassic films andkatsuben live
narrators from
Masayuki Suo,the director of such indelible works as Shall We Dance? Endlessly
inventive, quirkily evocative, chockfull of clever period detail anddriven by a jaunty ragtime score, the film follows a young man(Ryo Narita in a career-defining role) as he follows his dream tobe a katsuben, with a few not-quite-legal detours in between.
Team Suo favorites abound: Naoto Takenaka, Eri Watanabe,Fumiyo Kohinata star alongside Masatoshi Nagase, Kengo Kora,
Mao Inoue, Takuma Otoo and Yutaka Takenouchi in this nostalgiatinged tribute to filmmaking in the good old days. The director
and his star, Ryo Narita, will join us for the Q&A session.
(Japan, 2019; 127 minutes; in Japanese with English subtitles)

THE CLUB POET

NEW MEMBERS
REGULAR MEMBERS

Synergy Net
They burned in my consciousness the KISS
formula –Keep it simple and sweet
So, I have no speech, just a plea, a prayerof sorts:
Judge the art, not the artist,
End the paralysis of silo wars,
The malaise of puffed up ego dancing.
The collective wisdom in this room astounds
and humbles –The aesthetics of Exhibits and of Film
The professionalism of the No. 1
and by definition PAC;
The distinction of Compliance
The protean style of Entertainment
The value-addition and friendship of
Association
Last but not least –The epicurean delight of F&B, especially B!

Saya Takagi, former actress, eco-lodge
owner, Nov. 5
DECEMBER 2019

NEW IN THE LIBRARY

Our cup runneth over with love for the ClubAnd a shared passion to ensure its wellbeing;
The Typhoon season is behind us
Now it’s time for brainstormsof positive energy.
– Warren J Devalier“I WAS ARRESTED AND
CHARGED WITH BREACHING
THE CANNABIS CONTROL LAW
AND WAS SENTENCED TO ONEYEAR IMPRISONMENT AND
THREE YEARS PROBATION.
IN MY TIME AS A CANNABISLEGALIZATION ACTIVIST, I HAVECOME TO REALIZE JUST HOWDANGEROUS THE EDUCATIONSYSTEM AND THE MEDIA CAN
BE, HOW MORE POWERFUL
THEY ARE THAN THE TRUTH.”

FCCJ

Kazuki Ooishi
is a freelancephotographer for
JP NEWS/Pasya
Co. He focuses onpress conferences,
politics,
economics andsports.

What we will do, working together,
Puts Watson to shame;
A bountiful harvest in a synergy net
Hug a tree, bring in a new member

At
the
Club

— Karen Severns

Zhang Jing is with the
Xinhua News Agency

Politics, Porn and Protest: Japanese
Avant-Garde Cinema in the 1960s
and 1970s
Isolde Standish
The Continuum International
Publishing Group
The Bells of Old
Tokyo: Meditations
on Time and a City
Anna Sherman
Picador
Waste: Consuming
Postwar Japan
Eiko Maruko
Siniawer
Cornell University
PressJapanese
Linguistics
Mark Irwin; Matthew Zisk
Asakura Publishing17

Photographer members

Lens craft

Making light of it
Emperor Naruhito andEmpress Masako raise
lanterns to wellwishers
in front of the Imperial
Palace on Nov. 9 at an
event celebrating theenthronement.
by Yoshikazu Tsuno
Artist of the floating world
Bruce collects found objects onbeach walks near his home andarranges them for his photos. Whilehe has been doing this the wider
world has become more aware ofplastic waste, adding an extra layerof poignancy to his images.
by Bruce Osborn

Towering over
Mount Fuji stands
behind buildings inTokyo at dusk on
Nov. 12.
by Tomohiro Ohsumi
18

DECEMBER 2019

FCCJ

FCCJ

DECEMBER 201919