As part of the FPCJ’s 40 anniversary project, Contributing Editor Seth Berkman of The New York Times in the USA visited Japan from Sunday, October 2 to Saturday, October 8, 2016. He covered the current situation of female athletes in Japan and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Mr. Berkman is a sports journalist based out of New York. This was his first time visiting Japan, but in the past he has often covered Asian female athletes playing professional sports in the USA, such as Ramu Tokashiki (basketball) and Nana Fujimoto (ice hockey). During this trip, he was interested in the state of women’s soccer in Japan, the USA’s biggest rival, and also in seeing practices and speaking with athletes and coaches for sports that have major leagues in America but are still minor in Japan, such as basketball and ice hockey.
(photo: Yuki Asada)
*To cover the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, he visited the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), the Japan Sport Council (JSC), and the Japan Sports Agency.
Organising Committee Spokesperson Hikariko Ono declared their hope to effect a positive change on Japan in 2020 just as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics did. There were also explanations of how efforts were underway to realize “a society in which women can shine,” with the JSC and other organizations cooperating with the Sports Agency to train female leaders and solve issues facing women in particular.
At the Ajinomoto National Training Center in Kita, Tokyo, they explained that the center has had a definite impact on the number of medals Japan won at London and Rio, the two Summer Olympics since its founding in 2008. There are plans to build a neighboring facility next year to allow both Olympians and Paralympians to practice together, and encourage more interaction between the two groups.
*To cover Eiji Akaso
Japanese actor and model (born 1994)
Eiji Akaso (赤楚 衛二, Akaso Eiji, born 1 March 1994, in Osaka Prefecture) is a Japanese actor and model, known for playing Ryuga Banjou in Kamen Rider Build. He is represented by Tristone Entertainment.
Early life and education
Due to his father's work, Eiji lived in Wisconsin (USA) at ages one to four. His father graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was a professor at the Faculty of Foreign Studies (Linguistic Department) at Nagoya Gakuin University and became the president of Nagoya Gakuin University in April 2020. His mother is a piano teacher.
Eiji's younger brother, who is four years younger than him, is studying film production at Osaka University of Arts.
He was strongly influenced by his academic and artistic parents. He started playing piano at the age of three until Junior High School. He graduated from Toho High School, a private school, in Nagoya. After high school, Eiji majored in English at the same university, but later dropped out to move to Tokyo. His desire to become an actor sprouted in middle school and was also influenced by the habit of his family of having a movie night once a month. At the age of 19 or 20, he went to Tokyo and auditioned for a year. The trigger that lead Eiji to drop out of university and to enter the world of entertainment was a call from the CEO of his current agency in 2014. At that time, he was still in university and he had to make the decision either to start then or after graduation at the age of 23. He made a "now or never" decision and dropped out of university to join Tristone Entertainment.
Career
Eiji was affiliated with the Nagoya model office "FORM JAPAN" when he was in his teens. He was active as a model and talent under the name Mamoru Akaso (赤楚 衛, Akaso Mamoru). In 2010, he joined the local idol group "BOYS AND MEN" in Nagoya, working on stage performances and regular appea
Dean Ryuta Adachi
Producing Japanese American History: An exploration through the JANM archives
Part 4 of 5 – History is Lost: Joyce MacWilliamson
May 24, 2012 • Dean Ryuta Adachi
To this point, we have examined three exceptional figures from the Japanese American community with remarkable stories and records. However, the sad truth is that for every item that we can properly describe, there are countless others that we can’t. In 1999, JANM received a curious donation offer from Ms. Joyce MacWilliamson of Beaverton, Oregon: Joyce MacWilliamson’s father Ramon “Mac” MacWilliamson took temporary ownership of a shortwave radio belonging to the 17 year old son of a Japanese American acquaintance. …
artifacts collections (objects) communication JANM collection Japanese American National Museum Japanese American National Museum (organization) museum objects radio sociology telecommunication World War II