'Spring Love 2010': free festival in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo (April 3-4)

Building on last year's gathering, next weekend sees the 2010 'Spring Love' event ('Harukaze', in Japanese) in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park.

Last year saw around 40,000 people gathered together for music, dance, talks and discussions about peace, plus healthy food stalls and a market of eco- and organic goods, at this event co-organised by PNWJ. This year sees the festival's return, with more performances, film screenings and talk sessions centred around peace. The event is free and happens surrounded by the beautiful backdrop of this season's cherry blossoms in bloom.

For the full programme, see below (note - many of the talks are likely to be in Japanese):


Date/Time: Sat. April 3rd (1 - 8 PM) / Sun. 
April 4th (12 - 7:30 PM)


Venue: Yoyogi Park Outdoor Stage


Admission: Free

Event will feature:


• Performances from numerous musicians and dancers representing a variety of artistic genres

• Peace-related talk sessions, films, and exhibitions

• Events on two separate stages (Spring Stage and Love Stage)

• Booths with literature from peace-related NPOs/NGOs

• Spring Love Market with sales of various eco-friendly goods 

• Spring Love Kitchen featuring stalls with organic/ethnic foods

• Live painting

• Kids’ activities

Peace program (please note that changes may occur):

Saturday, April 3rd

14:30 - 15:25: Military bases and the role of the media



Panelists: Kobayashi Atsushi (documentary filmmaker), 
Shiva Rei (freelance journalist)


Navigator: Inada Hideaki (Solar Inc.)


16:35 - 16:50: Hints for carving out natural, sustainable 
lifestyles in today's unnatural, unsustainable modern 
societies



Speaker: Ikue Masudo, formerly known as Takagi Saya 
(TV/film actor, free diver, owner of Furyu organic cafe/gallery)


Navigator: Fukui Hiroshi (Peace Not War Japan music director, 
DJ)


16:50 - 17:50: Why should Japan's Constitutional Article 9 (the 
peace clause) be protected?



Panelists: Matsumari Masumi (Peace Boat), Shiva Rei 
(freelance journalist), Kamebuchi Yuka (gospel singer)


20:30 〜: Documentary film screenings

• 'We don’t need bases anywhere!'
• 'ANPO' promotional clip
• 
'Message from Yanbaru: A Documentary of Takae, Higashi 
Village in Okinawa'
• 'Alternative Lifestyles: Learning from the 
European Squatting Movement'
• 'Kukuru' (featuring a live 
performance from singer UA in Takae village, Okinawa)

Sunday, April 4th

14:00 - 14:45: Listen to citizens' voices: No more wasteful, 
destructive construction!

Hear from activists working to stop 
the following projects in environmentally rich areas: a tunnel 
through Mt. Takao; a nuclear power plant in Kaminoseki; and a 
U.S. military base in Takae Village, Okinawa.

Panelists: Sakata Masako (Kenju no kai), Higa 'Marty' Masato 
(documentary filmmaker), Yamato Taka (organic loquat farmer), 
Yamada Sei (peace/environmental activist and author)


15:30 - 16:25: Building sustainable, non-militarized economies:
 examples of organic, small-scale, community-based alternatives 
to a military-dependent economy

Panelists: Kikuchi Yumi (Harmonics Life Center director, Tokyo 
Peace Film Festival producer, Japan United for a Ministry of 
Peace committee member), Tanaka Yu (Mirai Bank Director, 
Japan International Volunteer Center board member, ap bank 
member), Kosaka Masaru (organic restaurant/bar owner, writer, rice/soybean farmer)


17:10 - 17:25: Kikuchi Yumi, a well-known peace/environmental 
activist, writer, translator, and international speaker, shares the
 latest information on 9/11-related issues, the Tokyo Peace Film 
Festival, and more.

Navigator: Kimberly Hughes, Peace Not War
 Japan co-coordinator.


Musical performers:

Ikue Asazaki (traditional Amami Shimauta folk songs) 


Sayoko meets YA MAN RIDDIM (funky reggae + djembe)



Blues the Butcher-590213 + Leyona (rock/soul/reggae/blues)

Rakita (acoustic groove)


Yuppi & Tane (elementary school aged singer/songwriter!)




Rabirabi (percussion/voice duo)


Ailie (roots reggae)




nam



GOCOO ＋ GoRo
 11-piece wadaiko (Japanese drum) ensemble



Kamebuchi Yuka and Voices of Japan (VOJA) (gospel)


Mika Arisaka (jazz)




SandiiBunbun with Earth Conscious and Hula All Stars (Hawaiian)


The Tchiky's (Acoustic/Afrobeat/Dub)

Fukugawa Baron Club (Indonesian gamelan)



YOSHIE (belly dancing) 




Uranagel (folk)



Jintaramuta (fusion unit blending Japanese travelling street 
protest music together with elements of modern jazz)


Abdallah




Mon Kumagai (shamisen)

And more!



Additional Information:

• Please note that there may be changes in the list of 
performers and guests.



• Please refrain from smoking within the venue area, 
as well as from taking photographs of the performers.



• A portion of the sales of food and goods, as well as 
all donations placed in our donation boxes, will be given 
to several grassroots organizations in order to support 
their ongoing work for nonviolent peace action.

• Spring Love has a 'gomi-zero' ('no garbage') policy. 
Please leave the venue as clean as you found it by separating 
your trash at one of the provided garbage stations. Garbage 
cleanup is an extremely expensive undertaking, and if this 
policy is not respected, we may not be able to offer this free 
festival in the future. Show some spring love by following the 'gomi-zero' rule!

• Volunteers needed before and during the event!! (setup,
 translation/interpretation, cleanup, various administrative tasks,
 etc.) If you are able to help, please contact us at kim[a]pnwj.org

Supporting organizations: A SEED JAPAN, Solar, Peace Not 
War Japan, TEAM

Official event website (Japanese only)

'Spring Love': free festival in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park (April 4-5)

In 2004, I founded Peace Not War Japan (PNWJ) in Tokyo, a non-profit organisation that focused on using the arts to raise awareness about peace and conflict issues around the world and to raise funding for grassroots Japanese peace groups. The first CD release, titled 'Peace Not War Japan' was a collection of pro-peace/anti-war songs by contemporary Japanese artists - a very rare thing in Japan's music scene.

Before I left Tokyo, early last year, I set up a Steering Committee to keep the work of the group going. Although I was no longer involved on a day-to-day basis, I was thrilled to see that they carried on the work I'd begun. Since I left, they have hosted a workshop and performance at a major international conference in support of the threatened Article 9 clause of Japan's constitution and held a week of live music at a venue in the west of Tokyo.

The seed that was planted has now become a small forest. Next weekend (April 4-5), having joined forces with the organisers of Japan's annual Earth Day festival, PNWJ will be hosting a large free festival in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park. Full event details are given below.

If any Tokyo readers of this blog are in town next weekend and would like to go to a fully fun-packed event with music, dance, talks, exhibitions, peace group booths, a market, organic kitchen and much more, please head down to the park and show some spring love. And if you do happen to make it, please drop a comment on this page and let me know how it went - I'll be on the other side of the planet instead!

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Spring Love: The hottest urban party of the season!!

The folks who bring you the yearly Earth Day festival are pleased to announce Spring Love (Harukaze), a two-day extravaganza of musical and dance performances to be held in Yoyogi Park on April 4th and 5th. Organized in conjunction with Peace Not War Japan, the event will also feature a series of talk sessions on peace and nonviolent social action, as well as booths with NPO/NGO literature, sales of eco- and organic goods, healthy food stalls, and much more.

Come out and enjoy the cherry blossoms while feeding your mind and soul with some Spring Love!!

Date/Time: Saturday, April 4th (1-8 PM) and Sunday, April 5th (12-7:30 PM)

Venue: Yoyogi Park Outdoor Stage

Admission: Free!!

Event will feature:

• Performances from numerous musicians and dancers representing a variety of artistic genres
• Peace-related talk sessions, photography, and exhibitions
• Events on two separate stages (Spring Stage and Love Stage)
• Booths with literature from peace-related NPOs/NGOs
• Spring Love Market with sales of various eco-friendly goods on offer
• Spring Love Kitchen featuring stalls with organic and ethnic foods
• Live painting
• Kids’ activities
  

Performers:

OKI DUB AINU BAND * Keyco & Kokyo * poodles * maccafat * Sayoko Meets Planet Sounds * Tateiwa Junzo * Blues the Butcher (Takashi 'Hotoke' Nagai, Numazawa Takashi, Nakajo Takashi, KOTEZ) * Ca-zoku * Hana & Phenomenon * Ailie * Percussion du MATAI * ANICHE * Rankin Taxi & Tokyo Revolutionaries * Kamebuchi Yuka & VOJA * Likkle Mai & The K * Ichiryusai Harumi * Salsa Gum Tape * Inushiki (aka Dogggystyle) * YOSHIE * ARTMAN * DJ Gerry Ong & DJ Chiaki * HIYOSHI * DJ YOGURT * Kudo 'Big H' Haruyasu * Seino Eiichi * MASA * REE.K * SINN & MORE!

Peace-Themed Talk Session Participants:

〜Come explore perspectives you won’t get from the mainstream media!〜

Kamanaka Hitomi（director) * Toyoda Naomi (photojournalist) * Ishida Masataka (photojournalist) * Kubota Hironobu (photojournalist) * Hatakeyama Sumiko （staff of NGO Peace Boat) * Aizawa Yasuyuki（NPO Peace On) * Kikuchi Yumi (writer, translator, founder/organizer of Harmonics Life Center, Tokyo Peace Film Festival, and Japan United for Ministry of Peace) * hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) from Hiroshima and Nagasaki * Shigenobu May (journalist) * DJ Gerry (psychedelic trance DJ, founder of Dance for Peace) & MORE!

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For more information including links to featured artists' home pages, the official event webpage is here in English and here in Japanese.

'Peace Not War Japan' promo video

This is the official promotional video for the 'Peace Not War Japan' (PNWJ) compilation album, released in Japan in 2006 on Dynastic Records.

The video features clips from tracks featured on the album, including 'Hallelujah Jambo' by Cheryo & The Berovolas, 'Crevasse' by Hiroshima's And More, and 'Kaiki' by Hope - as well as some of the artwork featured in the collection. There's a few of my own photographs in there too.

Naturally, this would have been more effective to use as a promotional tool a year and a half ago, when the CD was released. However, when you're running a volunteer collective, a full-time job, a band, a writing gig and a whole bunch of travelling too, you don't always get the time to do everything that you want to do! As I'm leaving Japan very soon, this is part of my tying up all those loose ends before I go.

This clip was my first attempt at putting something together in Apple's iMovie and the first time I had the chance to do any video editing since 1995 - a long time away. Although I'm keen in future videos to try and steer away from Apple's obvious templates for slick-looking video effects, I'm still very impressed at what's possible with the program.

With a digital camera (a mobile phone even), a laptop and a YouTube account, anyone with the imagination to do so can make and distribute their own films. The democratisation of filmmaking - another moment brought to you by the digital age.

Learn about PNWJ here.

Dancing for peace in a Japanese mountain forest

Peace Not War Japan was recently asked to provide a speaker for a peace workshop at a festival near Hamamatsu, in Shizuoka prefecture. We were also invited to come down and check out the event, known as Dance For Peace Japan (DFPJ), for ourselves.

DFP was started in Bali in 2002, in response to the nightclub bombings on the Indonesian island. More recently, they've also set up events in Japan and it was the most recent one that PNWJ was invited to take part in. I was also asked to perform a live set as Control K. Unfortunately the timing didn't quite work as we all had to get back to Tokyo, so I missed my live debut as an electronic artist!

Tokyo rarely stops for anyone and I'm no different, but it was great to get a little time out of the city and to have the chance to breathe some pure mountain air. It was my first time out of Tokyo this year and I think that I must have really needed it. DFPJ was also my first experience of hanging out with real Japanese hippies and getting a feel for some of this country's communities on the outside of the mainstream.

The photos shown here were all taken from the event. Above, people gradually applaud the appearance of a rainbow.

Yamakita-san, the percussionist we shared a ride with from Hamamatsu station.

Gathered round a camp fire.

The fire I built, at night.

Night-time festival scene, with stage, sound desk and camp fire.

Candles around the paddling pool.

Wood, light and dark - a classic Japanese image.

Kaori Aizawa, the speaker from Peace On.

Listening to the workshop and tales from Iraq.

Backstage.

Horse man juggles with sticks.

Building a fire in the rain.

Two members of Koh Tao, a band who first met on a small southern Thai island.

Horse man gives a ride.

Site view.

Preparing delicious deep-fried bread snacks.

Bungalows in the forest; a place to stay at night.

Lord Ganesh, from wall hanging.

I missed the name of this band, but they were certainly relaxed.

Teepee display.