Voices from the 6th Japan Writers Conference

The Japan Writers Conference is an English-language event held in a different part of Japan every year. There are usually about 30 presentations by writers in different fields on a variety of topics.

At the sixth annual conference, last fall in Kyoto, I did some quick micro-interviews with a few of the presenters. I asked them what they had spoken about, what other presentations they had enjoyed, and what advice they might have for anyone thinking about going next time. You can see some of their answers in the video above.

The seventh annual conference is coming up in November in Okinawa. You can find details on the official website here. More information will be added as the event comes closer.

By the way, I once gave a presentation at the Japan Writers Conference myself. It was about how to interview creative subjects for feature articles, and you can see highlights of it here. You can also read my descriptions of some other writers’ past presentations here and here.

Update

One person who does not appear in this video is John Gribble, the main organizer of the event. But you can read a recent Japan Times article about him by Kris Kosaka here.

Asian zodiac animals

Two days from now, the Year of the Rabbit (2011) will end in Japan, and the Year of the Dragon (2012) will begin. To mark this occasion, I made this silly little video introducing all twelve zodiac animals in the order of their upcoming appearances.

A little Tokyo nightlife with Bob Arnold

Singer-songwriter Bob Arnold was part of the entertainment this past Sunday night when I went to a book launch party for “Calling All Shadows” at What the Dickens, a British-style pub in Ebisu, Tokyo.

Bob is friend of mine, so I won’t pretend to be an impartial observer, but I always enjoy his songs.

Bob is a versatile lyricist whose work ranges from the silly (Toe Jam”) to the profound (“The Beautiful Americans”). He also touches many points of the spectrum in between. Some of his songs make you think, and many of them make you smile.

His short set on Sunday tended toward the cheerfully playful side of his oeuvre. In the videos below, he plays “Suzy’s Just a Little Floozy” with accompaniment by a Canadian flautist, and “Mike Rides a Bike,” a new song he was performing in public for the first time.