Letter from the Entertainment Editor

Being the entertainment editor of CONNECT this last year has been an absolute privilege. For many of us expats now living in Japan, early exposure to Japanese entertainment, perhaps anime, J-pop, horror films, or video games, sparked our young imaginations and may have helped draw us across the sea. For me personally, getting to experience some of Japan’s many traditional forms of entertainment, from tea ceremonies, to moon viewing parties, festivals, folk concerts, and theater performances, has been the biggest delight and surprise of living in a foreign country. I feel very lucky that my role as entertainment editor has given me a chance to explore so many sides of Japanese culture through the lense of the amazing entertainment produced here, and through the stories of the incredible entertainers and ALTs who have made Japan their home.

I chose to highlight these two articles, 1,000 Worlds Clash at Tokyo Game Show 2019 and Interview with Kabuki Actor Taiki Yokobayashi, because they show the range of entertainment in Japan, from the intensely traditional to the cutting edge.

Video games are one of Japan’s largest cultural exports and Tokyo Game Show is Japan’s largest and liveliest video game expo. Nathan Post, our wonderful reporter on the ground floor, was a delight to work with, and gave us a great insider’s view of the event, gorgeous pictures, and hilarious game reviews. In particular his VR highlights and reporting on the Indie Game Awards was a really fascinating look at the new and developing technologies (smell-o-vision is a thing now?!) that are changing the way we play and interact with games.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, interviewing Taiki Yokobayashi, a 4th generation kabuki actor, gave me the chance to learn more about one of Japan’s incredible traditional theater forms. Just tracking down this story was one of the highlights of my time on the JET program. I am intensely grateful to Toshie Ogura for going with me to a theater-shrine in a remote rice field to help conduct this interview, and to the Awai Kasuga Kabuki Preservation Group for inviting us behind the curtain into their dream-like world. I hope that this interview gives readers a better understanding of this unique art form, and inspires them to get on out and explore the hidden gems of the Japanese countryside.

Picking just one article to recommend from another section was really difficult, but I’d have to go with The Snake that Played with Fire from the Events section. I adore Japan’s many strange and varied festivals, and this one seemed like a blast! I’d love to go there myself and get my snake on, and I hope our readers will too.

Cheers,

Rachel Fagundes (Okayama)