Tag Archives: japan

DIY Osaka part 2: interview with Kaori Yoshikawa, Noooooooooooo Kitty

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Introduction

For the second part of this three part series of posts touching on DIY/alternative cultural practices in Osaka, Japan, I spoke to artist Kaori Yoshikawa who set up Noooooooooooo Kitty last year with her teammate Snoo. Noooooooooooo Kitty is an artist-run gallery and events space that they opened following the closure of their previous space, named Bar Kitty. The latter was located in the suburbs south of Osaka, while Noooooooooooo Kitty is located in the Baika area in the west (around the corner from Go Tsushima’s home/studio, who I interviewed in the first part of this series). Over the past few years Baika and its surroundings have become popular for artists and musicians, and a number of small galleries and live venues are also located there. In this way a certain informal cultural community appears to have developed in this area, which Noooooooooooo Kitty is now part of and benefits from in various ways. In this interview Kaori goes into detail about their motivations for the move to Baika, and how Snoo and her artistic practices are reflected in their plans for Noooooooooooo Kitty.

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DIY Osaka part 1: interview with Go Tsushima

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General Introduction

Over the last year I’ve been fortunate to be able to take three short trips to the city of Osaka in Japan. While I’ve been in the city, and time permitting, I try to learn about the music and sound communities there. Last July I published some first research from these trips here on this blog, and last month I was there again for a few days. This time I was able to interview several people who represent various aspects of the alternative or DIY scene there. They are the musician Go Tsushima, Kaori Yoshikawa at the artist-run gallery/event space Noooooooooooo Kitty, and Kazuma Sasajima at the “independent culture shop” Nice Shop Su. Over the next three weeks I’ll be publishing these interviews on this blog.

First up is the interview with Go Tsushima, a musician who lives in the Baika area of Osaka. I visited him at his home/studio and we talked about his background, the music that he produces, and the Baika area in which he lives – an area that is quite special for Osaka (and maybe for Japan generally).

A little bit of background to Baika: Baika and its adjacent areas are apparently seen as unattractive, perennially unpopular due to geographical and social reasons. I have been told—and I should stress this is pure anecdote—that because Baika is in a low-lying area near the port, it is susceptible to flooding were there to be a tsunami, thus discouraging development of the area. Perhaps related to this, I was warned by one person that this side of town is the “rough” part of Osaka – although when I visited I didn’t particularly feel this.

In any case, because of this unpopularity there is perhaps an added impetus for the property agents to actively promote occupation of the vacant commercial spaces, or for local property owners to provide affordable residential accommodation. Consequently there has been a small, but possibly significant, influx of creative people and grass-roots arts organisations visiting or putting down roots in Baika. This situation has created an opening for less commercial activities, leading to a tentative community forming with, I think, great potential.

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First steps researching experimental sound culture in Osaka

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With half a day free while visiting relatives in Osaka, I had an opportunity to start looking into the sound scene here. This ever-so-slight beginning will be supplemented by future visits, to develop an understanding of this city’s sonic culture. This post is a starting point from which to look into the infrastructure that exists in Osaka for practices connected with sound, including the venues, artforms, and producers involved.

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Social Food: Emi Uemura interview

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Emi Uemura is a Japanese artist currently living in Beijing. This weekend she held the “Country Fair” at the shop at Vitamin Creative Space in Caochangdi. Country Fair brought together farmers, community activists and artists in a friendly, festive space where information, experience and perhaps most importantly, food, was shared. Emi’s “daily activities” have worked to bridge a gap between art practice and sustainable development in the world primarily by using food as a starting point for discussions about the social issues it impacts upon. This interview took place while she was preparing for the Country Fair and gives a little background to her overall working process and how she sees her activities fitting together – both with the artworld and with people who have no connection to art.

Japan, Canada

Edward Sanderson: Can you give me your background? You were born in Japan? How did you end up in China?

Emi Uemura: I was born in Japan and grew up there, going to College in Sapporo to study English Literature for two years and then transferring to the University in Halifax, Canada,

I went to Halifax to study spoken English first of all, and while at the University I took Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology, which still influences my thinking. Around that time, I started to meet students from NSCAD (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) and began engaging with art, social activities and changing eating habits, After graduating from the University, I went back to Japan, worked for a year, then went to Frankfurt, Germany.

Germany, China

ES: What was Germany for?

EU: At this time, a couple of my friends attended Städelschule, a school in Frankfurt, so I was simply curious to experience living in Germany with a group of friends. I was not an official student at the school, but I sneaked around and attended their lectures, film screenings and especially their cooking classes. And did some small projects while I was there.

ES: When would that have been?

EU: 2005–2007, for two and half years. And I think that was the time I was really influenced by the relations between space and food. Even though it was a small school they had a chef and a huge cafeteria where the students and teachers sat together and eat. I found that quality interesting, that in front of food people are very open and have discussions. I think from that point on I wanted to be working with food.

Then I went back to Japan again for two years and I consciously worked with food. The artist Fuyuka Shindo and I had a collaboration unit called DUET♪. We started catering and organizing food events and projects. At this time, I was working with the Sapporo Artist in Residence programme, and I learned the importance of long-term processes for producing work and engaging with people. I’ve now been in Beijing since the end of last year, because a friend of mine is living here and again, I’m looking forward to experiencing a different culture.

Seed Bombing

ES: Maybe you can talk about some of the things that you’ve done, like the Bento boxes, the Chain Letter Dinner at “also space”, and the seed bombing. I’d also like to ask about your work with Elaine Ho’s HomeShop. There’s an informal group of people around that, and you work together on certain things. Perhaps saying you work together is too much of a structure – it’s an informal, friendship thing, so the seed bombing, for instance, is a kind of joint effort.

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