Japan Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Marco Garcia Photography

Tsunami Fundraiser

Japan is in bad shape. Tens of thousands are homeless while more than 20,000 are now presumed dead or missing. The Japanese economy is struggling. Entire villages are gone. Its a tragedy beyond what words can describe. The effects will surely surely filter down to the West.

Hawaii, with its large Japanese and Japanese American population, is strongly sympathetic with the tsunami and nuclear tragedy and has done much to raise funds for those in need. Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef fame held a fundraiser last night at his restaurant, Morimoto Waikiki. A sellout crowd of 350 people attended and the event raised more than $100,000. Sushi, sake, and songs. A great event all around.

I participated in the live auction by donating two images from my 2010 geisha series. While working in Japan, I was granted rare permission to go “behind the scenes” with an apprentice geisha, or maiko, to document her transformation from normal Japanese teenage into a traditional Japanese entertainer. Access to geishas and maikos is very restricted to Japanese and foreigners find it even harder to meet or even see a true geisha/maiko in Japan. The access allowed me to photograph her applying her makeup, fixing her elaborate hairstyle, and donning a traditional kimono.

Little did I know that this access would help me raise more than $2000 at the auction for the two images auctioned off.

Kristin Jackson, of Jackson Ink, the PR firm which works with Morimotos, holds the the framed image which raised big money last night.

All the proceeds from the event were given to the American Red Cross Japan earthquake and Pacific tsunami relief fund. I feel very proud to have given so little yet made a difference last night. Many of us just sit around and facebook or twitter about how sad they feel but few do anything. We did something. We helped.

We made a difference.

37,000 plus…and a shaka!

37,000 plus images

482.38 gigs to be precise. I’ve been re editing all the work from Japan. I’m worn. I can’t believe I took that many pictures.

So as I edited through some of the outtakes and non assignment locations, I found a few little gems here and there. I’ll be posting individual images in the next few posts.

After being in Japan for sometime, I got tired of eating Japanese food. Yeah sure, I eat that all that Japanese food back in Honolulu but I can easily go to get a cheeseburger (not like a Texas burger mind you) and fries anytime I want. I do have to declare Tanaka Saimin makes a mean cheeseburger with fries.

With that in mind, a month is a long time not to eat, well, as they say, comfort food. I don’t need that much comfort in food as I am very quick to adapt to the local food wherever I travel to (I mean what is American food? burgers, pizza, and chicken wings?) so I never have too much of a breakdown. And besides, Japanese food, including the stuff they make from other countries (Japanese croissants are amazing!!!!!) is mostly near perfect. Yes, there are loads of interpretations (pizza with natto?!?!?!) but we are in a global market so nothing is never or not available. (yes…double negs)

But its still hard to be in Japan and not have a good grasp of Japanese. Most menus in Japan are mostly written in….anyone? anyone? Bueller? Bueller? …. in Japanese. If I was by myself, I was resigned to pointing at pictures on the menu to order or sadly dragging a willing waiter/waitress outside to the front of the restaurant where I could point at the little plastic food models. Ah, my big mouth taking a back seat to my index finger… (T_T) it is a bit intimidating for me to be on my own and try to get into the swing of functioning in Japanese. Loads of misunderstood nods, hai’s and wakaranai‘s! I let on I don’t really understand too much but I’ve gotten better. Japanese is just a tough thing to learn.

So when I had the quick chance to pop into a McDonalds in Osaka for a quick bite, I knew I’d get something pretty good (if you consider McDonalds good) and the menu would be in Engrish. The meal might come with a side nori (seeweed) but it’d be a good ol’ processed quality controlled food. Yet, as I read over the menu ( as children and old ladies stare at me from all angles) I couldn’t help but to stick to the Japanese style food and go for this one item on the meal called the Shaka Shaka Chicken.

Hmmm…What might this be? Chicken with pineapple? Chicken wrrapped in spam? Nothing of the sort. It was a fried chicken patty served in a little paper bag in which you’d sprinkle a package of this peppery salt into the bag and then then…shaka shaka! (see instructions on bag) HO…brudda that was way cool and really GOOD. Crispy, spicy, and so American in that unique Japanese way.

I guessed the reference to the shaka was McDonald’s clever way of saying shake shake. They couldn’t (I assume) state shakey shakey because Shakey’s Pizza is still alive and well in Tokyo (hmmm….) and using that term would warrant a nice little law suit. Hence, Micky D’s borrowed the lovable, yet misunderstood, shaka from the Aloha State’s aloha spirit.

Now if we could only get McDonalds US to adapt something as tasty and cool.

How about a badonkadonk burger?

(that killed me…)

A quick read and then some!

Sorry I’ve been away…shooting and editing several jobs and sorting through the thousands of images from Japan. I found this one worthy of a quick, late night blog…

While on the train to Hiroshima one morning, I spied a commuter reading the sports pages of a local paper. Yukako said the headlines were something like…”when I licked the ice cream stick, it melted…” referring to, well, eating ice cream naked in bed on the back of the sports pages. Ah, Japan…what covers for news is much more exciting that what we have in the West, no?

Hey…I just noticed a phantom hand on her back. HEY LEAVE HER ALONE! THAT’S HER ICE CREAM STICK.

Anyway, a quick note on the bw file and camera used. I shot loads with a new Panasonic DMC-LX3 point-n-shoot camera. It shoots raw files and does a fine job for what its meant to do. Its crappy low light but does a great job in just about most other situations. Has a Leica 35mm 2.0 lens and a cute little flash. Does the trick in a pinch and even does video. I did lots of stuff in Japan with this camera. The bw file was a setting in the camera and it isn’t all that bad. I would hope to one day have a point and shoot that can do really good low light stuff but thats a dream.

Kodak is actually reporting that film is making a comeback with the hip young kids these days. Maybe I’ll go back to the trouble. Haven’t shot film in a while.

Next post…Morimoto!

Geisha

Blurred images of kimonoed women, alabaster faces, geta shoes clacking down cobblestoned streets. Red stained lips. Paper umbrella. Eyes downcast. A hint of an ancient past. A unknown future.

Geishas…also called Geikos in Kyoto are one of Japan’s most iconic symbols. Once though of as prostitutes in Western minds, a geisha is a highly trained entertainer who sells her craft, often at high prices, to entertainment establishments via her geisha house, or okiya. During their performances, geishas, or maikos (who are often younger women who are still training) sing, dance, and play traditional Japanese songs using traditional string instruments. Geishas and maikos also sit with clients helping pour drinks and coyly flirt with customers.

I had a unique opportunity to spend time with a maiko in Kyoto and photograph preparing herself with makeup and getting dressed. I was helped by the Chika Yoshida at the Kyoto Tourism Federation. The Federation and Yoshida-san helped me accomplish most of what I set out to do in Kyoto and I owe them a great deal of appreciation for all of her hard work.

Picture courtesy from Chika Yoshida.

I will post more images from my shoot in the future. The first image is actually from a past shoot but I am still editing my current work.

Not about photography…

Every so often, I have to blog about something non photo related.

Today’s subject…futbol and the world cup!

Nationalism is good.

And its even better when you follow the World Cup! Only a global event event like this can bring dark feelings of patriotic song, memories of past wars, and historic games in which your country revenged a past debt from decades ago. As for the US, our collective soccer history really starts in the 1990’s when the US held the ’94 World Cup but it still gives many Americans the chance to paint the flag on the face, drink loads of beer early in the afternoon, and hoot the ol’ war chant U-S-A! U-S-A! We really can’t lay claim to a North vs South game where slavery is on the line or even a USA vs whom every we’ve gone to war with in the past. Imagine the game strategy against Vietnam…carpet bomb the backfield, bomb the neighbors, try to win the hearts-and-minds of the opposing fans, and then have the US soccer federation tell the team to lose the game because the rating are low on ESPN. We have played games like US vs Iran (or as I recall the Great Satan vs the Ayatollah’s rock and rollahs) but they just don’t have that historical feeling like watching England vs Argentina where memories of the Faulkland Islands ring clear. Yet US soccer is still fun to watch regardless of their historic shortcomings and past. No I take that back, that Iran game at the ’98 WC was pretty heavy. I recall all the Iranians having heavy mustaches.

For the past few weeks, I’ve drank loads of coffee as the games start as early as 4 AM in HNL, and I have wrapped myself in the feel good Americanism of Team USA. Forget about our failing financial woes, our pointless war in Afghanistan, our leaderless nation not doing enough to clean up the Gulf oil spill…ITS WORLD CUP TIME! Its time to wave the flag! Sing at the top of our lungs: WE ARE PROUD TO BE AMERICANS! (where at least we know we’re free at this point from VAT taxes, a forced national health care, etc…) We are free right NOW and we should paint our faces in red-white-and blue and sing the joys of the athletic nationalism.

I can’t say most Americans are always proud to be American. Hell, Michelle Obama stated not too long ago…” For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m proud of my country.” I guess she’s not watching enough soccer. But we should all feel proud when our national athletes take the field and do battle for our collective pride. Billy Clinton was down at one of the USA games and when interviewed after the game, he was hoarse and teary eyed. Bill did America proud!

Sadly, the US is out. The mediocre Americans lost to a slightly stronger Ghana whose many players all work in the top leagues in Europe. Only a few Americans play near the pinnacle of top flight European football but most still play for second and third tier teams or work in the MLS in the States. By far the best and brightest (?) athletes converge at the big three sports in the US leaving soccer for moms, SUV’s and suburban white kids. We can’t say the US is out for a lack of trying. I mean some of the best games were played by the US. Just listen to Spanish announcer Andres Cantor call the game for the US against Algeria in the first round. Landon Donovan scored an overtime winner that still puts chills down my spine where I see that last second golazo. You can listen to it here in espanol from youtube.com.

But the US team just isn’t good enough to compete beyond the first round and knock out stages. Criticism has come from all sides stating we have a average domestic coach, players are not good enough, etc. I’m also reading the US soccer federation will now create better outreach programs to pull kids from the greater American gene pool. What does that mean? It means soccer will try to move into the ghetto and el barrio and pull kids who would normally go to football, basketball and baseball. Good. Imagine if soccer were to steal an Eli Manning, a Kobe Bryant, or an Oscar Dela Hoya? We’d, like most other sports, dominate. My friend David has always said why not get a 6’6 center from a basketball team and train him just to stand in front of the opponent’s net and jump up and hit the ball with his head? That’s more or less what Peter Crouch does for England?

And besides with all the immigration that floods legally and illegally into our country, we’re bound to have some Diego Milito from Argentina or a some other Latin, Eastern Europe or African star show up.

Alas, most of my teams are out. From America, to the country of my heritage (Mexico) the the country of my language (England) and now the country of my wife (Japan.) I’ve got nothing. I could start to dwell in the roots of my background (Portugal and Spain) but now Portugal is out leaving Spain with the only thread to really cling. I could never really pull myself to cheer for a national team that wasn’t mine or I didn’t have some connection to but at this point, the world cup is over. I’ll still wake up and watch the Germany Argentina game or the Brazil Netherlands game but in reality, its no fun. The nationalism is gone. No more chanting yes we can as we did and we found out we really couldn’t.

Besides, I miffed at the poor handling of major mistakes by FIFA for not allowing goal line technology to be employed. England had a goal taken away and Argentina was clearly off sides against Mexico causing the Mexicans to return to a game where an obvious injustice had been done. The US had a game winning goal taken away by a ref from Mali. Did anyone ask if the ref might have anti US bias? The US doesn’t have the best image in the third world. And besides, might that ref have Al Qaida sympathies?

Either way, another World Cup is just about done and I’m feeling depressed and blue. So much emotion goes into each game and it hurts to see “my” team loose. Eh–enough of this because soon enough, English Premier League will start in August and the drama will begin all over at the club level. All the big stars will go back to their multi-ethnic teams and makes loads of money again. Christano Ronaldo, who did absolutely terrible in this Cup, will go back to his millions in Spain and loads of screaming fans.

One sad note, the English, who were absolutely terrible in this world cup, were missing Beckham. What fun he would have brought to the atmosphere of a dying English side.