Olga Kanzaki Sooudi
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839413
- eISBN:
- 9780824869090
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839413.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter offers a “map” of artistic Japanese migrants in New York City. It begins by presenting brief snapshots of some Japanese migrant artists in NYC, who are all members of the so-called ...
More
This chapter offers a “map” of artistic Japanese migrants in New York City. It begins by presenting brief snapshots of some Japanese migrant artists in NYC, who are all members of the so-called creative class, and within it work specifically in “supercreative” fields. It then provides a short history of postwar Japanese international travel, along with the history of external migration, particularly of creative people such as artists and intellectuals. It also examines how the mobility of Japanese migrant artists began, and how Japanese came to leave their country in the first place. It shows that contemporary Japanese migrants, particularly the independent artists who go to NYC and other cities, are difficult to categorize. They are at once travelers, sojourners, and migrants, and their time abroad might be characterized as a kind of extended travel.Less
This chapter offers a “map” of artistic Japanese migrants in New York City. It begins by presenting brief snapshots of some Japanese migrant artists in NYC, who are all members of the so-called creative class, and within it work specifically in “supercreative” fields. It then provides a short history of postwar Japanese international travel, along with the history of external migration, particularly of creative people such as artists and intellectuals. It also examines how the mobility of Japanese migrant artists began, and how Japanese came to leave their country in the first place. It shows that contemporary Japanese migrants, particularly the independent artists who go to NYC and other cities, are difficult to categorize. They are at once travelers, sojourners, and migrants, and their time abroad might be characterized as a kind of extended travel.
Olga Kanzaki Sooudi
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839413
- eISBN:
- 9780824869090
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839413.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This book examines the everyday lives of Japanese migrants who have reinvented themselves as artists in contemporary New York City. Drawing on research carried out between 2005 and 2006 in New York ...
More
This book examines the everyday lives of Japanese migrants who have reinvented themselves as artists in contemporary New York City. Drawing on research carried out between 2005 and 2006 in New York City and between 2003 and 2007 in Tokyo, the book explores the tension between optimistic self-reinvention and material and logistical constraints on self-realization, as well as the more ephemeral and intangible qualities in NYC that migrants value so highly. Focusing on the bohemian, artistic class of Japanese migrants—visual artists, graphic designers, fashion designers and stylists, dancers, musicians, and writers—the book approaches migration as well as the narrative and representational practices surrounding it as forms of aspirational self-making. It shows that the story of Japanese migrant artists in NYC offers important insights about Japan beyond its borders. This introduction uses everyday life as a framing device rather than an explicit theoretical concept, drawing from Michel de Certeau's notion of the everyday as the mundane moments where the “ordinary man” or “common hero” subverts and resists hegemonic power in creative ways.Less
This book examines the everyday lives of Japanese migrants who have reinvented themselves as artists in contemporary New York City. Drawing on research carried out between 2005 and 2006 in New York City and between 2003 and 2007 in Tokyo, the book explores the tension between optimistic self-reinvention and material and logistical constraints on self-realization, as well as the more ephemeral and intangible qualities in NYC that migrants value so highly. Focusing on the bohemian, artistic class of Japanese migrants—visual artists, graphic designers, fashion designers and stylists, dancers, musicians, and writers—the book approaches migration as well as the narrative and representational practices surrounding it as forms of aspirational self-making. It shows that the story of Japanese migrant artists in NYC offers important insights about Japan beyond its borders. This introduction uses everyday life as a framing device rather than an explicit theoretical concept, drawing from Michel de Certeau's notion of the everyday as the mundane moments where the “ordinary man” or “common hero” subverts and resists hegemonic power in creative ways.
Olga Kanzaki Sooudi
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839413
- eISBN:
- 9780824869090
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839413.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter examines how migrants in New York City craft themselves as Japanese through their creative work and personal identities. More specifically, it considers how Japan—as an idea, an ...
More
This chapter examines how migrants in New York City craft themselves as Japanese through their creative work and personal identities. More specifically, it considers how Japan—as an idea, an identity, and an object of reflection and crafting—operates among Japanese migrants in NYC. It shows that many migrant artists struggle with the idea of “Japaneseness” itself, as they may package themselves and their work as “Japanese” or “Asian” so as to be commercially successful. The chapter interweaves these artists' stories with parallel histories of Japanese migration from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also juxtaposes the narratives with two texts: Natsume Sōseki's 1914 speech “Watakushi no kojinshugi” (My individualism) and Kuki Shūzō's 1930 treatise “Iki” no kōzō (The structure of “iki”).Less
This chapter examines how migrants in New York City craft themselves as Japanese through their creative work and personal identities. More specifically, it considers how Japan—as an idea, an identity, and an object of reflection and crafting—operates among Japanese migrants in NYC. It shows that many migrant artists struggle with the idea of “Japaneseness” itself, as they may package themselves and their work as “Japanese” or “Asian” so as to be commercially successful. The chapter interweaves these artists' stories with parallel histories of Japanese migration from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also juxtaposes the narratives with two texts: Natsume Sōseki's 1914 speech “Watakushi no kojinshugi” (My individualism) and Kuki Shūzō's 1930 treatise “Iki” no kōzō (The structure of “iki”).
Olga Kanzaki Sooudi
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839413
- eISBN:
- 9780824869090
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839413.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter examines the appeal of being an artist for Japanese migrants in New York City, along with the relationship between urban life and creative production. It shows that artistic production ...
More
This chapter examines the appeal of being an artist for Japanese migrants in New York City, along with the relationship between urban life and creative production. It shows that artistic production is a key means of self-actualization by drawing on the ethnographies of art and fashion. It also considers migrant artists' vision of NYC as a site for the birth and development of organic, authentic life experiences and reveals that their understandings of the authentic have three dimensions: encounters with radical difference in urban space, Japan's relationship to the world and the role of connection, and, finally, feeling and sensation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of authenticity and creativity in the context of modernity.Less
This chapter examines the appeal of being an artist for Japanese migrants in New York City, along with the relationship between urban life and creative production. It shows that artistic production is a key means of self-actualization by drawing on the ethnographies of art and fashion. It also considers migrant artists' vision of NYC as a site for the birth and development of organic, authentic life experiences and reveals that their understandings of the authentic have three dimensions: encounters with radical difference in urban space, Japan's relationship to the world and the role of connection, and, finally, feeling and sensation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of authenticity and creativity in the context of modernity.
Olga Kanzaki Sooudi
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824839413
- eISBN:
- 9780824869090
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824839413.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
Spend time in New York City and, soon enough, you will encounter some of the Japanese nationals who live and work there. NYC is also home to one of the largest overseas Japanese populations in the ...
More
Spend time in New York City and, soon enough, you will encounter some of the Japanese nationals who live and work there. NYC is also home to one of the largest overseas Japanese populations in the world. Among them are artists and designers who produce cutting-edge work in fields such as design, fashion, music, and art. Part of the so-called“creative class” and a growing segment of the neoliberal economy, these Japanese migrants are usually middle-class and college-educated. They move to NYC in the hope of realizing dreams and aspirations unavailable to them in Japan. Yet the creative careers they desire are competitive, and many end up working illegally in precarious, low-paying jobs. Though they often migrate without fixed plans for return, nearly all eventually do, and their migrant trajectories are punctuated by visits home. This book offers a portrait of these Japanese creative migrants living and working in NYC. At its heart is a universal question—how do adults reinvent their lives? In the absence of any material or social need, what makes it worthwhile for people to abandon middle-class comfort and home for an unfamiliar and insecure life? The book explores these questions in four different venues patronized by New York's Japanese. The story of Japanese migrant artists in NYC is both a story about Japan and a way of examining Japan from beyond its borders.Less
Spend time in New York City and, soon enough, you will encounter some of the Japanese nationals who live and work there. NYC is also home to one of the largest overseas Japanese populations in the world. Among them are artists and designers who produce cutting-edge work in fields such as design, fashion, music, and art. Part of the so-called“creative class” and a growing segment of the neoliberal economy, these Japanese migrants are usually middle-class and college-educated. They move to NYC in the hope of realizing dreams and aspirations unavailable to them in Japan. Yet the creative careers they desire are competitive, and many end up working illegally in precarious, low-paying jobs. Though they often migrate without fixed plans for return, nearly all eventually do, and their migrant trajectories are punctuated by visits home. This book offers a portrait of these Japanese creative migrants living and working in NYC. At its heart is a universal question—how do adults reinvent their lives? In the absence of any material or social need, what makes it worthwhile for people to abandon middle-class comfort and home for an unfamiliar and insecure life? The book explores these questions in four different venues patronized by New York's Japanese. The story of Japanese migrant artists in NYC is both a story about Japan and a way of examining Japan from beyond its borders.