The Stripes Okinawa, is the free weekly supplement of the Stars and Stripes newspaper. Kluso (the musician in an earlier blog post) does some writing for the paper and came down to Cotonoha to chat about the exhibition. Kluso’s article along with some of my photographs appeared today in this week’s edition. 
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Interview on F.M. Okinawa
Yesterday I was a guest on Arisa Muto‘s chat show on FM Okinawa. We talked in Japanese about topics ranging from how blue the sky is to my favorite Okinawan food. It will be broadcast on May 23rd at 9.30pm, and if you’d like to hear me butchering the Japanese language it will definitely be worth tuning in to.
Interview with Arisa Muto for FM Okinawa
I had never been into a recording studio before. I was most impressed by the doors.
The Best of British – The BBC’s Natural History Unit
I have friends from many different countries and I am often amazed at how passionately patriotic they are of their homeland. I have been told numerous times that America / Canada / Australia / New Zealand / China / South Africa is the greatest country in the world and that not only should I visit but I should move there because it is such a fantastic place.
Brits don’t tend to enthuse quite so much about their own country. In fact, most, seem to delight in telling a fellow ex-pat how grey / rainy / bleak / miserable the UK was on their last trip.
I am sometimes asked what exactly Britain produces now that the shipbuilding, textiles, coal, and steel industries have almost gone. It turns out that we are still very good at banking, insurance, and producing weapons. Not the most popular industries in the world right now.
Britain does however have numerous small companies that I am proud of Bowers and Wilkins (speakers), Marshall (amps), Lotus – (fast cars), Mclaren – (very fast cars), Dyson – (vacuum cleaners), The Body Shop (cosmetics). Perhaps the company, or corporation to be precise, that I am most proud of is the B.B.C.
The news section of the BBC is excellent, with correspondents around the world. It has also managed, for now at least, to keep the focus on the news rather than the news anchors (unlike CNN). The BBC also seems less prone to get two people with extreme opposing opinions on an issue to shout at each other for 5 minutes and call it a serious debate.
Perhaps the BBC’s greatest jewel is its Natural History Unit – the largest wildlife documentary production house in the world. I grew up watching shows like David Attenborough’s Wildlife on One, Life on Earth, The Living Planet, The Trials of Life and Life in the Freezer.
The most recent productions Blue Planet
Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton
Takashi Murakami doesn’t just lend his talents to pop stars. For many Japanese women there is one brand that ranks above all others, and its name is Louis Vuitton. Their designer bags are so popular in urban Japan that you could be forgiven for thinking they were part of a national costume.
Louis Vuitton store Nagoya, Japan
Murakami teamed up with Louis Vuitton to inject a dose of modern Japan into the rather staid French designs. The result was a series of special edition bags that had forgone the traditional brown colour scheme for something a little bolder.
Murakami design for Louis Vuitton bags
Kanye West and Takashi Murakami
Kanye West is quite the Japanophile.
Album cover for Kanye West's album Graduation.
The album cover for his album Graduation
The music video for Kanye West’s song Stronger was filmed in Japan, and I think is based in part on scenes from the anime movie Akira. Enjoy!
Thank You
Just want to say thanks to everyone who made it out to the opening reception of my exhibition. I think the about 45 people came, and everything went really well. DJ Gilberto was great, the food was delicious, and Jose did a wonderful job of translating my talk. I wandered around nervously babbling to people, but managed to enjoy myself tremendously.
Exhibition will be up for the whole of May so drop by Cotonoha to check it out.
Opening night at Cotonoha
Visions of Japan on YouTube
Over the last couple of weeks I have been sorting out a slideshow for my exhibition that will be projected on to a wall where a single picture would normally hang. It allows me to show far more images than would otherwise fit in the gallery. The slideshow I have created for Cotonoha lasts 30 minutes and has images changing every 25 seconds.
I also created a 7 minute version with images changing every 5 or 6 seconds that also has some wonderful background music. The piece is Sakura by Yokoh and is played by my friend Eduardo Terre on the classical guitar. The music came from a live recording of one of his concerts. It has been a bit of an exhausting experience learning how to create a slideshow, add music, convert formats etc, but finally both the long and short versions are now complete. The long version is ready to be shown at the gallery, and the short version is now up on YouTube. Enjoy.
Eduardo, I am humbled by your talent.
Tokyo Rockabilly
A fantastic new video appeared on MTV yesterday. The group is Peter Bjorn and John (Yes they are from Sweden) and the song is Nothing to Worry About. What is brilliant is that the video follows a day in the life of a Tokyo Rockabilly.
These guys can usually be found on Sunday afternoons beside Yoyogi Park, just around the corner from the teenagers dressed in cos-play costumes. Just as in the video, they are jiving, line dancing, combing their hair and hanging out.
On Friday, I am going to give a little talk at my exhibition about taking photographs. One of the things I will mention is communication. By speaking a little of the local language, you can start conversations with interesting people.
When I saw the Rockabillies, rather than just snapping a shot from a distance, I went over and had a chat with some of the guys. I was able to get them to pose for some shots, and then found out which of them was the owner of the American classic car parked close by. The sun was low in the sky, going into the “golden hour”, and I was able to get a few photographs some of which are now personal favorites.
Tokyo Rockabilly
Tokyo Rockabilly
Okinawa Rail (Gallirallus okinawae)
The Okinawa Rail is an endangered bird that is endemic to the northern part of the Okinawan main island. They are both rare and shy, which makes getting photographs of them tricky.
Luckily last year I was given access to the birds at the breeding center in Kunigami. I was able to get so close to some of the birds I was using a macro lens and getting my fingers pecked.
Okinawa Rail adult (Gallirallus okinawae)
Last week my friend Ichiro told me that there were some very young Okinawa Rail being cared for at Nagamine Animal Hospital and I had permission to go and take some photographs. It was tough to get good shots – small dark birds in a dark room on a cloudy day. In the end I got some interesting shots which will hopefully become part of a larger photo feature on the efforts that are going on to try and save the species from extinction.
Okinawa Rail eggs in the incubator
Veterinary staff member with young Okinawa Rail
Okinawa Rail chick (Gallirallus okinawae)
Visions of Japan Exhibition at Cotonoha
For the whole of May an exhibition of my photographs will be showing at Cotonoha Artspace + Cafe in Ginowan, Okinawa.
Cotonoha is a new gallery / cafe in Okinawa that was created by Daryl Mitchell a.k.a. Mitch and his wife. Mitch has done a great job on the gallery and strives to produce the best in every aspect of his work. The food, interior design and ambiance are all first rate.
Check out the Cotonoha website to find out more.
There will be a reception on May 1st with a buffet, music, and lots of interesting people. Rather than a lecture I thought I would tell a few anecdotes about taking photographs in Japan. Hopefully these anecdotes will be amusing, a surprising number are about men’s bottoms.
My photographs are going to be on display for the entire month, and Cotonoha will be open from 2pm till 11pm except Mondays. The limited edition prints that are on sale through my website will be available for purchase along with open editions of smaller A4 sized prints.
I won’t be at the exhibition everyday, but if you are planning on coming (and would like to chat) let me know when and I’ll try my best to make it down there to meet you.
Map to Cotonoha Artspace + Cafe, Okinawa
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 