with Eiko Otake "A Body in Fukushima" is an ongoing project that consists of still photographs sh... more with Eiko Otake "A Body in Fukushima" is an ongoing project that consists of still photographs shot by William Johnston of Eiko Otake performing in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor and of video interpretations of those still photographs made by Eiko. Representative images and videos are embedded in the text below. A Body in Fukushima Winter 2014, excerpt. Full video here.
dancer and choreographer EIKO OTAKE and photographer and historian WILLIAM JOHNSTON, a historian ... more dancer and choreographer EIKO OTAKE and photographer and historian WILLIAM JOHNSTON, a historian of disease, public health, and environment in Japan, have, as of this publication, co-taught four semesters of a course on the history of the atomic bomb in Japan at Wesleyan University, and have traveled together to Fukushima four times. They have now also now presented over sixteen exhibitions of their collaborative project, A Body in Places. What follows is a dialogue about their work together. As JOHNSTON says to EIKO in their conversation below, "You and I have talked a lot over the years, but as our collaboration deepened talking became less necessary." At times, it seems that BILL really can read EIKO's mind. EIKO inserts a comment in a draft-stage document: "PHOTO OF ME DANCING LIKE KAZUO OHNO." Out of the tens of thousands of images they have created together, she trusts BILL to know which that image is. In 2017, EIKO began a new phase of their project together with the Body in Places-The Met Edition. Introducing the new element of video, she performed pushing a cart projecting a seven-anda-half-hour-long video that she created for each of the three locations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met Fifth Avenue, the Met Breuer, and the Met). Such new phases once again prompt EIKO and JOHNSTON to enter into new discussions.
One day in November of 2013 I answered the phone to hear the voice of Eiko Otake saying excitedly... more One day in November of 2013 I answered the phone to hear the voice of Eiko Otake saying excitedly, "Bill! What do you think of going to Fukushima to shoot photos of me performing in the stations along the Jōban Line?" For several years Eiko, better known as half of the performance duo Eiko and Koma, and I had collaborated in the classroom and by then knew each other well. We had co‐taught two different courses, Japan and the Atomic Bomb and Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in which we integrated movement exercises with historical and environmental studies. We both have longstanding interests in those and related topics, and had spoken at length about the triple disaster of 3.11 in Japan. Soon after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, we had talked about our concern for the people of Tōhoku and exchanged feelings of dread at the unfolding nuclear disaster in Fukushima. And I knew that she had visited Fukushima with a friend only five months after 3.11. But this new...
From Trinity to Trinity: Life and Art of Hayashi Kyōko Eiko Otake My "Artistic Thesis" is a trans... more From Trinity to Trinity: Life and Art of Hayashi Kyōko Eiko Otake My "Artistic Thesis" is a translation of the Japanese short novel "Torinichi kara Torinichi e [From Trinity to Trinity]" by Hayashi Kyōko (b.1930). Hayashi is a celebrated female writer whose semi-autobiographical work chronicles her experience as a Nagasaki A-bomb survivor. "Torinichi" concisely but emotionally describes the protagonist/narrator's visit to the Trinity site in New Mexico, the first atomic bomb test site, 54 years after she was exposed to a nuclear attack in Nagasaki. My "Background Essay" investigates the significance and challenges of Japanese atomic bomb literature as it illustrates the human experiences of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese atomic bomb literature inevitably presents difficulties in delivering factual accuracy in the same way other testimonial writings do. However, artists of Japanese atomic bomb literature, particularly Hayashi Kyōko, present human resilience and the transformative power of art in the very area where effectiveness of language and witnessing is put into question. The process of creating such art has enabled Hayashi, and perhaps other victims and artists, to transcend a randomly given but violently enforced atomic bomb victim-hood into an individually tailored survivor-chronicler-hood. Yet I argue that Hayashi's foreignness and insistence make her singular in the genre. Following a short description of the historicity of the atomic bombings and atomic bomb victims I will give an overview of the genre of Japanese atomic bomb literature and its writers. This examination of atomic bomb literature will lead to a discussion of the silence which epitomizes the shock, incommunicability, and massive deaths brought by the atomic bombings. By looking at three works, each of which represents a different phase of her career, I will examine Hayashi's artistry, thoughts, and process of transformation. This paper concludes by showing that Hayashi's "Torinichi" is not only the fruition of her long journey as an atomic bomb victim/artist but also a work of human mourning that reaches beyond the existing genre of Japanese atomic bomb literature. My "Artistic Aims Essay" will explain how my artistic sympathy for Hayashi Kyōko and the decisions I made as her translator are supported by the reciprocal relationship between translator/scholar Eiko Otake and dancer/choreographer Eiko. I present "sustained mourning" as a common motivation both for the writer Hayashi and for myself. I also observe how past, present and future are not only related, but intricately and radically united. This notion of time as a united whole is critical not only in my understanding of atomic bomb literature but also in my translation of "Torinichi." People do not experience facts; they experience emotions, pains and physical sensations. Mourning continues. My thesis as a whole honors Hayashi's commitment to create artistic representations of the human experiences of the atomic bombings.
dancer and choreographer EIKO OTAKE and photographer and historian WILLIAM JOHNSTON, a historian ... more dancer and choreographer EIKO OTAKE and photographer and historian WILLIAM JOHNSTON, a historian of disease, public health, and environment in Japan, have, as of this publication, co-taught four semesters of a course on the history of the atomic bomb in Japan at Wesleyan University, and have traveled together to Fukushima four times. They have now also now presented over sixteen exhibitions of their collaborative project, A Body in Places. What follows is a dialogue about their work together. As JOHNSTON says to EIKO in their conversation below, "You and I have talked a lot over the years, but as our collaboration deepened talking became less necessary." At times, it seems that BILL really can read EIKO's mind. EIKO inserts a comment in a draft-stage document: "PHOTO OF ME DANCING LIKE KAZUO OHNO." Out of the tens of thousands of images they have created together, she trusts BILL to know which that image is. In 2017, EIKO began a new phase of their project together with the Body in Places-The Met Edition. Introducing the new element of video, she performed pushing a cart projecting a seven-anda-half-hour-long video that she created for each of the three locations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met Fifth Avenue, the Met Breuer, and the Met). Such new phases once again prompt EIKO and JOHNSTON to enter into new discussions.
with Eiko Otake "A Body in Fukushima" is an ongoing project that consists of still photographs sh... more with Eiko Otake "A Body in Fukushima" is an ongoing project that consists of still photographs shot by William Johnston of Eiko Otake performing in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor and of video interpretations of those still photographs made by Eiko. Representative images and videos are embedded in the text below. A Body in Fukushima Winter 2014, excerpt. Full video here.
with Eiko Otake "A Body in Fukushima" is an ongoing project that consists of still photographs sh... more with Eiko Otake "A Body in Fukushima" is an ongoing project that consists of still photographs shot by William Johnston of Eiko Otake performing in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor and of video interpretations of those still photographs made by Eiko. Representative images and videos are embedded in the text below. A Body in Fukushima Winter 2014, excerpt. Full video here.
dancer and choreographer EIKO OTAKE and photographer and historian WILLIAM JOHNSTON, a historian ... more dancer and choreographer EIKO OTAKE and photographer and historian WILLIAM JOHNSTON, a historian of disease, public health, and environment in Japan, have, as of this publication, co-taught four semesters of a course on the history of the atomic bomb in Japan at Wesleyan University, and have traveled together to Fukushima four times. They have now also now presented over sixteen exhibitions of their collaborative project, A Body in Places. What follows is a dialogue about their work together. As JOHNSTON says to EIKO in their conversation below, "You and I have talked a lot over the years, but as our collaboration deepened talking became less necessary." At times, it seems that BILL really can read EIKO's mind. EIKO inserts a comment in a draft-stage document: "PHOTO OF ME DANCING LIKE KAZUO OHNO." Out of the tens of thousands of images they have created together, she trusts BILL to know which that image is. In 2017, EIKO began a new phase of their project together with the Body in Places-The Met Edition. Introducing the new element of video, she performed pushing a cart projecting a seven-anda-half-hour-long video that she created for each of the three locations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met Fifth Avenue, the Met Breuer, and the Met). Such new phases once again prompt EIKO and JOHNSTON to enter into new discussions.
One day in November of 2013 I answered the phone to hear the voice of Eiko Otake saying excitedly... more One day in November of 2013 I answered the phone to hear the voice of Eiko Otake saying excitedly, "Bill! What do you think of going to Fukushima to shoot photos of me performing in the stations along the Jōban Line?" For several years Eiko, better known as half of the performance duo Eiko and Koma, and I had collaborated in the classroom and by then knew each other well. We had co‐taught two different courses, Japan and the Atomic Bomb and Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in which we integrated movement exercises with historical and environmental studies. We both have longstanding interests in those and related topics, and had spoken at length about the triple disaster of 3.11 in Japan. Soon after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, we had talked about our concern for the people of Tōhoku and exchanged feelings of dread at the unfolding nuclear disaster in Fukushima. And I knew that she had visited Fukushima with a friend only five months after 3.11. But this new...
From Trinity to Trinity: Life and Art of Hayashi Kyōko Eiko Otake My "Artistic Thesis" is a trans... more From Trinity to Trinity: Life and Art of Hayashi Kyōko Eiko Otake My "Artistic Thesis" is a translation of the Japanese short novel "Torinichi kara Torinichi e [From Trinity to Trinity]" by Hayashi Kyōko (b.1930). Hayashi is a celebrated female writer whose semi-autobiographical work chronicles her experience as a Nagasaki A-bomb survivor. "Torinichi" concisely but emotionally describes the protagonist/narrator's visit to the Trinity site in New Mexico, the first atomic bomb test site, 54 years after she was exposed to a nuclear attack in Nagasaki. My "Background Essay" investigates the significance and challenges of Japanese atomic bomb literature as it illustrates the human experiences of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese atomic bomb literature inevitably presents difficulties in delivering factual accuracy in the same way other testimonial writings do. However, artists of Japanese atomic bomb literature, particularly Hayashi Kyōko, present human resilience and the transformative power of art in the very area where effectiveness of language and witnessing is put into question. The process of creating such art has enabled Hayashi, and perhaps other victims and artists, to transcend a randomly given but violently enforced atomic bomb victim-hood into an individually tailored survivor-chronicler-hood. Yet I argue that Hayashi's foreignness and insistence make her singular in the genre. Following a short description of the historicity of the atomic bombings and atomic bomb victims I will give an overview of the genre of Japanese atomic bomb literature and its writers. This examination of atomic bomb literature will lead to a discussion of the silence which epitomizes the shock, incommunicability, and massive deaths brought by the atomic bombings. By looking at three works, each of which represents a different phase of her career, I will examine Hayashi's artistry, thoughts, and process of transformation. This paper concludes by showing that Hayashi's "Torinichi" is not only the fruition of her long journey as an atomic bomb victim/artist but also a work of human mourning that reaches beyond the existing genre of Japanese atomic bomb literature. My "Artistic Aims Essay" will explain how my artistic sympathy for Hayashi Kyōko and the decisions I made as her translator are supported by the reciprocal relationship between translator/scholar Eiko Otake and dancer/choreographer Eiko. I present "sustained mourning" as a common motivation both for the writer Hayashi and for myself. I also observe how past, present and future are not only related, but intricately and radically united. This notion of time as a united whole is critical not only in my understanding of atomic bomb literature but also in my translation of "Torinichi." People do not experience facts; they experience emotions, pains and physical sensations. Mourning continues. My thesis as a whole honors Hayashi's commitment to create artistic representations of the human experiences of the atomic bombings.
dancer and choreographer EIKO OTAKE and photographer and historian WILLIAM JOHNSTON, a historian ... more dancer and choreographer EIKO OTAKE and photographer and historian WILLIAM JOHNSTON, a historian of disease, public health, and environment in Japan, have, as of this publication, co-taught four semesters of a course on the history of the atomic bomb in Japan at Wesleyan University, and have traveled together to Fukushima four times. They have now also now presented over sixteen exhibitions of their collaborative project, A Body in Places. What follows is a dialogue about their work together. As JOHNSTON says to EIKO in their conversation below, "You and I have talked a lot over the years, but as our collaboration deepened talking became less necessary." At times, it seems that BILL really can read EIKO's mind. EIKO inserts a comment in a draft-stage document: "PHOTO OF ME DANCING LIKE KAZUO OHNO." Out of the tens of thousands of images they have created together, she trusts BILL to know which that image is. In 2017, EIKO began a new phase of their project together with the Body in Places-The Met Edition. Introducing the new element of video, she performed pushing a cart projecting a seven-anda-half-hour-long video that she created for each of the three locations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met Fifth Avenue, the Met Breuer, and the Met). Such new phases once again prompt EIKO and JOHNSTON to enter into new discussions.
with Eiko Otake "A Body in Fukushima" is an ongoing project that consists of still photographs sh... more with Eiko Otake "A Body in Fukushima" is an ongoing project that consists of still photographs shot by William Johnston of Eiko Otake performing in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi Reactor and of video interpretations of those still photographs made by Eiko. Representative images and videos are embedded in the text below. A Body in Fukushima Winter 2014, excerpt. Full video here.
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