Face To Face

Our guest is Yodogawa Technique, an artist who transforms trash and flotsam into stunning collages. He travels worldwide, interacting with local communities to create thought-provoking works. In the Maldives he formed a huge fish with the plastic bottles that are endangering its coral reefs. In memory of all that was swept away by the devastating tsunami of 2011, he created a "Wakabayashi 100 Years Swing" using what was left of the windbreak forests. His work has been featured in school textbooks to inspire eco-awareness.

A declining birthrate and an exodus of young people to the cities has led to an increase in vacant homes, often abandoned in lieu of paying inheritance tax. Over 13% of the houses in Japan remain empty. In Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, however, an NPO is encouraging city dwellers to take up small town living by turning abandoned houses into attractive homes. It's renovated over 100 houses to date, increasing the population by over 150. We'll hear all about this from its director, Masako Toyota.

Miso and other fermented foods are key to Japanese cuisine, a favorite of health-conscious foodies the world over. But increasing food diversity has led to a 40% decline in miso consumption over the last 20 years. This has prompted Hiraku Ogura, a self-proclaimed "fermentation designer," to produce animation and songs about microbial action, hold miso-making workshops, and showcase regional foods to explore the link between fermentation and Japanese culture. Join us for more on Face To Face.

The 2018 US National Book Award for Translated Literature went to Yoko Tawada's "The Emissary," a phantasmagoric description of the dystopian world after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Based in Germany, Tawada has won numerous awards for her output in both Japanese and German. Her works have been translated into various languages. She shares with us her thoughts on how writing in a different language and culture has shaped her perspective on Japan and made her aware of the importance of transcending the language barrier.

Our guest, Yusuke Murakami, is a field architect who studies extreme living environments. He's spent over 1,000 days in the field, including the Himalayas and Antarctica. In 2017, he led an international team as Executive Officer on a 160-day Mars simulation mission in the Utah desert and the Arctic. This year, he converted a decommissioned Antarctic icebreaker into a spaceship to launch his own space simulation. His ultimate goal is to enable people from diverse backgrounds to live in harmony in a confined environment for prolonged periods.

Kuniaki Kuroki is a world-renowned glassmaker with over 50 years of experience, whose works combine techniques from traditional Japanese ceramics and lacquering, and incorporate motifs from classic Japanese artists like Ogata Korin and Katsushika Hokusai. A 2008 exhibition of his work at Ca' Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art in Venice wowed Western audiences. At his workshop in the mountains of Miyazaki Prefecture, he has supported his local community with an entirely new style of cut glass.

Originally from Canada, Josh Grisdale has cerebral palsy, is quadriplegic and has used a wheelchair from a very early age. In 2015 he created an English website on accessible tourism in Japan, which receives over 50,000 hits a year. Besides checking out facilities and tourist destinations all over Japan, he helps organize accessible tours. He believes that accessibility is relevant to today's rapidly aging society. He shares his thoughts on this and Japan's culture of hospitality on Face To Face.

teamLab is a cutting-edge art collective led by Toshiyuki Inoko. One of its major exhibitions is set in a huge Japanese garden at the foot of Mt. Mifuneyama in Kyushu. Constantly changing seasonal images are projected onto huge rocks and old ruins, merging nature with art created by digital technology. Expressions inspired by ukiyo-e woodblock prints and Japanese-style paintings are based on computer algorithms that help transcend the boundaries between time and space, changing the way we see the world as you'll hear on Face To Face.

Judo, karate, and kendo are representative of Japan's martial arts or budo that has its origins in the way of the samurai. Doshin Hiroki used to be one of Japan's foremost budo masters. But after his son was diagnosed with autism, he turned to budo to prevent his son from hurting himself and others during a panic attack. He eventually developed a form of budo that is proving to be effective in promoting self-advocacy, therapy, and care. He talks about the significance of budo in today's society.

Miyako Ishiuchi is a world-famous photographer and laureate of the "Nobel Prize of photography," the Hasselblad Award. She chooses to focus on the personal effects of the deceased, including the victims of the Hiroshima A-bomb, to document peoples' memories and the vestiges of time. In her latest exhibition, she seeks to find understanding of her late mother by focusing on her effects and that of a female artist of the same generation. Robert Campbell zooms in on her focus and vision.