Kristine Ohkubo’s ‘Nickname: Flower of Evil (呼び名は悪の花)’is a compelling exploration of Japan’s dark past, spotlighting its neglect of women’s rights that still continues even today. Recently honoured as an American Legacy Book Awards Finalist for 2024, this work delves deeply into the controversial life of Abe Sada, whose story epitomised the struggles of women in early 20th-century Japan.
Ohkubo’s masterful narrative reveals the harsh realities faced by women during a time of intense modernisation that began after the Meiji Restoration. Through the lens of Abe Sada’s infamous crime, the book examines gender inequality and societal pressures that led to her desperate actions. She was, indeed, a victim of our dark history.
This work is a reminder of the ongoing issues of gender inequality in one of the most “developed” countries in the world. As always, Ohkubo uncovered the truths hidden in the shadows of the past to give a voice to those who had no voice.
Long time no see! Hope all is well with you and your loved ones 😊
First of all, any decent correspondence by a Japanese person must begin with a good solid apology.
I am sorry for my long hiatus in the virtual space! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…
NOTE: When a Japanese person speaks in English, “sorry” is usually repeated at least twice up to 4 times (don’t you agree with me?)
Now I am talking absolute nonsense… but I had a long break from my SNS (except for DMs) after I closed my Twitter to stay away from negative news and also because I didn’t have much to report to.
Now I have a few interesting projects going, I thought it’d be a good timing for an update.
UPDATE 1: English Rakugo in Tokyo
My master invited me to perform rakugo in Tokyo (Asakusa) in December, so I’m going to perform there at the end of the year. Keep an eye out for this blog and/ or my SNS.
UPDATE 2: Another Project with Fiona Amundsen
As you may know, I have had a privilege of working with an artist, Fiona Amundsen, for the last few years. Our works have been exhibited at art galleries and festivals in Finland, New Zealand, and Japan.
She’s kindly invited me again for another project, this time along with a well-known author. We had our first meeting at my favourite French cafe a few weeks ago.
UPDATE 3: School Visits
I have resumed school visits. In order to test the updated contents of my workshops, I have decided to visit 5 schools/ libraries free of charge. It will include my new favourite story called “Licking a Kettle” (やかんなめ) 😁
I have committed myself to 3 organisations so far, 2 more to go. If you are interested, please contact me asap- first come, first served!
UPDATE 4: Finished Translation Project
As some of you know, I have been translating a Japanese story called ‘The Restaurant of Many Orders’ (注文の多い料理店) by Kanji Miyazawa into Te Reo Māori. It has been submitted to a publisher to be considered for publication, and I heard back from them!!!
The short answer is… it is not going to be published, BUT it was due to the story itself being too simple and also not very relatable to the Māori audience. I was happy and humbled to hear that the lack of my language command was not the reason. In fact, the publisher kindly suggested me to try translating another story and recommended me to submit the same work to another publisher/ competition 😊
A small step forward to accomplishing my dream to connect Te Ao Hapanihi and Te Reo Māori directly, completely bypassing Te Ao Pākehā (no offence!).
I am a hardcore Haruki Murakami fan since I was 11 or 12.
Maybe this is because the first book I’d ever read from cover to cover was his ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’. This cult literature was a bit too nihilistic to a primary school kid like me, and it literally haunted me for years- definitely not recommended to first-time Murakami readers along with ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle’.
I recently read the manga adaptations of Haruki Murakami’s short stories. I’d always thought it’d be nearly impossible to capture the essence of the Murakami world in pictures, but I reckon this one just did that!
Some characters reminded me of Issey Ogata (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki…), one of my favourite actors. I wonder the author actually used him as a motif! They really look alike.
After long thought, I have finally decided to say goodbye to my favourite SNS, Twitter… or whatever you call it.
I was a big Twitter fan and used it as my main SNS platform since the early days of my English Rakugo career in New Zealand. It was there that I met many invaluable friends who have inspired and encouraged me to carry on this rather lonely journey. For this, I am eternally thankful to you all!
This decision was made largely due to the new owner of the platform and the increasingly divisive contents that people post on the once-friendlier space (I am also guilty of occasionally posting progressive left posts myself, though! 😁).
So… Threads, Instagram, and Facebook will be my SNS platforms from now on. I like the Twitter format, so Threads will probably be my main platform. Sorry Mastodon, I’ve tried, but I still don’t know how it works…
We are currently planning our 2nd storytelling group meeting. The venue will be Ōtāhuhu Library again, and the timing is likely to be 2:30-4:00PM on a Sunday this month.
If you are planning to attend, please let me know which of the following dates suits you better:
SUN 12 Nov SUN 26 Nov
If you’d like to find out what we did at our first meeting, please refer to this article.
English Rakugo NZ 