What’s UP with Eishi? [May 2024]

On By Kanariya EishiIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hi all,

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!).

Haruki Murakami- Manga Stories

On By Kanariya EishiIn Japanese Culture, Japanese Language, literature, Manga3 Comments

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.

A light-read with deep themes 🙂

Goodbye Twitter!

On By Kanariya EishiIn Notice, Uncategorized, UpdatesLeave a comment

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…

[Notice] Storytelling Group Meeting NO.2!

On By Kanariya EishiIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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.

Hope to see you there!

[UPDATE] The Storytelling Group Launched!

On By Kanariya EishiIn Notice, Updates6 Comments

On Sunday 22 October 2023, our first storytelling group meeting was held at Tōia (Ōtāhuhu Library).

We had a cozy group of three and shared many stories ranging from the revival of a Māori instrument called kōauau, a childhood in the house where four generations shared, breadfruits and slavery, Pitcairn Islands ancestry, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Dr. Seuss, to a Japanese myth about how a rabbit ended up on the moon!

To me, the most exciting part was that we straightaway established a safe environment to open up, share and enjoy one another’s stories. Many, many more stories to follow!

The picture above was taken by one of the participants, Chris.

What an ingenuity to capture this special occasion with a polaroid camera! Unlike digital photos, this is the only copy that exists in the world. Isn’t that so beautiful?

There were a few other people who couldn’t make it on the day, but they sound really amazing, too! An aspiring comic book writer, a stand-up comedian, and a photographer/ artist!

I’m really looking forward to the next meeting!

Keep an eye out for the details for the next one here or on one of my SNS’s!