RIP Japanese Rule of Law

Contrary to what the English-speaking media would have you believe, the biggest issue with the so-called "war bills" that got passed into law less than a day ago is not about Japan's national security or about war and peace. The English-based media outlets have been focusing on the "historical" nature of the new laws that would now allow Japanese military engagement overseas for the first time since World War II. And I am not denying that it is this aspect of the law that has been controversial and the focus of protests by the "peace-loving" Japanese people who have not exactly been known for their political activism. But this focus has had the unfortunate effect of masking an even bigger problem that every person who believes in democracy and the rule of law should find disturbing.

Both the media's and the Japanese people's focus on Article 9 (the reason that the Japanese Constitution is often called the "peace constitution" or "pacifist constitution") has driven the discussion away from the fact that Prime Minister Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) achieved the effect of a constitutional amendment by mere legislation. This travesty does not even reach the question of whether Japan should have a greater ability to engage in military operations. We should be talking about whether Japanese political leaders truly respect the rule of law and the democratic structure provided for by the Japanese Constitution. But all the media and even the Japanese people (other than constitutional scholars and legal experts) want to talk about is Article 9 and whether or not the law violates that particular provision.

Brief Thoughts on the Depiction of Teenage Sex on Non-Teen TV Shows

I recently burned through the 48 episodes of Lie to Me (thank you, Netflix), which I have discovered is yet another good show cancelled by FOX. The dig at FOX is obviously my bitterness over Firefly and Dollhouse, and Lie to Me does not come close to the glory of the Whedonverse, but today is not the day to talk about the show itself. One thing that struck me about the show was the treatment of the main character's teenage daughter's love life. And that's what I want to look at today.

To those who do not know about the show, Lie to Me is a slightly different process show that centers on Dr. Cal Lightman (played by the one and only Tim Roth), whose private company contracts mostly with law enforcement to assist in investigations. Cal has a teenage daughter, Emily, whose custody he shares with his ex-wife. Emily is not exactly goody two shoes (having a fake ID and being sexually active), but in general, she is a good kid and is treated as such. The show does a really good job of treating her as a normal, non-problematic teenager with nothing more than the average issues teenagers deal with. Cal is not exactly happy about the fact that Emily is sexually active, and he does get upset when he found birth control pills and discovered that his ex-wife knew about it and didn't tell him.

Where Were You When the Towers Fell?

I was halfway across the world from the East Coast. I didn't even live in the U.S. at the time. And I didn't even have plans to do so again until the day after when my mother simply said my father just got a transfer order to New York and we were going with him because as a family, we didn't have any other choice.

That is the gist of my 9-11 story. As someone who had lived in the U.S. as a young child and had loved the country and so many of its people, I can't say it wasn't personal to me. We turned on the TV that evening (in Japan, it was nighttime) after I got home from my ballet lesson and saw black smoke billowing out of the first tower. My mother called my father (a journalist) to make sure he was watching this at work. And while she was still on the phone, the second plane crashed into the second tower on live TV.

As the night went on, and we heard about the Pentagon and the other plane, I was worried. Worried about our family friends who lived in Northern Virginia and worked or went to school in D.C. And another who lived in Jersey, not too far from the city. But as shaken as I was by an attack on a country that I felt had formed part of my identity, I was still an ocean and a full length of a continent away. It could never have been as personal as it was for so many of the people I would meet in the following years.

My father moved to New York that January. My mother and I waited until I finished middle school (which goes through 9th grade) in March (the school year starts in April) and joined him in moving to the suburbs of the city that was still reeling from the effects of 9-11. And I was thrown into a community that was full of people who at the very least knew someone who was there or knew someone who had lost someone. As a teenager torn from my comfort zone into a new to town in a small and tight-knight community (at least I spoke the language and was familiar with the culture), I was grappling with a host of other problems. But I still remember feeling like an imposter when we were assigned to produce some piece of work regarding the personal experiences of 9-11 around the time of the first anniversary. I remember hearing about the Japanese girl who moved back to Japan with her family because her father died in the towers. I didn't even know her or experience her pain vicariously. I lived in the New York suburbs in 2002, but I wasn't there in 2001. I wasn't there, so how can I claim it to be personal?

And I can't. At least, not to the degree that so many of my friends do. But I do remember where I was, what I was doing, and what I felt when the towers fell. It's a hell of a lot more personal to me than to the children who learned about 9-11 in textbooks. It was a life-changing event. It was a world-changing event. It was the event that reminded everyone in the world what determined hate can do to even the most powerful nation on earth. Never forget? In addition to the memories of those innocent and brave souls lost that day, let's never forget that last part either.

南軍旗とアメリカ南部と白人至上主義の歴史

６月のサウスカロライナ州チャールストンの教会銃撃事件以来、南軍旗（Confederate flag）の展示や使用をめぐる対立が激しさを増している。Confederate flagは、南部白人が主張するところによると、南部文化の『誇り』の象徴であるが、特に黒人やその他のマイノリティーらにとっては人種差別や人種隔離主義の歴史を具現化する存在である。いかに旗の支持者が「自分たちは人種差別主義者でない」と主張しようが、Confederate flagが２０世紀半ば頃から人種差別主義者や人種隔離主義擁護の象徴として掲げられてきたことは否定できない。実際、チャールストン事件の銃撃犯は、インターネット上に人種差別主義を擁護する意見と共に、Confederate flagをはじめとする人種差別主義のシンボルを身に着けた写真を掲載している。

事件後、Confederate flagを飾り続けていたサウスカロライナ州議会が同旗を撤去したり、アマゾンやウォルマート等の全米大手企業がConfederate flagの販売を中止したりしたが、これに伴い、同旗の支持者が猛反発。南部の誇りと歴史を消し去る行為だと主張し、旗の保護を呼びかける集会が南部各地で相次いでいる。彼らは、Confederate flagやそれを支持する集会は憎しみではなく、文化的遺産に基づくものだ（"heritage, not hate"）としているが、この考え方には問題がある。

Being Japanese in August

It's August. Which means, for someone who grew up in Japan, that it's time to remember the tragedies of war and renew a resolve for peace. August 6, 1945: Hiroshima; August 9, 1945: Nagasaki; August 15, 1945: surrender/end of the war. Over a hundred thousand people (mostly civilians) killed just in those two days. Hundreds of thousands (again, mostly civilians) killed in air raids on major Japanese cities. Dates and numbers drilled into our heads from a young age, along with repeated messages about the tragedy of war and need for peace.

Every year, there are peace ceremonies on the 6th, 9th, and 15th. There are moments of silence at the moments the respective bombs were dropped and at noon on the 15th. Officials and chosen student representatives make lofty, idealistic speeches about the preciousness of life and the importance of peace.

The problematic whitewashing of history* and the oversimplified nature of the wish for peace aside, it was important for me that I learned about what happened to civilians in my country during the war, how they suffered. That was the environment in which my grandparents grew up. And the words in the textbooks and the images in the documentaries flooding the channels around this time every year came alive from stories that my mother would mention (because my grandparents would never talk about their wartime experiences to me). Constant fear of American air raids. My grandmother in her teens, her education interrupted and forced into working at a factory with her classmates because that's where the girls were deemed to be needed. I can just imagine it: my sweet, frail, kind grandmother as a young girl, walking over bloated bodies to get out of the rubble after her city was bombed.

Heroes: Still a Fun Show, but a Failure from a Feminist Perspective

When I found out a few weeks ago that Heroes is returning to TV in the form of a sequel miniseries, I was pretty excited. Even though I emotionally gave up on the show during the third season and stopped watching after a couple episodes into the fourth and final season, the first season is still near and dear to my heart. So, I decided to re-watch/finish the entire show before the fall and am now in the process of Netflix binge watching sessions. The first couple of seasons have not been disappointing, at least in the sense of the show being entertaining and having a good story line. The passage of 10 or so years since the premier has not dampened my passion for science fiction and superhero stories, but somehow, I am much less amused by the depictions of and the missed opportunities with the female characters in the show.

The show has characters from a decent range of racial, socioeconomic, and other backgrounds compared to network shows in general (although--I have to get this out of my system--the Japanese cultural references and most of the language usage is pretty damn atrocious). There are also a number of female characters with special abilities, but in general, even the female characters with abilities seem to be relegated to stereotyped roles, and their story lines seem to be driven by other (male) characters to a greater degree than the male characters.

(By the way, if you don't want spoilers, don't read ahead. You've been warned)

妊娠中絶と米国政治と生殖の健康に関する権利

先月、Center for Medical Progress (CMP)という妊娠中絶に反対する政治組織が、Planned Parenthood (PP) という女性の生殖に関する健康 (reproductive health) 関連サービスを提供する団体を攻撃するビデオを数本公開した。CMPは、これらのビデオが、PP関係者が中絶された胎児の体内組織を売買している証拠であると主張しているが、PPが違法行為に関与していることを認めている発言は捉えられていない。一般人にとって、中絶プロセスの具体的な説明は、多くの手術や医療行為同様、悍ましくさえ聞こえるものであるが、米国連邦法上、中絶後の胎児の体内組織を研究目的に寄付した団体が、適宜な経費分を回復することは違法ではない。

だが、これらのビデオは、PPを特に敵対視する中絶反対派に、PPを攻撃する格好の機会をもたらした。この結果、共和党・保守派議員の多くが、連邦政府によるPPへの資金提供を取り消そうとしている。

アメリカ政治において、妊娠中絶に関する政策ほど激しい意見の対立が見られる話題は数少ない。妊娠中絶の合法性を支持する人々は、女性がいつ、どのように妊娠するかを自由に選べる権利の一環として安全で合法的な中絶へのアクセスを望んでいることから、"pro-choice"と呼ばれている。これに対し、妊娠中絶反対派は、受精の瞬間から受精卵・胎児は全ての権利を有する人間であると考え、妊娠中絶は殺人であると見方をしていることから、"pro-life"と名乗っている。

アメリカ社会を分断する銃保持の権利

先日、米・サウスカロライナ州チャールストンで白人至上主義者の若者が、黒人の奴隷解放運動とかかわりの深い黒人中心の教会で、同教会のクレメンタ・ピンクニー牧師を含む黒人９人を射殺した。この事件とアメリカの人種問題については、できればまた後日言及したいと思うが、今回は、アメリカ社会における銃文化について書こうと思う。

アメリカは、世界的に見ても異様な銃保持率及び銃への愛着を持った社会である。銃は、アメリカ社会のあらゆる側面に浸透し、子供用の玩具の銃も異様なものではない。だが、全てのアメリカ人が銃に執着している訳ではない。特に過去十数年に渡り増加を見せる銃による大量殺人事件を受け、民主党支持者を中心に銃規制を強く要望する者も少なくない。Pew Research Centerの２０１３年調査によれば、民主党支持者の７９％が、銃規制強化により銃による大量殺人の死亡率を減少させられると考えている。彼らにとって、銃保持の権利を『自由』の基準としているようなアメリカ社会は病んでいるものなのだ。一方、保守派を中心とした共和党支持者は、銃保持の権利をアメリカ合衆国憲法によって与えられた基本的人権と考えており、どの様な形であれ、全ての銃規制はこの基本的人権を侵害し、アメリカという国家の根本的精神である『自由』を踏みにじる行為だと見る者が多い。

Sisterhood Values (The Blood-Based Kind)

I recently had the pleasure of finally watching the worldwide phenomenon known as Frozen. It is indeed a film that deserves all the hype and awards it has received, but today, I want to talk about sisterhood. Not the female-friendship, sorority kind that I'm used to talking about, but the kind pertaining to "real" sisters related by blood. I never really think about this latter type of sisterhood, most likely because I do not have any sisters related by blood (while I have plenty of sorority sisters and other women in my life whose friendships mean so much to me). But some recent pop culture mega-hits I've liked have centered around the strong love between sisters. And I've really liked that this love seems to receive greater weight than romantic love, even where romantic love is present as a central plot theme.

Frozen is very clearly a story about sisters. When they were children, Elsa and Anna were very close, but Elsa is forced to be distant from her younger sister when she inadvertently hurts Anna with her powers. Despite Elsa's insistence on keeping her distance, it is Anna who pushes forward to help her. Even when Elsa, again, inadvertently hurts Anna, it is pretty much only Anna who prioritizes Elsa. Anna is dying from the injuries inflicted by Elsa, but instead of taking the action she believes would save herself (an act of true love, which everyone at this point has interpreted to mean getting a kiss from her true love, Kristoff), she goes towards her sister who is on the verge of being killed and stands in between Elsa and the villain with the sword. At that moment, Elsa's inadvertent curse on Anna is complete and Anna is frozen in place, but that act of self-sacrifice was the "act of true love" needed to break the curse. In going to her sister instead of her "true love," Anna saves both her sister and herself. She really is no Sleeping Beauty (I mean, she even punches the bad guy in the face after all this).

I Will Always Love You, Leslie Knope.

It must have been five or six years ago. My fiance, who was (and is still) a big fan of The Office, told me that there is a really funny show that I would like and should watch. Thus, I was introduced to Parks and Recreation, which he, like some, had described as a story about a "female Michael Scott." Well, that was then. Now, at the end of the show's seventh and final season, Leslie Knope is an iconic character who is one of the funniest, most relatable, most admirable, and most feminist women on TV.

I'm going to leave all the talk about the development of the show and Leslie's character to the regular writers of reviews and such. What I really want to write about just a couple of hours before the series finale is, however briefly, what Leslie Knope means to me.

So, It's Oscar Time!

I love movies. I love talking about movies. I'm not a critic and don't really do movie reviews (unless it involves my thoughts from a social justice angle), but I know some people like to get a sense of what a bunch of people think about certain movies so they can determine which ones are worth seeing (or if they're on the fence about a particular movie), so for the benefit of those people, here's what I thought of the nominated films that I have seen. And no, these are not predictions. Just random, rambling thoughts about some of the categories. I have some predictions, but that's a completely different and (for me personally) uninteresting matter.

May contain non-specific spoilers, depending on how you interpret the word "spoilers."* Also, if you don't know anything about the famous people in the nominated biopics, yes, there are spoilers. But probably not much more than if you just watch the ceremony.


Best Picture

Whiplash: Haven't seen this one, but would definitely consider seeing it. I hear J.K. Simmons is fantastic (see below).

American Sniper: Haven't seen this one either. As much as I resent contributing to box office sales of a movie that beat the record previously held by my all-time favorite war movie (Saving Private Ryan...what can I say? I was a 90's kid), I feel like I probably should watch it, so that I can form an informed opinion about the film and its political implications. Despite my distaste for Clint Eastwood's political views, I'm actually a pretty big fan of him as a director (Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, and Invictus all make my ridiculously long personal list of great movies). I'm thinking I may actually like it as a movie.

Birdman: OK, my feelings about this film were kind of a surprise to me. People have been raving about it, and I had wanted to see it since I saw the trailer for the first time some time last year. The seeming oddness of the film gleaned from the information I had prior to watching it suggested it was the kind of film I would really like. Actually, I did like it. I thought it was a good film. The acting was fantastic (see below). But I didn't absolutely love it like I thought I would, and honestly, I'm not sure if I can get behind the degree of enthusiasm that is behind this film. As good as the film it is, I'm actually hoping it doesn't win Best Picture.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: I was extremely and pleasantly surprised when it started making the awards season lists. I happen to love Wes Anderson's brand, but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. So, a fantastic film like this being given mainstream recognition by a Best Picture nomination (he's been nominated for Best Original Screenplay twice before) has been a happy development for me. This is a film with great actors, lots of laughs, and Anderson's signature melancholy. It may have been my favorite film from the past year (maybe with the exception of Guardians of the Galaxy, which is obviously a completely different type of film).

The Imitation Game: Good movie. I really liked it. Intriguing portrait of a talented man who suffered a cruel fate because of who he was. Totally deserves the nomination but not the win, in my opinion.

Selma: This. This. This. This. Extraordinary film in so many ways. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire movie. It was raw, powerful, and still so relevant today. I am certainly not of the demographic who should be making any claim about the voice of the African-American community and all that, but the story-telling was just incredible. Yes, I am partial to films with a social justice dimension, but I am also partial to quirky comedies and/or dramas (as you can probably guess from my partiality towards Budapest). I'm not going to rewrite what I've already written about the film, but this is the film. And without watching Boyhood (which is the most likely film I haven't seen that could change my mind on this), this would be my personal pick for Best Picture. I certainly think it is the most deserving for so many reasons.

The Theory of Everything: I really liked this film. I actually liked it a lot more than I thought would (I thought I would like it but not as much I did). I think what got me was that it was neither dull nor melodramatic. And the fact that it was about Stephen Hawing, the person, and not Stephen Hawking, the genius (OK, yes, it was about the person, who happens to be a genius, but you get my point). The film really focused on the heart (rather than the brain), the development of relationships between human beings, and a deeper human love rather than romantic love. I felt the trailers did a disservice by making the film seem like it would be a love story when it said much more about the human relationship between Stephen and Jane Hawking. Anyway, good film, well-deserved nomination, but I wouldn't give it the win, even among only the films I've seen.

Boyhood: Unfortunately, I haven't yet seen this but really want to. As much as I tend to not root for the "favorite" films, this could be a film that would not make me disappointed if it wins.

自由の国・アメリカの「自由」の限度？

アメリカ社会が日本社会よりもはるかに個人主義的で、個人の「選択の自由」に重きを置いている事は誰の目にも明らかである。個人に選択の余地が与えられることは、基本的には悪いことではない（むしろ、いいことである）。だが、アメリカのように個人の自由を尊重する社会であっても、法律、規則、常識などによって個人を制限するものであり、個人がすべて好き勝手に何でもできる訳ではない。問題は、どの程度の制限を課すかという点にある。

近年、アメリカでは、個人の選択の自由を中心に掲げた反ワクチン運動（anti-vaccination movement；反ワクチン思想の人たちをanti-vaxxersと呼ぶ）が論争の種となっている。反ワクチン運動は、予防接種が自閉症や脳傷害等の健康被害につながるという（医学界の主流では既に信憑性を損なっている）研究を信じ、子供の予防接種をさせない親たちや同様の思想を持った人々によって構成される。このような思想を持った親の人口が少しずつ拡大している模様であり、昨年暮れから、2000年にアメリカ土着のものは撲滅されたはずのはしかの感染が、ディズニーランドを震源地として広がっているのも、反ワクチン運動の影響であるとされている。

Re-watching Friends as a Self-Aware 28 Year-Old Feminist

OK, Netflix. I've done it. I've watched every single episode of Friends in order.

I had a different appreciation for it as a person in her late twenties (having experienced, is experiencing, or having close friends experiencing the stages of life the six friends go through over the course of the show), but at the same time, I felt a hyper-awareness for the super-prevalent gender stereotyping that dominated sitcoms of that era and beyond.

To be sure, the show was not devoid of feminist moments and had some progressive moments for its times (most notably, the "lesbian wedding" episode aired years before same-sex marriage became a viable public policy issue). However, there are too many moments when laughs are drawn from gender stereotypes or traditional notions of gender. Such tropes include repeated assaults on beta males Ross and Chandler's "masculinity," the women's constant demand for romance from attractive guys, and the women playing "mind games" with the guys they like. A VICE article summed it up bluntly but quite accurately in a subheading: "Men Are Pathetic; Women Are Bitches."

スーパー・ボウル・サンデーに見るアメリカ社会の現状

アメリカでは、毎年2月の第一日曜日に、全米最大（そして世界最大級）のスポーツ・イベントであるスーパー・ボウルが開催される。スーパー・ボウルとは、アメリカン・フットボールのプロ・リーグであるナショナル・フットボール・リーグ（NFL）のチャンピオンを決する試合であり、アメリカン・フットボール・カンファレンス（AFC）とナショナル・フットボール・カンファレンス（NFC）の各優勝者が出場する。（ちなみに、開催地は、試合開催の数年前に決められており、地元チームがその年のスーパー・ボウルに出場した事は未だかつてない。）アメフトがアメリカで一番人気のスポーツであることや野球のワールド・シリーズと違って一試合限りの決戦となることなどもあり、毎年スーパー・ボボウルが開催される日曜日は「スーパー・ボボウル・サンデー」と呼ばれ、アメリカでは事実上祝日化している。

多くのアメリカ人は、アメフトが特に好きだという訳でなくても、スーパー・ボウル・サンデーにはいわゆる「スーパー・ボウル・パーティー」という友人や同僚らとの観戦パーティーに出席する。全米各地で開催されるこれらのパーティーでは、凄まじい量の食べ物が摂取され、感謝祭に次いで最大の摂取量が記録される。食べ物の種類としては、トルティーヤ・チップスとサルサ又はワカモレ、バッファロー・ウィングスなどの手羽料理、ピザが典型的で、飲み物はビールかソーダ。試合開始数時間前から集まって皆で一緒に飲んで、食べて、そして、試合が始まったら観戦。試合の視聴率は、近年、年間最高視聴率を誇っており、このため、スーパー・ボウル放映の際のTV広告には多額の資金がつぎ込まれ、宣伝企業は、観客の気を引こうと、様々な形で印象的な広告をスーパー・ボウル用に作り出す。アメフトに特に興味を持たない人でも、これらのスーパー・ボウル広告（Super Bowl ads）を毎年楽しみにしている人も少なくない。このような人たちのためには、広告の他にも、ハーフタイム・ショーがある。スーパー・ボウルのハーフタイム・ショーは、有名歌手やバンドによるミニ・コンサートのようなものであり、誰が選ばれるかにも毎年注目が集まる。

このように、スーパー・ボウルというイベントは、構造的にアメフトに興味がない人にでも参加し、楽しめるように構成されており、実際、このような人の多くも観戦パーティー等でスーパー・ボウル・サンデーを楽しんでいる。スーパー・ボウルは、良くも悪くも、アメリカの現状を反映するイベントとも言えよう。

Agent Carter Continues to Crush It

This post contains spoilers from the fourth episode of Agent Carter, which aired on January 27, 2015.

I'm going to try to keep this super-short. But this week's Agent Carter has a couple of awesome feminist moments, so here goes.

I mostly want to talk about the punch. In this episode, Peggy punches Howard Stark when she finds out that Howard had Steve Rogers' blood for research. OK, so what? She punched him, that's what. She didn't slap him like the trope of the "emotional woman." She punched him and gave him a black eye. Normally, on TV and in mainstream movies, a woman slaps a man in the face when she finds out something upsetting involving the love of her life. And normally (in mainstream popular media), a man punches another man when he's upset about something involving a woman he loves. But Peggy Carter is no trope. She punched Howard and, somehow, did it in a way that made it seem natural for a woman to punch a man in the face. She just punched away another stereotype.

At work, Peggy continues to face the ugly face of sexism (sometimes conveyed by a pretty face). This week, the a-hole agent played by Chad Michael Murray (note: yes, he's conventionally attractive; no, he's not my type) says to Peggy's face that no man will ever see a woman as his equal and that she is only fooling herself. This hurts Peggy profoundly, especially after she had been designated to lunch duty (i.e., taking lunch orders from everyone in the building, pretty much), and we hope that she will prove him and all the other sexists wrong.

But in some ways, we already know that she has (and will). Howard Stark, the playboy father of Tony Stark (like father, like son?), treats her with the respect that he would never treat any other woman. He doesn't have the best attitude towards other human beings in general, but he treats Peggy as a friend and an equal. We know that this was not how Howard behaved from the beginning. In the pilot, Peggy mentions an anecdote of when he tried to kiss her on V-Day and she pushed him into the Thames. But apparently, they had grown to be friends, and we know that they eventually go on to found S.H.I.E.L.D. (in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) together.

And so the adventures of Peggy Carter continue. I'm just a little sad that it's more than halfway through the mini-series. Here's to hoping that more series like Agent Carter and more characters like Peggy are on their way to mainstream media.

So What If Selma Had "Historical Inaccuracies" from a White Perspective?

This post contains spoilers of the Oscar-nominated film Selma, which everyone should go see. Proceed with caution.

I finally went to see Selma this past weekend, and I was blown away. The film accomplished the extraordinary task of conveying the sense of the racial climate of the era to someone who only knew of the Civil Rights era through history books. And despite some of the historical inaccuracies pointed out by its critics, it is a must-see film that deserves all the awards it has won and the awards that it has been snubbed for.

I understand why there are those who are angry about the portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ), even setting aside the white defensiveness and cluelessness that I suspect largely explains the backlash. LBJ was not perfect in his approach to civil rights and his reluctant escalation of the Vietnam War tainted some of his achievements in domestic policy. But while I'm no historian, what I have read about him over the years suggests that he was ultimately committed to civil rights and that he played an important role in the realization of critical civil rights legislation such as the Voting Rights Act (which, of course, the Supreme Court gutted in 2013). So, yes, having LBJ being portrayed as someone who treated voting rights as something that was not as important as his War on Poverty program is a personal disappointment.

But I'm also more than OK with it. Selma is not meant to be a documentary. Nor is it meant to paint LBJ as the enemy. Nor, I don't think, is it supposed to make any bold statement about LBJ and his legacy. I mean, the film is just not about LBJ at all (and it's right to be that way). The film is about Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights activists, and other participants (black and white) who were in Alabama that spring, risking their safety and their lives to realize the most fundamental individual right in a democracy. Besides, many incredible biopics have had someone make a fuss about historical inaccuracies, and yet, many of these films have largely escaped being tarnished by factual discrepancies and received extensive recognition. So I honestly have no patience for Selma being bashed for what it "gets wrong" historically.

"Esq.," Here I Come

On January 21, 2015, I arrived in Albany to complete the final steps to becoming a real lawyer, that is, to be admitted to the bar (in the state of New York). I arrived way too early, thanks to plane ticket prices, but after killing some time at the airport, I headed over to my hotel downtown. Luckily, a room was ready for me even though I got there 2 hours before check-in time. So I checked in and checked out (mentally) for quite a while.

Fast-forward to the next morning.

First task: read and figure out what all this means.

I arrived 10 minutes before the reporting time for my character interview and, to my surprise, saw maybe a couple hundred people already waiting in their chairs. The woman at the check-in told me the section I was assigned to. Of course, most of the rows were filled with soon-to-be-admitted lawyers in (mostly) black suits, and I had to step over a couple of people to get into the back row, pressed up against the windows. I sat down, started chatting with a girl who just sat down next to me, and then, heard my name being called. My interviewer was a very friendly and relaxed, and the interview was quick and painless. I signed a card with the oath I'm required to take, received an envelope containing a certificate that I have been duly licensed and all that good stuff, and was out of there in less than 20 minutes.

「正しい」米大統領一般教書演説の鑑賞方法

毎年、一月最後の火曜日の午後9時に、アメリカ合衆国の大統領は、連邦議会で今後の政策課題などに関する演説を行うのが慣行となっている。一般教書演説がどのようなものであり、また、各演説によってどのような見解が示されたかについては、インターネット上の記事やニュースで十分報じられているが、日本では、政治意識の強いアメリカ人の若者がどのように一般教書演説を鑑賞するか、あまり知られていないのではないだろうか。

アメリカでは、政治はお祭り事である。しかも、若い頃から政治活動に参加している人も少なくなく、特に政治家志望のエリートが多く進学する名門大学（これらの大学は特に東海岸や西海岸に集中している）では、二大政党（共和党と民主党）の青年部門が存在感を示していることも少なくない。また、若い頃から二大政党いずれかの思想に沿った固定的な政治的意見を持っている人も多くいる。このため、二大政党の意見が真っ向からぶつかり合う大統領選挙や連邦議会選挙の速報、各党大会などの鑑賞パーティーがスポーツ観戦の感覚で開催される。

特に政治の街・ワシントンDCでは、一般教書演説の際も、このような鑑賞パーティーが開催されたりする。また、政治意識が強い若者は、行くパーティーがなくとも、一人で又は複数の友人と演説を生放送で鑑賞し、ソーシャル・メディアで随時意見などを述べたり、drinking gameをしたりする。この場合のdrinking gameは、大抵、採用ルールによって指定された単語や表現を大統領が言ったり、放送局が特定の議員や演説出席者を演説中に映したりした際、一口ビールを飲むといったものが基本形であり、ワシントン・ポストやシカゴ・サン・タイムズといった主要紙から、不特定多数のブログまでが毎年政情などに合わせたルールを作って発表する。

ということで、これから私も毎年のように一般教書演説を鑑賞して参りますが、今年はビールを買い忘れたので、ワインで頑張ります。

When a Japanese Rock Star Insults the Emperor

During an end-of-year concert, one of the biggest names in modern Japanese music ruffled some feathers. Keisuke Kuwata, the frontman of the iconic pop-rock band Southern All Stars, made jokes about the Emperor and pretended to auction off an honorary medal he had received from the Japanese government. Understandably, many people (particularly right-wing supporters) were upset about Kuwata's performance, as well as some other aspects of his performances during the holiday season. Kuwata ended up issuing an apology.

The criticism about the treatment of the medal is not unfounded. The medal, called the Medal with Purple Ribbon (or Shijuhosho), is awarded to persons who have made achievements in the fields of science, academia, sports, art, or music, and it is given in the name of the Emperor. Kuwata did decide to accept the medal. He could have declined to do so had he really wanted to make a political statement, but instead, he made a gesture that could rightly be characterized as disrespectful. Many right-wing protesters on the streets and on social media were accusing Kuwata being unpatriotic and taking "hannichi (anti-Japanese)" stances because of his disrespectful gestures. This backlash and protests outside of the band's production company is what ultimately led to the apology.

The Great Power of Freedom of Speech...and the Great Responsibility that Comes with It

In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris, Charlie Hebdo has, to many, become a shining symbol for the true spirit of free speech. The debate over what status Charlie, which is not without flaws, should occupy in the hierarchy of noble martyrs for one of the most celebrated of fundamental rights. Freedom of speech* (like "women's rights") is something that everyone is "supposed to" get behind, and something that most world leaders purport to support, even while they are quite purposefully acting to suppress it.

But what exactly are people saying when they show their support for freedom of speech? Do they have a concrete idea of what they are referring to? Or are they simply cheering for a vague idea that they feel stands for the good of society and the people? On top of that, does everyone have the same idea of what "freedom of speech" means?

About Time: It's 2015, and Marvel Finally Gives Us an Awesome Female Lead (on TV)

Finally! A superheroine who kicks sexism in the face. I'm talking about Agent Peggy Carter in Agent Carter, a seven-part series that debuted this week on ABC. Sure, there have been kickass female leads on TV in the past (Hi, Xena! Hi, Sydney Bristow!), but the best thing about Peggy Carter is that her story is not only about fighting bad guys but about fighting sexism as well.

(Spoilers ahead. You've been warned.)

歪められたキリスト教精神によって傷つけられるLGBTの人たちの尊厳

2014年の年末、米・オハイオ州で17歳のリーラ・アルコーンさんが、大型貨物車の前に身を投げ出し自殺した。自殺当日、彼女は自身のブログに「遺書」と題した書き込みをしており、本当の自分を両親に受け入れてもらえなかったことによって自殺に追い込まれた様子が浮き彫りになっている。

リーラさんの自殺が全国ニュースになったのは、彼女がトランスジェンダーの若者であり、それ故にキリスト教保守派の両親から受けた扱いに耐え切れなくなったことが原因だったからである。ここ数年間、アメリカではLGBTに対する寛容性が高まり、トランスジェンダーの連邦政府職員をより有効的に差別から守ろうとする同政府の動向や数多くの州における同性婚の合法化等、LGBTコミュニティーやアライ（「ally（同盟者）」、つまり、LGBTのいずれでもないが、LGBTの人に対する差別に反対し、彼らが平等な社会的な地位を得られる事を支持する人間のこと）にとってはいいニュースが続いていた。そんなこともあり、無条件に愛してくれるはずの親に自身のアイデンティティーを受け入れてもらえなかった若者の話を耳にすると、怒りとも、やるせなさとも言い難い気持ちに襲われる。

Gotham's Missed Opportunity With Its Female Characters

When I first heard about a new Batman prequel TV show, I was simultaneously slightly skeptical and hoping for an awesome show that will blow me out of the water. I have been watching Gotham loyally since its premiere in September, and I must say, while I have been enjoying the show as a whole, it is full of missed opportunities. The biggest disappointment for me so far has been the female characters, and I want to focus on them in this post.

To its credit, Gotham does try to acknowledge women in positions of power. The captain of the Gotham Police Department's homicide squad (who is the main character's boss) is a woman. One of the most prominent mobsters in the city is a woman. The show also tries to depict strong female characters, including a formidable Major Crimes Unit detective and an independent-minded, street-smart homeless girl (the one and only Selina Kyle, a.k.a. future Catwoman) among the recurring characters. Yet, it falls short of developing these characters beyond the point of flatness and cliches.

New Year's Celebrations in Japan

It's been quite a while since I spent the New Year's holiday in Japan or had a Japanese-style New Year's celebration. I want to say it's been around 8 years, but what I know for sure is that I have spent the past few New Year's with my (now) fiance and, at times, his family. That's been fun, but I've started missing the Japanese traditions and the Japanese New Year's food that we eat on New Year's Day. So, instead of writing about coerced and tired New Year's resolutions, today's post is about the Japanese New Year's traditions I grew up with.