The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ)  is pleased to announce the upcoming Book Break event on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.

Book Break: "JAPAN"
By Hans Sautter

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
(The talk will be in English)         
                                                                  
Schedule:
Doors open at 6:00 pm.
Dinner is served from 6:15 pm.
The presentation starts from 7:15 pm.

Admission:
3,000 yen/ 4,000 yen (member/ non-member, including tax, a set dinner with a drink)
550 yen (Online attendance via zoom, including tax)

Menu: TBD with Coffee or Tea with One Drink. (Please check the FCCJ Website for the latest information)
https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-break-hans-sautter-author-japan

Please sign up by email (front@fccj.or.jp) and pay by Friday, June 9th, 2023.

Venue:
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan
5F Marunouchi Nijubashi Building
3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005
(https://www.fccj.or.jp/article/access-contact)

Western media coverage of Japan often varies from adulation of its enigmatic mysteries and ceremonies to anime and cosplay fun. Japanese institutions also perpetrate stereotypical notions and preconceptions that mask the reality of the people and places of the country.

Not a travel book or simply an array of pretty images, JAPAN delivers a visual narrative that tells the story of what people do, how they come to do it, and how social cues via certain rituals have shaped them. Key to the narrative is the fear and control of nature including the molding of character, the positive and negative impacts of ritual, and how wearing a costume or uniform is to assume a particular identity. The images form a cohesive vision of Japan that brings to light aspects rarely seen, if ever, in a unique exposure.

Thematic flow is arranged in six chapters with essays, as follows: An Insider's Gaze, by Peter Tasker; Metropolis, by Stephen Mansfield; Costume, by Charles T. Whipple; Nature, by Holly Thompson; Ritual, and Sacred, both by Eugene Tarshis; and Aesthetics, by Azby Brown. As Peter Tasker describes in his chapter, photographer Hans Sautter "has spent the best part of five decades in Japan. He is an insider looking around him, not an outsider looking in."

Subjects and locations were chosen deliberately, most conceived before shooting with a detailed concept in mind. Among these concepts are the formation of identity, rituals that liberate and subjugate participants to particular modes of perception and behavior, and how the sacred offers release from behavior modification and constricts daily life. The motive is to illustrate the dichotomy of the forces that drive Japan.

Hans Sautter is a graduate of the Photo Academy in Munich. His work has appeared in publications by National Geographic, the Smithsonian Institute and WWF, and in magazines like Time, GEO, and Nature. Japan was never his destination but a stopover on the way to Australia in 1972. The layover continues until today.

Doors open at 6:00 pm. Dinner is served from 6:15 pm. The presentation starts from 7:15 pm.

Menu: TBD/ Dessert/ Coffee or Tea with One Drink. Book Break charges are 3,000 yen/ 4,000 yen (members/ non-members) per person. FCCJ members can sign up at the reception desk. Reservations cancelled less than 72 hours in advance will be charged in full. Non-members can reserve at the reception desk by email (front@fccj.or.jp). Payment is in advance till Friday, June 9th, 2023. No refund is available unless the event is cancelled by FCCJ.

Online attendance (via Zoom) is available at 550 yen per person. Please indicate the intention to attend online when signing up. Details on how to join online will be sent to individual emails after their reservations are confirmed.

Attendees with food restriction should inform the reception desk (front@fccj.or.jp) three days before the event. We kindly ask for your cooperation with Covid-19 prevention measures at the reception. Thank you.

https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/book-breaks

Library, Archives & Workroom Committee
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ)