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February 28, 2024
FCCJ Book Break. March 29. 18:00. Amy Chavez, author of "The Widow, the Priest and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island" - The Charms of Life in the Seto Inland Sea -
From: FCCJ Library <library@fccj.or.jp>
Date: 2024/02/19
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) is pleased to announce the upcoming Book Break event on Friday, March 29, 2024.
Book Break:"The Widow, the Priest and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island" - The Charms of Life in the Seto Inland Sea -
By Amy Chavez
Friday, March 29, 2024 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)
Please sign up by email (front@fccj.or.jp) and pay by Tuesday, March 26th, 2024.
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/
Amy Chavez, perhaps remembered best as a columnist for The Japan Times from 1997 to 2022, moved to Shirai-shi Island in the Inland Sea in 1997. Her previous four years experience in Okayama City led her to search for the "real Japan" in the far-flung corners of the prefecture. A 5-day visit to Shiraishi Island (current population 361) convinced her she'd found her Shangril-La. She up and moved there by herself, and has never looked back.
But it wasn't until she quit her full-time university job and started working from home every day that she began to understand the deeper island culture. She spied a Shinto priest in full regalia steal into a bamboo forest; witnessed neighbors poised at the foot of the mountain reciting sutras to their mountain god; and wondered about large conspicuous groups of people shuffling around the island in sartorial black. She was also invited to participate in island rituals: to pray for the souls of the Heike and Genji warriors of the 12th century, to welcome the local Shinto gods with rounds of sake on specified days at 8 a.m., and to provide interpretation and translation skills on the fly to ease communications between visiting foreigners and locals. Of course, she also found herself on the roster to take part in neighborhood garbage duty.
Amy Chavez will talk about her 25 years living on Shriaishi Island, how she gained acceptance into the community (or not) and why she chose small island life over the glitz of the bigger cities such as Tokyo, that offered greater opportunities for advancement. She'll discuss depopulation, isolation, aging and insular communities as well as her experience and lessons learned buying an akiya (empty house) and renovating it.
She'll talk about Inland Sea folklore and yokai and also tell stories of some of the fascinating people who were born, raised and died on the island, including: the deceased War Widow (previous owner of the house she lives in), the 90-year-old Buddhist Priest who resides at the island's only temple (and who befriended her as soon as she arrived and has never flagged in his support), and the middle-aged Octopus Hunter, who still carries on an age old family tradition.
Come meet the characters of the Inland Sea and find out how the "other one percent" lives!
Doors open at 6:00 pm. Dinner is served from 6:15 pm. The presentation starts from 7:15 pm. Menu: TBD/ 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 Tuesday, March 26th, 2024. No refund is available unless the event is cancelled by FCCJ.
This Book Break will not be available for online attendance.
Attendees with food restriction should inform the reception desk (front@fccj.or.jp) three days before the event. Thank you.
https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/
Library, Archives & Workroom Committee
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ)
Approved by ssjmod at 03:25 PM