Looking back at 2021
And forward to the year to come
Dear readers, welcome to the Year of the Tiger.
The image you see above was created by mail art friend and font-maker extraordinaire Keith Bates. Please have a look at his website. You will even find some original fonts you can download for free. The Mail Art font, for instance, is the result of a collaboration between several mail artists, each one contributing one letter. I made the lower-case “g” (as in Gianni). It’s a rather cute snail, innit?
Today we are taking a break from my Beatles-in-Japan saga to look back at last year and see what happened to yours truly.
Last year I was supposed to stay home, away from people and the virus. Instead, I traveled more than usual, on assignment for Zoom Japan magazine and other writing projects.
The year began with writing a few short pieces for a new website created by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs. The idea was to create a connection between art, history and tourism by presenting a few contemporary artworks in several airports throughout the archipelago.
It was a typical case of a public institution having too much money to burn and not knowing what to do with it.
Take Okinawa, for instance. They flew me all the way to Naha and my actual job lasted about 15 minutes - plenty of time to “admire” the two artworks on display and write a report. This is one of them.
See what I mean? They could have just sent me a picture. I’m not complaining about it, mind you. After all, I got paid to travel to some interesting places I had never seen.
The most memorable was Okinawa even though I didn’t see the nice white-sand tropical beaches. It was more a history-related trip, visiting some of the places where the Battle of Okinawa took place at the end of the Pacific War.
The underground headquarters of the Japanese base in Naha.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s return under Japanese administration, after being ruled for 27 years by the US military. Later this month I’ll be probably travelling to Okinawa again because my magazine is doing a special on the anniversary. I’ll post some of those pieces on Tokyo Calling as well.
After Okinawa, I went to Nagoya. Here’s a blog post I devoted to that trip, including a meditation on life during the pandemic.
Working on the SEX issue was a lot of fun as I got to meet a few interesting people including pink eiga (soft-porn) actress Hasegawa Chisa.
After the COVID-19-related forced break two years ago, in August I resumed my trip around Japan. My plan is to “circumnavigate” the archipelago’s biggest island, keeping as much as possible close to the coast.
In 2019, starting from my home in Yokohama and travelling southward, clockwise, I went as far as Hiroshima. Last year I started from Shimane Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan side of Japan, and went all the way to Ishikawa Prefecture. On the way, I even stopped at Tottori’s famed sand dunes (pictured above).
Then, at the end of August, I got infected, as Tokyo Calling’s more loyal readers already know. For those who haven’t read yet the story of my close encounter with the virus, here it is.
Last year ended nicely with a special devoted to the Beatles’ 1966 tour of Japan, but you already know about it. In the following weeks I will add to this special by posting interviews with a couple of Beatles-crazed people.
How about you? How was your 2021? Please leave a comment below and share your plans for the new year.
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I envy your writing gig, Gianni! That kind of thing is considered a luxury here in Oz and you'd be expected to work for free.
It's always great to see what you're up to and your recent assignments are no exception. Have a great 2022. All the best.
M.
Happy New Year, Gianni!