Entrepreneurs Creative Edge

Gaining the Entrepreneurs Creative Edge

The Entrepreneurs Creative EDGE is for people who want to:

ENJOY insights and practical wisdom from Japanese and Asian culture, using tools which give you increased leverage over yourself and your business.

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Japan EXPO Traditional

Coexisting with the world of Japanese fantasy was the world of Japanese Traditional, including shows and demonstrations of martial arts, Japanese drums and traditional dances, again drawing huge crowds.

Martial Arts are hugely popular in France, far more popular you might argue than in Japan. Certainly as much cult as culture. Taiko drumming and Japanese folk dances provided high entertainment, and much of it was captivating, performed by French as well as Japanese.

Most of these were sponsored by well-established performing groups in France, or visitors from Japan sponsored by agencies promoting trade in Japan. Though you might say that it was Japan served up for French tastes, there was genuine enthusiasm and appreciation in the air.

Tradition provided a contrast for the wilder side, and all with a multi-cultural atmosphere of tolerance and acceptance. Here a few photos showing the other side of the EXPO.

Click on the photos to get a closer look.

Japanese Fantasy on Parade

The 10th Japan EXPO 2009 showcased a growing movement with ten years of momentum. The official website presents a more comprehensive picture of what the show is and aims to be. The theme of the show is Japan, featuring a large buffet of knowledge and entertainment including Presentations of Cosplay, Fashion, Live House, Anime, Traditional Culture, Martial Arts, Video Games, and Iconic Mania.

But here are some of my impressions having been a part of it. In some ways, to walk the show you might just as well have followed Alice down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. In this post I feature a selection of photos from the floor showing close encounters with creatures I admit having never seen in Japan. But then I have focused my attention living in Japan on traditional arts such as Aikido and Calligraphy. Even living in Tokyo, I have probably spent more time in Kyoto than Harajuku, so it's possible to have missed it entirely.

What was most interesting was to see the French faces beneath the masks and body paint, to enjoy how eagerly they posed for pictures, and to get a sense for what must have been a similar fever for Japanese culture during the first wave of Japonisme, a term coined in 1872 by Jules Claretie in his book L'Art Francais, triggered by Ukiyoe and costume, and influencing artists from the French Impressionists to Vincent Van Gogh and Henri de Toutouse-Lautrec.

Almost impossible to put it all together, but hope you enjoy some of what I saw walking the floor and capturing the flow and the fantasy of bodies and faces. Many of them were armed with replica weapons, Chinese or Japanese swords, medieval studded mace and chain, and modern machine guns. Some were oddly capped with elf-like hats, or the headwear of a Buddhist Priest, even good old fashioned pirates, alongside cuties in cosplay and parasols advertising free hugs. And masses of people everywhere speaking French, of course. It was as if somebody flicked a switch, and suddenly Final Fantasy became Temporary Reality.

Here are 13 images.

Click on any of the pictures to get a closer look.

Teaching Nanba Walk in Kimono

One of the highlights of the Japan EXPO for us was sponsoring the Kimono Show, at which we had close to 100 applicants, who submitted entries as couples, and competed by a simple drawing by entry number, which I conducted on the stage before an audience of over 150 people.

The lucky couple then came up on the stage, where first the man and then the woman were dressed in formal kimono, which they got to keep! The kimono were a gift from one of the Shikoku Muchujin Sponsors from Kagawa Prefecture, and the dressing (kitsuke) was carried out by an expert Kimono teacher (second from left).

It is difficult enough to wear a kimono, with over 20 accessories, and its inner and outer robes and sashes, much less to dress oneself. It took over 40 minutes to fully dress the couple, after which I gave them a lesson in Nanba Walking so that they would look as good in motion as they did standing still.

The biggest challenge for me was how to explain in French, not only the parts and process of wearing a kimono, but also how to walk Nanba style. I was asked to be the master of ceremonies for the entire hour, and probably had about 2 minutes worth of French in me to say all I had to say. No translator was provided. The Nanba solution to this problem? Find a translator, on the spot, a few minutes before the show started. I did. The lady standing to the left of the Kimono teacher above was actually one of the applicants. She spoke English quite well, and graciously agreed to be my translator despite my impromptu request. She charmed the audience and delivered my messages with spontaneous accuracy.

You must walk lightly, like a cat.

On peut marche comme un chat, très légère, très légère.

Living in Japan you take so much for granted. For the couple on stage and for most everyone in the audience, this was a nearly other-world experience, and a highlight of haute-couture amidst the world of popular culture all around it.

The audience chairs were filled to capacity with many standing looking on. They were attentive to learn as well as to enjoy. The stage was filled almost continually throughout the EXPO, featuring Japanese dance, taiko drumming, martial arts, language lessons, ranging from festive to academic, and always had an audience.

The lucky couple won a Kimono in the drawing which was one chance out of a hundred applicants. They may have even a slimmer chance of figuring out how to put the Kimono on again without the teacher's help, but as the French word souvenir suggests, it was probably one of the best memories possible to take home from the Japan EXPO.

Fans for Calligraphy and for Shikoku

Our booth at the Japan EXPO was sponsored by Shikoku Muchujin in Paris, who are also sponsoring a contest to invite 5 French pro-bloggers to Japan, all expenses paid, in October of this year, to spend 2 weeks in Shikoku, learning about sides and depths of Japanese culture which they will write about, photograph, and draw from their experience.

Before the Japan EXPO we had 77 applicants for these 5 positions. After the EXPO we had over 150 applicants! The booth had plenty of visual and video interest about Shikoku, but with 150,000 people at the Japan EXPO, and probably 150,000,000 things to see, it is a challenge to get anyone to stop, much less stay at your booth for more than a few minutes in passing.

One thing which turned out to be one of the biggest draws for our booth was something that was both unplanned and unexpected. While I had counted on doing a demonstration of brush calligraphy, it turned out that people were willing to line up and pay for fans (uchiwa) with their name painted on it in kanji.

Thanks to the collaboration of members of our booth, we set up a system whereby visitors to the booth could give us their name in French, we would find a set of characters to match the sound, and if they liked the meaning, then I would paint the characters on a fan, which they would buy for 7 Euros. This proved so popular that we had lines of up to 15 people waiting as long as 30 minutes to get their name painted, or the name of a friend or family member. I was told that it is almost impossible to get people to wait this long for something at a booth at a show like this, so they must have really wanted it.

I made two samples shown here, showing the sound in hiragana and the meaning in kanji, for the name Marie (まり、Mari, or 真理, Truth).

Lines formed immediately, and never abated as long as I was willing to keep painting, which was for several hours each day! Some even came back to get another fan made, after theirs was stolen!

It was a challenge coming up with characters that not only sounded like the person's name, but also had an attractive meaning. French names are sometimes hyphenated and quite long. Some examples we came up with included:

Hélène    恵恋　(Blessed in Love)

Guillaume    祇園夢　(Dream in Gion-Kyoto)

Marie    真理　(Truth)

Adrienne    亜鳥縁　(Fortunate Bird of Asia)

With names like François, Claire, An-Sophie, Véronique, we had the challenge of continually coming up with kanji to fit, and of course painting the characters on fans one after another, while we could hardly communicate with our visitors except through a translator and body language.

One man's request was for a woman's name. The meaning it turned out was close to, Loved by many men, or Loved many times. He cried out, C'est pour ma femme! (It's for my wife!). He wanted it anyway.

We had no idea that something as simple as personalizing a name would prove so popular. I literally could have spend the entire time every day doing nothing but this, and the line would never go down. I actually enjoyed this almost the most, because it gave me a chance to engage with so many people on a personal one to one basis, to see their expressions of interest and delight, and to listen to their comments as they watched. These would have been great to capture on film, but they happened so spontaneously, that they were impossible to capture.

Here a a few photos that give you a general idea. The close ups show the character for dragon (龍) in the process of emerging.

Looked at Clouds from Both Sides

Cloud View of Paris, the return trip

In 1969 Joni Mitchell's song Both Sides Now filled our ears and souls with images of cloud's illusions, ice cream castles in the air, and feathered canyons everywhere.

It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

It would be hard to find a set of lyrics more appropriate to describe the Japan EXPO in Paris 2009.

Another word for it would be a collage, or a mélange of images, both words distinctly French in origin, indicating the French fondness for fragments, appreciation of ambiguity, and preference for potpourri.

Hong Kong Sunrise, back in Asia

It is almost impossible to describe the Japan EXPO in Paris, but you might try to imagine a shifting scene of illusions that take you from Kyoto to Aikihabara, from Star Wars to Harajuku, from Taiko Drumming to Mardi Gras, and from Martial Arts to Manga.

It is also a marketplace for Japanese otaku, ranging from the fantastic to the fabulous, where you turn the corner and are just as likely to encounter an aficionado or a collector, as a pirate or a pickpocket.

Surreal and beautiful, and strangely bizarre, the Japan EXPO 2009 was both a collage of cloud illusions about Japan, and a showcase for a hungry crowd of over 150,000 visitors to Paris from all over Europe.

From the website there is a catch phrase that catches the drift. Perhaps it is the French version of existentialism in the 21st century.

Il n'y a pas que les manga dan la vie!

(There is nothing in life but manga!)

On Wednesday, July 15th, from 19:00~21:00, I will be doing a talk in Tokyo, about the Japan EXPO 2009, sponsored by Endeavor Japan, illustrating my experience with episodes, photos, and video:

JAPAN: Traditional vs Modern. What is Attracting the West?

Hope to see you there!

Japan EXPO and Paris EXPO?

With hundreds of images and hours of video footage to select from, it isn't easy to find a single image to represent the Japan EXPO, which is a collage, a melange, a heady mix of two cultures, a space out of time that encompasses the fantastic and the fabulous.

Preparing to leave shortly for the airport to return to Tokyo, I selected this one image to post, because it seems to be so French, while representing Japan from the French eye.

After returning to Tokyo, I will post more images and write short essays on this other-worldly experience.

Enjoy! And back with you soon!

William Reed, still in Paris.

Nanba Moves at the Japan EXPO in Paris!

Photo by David Michaud, www.lejapon.fr

I am off to the Japan EXPO in Paris to introduce, exhibit, and perform a sampling of Nanba Arts!

My good friend and photographer magnifique David Michaud has given us great support, and has also announced our coming on his blog. Though it is written in French, you can still enjoy the links and photos! Thanks to David's photos and generous introduction through his photo blog, we will be able to feature the best of some 8,000 photos he took for us in Kagawa Prefecture, as well as in-depth coverage of our Nanba activities in Tokyo.

We want to thank David, for covering our activities in Nanba at Toho Gakuen, covering a wide range of Nanba (physical finesse) applied to running and walking, body movement and dance, classical music and ballet, martial arts, and traditional Japanese dance. He has followed and documented it all for us as a professional, as a friend, and as someone whose love for Japanese culture illuminates every photo.

We also want to congratulate David on the publication of his beautiful book of photos, JAPON.

If I had to choose a single phrase to describe it, it would be, visual haiku.

Explore David Michaud's website, http://www.lejapon.fr/ 

If you like the photos here, you will love the book!

I will be posting to my blog from the Japan EXPO in Paris in a few days!

Calmness in the Interludes

暇 (hima), interlude, repose, free time.
Calligraphy by William Reed

Frame and presentation by Carre MOJI

(click on picture to enlarge)

Click here to read my latest article Interludes in Ink, which has been posted to the DAIJOB.COM site.

It will also appear in the Daily Yomiuri Newspaper in the Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 edition.

In contrast to my article and calligraphy posted on June 2nd on Till the Field, the article on Interludes in Ink is more about finding repose and quality time in the intervals of life's busy streets and storms.

We pay high penalities in wear and tear unless we learn how to live fully in the interludes of time.

Learn the secret of rejuvenation and serendipity by reading the article at:

http://www.daijob.com/en/columns/williamreed/article/2188

And enjoy the calligraphic moment!

Nanba Walk in Step

Nanba Walk in Step

This is one of six videos which I just posted to my YouTube Channel:

NOTE: YouTube gives you the option to watch these videos in High-Definition. Definitely recommended!

You can also watch these videos on my Daily Motion Channel. Be sure to click on SD at the bottom of the screen and select HQ from the pop up menu, or click on Menu to select the videos in High Quality mode.

They show a glimpse of the Nanba Training that I do once a month with members of my Shunsokai (瞬想会) group. We alternate training in Nanba Running, Nanba Walking, and Nanba Exercise, as well as applications of Nanba Movement.

And we also enjoy different aspects of Edo and Japanese culture from a Nanba Perspective.

If you are interested in joining in this training, contact me directly for more information through the Email me link under my photo at the lefthand column.

Online Visibility Works!

Denise Wakeman of the Blog Squad

Just a reminder to register for our free online teleseminar this week, in which I interview Denise Wakeman of the Blog Squad, one of the top Business Blogging experts and an Online Visibility Advisor.

Even if you can make the call, if you register for it online, we will send you a free audio replay, which you can listen to on your own time. The call is coming up soon, so be sure to reserve your seat!

ONLINE VISIBILITY SECRETS
How to Use a Blog to Develop Your Online Persona

As a warm up to the call, you can read my article, Personal Branding Starts with Visibility.

Some of the benefits I've gotten from following Denise's advice?

• Steady traffic to my blog, and a growing content base
• Increasing number of friends and followers on Social Media
• Joint Ventures with people I've met through my blog
• Much higher ranking on Google (search "William Reed Japan" and look at the first 3 pages!)
• Better understanding of how to use Facebook and Twitter
• More active use of video on my blog and YouTube channel
• ...and the list goes on!

Now go to the registration page to get your name in for the expert resource interview with Denise Wakeman at http://www.onlinevisibilitysecrets.com

If you can apply even one of the secrets Denise will reveal, it will be well worth it!

See you on the call!

P.S. Great Tips from Denise Wakeman on the call!

To create massive online visibility and attract more business, Denise recommended 5 tactics:

1) Keep all of your social media profiles consistent, complete, and up-to-date from the start.
2) You need to have a blog to anchor, control, and give depth to your content.
3) Participate and comment as much as possible on other blogs and social media sites in your niche.
4) Continously create, repurpose, and repackage your content, keeping it consistent and authentic.
5) Take a stand, and demonstrate your expertise.

...and much more covered on the call!

Thanks Denise, for a very informative call about blogging and online visibility!