1.The Theme for Our 8/2 Episode: #PrayForKyoAni
On this episode of Sekai e Hasshin! SNS Eigojutsu on NHK E-Tele, our topic was the hashtag #PrayForKyoAni. We featured tweets from anime fans around the world expressing condolences and a lot of love for Kyoto Animation.
The Kyoto Animation arson attack occurred on the morning of July 18th, 2019 at the company’s Studio 1 building in the Fushimi ward of Kyoto, Japan. The suspect broke into the studio and immediately doused the area near the entrance with gasoline before lighting it. The fire rapidly consumed the building and killed at least 35 people and injured an additional 33 (as of August 5th, 2019). According to the police, it is the deadliest massacre to take place in Japan in decades. The victims of the attack were the largely unsung heroes who brought the studio’s beloved works to life, and the attack stunned not only anime fans but also sent shockwaves throughout the nation and around the world.
On the show, our resident commentator Tsukagoshi Kenji-san introduced tweets from abroad with the hashtag #PrayForKyoAni. The condolences came from fans of the studio and Japanophiles from around the world, as well as people working in the animation industry. Apple CEO Tim Cook posted the following tweet:
Kyoto Animation is home to some of the world’s most talented animators and dreamers — the devastating attack today is a tragedy felt far beyond Japan. KyoAni artists spread joy all over the world and across generations with their masterpieces. 心よりご冥福をお祈りいたします。
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) July 18, 2019
Kyoto Animation is home to some of the world’s most talented animators and dreamers — the devastating attack today is a tragedy felt far beyond Japan. KyoAni artists spread joy all over the world and across generations with their masterpieces. 心よりご冥福をお祈りいたします。
「心よりご冥福をお祈りいたします」means “may their souls rest in peace".
Sentai Filmworks, a company based in Texas that distributes Japanese anime—including several Kyoto Animation works—started a Go Fund Me crowdfunding campaign, #HelpKyoAniHeal, which quickly amassed $2,370,960, well above its $750,000 goal. According to news reports in the U.S., the American software company Adobe donated $50,000 to the cause.
Help us help our friends at Kyoto Animation by donating (if you can) or sharing: https://t.co/Fg599lm5Dy
— Sentai 💚 (@SentaiFilmworks) July 18, 2019
In the age of the internet, news of local tragedies such as this one can reach and affect a worldwide audience in little to no time. The coming together of anime fans around the world in their grief for those lost and celebration for the studio’s work is a reminder of the power of the internet and social media.
2.The Spirit of Charity in the Internet/Social Media Age
In recent years, the crowdfunding model—where a project or venture is funded through raising small amounts of money from a large number of people via the internet—has become common in Japan, although it is still not as widespread as it is in the West. In the U.S. and the West in general, the spirit of charity is often what drives people to contribute to these campaigns—especially the socially and environmentally conscious ones. It’s an extension of random acts of kindness—like giving money to a homeless person—or donating to a cause at your local church.
The spirit of charity is called jizen (慈善) or jiai (慈愛) in Japanese. Originally, the Greco-Christian term for the highest form of love was agape. In a Christian context, agape is a selfless love committed to the well-being of others with no expectation of reciprocity. In the King James version of the Bible, agape is translated into English as “charity”, so as to distinguish it from eros (love of a sexual nature). Later, the meaning of charity would shift from the idea of God’s love and neighborly love to its current meaning of giving food or money or help to those in need.
The Scripture teaches that Christians should care for and save the poor, sick, and needy. However, critics argue that too often, acts of charity are done with one’s own salvation in mind, rather than out of genuine concern for others.
What’s more, many have pointed out that in the social media age, seeming acts of kindness and consideration are often empty gestures with no other goal than to make the sender feel better about themselves. There is no better example than the flurry of condolence messages that appear on social media following a tragedy, which usually take the form of “My thoughts and prayers are with you.” In the U.S., mass shootings and terrorist acts have become regular occurrences; each time too many politicians post about their “thoughts and prayers” only to fail to follow through with concrete action to bring about change through the political system. At the same time, too many U.S. citizens post about their “thoughts and prayers” and fail to follow through by pressing their political representatives to bring about the change that they supposedly seek. Digital/virtual environments like social media are rife with armchair activists. And on the internet, it is incredibly easy to convince yourself that you are connecting with others and contributing to a cause.
That being said, there’s no question that advances in internet tech and the rise of crowdfunding have made it easier than ever for people to help fund social entrepreneurs or worthy causes. There are kinks to be worked out—holding project creators accountable and making sure that funds go where they are supposed to—but for charitable Americans, crowdfunding is a straightforward way to put your money where your mouth is. If you truly believe in a cause or project, there’s no excuse not to donate.
3.Offering Your Condolences in English
In that way, “my thoughts and prayers are with you” has become somewhat of a loaded phrase. Nevertheless, if the bereaved family is Christian or believes in God, “thoughts and prayers” are usually appreciated. If the bereaved family is non-religious, not everyone will be as charitable when it comes to receiving someone’s “prayers”. A safer bet is the secular phrase “my thoughts are with you” or “my thoughts and sympathies are with you”.
Of the tweets we featured on the show, the majority contained the word “condolences”, which translates to o-kuyami (お悔やみ) in Japanese. “I offer you my deepest condolences” is kokoro yori o-kuyami wo moushi agemasu (心よりお悔やみ申し上げます), while “to send one’s condolences” is o-kuyami no kotoba wo tsutaeru (お悔やみの言葉を伝える).
In Japanese, the phrase go-shusho-sama desu (御愁傷様) is commonly used to mean “I’m sorry for your loss”. For most Japanese people, the word sorry means gomennasai (ごめんなさい)—an apology. But sorry can also be an expression of mournfulness or sadness. For example, when you want to sympathize with someone’s sorrow or disappointment, you say “I’m sorry to hear that.” When you receive an invitation somewhere but are unable to go, the host will often tell you “I’m sorry you can’t make it.”
Side note, in 2018, during the trophy ceremony for women’s singles at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, Naomi Osaka was asked how she felt, to which she replied “I’m sorry it had to end this way.” Pretty much all Japanese media outlets translated that as an apology (「こんな終わり方ですみません」), but what Osaka was feeling was likely not guilt so much as pain and powerlessness. During the second set, her opponent Serena Williams had a heated exchanged with the chair umpire after he gave her warnings for coaching and smashing a racket, and lost in a frustrating manner. And likewise, frustrated spectators booed during the trophy ceremony, making it impossible for Osaka to savor and celebrate her own maiden Grand Slam championship.
One last expression. When the sadness you feel is so great that you are unable to articulate it, the phrase “Words can’t express...” comes in very handy. Conversely, the phrase can also be used in moments of pure joy, as in “Words can’t express how happy I am”. It can also be used to express gratitude, as well as astonishment, as in “I have no words.”
4.The Elements of Everyday Life in Anime
The other day, I went to a mixer organized by the Japan office of the college exchange program I took part in many years ago. The event was attended by alumni—who had returned or transplanted to Japan after graduation—and current students studying at various universities in Tokyo. Most of the attendees were Californians, and while some were half Japanese like me or fully Japanese but raised in the U.S., most were “foreigners”, that is, non-Japanese. Some were white, some were black, some were Latino, some were Asian. As we went around and introduced ourselves, I was surprised to learn that one thing many of them shared was a love of anime and Japanese video games. There was part of me didn’t want to accept that the stereotype of the Japan-loving foreigner was true.
Of course, when you consider that California is a multicultural, multiethnic place, perhaps that revelation is not so surprising. There are many Japanese communities throughout the state, and as a result there are a good number of respectable Japanese grocery stores. California was also always one of the first places in the U.S. to receive Japanese cultural imports. When I was in middle school, Pokemon became huge—almost as huge as it was in Japan. And when I got home from school in the afternoon and turned on the TV, I would come across dubbed versions of classic manga/anime series like Dragonball and Sailor Moon. That kind of alternative programming was a haven for those who for one reason or another could not fully connect or see a place for themselves in the stereotypically American aspects of the culture and society. Many of the kids around me developed a love for Japan and Japanese culture.
It’s important to note that American animation and TV cartoons (think Disney) were considered suitable for kids 12 and younger. A middle schooler or high schooler who religiously watched Saturday morning cartoons would be teased for their childish taste in entertainment. By contrast, Japanese anime is often set in schools and is more coming-of-age in terms of subject matter. Works often depict the day-to-day lives of middle schoolers and high schoolers—with maybe a dose of the extraordinary to make things interesting. While a teenager who watched Japanese anime might be looked at as weird or different, anime was inherently less childish than cartoons.
Kyoto Animation is especially highly regarded as a studio that produces slice-of-life works that capture the everyday lives of characters like high school students. Their charm lies not in their depiction of the extraordinary, but in how they show ordinary Japanese life.
Granted, the extraordinary, sci-fi and fantasy elements may be what catch people’s attention. But to Americans—at least when I was growing up—ordinary Japanese life is considerably more out-there than the imagined worlds of speculative fiction. When I was in middle school, the kids around me would ask me questions like, “Do Japanese people really take off their shoes when entering their house?” and “Do Japanese students really clean their school everyday?”
The 2001 Miyazaki Hayao animated film Spirited Away became a big hit in the U.S., even winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003. Miyazaki’s films almost always include an everyday scene of characters chowing down on food, and Spirited Away is no exception. At the same time, they also deal with themes such as Japanese folk beliefs and the Japanese view of life and death.
All through middle school and high school, I ate two onigiri—rice balls—for lunch every day. At first, my mom made me a traditional-style Japanese bento box, but the peculiar appearance of the contents would provoke the basest instincts of my middle school classmates, who’d constantly say things like “What is that weird stuff you’re eating?" or “Seaweed? Gross." After a while, I begged my mom to make me rice balls instead, as I thought they’d be less conspicuous.
By the time we were in high school, many of those same classmates had started tuning in to Japanese anime on American TV. I began to notice how they would sidle up to me during lunch break. Eventually they’d just come out with it: “Hey Kazuo, I’ll trade you my PB&J for your rice ball. I just saw this anime the other day..."。Anime made my weird food—and by extension, me—cool, or at least interesting. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
5.My Wardrobe for This Week
Beige button-down shirt by Le Canon
Gray slacks by Brooks Brothers
Black “Reims" loafers by Paraboot
