That's a wacom tablet pen in the photo, I've got a wacom tablet - they're the most awesome art tool since the invention of the pencil. Glad there's girls out there pursuing what they love.

It was really great to read her interview and visit her website. I don't know how long she's been in the U.S., but it is pretty unusual for Japanese people, even Japanese-Americans, to be so expressive (her thoughts, not just her art), and involved in activism and a pioneer in the art scene. Traditionally, Japanese and Japanese-Americans are pretty reserved people who don't like to stand out or attract attention. Talented Japanese (athletes, actors, singers, musicians, designers, artists) are also not likely to leave the bounds of their own country to attempt to broaden their horizons or reproduce their fame abroad.

(This is particularly true of Japanese professional athletes (as opposed to olympic), who have mainly made their mark in the US in baseball (and generally, not the superstars in the US that they are back home), despite having Japanese pro and semi-pro (e.g. corporate) leagues in a number of sports. Very few have tried making it in basketball, football and soccer, except in European leagues. Golf is enh. Japanese women do quite well in international competition in volleyball and beach volleyball, but I don't know if there is professional women's indoor volleyball in the U.S.)

"These programs made art part of the students' everyday lives. By working together, teachers and artists successfully integrated literature, visual arts, music, film, etc. into the students' core classes like Math, English, and History."

Very cool! I'm curious about the integration of the arts with math and science - it reminds me of when Sassy magazine interviewed Courtney Love and she said girls who want to be musicians should study more math. As for science, how about the physics behind photography or the chemistry behind painting? :)

"who have mainly made their mark in the US in baseball (and generally, not the superstars in the US that they are back home)"

You just reminded me of Daisuke Matsuzaka. I don't know if the attention he got in Boston was superstardom in the U.S., superstardom too local to count, or not superstardom.

OT on:

Matsuzaka was a superstar in Japan ever since he was a high school pitcher in the National Championships at Koshien, who immediately went pro at 18. Offhand (I've been out of it for three years), the only players I can name with comparable name value or performance at the Major League level were Nomo early in his career, and Ichiro, who was probably Japan's best at the time, and still doing exceptionally well in the US, with American records. But how many of the other 30 or so other Japanese players can you name?

Players famous in Japan like Shinjo and Irabu, who once set the record for fastest pitch among Japanese and a Japanese Pacific League leader in wins and strikeouts, were fairly lackluster in the US. Both had attitudes, though Shinjo was flamboyant, comical and a ham for the cameras. I like Ichiro and Shinjo for who they are as people. What I best remember Shinjo for in Japan was posing for the media with his new $300,000 Ferarri, which he bought and quickly sold, just before leaving for the US. He has a post retirement career as a Japanese TV celebrity, making appearances in commercials, and I see he has his own line of clothing. I also see Saito and the latter Matsui (Kazuo) are doing well. Not many rate a multi year Major league contract. Americans pay much better than Japanese teams, where even an absolute star may bring down "only" six or eight million dollars a year, max, and minimum wage for rookies was like $70,000. American nurses make more than that.

I don't mean to put down Japanese baseball, but it is telling that the Major Leagues is what many Japanese players explicitly aspire to (getting out of Japanese contracts can be tricky, as they need to be "bought" by American teams on top of paying the players' own salaries), and that American teams may send their lackluster players to Japan, where they may become superstars with exceptional performance (by Japanese standards). "Losing" some of Japan's best to the US Major Leagues, or being treated as a minor league of the US has been a concern in years past, particularly when Ichiro and Matsuzaka left. Nomo making it in the Majors in the early years was such a big deal in Japan that Japanese TV used to interrupt scheduled programming, just to show Nomo pitch, then immediately return to the normally scheduled program in progress (no "pause" or "rewind"), when he left the mound or was relieved for giving up hits.

And sorry, I forgot Japanese pro boxers have done quite well in lower weight classes, though not really based overseas in the way pro ball players are. Naturally Japanese do well or may actually dominate in traditional Japanese sports or martial arts such as sumo, also while based in Japan. Some female figure skaters and female marathon runners may train out of the US.

Thank you, A male, for your fascinating discussion of the traditional Japanese lack of creativity and outspokenness. Your comparison of artists to athletes was brilliant, especially since it implies some kind of biological inferiority common to both. That must be it!

Thank you for limiting Fujiwara to her race, and your expression of surprise that she has somehow transcended that limitation. We should all remember that we are limited to the talents of our various races and genders. I'll just get back to the kitchen now...

"Your comparison of artists to athletes was brilliant, especially since it implies some kind of biological inferiority common to both. That must be it!"

I'd like you to point out any implication or claim of biological "inferiority" inherent in being Japanese or female in any of my writing, other than recognizing *average* disparities in say, Japanese or white American height and weight (or maybe the 10% vs. 65% of people classified as "overweight" in Japan vs. the US), or between men or women, and have nothing to do with worth as human beings.

When did I talk about lack of creativity? Have you heard of Japanese traditional arts and art forms, where most westerners have little interest, and in which precious few attempt to achieve, if they even make it through the apprenticeship or training process? How much Kabuki, Kyogen, Noh, bunraku, manzai or rakugo do you watch? How much enka, koto or shamisen do you listen to? How much Haiku or tanka (waka) do you read? How much sado or ikebana have you experienced? Anybody try telling me what those are, without referring to any references. I can. Can you see why non-Japanese (even Japanese-Americans) might not make significant achievements in them, even if they had an interest? How about naming me some good teachers (comparable to native Japanese masters) in those arts outside Japan? How many would like to master the language and make the trip just to look for a master and take up those Japanese arts?

Traditionally, Japanese do not have a lot of experience, or the same level of experience as westerners at say, world class or NBA level basketball. There's a reason (and it's not racism) that large numbers of Japanese don't try out for or succeed in basketball, football, ice hockey, extreme sports, NASCAR or drag racing in the US, even when translators are provided. There are definitely physical differences when it comes to NFL level football, and that level of training in football is lacking in Japan, again, due to American style football not being part of the culture, as much as baseball or soccer have been adopted. There is therefore some "limit," yes. I would be very surprised if a Japanese born and raised man, no matter how large, became an NFL player by his own efforts, and not with the help of very specialized training, preferably with those who have personal experience in football in the US. Even Japanese-Americans, despite playing football up to the high school level, are not well known at the college or professional level, and certainly not as linebackers. Not a lot of Japanese or Japanese-Americans going up against Yao or Shaq in the NBA, either. Name some if you know more than one. Google or Wiki as much as you want.

Cultural differences from mainstream Americans involving attitudes, behavior or lifestyle can still be observed among Japanese-Americans, whose ancestoral roots in the US may go back four or five generations, despite going back longer than many say, white Irish or Italians, and being raised in the same white dominant culture. Even my posts on rape have brought up the recognized differences between attitudes of Japanese vs. American, or even between Japanese women and men.

Since you bring up gender, culture and upbringing are also part of the reason (other than discrimination) women don't turn out for "male" jobs like coal miner or oil rig worker, or the many (can't find the census report I've cited at least twice before, but over 100, mainly hazardous or technical) others designated by the census as "male dominated," with more than 90% male workers, and averaging 99.5% male at the most extreme end. Lack of appeal to young, modern, well educated men and women or allegedly poor salaries are not the only explanation. People have just not had the same kind of upbringing or have not been cultured to be drawn to such jobs, as *those* men did, and women less so traditionally. No one has ever suggested I become a civil engineer, airliner pilot, mechanic, or operator of heavy machinery, either. Electrical engineer, office worker, artist, writer, radio announcer, teacher, nurse, civil servant, yes, quite a bit.

I am not saying that Japanese or women cannot do what people of another color, nationality, or gender can do, or at least, learn to do them as well given the same training, as seen in the workplace or at the Olympics. I have recognized the achievements or dominance of Japanese in areas they do have a long tradition with (like sumo wrestling or Japanese martial arts). How many white, black or Latin Americans are currently in professional, i.e. Japanese sumo, or have ever done well? Samoans, Mongolians and Russians do not seem to have the same lack of interest, and have been demonstrated to do quite well, even top class. How many foreign eighth degree black belts are there in Japanese rooted (as opposed to self established) ryuha of martial arts like judo, karate, kendo or aikido? I am not saying Japanese or women are worth any less than white Americans or men just because they may be drawn to different fields or achievements.

If you would like to ignore these demonstrable differences, why bring up gender, nationality, culture, or ethnicity at all? Why should we recognize Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama, before we knew for a fact they would be front runners? Why don't we act gender- and colorblind, and recognize that they are simply doing the same job many other Senators or Presidential candidates are doing, and give them the same treatment (i.e., nothing, if unremarkably stupid or good), and stop talking about their being female or (part) black, much less voting for them on those factors as pollsters have found in the general public, or even some posters seem willing to do? Why recognize famous or high achieving women in Feministing features if they are not to be recognized for their gender, or service to say, the black, Latino, Asian, or LGBTQQ (as opposed to mainstream or white) community? However, I believe recognizing all those people, including Clinton and Obama, over your run of the mill white male with a comparable resume, is just great. Asian-American forums and publications do the same of notable Asian-Americans, instilling ethnic pride and holding them up as role models.

I note the many positive and negative male and female stereotypes on this blog, and that according to my reading IIRC, 100% of those identifying as female are proud of being female and wouldn't want it any other way, when such talk comes up. I'm pretty unusual in explicitly being willing to even imagine accepting a change in gender or nationality, culture or ethnicity. Don't try to deny differences, when recognizing and hailing or deriding differences is the norm on this blog.

Back on topic, I have visited the Urban Envy site, and liked what I saw. She creates a blend of traditional Japanese and modern western or urban youth culture, as well as experimenting with a variety of other genre, and that she would create skateboard deck designs strikes me as fresh and yes, surprising. There is not a lot of deck design of that type, if I could cite examples at all, based on my experience in sports shops or reading skating and biking magazines.

On that note, I also like the art of "Samurai Champloo" and "Afro Samurai," with similar elements, but different style.

>

when you wrote

"it is pretty unusual for Japanese people, even Japanese-Americans, to be so expressive (her thoughts, not just her art)."

And why did I accuse you of biological essentialism? Because you compared Japanese artistic style to Japanese athletic ability. If you had compared Fujiwara's artistic style to the traditional Japanese forms of art she's playing off of, you would have been talking about cultural heritage, not physical traits. I would not have had a problem with that.

I am interested in difference, but it's silly to ignore how difference, particularly racial difference, has been used historically.

I brought art and athletics together under the heading "talented Japanese." From the standpoint of art, literature, and music, I do not look down upon the physically talented for their acquired skills. That's all. Even talented Japanese (or Japanese Americans) are unlikely to attract undue attention to themselves, much less be publicly full of themselves. Self-important politicians and businesspeople are exceptions. The only reason I can talk about myself and my life online, is because no one knows who I am, to judge me for it.

If you are not accusing me of being a racist and sexist based on biology, or believing performance in US professional sports defines humanity, ignore what I wrote. On the extreme high end of the bell curve of height and weight, I believe anecdote and research will show that men will be bigger (not better) than women, and whites and blacks (don't know about Latinos) will be bigger than Japanese and other Asians.

Example: according to gov't report for 2000, the average Japanese man aged 20-24, was 5'8" and 144 lbs. The average Japanese woman was 5'2" and 111 lbs.

How many white and black people you know like this? That's like 15/16 for American boys, and 13/14 for girls, according to the CDC at their website. I'm Japanese-American, have lived among 200,000 other Japanese-Americans in Hawaii, or in Japan all my life, and at 5'7", weigh 160 lbs. In 12 years in Japan, I considered myself a tall, large person, easily looking over the heads of most people (older Japanese are shorter), and wearing Japanese size LARGE. People who mentioned it to me, thought the same. No one in Japan ever called me small or physically inadequate. Pretty ludicrous for me as a 25th percentile sized man in the US, yes? That is biology, but that mindset is culture. Small American = "big" Japanese.

Big, fit Japanese men (say 200 lbs. plus) will more likely go into professional wresting, sumo or judo than any other sport. Why talented Japanese-American men with American varsity training don't try professional sports (other than golf), I haven't the faintest idea. Even people from the old country are more likely to try American professional sports like PGA golf, the NBA, NFL, Major Leagues, or F1 and drag racing. Personally, my mother wanted me to get a nice steady job, preferably civil service, with good retirement benefits and job security. Sports? Pffft. Writing? Cartooning? Acting? Teaching? Consulting? (Mind you, I've tried all of them.) Pffft. I'm 39, married with two kids and a nursing license, and my mother still wants me to get a government desk job which pays one-third to half of nursing.

I liked my time in Japan. Very non-threatening being a "big" adult man. When not at work, I passed as Japanese, going entire years between instances of people pointing out I was foreign by my accent. Black people also sometimes report (in published writing) feeling very comfortable in Japan, as Japanese do not hold the same level of anti-black views as in the US. The recent interest in US urban culture (which also seems to have influenced Ms. Fujiwara) actually works in their favor. "Black" culture is cool, therefore black Americans are cool. [Note there are people directly from Africa, whom Japanese usually consider inferior. They look down on developing nations.]

White people in Japan who are short timers, complain to no end about the racial discrimination they receive. I loved it. White guys score Japanese women easy because many think Americans are cool: OK! People stare at white people on the street, point, or call out "Harro!" on the assumption they speak English: racism! Bwah ha ha ha ha ha. Foreigners of any kind in Japan are fortunate not to be treated like people with dark skin in the US, particularly the violent aspects. Japanese are equal opportunity sexists, however, and to be a gaijin foreigner on top of being a woman - ow.

Repeat: Modern adult Japanese women are 13 year old American size. I wonder if that is seriously what western men who objectify Asian women have in mind? See: YouTube comments re: Japanese adolescent swimwear model videos. But wait: Japanese teens look like American preteens. Uh . . .

I can't even express my disgust in words. So I'll just say this:

A male...STFU.

OK. STFU is what I asked people for.

What did I do this time?