Wednesday, June 25, 2008

"Japan's About-Face" on Wide Angle/PBS








On July 8, at 9pm (local) the show WIDE ANGLE (PBS), will premier a documentary on the Japanese "military" since their defeat in World War II.
Here's their blurb:

Japan’s About-Face is a remarkable window into the shifting role of the military in post-war Japanese society.

WIDE ANGLE has acquired exclusive access to the National Defense Academy, Japan’s “West Point.” We follow Defense Academy cadets preparing for a future that may involve overseas deployment, and meet with a group of peace activists — some of them atom bomb survivors — on a grueling two month, 700-mile protest march from Hiroshima to Tokyo. We also witness joint maneuvers with the U.S. Marine Corps, surveillance flights over the Sea of Japan, and the DDH Hyuga — the first Japanese aircraft carrier built since WWII.

Japan’s About-Face offers unprecedented insight into the future of Asian geopolitics.

I happened to do some subtitling for it (that's the shameless pandering bit) -- most of it dialogue with civilian organizations. If they kept much of that footage, you'll get to see the word "patriotism" find a new home. And yes, it's a little scary.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is it that you do anyway? Do you have a full-time or do you freelance?

Anonymous said...

And I'd like to get in a word about what can only be US jets making a racket in the sky over my town. Geez! Just going around in circles for hours. The funny thing is that everyone called the local government (kencho) to complain. Kencho called the Self-defense Forces base in our area, who said they hadn't been given any information on the training flights of the US military. Only having George Bush as president makes me prouder to be an American. I wish we got this show you're talking about. It's the sort of thing Japan is not big on publicizing in its own backyard.

Anonymous said...

Do you know Lisa Biagiotti?

ill iterate said...

I actually don't know Lisa B. but I'm not a professional full-time translator...I have no idea what I do...