Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Dec 10 Basques/Xmas, Jan 14 speaker, Congrats Doreen


Dear friends and members,

"Languages on the Periphery: A Linguistic Look at Basque and Japanese"

Ronald Thornton will explore some of the interesting similarities of languages from vastly different locations that share origins outside of the main Indo-European or Sino language families.  How can we explain some of the lexical and grammatical correspondences?

A retired professor from Otsuma Women's University and long time Japan resident (who started out a scholar of Russian language), Ron has actually been a member of our fellowship for many years but only recently started to attend again.

He plans a shorter than usual talk and discussion.

It will be followed by songs and carols of the holiday season in a sing-a-long led by Bonnie McClure. 

At  the very end we are expecting  a "pop in"  performance by our delightful opera singer friend, Emiliano Blasi,  who reports he will leave for Italy right after our sunday to perform on stage.  


Time:  3:00-5:00

Followed by drinks or dinner in the International House Cafe if you can join us.

Place: International House of Japan (国際文化会館)

106-0032 Minato-ku Roppongi 5-11-16

Between Azabu-Juban and Roppongi subway stations on Torii-zaka. 

Or please see their website for a map.

All are welcome (we ask only for a donation towards our room rental).

**********

Our January 14th meeting will feature Prof. Michael Polito (Sophia/Jochi University) who will talk on "Consumerism, Ecology and Love: the Personalist Revolution of Pope Francis."

***************************************

I am pleased and honored to announce that  our long term member Doreen Simmons has recently been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, for her services to Japanese culture.

We hope we will have a chance to congratulate her in person. 

***************************************

We might at this holiday season think about the traditional meaning of Christmas in words that come from the Christian heritage of Unitarians, although many Unitarians may not believe  the Christ-centered message (or even in God) today---

Christmas is the celebration of the historical event when Jesus was born into our world so that he might display the perfection and holiness of God.  Through his work of teaching and living perfectly Jesus provided a model for our lives, and then by  dying on the cross for our sins, promised that all who trust in him would be saved from the righteous judgment of God.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him," (John 3:16-17).

***********************************

Finally to all our members and friends  we wish you the joys of the holiday season, safe travels, and a good year in 2018.


Peggy Kanada, 

moderator of the fellowship

Monday, October 23, 2017

Nov. 12 - Violin Maker Andreas Preuss


Dear members and friends of the Fellowship,


Our regular second Sunday meeting features "Luthier (violin maker) Andreas Preuss".

 Sunday November 12

International House of Japan (国際文化会館)
Between Roppongi and Azabu-juban stations on Toriii zaka.

See their website or call them for directions.


3:00-5:00

With simple dinner or drinks in the International House cafe for those who want to continue the discussion.


Andreus Preuss,  originally from Juelich Germany, is a meister (official master craftsman) who  established his atelier for the making and repair of violins/stringed instruments in Toshima-ku more than a decade ago.
His life story is a fascinating account of international apprenticeship, study and effort to make once again the great violins of the 18th century produced by Stradivari and Guarnieri. 

 While we will let him tell his story and discuss a few  of the interesting technical aspects of violin making, let me begin by saying we Unitarians are seekers--how do you set nearly impossible goals and persevere to create  a life with meaning and impact for good on others?

 To spark your interest however  let me say that around 40 years ago Andreus (born in a violin producing tiny German community), as a violin loving but naive 19 year old, plunged into learning Japanese and living in Japan in order to apprentice with the most dedicated meister he could find>> MURATA Zoroku (the first Japanese to be trained in Germany  to receive the certification of meister). 

Andreus' research and work then took him again to Europe and to NYCity, before he came back to open his own business.
I look forward to seeing you on November 12.
Please being a friend (we have a larger room).

Your moderator (who has been distracted traveling in Vietnam),
Peggy Kanada 


Friday, August 18, 2017

Sept Meeting - NOH and Unitarian priniciples


Dear friends and members of the Fellowship,

I have more details about our upcoming meeting.


Sunday September 10   3:00-5:00 pm.
Venue: International House of Japan (国際文化会館)

Everyone welcome for refreshments or dinner in the I House Cafe for those who can stay and join our speakers.   
See the International House website for map or call for directions. 

Between Roppongi and Azabu Juban subway stations.

The presentation is entitled "Like Leaves of Autumn." 

It is  a joint project (lecture, visual presentation and discussion) of  Kenneth Lawrence and his wife, sumi-e painter Kumiko. 

It will explore how themes (especially grounded in Buddhism)  in the traditional performance of NOH link up to core values expressed in Five Principles of  the Unitarian/ Universalists---

>inherent worth of every person

>compassion

>our search for meaning/truth

>importance of personal conscience

>respect for the interdependent web of existence.


The Lawrences are  based in the Seattle area, but in recent years have traveled to make presentations in many places. This includes  recently at Sakuracon (Pacific Northwest anime convention) and Hawaii (2015). 

Kumiko, whose paintings we will see, comes from a family of Noh performers. 

They met in 1990. 

Kenneth is an educator(ESL) , author and journalist.  He studied music and Asian theater, receiving an MA from the University of Hawaii in 2003 after many years in Tokyo, including at the International Theater Institute of the National Noh Gakudo (1988-96) and later as  journal editor and  writer all while studying Noh performance.  I understand his later studies of Asian theater traditions have also made him an expert in Himalayan singing bowl healing. 

 He writes that he hopes the presentation will help us to transform "life's uncertainties into a sense of tranquility, appreciation and wonder."


your moderator,

Peggy Kanada


PS 

October 8 Fellowship meeting will feature Paul McCarthy talking about  "The recent movie "Silence" (based on Endo's famous novel)."


November 12 Andreas Preuss
 "Making Violins in Japan--the search to replicate a Stradivarius instrument"



Sunday, July 9, 2017

July 17 summer gathering details




Dear friends and members of the Fellowship,

All (including your guests) are welcome to join our informal summer gathering.

July 17 (Monday holiday) 5:00-8:00

Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan
20th Floor
Denki Builiding
Yurakucho Station (Denki biru is one minute diagonally across from BIC camera.)
Also accessible from subway underground (be careful there are two sets of elevators).

Please let me know if you will attend to hold seats for you (but last minute attendees are welcome--should be no problem).

Pay as you go (very reasonable prices>> at most 4,000yen for full course dinner with drinks(note plural) and dessert/coffee if you choose).
Wide variety of food including vegetarian.
Snacks and light foods like pizza also available.

We will ask for a donation of 500yen towards our FCCJ member sponsor's dinner since our Fellowship member Pauline Reich will not be able to attend.
It was Pauline's good suggestion to meet at FCCJ and we are sorry that our initial date of July 9 and also the 17th did not in the end work with her schedule.
           
Have a good sumer if we do not see you!
Next regular meeting at International House on Sept a10 at 3:00.

Peggy Kanada, moderator

Summer meeting postponed to July 17


Dear friends and members of the Fellowship,



Unfortunately our member Pauline is still away and my backup sponsor for our gathering at the Foreign Correspondent's Club is unable to come after all on July 9.(We must have a FCC Jmember present to use the dining room).



It is such a convenient location and reasonable price for nice food that we have tentatively rescheduled

for Monday July 17 (a holiday).  

5:00 to 8:00

Please let me know if you are planning to come.

 I will send out a RECONFIRMATION and more detailed directions as soon as we have the OK from the club again.



I had a very busy time in New Orleans with the Unitarian Universalist Association (of N America) annual meeting-- called the General Assembly. I returned June 30th.

 Eliminating the mindset (sometimes unconscious) of white racial supremacy was a main theme.

Among many workshops, music, and services  interesting speakers included legal activist Bryan Stevenson (most recent book is "Just Mercy") and CLF (the newsletter we often use) leader, the Rev Meg Riley "Improvising Faith Off the Binary." 

President Tom Andrews of Unitarian Universalist Service Committee presented the 2017 E.Roosevelt award to Linda Sarsour-- Palestian-American political activist and one of the leaders of the Woman's March on Washington in jan 2017-- who gave another a stirring progressive speech. 

Susan Frederick-Gray was elected the new UUA president. The first woman in the history of the organization.



Looking forward to seeing you on July 17 --or else at our NEXT regular meeting on September 10th.



Peggy Kanada, moderator


Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Cancel and reschedule for Summer Gathering July 9 >July 17?


Summer gathering 2017 of Unitarian Fellowship on July 9 CANCELED but rescheduling it, (possibly to July 17,Monday.)

Dear friends and members of the Fellowship,

Unfortunately our member Pauline is still away and my backup sponsor for our gathering at the Foreign Correspondent's Club is unable to come after all on July 9.(We must have a FCCJmember present to use the dining room).

It is such a convenient location and reasonable price for nice food that we have tentatively rescheduled for Monday July 17 (a holiday).
5:00 to 8:00
Please let me know if you are planning to come.
I will send out a RECONFIRMATION and more detailed directions as soon as we have the OK from the club again.

I had a very busy time in New Orleans with the Unitarian Universalist Association (of N America) annual meeting-- called the General Assembly. I returned June 30th.
Eliminating the mindset (sometimes unconscious) of white racial supremacy was a main theme.
Among many workshops, music, and services interesting speakers included legal activist Bryan Stevenson (most recent book is "Just Mercy") and CLF (the newsletter we often use) leader, the Rev Meg Riley "Improvising Faith Off the Binary."
President Tom Andrews of Unitarian Universalist Service Committee presented the 2017 E.Roosevelt award to Linda Sarsour-- Palestian-American political activist and one of the leaders of the Woman's March on Washington in jan 2017-- who gave another a stirring progressive speech.
Susan Frederick-Gray was elected the new UUA president. The first woman in the history of the organization.

Looking forward to seeing you on July 17 --or else at our NEXT regular meeting on September 10th.

Peggy Kanada, moderator

Sunday, June 4, 2017

June 11 Jewish Belief and Practices - Rabbi Sudekevich


Dear friends and members of the Fellowship. 



We are holding our usual second Sunday of the month meeting.

Sorry for the late announcement --it was difficult to confirm our speaker.



3:00-5:00 pm

at International House of Japan.

(Near Azabu-Juban or Roppongi stations).



We are fortunate to have Rabbi Mendi Sudakevich who will talk and answer our questions about  the basic principles of Jewish Belief and Practices and will touch upon the history of Jews in Japan.



Please join us for a convivial and undoubtedly interesting discussion.



Rabbi Mendi is a teacher/leader with the Chabad Lubavitch group.

He will not join us for dinner because the Cafe does not provide Kosher food service.



And save Sunday July 9 (5:00 to 8:00pm) for our relaxed summer get-together.

Details to follow soon.



 Note: There are no REGULAR meetings in July and August.



Your moderator

Peggy Kanada

Thursday, April 27, 2017

May 14 "Shamanic Tradition in Chinese Poetry" Bonnie McClure and Basque and Japanese similarities Ron Thorton

Dear friends and members of the U Fellowship for Tokyo,
I am sorry for the late notification but we have had problems confirming a speaker.
Sunday, May 14...
Usual time (3:00-5:00) with dinner afterwards if you care to join us.
Place: International House of Japan (国際文化会館)
near Roppongi and Azabu-juban subway stations


Our member (and retired professor) Ron Thornton promises a short but intriguing look at possible linguistic similarities (connections?) between Basque language and Japanese (including Ainu).
As an example, he writes, for you to consider as evidence for some sort of ancient connection between Bq and Jp, not a grammatical one but maybe no less an interesting one. The Japanese expression kitsune no yomeiri 'wedding of foxes, foxes' wedding', means 'sunshower', that is rain falling while the sun is shining at the same time. The Basque equivalent is azari ezkonza (azari, 'fox' ezkonza 'wedding"), that is, "foxes' wedding'), likewise meaning a 'sunshower' (Bq z pronounced more as a "heavy" s).

And for our main speaker, our member Bonnie McClure, Ph.D candidate at Aoyama University, will talk about "The Shamanic Tradition in Chinese Poetry."
Our meeting should prove an interesting one with a culture and language focus.
Please invite a friend.
As Tom Eskildsen talked about at our April meeting, JummaNet is still accepting donations to their account for emergency relief for Rohingya people who have fled across the border into Bangladesh from violent persecution in Burma by certain Buddhist elements and the military.
Your moderator,
Peggy Kanada

Sunday, April 2, 2017

April 9 Religion and Virtual Reality" with Zita Wenzel.

April 9th Fellowship meeting: 
Main presentation-- "Religion and Virtual Reality" with Zita Wenzel.



 


Peggy Kanada, moderator

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Mar. 12 Magdalena Iwamura: Baroque Style and Design


Unitarian Fellowship of Tokyo March 12, Sunday Meeting

 Dear friends and members of the Fellowship,

Fellowship Meeting March 12:
International House of Japan --near Roppongi and Azabu-Juban stations.
3:00 to 5:00 (and join us for supper afterwards in the cafe)

    As we announced earlier, Magdalena Iwamura will be our main speaker.She will talk about  "Baroque Style and Design in the 17th and 18th centuries>>an early example of Globalization." She will use slides/visuals.

Magdalena trained in sculpture, crafts and art in Dusseldorf and Kassel before a second degree in education in order to teach art in German high schools. She taught three years in Germany and then 10 years at the German School Tokyo,in Yokohama. 

Later she transferred to the architectural firm IWAMURA ATELIER of her husband to do design related work. 

Since 2011 she  has taught "European Art History" and "Historical Context of Design" (Soushoku bunka) at universities in Tokyo. Starting in 2015 she  also enjoys teaching drawing at the Faber Castell Academy within Itoya.



Stan Yukevich (our Fellowship member) will also make a short presentation on March 12 about the art critic,philosopher, poet/novelist, and painter  John Berger (1926--Jan 2017), who is famous for his book and BBC TV series "Ways of Seeing."



******************************************************************************************



April 9th Fellowship meeting: 

Main presentation-- "Religion and Virtual Reality" with Zita Wenzel.



  Our member Ron Thornton  also plans to talk briefly about  "Possible linguistic connections between two very distant languages: Ainu and Catalonian".



Peggy Kanada, moderator

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Vivek Pinto on William Winstanley Pearson Feb 12


Dear members and friends of Unitarian Fellowship of Tokyo,



Reminder: 

Sunday February  12  3:00 to 5:00

International House of Japan



Vivek Pinto (Research fellow at Institute of Asian Cultures, ICU)

"William Winstanley Pearson: 'I come not to destroy but to fulfill."

Join us for dinner afterwards with our speaker.





Last minute Notice:   

WELL Annual Retreat and Conference (for Women)



Friday evening (Feb 17) thru Sunday noon (Feb 19) 2017



This year's theme: Women Resisting Violence

Workshops and Presentations

Networking and Relaxing

Learning and Laughter

Bilingual English and Japanese



Beautiful Musashi Ranzan National Women's Education Center in Saitama (and so very inexpensive/food is good/nature walk ).

Taxi from ShinrinKoen Station (Tobu Tojo Line from Ikebukuro) 






Your moderator has gone several years (aiming for the main Saturday afternoon/dinner but last year 2016 stayed over for relaxing overnight--you are free to come just for the day or all two nights).

Always something interesting or timely.

Reservations required. 

*******************************************************************************



March (also Sunday the 12th) Unitarian Fellowship Meeting

Our member Stan Yukevich remembering  Berger.

Main speaker: Magdalena Iwamura- "Globalization--European Baroque Style in the 16/17th centuries."


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

January and February 12, 2017 Meetings


Dear members and friends of the Fellowship,



         We had a small gathering on January 8, but we set to work on polishing a couple of places in  the Charter of our organization (that had been approved May 2016).  I hope all members approve of the changes.

Please email me with any dissensions or comments. All suggestions will be considered but not all can be incorporated into the text (as was the case last Spring). 



We will vote to approve the slightly modified Charter at our March (not February)  2017 regular meeting.

The full text is attached.



Main changes to the Charter are in Point II and Postscript



Point II now says:

II.  In the Unitarian tradition we have no requirements of doctrine or creed. We welcome all English speakers who seek intellectually stimulating presentations (by a broad range of speakers) and interactive discussions on topics about religion, culture, social justice and world peace.                 We are a small group who share a common search for meaning or truth through the free and friendly examination of spiritual, moral and existential aspects of religion, philosophy and cultural traditions. We are all on individual paths of inquiry and commitment to others (and society), no matter what our starting points.

 We respect each person who comes to Fellowship and extend hospitality and friendship to all.

 However we will not tolerate threats of violence, sexual harassment, or malicious gossip. (The moderator and core members shall meet and take speedy action in such cases.)

++++++++++++++ 



And we added to our postscript at the end of the main points of our Charter.

The modified postscript now reads: 



Postscript 

We respect David Rankin’s (Unitarian/Universalist Association of North America) list of “What do Unitarian Universalists Believe In?”

Freedom of religious expression and individual conscience.

Toleration of religious ideas.

Authority of reason and personal conscience above any institutions.

An ongoing search for truth.

Unity of experience [that sees no inherent conflict between secular and sacred].

Worth and dignity of each and every human being.

Ethical application of religion/faith in social involvement.

Motive force of love [and of finding non-violent solutions].

Necessity of the democratic process and transparent governance.

Importance of [religious] community.



To which we add our obligation to preserve and support the interdependent web of existence of all living beings on the planet.

 And we look to the UU Covenant of Congregations that posits that Unitarians draw from many sources;: direct experience, words and deeds of prophetic women and men working for social justice and peace, wisdom from the world’s religions (including Jewish and Christian teachings and other traditions including Buddhism), and the Humanist teaching to heed science and reason. 

***************

On January 8 we looked at our Charter  partially because our topic for discussion was "Unitarians and Prayer" and we talked a bit about "Who do we (Unitarians/personally) pray to?" especially the non-theists or humanists amongst us. 

We decided to talk more about the topic at a later meeting and recommend two essays in the Church of the Larger Fellowship newsletter.



NEXT MEETING



Sunday, February 12

3:00 to 5:00

International House of Japan (see their website or call them for directions in English). 

Near Roppongi and Azabu Juban subway stations.

Update:  We are currently confirming our speaker for February. 

Peggy Kanada, moderator

Dec. 2016 Music meeting

Unitarian Fellowship of Tokyo
December 11、2016
Sunday 3:00-5:00
International House...


Holiday songs and opera(with Emiliano Blasi) along with Readings in the Christmas/Holiday Spirit

Emiliano Blasi, an Italian singer who teaches Italian and music at a school near Yotsuya and has an interest in Buddhism, sang for us Christmas songs and a little opera, while we had a discussion of Mozart and other things in English, Japanese and Italian. 

We wish Emiliano the best in his career in Tokyo and look forward to hearing from him again.   

http://emilianoblasi.com/aboutme/


Monday, January 16, 2017

News on Fukushima (from Nov 2016)


Dear friends and members of the Unitarian Fellowship of Tokyo,



    You may know that your moderator  made a trip with a group from International Association of Liberal Religious Women (founded by Unitarians in 1910 and now the oldest inter religious women's group working for peace) to Fukushima on Oct 23 and 24.



 We met with several people and groups including A3 (the supportNPO for mothers in "safe" Koreyama 40 kilo from Nuclear Power Plant #1) and Pastor Kawakami Naoya (United Church and Touhoku Help NPO).



The Japanese press,officials,TEPCO   and cowered Fukushima Medical Association are not reporting the true radiation effects and problems and the delayed cleanup situation.

Pastor Kawakami based in Sendai continues to work with local people suffering from the effects of the earthquake,tsunami and especially radiation now more than 6.7 years ago. 

He sent me this recent article --translated into English--that appeared in the Spanish paper El Mundo in March 2016.



See you on November 13 (International House 3:00) for our speaker Paul McCartin on GMO's and genetic engineering.



Peggy Kanada

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