Daily Archives: November 11, 2011

Mr. Rosen, you and your festival missed a great chance to be a “real and meaningful festival!

Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Daniel H. Rosen response to my article of To D.H. Rosen’s Kodo’s Earth Celebration (Japan) PR: is Japan really OK? (03/11/2011)

“Last month I posted a video of a Niigata Television news report that featured my involvement with a live-streaming project at Earth Celebration 2011. I then received a response from Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi from the “DooBeeDooBeeDoo” blog who took issue with my suggestion that “Japan is OK.” Mr. Ladjevardi makes some important points so I thought I would share his blog entry in my newsletter. However, I would also like to explain my intention was only to show the world that Japan is still a vibrant place where life is celebrated (as opposed to being a nuclear wasteland), not that everything is rosy and the dangers aren’t real. Yes, Japan has a lot to learn from past mistakes and the nuclear issue is very serious, but when I said “Japan is OK,” I meant it in the context that the piece was intended– i.e. that it is OK for tourists to come back, which I do believe to be true. For those of us that actually live here, the long-term affects of elevated radiation may very well be a health risk, but the idea that people outside of Japan have a better understanding of the situation than those of us on the ground is ridiculous if not infuriating. Peace out!”

This commentary appeared in Rosen’s “TokyoDex Newsletter 11月号” which I subscribe to. Good to know that he read my article and thought about it. Unfortunately he didn’t respond to me or to DooBeeDooBeeDoo directly, although I had emailed him directly to inform him about my post. So I guess he didn’t want to speak with me directly. Nonetheless,…at least I got some response from him.

Continue reading