Issue 13 – RAN TURNS TWO

Our cover Samurai is sick right? That dude was penned up and penciled in by DAVID MAZZUCHI, whose works we feature in this special issue. Samurai dude represents JAPAN at this crucial juncture in Japanese history. If you LOVE JAPAN, you should really be watching carefully what’s going on over here, the government and natural catastrophes keep happening in tandem.  No Good. But our Intrepid WARRIOR is holding steady as he goes, even with a maniacal and unruly MONKEY FIRMLY ON HIS BACK. What’s that the MONKEY is holding? Why, it’s a ROADMAP of course, which LEADS the mighty and majestic armored samurai warrior to his rightful destiny as one of the world’s prominent nations. But Right About Now, things are, shall we say, hectic for our Samurai. Japan must choose wisely and act promptly in these next few crucial months and years, its fate is in the hands of destiny, as well as itself.Don’t Sleep Samurai, we need you now. In this issue, contributing writer MARK LAVERS gives us a personal definition of “gaman”, the Japanese spirit of endurance, patience, stoicism. We’re all proud of gaman, but we think we need to be at least asking questions, silence is not an option right now….Cheers to DAVID MAZZUCHI, MARK LAVERS, and all the other writers who are, and have, contributed to RAN MAGAZINE in our two short but blazing years. WE LOVE YOU ALL AND WE SUPPORT WHAT YOU’RE DOING.

RAN IS YOUR VOICE

“Come gather ‘round people/Wherever you roam/And admit that the waters/around you have grown/and accept that soon/you’ll be drenched to the bone…and you better start swimmin’/or you’ll sink like a stone/For The Times They Are A’ Changin’..”

-Bob Dylan-

Seems relevant Right About Now, that tune-

We’re Two. Happy Birthday To Us. We’re now a toddler. On the cover of our inaugural issue, we boldly announced-“Nagoya Grows UP”, and we think we’ve helped make that announcement a reality.  To wit, in these two years, we think there are more varied events taking place, like the BIO and STEREOPHONIC parties, each of which just keep getting better—more people here in the Nag taking chances, like ANTHONY GILMORE/Nameless Films and Theatre Productions,  Steve Pottinger, Joe Sichi and the like–more independent, outside-the-box thinking.

We ourselves have had Oktoberfests, Bang Bang Boogie Beach Parties, Charity events, KaRANoke, photography exhibitions, and more. We’ve opened our pages to allow people to express their ideas, their art, their take on things going on here and elsewhere. We’ve introduced you to some interesting artists, writers, bands, illustrators, designers,  craftsmen, cartoonists,  and photographers–like MICHAEL WADE, Vinny Vintage, and in this issue, GHOST OF MATSUBARA—plus others as well—such as make-up artist Yeni Kartikasari, writer Christina Owens,  illustrator and art director David Mazzuchi,  successful business woman Maki Mizuhara, restaurateur Chris Zarodkiewicz, visionary graphic designer Elios Nishiwaki, Japanophile extraordinaire Edwin Putman, our own world-renowned photographer and Go Green enthusiast ACHIM RUNNEBAUM, hand-made instrument maker Jesse Robinson, Japanese fashion team CMBMC, cultural maven Prisca Molotsi, social commentator Mz. Sheri Love–and so many more, all of whom live right here in Nagoya. We think they’re all pretty cool people, and we plan to continue to work hard to uncover undiscovered talent right under our noses. It’s what we do best. We love y’all.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank Web and Layout Designer Adrien Sanborn and his wife YUKO, without whom RAN may never have existed. Cheers to you and your family.

Since we came to life, one major international Nagoya media outlet disappeared, another one changed it’s format entirely, and another was born. Can you guess who they are? One was a radio station, one is a magazine, and the other is another radio station.

We’ve also introduced you to some cool places to eat, dance, chill, learn, go, and see.  We’ve tried to shed light on some of the more mysterious Japanese ways in our WHEN IN ROME columns, which make a reappearance in this issue with a wonderful and insightful treatise on ‘gaman’, written by Mark Lavers. Appreciate it Mark. We’ve also made our share of mistakes. Though we began our Should I Stay Or Should I Go column with the best intentions, we decided to kill it because we decided to stay, for now anyway. We’ve opened our pages up to organizations such as HOPE INTERNATIONAL, SANTA and FRIENDS, etc, to show you that WE CARE ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY AND THOSE SOULS LESS-FORTUNATE-THAN-US WHO LIVE HERE. We’ve thus far been unafraid to speak up about controversial issues that we think matter, such as homelessness, racism,  reverse racism, discrimination, divorce, family law, sexuality—etc. If you go back and look at our inaugural issue, we stated plainly that RAN is NOT FOR CHILDREN. We hold to that.

We think there’s more integration, more discussion, and more experimentation, more diversity, and we see a real community on the horizon, something we think is a precious commodity. We’re thankful for it all. We don’t presume to take all the credit for the positive changes we see taking place in Nagoya, but we’re also not so ignorant to not notice that we might be having something to do with it. Make your own party, we say.

Thanks for everything Nagoya, and a major shout out to ALL THE SPONSORS WHO HAVE STUCK WITH US SINCE DAY ONE. We love y’all too. We don’t allow advertisers on our pages that we don’t believe in, we’re not in it strictly for the money, we’re trying to build something here. Finally, thanks to a certain angel who has helped us from the very beginning. Without you, RAN is still just an idea rumbling around in the back of my head. Thanks for being a Dream Maker.

The Times They Are A’ Changin’.

Please check out the magazine, and if you’d like any past issues of any issues, please contact me directly at:

tdhouchen@ranmagazine.co

cheers

trev