THINKING OUT LOUD (TOL):
Talking Issues, Taking Action

Weekly schedule, 2011

KZOO 1210-AM
MONDAYS 6:30-7:30PM, JCCH
Kick-off date 6/22/09
phone: (808) 941-5966
email: <JCCH@am 1210kzoo.com>

Alternating hosts

Dr. Christine Yano
Dr. George Tanabe
Dr. Willa Tanabe

The Show

An issues-oriented weekly talk-story community forum presented by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, hosted by Christine Yano, Professor of Anthropology and George Tanabe, Professor Emeritus of Religion at UH, with Willa Tanabe, Professor Emeritus of Art History at UH. Alternating hosts Christine Yano and George Tanabe invite featured guests to discuss issues of relevance to the Japanese American and broader community in Hawai`i. Format includes call-in participation by home audience. The latter portion of every show is Thinking Up the Positive, devoted to brainstorming possible solutions to problems, issues, and concerns.

On the last Monday of every month, TOL features a discussion of a book with host Willa Tanabe, guest, and call-in audience. Under the rubric of “JCCH Book Club” and with the cooperation of Barnes and Noble, which will be featuring the selected book in their stores in the weeks prior to the show, this community read hopes to engage lively talk with authors and audiences alike.

Topics

range from the light to the serious, including:

community memory and history, with focus on World War II internment in Hawai`i
sustainability in tough times: from local agriculture to home gardens
keeping family businesses alive in today’s economic climate
bon dance and its longevity: changing practices in multicultural Hawaii
the power of forgiveness: comparative looks at cultural concepts of peace (Hawaiian and Japanese) – Rev. Kaleo Patterson
hapa: what it means to be mixed-race, past and present
performing arts as transmission of culture from one generation to the next
ethnic beauty contests: how relevant are they today?
the economics of service: how are we communicating values to young and old?
the pursuit of happiness: cultural notions of well-being and how to get there
political women: how does gender affect the political arena?
school lunch: nostalgia for small-kid days vs nutrition
local humor: who has the right to be funny?
brain drain: how to draw Hawaii’s talent home and keep them there?
ethnic stereotypes: do they breed love, hate, or laughter?
racism in Hawai`i: hidden and not-so hidden ugliness
concept of local: drawing us closer or keeping others out?
neighbor islands: are we still centered on Honolulu?
nostalgia for the good ole days: can we afford it? Can we not afford it?

Format

Thinking out Loud (TOL)
00:00-15:00 introduce guests and the issues; host interviews guests
16:00-29:00 PLUS call-in
30:00-32:00 Station and sponsor ID
33:00-54:00 Thinking Up the Positive: where do we go from here? Wrap-up
55:00-60:00 JCCH announcements

Rationale

There are relatively limited media venues for discussing community issues in Hawai`i. In this regard, radio is one of the most effective means for doing so. It is affordable, covers a broad geographic range (including neighbor islands), and provides democratic access to sharing one’s opinions. This radio program, “Thinking Out Loud” (TOL) emphasizes the role of critical thinking in addressing complex problems and issues that we face today. At the same time, it embraces the notion of collective talk toward solutions.

The goals for TOL include the following: 1) identify issues of importance to Hawaii’s multicultural community; 2) stimulate discussion of these topical issues; 3) provide a means for the public to involve themselves in the discussion; and 4) suggest ways in which a public forum such as this might work toward resolution of these problems and issues. The program will address the larger community of Hawai`i, with special focus on Japanese Americans.

The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, in partnership with KZOO (Japanese-language radio station), provides an excellent venue for accomplishing the above goals. Both institutions are in the process of restructuring to address a more inclusive community, while not losing sight of their original base population. TOL will lend both institutions a public face as leaders in discussing and tackling issues of concern to the general community.

Hosts

Christine Yano has done considerable research on Japan, as well as the Japanese American community in Hawaii. Her books include Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song (Harvard), Crowning the Nice Girl: Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture in Hawaii’s Cherry Blossom Pageant (University of Hawaii Press), and Airborne Dreams: Race, Gender, and Cosmopolitanism in Postwar America (forthcoming, Duke University Press). She serves on the Board of Directors of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.

George Tanabe has published widely on religions in Japan and Buddhism in Hawaii. His books include Myoe the Dreamkeeper (Harvard), Religions of Japan in Practice (Princeton), and Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan. He has served on the Board of Governors of JCCH, and is President of BDK Hawaii, an affiliate of the Numata Foundation in Japan. He was a 2007 recipient of the Japanese government's Foreign Minister's award for the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and America.

Willa Tanabe served as Dean of the School for Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies at UH and as Chair of the Art Dept. Her research focus is Japanese Buddhist art and Japanese crafts. Her published works include: Paintings of the Lotus Sutra (Weatherhill), Sacred Treasures of Mt. Koya (Koyasan Reihokan), The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture (UH Press) and several exhibition catalogs.

Archiving

All TOL shows will be taped, archived, and made available for accessing through the JCCH and KZOO websites.

page last updated September 26, 2011

THINKING OUT LOUD (TOL): Talking Issues, Taking Action