Author: Lee Matz

Traveling VR exhibit “War Up Close” depicts invasion of Ukraine through 360° photos by Mykola Omelchenko

Traveling VR exhibit “War Up Close” depicts invasion of Ukraine through 360° photos by Mykola Omelchenko

Posted by | Oct 20, 2025

On the same day Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to officially condemn Russia’s forced deportation of Ukrainian children, visitors to the Capitol experienced a hauntingly immersive window into the war’s toll on civilians. The War Up Close virtual reality exhibit, part of the traveling VR Museum of the War in Ukraine, was set up inside the Capitol building on October 16. The project uses 360-degree photography and immersive video to place viewers in the center of destroyed Ukrainian neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, and homes. Mykola Omelchenko, one of the lead documentarians behind the effort, was on hand...

Read More
How Shinto’s ancient concept of Musubi offers Milwaukee a path to build ties in a divided America

How Shinto’s ancient concept of Musubi offers Milwaukee a path to build ties in a divided America

Posted by | Oct 12, 2025

Milwaukee is often described as a city of sharp divides. Lines of race, economics, and politics run through its neighborhoods like fault lines that never rest. Yet in community gardens, cultural festivals, and neighborhood projects, there has been evidence of something different: people tying themselves together in acts of shared creation. This simple idea of connection, the making of life and community, is central to an ancient Japanese concept in Shinto called Musubi (産霊). Musubi is not a deity in itself but a principle, the generative energy of existence. It is the power that brings things into being, the...

Read More
Sae Iino: How a cultural ambassador hopes to build bridges between the people of Milwaukee and Japan

Sae Iino: How a cultural ambassador hopes to build bridges between the people of Milwaukee and Japan

Posted by | Sep 26, 2025

When Sae Iino left her hometown in Saitama Prefecture to study in Thailand, she knew the next chapter of her life would be one of discovery. What she did not expect was that the journey would take her to Wisconsin, to be an advocate for Japanese culture in Milwaukee, where the Japanese community is small, scattered, and searching for connection. Iino, who grew up in Iruma City just north of Tokyo, described her hometown as unassuming. “We’re really well known for our tea,” she said. “But most Japanese people overlook my prefecture. It’s kind of ‘famous for nothing’ compared...

Read More
Japanese cultural program expands in Milwaukee from partnership with national outreach initiative

Japanese cultural program expands in Milwaukee from partnership with national outreach initiative

Posted by | Sep 26, 2025

Japanese culture in Milwaukee has long existed in the margins, a quiet presence shaped by postwar immigration, community advocacy, and cultural exchange. Now, through the partnership between the International Institute of Wisconsin (IIW) and the Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI), those traditions will be brought more directly into classrooms, libraries, and public institutions. The joint program offers hands-on experiences that reflect both the city’s global ties and the deepening interest in Japanese heritage across the state. What once may have been fleeting introductions to Japanese culture are slowly evolving into sustained conversations, driven by educators, volunteers, and cultural institutions working...

Read More
Personal memories of the atomic bombings on Japan fade with the passing of the WWII generation

Personal memories of the atomic bombings on Japan fade with the passing of the WWII generation

Posted by | Sep 26, 2025

Japan marked the 80th anniversary of its surrender in World War II this summer with solemn ceremonies in Tokyo and Hiroshima, underscoring how the nation is running out of time to preserve the memory of its wartime experience. With the average age of atomic bomb survivors now more than 86, the number of voices able to directly testify about the devastation is rapidly declining. At Tokyo’s Budokan Hall, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba joined about 4,500 officials, bereaved families, and their descendants for a national memorial on August 15. Attendees observed a moment of silence at noon, the exact time...

Read More
Why Korean entertainment resonates with American youth as U.S. cultural soft power falters under Trump

Why Korean entertainment resonates with American youth as U.S. cultural soft power falters under Trump

Posted by | Sep 5, 2025

“I had a six-year-old kid run up to me, grab my hand, and say, ‘You’re Rumi. You’re the speaking voice for Rumi.’ And I reply, ‘Wait, you’re a six-year-old boy? How do you know that?’ And he says, ‘I did my research.’ Then the mom adds, ‘Oh yeah, he’s seen the movie 17 times. He knows everything. He Googled you guys and knows your faces.’ … But one of the best responses I got was from a seven-year-old boy who said, ‘I love the ending scene when they all sing, and they learn that you have to work together,...

Read More

Knezelism