Mac Urata Photography © 2010 – 12 All rights reserved.m.urata@btinternet.com
Workers of the world, unite
400,000 people poured into the Taksim Square in central Istanbul for the May Day celebration. The top photo captures that massive gathering well. Unfortunately, however, I did not take that picture. I had no clue that you could access to the Taksim Hill Hotel which faces the Square but if I have another opportunity there, [...]
Sitting on the fence (not!)
“Wow, things have really taken a step forward in Turkey”. This was the comment by my friend Jeff who saw my photos of May Day this year in Istanbul (see below). He and I were there in 2009 when a small number of unionists could enter the Taksim Square. It has been closed on May [...]
A personal decision
When I moved and settled in London from Japan, I soon became responsible for several committees of our federation. Since then, those who are closely involved in the operations would say to me “Are you happy with the outcomes of the meeting?” or “Congratulations. You got what you wanted in the conclusions.” First, I felt [...]
Here comes the sun
After walking in the woods on Saturday morning looking for bluebells, I spent the rest of the day and then the whole Sunday in oilseed fields. It proved to be very useful that I checked these locations in advance last week. I wasted no time. During the week, I was anxious to find out the [...]
Mapping out the yellow fields
It was raining just as the weather forecast predicted. After my “mapping” over the Easter weekend, however, I was strongly tempted to take out my car again and go for a drive. Yesterday, I failed to visit a location with oilseed rape because I went to a wrong parking lot. I had further thorough web-search [...]
Colours of April
It was a cloudy morning. I was not sure if I would go out for a walk again with my camera in this weather. You can’t expect much. Last night, I was web-searching for locations near my home where you can find fields of oilseed rape (Brassica napus). I want to add those sceneries of [...]
Good Friday and bluebells
It was another gorgeous morning. After slowly finishing my cup of coffee, I was out in the countryside again. This time, the drive was towards southwest and a little longer than the one I did last week. I have been here once but that was more than two years ago. I decided to take a [...]
First Sunday in April
When I woke-up in bed this morning, I realised that it was not Monday. That made me smile. Then I opened my eyes slowly and I could see the lights coming through the curtains. Yesterday was cloudy unlike the rest of the days in the previous week that were sunny and warm. It looked like [...]
Daffodils in spring
Each year, for the last few years, I have been waiting for the blossom of daffodils for my photography. There is a slope along the train route to work where I see the field turn into soft yellow as the spring approaches. But I had not had the time to take pictures properly. The flowers [...]
One year on – Continuing the human rights revolution
It was exactly a year ago that Amnesty International hosted a Day of Solidarity and Defiance with a mass rally in Trafalgar Square in response to the Arab revolutions. The crowd, and in particular the Egyptian participants, were joyous that day as Hosni Mubarak descended from his power on the day before the event. I [...]
Photos 2011 ~ Places & Protests
I have been to many places again in 2011 and often traveled long distance for my destinations. It is, however, equally true that I walked around local parks and downs on weekends. They are often within a short radius from home and it is just amazing how close you are to the beautiful and quiet [...]
30 November – It was a beautiful day
I leave home as usual in the morning to work. It’s sunny and a clear blue sky is above me. On my way to office, I walk pass a hospital. The workers are on the picket-line with their flags and banners. I reach out my hand to get a copy of their leaflet. I say [...]
Happy birthday Monica
It has been more than a month since I last met Monica. I visited Oslo in mid-October to address a rally held in solidarity with her dismissal case. That day – 10 October – we called upon the affiliates of our federation worldwide to stand behind her in a global day of action (Top photo [...]
Occupy London – A brief comparison with NYC
A week later from my visit to the Liberty Square in New York City, I was at St Paul’s Cathedral on a Saturday afternoon. This is where Occupy London protest is taking place since 15 October in the wake of the global “occupy” actions. Like the Occupy Wall Street movement, tents are pitched in the [...]
Mic check! Mic check! – echoing voices of outcasts
It is only a small park of 3,100 square meters. If the place is empty, you can walk across the concrete ground in 2 minutes. Today, the Liberty Square or Zuccotti Park is crammed with people. I’d say 40% of the premises is taken by the occupiers and their tents. A people’s library was recently [...]
Basic matters
It was one of those moments that I really regretted for not taking photos. It wasn’t that I did not have my camera. The equipments were ready, in my bag. but I decided not to use them although some of the scenes there were so attractive. Let me explain. I was briefly in Drammen with [...]
Memories from our written histories
Using the social network sites over the recent months, I have been “reunited” with old friends. A few date back to almost 40 years. Many I have not met for a long time (and perhaps never again). On Facebook, I am an administrator for a group that brings together our high-school alumnus. About one-quarter of [...]
Parthenon and Grand Place
I was 18 years old when I came across the following quote by Tsuji Kunio, a Japanese scholar of French literature and an author. “Nazi officers who committed their atrocity at Auschwitz would listen to Bach and read the poems of Goethe in the evening. Here, literature had no power to influence their behaviour. In [...]
Look back and open your eyes to the future (Walk V)
The first history walk went well. A few colleagues and I have been locating sites related to the history of our federation’s early years in London and did a couple of test walks since January. We had ten people joining the tour. That is not bad given the fact that this is summer holiday season [...]
Summer of riots and what people say
On my way home from work last night, I stopped over at my local Tesco Superstore. In principle, this place is open around the clock but the doors were closed. I was told the reason being “a riot in the nearby town”. Its car park is huge but was empty. I was shocked. Even in [...]
Hiroshima Day and conscientious objectors
Back in 1991, the then leader of Japan Socialist Party, Takako Doi delivered a speech at a peace and security conference held in University of Montana and praised Janet Rankin as a life-long pacifist. Rankin, a graduate of the university, was the first woman elected to the US congress. She voted against the US’s entry [...]
Fight back counts – Solidarity matters
I am looking forward to the trip that I start on Sunday. Whilst my schedule there will be busy and tight, I will hear officially from the folks locally some real good news. To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard it from my colleague there. I hope you won’t mind me [...]
Dust in the wind
Thanks to the helps from my friends, I had an unforgettable day off in Petra last week. I will not write down a detailed report about my time there. For those who are interested to visit this World Heritage site, I say that it is always hot there (40C when I was there!) so prepare [...]
Happy birthday NHS – Stop privatisation
It was more than ten years ago that a friend of mine visited London from Japan with his wife and young daughter. The girl had chronic illness of epilepsy and she had it returned towards the end of their stay. She was immediately admitted to St Thomas’s Hospital and a bed was allocated for the [...]
MaQuiz: Rock ‘n’ Roll
Back in 1979, when I was still at high school, I went to an outdoor rock concert with my friend. It was August and a hot summer’s day. The event was called the Japan Jam I and brought together the Beach Boys and the Heart as the main acts. Two other overseas bands, TKO and [...]
Ten years later – 100 years after
Last week, we held an international conference in Gothenburg. My good friend, Lars, from Sweden invited us there. On Olof Palmes Plats stands the statue of Charles Lindley. He is one of the founding fathers of our federation from 1896 and the union that Lars represents. At the scene, I posted his photo on Facebook [...]
Dear Janek, Osanloo is free at last
Dear Janek I am sure by now you know the good news. Mansour Osanloo was released from prison yesterday! It is almost four years from that abduction on 10 July. We were shocked and outraged. If you add the previous arrests, it is five years of imprisonment. And the only “crime” that he committed was [...]
MaQuiz – An inspiration that worked
It was June 1965 in New York City. Ten months have passed since the two artists recorded their first album in acoustic with the Columbia Records. It didn’t work as Beatlemania swept the States those weeks and overshadowed everything. Soon the duo was split up; one went to England and pursued a solo career. The [...]
Nails in the coffin
[The above photo was taken in Fukushima Prefecture on 13 May but is unrelated to the nuclear disaster] It is far from over. That is my response to friends and colleagues who ask me, “what is happening in Fukushima”? True that we see very little in the international media, it is still the top news [...]
The Silent Spring
“The only thing missing from these pictures are bullet holes” said my father. “So you’ve been to hell and back” was my mother’s response. Last weekend, I went to see them after visiting Japan’s Tohoku region on the Pacific-side where the recent earthquake and tsunami caused major destructions. They saw my photos and film. My [...]
