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November 21, 2024
 

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Iain Maloney
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 20, 2017
'Japanese Garden Notes': An informative photo book
"Japanese Garden Notes" is a gorgeous photo book that introduces aspects of traditional Japanese garden design. It walks the reader through the philosophy of "space and passage," "function and art" and "intent and time," explaining why certain details recur and the emotions they are meant to inspire....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 13, 2017
'The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia': A look at Okinawa's distant past
On May 15, Japan will mark the 45th anniversary of the return of Okinawa. For 27 years prior, the U.S. administered the islands, a continuous period of occupation that began after the Battle of Okinawa in June 1945. This makes the new translation of Mamoru Akamine's 'The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia' both welcome and timely.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 8, 2017
'By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific since 1783': Timely lessons from history
"By More Than Providence" is an overview of U.S. strategy in the Asia-Pacific region since 1783. Michael J. Green first examines the rise of the U.S. in this arena from independence to Theodore Roosevelt. He then turns his attention to Japan in the first half of the 20th century, the Soviet Union during...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 25, 2017
'Teika: The Life and Works of a Medieval Japanese Poet': Unpacking ancient poetry wars
Teika lived from 1162 to 1241, and was a highly influential Japanese poet. Paul S. Atkins' new study of his work aims to reintroduce him to a non-native audience and to analyze why his verse had such a large impact on the trajectory of Japanese poetics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 18, 2017
'Kappa': Akutagawa's masterpiece blunted by time but still fascinating
Ryunosuke Akutagawa is probably best known outside Japan for "Rashomon" but "Kappa" is considered to be his masterpiece by fans and scholars. Narrated by a "mental patient" and introduced as a tale overheard directly by the author, "Kappa" is a fantastical satire in the "Gulliver's Travels" mold.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 18, 2017
'Blue Light Yokohama': Crime fiction that sinks under the weight of its cliches
"Blue Light Yokohama" is optimistically billed as the first in a new crime series. While the plot twists are of the caliber required for successful crime fiction, this debut is riddled with cliches, errors and inconsistencies. Anyone familiar with Japanese culture or crime fiction will struggle to reach...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 4, 2017
Sawako Ariyoshi's 'The River Ki' explores characters who swim against life's current
When we read Japanese history it's easy to forget that the revolutionary changes that washed through the country from the 19th century into the 20th all took place within a single human life span.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 4, 2017
'Pachinko': Min Jin Lee writes the struggle of an ethnic Korean family in Japan
Min Jin Lee's second novel, "Pachinko," charts the fortunes and misfortunes of four generations of a Korean family.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 25, 2017
'A Dark Night's Passing': Naoya Shiga sounds the depths of rootlessness
It takes a brave writer to make their main character as unlikeable as Kensaku Tokito. It is even more startling because Naoya Shiga was consciously writing within the 'I' novel tradition, where the author deliberately draws on their life story for source material.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 11, 2017
'Into a Black Sun: Vietnam 1964-65': Takeshi Kaiko turns his reporting experience into fiction
Journalist Takeshi Kaiko covered the Vietnam War for the Asahi Shimbun, later fictionalizing his experiences in this novel about a Japanese journalist in Saigon and the Vietnamese jungle.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 4, 2017
'The Sound of Waves' stands alone in the sea of Yukio Mishima's works
"The Sound of Waves" is a typical boy-meets-girl story. Shinji is a poor fisherman on Uta-jima, a small island in Ise Bay. Hatsue left the island as a young girl to train to be a pearl diver. When she returns, now a young woman, Shinji falls for her but finds he has a rival in the rich and powerful Yasuo....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 4, 2017
'International Relations and the Origins of the Pacific War' draws troubling analogies across history
Ko Unoki's overview of Japanese-U.S. relations from 1853 to 1941 is written for a general reader and as such is easy to read. However, the bulk of the book is disappointing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 28, 2017
'Turning Pages': How magazines reflected the 'new woman' of the 1920s
The Taisho Era (1912-26) was a period of change and opportunity. It saw the birth of the so-called atarashii onna ("new woman") — the socially liberated, modern young woman, previously unseen in Japan. As this inquisitive individual moved into the job market, a number of magazines appeared that were...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jan 14, 2017
'The Hunting Gun': the story of a tragic love triangle set in postwar Japan
Yasushi Inoue's debut novel, "The Hunting Gun," was published in 1949, a year before he won the Akutagawa Prize for his second novel, "The Bullfight." The story — which adopts a similar structure to Ryunosuke Akutagawa's "Rashomon" — consists of three letters sent to Josuke, a married man at the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 31, 2016
'Tokyo Poetry Journal': an experimental space for Japan's English-language poets
The third issue of the "Tokyo Poetry Journal" takes music as its central theme and, rather in the manner of the Nobel Committee for Literature, has chosen to blur the lines between poetry and songwriting. The first half of the new volume features song lyrics accompanied by QR codes that, once scanned,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 29, 2016
'Countdown to Pearl Harbor': A different view of Japan's entry into World War II
In "Countdown to Pearl Harbor," Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Twomey vividly retells and reappraises the events leading to the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 15, 2016
'Japan Rising': The round-the-world trip that changed Nippon forever
The Iwakura Embassy, led by Foreign Minister Iwakura Tomomi, departed Japan in 1871 on a two-year fact-finding mission around the globe to collect information and expertise. Its aim: turn feudal Japan into a modern industrial nation. The embassy's 108 members sailed east, crossed America, traveled across...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 24, 2016
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches: Basho's enduring collection of poetry and travel writing
With only a few words, a Haiku master can paint a picture so vivid it's as if the reader is standing beside them — great travel writers have similar abilities. Matsuo Basho was both.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 24, 2016
The epic Japanese fantasy 'Tale of Shikanoko' comes to a bloody close
The final installment of Lian Hearn's "The Tale of Shikanoko" series delivers on the promise of the previous three books, tying up loose ends and dispensing justice on the deserving. Tom Stoppard famously defined tragedy as "the bad end unhappily, the good unluckily," and it would perhaps be more fitting...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 3, 2016
'The Pure Land': The story of Thomas Blake Glover, the 'Scottish Samurai'
Thomas Blake Glover, the "Scottish Samurai," arrived in Japan in 1859 and over the next 52 years made and lost more than one fortune. He helped set up Mitsubishi and Kirin, developed shipbuilding and coal-mining in Japan and arranged for the first steam train to be shipped to the country. He also supplied...
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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