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July 16, 2024
 

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THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 15, 2006
Spreading the word on popular literature
THE BAMBOO SWORD AND OTHER SAMURAI TALES by Shuhei Fujisawa, translated by Gavin Frew. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005, 254 pp., 2,400 yen (cloth). Japanese critics have long made a distinction between taishu bungaku, "popular literature," which is simple entertainment, and jun bungaku, "pure literature,"...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 15, 2006
Two writers, two very different North Koreas
NORTH KOREA: The Struggle Against American Power, by Tim Beal. Pluto, 2005, 352 pp., £18.99 (paper). NORTH KOREA: The Paranoid Peninsula, by Paul French. Zed Books Ltd., 2005, 352 pp.,£17.95 (paper). The subtitles of these books reveal the sharply differing points of departure on North Korea...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 8, 2006
Resurrection of 47 masterless samurai
KUNIYOSHI: The Faithful Samurai, by David R. Weinberg, translations and essay by Alfred H. Marks, Foreword by B.W. Robinson. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005, 192 pp., map, pictures, color plates. 39.50 euro (paper). This is the paperback edition (first published in 2000) of one of the most interesting...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 8, 2006
Unsparing view of Indonesia past
IN THE TIME OF MADNESS by Richard Lloyd Parry. London: Jonathan Cape, 2005, 315 pp., £12.99 (paper). This firsthand account of fin de siecle Indonesia, an era of widespread chaos and violence, takes us into the heart of darkness, searing our consciousness with images of deprivation, fear and mayhem...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 1, 2006
A poetic Irish conversation
SIXTY INSTANT MESSAGES TO TOM MOORE by Paul Muldoon, Illinois: Modern Haiku Press, 2005, 32 pp., 20 dollars (paper). HARBOUR LIGHTS by Derek Mahon, Ireland: Gallery Press, 2005, 78 pp., 11.50 dollars (paper). Unlike the visual arts, which were transmitted to the West quite quickly, the literary arts...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 25, 2005
Creators, not hacks
OUTLAW MASTERS OF JAPANESE FILM by Chris Desjardins. London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2005, 262 pp., $19.95 (paper). IRON MAN: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto, by Tom Mes. FAB Press, 2005. 237 pp., $24.95 (paper) Foreign critics used to worship at the altars of Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 25, 2005
Cultural depths of celluloid
READING A JAPANESE FILM: Cinema in Context, by Keiko I. McDonald. Honolulu: Hawai'i University Press, 2005, 294 pp., photo illustrations. $20.00 (paper). Films are not only to be passively watched, they are also to be actively "read." The viewer deciphers not just the story but all the other indications...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 18, 2005
What did you read about Asia this year?
Donald Richie THE COLUMBIA ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE, edited by J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel (Columbia University Press) This new take on Japanese modern classics -- old standbys and lots of recent writing as well -- is big (864 pages and it's only the first volume). It includes examples...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 4, 2005
Between life and death stands culture
FINAL DAYS: Japanese Culture and Choice at the End of Life, by Susan Orpett Long. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 288 pp., $45 (cloth). This book asks how the final days might be different for Japanese patients and for those in the United States. Both Japanese and Americans state that they...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 4, 2005
Complexity drawn from emptiness
THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF IMAGES by John Mateer. Fremantle, Australia: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2005, 61 pp., A$22.95 (paper). The poet John Mateer has published previously in South Africa, where he comes from, Australia, where he now lives, and Indonesia, which he has traveled in. A group of his poems...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 27, 2005
The Jesuit boys' tour of Europe
THE JAPANESE MISSION TO EUROPE, 1582-1590: The Journey of Four Samurai Boys Through Portugal, Spain and Italy, by Michael Cooper. Global Oriental, 2005, 262 pp., xix black and white plates, $85 (cloth). Michael Cooper, a former editor of Monumenta Nipponica, has contributed significantly to our knowledge...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 27, 2005
The Indianapolis Museum of Art takes some tradition back to Japan
JAPANESE MASTERWORKS: Paintings From the Indianapolis Museum of Art; edited by Heisaku Harada and John Tadao Teramoto; foreword by Anthony Hirschel; introduction by Christine M.E. Guth; and essays by Tae Nishida, Shiji Hashimoto, Takeshi Nagai and Yumiko Kuniga. Seattle: University of Washington Press,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005
Words of war, peace and the future
THE THOUGHT WAR: Japanese Imperial Propaganda, by Barak Kushner. Honolulu: The University of Hawai'i Press, 2006, 244 pp., $45.00 (cloth). This completely individual and very interesting account of the uses of propaganda in Japan concludes with the observation that it would be historically naive to pretend...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005
The good, the bad and the cliched
A RABBIT'S EYES by Kenjiro Haitani. Vertical, 2005, 288 pp., $14.95 (paper). On first publication, the mellow and delightful 1974 novel "A Rabbit's Eyes," out now in English for the first time, brought Kenjiro Haitani a great deal of fame and a wide following.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005
There's no morning calm for Korean crime stories
THE DOOR TO BITTERNESS by Martin Limon. New York: Soho Press Inc., 2005, 278 pp., $23 (cloth). FADE TO CLEAR by Leonard Chang. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2004, 322 pp., $23.95 (cloth). DARK ANGEL by Geoffrey Archer. London: Arrow Books, 2005, 482 pp., £6.99 (paper). It's 1973, and Sergeants George...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 13, 2005
The freedom myth of freelancing
A NAGGING SENSE OF JOB INSECURITY: The New Reality Facing Japanese Youth, by Yuji Genda, translated by Jean Connell Hoff. Tokyo: International House of Japan/LTCB International Trust, 2005, 203 pp., $35 (cloth). Being young in Japan isn't what it used to be. And many young Japanese are probably rather...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 13, 2005
On the edge and out of our seats
UNSPEAKABLE ACTS: The Avant-garde Theatre of Terayama Shuji and Postwar Japan, by Carol Fischer Sorgenfrei. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 340 pp. with illustrations, $45.00 (cloth). Shuji Terayama (1936-1983) remains one of Japan's most intriguing modern writers. Playwright, novelist,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 6, 2005
Find the right book without even going to Jinbocho
Renso Shuppan (Associative Publishing), a nongovernmental organization headed by Akihiko Takano, professor at the National Institute of Informatics, has recently launched the Web site Book Town Jimbou (jimbou.info). Book Town Jimbou can search for books available in Jinbocho, a Tokyo district long-famous...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 6, 2005
A modern master of an old tradition
MIREI SHIGEMORI: Modernizing the Japanese Garden, by Christian Tschumi, photographs by Markuz Wernli Saito. Stone Bridge Press, 128 pp., $18.95 (paper). A revival of interest in the dry landscape garden of Japan both domestically and internationally took place during the early Showa Era (1926-1989),...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 6, 2005
The dangerous liaisons of ambassadors to China
AMBASSADORS FROM THE ISLANDS OF IMMORTALS: China-Japan Relations in the Han-Tang Period, by Wang Zhenping. Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies/University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 388 pp., with illustrations, $53.00 (cloth). Relations between Japan and China may be troubled right now, but then they...
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

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Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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