Category Archives: culture

Book Announcement: Placing Empire: Travel and the Social Imagination in Imperial Japan

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Paula

Placing Empire Travel and the Social Imagination in Imperial Japan Kate McDonald Placing Empire examines the spatial politics of Japanese imperialism through a study of Japanese travel and tourism to Korea, Manchuria, and Taiwan between the late nineteenth century and the … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Imagination and Narrative: Lexical and Cultural Translation in Buddhist Asia

Posted on October 8, 2017 by LM

Via University of Washington Press. Imagination and Narrative: Lexical and Cultural Translation in Buddhist Asia EDITED BY PETER SKILLING AND JUSTIN THOMAS MCDANIEL CONTENTS The diffusion of religious thought in Buddhist Asia has been marked by new modes of expression. … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Rice Paddy Art of 2017

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Paula

The fall is upon us! And it seems we missed the peak period of rice paddy art for this year in Inakadate. 😦 But never fear! There are still photos on the internet of the fabulous pieces of art rice … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Down with Traitors: Justice and Nationalism in Wartime China

Posted on October 1, 2017 by LM

Via University of Washington Press Down with Traitors: Justice and Nationalism in Wartime China YUN XIA CONTENTS Throughout the War of Resistance against Japan (1931-1945), the Chinese Nationalist government punished collaborators with harsh measures, labeling the enemies from within hanjian … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Bamboo art and design

Posted on September 29, 2017 by Paula

A quickie fun link this week! The New York Times recently did an article highlighting a current exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on bamboo art that looks absolutely stunning. As the Met site states: Featuring works of Japanese … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Parody, Irony and Ideology in the Fiction of Ihara Saikaku

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Paula

Parody, Irony and Ideology in the Fiction of Ihara Saikaku David J. Gundry, University of California, Davis The first monograph published in English on Ihara Saikaku’s fiction, David J. Gundry’s lucid, compelling study examines the tension reflected in key works … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Robotic Fish

Posted on September 15, 2017 by Paula

Although I’m quite late to the game on this one, on Twitter I stumbled across video of robotic fish developed in Japan and promptly ended up down a rabbit hole searching for video after video of these adorable and bizarre … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: FROM CHINESE CHAN TO JAPANESE ZEN: A Remarkable Century of Transmission and Transformation

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Paula

FROM CHINESE CHAN TO JAPANESE ZEN: A Remarkable Century of Transmission and Transformation, Steven Heine (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), 304 Pages | 27 illus., ISBN: 9780190637507      Examines the transformation of Chan Buddhism into Zen Buddhism from … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan: Poetics and Practice

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Paula

Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan: Poetics and Practice Brian Steininger Written Chinese served as a prestigious, cosmopolitan script across medieval East Asia, from as far west as the Tarim Basin to the eastern kingdom of Heian period Japan (794–1185). … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Playing War: Children and the Paradoxes of Modern Militarism in Japan

Posted on August 27, 2017 by Paula

Playing War Children and the Paradoxes of Modern Militarism in Japan Sabine Frühstück Published by the University of California Press. In Playing War, Sabine Frühstück makes a bold proposition: that for over a century throughout Japan and beyond, children and concepts … Continue reading →

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