Category Archives: culture

Book Announcement: Buddhism and the Transformation of Old Age in Medieval Japan

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Paula

Buddhism and the Transformation of Old Age in Medieval Japan Drott, Edward R. Scholars have long remarked on the frequency with which Japanese myths portrayed gods (kami) as old men or okina. Many of these “sacred elders” came to be … Continue reading →

Posted in announcements, culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Amazon Priest Delivery?

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Paula

A quickie fun link this week! The modern world poses a lot of challenges for what many consider older, more traditional ways of life. A recent New York Times article talked about one of these questions of becoming obsolete or … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: 100-Year-Old Glass Plates in an Abandoned Japanese Home

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Paula

Many people in Japan are big fans of haikyo, literally meaning “ruins,” but more broadly meaning the exploration of abandoned sites in Japanese cities of countrysides. There’s even entire sites dedicated to it! One recent article I came across on PetaPixel was … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Announcement: Too Few Women at the Top: The Persistence of Inequality in Japan

Posted on September 18, 2016 by Paula

Too Few Women at the Top: The Persistence of Inequality in Japan Kumiko Nemoto ILR Press Product Details The number of women in positions of power and authority in Japanese companies has remained small despite the increase in the number of … Continue reading →

Posted in announcements, culture, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Japanese Pronouns

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Paula

Still working through the international move and accompanying jetlag– sorry for lack of Fun Link Fridays lately! Here’s a quickie fun link for the linguistic nerds among us! Sure, if you’ve studied Japanese you know some of the basic pronouns … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Resource: Ryukyu Bugei

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Travis

Header banner from Ryukyu-bugei.com. Copyright Andreas Quast. Yiftach Raphael Govreen (PhD candidate, Hebrew University) was kind enough to introduce me today to the website of Andreas Quast, ryukyu-bugei.com/. Quast is a Dusseldorf-based martial artist with some 20+ years of experience, … Continue reading →

Posted in blogs, culture, study tools, useful links | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: Living inside the active volcano Aogashima

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Paula

Japan contains some of the most breath-taking natural scenery in the world, but also is prone to a great number of natural perils like earthquakes and tsunami. But would you trade off living in a dream-like island setting where you can … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Resource: Asian Historical Architecture

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Paula

Today we introduce a somewhat unusual resource, the site Asian Historical Architecture. This collection of user-donated materials provides a photographic survey of architectural heritage across Asia, taking “Asia” in a refreshingly broad interpretation. Background information and virtual tours are available … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, graduate school, living abroad, study tools, useful links | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fun Link Friday: ‘Tokyo-ized’ Cities

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Paula

As I wrap up my two years of research here in Tokyo (and miss Fun Link Fridays in my haste, sorry!), I’m left thinking about how one of the biggest culture shocks will simply be the change in urban scenery. Even … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Announcement: Intimacy and Reproduction in Contemporary Japan

Posted on August 7, 2016 by Paula

Intimacy and Reproduction in Contemporary Japan By Genaro Castro-Vázquez © 2016 – Routledge 214 pages | 1 B/W Illus. https://www.routledge.com/Intimacy-and-Reproduction-in-Contemporary-Japan/Castro-Vazquez/p/book/9781138640443 About the Book This book presents an ethnographic investigation of intimate and reproductive behaviour in current Japanese society, grounded in … Continue reading →

Posted in announcements, culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment