Category Archives: culture

Book Announcement: Yasukuni Shrine: History, Memory, and Japan’s Unending Postwar

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Paula

Yasukuni Shrine: History, Memory, and Japan’s Unending Postwar Author: Takenaka, Akiko This is the first extensive English-language study of Yasukuni Shrine as a war memorial. It explores the controversial shrine’s role in waging war, promoting peace, honoring the dead, and, … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Cherry-Blossom Stones (Sakura Ishi)

Posted on September 18, 2015 by LM

For the science enthusiasts among us, I present sakura ishi, the “cherry-blossom stone.” Dr. John Rakovan of Miami University (Ohio) has published work on these stones which occur in Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture. Science Alert describes them as So-called because when you crack … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Giant Straw Dinosaurs

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Paula

Last year in October we had the chance to show you some of Ehime’s giant straw boars made by local residents and professors. This year, September has brought us the Wara Art Festival in Niigata. There, the locals took the straw from their year’s … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese American Family

Posted on September 6, 2015 by LM

Via University of Washington Press YOSHIKO UCHIDA INTRODUCTION BY TRAISE YAMAMOTO $18.95 PAPERBACK (9780295994758) hardcover not available PUBLISHED: April 2015 SUBJECT LISTING: Asian American Studies; Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: 184 pp., 21 bandw photos, 5.5 x 8.5 in. SERIES: … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Japanese Ice Cream

Posted on September 4, 2015 by LM

As much as I like eating local marionberry or coffee ice cream in the PNW, sometimes I just want a big cone of tulip, black-sesame, or sakura アイス！I hope you’re feeling hungry, because today’s fun link is about Japanese ice cream … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Legal Reform in Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule, 1895-1945

Posted on August 30, 2015 by LM

Via University of Washington Press. Legal Reform in Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule, 1895-1945 The Reception of Western Law TAY-SHENG WANG $40.00S PAPERBACK (9780295994475) ADD TO CART $75.00X HARDCOVER (9780295978277) ADD TO CART PUBLISHED: December 2014 SUBJECT LISTING: Asian Studies … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Carved Pearl Skulls

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Paula

We often feature unconventional artists and artwork for our Fun Link Fridays, and who can blame us? This week check out the artist Shinji Nakaba, who was featured on Bored Panda for his fantastic work carving miniature skulls out of … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Ukiyo-e animated gifs

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Paula

Just last month we posted on an artist’s rendering of 8-bit Japan nostalgic in GIFs, and lo and behold, this month we stumble across Edo-period early modern nostalgia in GIFs that bring ukiyo-e to life! The artist, who goes by … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Contemporary Sino-Japanese Relations on Screen

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Paula

Kirsch, Griseldis (2015). Contemporary Sino-Japanese Relations on Screen. A History, 1989-2005. SOAS Studies in Modern and Contemporary Japan. London: Bloomsbury Academic. http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/contemporary-sino-japanese-relations-on-screen-9781472572394/ About Contemporary Sino-Japanese Relations on Screen Japan and China look back on a history of friendship as well as … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Curved Origami

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Paula

It seems as though origami is one of those fascinating traditional arts that the world cannot help but continue to innovate on. This week’s Fun Link Friday features the artwork of Hoàng Tiến Quyết, a Vietnamese artist whose work with complex … Continue reading →

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