Category Archives: culture

Book Announcement: The Halo of Golden Light: Imperial Authority and Buddhist Ritual in Heian Japan

Posted on May 24, 2015 by LM

Via University of Hawai’i Press. The Halo of Golden Light: Imperial Authority and Buddhist Ritual in Heian Japan Author: Sango, Asuka 304pp. February 2015 Cloth – Price: $54.00 ISBN: 978-0-8248-3986-4 In this pioneering study of the shifting status of the … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Dahl’s Japan

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Travis

With apologies for getting political, I just came across these English-language political cartoons from the Japan Times, and (if you are politically aligned with their positions) they are just wonderful. As his bio on the Japan Times website says, “Roger … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged cartoons, fun link friday, history, Japan, Japan Times, Japanese history, political cartoons, political commentary, politics | Comments Off

Book Announcement: A Cultural History of Translation in Early Modern Japan

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Paula

The translation of texts has played a formative role in Japan’s history of cultural exchange as well as the development of literature, and indigenous legal and religious systems. This is the first book of its kind, however, to offer a … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Environment and Society in the Japanese Islands

Posted on May 10, 2015 by Paula

Over the long course of Japan’s history, its people profited from their rich natural environment while simultaneously facing significant environmental challenges. Over time, they have altered their natural environment in numerous ways, from landscape modification to industrial pollution. How has … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Nanjyamonjya

Posted on May 8, 2015 by LM

For those interested in botany, check out this unusual tree on San’in Monogatari: It’s mid-May around Matsue Castle, as spring is practically running to summer now. First there were plum blossoms, then came camellia, then cherry blossoms, then azalea and … Continue reading →

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Resource: Brower Fund Collection of karuta cards

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Paula

A quickie digital resource for you all today! In case you’re crazy about playing the karuta card game or just the Hyakunin isshū poetry compositions, you might be interested in these public-use images from the University of Michigan’s Brower Fund … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, fun links | Tagged art, culture, game, Hyakunin isshū, Japanese culture, Japanese literature, karuta, literature, poetry | Leave a comment

Book Announcement: Imagining Exile in Heian Japan: banishment in law, literature, and cult

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Paula

For over three hundred years during the Heian period (794–1185), execution was customarily abolished in favor of banishment. During the same period, exile emerged widely as a concern within literature and legend, in poetry and diaries, and in the cultic … Continue reading →

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Fun Link Friday: Spinning tops

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Paula

As many long-time followers know, a colleague and I have been working on a digital archive related to 江戸独楽 (Edo goma), or Edo-style spinning tops. Hand-crafted tops are thought to have a history in Japan dating back to at least the … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Japanese Singers of Tales: Ten Centuries of Performed Narrative

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Paula

Japanese Singers of Tales: Ten Centuries of Performed Narrative Alison McQueen Tokita, Kyoto City University of Arts, Japan Alison Tokita presents a series of case studies that demonstrate the persistence of Japanese sung narratives in a multiplicity of genres over … Continue reading →

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Book Announcement: Pacific Strife

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Travis

Inter-regional histories are all the rage these days, and Pacific Strife: The Great Powers and their Political and Economic Rivalries in Asia and the Western Pacific, 1870-1914, by Kees van Dijk (Amsterdam University Press, 2015) is certainly that. Most historians, … Continue reading →

Posted in announcements, culture | Tagged asian history, book announcement, books, East Asian History, history, Japanese history, modern history | Leave a comment