Download or read book Edo Culture written by Kazuo Nishiyama and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 1997-04-01 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nishiyama Matsunosuke is one of the most important historians of Tokugawa (Edo) popular culture, yet until now his work has never been translated into a Western language. Edo Culture presents a selection of Nishiyama’s writings that serves not only to provide an excellent introduction to Tokugawa cultural history but also to fill many gaps in our knowledge of the daily life and diversions of the urban populace of the time. Many essays focus on the most important theme of Nishiyama’s work: the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries as a time of appropriation and development of Japan’s culture by its urban commoners. In the first of three main sections, Nishiyama outlines the history of Edo (Tokyo) during the city’s formative years, showing how it was shaped by the constant interaction between its warrior and commoner classes. Next, he discusses the spirit and aesthetic of the Edo native and traces the woodblock prints known as ukiyo-e to the communal activities of the city’s commoners. Section two focuses on the interaction of urban and rural culture during the nineteenth century and on the unprecedented cultural diffusion that occurred with the help of itinerant performers, pilgrims, and touring actors. Among the essays is a delightful and detailed discourse on Tokugawa cuisine. The third section is dedicated to music and theatre, beginning with a study of no, which was patronized mainly by the aristocracy but surprisingly by commoners as well. In separate chapters, Nishiyama analyzes the relation of social classes to musical genres and the aesthetics of kabuki. The final chapter focuses on vaudeville houses supported by the urban masses.

Download or read book Tacho Typical Edokko written by Frederick Starr and published by . This book was released on 1932 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book An Edo Anthology written by Sumie Jones and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2013-02-28 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the eighteenth century, Edo (today’s Tokyo) became the world’s largest city, quickly surpassing London and Paris. Its rapidly expanding population and flourishing economy encouraged the development of a thriving popular culture. Innovative and ambitious young authors and artists soon began to look beyond the established categories of poetry, drama, and prose, banding together to invent completely new literary forms that focused on the fun and charm of Edo. Their writings were sometimes witty, wild, and bawdy, and other times sensitive, wise, and polished. Now some of these high spirited works, celebrating the rapid changes, extraordinary events, and scandalous news of the day, have been collected in an accessible volume highlighting the city life of Edo. Edo’s urban consumers demanded visual presentations and performances in all genres. Novelties such as books with text and art on the same page were highly sought after, as were kabuki plays and the polychrome prints that often shared the same themes, characters, and even jokes. Popular interest in sex and entertainment focused attention on the theatre district and “pleasure quarters,” which became the chief backdrops for the literature and arts of the period. Gesaku, or “playful writing,” invented in the mid-eighteenth century, satirized the government and samurai behavior while parodying the classics. These entertaining new styles bred genres that appealed to the masses. Among the bestsellers were lengthy serialized heroic epics, revenge dramas, ghost and monster stories, romantic melodramas, and comedies that featured common folk. An Edo Anthology offers distinctive and engaging examples of this broad range of genres and media. It includes both well-known masterpieces and unusual examples from the city’s counterculture, some popular with intellectuals, others with wider appeal. Some of the translations presented here are the first available in English and many are based on first editions. In bringing together these important and expertly translated Edo texts in a single volume, this collection will be warmly welcomed by students and interested readers of Japanese literature and popular culture.

Download or read book Rakugo written by Lorie Brau and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2008-02-15 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to the theatrical art of comic storytelling that originated in the Edo period, Rakugo sheds light on Japanese culture as a whole: its aesthetics, social relations, and learning styles. Enriched with personal anecdotes, Rakugo explicates the art's contemporary performance culture: the image, training and techniques of the storytellers, the venues where they perform, and the role of the audience in sustaining the art. Laurie Brau inquires into how this comic art form participates in the discourse of heritage, serving as a symbol of the Edo culture, while continuing to appeal to Japanese today. Written in an accessible manner, this book is appropriate for all levels of student or researcher.

Download or read book Edokko written by Isaac Shapiro and published by memoirs by seasidepress. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1926, professional musicians Constantine Shapiro, born in Moscow, 1896 and Lydia Chernetsky (Odessa, 1905) met and married in Berlin, Germany after their respective families had suffered continuous persecution in war-torn Russia, or the Soviet Union, as it was known after 1922. With Hitler's national socialism on the rise, remaining in Berlin was for the newly-weds out of the question and they decided to continue their odyssey, first to Palestine, then China, to ultimately spend the World War II years in the relative safety of Japan. In 1931, they found themselves in Japan, where Isaac, son number four and author of this memoir, was born. With World War II imminently looming, and the subsequent bombing of Pearl Harbor, their lives were disrupted once again. In 1944, the Yokohama shore was banned for foreigners and the Shapiro family including their five children, were forced to move to Tokyo, where they survived endless hardships, among others the intensified strategic United States bombing campaigns on Tokyo. Operation Meetinghouse started March 9, 1945 and is regarded as the single most destructive bombing raid in human history. The Japanese later called the operation the Night of the Black Snow. During the subsequent American occupation of Japan, 14-year-old Isaac, being multi lingual, was hired as an interpreter by John Calvin `Toby' Munn, a United States Marine colonel, (later promoted to Lt. Gen.) who, when the war was over, paved the way for Isaac, or Ike as he soon became known, to immigrate to the United States. In the summer of 1946, Isaac landed in Hawaii, at the time a United States territory, altering the course of his life forever.

Download or read book Shoguns City written by Noel Nouet and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1995. Some thirty years have passed since the death of Noel Nouet. He was a revered teacher, historian, writer and talented woodblock artist who became the author’s person friend during the 1950s in Japan. The original French edition of this book (1961) began with Noel Nouer's description of what he intended his book to be. He had no claims, he said, to have written a scholarly work. Rather he wanted 'to present a kind of emakimono, picture-scroll, of Tokyo' that would be 'pleasant to peruse’.

Download or read book Devouring Japan written by Nancy K. Stalker and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years Japan's cuisine, or washoku, has been eclipsing that of France as the world's most desirable food. UNESCO recognized washoku as an intangible cultural treasure in 2013 and Tokyo boasts more Michelin-starred restaurants than Paris and New York combined. International enthusiasm for Japanese food is not limited to haute cuisine; it also encompasses comfort foods like ramen, which has reached cult status in the U.S. and many world capitals. Together with anime, pop music, fashion, and cute goods, cuisine is part of the "Cool Japan" brand that promotes the country as a new kind of cultural superpower. This collection of essays offers original insights into many different aspects of Japanese culinary history and practice, from the evolution and characteristics of particular foodstuffs to their representation in literature and film, to the role of foods in individual, regional, and national identity. It features contributions by both noted Japan specialists and experts in food history. The authors collectively pose the question "what is washoku?" What culinary values are imposed or implied by this term? Which elements of Japanese cuisine are most visible in the global gourmet landscape and why? Essays from a variety of disciplinary perspectives interrogate how foodways have come to represent aspects of a "unique" Japanese identity and are infused with official and unofficial ideologies. They reveal how Japanese culinary values and choices, past and present, reflect beliefs about gender, class, and race; how they are represented in mass media; and how they are interpreted by state and non-state actors, at home and abroad. They examine the thoughts, actions, and motives of those who produce, consume, promote, and represent Japanese foods.

Download or read book Japan written by Albert M. Craig and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-08 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the leading specialists on Japan, the authors—both Japanese and Western—represent a range of disciplines from economics, history, and political science, to sociology, anthropology, psychiatry, and literary criticism. Some of the essays draw comparisons with China or Korea, some with England, Europe, or America, and some with countries of the Third World. By showing us how the Japanese experience relates to that of other contexts, the authors provide us with important insights into Japan as well as into other societies undergoing a modern transformation. Originally published in 1979. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Download or read book Tokyo written by Paul Waley and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 1991-06-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all the world's great cities, Tokyo remains one of the least well known. Paul Waley calls forth the stories sleeping behind the glass and chrome of today's fast-paced metropolis and conjures the traces of Tokyo past overlapping Tokyo present.

Download or read book Berlitz Japan Pocket Guide written by Berlitz and published by Apa Publications (UK) Limited. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Berlitz Pocket Guide Japan is a concise, full-colour travel guide that combines lively text with vivid photography to highlight the very best that this enigmatic country has to offer. The Where To Go chapter details the best places to visit in Japan, from the dazzling architecture of Tokyo to Japan's first imperial capital of Nara and the breathtaking natural splendour of Mount Fuji. Handy maps on the cover help you to get around with ease. To inspire you, the book offers a rundown of the 10 top attractions in Japan, followed by an itinerary for a Perfect Tour of the country. The What to Do chapter is a snapshot of things to do in Japan, from shopping and sports to onsen (hot springs) and Japanese festivals. You'll also be armed with background information on Japanese culture, including a brief history of Japan and a chapter covering its mouth-watering cuisine. There is also an A-Z to give you all the practical information you will need.

Download or read book Rakugo written by Heinz Morioka and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rakugo is the traditional Japanese art of storytelling. The stories are also called rakugo, or hanashi, and they are performed by professional narrators called rakugoka or hanashika. The customary place where rakugo stories are told is the vaudeville-type variety called the yose. This book is divided into three parts, including nine chapters and an epilogue, and also includes notes, three appendices, a bibliography, glossary, and index.

Download or read book Discourses of Seduction written by Hosea Hirata and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If the postmodernist ethical onslaught has led to the demise of literature by exposing its political agenda, if all literature is compromised by its entanglement with power, why does literature’s subterranean voice still seduce us into reading? Why do the madness and the scandal of transgressive literature, its power to force us to begin anew, its evil, escape the gaze of contemporary literary criticism? Why do we dare not reject ethics and the ethical approach to literature? If the primary task of literary criticism is to correct others’ ethical missteps, should we not begin by confronting the seductiveness of ethics, our desire for ethics, the pleasure we take in being ethical? And what is the relationship between ethics and history in the study of literature? What would be the ethical consequences of an erasure of history from literary criticism? In a series of essays on the writings of Kawabata Yasunari, Murakami Haruki, Karatani Kjin, Furui Yoshikichi, Mishima Yukio, Oe Kenzaburo, Natsume Soseki, and Kobayashi Hideo, Hosea Hirata visits the primal force of the scandalous in an effort to repeat (in the Kierkegaardian sense) the originary scene that initiates the obscure yet insistent poetry that is literature and to confront the questions raised."

Download or read book Botchan written by Natsume Soseki and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2012-10-04 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Botchan is a modern young man from the Tokyo metropolis, sent to the ultra-traditional Matsuyama district as a Maths teacher after his the death of his parents. Cynical, rebellious and immature, Botchan finds himself facing several tests, from the pupils - prone to playing tricks on their new, naïve teacher; the staff - vain, immoral, and in danger of becoming a bad influence on Botchan; and from his own as-yet-unformed nature, as he finds his place in the world. One of the most popular novels in Japan where it is considered a classic of adolescence, as seminal as The Catcher in the Rye, Botchan is as funny, poignant and memorable as it was when first published, over 100 years ago. In J. Cohn's introduction to his colourful translation, he discusses Botchan's success, the book's clash between Western intellectualism and traditional Japanese values, and the importance of names and nicknames in the novel.

Download or read book The Structure of Detachment written by Hiroshi Nara and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2004-04-30 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published in 1930, when Japan was struggling to define and assert its national and cultural identity, The Structure of Iki (Iki no kôzô) re-introduced the Japanese to a sophisticated tradition of urbane and spirited stylishness (iki) that was forged in the Edo period. Upon his return from Europe, Kuki Shûzô (1888–1941) made use of the new theoretical frameworks based on Western Continental methodology to redefine the significance of iki in Japanese society and culture. By applying Heidegger’s hermeneutics to this cultural phenomenon, he attempted to recast traditional understanding in the context of Western aesthetic theory and reestablish the centrality of a purely Japanese sense of "taste." The three critical essays that accompany this new translation of The Structure of Iki look at various aspects of Kuki, his work, and the historical context that influenced his thinking. Hiroshi Nara first traces Kuki’s interest in a philosophy of life through his exposure to Husserl, Heidegger, and Bergson. In the second essay, J. Thomas Rimer compels readers to reexamine The Structure of Iki as a work in the celebrated tradition of zuihitsu (stream-of-consciousness writings) and takes into account French literary influences on Kuki. The philosopher’s controversial link with Heidegger is explored by Jon Mark Mikkelsen in the final essay.

Download or read book Japanese Capitals in Historical Perspective written by Nicolas Fieve and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan's ability to develop its own brand of modernity has often been attributed in part to the sophistication of its cities. Concentrating on Kyoto, Edo and Tokyo, the contributors to this volume weave together the links between past and future, memory and vision, symbol and structure, between marginality and power, and between Japan's two great capital cities.

Download or read book Diversity Innovation and Clusters written by Iréne Bernhard and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2020-05-29 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increased emphasis on the links between regional diversity and regional knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship highlights the need for a focus on the spatial aspects of these multifaceted, dynamic relationships in order to improve our understanding. By means of a conceptual approach, this timely book illustrates the links between innovation and economic development through the role of space. This thought-provoking book addresses the questions regarding diversity, innovation and clusters that require further investigation and analysis.

Download or read book My Asakusa written by Sadako Sawamura and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06-21 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written near the end of Sadako Sawamura's remarkable life, My Asakusa (Watashi co Asakusa) is a charming collection of autobiographical essays by a truly self-made woman. Recalling Japan at a time of great political turmoil and rapid cultural change, Sawamura shares with us her vignettes of growing up in Asakusa—one of the last of the old downtown Shitamachi neighborhoods of incessantly modernizing Tokyo—and her keen insight into the characters of those who populated her world. Author Sadako Sawamura (1908-1996) was by turns a diligent youth who worked her way through a private secondary school as a tutor, a radical university scholarship student, a Communist youth league worker, a prisoner of conscience, and a star of Japanese theater, cinema, and television. She was beloved in Japan for her forthright convictions and her rare independence, which she expressed in interviews and essays. She is also the author of Kai-no-Uta (The Song of a Shell), which was subsequently produced as a television play.