Download or read book The Buddha in the Attic written by Julie Otsuka and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2011-08-23 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • PEN/FAULKER AWARD WINNER • The acclaimed author of The Swimmers and When the Emperor Was Divine tells the story of a group of young women brought from Japan to San Francisco as “picture brides” a century ago in this "understated masterpiece ... that unfolds with great emotional power" (San Francisco Chronicle). In eight unforgettable sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the extraordinary lives of these women, from their arduous journeys by boat, to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; from their experiences raising children who would later reject their culture and language, to the deracinating arrival of war. Julie Otsuka has written a spellbinding novel about identity and loyalty, and what it means to be an American in uncertain times.
Download or read book Unbinding The Pillow Book written by Gergana Ivanova and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An eleventh-century classic, The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon is frequently paired with The Tale of Genji as one of the most important works in the Japanese canon. Yet it has also been marginalized within Japanese literature for reasons including the gender of its author, the work’s complex textual history, and its thematic and stylistic depth. In Unbinding The Pillow Book, Gergana Ivanova offers a reception history of The Pillow Book and its author from the seventeenth century to the present that shows how various ideologies have influenced the text and shaped interactions among its different versions. Ivanova examines how and why The Pillow Book has been read over the centuries, placing it in the multiple contexts in which it has been rewritten, including women’s education, literary scholarship, popular culture, “pleasure quarters,” and the formation of the modern nation-state. Drawing on scholarly commentaries, erotic parodies, instruction manuals for women, high school textbooks, and comic books, she considers its outsized role in ideas about Japanese women writers. Ultimately, Ivanova argues for engaging the work’s plurality in order to achieve a clearer understanding of The Pillow Book and the importance it has held for generations of readers, rather than limiting it to a definitive version or singular meaning. The first book-length study in English of the reception history of Sei Shōnagon, Unbinding The Pillow Book sheds new light on the construction of gender and sexuality, how women’s writing has been used to create readerships, and why ancient texts continue to play vibrant roles in contemporary cultural production.
Download or read book Traditional Japanese Literature written by Haruo Shirane and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 601 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional Japanese Literature features a rich array of works dating from the very beginnings of the Japanese written language through the evolution of Japan's noted aristocratic court and warrior cultures. It contains stunning new translations of such canonical texts as The Tales of the Heike as well as works and genres previously ignored by scholars and unknown to general readers.
Download or read book 3 Strange Tales written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa and published by SCB Distributors. This book was released on 2012-11-19 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 3 Strange Tales presents new translations of this classic Japanese author's most well-known stories: Rashomon; A Christian Death; the never-before-published-in-English story, Agni; and a bonus story, In a Grove.
Download or read book Breaking into Japanese Literature written by Giles Murray and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2018-09-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of seven great works of Japanese literature in the original language, along with the English translation and a newly-revised custom dictionary - plus downloadable audio. Breaking into Japanese Literature lets readers enjoy seven classic stories in the original Japanese. thanks to a unique 2-page layout featuring the Japanese text in large type, an easy-to-follow English translation, and a custom dictionary, newly revised for this edition. Also includes downloadable audio, notes about the stories and authors, and original illustrations.
Download or read book On the Japanese Classics written by 池田大作 and published by New York : Weatherhill. This book was released on 1979 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness written by Kenzaburo Oe and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2011-05-16 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nobel Prize–winning “master of the bizarre plunges the reader into a world of tortured imagination” in this four-novella collection (Library Journal). In this startling quartet of his most provocative stories, the multiple prize-winning author of A Personal Matter reaffirms his reputation as “a supremely gifted writer” (The Washington Post). In The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away, a self-absorbed narrator on his deathbed drifts off to the comforting strains of a cantata as he recalls a blistering childhood of militarism, sacrifice, humiliation, and revenge—a tale that is questioned by everyone who knew him. In Prize Stock, winner of the Akutagawa Prize, a black American pilot is downed in a Japanese village during World War II, where the local children see him as some rare find—exotic and forbidden. In Aghwee The Sky Monster, the floating ghost of a baby inexplicably haunts a young man on the first day of his first job. And in the title story, a devoted father believes he is the only link between his mentally challenged son and reality. “[A] remarkable book.” —The Washington Post “Ōe is definitely one of the Modern Masters.” —Seattlepi.com
Download or read book The Tale of Genji written by John T. Carpenter and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 2019-03-04 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With its vivid descriptions of courtly society, gardens, and architecture in early eleventh-century Japan, The Tale of Genji—recognized as the world’s first novel—has captivated audiences around the globe and inspired artistic traditions for one thousand years. Its female author, Murasaki Shikibu, was a diarist, a renowned poet, and, as a tutor to the young empress, the ultimate palace insider; her monumental work of fiction offers entry into an elaborate, mysterious world of court romance, political intrigue, elite customs, and religious life. This handsomely designed and illustrated book explores the outstanding art associated with Genji through in-depth essays and discussions of more than one hundred works. The Tale of Genji has influenced all forms of Japanese artistic expression, from intimately scaled albums to boldly designed hanging scrolls and screen paintings, lacquer boxes, incense burners, games, palanquins for transporting young brides to their new homes, and even contemporary manga. The authors, both art historians and Genji scholars, discuss the tale’s transmission and reception over the centuries; illuminate its place within the history of Japanese literature and calligraphy; highlight its key episodes and characters; and explore its wide-ranging influence on Japanese culture, design, and aesthetics into the modern era. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana}
Download or read book The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories written by Jay Rubin and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2018-06-28 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fantastically varied and exciting collection celebrates the great Japanese short story, from its modern origins in the nineteenth century to the remarkable works being written today. Short story writers already well-known to English-language readers are all included here - Tanizaki, Akutagawa, Murakami, Mishima, Kawabata - but also many surprising new finds. From Yuko Tsushima's 'Flames' to Yuten Sawanishi's 'Filling Up with Sugar', from Shin'ichi Hoshi's 'Shoulder-Top Secretary' to Banana Yoshimoto's 'Bee Honey', The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories is filled with fear, charm, beauty and comedy. Curated by Jay Rubin, who has himself freshly translated several of the stories, and introduced by Haruki Murakami, this book will be a revelation to its readers.
Download or read book Inventing the Classics written by Haruo Shirane and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shirane and Suzuki examine how the Japanese canon of "classics" (The Tale of Genji, The Tale of the Heike, Noh drama, Saikaku, Chikamatsu, and Basho) was constructed as part of the creation of Japan as a modern nation-state and as a result of Western influence.
Download or read book Classic Japanese Inns and Country Getaways written by Margaret Price and published by Kodansha International. This book was released on 1999 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to over 200 destinations offering traditional Japanese hospitality.ach destination includes an introductory section with tourist sites in bold,ap of environs, seasonal events and recommended day trips. Inn detailsnclude Japanese title, tariff, number of rooms, acceptable credit cards,anguages spoken and transport details. Appendices include classic hotels,ther inns, A-Z of inns, useful phrases, and Tokyo inns for under 8000 yener night.
Download or read book Japanese Steel written by William Bevington and published by Rizzoli Publications. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first book to chronicle the golden age of Japanese bicycle design. Japanese bicycles have long been at the forefront of both competitive and recreational cycling—from top-flight racing bicycles to collectible custom fixed-gear frames. This comprehensive and stunningly illustrated book presents a fascinating overview of the most prolific and celebrated period of Japanese bicycle design, between the 1950s and the ’80s, when uniquely talented artisanal craftsmen produced some of the most iconic bicycles of the twentieth century. From the recognizable silhouettes of major manufacturers like Fuji, Panasonic, and Bridgestone to the rarest frames from artisanal builders like 3-Rensho or Nagasawa, Japanese bicycle designers dominated the cycling world and created machines that are still revered today. Illustrated with specially commissioned photographs of fully restored bikes, and supplemented with artifacts and ephemera from technical manuals to photography of the legendary Keirin racing circuits, this book is must-have for anyone with an interest in cycling and the phenomenon of Japanese design.
Download or read book Classical Japanese written by Haruo Shirane and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2005-07-27 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classical Japanese: A Grammar is a comprehensive, and practical guide to classical Japanese. Extensive notes and historical explanations make this volume useful as both a reference for advanced students and a textbook for beginning students. The volume, which explains how classical Japanese is related to modern Japanese, includes detailed explanations of basic grammar, including helpful, easy-to-use tables of grammatical forms; annotated excerpts from classical premodern texts. Classical Japanese: A Grammar - Exercise Answers and Tables (ISBN: 978-0-231-13530-6) is now available for purchase as a separate volume.
Download or read book Japanese Plays written by A.L. Sadler and published by Tuttle Classics. This book was released on 2010-03-10 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classic Noh, Kyogen and Kabuki Works Nothing reflects the beauty of life as much as Japanese theater. It is here that reality is held suspended and emptiness can fill the mind with words, music, dance, and mysticism. A.L. Sadler translates the mysteries of Noh, Kyogen, and Kabuki in his groundbreaking book, Japanese Plays. A seminal classic in its time, it provides a cross-section of Japanese theater that gives the reader a sampler of its beauty and power. The power of Noh is in its ability to create an iconic world that represents the attributes that the Japanese hold in highest esteem: family, patriotism, and honor. Kyogen plays provide comic relief often times performed between the serious and stoic Noh plays. Similarly, Sadler's translated Kyogen pieces are layered between the Noh and the Kabuki plays. The Kabuki plays were the theater of the common people of Japan. The course of time has given them the patina of folk art making them precious cultural relics of Japan. Sadler selected these pieces for translation because of their lighter subject matter and relatively upbeat endings—ideal for a western readership. More linear in their telling and pedestrian in the lessons learned these plays show the difficulties of being in love when a society is bent on conformity and paternal rule. The end result found in Japanese Plays is a wonderful selection of classic Japanese dramatic literature sure to enlighten and delight.
Download or read book The Narrow Road to Oku written by Matsuo Basho and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2017-07-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the account which he named "The Narrow Road to Oku," Basho makes a journey lasting 150 days, in which he travels, on foot, a distance of 600 ri. This was three hundred years ago, when the average distance covered by travelers was apparently 9 ri per day, so it is clear that Basho, who was forty years old at the time, possessed a remarkably sturdy pair of walking legs. Nowadays with the development of all sorts of means of transportation, travel is guaranteed to be pleasant and convenient in every respect, so it's almost impossible for us to imagine the kind of journey Basho undertook, "drifting with the clouds and streams," and "lodging under trees and on bare rocks." During my countless re-readings of "The Narrow Road to Oku," I would bear that in mind, and the short text, which takes up less than 50 pages even in the pocket-book edition, would strike me as much longer than that, and I would feel truly awed by Basho's 2,450-kilometer journey. I chose "The Narrow Road to Oku" as the theme of the exhibition marking the thirtieth anniversary of my career as an artist. As somebody who has been illustrating works from Japanese literature for many years, the subject naturally attracted and interested me. But once I'd embarked on the project, it wasn't long before I realized I'd chosen a more difficult and delicate task than I ever imagined, and I wanted to reprove myself for my naivete. Last year, to mark the centenary of Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's birth, I produced a set of 54 pictures for his translation of "The Tale of Genji." This was a formidable undertaking, as I had to grapple with the achievement of a literary genius whom I had personally known. But if producing a single picture to represent each chapter in "The Tale of Genji" was a matter of selecting a particular "face," or "plane" to represent the whole, producing a picture to represent each haiku in "The Narrow Road to Oku" was without a doubt a matter of having to select one tiny "point"--a mere "dot." One misjudgment in my reading, and the picture would lose touch with the spirit of Basho's work, and end up simply as an illustration that happened to be accompanied by a haiku. I had to meticulously consider every word in those brief 17-syllable poems. Then, if I was fortunate, from the vast gaps and the densely packed phrases a numinous power would gather and inspire me: at times I felt as if I was experiencing what ancient people called the "kotadama," the miraculous power residing in words. A self-styled "beggar of winds and madness," Basho originated and refined a unique genre of fictional travel literature, which used poetry that enabled one to render, empty-handedly, all of creation. I believe that I could ask for no greater favor from my painter's brush than that I too be able to glean the merest fragment of what the saint of haiku Basho saw, and be able to reproduce it in my work. — Miyata Masayuki
Download or read book The Temple of the Golden Pavilion written by Yukio Mishima and published by Random House. This book was released on 2001 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together Mishima's preoccupations with violence, desire, religious life and the history of Japan, this novel is based on an actual incident, the burning of a celebrated temple. The novel is a meditation on the state of Japan in the post-war period.
Download or read book Japanese Ghost Stories written by Lafcadio Hearn and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2019-07-25 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dead wreak revenge on the living, paintings come alive, spectral brides possess mortal men and a priest devours human flesh in these chilling Japanese ghost stories retold by a master of the supernatural. Lafcadio Hearn drew on the phantoms and ghouls of traditional Japanese folklore - including the headless 'rokuro-kubi', the monstrous goblins 'jikininki' or the faceless 'mujina' who stalk lonely neighbourhoods - and infused them with his own memories of his haunted childhood in nineteenth-century Ireland to create these terrifying tales of striking and eerie power. Today they are regarded in Japan as classics in their own right. Edited with an introduction by Paul Murray
