Reviews Archives - Page 3 of 6

Review—Well-Versed: Exploring Modern Japanese Haiku

July 26, 2021

A collection of three hundred modern haiku by different poets, curated from Ozawa’s commentary in the magazine Haiku Arufa from 2008-2018

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By Ozawa Minoru, translated by Janine Beichman, photographs by Maeda Shinzō and Akira (Japan Library, 2021) Review by Cody Poulton Ozawa Minoru is a celebrated haiku poet, winner of the 2006 Yomiuri Literature prize in Poetry, and contributor to a variety of newspapers and literary journals. Well-Versed: Exploring Modern Japanese Haiku is a collection of More…

Review—Bullet Train, by Kōtarō Isaka

July 11, 2021

Shenanigans on the Shinkansen

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An action-packed thriller with mature themes exploring the nature of evil, loyalty, mankind’s weaknesses and the morality of killing.

Review—Rabbit in the Moon

July 7, 2021

The author falls in love with Fred, marries him, and then grapples with understanding his Chinese background.

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The reader follows the author, experiencing culture shock, as she falls head over heels for Fred, marries him, and then grapples with understanding his Chinese background.

Review—Pax Tokugawana: The Cultural Flowering of Japan 1603-1853

June 24, 2021

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By Haga Tōru (Japan Library, 2021) Transl. Juliet Winters Carpenter Review by Cody Poulton Lightning— girdled by waves the islands of Japan This haiku by Yosa Buson (1716-1784) captures a snapshot of Japan in the Tokugawa era: isolated, peaceful, self-contained. The Tokugawa era (aka Edo period), which stretched from 1603 until its fall in 1868, More…

Review—Things Remembered and Things Forgotten

June 14, 2021

A delightful book of short stories from Kyoko Nakajima, author of The Little House, and winner of the Naoki Prize

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Recollections and our desire to remember things a certain way blur our reality and intrude on our ability to see the present clearly.

Review—How Human is Human?: The View from Robotics Research

May 28, 2021

Androids are certainly tools to think with and one thing they make us think of is our own mortality.

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The Other Ishiguro Review by Cody Poulton Last month in Books on Asia I reviewed Klara and the Sun and contrasted Kazuo Ishiguro with another author with the same surname. Well, here’s a book by the other Ishiguro, Hiroshi, who happens to make robots—and not just imagine them. Ishiguro Hiroshi is probably the most famous More…

Review—Yamamba: In Search of the Japanese Mountain Witch

May 20, 2021

A modern recasting of stories surrounding Japan’s famous mountain witch.

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(Stone Bridge Press, June 22, 2021) Review by Jann Williams Over two-thirds of Japan is covered with forested mountains. Traditionally these are sacred places, viewed as dwelling places of the dead and ancestral spirits, and as a liminal space between this world and the other world. Yama, the Japanese word for ‘mountain,’ is reflected in More…

Review—Noh as Living Art: Inside Japan’s Oldest Theatrical Tradition

May 17, 2021

Yasuda has provided a witty and fresh approach to this art.

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Review by Cody Poulton This slim volume, at just over 100 pages, is a primer to noh, Japan’s classic performance art. First appearing in Japanese, the text was translated by Kawamoto Nozomu, who was raised in the United States and currently trains with the author in noh utai singing. The work was published by Japan More…

Review—First Person Singular, by Haruki Murakami

May 12, 2021

It is that so-called “insignificant encounter” that Murakami focuses on to develop beautiful short stories.

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It is that so-called “insignificant encounter” that Murakami focuses on to develop beautiful short stories.

Review—The Gion Festival: Exploring its Mysteries

April 27, 2021

A guide to Japan’s biggest summer extravaganza: The Gion Festival

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Review by Cody Poulton It’s a bitter irony that a festival that is nearly as old as Kyoto, dedicated to ridding the city of pestilence in the hot and sticky month of July, was cancelled by the world-wide coronavirus pandemic last year. 2021 bodes no better: the great processions of splendid floats through the city, More…