Podcasts

BOA Podcast 34—Angus Waycott Walks Sado Island


Author and travel-writer Angus Waycott talks about his book Sado: Island of Exile based on his 8-day walk around the island off Niigata Prefecture in the Japan Sea. He gives us in-depth accounts of: a mujina (tanuki-worshipping) cult, funa-ema (literally “ship horse pictures”), exile (including those of Zeami and Buddhist priest Nichiren), and the controversy behind the Kinzan gold mine and its “slave labor,” all topics which he recorded in his book Sado: Japan’s Isand of Exile originally published by Stone Bridge Press in 1996, and re-issued as an e-book by the author 2012, and 2023.

Book Description: “Given the choice, no-one ever went to Sado. For more than a thousand years, this island in the Sea of Japan was a place of exile for the deposed, disgraced or just plain distrusted — ex-emperors, aristocrats, poets, priests and convicted criminals alike. This book rediscovers the exiles’ island, explores the truth about its notorious gold mine, tracks down a vanishing badger cult, and drops in on the home of super-drummer band Kodo. Along the way, it paints a vivid picture of one of Japan’s most intriguing backwaters, now emerging from a long exile of its own.”

 

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Podcasts

BOA Podcast 33—Ai and the Future of Books


Publisher Peter Goodman and author/translator Frederik Schodt talk about artificial intelligence as it relates to writing and publishing books.

Schodt’s book Astroboy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution was recently listed as one of the books used to train generative AI. Peter Goodman is publisher of Stone Bridge Press (our podcast sponsor), and released Schodt’s Astroboy Essays in 2007. Both of these guests are going to give us their views on AI, the use of published books to train artificial intelligence, the issues of copyright, fair use and plagiarism, and what the AI industry should be doing to move forward and make the advancements beneficial for everyone involved.

If you’re an author and would like to find out if your book was one of 183,000 used to train AI, see this article in The Atlantic:

Link to The Atlantic
The search engine The Atlantic devised to use to see if particular titles were used to train generative AI.

Frederick Schodt is author/translator of  The Osamu Tezuka Story (Stone Bridge Press, 2016), Manga, Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics (Kodansha, 2013) The Astro Boy Essays (Stone Bridge Press, 2007) and My Heart Sutra: The World in 260 Characters (Stone Bridge Press, 2020, read our review), Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan and Japan to the West (Stone Bridge Press, 2012) and Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2013).

(Note: Since this podcast recording, Frederik Schodt has been inducted into the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame)

You can find Schodt on his Website, on Twitter(X) @fschodt and on Facebook

You can listen to our podcast with Schodt, where he talks about Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe and Native American in the Land of the Shogun, at BOA Podcast 32: Frederik Schodt and Historical Non-Fiction on Japan.

The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press. Check out their books on Japan at the publisher’s website.

Amy Chavez, podcast host, is author of Amy’s Guide to Best Behavior in Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2018) and The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island (Tuttle Publishing, 2022)

Don’t miss another author interview! Subscribe to the Books on Asia podcast.

Review—Mami Suzuki: Private Eye

book coverReview by Tina deBellegarde

With Mami Suzuki: Private Eye, Simon Rowe delivers a delightful twist on the traditional private investigator (PI) novel. This charming new sleuth is a middle-aged single mother from Kobe who sleuths in her off-hours to help cover the household expenses for herself, her mother and her young daughter.  Suzuki is no Miss Marple. Fashionable but frugal, professional and low-key, she struggles to make ends meet, and often turns to a beer or a whiskey to ease her burden.

Rowe’s book is an attractive blend of the modern and the classic, much like Japan itself. He takes us on a tour from bustling Kobe to the languid islands of Ishigaki in southernmost Okinawa, and even to a “cat island” in the Seto Inland Sea.

The novel unfolds as four separate cases and stand-alone stories with several threads that connect the narratives. For instance, Teizo, a handsome fisherman and former submariner, plays Watson to Suzuki’s Sherlock. Each new client is recommended by the last, and sometimes, there is significant overlapping.

We begin in the port city of Kobe, where Suzuki lives. Here, Rowe shows us both sides of the tracks—the luxury of the pearl district, as well as the pubs and karaoke bars. You may recognize this part of the book from the author’s earlier collection Pearl City: Stories from Japan and Elsewhere where Suzuki is hired by a pearl dealer to suss out a thief.

The chapter “Land of the Gods” contrasts with the hustle and bustle of urban Kobe when Suzuki goes to Shimane Prefecture on Japan’s western seaboard to find a missing sushi chef. The sleuth must discover whether the chef left of his own accord or if something more nefarious occurred.

The episode “Sounds of the Tide” takes place on the idyllic island of Ishigaki where Suzuki investigates a drowning. The victim’s sister suspects the wife and her family had a hand in it. “Sounds of the Tide” becomes particularly compelling when Suzuki develops a friendship with the widow and is unsure if the relationship has clouded her judgement.

Rowe continually presents us with new angles to age-old stories. The final story, “Isle of Cats” features a pregnant college student and a runaway novice priest. The latter finally leads Suzuki to a near-deserted cat island before the twist ending is revealed.

Many PI novels are black and white, good versus bad, but Suzuki executes a more nuanced approach. She works on instinct:

“…intuition guiding her, not knowing exactly what would transpire or what awaited around the next corner but resolute in her belief that if you fell down seven times, you got up eight. There was never any certainty with cases like these, only hunches based on loose facts which, when arranged, pointed in a general direction. ( p.186)

These are not fast-paced action plots, but rather slow-burning character studies. The mysteries originate with people and real-life problems. They conclude quietly, as do many Japanese narratives, with the characters adjusting to the new normal. The prose is crisp and atmospheric. Rowe manages to imbue his stories with details and local color without obscuring the writing. Each case takes us to a different seaside locale and leaves us with the whiff of a salty breeze.

Mami Suzuki captured my heart when I first met her in the author’s Pearl City collection. I had hoped to see more of her, and Simon Rowe has delivered in spades. To my delight, the book left me with a satisfying ending and the promise of a sequel. What more could I want?

Podcasts

BOA Podcast 32: Frederik Schodt—historical non-fiction on Japan

Frederick Schodt is an author and translator with many books under his belt including The Osamu Tezuka Story (Stone Bridge Press, 2016), Manga, Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics (Kodansha, 2013) The Astro Boy Essays (Stone Bridge Press, 2007) and My Heart Sutra: The World in 260 Characters (Stone Bridge Press, 2020, read our review).

But today he is going to talk about his historical non-fiction books, both published by Stone Bridge Press (sponsor of the Books on Asia podcast). First, we’ll talk about Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan and Japan to the West (Stone Bridge Press, 2012) and Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2013). Both books are accounts of American men who pioneered US-Japan relations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Review—The Nature of Kyoto

Review by John Rucynski

book coverThe Nature of Kyoto is the fifth anthology from Writers in Kyoto (WiK), a “group of published and self-published English-language authors working or living in the city.” Anthologies always run the risk of focusing on too narrow a theme, attracting a certain number of readers, but giving pause to many others who wonder whether the volume will sustain their interest. Fortunately, the editors of this anthology approached the project with a broad definition of nature, noting they “wanted contributors to investigate the myriad aspects of Kyoto’s ‘nature’–referring to both the natural world and the ‘inner nature’ or soul of the city.” So, there is plenty to offer a nature-lover like this reviewer,  and also readers with an interest in any aspect of Kyoto, or Japan.

In the foreword, Pico Iyer writes that, “The minute you step into Japan’s thousand-year capital, it’s hard not to start putting things into words.” Proving this point, The Nature of Kyoto features contributions from 30 writers who have been inspired by Kyoto in one way or another. This anthology also features a wide range of writing genres and styles, from poems and short vignettes of a few hundred words to extended pieces of up to seven or eight pages. This format allows space for 30 engaging contributions that offer an impressive variety of perspectives of the ancient capital.

Iyer also writes of the clash between the traditional and the modern in Kyoto, summarizing this dichotomy by explaining that the city is “madly in love with the latest and fashionable,” yet “everywhere…are spirits alive in the hills.” In “The Graveyard of Homyo-in,” Everett Kennedy Brown writes of these spirits as he senses being watched by something “neither a human, nor an animal” while walking up the path to visit the grave of Ernest Fenollosa (1853-1908), the American art historian dedicated to preserving traditional Japanese art.

The passage of time is also explored in Rebecca Otowa’s short fictional piece “The Pocket Garden.” This poignant tale paints an endearing portrait of the 95-year-old Ei-chan and his love for the nakaniwa (“inner garden,” or as the author dubs it, “pocket garden”) in the small wooden Kyoto house where he has spent all of his years. Sadly, the tranquility of the traditional neighborhood is in peril due to development plans for a high-rise hotel.

Kyoto’s past versus present is also a dominant theme of “For Love of the Octopus God” by Elaine Lies. Fellow long-term residents of Japan will surely relate to this piece, as the author reflects on an old school izakaya (casual eating and drinking establishment) she fell in love with during her student years in Kyoto. Upon visiting the izakaya four decades later, the author laments that, “There will come an end someday that is unfathomable.” It is no surprise that the Buddhist concept of impermanence flows through this volume and Lies vows that she will continue to visit the izakaya while she can, stressing that, “I will laugh. I will live.”

The anthology is not simply a love letter to the nature of Kyoto, but also a reminder of the risks that abound in the great outdoors. Hiking enthusiast Edward J. Taylor addresses this theme in “Peeks of Danger,” summarizing his harrowing journey up and down Minagoyama, at 971 meters the tallest peak in Kyoto Prefecture. Despite its stature as one of the Kansai and Kinki hyakumeizan (“100 Eminent Peaks”), the trail has become difficult to access due to frequent storms of recent years. But you don’t even have to wander into the wilderness to encounter the threats of the natural world in modern Kyoto. In the frightening but equally entertaining “Nature is Trying to Kill You,” Fernando Torres highlights recent clashes between humans and wildlife in his neighborhood in Kyoto, beginning with accounts of wild boars who entered an eldercare facility, university grounds, and even the lobby of a hotel.

In a volume dedicated to the nature of Kyoto, it is no surprise that several chapters also focus on how the abundance of nature has contributed to the city’s vibrant food culture. In “Food for Thought and for the Thoughtful,” Julian Holmes details how more than 40 types of vegetables are certified as kyo-yasai, Kyoto vegetables. Combined with the importance of the seasons within Japanese cuisine as a whole, Holmes expresses that in Kyoto, “It is no exaggeration to say that you can literally tell the time of the year by the vegetables served in front of you.” Karen Lee Tawarayama also emphasizes the vital link between food and the seasons in her contribution, “Nature, Neighbors, and Nibbles.” A nostalgic look at life in her now permanent home of Kyoto, the author recounts how the highlight of a previous private lesson she taught was that it was always accompanied by the serving of sweets, as her student “was simply a connoisseur of traditional confectioneries.” Looking back, she aptly sums up, “The Japanese mindset connects deeply with seasonal flow, and it is delightful to confirm this connection through snacks and confectioneries shared with friends and loved ones.”

Returning to Pico Iyer’s assertion that there are “spirits alive in the hills,” a volume on Kyoto would not be complete without a focus on the city’s ascetic and spiritual traditions. “Kyoto: City of Fire and Water” by Jann Williams is a fascinating look at the role of these opposing elements in a range of traditional events and purification rituals. Williams details how in addition to important “firsts” of the New Year in Japanese culture, such as hatsumōde (first temple or shrine visit), there are also words dedicated to firsts involving fire and water, including hatsukamado (first kindling of the stove) and wakamizu (first water drawn from a well). In his contribution “Thinking Kyoto like a Mountain,” co-editor Robert Weis explores the mountains of Kyoto, but–to return to the opening “A Word from the Editors”–from the perspective of “both the natural world and the ‘inner nature’ or soul of the city.” The title of this piece is borrowed from the phrase “thinking like a mountain,” coined by American author and ecologist Aldo Leopold. Weis sums this philosophy up as “having a holistic appreciation of the interconnectedness of ecosystems, rather than thinking as an isolated individual.”

To expand on this idea of interconnectedness, an appealing feature of anthologies is discovering common themes that crop up despite a great range of backgrounds, nationalities, and writing styles among contributors. What really resonated when I finished this volume was the concept of Kyoto as home.  In “Kyotoyama,” Preston Keido Houser theorizes that all visitors to Kyoto are “‘born’ here, since the city appears to qualify as a spiritual point of departure.” Indeed, in the aforementioned contribution by Elaine Lies, she recounts upon sitting down and being served a beer at her beloved izakaya after a long absence: “I drink deeply. I sigh. I am home.” Similarly, Everett Kennedy Brown reveals in his visits to the garden at Homyo-in that, “There was an inner clarity here that I had rarely experienced in my previous life.” Considering the current (but not new) threat of overtourism to Japan’s ancient capital, it is a reminder that beyond the horribly crowded major sites and consequently jam-packed public transportation, there is still a magical city of hidden gems and tranquility that Japanese and expats alike can call home.

One additional bonus of this volume that must be mentioned is the photography. It is artistically and sparsely arranged, each contribution generally accompanied by a single high-quality photograph that provides a sneak peek into the ensuing work.

Whether you live in Kyoto, are a casual visitor, or just dream of seeing the city someday, The Nature of Kyoto has much to hold your interest, with its 30 varied and fascinating portraits of Japan’s ancient capital. In addition to the range of writing styles featured in these pages, the editors also explain that the volume also caters to different reading styles, from those who like to “dip in and dip out” to those who prefer to “read from cover to cover in one sitting.” However you approach it, the latest offering from WiK is an enjoyable journey guaranteed to increase your knowledge of both Kyoto and Japanese culture in general.

 

Podcasts

BOA Podcast 31: John Grant Ross on Taiwan & Japan


John Ross, a New Zealand writer based in Taiwan, has spent three decades in Asia, starting as a freelance photojournalist then becoming an English teacher and author. His works include Formosan Odyssey: Taiwan, Past and Present, You Don’t Know China: Twenty-Two Enduring Myths Debunked, and Taiwan in 100 Books. He co-founded a publishing house focused on East Asia called Camphor Press and co-hosts Formosa Files, a weekly podcast on the history of Taiwan.

Show Notes:

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Review—A Passion for Japan

book coverReview by Ian Josh Yates

Within A Passion for Japan: A Collection of Personal Narratives, John Rucynski has collected varied and intriguing snippets of life from the authors who have all come to live and search for a passion in the Land of the Rising Sun. The writers themselves come from all parts of the earth, with all slants of backgrounds, and overall, only share two commonalities: One, that they have landed, either momentarily or eternally, at some spot along the string of islands that creates Japan, and two, that they want to share with others what Japan is to them, and through doing so, who they are. Any reader will find it hard to deny that who each author is and what Japan is to them, is very much the same thing.

Even with such widespread focuses, from the countryside life to the noisy city, from Buddhism to indie rock and local literature, it is undeniable that all the writers have found a wonderfully normal yet uniquely fascinating passion in Japan. It also appears universal that along with finding such passions, they uncover the happiness of knowing who they really are.

With such a large selection to choose from, how can a reviewer fairly choose which parts to focus on in such a sparkling ensemble? Well, why not follow the advice that pops up in a majority of the tales within the book itself: Find what you love and find your love of Japan, or in this case, find your love in a book about Japan.

For this reviewer the choice was obvious: sports.

Of the thirty one stories, five focus primarily on sports. Two take a look at sumo, and the others examine Japanese baseball, tennis, and volleyball. These short tales follow beautifully in the tradition of authors like Robert Whiting by using a game many already are familiar with to explain the similarities and differences between Japan and elsewhere.

Tim Craig with “Sumo and Me” and Katrina Watts with “A Pushover for Sumo” approach the traditional Japanese sport from very different angles. Craig falls in love with the sport, as an audience member soaking in the culture on display during and between the fights.

For Craig, as with many others, Japan presented him with a conundrum of sorts, but one that with the help of a little drinking was a joy to attempt to solve:

I love Japan, and have now lived here for 25 fun years and counting, but in many ways that first year in Iwate was the funnest of all, or at least the most interesting, because it was like constantly trying to solve a big puzzle.

Watts, on the other hand couldn’t keep her distance from the sport to simply enjoy it and found herself diving straight into providing translation for the wrestlers, serving as an NHK TV commentator and becoming very much an ambassador for the sport overseas. She presents a spellbindingly inside view that almost no other could, especially with a female and foreign point of view. At times it took a sumo style of guts for Watts to bear the trying challenge of being so different in Japan:

Takamiyama (the first Hawaiian in pro sumo), when he was scolded for the tears running down his face as he was trying to do matawari (sumo splits) encouraged me: “it is sweat, not tears” he had responded. I too could keep trying. Patience and perseverance in sumo and in life.

In “Baseball, Blogging and Belonging,” Trevor Raichura paints a picture of his struggles to find his true purpose in Japan. Life seemed dull and uninspiring despite the exoticness compared to his Calgary upbringing. It wasn’t until he found a spark of inspiration while sitting in Koshien stadium watching baseball that he realized that if he could bring the Tigers to an English audience, he could develop the community that he longed for. Even if it wasn’t hockey, seeing the crowd at Japan’s oldest stadium gather into a single purpose of cheering together was a fire of life that Raichura hoped would bring heat to every aspect of his days here.

Greg Rouault, another Canadian who ventured across the pond, writes in “Who, me?! Volleyball Refereeing and Japan” about his times working as a referee for the Japan Volleyball Association. Without speaking a word of Japanese Rouault jumped straight into his life in Japan by implementing a simple stance of watch and learn. This approach worked quite well for sports and everyday living:

Back in Canada, as I was developing as a referee, and eventually in my teaching of other refs, I had always emphasized learning by observation. So in my new context, that is what I did. I believe this made having me around a bit less troublesome than it might have been otherwise; I was able to observe the local customs and fall in step quite well.

The final look at sports comes from Dr. Haru Yamada, described as a “global nomad” and the one writer on sports who might be expected to have a Japanese perspective. However, in “The Inner Game of the Japanese: Going Back Home with Tennis” Yamada, as an elementary school kikoshukijo (returnee) from New York city, shares with us her own feeling of disconnect and sadness at being in a country where despite one looking like a local, being different can crush the spirit. Yamada, with her New York pride, found it demoralizing when a coach forced her to pick up the tennis balls of senior students. As a tennis player, she felt she should be playing tennis, not picking up after others. However, despite the differences in Yamada’s experience, she finds that with a bit of acceptance, and a focus on the love of the sport, she too was able to grow and live happily in Japan.

Anthologies have the great ability to show us the pros and cons of life. Each sport, and more so, each passion of the twenty-five authors given a voice in this volume shows us again and again that life in a foreign land isn’t always a walk in the cherry blossom park. However, again and again these authors, with hundreds of combined years of life in Japan, come to similar conclusions: It is tough, but worth it, especially once you find your passion, your reason for being here. A Passion for Japan is well worth a read.

Listen to the BOA podcast: Japan in 31 Passions with John Rucynski.

Podcasts

BOA Podcast 29: Stephen Mansfield talks Tokyo

Stephen Mansfield, author of Tokyo: A Biography , is a British writer and photo-journalist based in Japan. His photo-journalism work has appeared in over 60 magazines, newspapers and journals worldwide including the Kyoto Journal, CNN Travel and Nikkei Asia. To date, he has had twenty books published, four of them on the culture and people of Laos, several on Japanese gardens, and he has a chapter and essay in the anthology Inaka: Portraits of Rural Life in Japan (Camphor Press, 2020). Today he talks with us about Tokyo: A Biography (Tuttle, 2017), available available at online booksellers or any good bookstore. He has some interesting things to say, so please tune in at the above link, or subscribe to the BOA podcast.

The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press. Check out their books on Japan at the publisher’s website. Amy Chavez, podcast host, is author of Amy’s Guide to Best Behavior in Japan and The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island.

Subscribe to the Books on Asia podcast.

 

Podcasts

BOA Podcast 28: Translating Hiromi Ito’s “The Thorn Puller” with Jeffrey Angles

 

 

Hiromi Ito author of The Thorn Puller (originally published in Japanese as Toge-nuki Jizo: Shin Sugamo Jizo engi) came to national attention in Japan in the 1980s for her groundbreaking poetry about pregnancy, childbirth, and female sexuality. After relocating to the U.S. in the 1990s, she began to write about the immigrant experience and biculturalism. In recent years, she has focused on the ways that dying and death shape human experience.

Jeffrey Angles is a writer, translator and professor of Japanese at Western Michigan University. He is the first non-native poet writing in Japanese to win the Yomiuri Prize for Literature, a highly coveted prize for poetry. His translation of the modernist classic The Book of the Dead by Shinobu Orikuchi won both the Miyoshi Award and the Scaglione Prize for translation.

Be sure to check out Jeffrey Angles’s book The Thorn Puller available at online booksellers or any good bookstore.

The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press. Check out their books on Japan at the publisher’s website. Amy Chavez, podcast host, is author of Amy’s Guide to Best Behavior in Japan and The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island.

Subscribe to the Books on Asia podcast.