John Rucynski, editor of A Passion for Japan: A Collection of Personal Narratives is originally from upstate New York, has been living in Japan on and off since 1994. He is currently associate professor in the Center for Language Education at Okayama University. In 2022 he self-published A Passion for Japan through Blue Sky Publishing.
Podcast 30 Show Notes:
In this anthology, which includes 31 stories, he asks not why the authors came to Japan, but why they stayed. Podast host Amy Chavez talks with Rucynski about how he put together the anthology and they further discuss serveral of the “passions” and their authors. Here is a list of the essays and authors included, from the Table of Contents:
- Shodō: Finding My Way in The Way of Writing
Karen Hill Anton - One Year with the Guardians of the Phoenix
Carmen Săpunaru Tămaș - Matsuri Madness
David M. Weber - Wadaiko: Drumming to Our Own Beat
Daniel Lilley - Follow the Sound of the Drums: My Passion for Eisa
Judy Kambara - A Love of Indie Music and a Seat behind the Goal
Adrianne Verla Uchida - Sumo and Me
Tim Craig - A Pushover for Sumo
Katrina Watts - Baseball, Blogging, and Belonging
Trevor Raichura - Coming Home: The Search for Belonging in Rural Japan
Victoria Yoshimura - Looking for the Good Life: Living as a Local In a Zero Waste Village
Linda Mengxi Ding - Gaijin in the Garden: Where Ganbaru is Golden
Robert McLaughlin - From Bruce Lee to The Way of Tea
Randy Channell Soei - From the Land of the Indomitable Lions to the Land of the Blue Samurai: A Personal Story
Samuel Nfor - The Long Road from Clay to Pot, and What I Learned along the Way
Irina Holca - The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday
Edward J. Taylor - Kumano Leap – Local Heritage Adopts a Wandering Soul: Q & A with Mike Rhodes
Mike Rhodes - Life Lessons Learned in Japan’s Mountains
Wes Lang - “Banzai!” on a Spanish Island: Playing Chess in Japan’s Colors
Simon Bibby - Who, Me?! Volleyball Refereeing in Japan
Greg Rouault - Passion in a Community: Finding My Japan through JALT
Wayne Malcolm - Come Sail Away: Finding My Passion on the Ship for World Youth
John Rucynski - The Inner Game of the Japanese: Going Back Home with Tennis
Haru Yamada - Who Am I? In Search of My Identity
Margaret C. Kim - My Love for Traditional Rituals and Customs of Japan
Hiya Mukherjee - Discovering Japanese Fusion of Religions on the Pilgrimage Island of Shikoku
Steve McCarty - Feeling at Home with the Great Literary Masters
Vicky Ann Richings - Too Many Novels I Want to Translate: Q & A With Emily Balistrieri
Emily Balistrieri - Literature and Legacy: Stories of Hansen’s Disease in Japan
Kathryn M. Tanaka - Roof Spotting in Japan
Wendy Bigler - A Passion for the Place: Swept Off My Feet by a Japanese Farmhouse
Rebecca Otowa
The book is available exclusively on
Amazon USA / Amazon Japan
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At the end of the podcast, Amy asks John what his top 3 books on Japan are and why. He gives 4:
You Gotta Have Wa, by Robert Whiting
The Roads to Sata, by Alan Booth
Cool Japan, by Tim Craig
Pure Invention, by Matt Alt
Listen to the podcast to hear his reasons why he chose these as his top picks! Read our review of the book here.
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.
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