Japan Books

This is a book I recommend for all foreign teachers in Japan, especially for those who will be working in the public school system. The world of Japanese education is quite different from that of western countries, and without some sort of preparation, you might experience some culture shock. This book consists of several articles which discuss different aspects of Japanese education from elementary school through high school, and it even covers some esoteric teaching situations such as education in a zen temple, or as a student of Japanese Noh drama. The only aspect of Japanese education not covered is university education. However, if you are going to be teaching in a university, I think it would still be beneficial for you to read this book, so that you know what kind of environment your students come from and how it may be different from your own country's situation. For example, Japanese high school students don't do much critical or research based writing, so if you assign such a writing task, it may be the first time they have had to do it.

If you will teach in Japan, pick this up to prepare yourself. If you are already teaching in Japan, this may answer some of the questions that you have. Check it out.

I first came across this book towards the end of my first year in the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Programme as an Assistant Language Teacher at a junior high school in rural Japan. The essays in the book (particularly the pieces by Fukuzawa and LeTendre examining adolescent development in junior high schools) helped me to place in order and begin understanding what had up until then been a rather confusing and oftentimes frustrating experience.

The book consists of 13 essays, all based upon extensive first-hand observation, that examine not only formal education in Japanese pre-, primary and secondary schools but also looks at other manifestations of education throughout Japanese society from company retreats to a Zen monastery to the Kumon schools to the Suzuki violin method.

The essays are balanced and easy to understand, even for those like myself not formally trained in education. And they provide some fascinating insights; I found the essays on elementary school education to be particularly fascinating in that they made me realize that my stereotypes about Japanese education being factory style rote-learning are probably more applicable to the elementary school education I received growing up in the US. The essays reveal an appproach to teaching young children in Japan that emphasizes the sound development of both the hearts and minds of students and that strives to always place instructional content in meaningful contexts. This focus on nurturing both the "heart and mind" actually seems to be a unifying thread that runs through all of the essays in the book.

The observations in the book have all been borne out by my own experiences teaching and observing pre-school, elementary and junior high school classes over the past several years.

If you are planning to do work on or within the Japanese education system (and I say this in particular to new JET participants), this book is essential reading. I believe educators in general will also find this book to be a fascinating and valuable look at a very different approach to education.

This book contained everything that I needed to do my research for the genre of Japanese enka. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to get to the whys and how the genre is different for others. It is a very detailed book.

This may be the only English-language book on the Enka genre, about which it is difficult to find any guides or other information unless you are fluent in the Japanese language. Dr. Yano's approach to this (sadly underappreciated) genre is more from a scholarly approach than as a "fan" of the music, by her own admission, but this book provides a wealth of information about the history, lyrics and visual style of Enka music and its performers. Personally I would have liked to have learned about the "stars" of this genre, particular Hibari Misora, undoubtedly its most famous performer. Also, Enka does exist in the US, though through mostly Japanese-American fans and performers, but this may be another subject of study. Enka may be a declining musical art form, but there are some notable younger performers, like Kitayama Takeshi and Komura Miki. I'm very grateful to Dr. Yano for the information provided by her book!

I agree entirely with the excellent review written by R. Pelzer, I just want to add this this is a very dense scholarly book littered with footnotes. It is not a quick read and not stirring tales of action, it appears to be meticulously researched and very thorough. A reference book

This book presents an excellent and well-balanced presentation of Japanese monastic warriors based completely on primary and secondary sources. To my knowledge, it's the first work to present a trustworthy picture of who the monastic warriors of medieval Japan were, what the social context was in which they lived, the factors that played a role in establishing the currently held inaccurate image of them, how this image was able to survive in Japan and elsewhere until today and why it is still so powerful that until recently Japanese scholarship (despite the fact that according to the author the truth is there for everyone to see inside the primary documents) hasn't been able to dismantle it. Most interestingly, the author comes to his conclusions by systematically and thoroughly, although the author himself admits not comprehensively (which I believe, in this case, isn't adversely influencing the results of the research), analyzing the mistakes in the interpretation of primary sources by the Japanese academic world thusfar. A possible explanation for the fact that Japanese scholarship has sustained the inaccurate image of monastic warriors for so long is being given, and convincingly at that, as well as some recent attempts within Japanese academe at reconsideration of established views by a reinterpretation of primary sources. Besides all of this, the book contains a wonderful bibliography as well as excellent notes including Japanese characters that enable the interested reader to explore further. Well, to put it in a single frase, I strongly feel that this book is the product of excellent, first-rate scholarship and would therefore like to recommend it highly to anyone interested in the subject.

This is a great introduction to the textiles of Japan, particularly for people just beginning to develop their interest in this area. The book presents a balanced discussion of the subject by providing a good amount of information on history and technique, without spinning the reader with overwhelming detail about either. Of special interest to us were the practical (functional) aspects of the fabrics, as well as the effects the fabrics and Japanese society have had (and continue to have) on each other. The most important types of textiles are covered, along with the relevant terminology.

The book also has many excellent photographs of everything from uchikake on display to vats of indigo dye. The color pictures not only help the reader get a better understanding of the topic at hand, but also realize the beauty of the fabrics and the hard work that goes into them.

Good book. Recommended.

A book on textiles that have many beautiful pictures as well as details on Shibori.It also shows some of the techniques of weaving, and kimono painting.Excellent.

A beautiful book with an amazing collection of textile samples from India.

It represents 30% of the amazing range of prints & weaves from India as the collection is predominantly from North India. The beautiful silk temple saris from South India specifically Kanchipuram and Madurai are not represented in this collection.

I love this book and want to buy it.....where can i get this book??

Up until two years ago I was a convinced Calvinist, the typical "angry young man" you often find in Reformed circles, confident beyond measure that God had determined everything that had come to pass, even the evils that take place in our world. But then a crisis occurred in my family that caused me a tremendous amount of pain, and I found that my magesterial, sovereign God was of little help or comfort to me. I think part of me despaired of my faith. But then, while browsing through a dictionary of theology where I looked up the word "pain" I came across a reference for Kitamori's book. I was intringued, found a copy in my local library, and read it eagerly. It would not be an exagerration to say that my views about God, about his relationality, his love, and his pathos, began to change. Reading Theology of the Pain of God revolutionized by relationship to him, increased my faith, and helped me to understand that God was with me, even in those darkest moments of my life, not because he decreed that they should happen (as in Calvinism), but because he was suffering with me. He knew what I was going through, not because he had ordained it, but because he too knows what suffering is. Somehow, those were the words my soul needed to hear, and my faith was strengthened. I had a renewed love for my Lord. I would recommend this book to anyone, whether or not you've gone through a similar situation, because it may provide a much needed corrective to your current understanding about God.

This is a relatively short book, but it is exceptionally deep and amazingly thorough in scope and perceptive in its arguments. It is particularly exemplary for its responsible engagement with the tradition of Christian thought and Kitamori's ability to explore issues at the boundaries of precedent or orthodoxy without being too eager to conveniently step outside of those boundaries.

His writing, in translation, is concise and accessible. Fortunately, it is not necessary to be as well-read as Kitamori to benefit from this work. Kitamori does not always name or explicate his interlocutors, though, so a background in the history of Christian theology and some philosophy makes for an even more rewarding read, especially since attention to Kitamori's reading of this or that historical figure can be a highly interesting dimension as well.

Drawing on the Scriptures, the thought of Martin Luther, and echoing many voices and streams from Christian tradition, Kitamori discusses the significance of Christ and his Passion as revelatory of a fundamental, paradoxical, deeply painful wound within the Godhead itself, and of the nature of the relationship between God's wrath and God's love. The divine anguish at the nexus of these mysteries has implications for how one might understand aspects of the Christian life, including ethics, mysticism, and eschatology. That many central aspects of his innovative ideas are not wholly new is a testament to the author's subtlety, creativity, and responsibility to tradition. Kitamori also has an almost uncanny ability to anticipate some of the questions that might arise and the answers his theology might give.

The work is also significant as one which addresses the role of one's national/cultural background or context in theological work, especially if that background or context is not one which has historically been part of the Christian "conversation" as much as some Western cultures have. Many readers today might not be entirely comfortable with aspects of his way of analyzing the characteristics of cultures; nevertheless, Kitamori's ideas and experience as a Japanese Lutheran Christian are thought-provoking and inspiring. Yet the merit of this work deserves attention even apart from the unique circumstances of its origin.

From time to time, I will provide a little review of books relating to Japan. I got the idea from the Asian Bookshelf in the Japan Times. One of my favorite gaijin authors, Donald Richie, writes a book review each week for J.T. Right now I have over 206 books on Japanese history, language, and culture, and one day I will get around to writing reviews for each one. Enough of my boring introduction, on with the review.
Tokyo Central: A Memoir by Edward Seidensticker
One day, when I was teaching Conversational English to a mixed-bag collection of students at the Nova school in Toyonaka, I happened to pass by the bookstore and went in. I bought a copy of Kansai Time Out and saw that Edward Seidensticker would be at Doshisha University in Kyoto. It would be on a day that I had to work. So, I pretended to be sick that Monday and actually did call in sick that Wednesday just to see him.
I arrived at the college and just walked into an empty auditorium because I had arrived several hours early. No one came until just before the start. Then suddenly I must have fallen asleep because just a moment ago the whole place was empty and now was full. I looked around and it was mostly women. I later learned that Doshisha is a womans' university. Anyway, Edward Seidensticker appeared on stage, with two extremely cute nurses, and talked about the difficulties in translating. He spoke the most about translating The Tale of Genji and spending almost an entire decade on it. I listened and afterwards got his autograph.
Now it has been a few years, since I met him at the autograph session, and I saw his book about his life as a translator and had to get it.
In Tokyo Central, Seidensticker talks about growing up in Colorado, studying at the Navy's Japanese Language School, where Donald Keene once studied, and finally his first year in Tokyo as a "Scholar-Diplomat" like Sir George Sansom.
He didn't really take to diplomat life so he started teaching and translating great works of Japanese literature. The book really shines in his thoughts on such great modern writers such as Tanazaki Junichiro and Kawabata Yasunari. I was amazed and envious to learn that he was taken out to expensives dinners by both men.
Seidensticker is never boring and his writing sucks you into that time in his life that you are reading. The 244 pages seem to go by quickly; yet despite the small pages, it is the weight of ideas and compression of 80-years of his life that causes you to think and reflect on what has happened to Tokyo before and what is going on now.
Here is a remarkable story of someone who didn't set out to be a translator and how ended up sharing the stage with Kawabata Yasunari recieving the Nobel Prize
A good quick read for the summer and highly recommended to anyone interested in Tokyo history and the life of a engaging academic who is never boring.

Somehow I wound up reading the memoirs of Genji's translator before tackling Genji itself. Perhaps that alone is testament to the clear and interestling writing style of Seidensticker himself, one of the great observers of Japanese culture.

The story is much more than just about Tokyo, though. It starts in Colorado, weaves through his introduction to Japanese language through the US military in WW2, and only then hits his life in post-WW2 Japan during the reconstruction. It covers his introduction to Japanese fiction, as well as his translation. Finally, the book wraps up with his return to US, and introduction to academia.

The book reads rather well for the first biographical (autobiographical at that) work of a translator. Although Seidensticker made his name in translations, we also learn of his attempts at fiction and other writing.

Perhaps one complaint is repetitive word usage. For instance, the word "eminent" is very overused for such an "eminent" translator. I'd expect better. But that is not nearly enough to stop anyone from reading these memoirs.

Human emotions, dark pasts, trials & tribulation, and complicated relationships are nothing new in literature. These are all common themes in countless novels and we've seen the same scenario play out time and time again. Every now and then, an author comes along and makes these themes special though and strikes the right notes with his or her readers. Robert W. Norris has done this with his novel Toraware.

Toraware is the story of three people living in Japan trying to find their place in the world. Harlan is a writer and a Vietnam War veteran in his early thirties who is unsure what he wants exactly out of life. He has come to Japan to teach English and to experience a new culture. While there he's met two women who are also trying to find themselves and each has become connected to Harlan. Sachiko has fallen for Harlan and his writing but her feelings are not reciprocated. Sachiko has her own dark past and her own issues to work through and has a hard time dealing with rejection. Yoshiko and Harlan have a much closer relationship, but Harlan will not open up to her. Yoshiko is also fairly promiscuous, has an alcohol problem and also has a dark past stemming from psychological issues.

Toraware is the tale of a universal need for acceptance. As I mentioned before, we've seen these themes in other works, but they are presented beautifully here. Norris' words match the beauty of the Japanese landscapes that he describes. You can tell that Norris has spent quite a bit of time in Japan as reading the novel is somewhat of a study in the culture of Japan. I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the novel as Japan has always had a fascinating culture to me. Norris relates to his audience that through language barriers, culture barriers, and gender barriers, we can all relate at the core of what it is to be human.

This book was a great surprise and I look forward to getting to know Norris' work a little bit better. He's published a few other books, one of which is actually used to teach English to Japanese students. It's title is The Many Roads to Japan. Toraware was a book that could be extremely tedious if written by the wrong person seeing as there's not much action in the book. The book's main aesthetic is very voyeuristic. The reader is simply a fly on the wall as we experience the characters sorting out their lives. In Norris' hands, the book is a huge success and a pleasure to read. 4.5/5

One of the most amazing books I have ever read. The story is set in Osaka Japan. I picked up this book and was hooked after the first chapter. I ended up finishing it the same day. Too bad it is not available anymore.

In his book "Toshie", Simon Partner provides a detailed account of village life throughout 20th century Japan. The historical and sociological information is carefully selected; each piece deepens the reader's understanding of the life of Toshie and her fellow villagers. Partner's observations on World War II, village life, and the rise of consumer culture in Japan are all welcome additions to the study of Japanese history. The real strength of the book, however, is Partner's vivid descriptions. From the beginning, one feels as if they are looking over the shoulder of the midwife during the birth of the protagonist, Toshie. These fine descriptions continue throughout the book and one can nearly breathe the fresh village air or sweat alongside the farmers and laborers as they toil into the night.
For anyone who is interested in Japanese history, village life, or simply looking for a good read, I highly reccomend this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. I am a third generation Japanese American(sansei) born and raised in Hawaii. My grandparents came here from Niigata ken, which is the setting of the book, around the turn of the 20th century. They came as laborers to work in the sugar plantations. Therefore I found the details about village life in Niigata very relevant to their experiences in America.

I have read many accouns of life in the Japanese countryside through the years ("Shinohata", "Village Japan", and "A Far Valley" come to mind). But Partner's book is the best I have read because of the combination of historical and sociological data. It is also filled with sensitivity to the lives of Toshie and others in her village.

I recently visited Niigata for the first time. Of course, spending two days there as a tourist did not give me as much of an in-depth look as I would have liked. But I will go back again, partly because Partner's work has increased my level of awareness.

It is almost as though we were with Christopher Dresser in Japan in 1877. He sketches, describes, and lives in the Japan of the 19th century. Tying together the art, architecture, and religious symbols, he educates us about the sources and inspirations of Japanese (and other Asian) art and decoration. What a wonderful book for anyone interested in history, art, architecture, Japan, or good writing. His description of his first Japanese meal is a kick, also. Don't miss this one.

Fascinating, evocative, and illuminating. It is almost as though we were with Christopher Dresser in Japan in 1877. He sketches, describes, and lives in Japan of the 19th Century. Tying together art, architecture, and religious symbols, he educates us about the sources and inspirations of Japanese (and other Asian) art and decoration. What a wonderful book for anyone interested in history, art, architecture, Japan, or good writing. His description of his first Japanese meal is a kick, also. Don't miss this one.