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Andrew Rankin
For Andrew Rankin's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
CULTURE / Books
Feb 17, 2008
A return to Japanese sensibility
SHAME IN THE BLOOD by Tetsuo Miura, translated by Andrew Driver. Shoemaker & Hoard, 2007, 216 pp., $24.95 (cloth) Of all the major postwar Japanese writers, Tetsuo Miura is the least translated. One or two of his short stories found print in English-language magazines during the 1970s, and my own version of "Shinobugawa" (translated here as "A Portrait of Shino") appeared in 1999, but this is the first book-length presentation of Miura's work in English. It is long overdue.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 8, 2007
A question of dignity or cause for embarrassment
THE DIGNITY OF THE NATION by Masahiko Fujiwara, translated by Giles Murray. IBC Publishing 2007, 278 pp., 1,400 yen (paper) The title of this little book deliberately echoes that of a notorious pamphlet issued by the Japanese government in 1937, at the peak of nationalist hysteria, in an attempt to define the essence and superiority of Japanese culture. According to Masahiko Fujiwara, a mathematics professor known for his work on Diophantine equations, Western countries are on the road to ruin. Logic and reason are not enough. What we need now is a strong shot of samurai spirit: "It may take time, but I believe it is the Japanese, and no one else, who are now capable of saving the world."
LIFE / Travel
Jul 12, 2000
A taste of the good life in Izu
SHIMODA, Shizuoka Pref. -- There is no shortage of ryokan in Izu. The hot springs run unbroken down the coast from Atami to the tip of the peninsula, and some towns seem to have more onsen than houses.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 8, 2000
The Horai in Atami: A reputation so good it's true
The pride of Horai is Hashiri no Yu, an outdoor bath reached via a steep lantern-lit path. While the maid prepared our room for dinner, we soaked in the waters of the onsen, watching the island hills change from misty gray through pink, blue and purple to black, as the sun set over the bay.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 14, 1999
Getting into hot water in Fukushima
The sleepy town of Kitakata in northwest Fukushima hasn't much to interest tourists. The ramen is famous, but once you've seen the lacquer museum and some of the old storehouses, you may be stuck for ideas. The locals are rather proud of their Daibutsu, an 11th-century golden Buddha, but it is hardly worth the three-hour trip from Tokyo.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world