Matt Treyvaud - The Japan Times

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Matt Treyvaud

For Matt Treyvaud's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Jul 18, 2015

'Mystical Realist' Eihei Dogen's 13th-century writings

Eihei Dogen (1200-53), founder of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, is a key figure in the intellectual history of Japan, but for many centuries his work was not widely read. This changed in 1926, when the publication of Watsuji Tetsuro's "Shamon Dogen" ("The Monk Dogen") reframed him as a philosopher in the contemporary sense and inspired a new interest in Dogen's writings.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Jul 11, 2015

Lafcadio Hearn's timeless anthology of ghost tales

What is it about "Kwaidan"? It wasn't Lafcadio Hearn's first take on Japanese ghost stories — it wasn't even his first such book whose title was a single Japanese word starting with "K" ("Kotto" was published two years earlier, in 1902). But it's "Kwaidan" that still claims a place in literary history, even as its siblings among Hearn's prodigious oeuvre recede into cult status.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Jul 3, 2015

Rice organization uses fried food and folklore to revive a Shinto purification ritual

Traditions are just innovations that happened to catch on. Culinary traditions are no different. Some self-organize out of circumstance, such as yakisoba (literally "fried noodles"), which triumphantly emerged as the iconic food of summer festivals in large part thanks to a particular combination of demographics and ingredient availability after World War II. Some traditions are the result of more careful planning, such as the National Confectionary Industry Association's precision rebranding in 1978 of March 14 as "White Day," a day where men are expected to reciprocate any gift of chocolate they received from women on Valentine's Day, this time with white sweets. People love special events, people love food — there will always be room for new ways to combine the two.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Jun 27, 2015

'Harp of Burma' is an adventure story concealing weighty themes

"Harp of Burma" was published in Japan in 1946, but it would be 20 years before Michio Takeyama's story of Japanese soldiers stranded in Burma after the close of World War II was translated into English. In fact, Kon Ichikawa got there first in 1956, with his stark cinematic adaptation, "Biruma no Tategoto" ("The Burmese Harp"), which was internationally praised upon its release. Anglophone cinephiles who bought the book expecting the same gravitas were surely disappointed. Although immediately popular with a wide cross-section of Japanese readers, "Harp of Burma" is unmistakably an adventure story for children. Its themes are weighty — the human cost of war, the healing power of song — but they are not explored in great depth; the cliffhanger-driven plot takes precedence.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

Jun 6, 2015

Osamu Dazai's travel guide 'Return to Tsugaru' is more concerned with people than place

In the northernmost reaches of Honshu, Japan's largest island, lies Tsugaru, an area isolated even from its neighbors in Aomori Prefecture, let alone the rest of Japan. As a celebrated author and son of Tsugaru himself, Dazai Osamu must have seemed the perfect choice for this 1944 volume in Oyama Shoten's series of books on regional diversity. But a few pages into "Return to Tsugaru," the result of this commission, Dazai warns the reader that they shouldn't expect to learn too much about Tsugaru itself. Instead, he will be concentrating on his own chief interest: "love, for want of a better word ... the human heart in its relations with other hearts."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES

May 30, 2015

'Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings' reveals intricacies of Edo Period architecture and interiors

"Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings" was first published in 1886, less than two decades after the Meiji Restoration, a time when Japan reopened itself to the world. But the same openness that allowed Morse to document Japanese architecture as a living tradition would soon transform the urban landscape beyond recognition.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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