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May 04, 2024
 

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Damian Flanagan
For Damian Flanagan's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 9, 2019
Kafu Nagai's 'Geisha in Rivalry' abounds with scheming, manipulation and, yes, sex
Although this edition of 'Geisha in Rivalry' is a translation of a censored version of the more racy original, it represents Nagai's rediscovery of the fast-disappearing traditional culture of Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 23, 2019
Meet one of Japan's greatest modern philosophers in 'Nishida Kitaro: The Man and His Thought'
First published in Japanese in 1985, 'Nishida Kitaro: The Man and His Thought' brings together diverse essays about both Nishida and his philosophy of 'absolute nothingness' written by his former pupil Keiji Nishitani (1900-90).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 16, 2019
'Japan Story': History enlivened at every turn with flashes of wit
Christopher Harding's comprehensive 'Japan Story' is an ultra-progressive account of modern Japanese history, ushering the often-ignored maverick women, socialist thinkers and doubters of the state version of modernity to the front.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 9, 2019
'Philosophers of Nothingness': Philosophy built on quietly gripping human dramas
Heisig's 'Philosophers of Nothingness' introduces the Kyoto School's three main philosophers: Kitaro Nishida, Hajime Tanabe and Keiji Nishitani.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 2, 2019
How Japan unleashed Lu Xun's ferocious literary passion
Although he was poised to be a doctor, Lu Xun, the most celebrated of all modern Chinese authors, abandoned medicine for something he felt would truly enlighten and modernize his nation: literature.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jan 26, 2019
With deft portraits and prescient predictions, Lafcadio Hearn's 'Kokoro' offers snapshots of early modern Japan
'Kokoro,' a collection of essays published in 1896 by the prolific Anglo-Irish author Lafcadio Hearn, teems with a diverse panorama of observations from a country swelling with national pride.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 15, 2018
Spreading the word of the philosophers of nothingness
The Kyoto School of philosophy — which offers stimulating ideas, a distinctive critique of Western philosophy and applies a Western methodology to Japanese thought — represents Japan's greatest contribution to world philosophy in the 20th century.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 8, 2018
Kobo Abe's 'The Ark Sakura': A surreal narrative worth reading twice
'The Ark Sakura,' Kobo Abe's puzzling, dream-like narrative about an obese recluse living in a vast underground bunker, is a dense interlacing of punning wordplay, psychological excavation and surreal imagery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 24, 2018
'The Frolic of the Beasts': A Mishima classic, roused from its long hibernation
Andrew Clare has published an impressive array of translations of novels by Japanese authors, all while putting in long hours at the corporate coalface. Now, Clare is launching his translation — the first in English — of a classic, but little-known, Yukio Mishima novel, 'The Frolic of the Beasts.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 10, 2018
A journey to hell with Osamu Dazai, Japan's ultimate bad boy novelist
Dazai is the ultimate bad boy of Japanese literature and 'Ningen Shikkaku,' recently re-translated by Mark Gibeau as 'A Shameful Life,' is his supreme masterpiece, a novel that still shocks today with its brutal honesty and unflinching, strangely thrilling pessimism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Nov 10, 2018
Rational analysis and mystic poetry combine in Kenzaburo Oe's 'Rouse Up O Young Men'
Through the poetry of William Blake, Kenzaburo Oe takes a new approach to probing the emotional consequences of his father's death, and parenting a severely disabled son.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 13, 2018
Kenzaburo Oe's 'Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness': Reflections on father-son relationships
In Oe's 'Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness,' the lifelong sense of obsession and profound sense of guilt engendered within his own familial history finds acute literary expression.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Sep 8, 2018
Strongly autobiographical, 'Death by Water' reflects on Kenzaburo Oe's own oeuvre
Written in dialogue with Oe's own, earlier works on similar subjects 'Death by Water' is a careful, multilayered contemplation on the methodology and potential of art itself.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Aug 25, 2018
'The Crazy Iris': Unflinching stories inspired by the aftermath of the atomic bomb
Compiled and edited by Kenzaburo Oe, 'The Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath' is a multifaceted look at the nightmarish horrors of the atomic bomb.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Aug 11, 2018
Kenzaburo Oe's 'Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids' condemns wartime cruelty
Oe's first novel, published in 1958 when he was only 23, tells of a group of school children evacuated to a remote village to escape wartime bombing raids, only to be cut off and abandoned when plague breaks out.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 10, 2018
Taking the path once trodden by Ian Fleming and James Bond
In 1962, Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond, visited Japan. His journey here, and the characters he met, would go on to inspire 007's adventures in 'You Only Live Twice.' But in 2018, how possible is it to retrace the author's footsteps across Japan?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Jul 28, 2018
'On the Bullet Train with Emily Bronte' delves into Japan's fascination with an English classic
Both Japan and Judith Pascoe are passionate about 'Wuthering Heights.' In 'On the Bullet Train with Emily Bronte' Pascoe blends personal self-discovery with academic analysis to investigate the cross-cultural translation and adaptation of a literary classic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jun 9, 2018
Kobo Abe's 'Kangaroo Notebook' is absurdist, surrealist and occasionally exasperating
Is this bizarrely oneiric journey, daikon sprouts and all, really just Kobo Abe's exteriorized exploration of a tortured psyche?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 26, 2018
Twenty-five years on, Alan Booth's voice is brought back to life
'This Great Stage of Fools' offers a collection of Alan Booth's uncollected journalism and writings between 1979 and his untimely death in 1993. Booth is be considered one of the greatest writers on Japan of his generation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 23, 2018
Zen and the art of Premier League dominance: Buddhist philosophy links Manchester United, Arsenal and Japan
Can the success of Alex Ferguson's 'kids' and Arsene Wenger's 'Invincibles' be linked to Buddhist philosophy? It's worth a try.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

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

Longform

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

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