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John Haylock
For John Haylock's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
CULTURE / Books
Jan 16, 2001
Yoshimoto's mixed-up women
ASLEEP, by Banana Yoshimoto, translated by Michael Zimmermich. Faber & Faber, 2000, 477 pp., 9.99 British pounds (paper). In these three stories the principal female characters, all young, seem as interested in their own sex as they are in men. They are impulsive and impressionable.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 26, 2000
A sliver of Thai history brought to life
LANNA STYLE: Photography: Ping Amranand: Text: William Warren. Asia Books, Bangkok, 1995, 235 pp., 46 baht. Lanna is a name that tourists in the north of Thailand come across, accept and do not bother to discover its origin. It means "a million rice fields," and was the name given to the kingdom founded by King Mangrai toward the end of the 13th century.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 29, 2000
Captivating fragments of Southeast Asia
THE TRUTH ABOUT ANNA . . . and Other Stories, by William Warren. Archipelago Press, Singapore, 2000, 224 pp., unpriced. Most of these essays by William Warren, who has lived in Bangkok for 40 years, concern aspects of life in Thailand, about which the author has written copiously. There are also glimpses of other countries in the region.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2000
Meiji era portraits put a human face on history
ANGLO-JAPANESE CONNECTIONS: Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits III, edited by J.E. Hoare. Richmond, Surrey, England: Japan Library, Curzon Press Ltd., 1999, 397 pp., 45 British pounds. Most of the 27 portraits in this volume are of 19th-century characters. They are interesting, nonetheless; they tell the reader much about Japan shortly before and after the Meiji Restoration.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 7, 2000
Colorful slivers of daily life in Thailand
GULFS OF THAILAND: A Collection of Short Stories, by Michael Smithies. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 1999, 136 pp. (paper). This is the second collection of Thai stories by Michael Smithies. The first, "Bright of Bangkok," was published, also by Silkworm Books, in 1993. Smithies has spent many years in Thailand; he speaks fluent Thai and resides in a village near the small town of Bua Yai in the northeast of the country.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 25, 2000
Myanmar suffers as its voice of reason is silenced
THE LADY: Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, by Barbara Victor. Chinag Mai: Silkworm Books, 1999, 200 pp., 425 baht, $11. Barbara Victor is a seasoned journalist, writer of novels and other works. After publishing "A Voice of Reason," the biography of Hanan Ashrawi, the prominent Palestinian, she turned to another reasonable voice: Aung San Suu Kyi.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 1999
Thailand's hard journey into modernity
FOUR REIGNS, by Kukrit Pramoj, English version by Ms. Tulachandra. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1996, 663 pp. Kukrit Pramoj (1911-1995), politician, writer, classical dancer and film actor ("The Ugly American") wrote this book in 1953. The first English translation appeared in 1981.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 9, 1999
A love affair with the elephant
THE ELEPHANT IN THAI LIFE AND LEGEND, main text by William Warren, main photography by Pin Amranand. Bangkok: Monsoon Editions, 249 pp., 1,495 baht. William Warren has written the texts of a number of illustrated books: "Legendary Thailand," "Thai Style," "The Chao Phraya River" and "Thai Garden Style." Warren also wrote "The Legendary American," a biography of Jim Thompson, who revived the Thai silk industry and disappeared mysteriously in Malaysia.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on