Story: Three in the Morning, Four in the Evening. In the times of the Song Dynasty[i] in China lived a man they called Sokō, which means monkey trainer. He loved monkeys and reared a whole horde of them at his house. Sokō understood the monkey’s minds quite well, and likewise the monkeys understood their master….
Category: History
Japanese Public Baths – Anime’s Staple for Awkward Humor
The hot spring scene, a staple for any romantic-comedy anime. So predictable and so traditional. Baths are an important part of Japanese cultural identity. Until the mid-1960s, 60% of Japanese homes had bathtubs. Everyone else went to communal bathhouses. Japan’s oldest text, the Kojiki — written in the 8th century–mentions public baths (Wynn, 2014). Anime’s…
Ukiyo-e and the Importance of Eyebrows
Ukiyo-e, manga’s great-great-great-great-great grandmother, gives us a window on the Edo Period of Japan. Four-hundred years in the future, our descendants may look upon today’s manga as we do ukiyo-e. That’s something to think about! Ukiyo-e, Merchants, and the Red Light District Ukiyo-e, or woodblock prints, used carved wooden blocks to print images on paper….
Musings V – Adaptation in Japanese (Pop) Culture
One among many orientalist[i] stereotypes of Asians is that they are masters of imitation (or adaptation) but lack original creativity (or invention); an assumption which looks ridiculous when one spends just a little time studying any given Asian culture, I would say. Rather, I spot the tendency to imitate (instead of inventing) in modern popular…
Final Letters of Kamikaze Pilots
Here in the United States, kamikaze pilots are seen as evil or misguided at the least. They took the lives of many American soldiers during World War II. Our history books often fail to show how kamikaze pilots were as human as the Americans they killed. This is a collection of letters from kamikaze pilots…
Considering the Bombing of Hiroshima
With President Obama’s scheduled visit to Hiroshima, he will become the first US president to visit the site of the first wartime atomic explosion. People have debated the need to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagaski, but most of the arguments come from hindsight. At the time, the outcome of the war was uncertain….