Japan Readers Darkly

Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Watergarden

2012-02-05T22:31:00.000-08:00

Gotta love this beautiful little film by Sir Richard!

Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Watergarden

Each home has a built in pool or water tank that lies partly inside, partly outside its’ walls… A continuous stream of spring water is piped right into a basin, so freshwater is always available. People rinse out pots in the tank and clean their freshly picked vegetables. If they simply pour the food scraps back in the water, they risk polluting the whole village supply. However, carp can scour out even the greasy or burnt pans. They do the washing up in Satoyama villages. This traditional arrangement is called the riverside method. It’s used all over Japan. Cleaned up by the carp, the tank water eventually rejoins the channel.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/satoyama/

Black Rain/Kurio Ame movie and novel

2012-01-29T22:14:00.000-08:00

Heavy topic and difficult to watch at times, but probably one of the most accurate and realistic films about Hiroshima ever made.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Rain_%28Japanese_film%29

Illusions by Richard Bach

2012-01-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

Not really related to Japan in any way, other Donald Shimoda's last name, but an interesting book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusions_%28Bach_novel%29

Toganji Temple, Nagoya Japan

2012-01-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

My favorite temple in Nagoya

Amazon Kindle

2012-01-24T22:22:00.000-08:00

Loving my Amazon Kindle!!!!

Kukai in Gamagori Japan

2012-01-23T08:19:00.001-08:00

Street in Kyoto

2012-01-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

Stairs leading to Horaiji Temple

2012-01-23T08:02:00.000-08:00

2012-01-23T03:52:00.000-08:00

Monk for a Month

“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.”
― Dalai Lama XIV
Courtesy of @healing into wholeness.

Earthquake

2011-03-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

If you wish to donate to help people in the North Eastern part of Japan recover from the recent earthquake here is a very good link. Things are pretty bad up there right now, so please donate if you can.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_newsroom/20110311/wl_yblog_newsroom/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-how-to-help

You Gotta Have Wa

2011-02-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Great book even if you don't like baseball. A little dated, but very interesting.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

2011-01-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

A classic introduction to Zen Buddhism from one of the pioneers who brought Zen Buddhism to the West.

Ugly Americans

2010-10-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

This is another fictionalized account of a true story similar to Speed Tribes. Ugly Americans focuses more on the foreign stock traders doing in business in Japan rather than the Japanese themselves, though there is a lot of drama connected with the Yakusa, more than likely because the story would be pretty boring otherwise. But this does possibly show why the Japanese stock market has been relatively closed to foreigners. The foreign financial cutthroats portrayed in this story are obviously a real threat to the cozy Good Old Boy system that currently exists within Japan Inc.

That aside, this ones a nice little read with lots of dirt, danger, and colorful characters.

Speed Tribes by Karl Taro Greenwood

2010-10-09T04:16:00.000-07:00

This was published right after the bubble collapsed in 1993, but most of the sub-cultures mentioned in the book still exist today. These fictionalized stories show and interesting side of Japan that a lot of people are probably not aware of. The image of a safe, clean, and high tech country will be slightly tarnished after reading about some of the dirt on Japan's underbelly. Social misfits, gangsters, borderline hookers, violent nationalists, and more find there way into these tales.

The Cult at the End of the World: The terrifying story of the Aum Doom cult

2010-09-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

It sort of a cliche to say Japan is a safe country, but in most cases a true one. But in 1995 the image was shattered and it wasn't simply due to the Kobe earthquake. Aum Shinryo (Aum Supreme Truth) a cult with headquarters near Mt. Fuji released Sarin gas on Tokyo's crowded morning subway system killing seven people. In addition to this, they also carried out kidnappings, fraud, murder, mass production of illegal drugs all for their supposed messiah Shoko Asahara's believe that the end of the world was coming and that they were to play an critical part in bringing it about. Shocking almost beyond belief!

Japan: A Reinterpretation

2010-09-17T03:54:00.000-07:00

A long the same lines as Dogs and Demons, Japan: A Reinterpretation covers a lot of the same ground, but tends to focus more on the common Japanese people rather than political corruption. It is also a little out of date (published 1998), but still a valuable read. After reading this one I felt the same anger towards the Japanese government (and the GHQ) that I did when I finished Dogs and Demons, but also had a lot more sympathy and respect for the average Joe Salaryman as well. Patrick Smith paints a very good picture of just how and why historically Japanese citizens have found it nearly impossible to feel like true individuals. I don't think Japan: A Reinterpretation is as well known as Dogs and Demons, but in many ways I think it is a better read.

Dogs and Demons: The Fall of Modern Japan

2010-09-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

I think the majority of foreigners living in Japan for any length of time eventually get around to reading this one. Depending on how you happen to feel about Japan at the time you read it you will probably regard it as one of the most honest books ever written about modern Japan or simply see it as Japan bashing trash. A word of caution, this one is best to read when your feelings towards Japan are either neutral or positive. Otherwise you might find yourself seeing the negatives things about Japan everywhere you look and bringing it up in every conversation related to Japan. Kerr covers a lot of ground in this book from political corruption, destruction of the environment, to xenophobia as well as a decent overview of Japanese history. Despite its controversial nature I still think it's a good one to have on your bookshelf.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Nitobe Inazo

2010-09-01T01:52:00.000-07:00

This might be one of the most important books ever written in Japan and it is definitely the most important book written in 20th century Japan. Written by Inazo Nitobe and published in 1900, it still extremely influential to this day.

Anyone seriously interested in Japan should give this one a close read.

Samurai William

2010-08-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have read and loved Shogun will definitely enjoy "Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan, by Giles Milton. This is the true story that John Blackthorn's character was based on. If you are concerned that this book might turn out to be a dull historical account fear not. William Adam's life was every bit as exciting as the character John Blackthorn's was in Shogun. This book also gives a lot of excellent details about the Portuguese and Dutch traders in Japan during the 16th century as well. If you ever wanted to know the rest of John Blackthorn's story this is the book for you.

Shogun by James Clavell

2010-08-15T03:11:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd start off this blog with a review of one the greatest historical novels ever written about Japan, James Clavell's classic Shogun. I first read this massive work nearly thirty years ago at the age of twelve. Since then I have probably read it a dozen times and at 1210 pages this is no mean feat.

Originally written in 1975 by British author James Clavell it tells the tale of 15th century feudal Japan. It is loosely based on the the real life experiences of English pilot, William Adams (Anjin sama) who along with his shipmates landed in Kyushu, Japan in 1600. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_%28sailor%29

It also tells the story of Toranaga's rise to power which is based on one of Japan's most important historical figures, Ieyasu Tokugawa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu

The big question with historical novels of course is, how historically accurate are they. All of the major characters in Shogun are based on real people. Most of the major events happened as well, though Clavell takes a lot of liberties with chronology. But some of the main elements of the plot are complete fiction. For example, Blackthorne and Mariko's love affair, ninja's burning the Erasmus (it rotted and sank), Blackthorne's suicide attempt, and the final climatic scene in Osaka Castle, are complete fictions just to name a few of the major ones.

Despite these dramatic stretchings of the truth by Clavell I still consider this one of the best historical novels ever written.

Welcome

2010-08-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Japan Readers Darkly, a blog that reviews books and articles related to Japan. I will be reviewing 3-4 books or articles a month depending on how busy I am. I'm not a professional book reviewer, but I do read a lot. Comments are welcomed.