Paul Mori
Tales of Japan takes the reader on a journey to an ancient and mythical...
Sometimes a book can be judged by its cover. Once the raised embossed graphic designs and figures on the cover of Tales of Japan: Traditional Stories of Monster and Magic are touched and seen,...
“Van Gogh & Japan” reveals the famous artist’s passion for Japanese art and the...
There is an essence in Van Gogh’s paintings that makes them instantly identifiable, yet so seeming immune to imitation, that the thought of other sources strongly influencing their creation almost never comes to mind....
“How to Reach Japan by Subway” chronicles Japanese pop culture’s wave of popularity...
If your first mental image of a timeless Japan is a tranquil garden, an exquisitely dressed woman in a kimono, or a sparsely appointed room complete with shoji screens and tatami mats, you are...
“A Different Kind of Luxury” follows 11 Japanese artists who have found freedom in...
In today’s modern Japan, the image of living a contemplative, slow, and self-sustaining simple life in remote parts of the Japanese countryside only exists in the movies. Or does it? Andy Couturier, writer and...
Monica Truong’s novel “The Sweetest Fruits” shares the stories of the three women who...
What remains of a person after passing from the earth? For both the famous and not, it is the memories of the living who keep the departed from disappearing completely when the heart stops...
“Tokyo Boogie Woogie” chronicles the evolution of Japanese pop music
Although J-pop is both a cultural and industrial behemoth today, it is hard to imagine that there was not an equivalent kind of popular song genre a little more than a century ago; even...
Two books to read that will change one’s perception of manga
If you have never entered the world of manga or have dismissed it for whatever reason, two books intend to change and widen the perception of manga, not only for the uninitiated, but also...
First compilation of research on Christianity and Japanese American incarceration during WWII
Although it might seem that a history book about Christianity and Japanese American incarceration during WWII would be a topic on the fringes, Anne M. Blankenship’s book Christianity, Social Justice, and the Japanese American...
Chiura Obata: An American Modern is currently on display at UC Santa Barbara through...
If you have seen the strikingly original prints of Yosemite by the Issei artist Chiura Obata (1885-1975), you already know something of his genius, but a new retrospective exhibition and its accompanying catalog brings...
The little-known woman who helped lay the foundation for women’s rights in Japan
Beate Sirota Gordon changed the course for every Japanese woman after World War II, but almost no one knows her contribution or even her name. In spite of doing this at age 22, her critical role in establishing the foundations of women’s rights in the Japanese constitution remained uncredited and unknown for forty years, and she wanted it that way.
Authors Nassine Azimi and Michel Wasserman change this by telling the untold story of this remarkable woman in 'The Last Boat to Yokohama: The Life and Legacy of Beate Sirota Gordon.'