The ultimate armchair traveler: The Travels of Marco Polo being mapped out with Google Maps and Google Images. Cool.
I discovered a Misumi Kenji version of Yotsuya Kaidan among my old tapes and, wanting to find out how it compares to other Yotsuya Kaidan films, I found this site "Weird Wild Realm Film Reviews" where several versions are compared.
Did you know that everyday of the year 200 books are newly published in Japan? Still, the market has shrunk more than 21% the last 11 years and the industry is facing a crisis. Floorspace of major bookstores has increased but it is the question whether all competing shops and chains will be able to remain afloat. The Japan Times summarizes the publishing industry.
September 16, 2008
Eyeglass frames industry in Fukui gets boost from Palin
The town of Obama lies in Fukui Prefecture and has shrewdly utilized the fact that it shares its name with one of the two U.S. presidential candidates of 2008. As I wrote in another post, it is a beautiful place with lots of Buddhist treasures in its many temples.
Now, surprisingly, Fukui has been placed again in the limelight by another contender in the upcoming U.S. elections: Sarah Palin happens to wear a particular kind of rimless spectacles made by Masunaga Optical Manufacturing Co., a company from Fukui. Palin's choice titanium frame, the MP-704 model, has been designed by the famous all-round designer Kazuo Kawasaki. In 2006 an exhibition of his work was held in The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. The glasses indeed convey a smart and high tech image. Orders seem to be soaring.
This fact, by the way, focuses attention on the concentration of the glass frames industry in Fukui, which quietly makes 90% of domestic frames and is good for 20% of the world production. Most factories stand in the town of Sabae, the "uncontested eyeglass frame capital" of Japan.
Now, surprisingly, Fukui has been placed again in the limelight by another contender in the upcoming U.S. elections: Sarah Palin happens to wear a particular kind of rimless spectacles made by Masunaga Optical Manufacturing Co., a company from Fukui. Palin's choice titanium frame, the MP-704 model, has been designed by the famous all-round designer Kazuo Kawasaki. In 2006 an exhibition of his work was held in The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. The glasses indeed convey a smart and high tech image. Orders seem to be soaring.
This fact, by the way, focuses attention on the concentration of the glass frames industry in Fukui, which quietly makes 90% of domestic frames and is good for 20% of the world production. Most factories stand in the town of Sabae, the "uncontested eyeglass frame capital" of Japan.
September 5, 2008
Peaking on Fuji
A record number of climbers scaled Japan's Mount Fuji during the summer season, according to The Associated Press. During this year's climbing season (July & August) 247,066 people scaled the 3,776-meter high sacred peak.
Death and injuries also rose - four climbers breathed their last in the mountain's purified air.
Surprisingly, many people seem to think of Fuji's formidable cone as just another tourist outing, and show up on the steep slopes full of sharp volcanic sand in beach sandels or designers clothing.
See this excellent site Introduction to Mt Fuji Climbing by Scott P. Keehn for sound advice before trying this adventure yourself next year.
Also remember that Mt Fuji is a volcano, which had its last eruption as recent as 1707.
Death and injuries also rose - four climbers breathed their last in the mountain's purified air.
Surprisingly, many people seem to think of Fuji's formidable cone as just another tourist outing, and show up on the steep slopes full of sharp volcanic sand in beach sandels or designers clothing.
See this excellent site Introduction to Mt Fuji Climbing by Scott P. Keehn for sound advice before trying this adventure yourself next year.
Also remember that Mt Fuji is a volcano, which had its last eruption as recent as 1707.
Shanghai popular place to live for Japanese
According to Asahi.com, Shanghai surpassed New York as the overseas city with the largest number of long-term (> 3 months) Japanese residents.
But when we look at permanent residents, Los Angeles is no. 1: 61,336, followed by New York (51,705) and then Shanghai (47,794).
On a country-by-country basis, the United States still leads China: 247,771 vs. 126,627.
P.S. Mori Minoru has just finished the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center.
- Shanghai: 47,731 long-term Japanese residents
- New York: 40,068 long-term Japanese residents
But when we look at permanent residents, Los Angeles is no. 1: 61,336, followed by New York (51,705) and then Shanghai (47,794).
On a country-by-country basis, the United States still leads China: 247,771 vs. 126,627.
P.S. Mori Minoru has just finished the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center.
Fire up your temple!
According to Monsters & Critics, a priest in Niigata accidentily set fire to his temple when trying to smoke out a hornet's nest with a torch. The prickly insects were hiding on top of a cupboard, but when the priest tried to torch them (not very Buddhist, is it?) they vehemently attacked him so that the panicking man of religion set fire to the cupboard. As a result, the whole temple went up in smoke.
He should have first consulted Wikipedia, which warns: "Hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense: this is highly dangerous to humans."
On the other hand it is also a way to quickly solve the probem of countryside temples that can no longer manage financially due to the dwindling and graying population! (as reported on the BBC).
P.S. The fact that annual deaths in Japan are on the increase (now 1.1 million, and expected to grow to 1.7 million by 2040) will not help temples. More and more people are looking for economical funerals and burials and shunning the extremely expensive Buddhist type. All these deaths will, however, lead to a dearth of crematoriums.
He should have first consulted Wikipedia, which warns: "Hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense: this is highly dangerous to humans."
On the other hand it is also a way to quickly solve the probem of countryside temples that can no longer manage financially due to the dwindling and graying population! (as reported on the BBC).
P.S. The fact that annual deaths in Japan are on the increase (now 1.1 million, and expected to grow to 1.7 million by 2040) will not help temples. More and more people are looking for economical funerals and burials and shunning the extremely expensive Buddhist type. All these deaths will, however, lead to a dearth of crematoriums.
September 3, 2008
Canon of 108 best books (10) - "Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories" by Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Although the Rashomon Gate does not exist anymore, thanks to the story by Akutagawa Ryunosuke and the film by Kurosawa Akira, it has always been a huge looming presence in my mind...
This monumental gate was erected at the southern entrance to Kyoto, then called Heiankyo, when the capital city was founded in 794. From the gate a wide avenue, Suzaku, led straight north to the palace zone, which formed a square block at the northern end of the city. Suzaku split the city into exactly two halves, the East and West City. The original name of the gate at its southern extremity was Rajomon (can also be pronounced as "Raseimon"), written with a different second character, and signifying the main gate to a castle grounds. Despite that, Kyoto at that time probably was not completely enclosed by a wall, as conditions in Japan were peaceful.
Today in the museum of nearby Toji Temple you will find a statue of a stern Tobatsu Bishamon, originally Chinese, looking like a soldier standing guard. Tobatsu Bishamon originated in Central Asia and figured as the protector of cities. And indeed, it is said this statue was originally placed on the top floor of Rashomon, glaring at the lands beyond the city, to protect Heiankyo from evil...
The Rashomon Gate was 32 meters wide and 8 high. It had red pillars and green roofs, a bit like the present Heian Shrine - you can see a model in the Kyoto Museum of Culture. The real gate has long since disappeared- its presence is rather forlornly indicated by a small monument in a dusty playground. The great gate had already fallen into disrepair by the 12th century. It had become a weird place, a hideout for thieves. People whispered a demon was living here and sometimes corpses of the poor would be abandoned at the gate.
The ruined gate is the setting for Akutagawa Ryunosuke's short story "Rashomon" and also provides the narrative frame for Kurosawa's 1950 film of the same title. Akutagawa's use of the gate was deliberately symbolic, with the gate's ruined state representing the moral and physical decay of Japanese civilization and culture in the later Heian period. The story is quite gruesome, as the manservant who has lost his job gradually decides to become a thief, after seeing an old hag on the attic of the Rashomon gate tearing out the hair of dead bodies to make wigs... The old hag becomes his first victim, as in good old Dostoyevsky-style...
This story and sixteen others have been freshly translated by Jay Rubin, who is also known for his Murakami Haruki translations (in fact, Murakami Haruki has contributed a sympathetic preface). Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories of course also contains In a Bamboo Grove, which together with Rashomon formed the basis for the classic film Rashomon by Kurosawa Akira. In fact, in my mind the stories are so indelibly linked to the film, that when reading them, I see the images before my eyes of Mifune Toshiro as the bandit, Kyo Machiko as the lady and Shimura Takashi as the woodcutter...
In a Bamboo Grove perfectly demonstrates how humans all interpret events in different ways, but always to their own advantage. Pride and vanity keep us from seeing the truth (if the truth exists at all...). A samurai and his wfe travel through a dense forest, they meet a robber, the samurai eventually dies, a passing-by woodcutter reports the crime. The woodcutter, a priest, the robber, the gentleman and his lady all have their own, self-serving versions of the same murder (or was it suicide?) - even the dead man speaking via a medium is still telling lies from over the grave...
Akutagawa's stories are of course just as much classics as Kurosawa's film. Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1892-1927) only wrote about one hundred stories and novellas in his short life, but many of them are a hard and fast part of the canon of modern Japanese literature.
Akutagawa used to be only available in somewhat antiquated translations, so this new translation is very welcome. It also contains other famous historical tales as The Nose, Dragon, The Spider Thread and Hell Screen. These are all absolute favorites: in The Nose a priest with an ugly long nose after much trouble gets rid of his nemesis but then longs to have it back as he is nothing special anymore; in Dragon a group of people all believe they saw a dragon rise up from a pond, although nothing like that really happened, a perfect story of religious obsession; in Hell Screen a painter who can only paint from life, sacrifices his own daughter to create his masterwork in which sinners are tortured in fiery hell; and in The Spider's Thread selfishness prevents the protaganist to be saved by the Buddha. Although meant for children, this is truly a perfectly written story...
Besides historical fiction, also several modern stories have been included. The Story of a Head that Fell Off is the perfect anti-war tale; and Horse Legs is a Kafkian fantasy even Abe Kobo could not have bettered.
The final section is dedicated to autobiographical stories - Akutagawa's family problems, and his increasing fear of going mad (like his mother before him), which eventually led to his suicide. Spinning Gears is the strongest here - the reader almost feels he is pulled down the same dark hole as Akutagawa himself.
At about the same time that Rubin's translation appeared, also Mandarins: Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Archipelago Books, 2007), translated by Charles de Wolf, was published. This is also an excellent volume and happily among the 15 stories selected, there is only an overlap of 2 stories with Rubin. Most of these tales are set in modern times, as the title story Mandarins.
Both books are highly recommended... it only is a pity they do not cover all of Akutagawa's excellent stories. I hope more translations will follow, to replace the antiquated translations still doing the rounds, and add new discoveries, as these two books so aptly did...
This monumental gate was erected at the southern entrance to Kyoto, then called Heiankyo, when the capital city was founded in 794. From the gate a wide avenue, Suzaku, led straight north to the palace zone, which formed a square block at the northern end of the city. Suzaku split the city into exactly two halves, the East and West City. The original name of the gate at its southern extremity was Rajomon (can also be pronounced as "Raseimon"), written with a different second character, and signifying the main gate to a castle grounds. Despite that, Kyoto at that time probably was not completely enclosed by a wall, as conditions in Japan were peaceful.
Today in the museum of nearby Toji Temple you will find a statue of a stern Tobatsu Bishamon, originally Chinese, looking like a soldier standing guard. Tobatsu Bishamon originated in Central Asia and figured as the protector of cities. And indeed, it is said this statue was originally placed on the top floor of Rashomon, glaring at the lands beyond the city, to protect Heiankyo from evil...
The Rashomon Gate was 32 meters wide and 8 high. It had red pillars and green roofs, a bit like the present Heian Shrine - you can see a model in the Kyoto Museum of Culture. The real gate has long since disappeared- its presence is rather forlornly indicated by a small monument in a dusty playground. The great gate had already fallen into disrepair by the 12th century. It had become a weird place, a hideout for thieves. People whispered a demon was living here and sometimes corpses of the poor would be abandoned at the gate.
The ruined gate is the setting for Akutagawa Ryunosuke's short story "Rashomon" and also provides the narrative frame for Kurosawa's 1950 film of the same title. Akutagawa's use of the gate was deliberately symbolic, with the gate's ruined state representing the moral and physical decay of Japanese civilization and culture in the later Heian period. The story is quite gruesome, as the manservant who has lost his job gradually decides to become a thief, after seeing an old hag on the attic of the Rashomon gate tearing out the hair of dead bodies to make wigs... The old hag becomes his first victim, as in good old Dostoyevsky-style...
This story and sixteen others have been freshly translated by Jay Rubin, who is also known for his Murakami Haruki translations (in fact, Murakami Haruki has contributed a sympathetic preface). Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories of course also contains In a Bamboo Grove, which together with Rashomon formed the basis for the classic film Rashomon by Kurosawa Akira. In fact, in my mind the stories are so indelibly linked to the film, that when reading them, I see the images before my eyes of Mifune Toshiro as the bandit, Kyo Machiko as the lady and Shimura Takashi as the woodcutter...
In a Bamboo Grove perfectly demonstrates how humans all interpret events in different ways, but always to their own advantage. Pride and vanity keep us from seeing the truth (if the truth exists at all...). A samurai and his wfe travel through a dense forest, they meet a robber, the samurai eventually dies, a passing-by woodcutter reports the crime. The woodcutter, a priest, the robber, the gentleman and his lady all have their own, self-serving versions of the same murder (or was it suicide?) - even the dead man speaking via a medium is still telling lies from over the grave...
Akutagawa's stories are of course just as much classics as Kurosawa's film. Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1892-1927) only wrote about one hundred stories and novellas in his short life, but many of them are a hard and fast part of the canon of modern Japanese literature.
Akutagawa used to be only available in somewhat antiquated translations, so this new translation is very welcome. It also contains other famous historical tales as The Nose, Dragon, The Spider Thread and Hell Screen. These are all absolute favorites: in The Nose a priest with an ugly long nose after much trouble gets rid of his nemesis but then longs to have it back as he is nothing special anymore; in Dragon a group of people all believe they saw a dragon rise up from a pond, although nothing like that really happened, a perfect story of religious obsession; in Hell Screen a painter who can only paint from life, sacrifices his own daughter to create his masterwork in which sinners are tortured in fiery hell; and in The Spider's Thread selfishness prevents the protaganist to be saved by the Buddha. Although meant for children, this is truly a perfectly written story...
Besides historical fiction, also several modern stories have been included. The Story of a Head that Fell Off is the perfect anti-war tale; and Horse Legs is a Kafkian fantasy even Abe Kobo could not have bettered.
The final section is dedicated to autobiographical stories - Akutagawa's family problems, and his increasing fear of going mad (like his mother before him), which eventually led to his suicide. Spinning Gears is the strongest here - the reader almost feels he is pulled down the same dark hole as Akutagawa himself.
At about the same time that Rubin's translation appeared, also Mandarins: Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Archipelago Books, 2007), translated by Charles de Wolf, was published. This is also an excellent volume and happily among the 15 stories selected, there is only an overlap of 2 stories with Rubin. Most of these tales are set in modern times, as the title story Mandarins.
Both books are highly recommended... it only is a pity they do not cover all of Akutagawa's excellent stories. I hope more translations will follow, to replace the antiquated translations still doing the rounds, and add new discoveries, as these two books so aptly did...
Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories, translated by Jay Rubin and with an introduction by Murakami Haruki (Penguin Classics, 2006)
Mandarins: Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Archipelago Books, 2007), translated by Charles de Wolf
September 2, 2008
Today is Lottery Day! (only in Japan)
In Japan, almost every day of the month has been claimed by some institution or other. After Disaster Prevention Day on September 1, now on September 2 we have something quite different: Lottery day! (Takarakuji no Hi). Why? Well, apparently, non-winning tickets from the previous year get a second chance today.
I have to confess that I have nothing with lotteries. I can not get excited about them as the real chances to win something are so minimal that I think it is better to spend money and energy on something else. They are not even fun, because you are almost certain to be disappointed.
In Japan, the chances to win the lottery are said to be even lower than in other countries.
Organized by the Central Bank or local governments, at least half of the income goes to those same local organizations. The highest prize, usually 100 million yen, is 924,000 dollars or 634,000 euro...
Tickets are often sold at special booths. People remember which booths sold winning tickets and (with complete disregard for the laws of chance) at those shops the lines of prospective buyers tend to be by far the longest.
Takarakuji, anyone?
I have to confess that I have nothing with lotteries. I can not get excited about them as the real chances to win something are so minimal that I think it is better to spend money and energy on something else. They are not even fun, because you are almost certain to be disappointed.
In Japan, the chances to win the lottery are said to be even lower than in other countries.
Organized by the Central Bank or local governments, at least half of the income goes to those same local organizations. The highest prize, usually 100 million yen, is 924,000 dollars or 634,000 euro...
Tickets are often sold at special booths. People remember which booths sold winning tickets and (with complete disregard for the laws of chance) at those shops the lines of prospective buyers tend to be by far the longest.
Takarakuji, anyone?
September 1, 2008
Disaster Prevention Day in Japan
September 1 is the day that in 1923 the Great Kanto Earthquake struck, claiming more than 142,000 victims - many due to the terrible firestorms. On top of that, the most destructive typhoon on record, the Isewan Typhoon, hit coastal regions in Central Japan on September 26, 1959, killing over 6,000. On average, three to five typhoons a year hit Japan, usually in September. So, more than enough reason to establish a Disaster Prevention Day in this month, and the date has become today, September 1.
On this day, various drills for disaster preparedness are held all over the country by schools, companies and public organizations. Department stores also set up special sections with earthquake survival products. In bookstores you can find books with maps showing how to find your way home from your central Tokyo office to your house in the far-away subsurbs.
Around this time, the fire brigade also pays visits to offices and schools, to train people in the use of fire extinguishers and have volunteers experience an earthquake in the Earthquake Simulator mounted on a truck. I can assure you, at a magnitude 7 or 8, you will be knocked to the floor by the force of the swaying...
Earthquakes can happen anywhere in Japan, anytime. Of course Tokyo is thought to be in extra danger due to the fact that for the past centuries it has been struck by a large quake at 70-year intervals. That means we are 15 years overtime, now... But the Japanese government is also expecting major quakes in the Tokai area, and south of Wakayama.
How many earthquakes are there in Japan? Quite a lot - roughly 1,500 a year, which is about 4 to 5 a day. Not all of these quakes are large and some can not even be felt, but these figures do mean that 20% of all earthquakes happening around the world are concentrated in Japan.
The most recent disastrous earthquake was the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, which claimed 6,000 victims. Since then we have had one magnitude 6 or 7 earthquake almost every year, including the recent ones in Niigata, Miyagi and Iwate, but also quakes on the southern island of Kyushu. Here is an article about the reasons why.
The safest place to live is probably a relatively recent concrete structure that is not too high. As many people are killed in their homes by heavy furniture, it is also important to at least sleep in a place where no furniture can crush you. And try to secure all heavy furniture to the wall or floor (if allowed, in a rented apartment this is not possible), or put extendable "stoppers" between cupboard and ceiling to prevent it from toppling over. Also keep some emergency supplies, especially bottled water, in your home, and prepare an emergency bag in case you have to leave suddenly.
When you live in the city, typhoons are much less scary then earthquakes, as they tend to do most damage in the countryside, causing landslides and flooding. Still, it is safest to stay at home and many companies and stores close down when a major typhoon is approaching.
The interesting thing is that September has always been a bit of a disaster month. In pre-modern times farmers would count for two-hundred and ten days from the first day of spring (Risshun) - and this "Two-hundred and Tenth Day" (Nihyaku Toka) would always fall somewhere in early September. It is the time that the tiny rice plant flowers bloom and that the almost full-grown rice, standing tall in the fields, is especially vulnerable to typhoons and storms. In some regions of Japan, farmers would conduct special magic rituals to prevent typhoons from damaging the all-important rice plants.
On this day, various drills for disaster preparedness are held all over the country by schools, companies and public organizations. Department stores also set up special sections with earthquake survival products. In bookstores you can find books with maps showing how to find your way home from your central Tokyo office to your house in the far-away subsurbs.
Around this time, the fire brigade also pays visits to offices and schools, to train people in the use of fire extinguishers and have volunteers experience an earthquake in the Earthquake Simulator mounted on a truck. I can assure you, at a magnitude 7 or 8, you will be knocked to the floor by the force of the swaying...
Earthquakes can happen anywhere in Japan, anytime. Of course Tokyo is thought to be in extra danger due to the fact that for the past centuries it has been struck by a large quake at 70-year intervals. That means we are 15 years overtime, now... But the Japanese government is also expecting major quakes in the Tokai area, and south of Wakayama.
How many earthquakes are there in Japan? Quite a lot - roughly 1,500 a year, which is about 4 to 5 a day. Not all of these quakes are large and some can not even be felt, but these figures do mean that 20% of all earthquakes happening around the world are concentrated in Japan.
The most recent disastrous earthquake was the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, which claimed 6,000 victims. Since then we have had one magnitude 6 or 7 earthquake almost every year, including the recent ones in Niigata, Miyagi and Iwate, but also quakes on the southern island of Kyushu. Here is an article about the reasons why.
The safest place to live is probably a relatively recent concrete structure that is not too high. As many people are killed in their homes by heavy furniture, it is also important to at least sleep in a place where no furniture can crush you. And try to secure all heavy furniture to the wall or floor (if allowed, in a rented apartment this is not possible), or put extendable "stoppers" between cupboard and ceiling to prevent it from toppling over. Also keep some emergency supplies, especially bottled water, in your home, and prepare an emergency bag in case you have to leave suddenly.
When you live in the city, typhoons are much less scary then earthquakes, as they tend to do most damage in the countryside, causing landslides and flooding. Still, it is safest to stay at home and many companies and stores close down when a major typhoon is approaching.
The interesting thing is that September has always been a bit of a disaster month. In pre-modern times farmers would count for two-hundred and ten days from the first day of spring (Risshun) - and this "Two-hundred and Tenth Day" (Nihyaku Toka) would always fall somewhere in early September. It is the time that the tiny rice plant flowers bloom and that the almost full-grown rice, standing tall in the fields, is especially vulnerable to typhoons and storms. In some regions of Japan, farmers would conduct special magic rituals to prevent typhoons from damaging the all-important rice plants.
Some recent good reads (1)
This weekend, as an experiment, I have started listing books I read recently (the last year or so) on Goodreads. Here are a few short reviews I wrote there today.
The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy by Sasha Issenberg
rating: 4 of 5 stars
Tuna went from cat-food to the most popular topping of sushi and this book describes the word-wide hunt for the expensive and increasingly rare fish. All aspects of the tuna story are covered, from the first tuna caught in the '70s on the east coast of the U.S. and flown back by JAL cargo planes (which anyway returned empty to Japan) to attempts to cultivate the huge fishes as well as the fight of "tuna crime," fishers and countries trying to sabotage the quota system.
Mirei Shigemori - Rebel in the Garden: Modern Japanese Landscape Architecture by Christian Tschumi
rating: 5 of 5 stars
Mirei Shigemori is one of Japan's foremost 20th century garden designers and the most consciously contemporary, as he added concrete and colored sand to his inventory. His most famous garden is the Abbot's Quarters Garden at Tofukuji In Kyoto, with a pattern of square tiles set in lush moss. For a more detailed review, see here on Japan Navigator.
Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind by Geert Hofstede
rating: 5 of 5 stars
The masterwork for the general public by Prof. Geert Hofstede, who with his four dimensions of culture singlehandedly laid the basis for the academic study of intercultural differences, which in its turn became the inspiration for the flourishing consultancy world of today. Everybody in this field stands on the shoulders of Hofstede. The book is a pleasure to read and highly recommended.
Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations by Geert Hofstede
rating: 4 of 5 stars
The vast academic study that lies at the basis of Hofstede's more popular "Cultures and Organizations." I recommend the last one and suggest you only read this one if you have an academic purpose yourself. But it is a very interesting book for those who want to delve deeper in Hofstede's cultural dimensions.
Shinjuku Shark by Arimasa Osawa
rating: 3 of 5 stars
Not many Japanese crime novels make it to English translations. This one, a hunt for a master gun maker responsible for police killings, is decent but not earth-shattering. The most interesting aspect is the relation between maverick detective Samejima, the "lonely shark," and his colleagues from the police department, who in conformist group society Japan (at least 17 years ago when the book was written) employ ostracism and even open hostility to get rid of the "nail that sticks out." See my review of publisher Vertical here.
The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy by Sasha Issenbergrating: 4 of 5 stars
Tuna went from cat-food to the most popular topping of sushi and this book describes the word-wide hunt for the expensive and increasingly rare fish. All aspects of the tuna story are covered, from the first tuna caught in the '70s on the east coast of the U.S. and flown back by JAL cargo planes (which anyway returned empty to Japan) to attempts to cultivate the huge fishes as well as the fight of "tuna crime," fishers and countries trying to sabotage the quota system.
Mirei Shigemori - Rebel in the Garden: Modern Japanese Landscape Architecture by Christian Tschumirating: 5 of 5 stars
Mirei Shigemori is one of Japan's foremost 20th century garden designers and the most consciously contemporary, as he added concrete and colored sand to his inventory. His most famous garden is the Abbot's Quarters Garden at Tofukuji In Kyoto, with a pattern of square tiles set in lush moss. For a more detailed review, see here on Japan Navigator.
Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind by Geert Hofstederating: 5 of 5 stars
The masterwork for the general public by Prof. Geert Hofstede, who with his four dimensions of culture singlehandedly laid the basis for the academic study of intercultural differences, which in its turn became the inspiration for the flourishing consultancy world of today. Everybody in this field stands on the shoulders of Hofstede. The book is a pleasure to read and highly recommended.
Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations by Geert Hofstederating: 4 of 5 stars
The vast academic study that lies at the basis of Hofstede's more popular "Cultures and Organizations." I recommend the last one and suggest you only read this one if you have an academic purpose yourself. But it is a very interesting book for those who want to delve deeper in Hofstede's cultural dimensions.
Shinjuku Shark by Arimasa Osawarating: 3 of 5 stars
Not many Japanese crime novels make it to English translations. This one, a hunt for a master gun maker responsible for police killings, is decent but not earth-shattering. The most interesting aspect is the relation between maverick detective Samejima, the "lonely shark," and his colleagues from the police department, who in conformist group society Japan (at least 17 years ago when the book was written) employ ostracism and even open hostility to get rid of the "nail that sticks out." See my review of publisher Vertical here.
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