pmjs logs for March, 2000. Total number of messages for month: 35
|
|
|
|||
inputting pre-war kanji (Janine Beichman)
danger to archeological site in Nagaokakyo (Joan Piggott)
Japanese petition (Prof. Akira Yamanaka of Mie University)
medieval medicine (Ulf Undmark) [archived]
"Performing Japanese Women" call for papers (Steven Brown)
Shamanism in Japanese literature (Christian M Hermansen) [archived]
Shingon ritual (Michael Watson) [archived]
Renga and renku (Chris Drake)
new members: Michael Wachutka, Anne Commons, Bettina Gramlich-Oka, James Coleman, Faye Kleeman, Lim Beng Choo, Rose Bundy, Timothy D. Kern, Steven T. Brown, Michael J. Smitka, Matthew Stavros, Ian MacDonald, Shigeki Moro, Herschel Miller, Maggie Childs, Michael Forster, G. Cameron Hurst, Bill Londo, Roy Ron, Anne Walthall
Lightly edited (see "principles"). Editorial comments in italics.
Some threads have been further edited for the public archives.
From: Janine Beichman <jani...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 12:45:03 +0900
Subject: inputting pre-war kanji
I am trying to input texts which use pre-war kanji, that is, kyuuji. I can find some of the kyuuji on the CD-rom of Super Nihongo Daijiten, from where I copy them into my word processor (Word Perfect J Version 8). Super Nihongo Daijiten seems to have kanji which look quite different in their old and new versions, like kuro (black) or tsutau(tsutaeru, to transmit). But it does not have kanji which are just a little different, like the old and new versions of "asa" morning, or "to" door. Does anyone have any ideas for how I could get them? I want to make sure everyone who might know sees this so, forgive me, but I am cross-posting this. Please feel free to answer either on or off list.
P.S.My operation system is Windows 95, and I use a pc, not a mac.
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 23:00:48 +0900
Subject: Re: inputting pre-war kanji
I'll cross-post my answer to Janine Beichman. Mini-lecture first, then a suggested work-around using MOJIKYO, the software I mentioned some time ago on the pmjs list.
Like many of you, I suspect, I keep returning to the problem of inputting pre-war kanji in the hope that there has been some technical breakthrough or bureaucratic change of policy that I've not heard about. Recently Unicode is often spoken about as the Holy Grail for those suffering from font limitations--we'll certainly soon have access to 10 times more characters than are currently easily available--but it won't be the be-all-cure-all. There will always be some rare kanji, strange itaiji and new zokuji that we don't have. It's in the nature of the beast.
Living like Janine in Japan, I believe that the first thing to understand is the mindset of the Japanese bureaucrat. The needs of historical/literary scholars were not the main consideration in the mind of those who sat down in 1978 and decided on which 6000+ characters should be included in the JIS computer code. They were very concerned about Japanese proper names, which is why JIS includes four possible way of writing the second kanji in WATANABE, the two standard modern ones (bu/be and atari) and the two "proper" ways of writing the latter form (kyuukanji in 17 strokes and 19 strokes)
For those with J display (& magnifying glasses): Japanese text
Think of it from the village/city/ward office koseki perspective. When the computer began to be used for registration purposes, this distinction was considered an essential one to preserve, to distinguish between all those Watanabe. (We had a heated debate in our university about this very name--whether in the interests of simplicity we should use the only two basic WATANABE forms in class rolls, or whether we should respect the rights of individuals to use kyuukanji.) The same policy was applied to the oddest and rarest current Japanese place name, included at the expense of many kanji needed in older documents.
(A parenthetical premodern note: JIS restrictions are a problem in making electronic texts of many classics. In the case of _Heike monogatari_, for example, many Chinese personal and place names cannot be written with JIS kanji, "old" or "new"--e.g. "Han Valley and the Two *Yao* [...] the Great River, the *Jing*, and the Wei" HM 7.15, quoting from McCullough translation p. 246)
In the case of the kyuu/shin differences in the examples you cite--a question of whether certain strokes are diagonal (old forms) or horizontal (modern)-- the new kanji is apparently considered a satisfactory substitute for the old.
> But it does not have kanji which are just a little different, like the old
> and new versions of "asa" morning, or "to" door.
In cases like this the old form was not retained in the current JIS set. Several hundred kanji are represented in JIS in two forms, old and new. I have a list of 256 "doublets" on an old page of mine
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~watson/ref/kyukanji.html
These are just some I came across in working on _Heike_. Others exist within the basic JIS set, but as Janine notes, in many cases the older form has been dropped.
There _are_ solutions, but the question depends what you want to do with the kanji:
(1) display it on your own computer screen
(2) print it out
(3) include it in a file sent to someone else (colleague/publisher)
For purposes (1) and (2) one method I used for a number of years was to "borrow" from the larger set of ?15,000 traditional Chinese characters available in the Chinese language kit for Mac. (For purpose 3, the usual way being then to print out/write in the non-standard character and ask the publisher to provide it from their larger font stock, or to make a gaiji.)
The problem is now largely solved by MOJIKYO. The fonts (TrueType for either Windows or Macintosh) can be freely downloaded from their website
http://www.mojikyo.gr.jp/
but to make best use of them it is essential to have the software for searching for the desired kanji--Windows-only at present.
This is how it is possible to use Mojikyo to look up the older character for ASA (morning) and paste it into your word processing document.
(1) in main search window, input modern kanji for ASA into search box
(2) "kensaku kooho" window appears with choice of two characters, modern and older ASA (the latter with diagonals in the "moon" element). Double-click this to bring up...
(3) "moji joohoo" window displaying older ASA, information about it
(onyomi: CHOO, kunyomi: asa, ashita, eigo: morning, bushu: fune, zokusei:
kihonji, moji bangoo: 14374, Taishuukan Daikanwa vol. and page number).
Six other variants of the character are given, including the kookotsu-moji (most ancient type) and familiar shinji.
(4) click on the button to "copy to clipboard"
(5) switch to word processor file
(6) paste character into text file.
Not as easy as entering the yomi and hitting the space bar, but no harder than looking up the character in your CD-ROM dictionary. (For alternative forms of characters that are likely to be included in JIS, I also use a dictionary, Grand-JISPA, stored on the hard disk and so always available. Exists both for Mac and Windows.)
With Mojikyo instead of (4), you can click another to choose the format to be copied. "Rich text" is the default. Others include Unicode, Bitmat image and images of different sizes suitable for webpages. These are image links to pages on the Mojikyo site, and will display on any browser, whatever the operating system. The 24 point image of the old ASA character is displayed at:
http://www.mojikyo.gr.jp/gif/014/014374.gif
The default option of rich text installs a TrueType character which looks acceptable when printed--unlike bitmat.
The full name of Mojikyo is "Konjaku moji kyo" (modern/ancient/character/mirror)
It includes 80,000 characters. (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Sanskrit, and those wonderful ancient forms too)
Now the painful part: CD-ROM package is 28,000 yen.
OS: Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0.
CPU: 75 MHz or above. Memory 32 MB or more.
Hard disk: 100 MB (CD-ROM used in installation only)
Produced by AI Net (045-311-0124), distributed by Kinokuniya (03-3439-0172)
Further information in six languages at: http://www.mojikyo.gr.jp
Hope this helps.
Michael Watson
[thread continues below]
From: Joan Piggott <j...@...nell.edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 06:05:09 -0800
Subject: Fwd: RE: a request for help
Hello to all.
I have been asked by Prof. Akira Yamanaka of Mie University, long very active in the excavation of sites in Nagaokakyo, to spread the word of an important find, a detached royal palace of significant size in the Nagaoka area. Prof. Yamanaka and his colleagues are gravely concerned that this very important archaeological find will be destroyed, and he asks for our help in preserving it. After reading the following material, if you are so disposed, could you contact the authorities suggested below by Prof. Yamanaka and colleagues, asking for preservation of the site?
I will be at AAS with a packet of materials concerning the site. I will also spend some time in the near future putting together an English abstract, which I will post when it is ready.
Best,
Joan Piggott,
Associate Professor of Pre-1600 Japanese History, Cornell University
[See Joan's message of 19 May, 2000, in which she introduces a web-page providing more information:
http://twinpeaks.ilrlib.cornell.edu/nagaoka]
From: Janine Beichman <jani...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 23:43:49 +0900
Subject: Re: Fwd: RE: a request for help
Perhaps you could tell those of us whose programs don't read Japanese where to find the Japanese message on the net? I assume it's posted on Prof. Yamanaka's site?
From: John Schmitt-Weigand <john_schm...@...global.net>
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2000 00:26:22 +0900
Subject: Re: inputting pre-war kanji
Hello,
thank you Michael for the interesting explanation of the origins of the JIS limitations and the description of the Mojikyo font set. There are one or two smaller things that I would like to add to make things a little bit clearer for those who have never heard of the Mojikyo font project.
There are basically two versions, a "free" one (can be downloaded from mojikyo's webpage or ordered as CD-ROM version for about 2.000 yen including material, handling and shipping)
or the commercial version specified by Michael, that is available at bigger bookstores and computer shops (I would recommend the latter, because they sometimes have discounts on software; I just recently saw the Konjaku Mojikyo for 25.000 Y at "Pasokon no yakata", I think they have shops in Tokyo too?).
This is what should be observed concerning the differences of the free and the commercial version:
1) the kanji search & input interface for the free version is quite primitive and allows searching only by order of the radical (bushu); that can be rather clumsy if you want to input a large number of Mojikyo characters
2) additional info on the character (reading, english meaning etc.) is not given
3) the fonts included are absolutely the same quality (True Type Fonts) and can be embedded in PDF documents.
4) the free version allows usage of the fonts only for private or educational purposes; for use in publishing (=commercial use) you have to buy the commercial version
I think the whole Mojikyo font project is something really great that deserves our support, the only bitter pill being the price of the commercial version. The project is unique in the respect that its fonts are continuously developed and that it allows users to contribute to it,
that is, make suggestions of new characters to be included, which will then become available for everyone, when a new version of the font is released. As Michael pointed out, the character sets
of Unicode will not be a sufficient answer to the needs of many of us working with old and unusual characters and it is to hope that the Mojikyo fonts become something like a standard, especially as they are basically free and available for different platforms like UNIX/ LINUX, Macintosh and Windows.
John Schmitt-Weigand
From: Janine Beichman <jani...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 23:48:51 +0900
Subject: Re: inputting pre-war kanji
Michael, thank you so much for your message--it sent me back to your and John Weigan's original messages. I had already looked earlier today at mojikyo because someone else off-list told me about it in answer to my message. I tried to download something from their site but WordPerfect couldn't open it, said it was an unsupported keishiki. But that's okay, I think I need the cd-rom anyhow, What I can't get my head around is this True Type font thing: what are they?--my WordPerfect font page shows True Type fonts there already, all kinds --why do I have to download more? And what am I downloading anyway--I think of 'font' as meaning a style of character--or is it an individiual character? I looked for a definition on Ask Jeeves but came up with nothing: everyone assumes the searcher for the word 'font' knows what it is. Once I understand this, I will try to rethink it all again...
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2000 00:35:09 +0900
Subject: inputting pre-war kanji
Janine asks about TrueType fonts. Basically as I understand it they are fonts which resize to print at desired sizes with good quality, unlike earlier types, awful at any size.
> why do I have to download more?
The number of characters in the standard Japanese font set is limited to JIS. Mojikyo is one source of non-JIS kanji, with a search tool that will enable you to find the kanji you are looking for. (With many GAIJI sets on sale, you get only a printed list of characters in radical/stroke order.)
Of the many pages on the Web about Unicode, one of the most useful I've found is:
http://www.ado.sig.or.jp/~ado/unicode/u-link.html.en
Michael Watson
From: Carol Tsang <cts...@....edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 09:37:19 -0600 (CST)
Subject: what is a font?
Since I was a professional typesetter in a former incarnation, I thought I'd try to explain about fonts.
Originally, a font was a typeface and style, such that Times Roman and Times Italic were different fonts. With the advent of word processing, that meaning seems to have shifted so that Italics and Bold are included in the meaning of font, though some "display" (more fancy) typefaces don't have italics or bold versions, at least to the extent that when you buy a set of fonts, the variations are not labelled differently under "fonts" in the computer. So "font" is basically synonymous with typestyle.
Any given font also has a specific character set, a range of characters that were drawn as part of the typeface, and so have characteristics specific to the typeface. This nearly always includes punctuation and numbers, for example, and may include things like register marks, copyright marks, and some other symbols (dollar signs, cents signs, Yen signs...). Japanese fonts thus include many more characters than English fonts.
TrueType fonts are generally what is called scalable, which means that the computer can calculate a large range of different sizes which you can use to print that typeface. Non-TrueType fonts are often available in a more limited range of sizes because each size is already drawn and included in the font. So to get a larger or smaller size, the computer is not calculating how to change the proportions of a character, but is rather accessing a different size as defined in the font itself. (I
think.) Furthermore, TrueType fonts can be output to a printer as letters, rather than graphics, which makes printing much faster. (This part I can't explain very well, and maybe someone who is more a computer-type than a type-type can do better.) This doesn't mean that all non-TrueType fonts necessarily print as graphics, but I believe that non-TrueType Japanese fonts probably do.
You need to download more fonts because TrueType is just one kind of font, and each font contains a particular character set.
I hope this helps.
Carol Tsang
University of Illinois at Chicago
cts...@....edu
From: Janine Beichman <jani...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 12:15:34 +0900
To: p...@...tbot.com
Subject: inputting pre-war kanji
Thanks to everyone --William, Michael, John, Rene, Brent--who answered my question about how to input pre-war Kanji. For me, the best solution seems to be the CD-rom of Konjaku Mojikyo, and now that I've discovered that my pc has the requisite 100 MB, I've ordered it. Anyone who wants to know how I like it, can write to me on or offlist and in a month or so I'll let you know. Meanwhile, once again, the list has been a tremendous help.
Janine
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 17:19:15 +0900
Subject: new members (update)
[urls given here changed to current addresses]
Before I leave Japan for AAS, I'd like to circulate some more profiles of members. This brings us up to date, all 165 accounted for apart from some members whom I look forward to reminding in person!
E-mail addresses have been included below to facilitate communication among members off-list. Your e-mail addresses will be included on the web page only if you want it to be (tell me off-list <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>).
Let me begin with someone who not only shares the initials MW but also my interest in matters bibliographic. Michael Wachutka has sent me detailed additions and corrections to the list of translations, particularly in the area of historical writings:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/trans/trans.html
I've already incorporated his suggestions. Thank you, Michael!
Michael Wachutka <michaelwachu...@...mail.com>
After studying Japanology and Sinology at Tuebingen University in Germany, I recently obtained my MA in Comparative Culture/ Asian Studies from Sophia University in Tokyo.
My interest lies in all areas of Japanese history, but related to my thesis, my main focus at the moment revolves around the influence of foreign academic ideas and methods on Japanese scholars in early Meiji Japan
(especially on the methods of studying history and literature); the shifting interpretation of Japanese mythology throughout the kokugaku movement; and particularly the life, ideas and 'behind-the-scene' influence of the
kokugaku scholar Iida Takesato.
Anne Commons <ae...@...umbia.edu>
PhD candidate at Columbia University, currently studying at Osaka University. My dissertation is on the Man'yoshu poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.
Bettina Gramlich-Oka <b...@....net>
I am affiliated with University of Tuebingen in Germany and am currently living in Huntington Beach, CA working on my doctoral dissertation. I study Tokugawa history and my thesis will be a biography on Tadano Makuzu, her thoughts and her time. The intellectual and political world seen through her eyes, with special interest in the network among the people she and her father (Kudo Heisuke) knew. My master's thesis was about Cholera epidemics during Bakumatsu, and is therefore not really related to my new topic, yet I still deal with rangaku to some extent.
James Coleman <bostonimp...@...oo.com>
Independent scholar, musician, Cambridge, MA
I am a reader of premodern Japanese literature & essays & scholarship on Japanese aesthetics. I am currently engaged in investigating how the aesthetics of Zuihitsu, Wabi, Sabi, & Yugen could inform current practices in the composition of low volume, low velocity experimental music &
improvisation.
Faye.Klee...@...orado.edu
[No profile received yet]
And finally, two specialists known to many of you. I posted their profiles months ago, but failed to realize that they had not completed the sign-up procedure. A public apology to both of them.
Lim Beng Choo <jpsli...@....edu.sg>
Assistant Professor, Japanese Studies Department, National University of Singapore. Field: Premodern Japanese theater, especially noh in the late medieval period. Current projects: social interactions among noh performers and other members of late medieval Japan; Interpretation and translation of
noh plays into Chinese and English
Rose Bundy <bu...@...o.edu>
Assoc. Prof., Japanese Language and Literature. Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo MI. Heian/Kamakura waka
As usual, self-introductions have been added to:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/pmjs-db.html
Revisions are welcome at any time to your online profile.
Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Editor, PMJS mailing list
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 15:49:40 +0900
Subject: jiko shokai (Liza Dalby)
I thought I would send this out immediately. Do have a look at
http://www.geocities.com/lizadalby
Liza Dalby
My academic training is in cultural anthropology, specializing in Japan (PhD Stanford 1978). But I have spent the last decade pursuing literary fieldwork in the Heian era while researching material for a novel about Murasaki Shikibu. The result, The Tale of Murasaki, is coming out from Nan A Talese books of Doubleday in May 2000. I am also preparing a website to go with the novel--an electronic addendum--to go online at that time. Its address will be: taleofmurasaki.com
My earlier major books are:
Kimono- Fashioning Culture. Yale University Press, 1993
Geisha. University of California Press. Orig. 1983, reissued in paperback
1998.
For now, I have a webpage at: www.geocities.com/lizadalby
From: "U. Undmark" <katsujin...@....net>
Date: 9 Mar 00 15:44:07 MET
Subject: Medieval medicine?
I need some help regarding a subject of wich I have no knowledge of at all. Hopefully there are members of this list who do know something about medieval/premodern Japanese medicine.
I have a feeling that most of the medical knowledge derived from China, but were there any major differences between the Japanese and Chinese views of this science?
I would also like to know if this science was of any interest to nobles, monks or warriors, leading them to engage in its study?
Anyone have any thoghts or ideas?
Sincerely,
Ulf Undmark
From: Jacqueline Stone <jst...@...nceton.EDU>
Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 09:57:01 -0500
Subject: Re: Medieval medicine?
Andrew Goble at the University of Oregon has been working for some time on medieval Japanese medical practices and is well informed about this subject.
Sincerely,
Jackie Stone
From: wwf1 <w...@...ux.utcc.utk.edu>
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 23:41:55 -0500
Subject: RE: Medieval medicine?
Dear Ulf,
I'm not the expert in medieval medicine that Andrew is, but I have a few thoughts, especially if we can extend your query back to the Nara/Heian periods.
To my knowledge, medicine in those periods derived primarily from three origins (India--through Buddhism and via China and Korea), China directly, and native traditions. Also, if there were source materials, I imagine Korea also would have been a source.
A good place to start to answer your question is the series of books by Dr. Hattori Toshiro. He wrote tomes on Nara, Heian, Kamakura, and Muromachi-Unification medicine and disease.
Regards,
Wayne Farris
From: wwf1 <w...@...ux.utcc.utk.edu>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 18:35:07 -0500
Subject: RE: Medieval medicine?
Dear all,
And to supplement Joan's comment, there's a new book (could this also be the one Joan is thinking of?) called NIHON KODAI NO IRYOO SEIDO, published by
MEICHO KANKOOKAI. The author is Maruyama Yumiko.
Happy reading!
Wayne Farris
From: Joan Piggott <j...@...nell.edu>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 10:29:10 -0800
Subject: RE: Medieval medicine?
I do not do medical history but I did buy a new book from Yoshikawa two years ago on medicine in classical times (kodai, Nara into Heian). If you get hold of a recent Yoshikawa kobunkan list, you should be able to spot it. And there is the translation into English of the Heian classic of Japanese medicine, <Ishimpo>, published by Brill.
Best,
J. Piggott,
Associate Professor of Pre-1600 Japanese History,
Cornell University
From: Steven Brown <...@...GON.UOREGON.EDU>
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 16:06:44 -0800
To: p...@...tbot.com
Subject: CALL FOR PAPERS: _Women & Performance_
CALL FOR PAPERS: _Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory_
PERFORMING JAPANESE WOMEN
Co-Edited by Steven T. Brown and Sara Jansen
Official histories of Japanese performance tend to portray it as being largely an affair of men. What such accounts leave out are the hidden histories, voices, and bodies of female performers and playwrights in the formation of the Japanese performing arts. Both as performers and objects of performance, women have played a crucial role in the history of Japanese theater. From itinerant shamanesses to story-telling Buddhist nuns, from female puppeteers to cross-dressing shirabyoshi performers, from mendicant women jongleurs to female kabuki actors, from transgendered impersonators in the Takarazuka Review to the contemporary work of female playwrights Kishida Rio, Yu Miri, Watanabe Eriko, Kusaragi Koharu, and the recent increase in dance groups led by women, the history of Japanese theatricality bears the distinctive, if all too often unacknowledged, imprint of female performers and playwrights.
This special issue of _Women & Performance_ attempts to reclaim a place for women in the history of Japanese performance, drawing together some of the most provocative work in Japanese studies today at the intersections of gender, class, sexuality, and the body. The editors invite submissions (10-15 pages in length) dealing with women in premodern and early modern forms of Japanese theatricality, including work on "asobime," "shirabyoshi," "arukimiko," "bikuni," and "female kabuki." The editors are also interested in submissions addressing the work of contemporary women performers and directors in avant-garde performance, performance art, and film, as well as the performativity of gender in other forms of Japanese cultural production and in diasporic Japanese performance.
_Performing Japanese Women_ aims to to introduce readers to a non-western tradition of women's performativity, with its alternative notions of role, act, impersonation, subjectivity, hybridity, and the body, as an important step on the way towards establishing new dialogues with Japanese feminists, performers, and playwrights, while staking out alternative definitions of feminist performance that are differentiated from Anglo-American and European feminist discourses of women's performance even as they are
placed in dialogue with such discourses.
Send proposals and completed submissions via email attachment to Steven Brown (...@...gon.uoregon.edu) or Sara Jansen (sj...@....nyu.edu). Deadline for submissions is May 15, 2000.
From: Christian M Hermansen <morim...@....ku.dk>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 11:31:23 +0100
Subject: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
A student of mine wants to take a closer look at shamanism, out of body experiences, and dreams in Japanese literature, and for a start she is looking at Ueda Akinari's Muoo no rigyo. Any suggestions as to what standard or major studies I should direct her attention to, in Japanese and
English will be much appreciated.
Christian M. Hermansen
University of Copenhagen
Dept. of Asian Studies
From: Jeremy Roland Robinson <jrrob...@...ch.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 09:56:20 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
It's not exactly shamanism, but Doris Bargen's _A Woman's Weapon: Spirit Possession in the Tale of Genji_ would certainly be helpful.
Jeremy Robinson
University of Michigan
From: Jacqueline Stone <jst...@...nceton.EDU>
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 10:06:36 -0500
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
In addition to Doris Bargen's _A Woman's Weapon_, , your student may also want to read Carmen Blacker's classic study, _The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan_. For a different view, she could also look at Allan Grapard, "Visions of Excess and Excesses of
Vision: Women and Transgression in Japanese Myth," _Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 18/1 (March 1991): 3-22.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Stone
From: wwf1 <w...@...ux.utcc.utk.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 15:11:15 -0500
Subject: RE: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
Dear Dr. Hermansen,
A student at the University of British Columbia, Sakurako Tanaka I believe her name is, has nearly completed a Ph.D. thesis on shamanism among the Ainu, especially in Tsugaru. A portion of her work addresses shamans and literature. You might want to look at her dissertation when it is accepted.
Wayne Farris
From: Janine Beichman <jani...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 09:40:00 +0900
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow comes to mind as a place to start in English.
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 12:45:48 +0900
Subject: Diet Library OPAC
The National Diet Library has finally begun Web-OPAC service online search of Japanese and foreign books. Two million Japanese books are covered, from 1948 (Showa 23), and 200,000 foreign books from 1986.
Top page of the Kokkai toshokan: http://www.ndl.go.jp
Japanese. No reaction when I clicked "English." There is a link here to the OPAC page, or you can go to the search page and bookmark:
http://webopac2.ndl.go.jp:2000/ows-bin/search.cgi?MODE_M=1&SEARCH=1
or simpler form
http://webopac2.ndl.go.jp:2000/ows-bin/search.cgi
Here the "English" option worked. Those without Japanese-capable browsers will be able to do searches for foreign books.
I use NACSIS webcat on a daily basis
http://webcat.nacsis.ac.jp/webcat_eng.html
so I was interested in how the Kokkai OPAC compares.
The number of Kokkai books catalogued is smaller, but its search page allows for more varied types of search: AND/OR options, order by title / author / date of publication / either Japanese or foreign books first. Ascending or descending.
Subject searches worked (I tried "shamanism" and noted that Russian titles are transliterated--Webcat gives you Cyrillic!)
One feature I especially liked was the possibility of searching by NCD (Nihon jusshin bunrui), e.g. "910 nihon bungaku" then "915 nikki..." then browse by date of publication or whatever.
Michael Watson
wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp
From: Leith Morton <lg...@...newcastle.edu.au>
Organization: University of Newcastle
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 15:31:16 +1100
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
I suppose it doesn't really need mentioning but the Orikuchi Shinobu Zenshu (a new /edition zenshu) has just been published by Chuo Koronsha in 37 odd volumes) and it has heaps on the topic, especially in the volumes devoted to 'minzokugaku'. There is also a comprehensive index.
Similarly, the Yanagita Kunio Zenshu (available now for some years in Chikuma Bunko paperback) has numerous volumes and articles which touch on the subject. The index is in vol. 32.
Yours,
Leith Morton
From: Janine Beichman <jani...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 14:03:02 +0900
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
Also see Chris Drake's Review Article in HJAS 50:1, June 1990: "A Separate Perspective: Shamanic Songs of the Ryukyu Kingdom"He reviews Mitsugu Sakihara's _A Brief History of Early Okinawa Based on the Omoro soushi_, outlines state of Omoro studies in 1990, & presents hisown ideas &
translations.
Ooka Makoto has also discussed quite a few Omoro soushi from a literary viewpoint in his multi-volume work on Japanse poetry called Oriori no uta.
From: Karel Fiala <fukud...@....ac.jp>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 18:27:16 +0900
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
You should not overlook: Sakurai Tokutaroo chosaku shuu: Nihon Shaamanizumu no kenkyuu. (Yoshikawa Hirofumi kan). K. Fiala
-------------------------------
Karel Fiala fukud...@....ac.jp
From: Leith Morton <lg...@...newcastle.edu.au>
Organization: University of Newcastle
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 20:29:06 +1100
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
In an earlier reply, I mentioned Orikuchi and Yanagita's writings which mainly refer to shamanism in classical and medieval poetry and prose. For modern authors, there is masses of material: Izumi Kyoka (a veritable feast of Kyoka studies have recently appeared in English), Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Sakaguchi Ango, Oba Minako, Nakagami Kenji, Oshiro Tatsuhiro, Fukasawa Shichiro to name a but few novelists who have used shamanism as a theme in fiction. Among modern scholars, I guess Shibusawa Tatsuhiko's writings and also Umehara Takeshi's various studies would contain much material which may be of use. But I'm sure others could name far more writers on these themes. I recall a recent zenshu called 'Genso Bungaku Zenshu' which would obviously provide some
material.
Almost every Japanese novelist and poet of note (and many not of note) has used dreams in their works: How about Soseki's 'Yume Juya' and Yoshihara Sachiko's 'Yume Aruiwa' for starters? I know the latter work has inspired a strange film and wouldn't be at all surprised if Soseki's surrealistic
masterpiece had not also given rise to the odd art-film. If your student wisely wished to confine her research to kinsei bungaku then Ueda Akinari alone has several works which may be relevant.
Leith Morton
From: Janine Beichman <jani...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 19:35:16 +0900
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
This essay by Chris Drake (he just supplied the reference) has some interesting things on shamanism:
"Nature as Adverb and Process," in Bo L.B. Wiman et al., ed., 'The Art of Natural Resource Management,' Lund, Sweden, Lund University Press, 1998, pp. 87-163.
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 20:17:12 +0900
Subject: new members
I'd like to circulate the self-introductions of seven new members:
Timothy D. Kern, Steven T. Brown, Michael J. Smitka, Matthew Stavros, Ian
MacDonald, Shigeki Moro, and Herschel Miller
We have also been joined by Maggie Childs, Michael Forster, G. Cameron Hurst, Bill Londo, Roy Ron, and Anne Walthall, who have not yet sent their introductions. (To the list or to <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>, if you please!)
Welcome to them all.
Timothy D. Kern <timk...@...hibun.ac.jp>
Associate Professor, in the Office of Research Exchange at Nichibunken. My professional responsibilities are to find out what is going on in Japanese studies and coordinate research with institutions and scholars, in and outside Japan. I received my MA from the Univ. of Osaka, in Comparative Culture and my thesis was on Kyogen. Interests range from setsuwa,
monogatari,folklore,anthropology and popular culture. Pertaining to pre-modern Japan, I am presently looking into the function and meaning of the 'road' in narratives.
Steven T. Brown <...@...gon.uoregon.edu>
Associate Professor of Japanese Literature, East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403.
_Theatricalities of Power: The Cultural Politics of Noh_ (Stanford University Press, forthcoming).
Michael J. Smitka <MSmi...@....edu>
Associate Professor of Economics, Williams School of Commerce, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia I am an economist at a liberal arts college interested in the auto industry
and in economic history. In the latter area I edited a reprint series on Japanese economic history (7 volumes) for Garland Press, including many articles on the Tokugawa and bakumatsu eras. I'd like to write a piece comparing the Dutch Republic (de Vries and van der Woude, The First Modern
Economy) with what I see as similar developments in 18th century Japan, but don't know when I will actually get that done.
http://liberty.uc.wlu.edu/~msmitka/Smitka.html
Matthew Stavros <hi.stav...@...hi.kyoto-u.ac.jp>
Graduate Student, Kyoto University, Center for the Study of Architectural and Urban History. Doctoral student at Princeton University from autumn 2000.
Field: medieval urban history. Focus on: Kyoto during the Age of Warring States, the role of Nichiren temples, and the effects of an evolving cityscape on the calculus of social mechanisms. Other interests include, castle-towns (joka-machi) and temple-towns (jinai-cho).
Ian MacDonald <IanMc...@...and.Stanford.EDU>
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Japanese in the Department of Asian Languages at Stanford University.
The working title of my dissertation, which is still in the research stage, is, "Parody of a Classical Japanese Poetry Canon: Interpretation, Contextualization, and Translation." I am looking at the genre called "douge hyakunin isshu" or "mojiri hyakunin isshu" (as well as "hyakunin
isshu uso koushaku") which flourished in the 17th-early 19th centuries, but continued even in Meiji and, indeed, still survives today. I started out principally in modern literature, but my interest in parody and satire took me from contemporary writers such as Ogino Anna to Edo gesaku. Last year I spent ten months studying at Shizuoka University with Konita Seiji, an Edo scholar, who introduced me to Santo Kyoden's work in the Hyakunin Isshu parody genre.
I have always had a strong interest in translation, and in 1997 I won the First International Translation Competition in Shizuoka, which took me to Shizuoka University.
Shigeki Moro <m...@...sakura.ne.jp>
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Buddhist studies under Dr. Koyu Tamura (Japanese Buddhism/Tendai Buddhism) and Koitsu Yokoyama (Yogacara Buddhism) at Toyo University, Tokyo.
My dissertation is on the Shugo-kokkai-sho which is the most comprehensive text of the debates between Saicho and Tokuitsu (Hoping to finish up this year!). I am interested in the Japanese Yogacara school (Hosso-shu), especially its teachings (or interpretations) on eka-yana (ichijo).
I am also interested in the computerization in the East Asian studies. I participate in SAT (http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~sat/) and INBUDS (http://www.inbuds.org/) as the web master.
Lists of my papers and books are available here:
http://www.ya.sakura.ne.jp/~moro/profile/papers.html (in Japanese)
http://www.ya.sakura.ne.jp/~moro/profile/papers_e.html (in English)
http://www.ya.sakura.ne.jp/~moro/
Herschel Miller <h...@...umbia.edu>
Ph.D. candidate in premodern Japanese literature, Columbia University. My principal areas of interest are: Buddhism in premodern literature, particularly in relation to gender issues; and henge/henshin (people transforming into animals, deties, etc. and vice-versa).
Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Editor, PMJS mailing list
From: Janine Beichman <jani...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 19:34:55 +0900
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.
Correction of a reference: I said that there were several Omoro-soshi
(Okinawa shamanic songs) in Ooka Makoto's Oriori no uta, but when I looked in the index to the 10-volume 1992 compilation I found only one. I may have been mixing them up with Ryukyu songs, of which he has several.
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 11:19:30 +0900
Subject: Shingon ritual
Esoteric rituals are presumably wrapped in mystery, but can anyone suggest where I might look to learn more about Shingon funeral rites? Last week I attended two days' of services in rural Fukushima and witnessed from a few yards' distance the same priest conduct
1) ceremonies at the wake (tsuya),
(2) a service at the home of the deceased on the day of the cremation, and
(3) a combined seven/forty-nine/100-day service in the temple before the
ashes were placed in the tomb (nookotsu)--the latter a modern, gooriteki-na innovation to save us all repeated journeys up to the country town.
The chanting of the sutras was more musical than the Soto-shu ceremonies I'd very recently witnessed, but my question has to do with the preparations involving a lidded cup and saucer (as it were) and a long stick. The priest removed the lid and moved the end of stick around the edge of the cup, saying half under his breath something like "ra ra ra ra ra ra" and "ba ba ba ba ba" (diminuendo). In ceremony (2) he also poured water (sake?) out of the cup into the saucer, then back into the cup. Significance, symbolism,
anyone?
Michael Watson
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 11:16:39 +0900
I was asked off list whether any Mac version of the kanji software Konjaku mojikyo was in the works. Online rumours gave me hope, so I wrote to the Mojikyo kenkyukai directly. Alas the word from the horse's mouth is no. A prompt and courteous reply explained that efforts to develop a Mac version were abandoned, and are not planned for the future. They will however continue to support Mac version fonts (downloadable from the web).
For those joining this thread, see the information and links at
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~watson/pmjs.html#moji
http://www.mojikyo.gr.jp/
In brief, Mojikyo has developed 80,000 TrueType characters that can be used for display and printing, a great boon for those of us working with older kanji. The Windows-only CD-ROM contains an excellent search tool (by yomi, radical, element, etc.)
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news for Mac users. One could always beg/borrow/steal an old Windows machine to run the software so as to identify the unique number assigned to the character.
Here is the original reply for those with Japanese display. The technical references are beyond me, but for more information about TeX see the users
group: http://www.tug.org/
For CID font files and CMaps see, for example,
http://www.dotprint.com/graphics/graphi23.htm
Michael Watson
From: Hideyuki Morimoto <hmori...@...rary.berkeley.edu>
Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2000 19:45:45 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Shingon ritual
The following five titles are found in WorldCat in respose to search query
key:
cho ol;fin su shingon and su sect and su funeral and su rites and
su ceremonies
Den'e. Reikon ind_o f_ush_oki. Ky_oto : Yamashiroya Fujii Sah_e,
[between 1868 and 1912?] OCLC: 37898422
Den'e. [Ind_o y_oj_u benm_o] Shingon ind_o y_oj_u benm_o. Ky_oto :
Yamashiroya Fujii Sah_e, [between 1868 and 1912?] OCLC: 33074556
Den'e. [Ind_o y_oj_u benm_o] Shingon ind_o y_oj_u benm_o. [Kyoto] :
Maekawa Mouemon : Inoue-shi Ch_ub_e, J_oky_o 1 [1684]
OCLC: 33072359
Inaya, Y_usen. Shingonsh_u h_og_o daijiten. T_oky_o : Kokusho
Kank_okai, Sh_owa 57 [1982] OCLC: 17091241
Kotaki, Mitsuy_u, 1903- Jitsuy_o shinsen Shingonsh_u fujumonsh_u.
T_oky_o : Keisuisha : Hatsubai Hokuseid_o, 1992. OCLC: 30978490
Furthermore, the following search key has identified one additional title
in WorldCat:
cho ol;fin su shingonshu and su butsue
Chizanha H_oshiki Ch_osakai. Shingi Shingonsh_u Chizanha
h_oy_o benran. [Japan] : Chizanha H_oshiki Ch_osakai, 1928.
OCLC: 33644219
For more titles, BT search strateges might be employed. For instance,
cho ol;fin su shingon and su sect and su customs and su practices
retrieves 11 records in WorldCat; and
cho ol;fin su shingon and su sect and su rituals
retrieves 115 records in WorldCat
From: "Robert E. Morrell" <rober...@...sci.wustl.edu>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 16:40:43 -0600, pmjs <p...@...tbot.com>
Subject: Re: Shingon ritual
FWIMBW, there is a dictionary by Fujii Masao called _Bukkyoo girei jiten_, Tookyoodoo, 1977 but in its 15th printing in Heisei 9 -- so probably
available. Pp. 281-336 deal with "soogishiki," and there are entries on
three sub-schools of Shingon. Good luck.
Bob
From: chris drake <ccdr...@...net.ne.jp>
Organization: atomi college
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 19:07:16 +0900
Subject: Renga and renku
Since the list is briefly resting from the torrid pace of its ongoing rempai linked-verse sequence, I'd like to mention a new publication I recently received from the publisher that might be of interest to some. The paperback book is:
Gerald England, ed., 'The Art of Haiku 2000,' published by New Hope International, 20 Werneth Ave., Gee Cross, Hyde, Cheshire, SK14 5NL, UK
It includes recent and famous haiku in English, senryu in English, tanka in English, renku in English, and short essays on what haiku is and on translation of Japanese haikai and haiku. Apparently both 'renga' and 'renku' are now common English words among some English-language poets and
readers. 'Haikai' is too close to 'haiku' and thus a bit confusing, so it doesn't seem to be catching on. The two most interesting pieces in the book for me are the linked-haiku sequence on pp. 38-39 (the book is in fairly small print) and the "nijuin spring renku" on p. 42. These are both well done, and the minimalist but esthetically pleasing layout might also suggest possibilities for sequences done on the pmjs list. There is also a dokugin kasen sequence in English by yours truly, which is why I know about the book. The well-read (in English) editor told me he'd never even heard of
solo dokugin sequences and was unaware that they played a major role in both renga and haikai in Japan. There seems to be a myth in English that renga or renku must be written by two or more people.
Speaking of myths, the above book, which seems to contain the current state-of-the-art *teisetsu* about haiku and renku in English, contains many misconceptions about Japanese renga and renku, such as the belief that haiku must contain a seasonal word and that if they don't they must be considered senryu, or the belief that haiku ought to be about nature, or that good
haiku must represent a transcription of a moment out of worldly time and mark a fusion of subject and object or observer and observed. These are some of the many myths that have been generated in the space between Japanese and English and are not rooted directly in pre-Meiji practices in Japan. I hope interested list members will be active in publicly pointing out the historical lineages of some of the current beliefs about haiku and renku. Some of these myths are gaining glamor and auratic power very quickly in the absence of much feedback from people who are aware of historical developments in Japan and between Japanese and English.
Some list members may possibly be interested in a list called HaikuTalk, which can be reached at www.nhi.clara.net/hktalk.htm. Unfortunately I don't know much about it. Also, the editor of 'The Art of Haiku 2000' said it's not going to be available from Amazon.com, so the easiest way to inquire about it is to use: www.nhi.clara.net/nhihome.htm.
Does anyone recommend any other books on contemporary haiku and/or renga and renku in English? Or any interesting lists dealing with renga and renku?
And what of the pmjs hyakuin? Was the first fold also the last?
Chris Drake
|
|
|
|||
End of message log for 2000/03. Edited 2001/01/28