pmjs logs for April, 2000. Total number of messages for month: 18

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pmjs index

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Shingon ritual (Michael Watson) [archived] 

Shamanism in Japanese literature [archived] (begun in March) 

CD ROM Kodaishi Database by Prof. Masashi Oguchi (Joan Piggott) 

reading Japanese e-mail (Robert E. Morrell) [archived] 

The Tale of Murasaki Website (Liza Dalby) 

new members this month: new members: John Timothy Wixted, Jamie Newhard, Emanuel Pastreich, Gustav Heldt, Sekine Eiji, Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis, Michael Lewis, Margaretta Jolly, Frederic Kotas, Janice S. Kande, Yulia Mikhailova, Tom Harper, Mikael Adolphson, Yukio M. Lippit, Sharon Yamamoto, Brian Ruppert, Ryuichi Abe, Elizabeth Markham, Amanda Stinchecum 

Lightly edited (see "principles"). Editorial comments in italics.




From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 14:07:40 +0900
Subject: new members

Seven new members have joined the list in the last week. John Timothy Wixted, Jamie Newhard, Emanuel Pastreich and Gustav Heldt have sent the profiles given below. We also welcome Sekine Eiji, Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis, and Michael Lewis.

Michael Dylan Foster and Roy Ron have also kindly responded for my plea for self-introductions.

All profiles can be found online at
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/pmjs-db.html
(note the simpler new address for the main database page, now "frame" format for faster loading).

John Timothy Wixted <timwix...@...mail.com>

Professor of Asian Languages and Literatures, Arizona State University I have a published HJAS article on the Kokinshu prefaces, have taught semester-long Genji-in-translation courses twice, have a continued interest in kambun and Sino-Japanese cultural relations.

Jamie Newhard <jl...@...umbia.edu>

I am a Ph.D candidate at Columbia University, presently studying at the University of Tokyo. My dissertation is on medieval and early modern _Ise monogatari_ (and to a lesser extent _Genji monogatari_) scholarship, focusing on commentators' handling of genre issues.

Emanuel Pastreich <ep...@...c.edu>

Emanuel Pastreich works on 18th century Japanese literature, particularly novels. His dissertation concerned the reception of Chinese vernacular narrative in Korea and Japan (17-19 century). He has spent almost six years doing research in Japan, two years in Korea and one year in Taiwan. His work emphasizes a comparative approach to pre-modern Japanese literature that takes into account literature in the rest of East Asia. He has been
assistant professor of Japanese literature at the University of Illinois for two years.

Gustav Heldt <he...@...d.edu>

Henry E. Luce Junior Professor of Japanese, Division of Languages and
Literature, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504.
Areas of interest: gender, sexuality, script, vocalic performance and poetics in Early/Medieval Japan, historiography, translation of classical Japanese literature, text criticism using electronic media.
Publications: "Saigyo's Traveling Tale," Monumenta Nipponica 52:4 (Winter 1997) "Fujiwara no Shunzei," entry in Steven Carter, ed., Medieval Japanese Writers, Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 203 (Brucolli, Clark, Layman: 1999) Numerous translations of noh plays for the National Noh Theatre in Japan, academic articles on medieval Japanese poetics, gender and Japanese history. Contributing to Haruo Shirane, ed., Anthology of Japanese Prose Literature: Beginnings to 1900 and Joan Piggot, ed. Court and Countryside in Early Japan.

Michael Dylan Foster <mfos...@...and.stanford.edu>

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Asian Languages at Stanford
University, presently doing dissertation research at Kanagawa University in Yokohama. My broad field of interest is folklore (minzokugaku). For my dissertation I am looking specifically at the way in which folklorists and other scholars have attempted to define, classify and interpret supernatural creatures (youkai). This research necessarily takes me back to a number of "premodern" texts; in particular, the Edo period Wakansansaizue, the works of Toriyama Sekien, and a form of the game karuta which uses youkai. In a
more modern context I am interested in exploring contemporary (urban) legend, local matsuri, and games such as Kokkuri-san which involve interaction with the "other world."

--many apologies for misspelling Michael's surname earlier <ed>

Roy Ron

Ph.D. candidate in medieval Japanese history, University of Hawaii. Advisee of professor Paul Varley. Since August 1998, a foreign researcher at the Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo. My dissertation is about religious institutions under the rule of the Kamakura bakufu, bakufu policy towards jisha, and the political and economic role of jisha. Other scholarly interests include, the development of strong provincial bushi in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, and the history of specific methods of warfare. Ongoing projects include, writting two entries for an encyclopedia, an article on the death of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and a project on power and authority in the Kamakura period.



From: Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis <et...@...edu>
Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 08:08:21 -0500
Subject: Re: new members

Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis is Associate Professor for Asian/Japanese Art History at Boston University and also Associate in Research at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. She is author of JAPANESE MANDALAS: REPRESENTATIONS OF SACRED GEOGRAPHY, THE REVIVAL OF THE TAIMA MANDALA IN MEDIEVAL JAPAN, co-author of JOURNEY OF THE THREE JEWELS, translator of PURE LAND BUDDHIST PAINTING and NARRATIVE PICTURE SCROLLS, and author of numerous articles on Japanese religious art and garden design.



From: Christian M Hermansen <morim...@....ku.dk>
Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2000 10:10:42 +0200
Subject: Shamanism in Japanese literature

I merely want to thank all of you who made very helpful suggestions on the subject. I have passed the information on to my student. Thank you.

Christian

----------------------------------oOo-------------------------------------
Christian Morimoto Hermansen, MA.
Dept. of Asian Studies
Copenhagen University Phone: (+45) 35 32 88 31
Leifsgade 33,5 Fax: (+45) 35 32 88 35
2000 Copenhagen S, Denmark e: morim...@....ku.dk



From: Karel Fiala <fukud...@....ac.jp>
Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2000 20:25:45 +0900
Subject: Re: Shamanism in Jps. lit.

I received the data on a book on Shamanism from one of my students in Europe. Now I have the book in my hand and see that the data were not correct.

The title is "Nihon Shamanizumu no kenkyuu", the author is Sakurai Tokutaroo, the publisher is Yoshikawa Koobun-kan and the year of publication is 1988. K. Fiala



From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2000 23:34:12 +0900
Subject: new members

[url's silently corrected when necessary]

It has been a quiet week for the pmjs editor--a good thing as the Japanese teaching year begins again tomorrow. Since last Sunday just five members have signed up to pmjs, making a grand total of 190:

Margaretta Jolly (Editor, Encyclopedia of Life Writing)
Frederic Kotas (Cornell University) -- profile below
Janice S. Kande -- profile below
Yulia Mikhailova (Hiroshima City University)
and Tom Harper, joining us again from Kyoto (tjharper...@...mail.com)

Frederic Kotas <f...@...nell.edu>
Japanese Bibliographer, Wason Collection on East Asia, Cornell University. My dissertation (University of Washington) was on the several Heian ojoden. I am interested in setsuwa literature, the relationship between Buddhism and the arts, hell and paradise in Japanese literature.

Janice S. Kande <jska...@...e.com>
Will begin the MA program at UC Berkeley's Group for Asian Studies in the fall of 2000 with a combined emphasis of pre-modern Japanese culture and art
history.

A profile was also kindly sent by Eiji Sekine <eiji.sek...@....net>
Eiji Sekine is an Associate Professor of Japanese at Purdue University.
His major interest is in modern and contemporary literature (author of Tasha no shookyo: Yoshiyuki Junnnosuke to kindai bungaku, Keiso shobo, 1993, and author/editor of Uta no hibiki, monogatari no yokubo, Shinwasha, 1996) but is always interested in Edo literature also (some articles written on Saikaku, Shunsui, and Chikamatsu). He is secretary
of the Association for Japanese Literary Studies and editor of the association's newsletter and proceedings (P(M)AJLS). He is the owner of the JLIT-L mailing list.

Profiles are listed on the new frame version of "who's who":
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/pmjs-db.html

The list of translations from premodern (mainly pre-1600) Japanese also became too big for one page, so has been converted to frame format. Unless you are using a very old version of web browser, you should find it easier to display and search. The new, simpler address is:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/trans/trans.html

As always I welcome comments about form and content. Please write off-list if you find errors and omissions, of which there are no doubt many. A well-ready and sharp-eyed gentleman in Georgia not on our list has pointed out dozens of slips in the references to Tokugawa literature on
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/biblio/byauthor.html
--still very much incomplete.

Meanwhile onlist it has been a time since we have had a really lively discussion. The floor is open.

Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>

P.S. As editor let me just add how nice it was to see so many pmjs members recently in San Diego and Kyoto. I regret that I was not able to talk to everyone who was at AAS. If the list continues to flourish, I shall certainly try to arrange a social event in next year's Chicago meeting.



From: Joan Piggott <j...@...nell.edu>
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2000 11:55:40 -0700
Subject: CD ROM Kodaishi Database by Prof. Masashi Oguchi

To Members of the Pre-Meiji Japanese Studies List and other colleagues:

Some of you may be interested in using a database of Japanese journal articles concerning ancient and classical Japanese history (kodaishi). I have been using one such compiled by Prof. Masashi Oguchi for the last several years. Prof. Oguchi and his students are constantly updating the database, and I have found it very useful. I have located articles therein I would never have known about; I have found articles whose citations I have managed to lose; and one very useful feature is a kana reading of every author's name. "Kodaishi" includes the Gempei era in this database. The database and its updates come in the form of a CD ROM. For use on my Mac, I have fed the data into a Filemaker Pro database that is easy to search. There are doubtless other ways of using it. After reading the description below, if you are interested in obtaining a copy of Prof. Oguchi's database, you can contact him directly at the email address below.

Best,
Joan Piggott,
Associate Professor of Pre-1600 Japanese History
Cornell University



From: "Robert E. Morrell" <rober...@...sci.wustl.edu>
Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2000 18:21:28 -0500, p...@...tbot.com
Subject: Re: CD ROM Kodaishi Database by Prof. Masashi Oguchi

Dear Professor Piggott,

I am addressing this reply "to all", because I suspect that many on PMJS may have the same comments that I do. I suspect that '"Kodaishi" includes the Gempei era in this database' raised expectations in many readers.

But I haven't a clue as to how to decipher the appendage. I have the current version of "Conversions Plus," "KanjiKit," and "TwinBridge for Japanese." (And I remain with WordPerfect 5-7, mainly because I have ethical reservations about the imperialistic aspirations of Microsoft via WORD.) I like the product, but in St. Louis we still have a 24-hour day.

I would like to suggest that if ANYONE who has an appendage not immediately understood by all, they at least indicate what mode of encryption is involved. If some standard has been arrived at, of which I am not aware, why not include this? One could make a 2-step macro.

All the best, and many thanks.

Bob M



From: "William Londo" <...@...ch.edu>
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 17:53:01 -0400
Subject: reading e-mail with Eudora and TwinBridge Japanese

This is in response to Prof. Morrell's concern about reading Japanese e-mail. If you read your e-mail with Eudora or some similar POP e-mail system (I think this will work for Outlook Express, too), you need to do the following if you have TwinBridge. Click on the little Twinbridge bar that always floats on your screen, and click on the second box down on the left. There you will find the command "display engine advanced." Click on it, and in the box that appears, check both the boxes next to "Display ISO-2022-JP/MIME Code" and "Auto-Detect Shift-JIS/EUC(JIS) Code" and click OK. Now go back to the little TwinBridge bar and pick the second box on the left and select "System Configuration." In the System Configuration box, select the "Japanese Font" tab and check the "Mapping all English Fonts to Japanese. Once you've done this, messages written in Japanese should appear in Japanese when you open it, though pieces may be missing depending on how the original message was laid out. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, this procedure does not allow one to write e-mail in Japanese, though I haven't yet tried it with TB 2000, the latest version. I've personally given up on Eudora/TB for e-mail and work from Japanese Windows when doing anything internet-related. If someone is interested in pursuing this, I'll be happy to give further suggestions, though this may best be done off-list.

---Bill Londo



From: Joan Piggott <j...@...nell.edu>
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 21:02:22 -0700
Subject: Re: reading e-mail with Eudora and TwinBridge Japanese

I use Japanese Eudora on a Mac with the Japanese language kit. The information I sent to the list concerning the Kodaishi Database came to me by email and was perfectly readable in Japanese Eudora. While I realize that not everyone uses it, I thought the information would be useful to those who could read it.

Best,
Joan Piggott



From: William Bodiford <bodif...@...a.edu>
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 23:05:35 -0700
Subject: Re: reading e-mail with Eudora and TwinBridge Japanese

Hello.
The easiest way to read Japanese e-mail on a machine running the English Language version of Windows is to use the latest version of Microsoft's Outlook Express. You must select the option of downloading a "minimal or custom" configuration and then select foreign language support packages. I do not remember exactly what they are called. One of the great features of Outlook Express is that it includes Microsoft's Global IME (input method editors) for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. In other words, it allows you to input CJK as well as read it. And best of all, it is completely free. I am not sure of the download address for Outlook Express, but if you go to Microsoft's web site it should be easy to find. Also there is a shareware program called "E-tomo" available for both Mac and Windows which automatically repairs moji-bake. It is indispensable. You can download it from:

http://davinci.sla.purdue.edu/academic/fll/JapanProj/JapanProj-J.html

Best wishes,
William Bodiford



From: "Robert E. Morrell" <rober...@...sci.wustl.edu>
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 16:36:48 -0500
Subject: Re: reading e-mail with Eudora and TwinBridge Japanese

Thanks to everyone who sent me suggestions about the Japanese email problem. Although some unexpected social commitments have prevented me from trying them out yet, I am confident one or more will work.

Bob M



From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 11:53:51 +0900
Subject: new members/profiles

Welcome to three new members: Mikael Adolphson, Yukio M. Lippit, Sharon Yamamoto, for a grand total of 193. Many thanks also for William Londo for sending his profile.

Mikael Adolphson <adol...@....harvard.edu>

Assistant Professor of Japanese History, Department of East Asian Languages
and Civilizations, Harvard University.
I am interested in a wide variety of themes in pre-1550 Japan. I have focused on the secular power of religious institutions from the late Heian to the early Muromachi eras. My present project is an outgrowth of this work, as I now attempt to address the often controversial issue of armed
monks and their supporters. Other projects currently in the making include a conference on the early Heian period and an Annales-type approach to Go-Shirakawa's age.

Publications:
"Enryakuji: an Old Power in a New Era," in The Origins of Japan's Medieval World: Courtiers, Clerics, Warriors and Peasants in the Fourteenth Century. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997.

The Gates of Power: Monks, Courtiers and Warriors in Premodern Japan. University of Hawaii Press, 2000.

Yukio M. Lippit <ymlip...@...nceton.edu>

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Japanese Art History program at Princeton University, currently nearing the end of a two-year research stay in Tokyo (affiliation: University of Tokyo). My dissertation concerns the rise of an antiquities painting market, the practice of painting authentication, and the production of the earliest Japanese painting histories during the
late 17th century.

William Londo <...@...ch.edu>

I am a Ph.D candidate in Japanese history at the University of Michigan. The topic of my dissertation is the development of the religious complex on Mt. Koya in the course of the 11th century. I have just returned from four years in the Kansai where I did the research for my dissertation and was part of the editorial staff of the journal Japanese Religions.

Sharon Yamamoto <sharo...@...ink4.berkeley.edu>

I am a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley studying Japanese art history. I am interested in the relation between gender and art practice, patronage and reception in premodern Japan.

[profiles received April 10-16]

All profiles listed at:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/pmjs-db.html
or (without frames)
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/pmjs-db-2.html

 

Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>



From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 12:06:39 +0900
Subject: Re: Shingon ritual

Many thanks to everyone, on-list and off, for their answers to my question relating to Shingon funeral ritual. I look forward to checking the bibliographical references when things are less hectic at work, but in the meantime I have received the following very helpful explanation from H. van der Veere, a Shingon priest at Leiden University. Many thanks to him for allowing me to share it with you, and thanks also to the kind soul who forwarded my question to him. For those who missed my original question (which now reads very naively) I have appended it below.

Dear Michael Watson,

Your questions were forwarded to me, and I think I can help you. A note of warning, Shingon rituals can be very elaborate and differ according to school, occassion etc. Anyway, The Rishuukyou is one of the main sutras sung at funeral services. The method of chanting is shoomyoo.

The ritual with the 'stick' (sanjou) probably was the purification of the ritual space. The stick is turned clockwise and counter clockwise in the water of the cup while chanting ' ram' and 'bam' 21 times, maybe abbreviated to seven times. It is then moved over the altar in a way that differs
according to the tradition of the school or teacher.This is all part of the initiatory phase of the ritual. In the Goma rites two cups are used with two sticks.

The pouring of the water ( 3 x 3) belongs to a later phase and is an offering. The 'symbolism' makes a long story, but literature in English is available, Payne, Saso, Goepper etc.

H. van der Veere
Leiden University
The Netherlands

Dr van der Veere later added that "the syllables uttered are 'ram and vam in Sanskrit but become ran and ban in Japanese."

My original question:

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: KOMODA Haruko <kom...@...e.ocn.ne.jp>
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:13:42 +0900
Subject: Re: Shingon ritual

Dear Michael Watson,

I am reading the questions and answers about Shingon funeral rituals with interest.

You might already know about some materials about Buddhist rites in video tapes and CDs. In case not, I would like to introduce you three of them. All of them are about buddhis  rites or music and do not directly mention to funerals. The kaisetsusho include good papers.

 1. Yokomichi Mario, Kataoka Yoshimichi, et al. Shoumyou taikei. Kyoto: Houzoukan, 1983. (075-343-0458) LP discs (32 discs)

2. Kishibe Shigeo, Hirano Kenji, et al. Nihon koten bungei taikei, vols. 3-4. Tokyo: Heibonsha,1991. video tapes (2 tapes)

3. Shingon-shuu Buzanha bukkyou seinenkai. Shingi shingon shoumyou shuusei. Tokyo: Shingonshuu Buzanha Seinenkai. [Tokyo, Bunkyou-ku Ootsuka 5-40-8]
       CD discs (4d iscs) with five staff notation
English commentary by Steven Nelson contains very good introduction to Buudhism rites, ceremonies and esoteric shyoomyoo.

[romanization by ed. See Japanese text.]

KOMODA Haruko
kom...@...e.ocn.ne.jp



From: "Liza Dalby" <lizada...@...mail.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 06:01:58 PDT
Subject: The Tale of Murasaki Website

Dear PMJS Members,

I have been preparing a website to act as an addendum to my novel, The Tale of Murasaki, which will be coming out from Doubleday next month. I have just reorganized it and would really appreciate any comments from this group before the site gets advertised around more publicly. Please take a glance at it:
www.taleofmurasaki.com

There is a comment page on the site.

Many thanks!

Liza Dalby



From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2000 20:48:18 +0900
Subject: new members

Just two new members to introduce this week, Brian Ruppert and Ryuichi Abe.
Welcome to both of them.

Brian Ruppert <rupp...@...c.edu>

I am Assistant Professor of Japanese Religions at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. My major area of interest is early medieval Japan, focusing on the development of popular religion and esoteric Buddhism. My studies in popular religion focus on the development of Buddha
relic veneration and of ritual exchange in early medieval Japan. My studies in esoteric Buddhism are concentrated on the development of scriptural treasuries in early medieval Japan.

Recent Publications:
_Jewel in the Ashes: Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan_ (Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard UP, May 2000).

Ryuichi Abe <r...@...umbia.edu>

*Kao Associate Professor of Japanese Religion, Department of Religion, and East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University * _The Weaving of Mantra: Kukai and the Construction of Esoteric Buddhist Discourse_ (Columbia University Press, 1999).

The editor has taken the liberty of compiling the second profile.

Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>



From: Yulia Mikhairoba <yu...@...l.hiroshima-cu.ac.jp>
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 19:07:34 +0000
Subject: Re: new members/profiles

Yulia Mikhailova (yu...@...l.hiroshima-cu.ac.jp)

Professor at Hiroshima City University, Faculty of International Studies.
Before I moved to Japan in 1996 I was interested in intellectual history of Tokugawa Japan, in particilar, in Motoori Norinaga, and also did some research on rites and ceremonies related to the imperial institution of ancient Japan. At present because I have to teach some subjects on Russo-Japanese relations, I do research on mutual Russo-Japanese images through graphic representations. The period of sudy is modern, not premodern Japan. But I want to keep in touch with those scholars who study premodern Japan, as I have some topics unfinished. I have translated some works of Kada Arimoto, but have not yet prepared them for publication. I am also happy to know that my old friend Tom Harper is also a member of PMJS.

Publications: "Motoori Norinaga: Life and Work" , "Social and Political Ideas of Japan in the Period from 1860s to 1880s" (both in Russian). Recent articles: Images of Enemy and Self: Russian 'Popular Prints' of the Russo-Japanese War (Acta Slavica Iaponica, 16, 1998); Japan and Russia: Mutual Images, 1904-39, in The Japanese and Europe. Images and Perceptions, ed. by B.Edstrom, Japan Library, 2000 and others.

Sincerely,

Yulia Mikhailova



From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 11:55:22 +0900
Subject: list announcements

First the usual weekly introduction of new members, then a few list announcements. For those who might not scroll down, here they are:
(1) recent delays in the delivery of messages
(2) receiving pmjs messages at a different email address
(3) replying to pmjs members personally vs. replying to the list

Membership has reached 197 with two new members. We welcome:

Elizabeth Markham <mark...@...p.uark.edu> (profile please!) and

Amanda Stinchecum <ama...@...dion.ne.jp>

I am an independent scholar specializing in the history of textiles in Ryukyu/Okinawa (and, to a lesser extent, of mainland Japan). Although trained in art history and classical Japanese literature, my work spans a number of disciplines, including history, anthropology and archaeology.
At present, I am working on a new project examining the ritual context of ikat textiles in Yaeyama (southern Okinawa); a second, ongoing project deals with textile production as part of the taxation system of Kinsei Ryukyu. Few textiles from this region predate the 19th century, but documentary sources exist from the 14th century on. Although no early textile evidence has been found, excavated remains in Yaeyama suggest ties to SE Asia and Micronesia.
Recent publications include: "Yaeyama ni okeru kasuri no gishiki-teki youto--sono jittai to Tounan Ajia kyouryuu no kanousei," Okinawa bunka kenkyuu 25 (1999), 33-41; "The Mingei Aesthetic," Orientations 29:3 (March 1998), 90-96; "Irony in Textile Design: Sue no Matsuyama--Images of Fidelity and Infidelity," in Amy Heinrich, ed., Currents in Japanese Culture: Translations and Transformations: 337-351. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997; "Zaibei Ryukyu/Okinawa senshokuhin chousa: chuukan houkoku" (Survey of Ryukyun/Okinawan textiles in America: interim report), Okinawa Bunka Kenkyujo,ed. Okinawa bunka kenkyu 21 (Tokyo: Hosei University, 1995),
235-256; Mingei: Japanese Folk Art, with Robert Moes, Alexandria, Va.: Art Services International, 1995.

Amanda asked me to give her full address and phone number in Okinawa:
Amanda Mayer Stinchecum
Taketomi 317, Taketomi-cho
Okinawa-ken 907-1101
Tel. --------

Announcements:
(1) Let me pass on an apology from listbot.com, the free mailing-list service we are using: they are "currently experiencing system-wide delays in the delivery of messages" and "working hard to resolve this issue." For a time messages were taking a day or two to be delivered. Recent messages are reaching you faster, I am happy to say.

(2) As summer approaches and the teaching year ends for some of you, you may want to have your pmjs mail delivered to a new address. The method is simple: send a blank message to pmjs-unsubscr...@...tbot.com from your OLD address, then send a blank message to pmjs-subcr...@...tbot.com from your NEW address. I'd appreciate also if you drop me a line to
(wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp) to let me know--particularly if your new address is cryptic.

The same method applies if you have changed e-mail provider, as was the case for member Elliot Berlin, now at <eber...@...jgroup.com>

(3) One final reminder for those new to mailing lists: be careful when you click the "reply" to a message from pmjs--your answer will be sent to all subscribers, and not just to the writer of the original message. It is an easy mistake to make. Of course if you think that your comment/question is of general interest, feel free to send it to the list as a whole, but begin with a salutation to a member by name.

Best wishes to all over "Golden Week"

Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>

Editor, PMJS mailing list



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End of message log for 2000/04. Edited 2001/01/28