pmjs logs for November 2000. Total number of messages: 88 (52 in these logs)

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Premodern sources on CD ROM (Michael Watson, Karl Friday, Nobumi Iyanaga, Matthew Stavros, John R. Bentley) 

--> reading Amazon.co.jp --> browsers --> Windows/Mac (David Pollack, Anthony J. Bryant, Charo B. D'Etcheverry, Morgan Pitelka, Robert Khan, Mary Louise Nagata, Philip C. Brown) 

teaching bungo (Peter Hendriks, Hideyuki Morimoto) 

Japanese OS; Mac vs. Windows conciliation (Morgan Pitelka) 

Computers/printers: addendum (Philip C. Brown) 

Mojikyo fonts for Mac in Nikkei Mac CD-ROM ( Nobumi Iyanaga) 

Help with Saigyoo poems (Steven G. Nelson, Matthew Stavros, Royall Tyler, Lawrence Marceau, Rose Bundy ) --> start 

--> Scattered leaves (Michael Watson) 

Cheating in Asian Studies (Michael Watson, Roberta Strippoli, 

Online Japanese Bookstores.(Matthew Stavros) 

Niigata Prefectural Museum web pages updated (Mark Hall) 

Bungo texts (Royall Tyler, Michael Watson) --> start 

Hobogirin fonts with macrons (Michael Watson, Elizabeth J. Markham) 

new members / archives (Michael Watson) 

Sainsbury Fellowship (Peter Kornicki) 

R.H. Blyth (Meredith McKinney, Alexander R. Bay, Michael Watson, Richard Bowring, Noel John Pinnington, Daniel Gallimore, Robert E. Morrell, Janine Beichman, Adrian Pinnington, Kai Nieminen) [only the opening question here, see archive for full text] 

NIJL symposium + PMJS bonenkai (Michael Watson) 

kanashibari case (Anna Schegoleva, Rolf Giebel) --> start 

Japanese courtliness (Lewis Cook, Michael Watson, Leith Morton, Royall Tyler, James McMullen, Kai Nieminen, Wayne Farris) --> start 

new members (Michael Watson)

Logs made from old list-bot archives. Japanese does not display but will be added later if/when possible. The headers for the

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




Date: Nov 01 2000 00:27:46 EST
From: Michael Watson <mwat...@...dion.ne.jp>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

> Tendai Denshi Butten $BE7BfEE;RJ)E5(J (3000 yen)
The Tendai Research Foundation can be found at
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~namu007/
Follow the links for a list of the sutras included and other information.
Some texts can be downloaded.




Date: Nov 01 2000 10:16:20 EST
From: Karl Friday <kfri...@...hes.uga.edu>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

At PM 05:29 10/31/00 -0500, [Wayne Farris] wrote:

> I'm not much attuned to computer CD-roms, but I believe there is a CD-rom
>version of the invaluable HEIAN IBUN, with index.

Yep, there is. It runs right around 80,000 yen, though, so I didn't pick
it up the last time I was in Japan (I already have the hardcopy version of
that collection anyway). They're (the folks at Shiryo hensanjo) also
working on *Kamakura ibun*, but (according to Kondo Shigekazu) that's not
expected to be finished for another four or five years.

In the meantime, Yoshikawa kobunkan and Shiryo hensanjo just put out a
really nifty CD version of the *Iriki monjo*, containing photos of the
original documents + katsuji transcriptions + Asakawa Kan'ichi's English
translations, all searchable by keyword. I think the price is around
70,000 yen. They also came out with a CD version of *Azuma Kagami* +
*Gokuyo* that includes complete text (all searchable) plus several special
indices for both documents. That one is also about 70,000 yen.

The only caveat to the above-named CDs (besides the price) is that they
only run under the Japanese version of Windows. Kondo Shigekazu told me
that they've made a conscious decision NOT to manufacture them in hybrid
(Mac/Windows) form, because of the extra cost.

Gee, and I remember being laughed at by the people at Shiryo hensanjo just
14 years ago, when I opined that before long we'd see historical sources
available in computer databases. . . .



Date: Nov 01 2000 22:20:17 EST
From: Michael Watson <mwat...@...dion.ne.jp>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

Re Iwanami nihonshi jiten (CD-ROM), Robert Borgen wrote
> Does anyone have any clever ideas on how we can order this from overseas?

Fortunate timing rather than any brilliance on my part, but Amazon's
Japanese site is up and running as of this week. For the CD-ROM, see
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4001301288/
--the number being the ISBN.

Orders can be sent to addresses outside Japan, as one might expect. No price
reductions on Japanese products (not allowed by law), but those of us in
Japan can benefit from free delivery until Dec 30.

Worked well for the searches I tried of Japanese academic books. Browsing by
category ("genre") is also possible. Here, for example, is the url for
nikki/zuihitsu in the category of Japanese classical literature
$BK\!d%8%c%s%k!dJ83X!&HcI>!d8EE5!dF|K\$N8EE5!d8EBe!...@...J83X!dF|5-!&?oI.(J
http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/507474/

All English-language books available from Amazon.com are available here too,
at equivalent yen prices.

Michael Watson



Date: Nov 01 2000 22:07:40 EST
From: Nobumi Iyanaga <n-iya...@....bekkoame.ne.jp>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

Hello,

Tendai CD 1 is an excellent resource for everyone working with Tendai
material (and Chinese and Japanese Buddhism in general). It contains some
very interesting programs (mainly in Perl scripts) for search in texts,
etc., but unfortunately, they are only for Windows. I wrote a web page
about how to use Tendai CD 1 on Mac -- where you will find a package of
scripts that can be used with it (it may contain many bugs...):

http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~n-iyanag/researchTools/tendaicd1suite.html

> One CD-ROM which I don't think has been mentioned thus far and
>which may be of interest to some list members is the Tendai Denshi
>Butten $BE7BfEE;RJ)E5(B (3000 yen) published by the Tendaishuuten
>Hensanjo. Their e-mail address (I haven't tried this myself yet and
>would be interested in hearing from anyone who has whether the CD can
>be ordered for shipment overseas) is LDY03...@...tyserve.or.jp

I think this email address is no longer valid. It should be:

LDY03...@...ty.ne.jp

I think you can order it from abroad. Nomoto-san, who is the editor of
this CD-ROM, is a very kind person.

By the way, Nomoto-san is going to publish another CD-ROM with Tendai texts
very soon.

-------

Another CD-ROM that may be of interest for the PMJS members is the CD-ROM
of Gunsho-ruijuu. I don't have it. The text is given there in graphics --
images of every page of Gunsho-ruijuu (so it is not possible to search in
text, copy it, etc.). It seems that it can be used on Mac also. The price
is 52,500 yens, and sold at Zoku-gunsho-ruijuu kankoo-kai.

Best regards,

Nobumi Iyanaga
Tokyo,
Japan



Headers are misleading from this point. The discussion moves from --> reading Amazon.co.jp --> browsers --> Windows/Mac --> printers



Date: Nov 02 2000 11:04:43 EST
From: David Pollack <poll...@...i.cc.rochester.edu>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

Going to the sites suggested for CD-ROMs, I ran across a bit of a
problem:
http://www.amazon.co.jp shows up with both mojibake AND kana/kanji on
my Mac using OS 8.5 with JLK. I don't appear to get this result with any
other Japanese websites. Does this perhaps happen with sites made for
viewing using Japanese Windows?

David Pollack



Date: Nov 02 2000 12:21:24 EST
From: "Anthony J. Bryant" <ajbry...@...iana.edu>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

I was wondering if it was just me. This happens there on Netscape, but if I
switch to MSbrowser, it comes out perfectly clearly. That's very annoying,
as I *hate* MSbrowser. I'm using OS9 on a G4.

This is the only Japanese site that I have this problem with; does anyone
else get mojibake, too?

Tony


The thread concerning Amazon.co.jp has been shortened, omitting some of the "me too" messages. Various pmjs members worked out the reason it was inaccessible to some users: poor web authoring. Several of us us pointed out the bug to Amazon.co.jp and the problem was resolved.



Date: Nov 02 2000 12:49 PM -0800
From: Charo B. D'Etcheverry
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

It works fine with Internet Explorer on my OS 9 I-Mac!

I had the same problem as others with Netscape. I wrote to techh...@...zon.co.jp a short while ago to see what kind of response I'd
get. I would urge others to write, too.

It's hard to believe they didn't check the pages out in Netscape, but perhaps they only did it under a fully Japanese system instead of English OS with Japanese support. Does anyone using a fully Japanese Mac have the same problem in Netscape?



Date: Nov 02 2000 15:57:25 EST
From: Matthew Stavros <mstav...@...nceton.EDU>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

I am admittedly an odd one in that I have never used the English
version of Mac OS, I will take this question! As a result, I have never
experienced the language problems so many of those around me do. In fact,
I have experienced none!!
It always surprises me (not meaning to chide) how many people are
reluctant to make the jump to a fully Japanese OS environment. Really,
nothing much changes. Just the display words - and many of these are in
katakana English anyway. The upside is that you never, ever have to worry
about anything Japanese being incompatible. Nothing ever becomes bake-moji.
And, what's more, all original English software works just fine. Perfectly!
Perhaps the best thing of all is the fact that you can use advanced
character entry software such as ATOK 13 and Twin Bridge, to do things like
character recognition, integrated Kanji dictionary searches, etc. (anyone
using Kotoeri really needs to discover this entirely different world).

I have heard that English OS 9 has fixed many language-problems on the Mac.
Of course this is good news. I would nevertheless encourage anyone who does
not have a problem reading Japanese, to seriously consider installing a
Japanese operating system. Perhaps you could start by partitioning your
hard drive and using alternate systems if you are not entirely confident. I
wish you luck and am very willing to answer any Mac related questions off
list if you would like (not to usurp our fearless leader,
Michael-the-Mac-master, from his position of assured superior knowledge).

Sincerely,
Matthew Stavros
(convicted Mac felon)



Date: Nov 02 2000 16:05:56 EST
From: Morgan Pitelka <mpite...@...nceton.edu>
Subject: reading Amazon.co.jp

The situation described by David Pollack and Tony Bryant, which I have also
experienced, is very similar to what happened a few years ago with Java
code (the programming language used to make all the fancy stuff happen on
the internet). There was a standard form of Java that was supposed to be
cross platform (used by all programmers and software developers, Mac or
Windows), but then Microsoft added a bunch of "special features" to their
version of Java and their web browser, Internet Explorer. Programmers
responded by building sites aimed at Internet Explorer, and the result was
that computers running the "standard" version of Java (such as was found
on Netscape) crashed when they visited those sites.

On my computer, which has a Japanese operating system, I get lots of
garbled characters on the Amazon.co.jp site when I use Netscape 4.7. But
when I use Internet Explorer, everything works fine. The same thing happens
on many other Japanese sites. I believe this is because Microsoft is
encouraging the use of Internet-Explorer-only language encoding.

I know that criticism of Microsoft is so ubiquitous that it can be a bit
tiresome, but this is really a loathsome way of conducting business.

If you are a Netscape fan, the only real solution is to have an updated
version of both browsers on your computer. Switch when you need to. It is
easy to import all your bookmarks from Netscape from time to time to keep
things current. The fact that so many CD-Roms are only available for
windows makes me want to follow Michael's example and get a used Windows
laptop just for that purpose . . .

Morgan

(To continue complaining, I must say that Netscape long ago lost whatever
independent, underdog integrity it might once have had, in my opinion. When
I downloaded and installed the most recent version, it automatically
installed all kinds of AOL extensions and basically signed me up for AOL
service without checking with me first, and it took a long time to get
things back to normal. Beware.)



Date: Nov 02 2000 16:09:19 EST
From: Robert Khan <rok...@...l.utexas.edu>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

I found that selecting 'Use my fonts' in the Appearance/Fonts
section of Netscape's Preferences menu solved this problem.

It may be that the Amazon page uses fonts that Netscape does not
substitute for.

Best wishes,

Robert Omar Khan




Date: Nov 02 2000 21:10:36 EST
From: "John R. Bentley" <jbentl...@....edu>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

Since the thread seems to have digressed to being able to read Japanese,
let me say that I now use Windows 2000 and have found it to be almost
everything I had ever wanted. So for those who don't or can't get a Japanese
OS, I'd recommend W2K.

> As a MAC-user OS.9 on a G4, I can report the same experiences. My question
> is, what is the situation with Windows 2000? Can you use Netscape or must
> you use Explorer to access Japanese sites? What about using Japanese windows,
> is it as easy to run English-language programs on it as it is on a MAC?
>

Since I already exposed myself by confessing to using Windows 2000, I guess
I should respond.

I use both Netscape and Explorer on my computer with W2K. To read Japanese
web pages I apparently have to use Explorer. W2K is really wired to work with
only MS software. That is one drawback, but if you are tech-savvy enough,
you can get the OS to use other things. I had to have the tech person in our
college come over and convince W2K to let me use Netscape as my primary
browser.

John Bentley



Date: Nov 02 2000 21:55:14 EST
From: Peter Hendriks <Peter.Hendr...@....edu.au>
Subject: teaching bungo

Dear gentle readers,

Apropos of the recent discussion on the teaching of bungo, readers of this
mailing list might be interested in the following article, if they have not
seen it already.

$BN)>>4n5W;R!!!VJ88lJ8K!$r65$($k309q?M>e5i<T$N$?$a$N8EE5F~Lg<x6H!W!!(B
in the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies kiyo, Vol 23. pp 1-24.

Sincerely,

Peter Hendriks



Date: Nov 03 2000 01:31:53 EST
From: Mary Louise Nagata <MLNag...@...puserve.com>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

I use a Japanese PC with Windows95 (yes, I know that I should upgrade
soon, but not just yet) and a US MAC G3. I use this combination because I
found that although the MAC is certainly capable of reading anything from
my PC, it won't connect to Japanese printers in Japan and I often get
screen freezes if I do too much technical analysis using Exel files that
contain Japanese characters. On the other hand, the Japanese PC (Panasonic
Let's Note) won't connect to western (European or American) printers and
files from the Japanese versions of Windows95 and Office 97 could not in
the past be opened by western versions of the same. This made life rather
difficult for a while since I live part time in Europe and part time in
Japan. My present combination works pretty well, but I would like to know
if Windows 2000 has solved this compatibility problem. I must admit that I
haven't had much luck with using a browser on my MAC either.

Mary Louise Nagata



Date: Nov 03 2000 01:40:15 EST
From: Mary Louise Nagata <MLNag...@...puserve.com>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

Regarding use of the Japanese Mac OS, I used to have one of those, but I
had many problems when I moved to Europe in that I could not connect a
locally bought printer to my computer and I could not transfer files to a
local printer by way of fd to print out. The only solution would be to
send files to my husband by way of e-mail attachment and print out from
there. So, converting to a Japanese OS is not necessarily a good solution
if you are not living in Japan. The voltage differences in the European
environment also mean that I cannot realitically bring a Japanese printer
here to use. I tried, but it went up in smoke about 30 seconds after my
converter did.

Mary Louise Nagata




Date: Nov 03 2000 02:14:29 EST 

From: Morgan Pitelka <mpite...@...nceton.edu> 

Subject: Japanese OS; Mac vs. Windows conciliation


Dear All,

This message is in response to Matthew's query about why everyone doesn't
switch to a Japanese operating system, and also on the general primacy of
Windows. If these technical topics are not of interest, please delete!

Although I enjoy using a Japanese operating system (OS), there are many
reasons not to go all Japanese if you live in an English-speaking country.

One major reason is that the computer is sometimes a family appliance and
not the sole property of the scholar who speaks Japanese. In my little
family, for instance, we will probably get a desktop at some point in the
not too distant future, and hopefully divide the hard drive into two
separate systems, one English, one Japanese. But on computers with small
hard drives, that is not an option.

Having a Japanese OS can also cause problems if your computer is networked
in any way. A lot of people have office computers for which the system
software is all installed and controlled by the university tech people, who
are inevitably Japanese-illiterate. People with Japanese OS might have
problems printing and doing other key functions on a small office network.
This was the case when I was studying at the Freer and Sackler Galleries -
all the curators, specialists in Asia, couldn't use any Asian languages on
their computers because of some executive decision made at the top of the
Smithsonian Institution. This may have changed by now, but I think it is
still true at many universities and museums.

Another problem is that if you don't actually live in Japan, and don't
travel there every year (which is of course a real luxury), then it can be
quite difficult buying new software. More and more things can be downloaded
from the web, but traditionally the big important programs had to be bought
on disk or CD format. If you suddenly need a new piece of software for a
project and the closest place that carries it is in Tokyo, you are stuffed.

Yet another issue is that there are some incompatibilities in terms of
hardware, surprising as this may sound. If, for example, you buy a computer
with a DVD drive in Japan, you can't play DVDs produced and sold in
Europe. They are (at least at present) region specific. If you have a
motherboard made in America, some Apple repair places won't fix it in
Japan, and vice versa.

Ultimately one of the biggest problems is that if all your applications are
in Japanese, you cannot get support in the States.

For all these reasons, I would advise caution to anyone contemplating a
move to a Japanese OS.

On a different subject, I think it is important to acknowledge that more
and more, Windows is the operating system of choice in Japan. Every month I
read about some new database or application that is available only for
Windows computers, often in an area of great interest to me. Also, Windows
is making great strides towards becoming a truly multilingual platform,
despite the many problems there were in previous versions. If anyone is
thinking seriously about buying a new computer, a Windows machine is
probably the way to go. Mac users (like me and Matthew) are loud and proud,
but statistically a very small minority. Life is often much easier with a
Windows computer.

Morgan



Date: Nov 03 2000 04:46:47 EST
From: Michael Watson <mwat...@...dion.ne.jp>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

Technical issues need a periodic airing here. I hope the discussion has not
tired anyone's patience. Here is an excellent resource for those wanting to
know to do more with their computer in research/teaching:

"Dennou kokubungaku: internet de hirogaru koten no sekai"
$BEEG>9qJ83X!!%$%s%?!<%M%C%H$G9-$,$k8EE...@...(J
is the name of a useful book with accompanying CD-ROM produced by the
Japanese Association of East Asian Text Processing =
Kanji bunken joho shori kenkyukai $B4A;zJ88%>pJs=hM}8&5f2q(J
It addresses well the needs of basic, intermediate and advanced users, with
sections on dozens of subjects, from how to search databases of secondary
literature to how to produce family-trees on the computer. A detailed table
of contents and more can be found on the Association's website at
http://www.jaet.gr.jp/denkoku/index.html
2,850 yen + tax. ISBN 4-87220-023-3

The CD-ROM contains a wealth of electronic texts as well as free and
shareware software for Windows. The font sects of Konjaku Mojikyo are all
contained here. Much of this material is downloadable, but it is much easier
to have it all in one place.

Not stocked by Amazon, but available at
http://www.bk1.co.jp/
who do ship overseas, it seems.

Many thanks to Shigeki Moro <m...@...sakura.ne.jp> on this list for sending
me a copy. He has an article in the Association's new journal on:
"Practical Use of XML in Buddhist Studies: Construction of the ID Retrieval
System for the Indian and Buddhist Studies Treatise Database (INBUDS)".

P.S. Let me congratulate Robert Khan for his correct diagnosis and
work-around of the Netscape problem. Users of Japanese Netscape will have
the same problem and can solve it in the same way: the equivalent for font
Preference "Use my fonts" is
$B%Z!<%8;XDj$N%U%)%s%H$rL5;k$7$...@...$N%U%)%s%H$r;HMQ(J
under henshuu menu --> settei --> font. I have also written to Amazon's
technical staff to point out the problems experienced (<font
face=verdana,arial,helvetica> causes the problem, I believe).

Michael Watson 



Date: Nov 03 2000 08:22:09 EST
From: "Philip C. Brown" <brown....@....edu>
Subject: Premodern sources on CD ROM

I have several observations regarding the discussion of OS's and printers.

First, I'm puzzled by Mary's problems with PC and printer. When I purchase
a printer, I never do so without being sure that there are appropriate
drivers for handling Japanese. In practice, I have settled on HP printers,
which should also work with at least some Macs as I understand it. In
traveling back and forth to Japan, I take an HP inkjet 300 portable that
easily fits in a suitcase if I don't want to take it with me on the plane.
In the case of the printer purchased by my department, also an HP, I was
able to set it up to print Japanese after contacting the Manufacturer and
consulting on a driver. I suspect that for both the PC and Mac, consulting
with the printer and/or computer manufacturer would result in identification
of appropriate drivers for the printers she has available. It may be that
drivers would have to be re-installed depending on where she was working,
but that is a lot cheaper than having a second computer.

Second, while similar things have been mentioned here before, it is worth
repeating that for Wintel machines, installation of multiple OSs may be the
best solution to a number of problems. Windows 2000 is not fully
"bi-lingual." It will not show return addresses or subject lines written in
Japanese in a mail index, its implementation of Japanese fonts for reading
WEB pages is flawed (maybe the suggestions here for dealing with Amazon
Japan will solve that problem, however), but most seriously, it will not run
Japanese language software. Windows 2000 will also not run a number of
programs designed for Windows 98. A number of manufacturers of such
software have no present plans for W2K versions. Finally, there are rare
instances in which an English program will not run on the Japanese versions
of W98 or W2K. I have found W98 (J and E versions) to be very unstable. To
deal with all of these problems I now have 3 operating systems on the
machines I use most: W2K J and E plus W98 J. Use of Partition Magic and
Boot Magic software (bundled together) have been flawless and stable. I
work mostly on W2K-Japanese because of its stability and flexibility, and I
use the others as needed.

Third, while some of the issues of service and software acquisition
mentioned by Morgan are worth thinking about, there are a number of places
in the US that sell Japanese software in the US. Unitrendix
(http://www.unitrendix.com/) in California is the distributor for Japanese
Microsoft products. They provide support for the products they market.
Many other retailers also sell Japanese language software on line, even in
places away from the coasts and Chicago. These outfits will generally stay
with the mainline software, so if you have special needs you still need to
find a way to get materials from Japan, but the situation is improving, at
least in the US.

Philip C. Brown



Date: Nov 03 2000 09:09:13 EST
From: "Philip C. Brown" <brown....@....edu>
Subject: Computers/printers: addendum

My apologies for not changing the subject header on my last post. In
addition, there is another error. In the first paragraph, instead of
"computer manufacturer" I should have said "OS manufacturer." Microsoft
(and I presume, Mac) is constantly updating driver files which are usually
available on line for free download.

Philip C. Brown



Date: Nov 03 2000 09:53:23 EST
From: Nobumi Iyanaga <n-iya...@....bekkoame.ne.jp>
Subject: Amazon.co.jp bug [was Re: [pmjs] Premodern sources on CD ROM]

Dear members using Netscape 4.7 on Mac...

I had the same experience. And I found the reason: there is simply a very
silly bug in the HTML source code in the Amazon.co.jp pages: they specify
fonts which are not Japanese fonts:

<font face=verdana,arial,helvetica size=-2>....</font>

etc. This is probably due to a bug of some HTML editor (perhaps a MS
editor...??). Anyway, this is why there are mojibake, and this is why it
is fixed if you use "My fonts" in the preferences.

So it is neither a bug in Netscape nor in Mac OS...

Best regards,

Nobumi Iyanaga



Date: Nov 03 2000 10:42:13 EST
From: Nobumi Iyanaga <n-iya...@....bekkoame.ne.jp>
Subject: Mojikyo fonts for Mac in Nikkei Mac CD-ROM

Hello,

For those members using Mac machines and living in Japan, I would like to
let you know that the current issue (November 2000) of computer magazine
named "Nikkei Mac" contains a CD-ROM in which you will find all the Mojikyo
fonts and related files for Mac. It is much easier to buy that volume than
to download all the fonts, etc.

I hope you will find these fonts useful.

On the other hand, a new service named "Mojikyo Web" has begun from
November first, at
http://www.mojikyo.com/

This privides the same searching facilities as the Commercial Mojikyo
program in web -- and can be used by Mac and Windows users. It is charged
differently -- you can use for example 2000 times this web site for 2 years
for 12,000 yen.

Best regards,

Nobumi Iyanaga
Tokyo,
Japan

P.S. I will post the same information to the list Budschol and the Nisus-Hub list.



Date: Nov 04 2000 00:05:41 EST
From: "Steven G. Nelson" <snel...@...a.ac.jp>
Subject: Help with Saigyoo poems

PMJS members,

I am in Japan working on an urgent translation of notes written by the
composer KANNO Yoshihiro about a piece of his employing eighteen waka poems
that Saigyoo (excuse the doubled vowel!) wrote while on pilgrimage to the
Oomine mountain range (Oomine shugyoo no uta $BBgJv=$9T$N2N(J). I don't think
that I am mistaken in believing that translations of them may be given in H.
H. Honda's _The Sanka Shu_ (Tokyo: Hokuseido Press, 1971), but unfortunately
this source is not to be found anywhere in my vicinity. Though I have found
two or three of the poems in other collections, I would ideally like to
include translations of all of them. Though I have the inclination, time is
pressing ...

Can anybody help? Does anyone have any unpublished (or published)
translations that could be credited and paid for properly by the publisher?
Or easy access to the Honda translations?

Steven Nelson

A PS on technical matters: The Japanese system (Mac OS J1-9.0.4) on my
Powerbook was not received very well when I needed technical assistance in
Australia on a recent trip there. Technicians refused to say or do anything
once they found out that it was Japanese, and I found myself cursing my
honesty!

Research Centre for Japanese Traditional Music
Kyoto City University of Arts
13-6 Ooe Kutsukakechoo, Nishikyooku
Kyooto-shi 610-1197



Date: Nov 04 2000 02:19:17 EST
From: Matthew Stavros <mstav...@...nceton.EDU>
Subject: Help with Saigyoo poems

Dear Mr. Nelson,

I have a copy of H.H. Honda's translation of Sanka-shu sitting right here
on my shelf. Do you need it? I can certainly scan any necessary pages for
you. Please let me know.

Matthew Stavros



Date: Nov 04 2000 03:44:46 EST
From: Royall.Ty...@....edu.au (Royall Tyler)
Subject: Help with Saigyoo poems

The person to contact is
Meridith.McKin...@....edu.au
Meredith is an accomplished translator and specialist on Saigyo.

Royall Tyler



Date: Nov 04 2000 06:22:51 EST
From: "Michael Watson" <mwat...@...dion.ne.jp>
Subject: Scattered leaves

Searching my waka shelf in a vain attempt to track down other translations
of the Saigyo poems Steven Nelson wanted, I was reminded of a problem that
others must face: many good translations are included in anthologies which
do not identify poems by numbers. When a romanized text is not included, it
is a real guessing game, as in the case of the sixty-four tanka by Saigyo
translated by Burton Watson in _From the Country of Eight Islands_. Many
years ago I attempted to identify early poems in the Penguin Book of
Japanese Verse, writing the number in the margin. Does anyone else have such
marginalia? It would be easy enough to pool such information off list and
put it up on a web page, perhaps with romanized text as well. Puzzles can be
put to the list readership...

Michael Watson



Date: Nov 04 2000 10:15:13 EST
From: Lawrence Marceau <lmarc...@...l.Edu>
Subject: Help with Saigyoo poems

Steven,

You should be able to find a copy of Honda's translation of _Sanka-shu*_ in
the Japan Foundation Kyoto Office's library. I'd be surprised if they don't
have it.

Just so you don't waste time looking, Burton Watson's _Saigyo*: Poems of a
Mountain Home_ (Columbia UP, 1991) only includes one of the O*mine pilgrimage
poems. In this work Watson includes Sanka-shu* volume and poem numbers, as well
as references to other collections. However, there is no finding list or index.

The poem (SKS 3: 1118)is translated on page 165 as follows:

(Headnote) I paid reverence to the Three-Tiered Waterfall. It was particularly
awesome and I felt that all my sins of the three types of karma must be wiped
away.

Heaped on my body Mi ni tsumoru
sins of words too kotoba no tsumi mo
are washed away, arawarete
my mind made spotless kokoro suminuru
by the Three-Tiered Waterfall mikasane no taki

L. Marceau



Date: Nov 04 2000 10:38:54 EST
From: Michael Watson <mwat...@...dion.ne.jp>
Subject: Cheating in Asian Studies

Some of you who take other lists will have seen Philip Brown's notice
concerning the site where students can purchase papers on dozens of Japanese
topics. Morgan Pitelka raised the alert originally, and I append his
description below, but I thought it would interest this list to know what
such papers are like.

I logged on to www.asianstudiespapers.com, pretended to be a interested
buyer and asked for a sample of "pillowb.wps" -- a paper on Makura no Soshi.
Here is the one page sample. The whole paper costs would-be-plagiarists
$125. Be warned...

> Shonagonis The Pillow Book as
> a reflection of Japanese History
> by Kathie EasteroApril, 1998
> Every so often, a work of prose survives into another
> age which acts like a mirror through which one can look
> back into history and appreciate the intricacies of daily
> life from long ago. What makes these works so special is
> that they are written from the viewpoint of someone who
> actually lived during that time.
> Sei Shonagon's book, The Pillow Book is just such a
> work as it dates from medieval Japan. Just as Samuel
> Pepysi diary allows the modern reader a look at
> seventeenth-century London, the work of Sei Shonagon in
> her Pillow Book gives a fascinating account of the
> cultural, political, economic and social perspectives of
> Japan as it was a thousand years ago.
> Through more then three hundred entries, Sei Shonagon
> provides the modern student with a collection of
> anecdotes, reflections, aesthetic assessments and accounts
> of courtly life in the tenth-century which provide
> incredible insight into this period. Her accounts include
> details of ceremonies, intrigues and courtly politics.
> These are all displayed with a sharp wit, expressiveness,
> and a winsome spontaneity.
> Shonagon is generally acknowledged to be one of the
> greatest prose writers in the long history of Japanese
> literature, and the work stands alone as a work of art,
> but this paper will endeavor to show how it can also be
> used as a means to understanding the Heian period of
> Japanese history.
> Biographical detail
> Shonagon was born around a thousand years ago.
> Scholars have pinpointed 965 as the likely year. During
> the last decade of the tenth century, she served as a
> lady-in-waiting to the Empress Sadako. She came from the
> Kiyowara clan, and her father, who worked as a provincial
> official, was better known as a scholar and a poet.

Here is Morgan Pitelka's original message. Apologies for cross-posting.

As many of you may be aware, there are now many websites devoted
specifically to commodified cheating, aimed at both high school and
university students. "Buypapers.com," "Researchpapers.net," and
"GetAPaper.com" are just a few examples of sites where students can
purchase term papers.

This trend has now extended to our field, as was perhaps inevitable. I
recently was horrified to learn of the existence the website
http://www.asianstudiespapers.com <http://www.asianstudiespapers.com>

At this site, students can purchase papers of varying lengths on a number
of topics. There are hundreds of papers on China, Japan, Korea, and Asia as
a region, in every imaginable field.

They are quite expensive at $8.95 _per page_, which puts them out of reach
for all but the most desperate or wealthy students.

I would recommend that all teachers peruse this site and familiarize
themselves with the papers in the relevant subject area. (It is clear from
reading the paper descriptions that many of the papers are not very good,
though some sound quite acceptable for an introductory-level class.)

Here are a few examples of Japan-related papers for sale (there are many
more):
__________________________________

Occupied Japan
[ send me this paper ]
The rapid economic growth of Japan after the end of World War II can be
attributed, to a large degree, to the influence of American business ideals
and the
financial backing to allow Japanese industry to enter into the
technological age.
This 2 page paper briefly examines the effect of the American occupation of
Japan on their postwar economy. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Filename: KTocupid.wps

Shonagon's 'The Pillow Book' / A Reflection Of Japanese History
[ send me this paper ]
A 14 page research paper on this work by a tenth-century Japanese woman who
served as a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court. The writer demonstrates
how
Sie Shonagon's collection of anecdotes, reflections, aesthetic assessments
and
accounts of courtly life provide a window into life in medieval Japan.
Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: Pillowb.wps

Street Crime in Japan and the United States
[ send me this paper ]
This 6 page paper examines crime in Japan and the United States, citing
opinions from sociologists as well looking at how media has portrayed crime
in
each nation. Reasons for crime are examined and the two countries are
compared and contrasted in respect to street crime. Bibliography lists 10
sources.
Filename: SA018Jap.wps

The Bombing of Pearl Harbor: A Japanese Mistake
[ send me this paper ]
A 14 page overview of the events leading up to the Japanese bombing of
Pearly
Harbor and the long term response of the United States. By bombing Pearl
Harbor the Japanese invoked not only the military might of the United
States but
also her political and economic power. That one act would ensure both the
overt
and the covert hostilities of the United States for the next six decades.
Pearl
Harbor ensured Japan's defeat militarily, politically, and economically.
Although she eventually overcame the economic, and indeed even the
political,
annoyances hurled by the United States, the United States proved to be the
most
formidable enemy Japan ever faced. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Filename: PPwwIIJp.wps

The Changing Status of Japanese Women
[ send me this paper ]
This 19 page research paper examines the role of Japanese women in their
society and how that role has changed since the conclusion of World War II.
Article 14 of the Japanese constitution was a major landmark in helping to
improve conditions for women and various other laws & events have helped to
increase women's participation rights..yet Japanese society still clings to
tradition in several key respects.. Bibliography lists 15 comprehensive
sources.
Filename: Japane1.wps

The Emperors of China and Japan
[ send me this paper ]
This 9 page paper considers the different roles of the emperors of China and
Japan in promoting or inhibiting programs for political and social change.
This
paper looks at the period between the mid-19th century through the end of
World War II and considers the different culture/ideological elements in the
societies of China and Japan in order to consider the function of the
emperors in
both of these countries. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Filename: MHchijap.wps

Michael Watson



Date: Nov 04 2000 14:38:09 EST
From: Rose Bundy <bu...@...o.edu>
Subject: Help with Saigyoo poems

Perhaps this has already been said, but I would not rely on H. Honda's
translations at all. You would do better looking for an annotated Jse text of
the Sankashû, if no English translations are available.

Rose Bundy



Date: Nov 05 2000 02:23:48 EST
From: Matthew Stavros <mstav...@...nceton.EDU>
Subject: Online Japanese Bookstores.

Dear Members,

Perhaps many of you know about this but I wanted to post one more good
online Japanese bookstore.

http://www.jbook.co.jp/

According to their FAQs section, they are planning to begin international
shipment in the "winter of 2000." I'm assuming they mean the winter 2000
about to begin and not the one that passed last January and February (also
arguably winter 2000)! Ha ha.

Hope this is a good.

Best to you all.

MGS



Date: Nov 05 2000 06:20:05 EST
From: "Mark Hall" <markh...@....com>
Subject: Niigata Prefectural Museum web pages updated

Hi folks,

Over the last few weeks, I have updated and revamped the Niigata Prefectural
Museum's English web pages (www.nbz.or.jp/eng ). In particularly, I have
added a section entitled Archaeological and Historical news
(www.nbz.or.jp/eng/archhistnews.htm ) that contains and abstracts of
articles and summaries of newspaper reports. Right now, there is a large
amount of Jomon, Yayoi and Kofun stuff. Got work more on the other time
periods. Please feel free to leave your comments on our message board at:

www.nbz.or.jp/scripts/wwwboard/index.html

Thanks and best, Mark Hall



Date: Nov 05 2000 22:59:44 EST
From: Hideyuki Morimoto <hmori...@...rary.berkeley.edu>
Subject: teaching bungo

While this journal title (ISSN 0388-2489) may not yet be available in the
web format, the print copies are widely held in North America. The Union
List of Japanese Serials and Newspapers revised on 30 September 2000
accessible to the general public (URL:
http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/uljsn/default.html) lists eight holding
libraries in North America of this print journal title. Due to
differences in cataloging conventions and their actual application between
libraries in Japan and those in North America, however, this journal title
is not entered, in WorldCat, under Inter-University Center for Japanese
Language Studies kiyo, but under two other separate entries:

Kiy(macron)o (Inter-University Center for Japanese Language
Studies)
(for the first issue onward, with unknown publication
status)
(OCLC #7427842; LCCN 81-641745); and

Amerika Kanada Daigaku Reng(macron)o Nihon Kenky(macron)u
Sent(macron)a kiy(macron)o
(for issue 10 (1987) onward, with currently published
status)
(OCLC #42859978)

With both of these OCLC numbers and ISSN (0388-2489), together with the
numerical/chronological designation and pagination range information,
document delivery office personnel within North American libraries should
be able to make necessary arrangements for procurement of a copy of the
article for directly affiliated patrons of institutions where no
subscription to the journal title is maintained.

Hideyuki Morimoto



Date: Nov 06 2000 16:08:02 EST
From: Roberta Strippoli <rober...@...nford.EDU>
Subject: Cheating in Asian Studies

Hello everybody,

The website http://www.plagiarism.org provides a service for spotting
plagiarism as well as information about cheating in general. The
"articles" page contains (together with newspaper articles about this
service) guidelines to what, according to them, constitutes
plagiarism. You can read the articles and other materials, but need
to register before using the anti-plagiarism software. They let you
do a free trial with up to four papers, though. Very interesting.

Roberta



Date: Nov 07 2000 00:49:57 EST
From: Royall.Ty...@....edu.au (Royall Tyler)
Subject: Bungo texts

It seems ages since I offered to put some bungo texts (the beginnings of som
e famous works, plus some interesting, more recent documents) I have used up
on the web. I have let the matter sit since then because I quickly realized
there was a problem with furigana. All my original files were in EGWORD LIT
E 3.0, which even EGWORD 5.0 (most mysteriously) cannot read. But of course
in any other program the furigana just get run into the main text, and that
seemed a shame. There is no help for it, though. So I have converted all t
he files to Microsoft Word 98-J, and I am sending them at the same time as t
his message to MacMaster Michael, for him to put them up where people can ge
t at them if they like. Users will have to restore or delete the furigana t
hemselves, except for a couple I think I actually did (andn the realized I j
ust couldn't do them all).

Here is the list:
01 1941 oboegaki
01a 1941 oboegaki word list
02 Nihon shoki
02a Nihon shoki word list
03 Kokinshu preface
03a Kokinshu word list
04 Wakanashu
04a Wakanashu word list
05 Ise monogatari
05a Ise monogatari word list
06 Makura no soshi
06a Makura no soshi word list
07 Genji
07a Genji word list
08 Hojoki
08a Hojoki word list
09 Heike
09a Heike word list
10 Oku no hosomichi
10a Oku no hosomichi word list
11 Uchiharai rei
11a Uchiharai rei word list
12 Chohei kokuyu
12a Chohei kokuyu word list
13 Kyoiku chokugo
13a Kyoiku chokugo word list

Royall Tyler




Most of the url mentioned in the following message still work, but note that the latest, edited versions of Royall Tyler's files are now to be found here:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/bungo/



Date: Nov 10 2000 01:03:26 EST
From: Michael Watson
Subject: Bungo texts

Many thanks to Royall Tyler for his generosity in sharing his "sampler" of
texts and vocabulary lists with us. They now available online. here will
eventually be a "resources" web page with explanations and links, but for
now see the documents can be downloaded from:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/rtv1/

They are in Microsoft Word format. Apart from adding ".doc" for the benefit
of Windows users, I have not changed them in any way. They should be
readable with recent Mac/Win versions of Microsoft Word. Let me know if
there are problems.

This is very much a beta version--I hope that volunteers will now step
forward and do some light editing. In converting from their original format,
Royall found that the furigana was not lost (as it sometimes is in
conversion) but "run into the main text"--e.g. the kanji for "sore" is
followed by the kana so-re. Royall has returned one text to its original
glory, with full rubi, in the case of one file:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/rtv1/01 1941 oboegaki.doc

With a bit of team effort, we can do the same with the remaining texts. Just
tell the list "I'll undertake to edit the [Nihon shoki]" text and get to
work. It would be nice to have two versions: one without any furigana, and
one with the rubi possible in Microsoft Word. Then send the two edited files
to me off list <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp> and I'll put them up on the
site.

Editors will of course need to decide about okurigana--how much or little to
include. And one piece of technical advice: it is really worth assigning a
shortcut key for the "rubi..." command (look for freeware/shareware shortcut
programs, I use the commercial QuicKeys for Mac).

Some of you may have missed Royall's earlier explanation about his choice of
texts for a class on classical Japanese:

> I thought the beginning of famous works might be fun to do, since they are
> often so particularly famous anyway. But lest anyone suppose that CJ is
> exclusively antique, I started with extracts from the December 7, 1941
> Japanese memorandum to the US Gov't, the one that amounted to a declaration
> of war, after Pearl Harbor; the subject was too solemn to put in modern
> Japanese. Then the opening passages of Nihon shoki (an odd one, I agree,
> but good fun); Kokinshu kana preface, with the opening of Shimazaki Toson's
> Wakanashu preface for compare and contrast; first Ise passages; Pillow
> Book; Genji; Hojoki; Heike; Oku no hosomichi; and back to stuff like Kyoiku
> Chokugo to Chohei Kokuyu.

The best way to show our gratitude to Royall is to tidy up these texts to
make them available to teachers and students everywhere.

Michael Watson



Date: Nov 10 2000 01:03:27 EST
From: Michael Watson <mwat...@...dion.ne.jp>
Subject: Hobogirin fonts with macrons

And many thanks to William Londo in Michigan for sending Hobogirin fonts for
both Windows and Mac platforms. The Hobogirin Institute in Kyoto produced
these fonts for use in producing their historical dictionary. The keyboard
is "remapped" so that macrons can easily be typed, and there is a full range
of other diacritical marks needed for writing words from Sanskrit, Korean,
and so on.

I have made the fonts available on the pmjs site. Eventually I'll add
explanation and links from a "resources" web page. Now now the fonts can be
downloaded from
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/fonts/
Before you click, check your platform:

The "family" of Mac fonts (plain, bold, italic) comes in self-opening
Stuffit format (Hobogirin.fam.sit). Download, double-click to unstuff, then
install by dropping the folder into "Fonts" (inside "System").

The Windows version is in a self-extracting zip file (Hobogirin.exe). See
http://www.microsoft.com/truetype/ttfinst/ttfinst.htm
http://www.buyfonts.com/installtt.htm
for instructions on drag/drop installation.

Mac users should check KeyCaps for key combinations. Macron o/u are
opt+shift+o
opt+shift+u
or if capital O/U, option+/ (slash) and option+shift+; (semi-colon).

Windows users can assign their own shortcut using charmap.

Test them out and see how they work. I'd like to know how. Many thanks to
Bill Londo who converted these fonts for our use. He says that he believes
that we can use them "pretty much without restriction" though of course full
credit is due to the Hobogirin institute.

For more about the institute see the entry in Urs App's
Buddhist Databases and Input Projects
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/iriz/irizhtml/ebti/buddinpe.htm

Michael Watson



Date: Nov 10 2000 12:15:44 EST
From: mark...@...k.edu
Subject: Hobogirin fonts with macrons

Having been trained onto Linux -- which is also very good in its multi-lingual
support -- I wonder if some of the interesting resources are available as
source code? I understand that standard C/C++ code, Perl scripts, Lisp
programs, Postscript code could often easily be recompiled so that I could
then use them in what I want to do (mainly with music and text).

Elizabeth

Dr. Elizabeth J. Markham,
Research Professor of Ethnomusicology
J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
University of Arkansas



Date: Nov 15 2000 06:20:54 EST
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: new members

We welcome three new members. With comings and goings, we now number 228.

Monika Dix <monika...@...mail.com>

First-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Asian Studies at the
University of British Columbia. My area of research is Buddhist Art of the
Kamakura period.

Gregory P. Levine <gplev...@...ink4.berkeley.edu>

I teach in the Dept. of History of Art at the University of California at
Berkeley. My research focuses on premodern Buddhist art and architecture in
Japan, specifically the visual culture of the Zen Buddhist monastery
Daitokuji in Kyoto.

Publications:
"Jukoin: Art, Architecture, and Mortuary Culture at a Japanese Zen Buddhist
Temple." Ph.D. diss., Princeton Univ., 1997.

Review: Joseph Parker, Zen Buddhist Landscape Arts of Early Muromachi Japan
(1336-1573). Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. Journal of
Asian Studies 58/4 (Nov. 1999):1150-1153.

"Switching Sites and Identities: The Founder's Statue at the Japanese Zen
Buddhist Temple Korin'in." The Art Bulletin. (Forthcoming, Mar. 2001)

Elizabeth Leicester <el...@...a.edu>

I am a doctoral candidate in Japanese history at UCLA, working with Herman
Ooms. My dissertation has the tentative title, "Underclass Prostitution in
Tokugawa Japan: Sexual Economy, Political Discourse, Social Practice." The
chapter on which I am currently working looks at the establishment of an
official pleasure quarter in 1820 Kanazawa as part of the fiscal reforms of
Kaga domain. Using commentaries from various sectors, including the
Confucian scholar of political economy, Kaiho Seiryo, I look at how
prostitution and the sexuality of lower class women were discussed in the
political arena, and what ramifications this discourse had for policy and
practice.

I am co-translator of "Solitary Thoughts" (Hitori kangae, 1817), by Tadano
Makuzu, which is forthcoming in the Spring issue of Monumenta Nipponica.
This translation was a group effort, two years and many wonderful potluck
lunches in the making, with Janet Goodwin, Bettina Gramlich-Oka, Yuki
Terazawa, and Anne Walthall. The translation was a very interesting
experience in communal scholarship which I look forward to discussing at
some later time.



Date: Nov 15 2000 08:27:39 EST
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: archives

One other editorial note. I have just learnt from list owner's page that

> In order to make the ListBot system more efficient, starting Dec. 14, 2000, we
> will be deleting all archived messages older than one year old. From Dec. 14th
> onward, messages older than one year will be deleted on a monthly basis.

As I have only been editing selected "threads" for the open archives,
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/archives.html
this means some of our older discussions will be deleted from
http://pmjs.listbot.com
I'll investigate ways and means of storing old messages on a
password-protected site. At the same time I'll try make sure that texts of
messages can be searched more easily. The present ListBot archives offer
only a bare-bones service (date - subject).

(This reminds me. Some of you may not have discovered the excellent search
page for the archive of H-JAPAN and its other H-NET cousins.
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/logsearch/
Very handy. Our needs on a list of this size are more modest.)

The open site/closed site question--for anyone who wonders--is simply my way
of offering members a bit of protection. Open, unedited archives would mean
that our e-mail addresses and incidental signature information are there for
anyone to misuse. In editing our archives, I have been removing all e-mail
addresses and signature information apart from names.

Now back to our real work. I'm still waiting for volunteers to edit Royall
Tyler's bungo files. Perhaps my example of "Nihon shoki" was unfortunate.
It's not the whole text, I hasten to add, just 500 characters!



Date: Nov 15 2000 15:02:50 EST
From: "Peter Kornicki" <pk...@...mes.cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Sainsbury Fellowship

The Gates Cambridge Trust has recently been established to provide full
scholarships (fees and maintenance) for PhD students for three years at the
University of Cambridge. The Trust has announced the procedures for the
Gates Cambridge Scholarships for October 2001. All candidates are required
to submit a Preliminary Application Form by 30 November 2000 at the latest.
An online version of the form can be had from the following website:
www.gates.scholarships.cam.ac.uk
Any students who wish to study at Cambridge for a PhD in Japanese studies
must have applied to the Faculty of Oriental Studies on a CIGAS form by 28
February 2001. The CIGAS form can be obtained from the Board of Graduate
Studies (admissi...@...dstudies.cam.ac.uk). If you know of any would-be
graduate students who are intending to apply (UK citizens are NOT eligible),
please inform them as quickly as possible. Further information about the
resources and staff in Japanese studies can be found at the following
website:
www.oriental.cam.ac.uk

Peter Kornicki

Faculty of Oriental Studies
Sidgwick Avenue
Cambridge CB3 9DA
UK



Date: Nov 15 2000 19:41:04 EST
From: meredith mckinney <Meredith.McKin...@....edu.au>
Subject: R.H. Blyth

I'm putting in this query on behalf of a friend who's become interested
in gathering information on R.H. Blyth. His questions: who was he? What
place is he accorded in the history of the study of "the Japanese classics"?
Has any work been done on his influence on this realm of scholarship in the
west? For me, and I suspect for many others, he was a hugely important early
introduction and a key to my decision to study Japanese literature. But I
realize I know next to nothing about him. Could anyone help, either directly
or by pointing us to useful material?
Meredith McKinney



See BLYTH archive for rest of this thread.



Date: Nov 17 2000 03:03:20 EST
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: NIJL symposium + PMJS bonenkai

It was good to see so many PMJS members yesterday at NIJL (Kokubungaku kenkyu shiryokan). My apologies to speakers Lynne Miyake and Joshua Mostow for not doing more to publicize the occasion.

Let me give members in Tokyo more notice about the next NIJL event: the sixth annual symposium on computers and kokubungaku on Dec. 8.

This would also be a convenient night for the second annual pmjs BONENKAI. Let me know off list if you would like to come so that I can make arrangements. The gathering last year was a good opportunity for some of us to meet for the first time. Furutte gosanka kudasai.

But work before pleasure... I have always found the "computer/kokubungaku" symposium a useful source of information of CD-ROM and other electronic resources, especially of projects still in the works.

Information about the symposium can be found here (Japanese)
http://www.nijl.ac.jp/Sosiki/kenkyujouhoubu/html/6th.html
The main topic will be an evaluation of the NKBT full text database, with examples of its use for research and discussion of future developments.

Dec. 8 (Fri) 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. with break for lunch
no charge.

There will be four speakers talking about:

jodai (Kojiki, Nihon shoki)
chuko (Makura no soshi, Genji monogatari)
chusei (Konjaku monogatari shu)
kinsei (kinsei sanbun)

followed by a panel discussion chaired by NIJL Professors Ito and Aida.

Abstracts
http://www.nijl.ac.jp/Sosiki/kenkyujouhoubu/html/yousi.html

While on the nijl site, you might want to look at some of its resources, public and personal, e.g.

Materials from a recent exhibition on "Genji monogatari to sono zengo" can be seen on line.
http://www.nijl.ac.jp/events/exhibits/genji/

Ito Tetsuya's Genji denshi shiryokan is now at
http://www.nijl.ac.jp/personal/ito/

Directions to NIJL (the NIJL online map having gone awol):

(1) "Togoshi" station on Asakusa-sen subway (if coming by JR Yamanote-sen change at Gotanda). 7 minutes' walk from station.
(2) "Togoshi koen" station on Tokyu Oimachi-sen. 7 minutes' walk from station.
(I can fax a map to Tokyo residents.)



Date: Nov 24 2000 20:48:06 EST
From: Anna Schegoleva <anna_schegol...@...oo.com>
Subject: kanashibari case

Dear all,
am enjoying the list very much and have come out with a
question.
I am a PhD student in Japanese religions at SOAS,
University of London. In my prospective paper I am
planning to look at the Japanese ghost stories, mainly
new urban myths, with respect to folk beliefs and premodern
concepts of the supernatural. Recently I became
interested in kanashibari (some scholars call it "sleep
paralysis") and did some fieldwork on the subject,
interviewing children. The question is whether PMJS
participants have come across the term kanashibari in
their studies, in which context the term was used and so
on. This would help me to deal with the matter. I could
only find description of kanashibari experience at
Murakami Haruki or uwasa kind of editions. Most of
Japanese sources deal with kanashibari from medical point
of view, though I am interested in tracing the cultural
history.
Thank you,
Anna Schegoleva
a...@...s.ac.uk 



Date: Nov 24 2000 21:18:51 EST
From: "Lewis Cook" <lc...@...centric.net>
Subject: Fw: Japanese courtliness

Allow me to forward to all a message from the Medtext-list
("philology, codicology and technology" -- Medieval European, mostly)
which raises questions to which some of us should have answers or
anyway further questions. (The pmjs homepage provides a link to this
fertile and pretty cool mailing list..)

Lewis Cook



Date: Nov 24 2000 21:59:01 EST
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: Japanese courtliness

Jim Marchard wrote
> The Japanese concept of miyabi matches pretty well
>with courteous, courtoisie, ho"vescheit, etc., and the Japanese concept of
>ayashi with that of vilain, country, do"rperlich, etc.

I have an hour's headstart in thinking about this as Lewis Cook sent me a
copy of the MedText posting before sending it to pmjs. We were wondering
off-list about Jim Marchard's use of the word "ayashi"--surely he means
"iyashi" I thought, as that is the usual CJ word for
base/low-born/humble...

Lest anyone else wonder about this, I have been humbled by the resident
Genji consultant here, reminded that in GM "ayashi" can mean both "strange"
and by extension (from Hikaru Genji's point of view) "humble" in passages
such as these from "Yugao":

ayashiki shidu no wo (onoko) no koegoe (Yugao, Zenshu 1:229)
...for he heard uncouth men in the neighbouring houses hailing one another
as they awoke. (Seidensticker 47)

hana no na wa hito mekite, kou ayashiki kakine ni nan saki-haberikeru
(Zenshu 1:210)
The name makes it sound like a lord or lady, but here it is blooming on this
pitiful fence! (S. 13)

Michael Watson




For the Japanese character text originally quoted in this and subsequent messages, see japanese-notes.html#courtliness (Western-character encoding used here to facilitate automatic indexing).



Date: Nov 25 2000 22:25:51 EST
From: "Rolf Giebel" <rolf.gie...@...adise.net.nz>
Subject: Re-[pmjs] kanashibari case

Although I cannot vouuch for it, I would imagine that the "kanashibari rite"
(metal +bind/tie) found in Shugendo has at least some connections with the cultural
background of kanashibari. This in turn has parallels with rites for
"paralyzing" or "immobilizing" one's adversaries found in Indian Tantric
literature (and in Chinese translations thereof).

FWIW,
Rolf Giebel



Date: Nov 26 2000 07:01:42 EST
From: Leith Morton <lg...@...nga.newcastle.edu.au>
Subject: Courtliness

On 'courtliness'; last year I wrote a very preliminary piece (be warned:
some of the romaji transcriptions of waka ended up in a mangled format)
comparing courtly love in medieval France and Japan which may be useful for the
various citations it lists, especially from Furuhashi Nobuyoshi and Fujii Sadakazu.

See:
Morton, L. 'Courtly Love in France and Japan: An Introductory Study' in
'Variete: Perspectives in French Literature, Society and Culture', ed.
Marie Ramsland (Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang 1999), 307-324

Leith Morton
Professor of Japanese
Head, Department of Modern Languages
University of Newcastle, NSW
Australia
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/department/lg/morton.html



Date: Nov 26 2000 13:46:25 EST
From: Royall.Ty...@....edu.au (Royall Tyler)
Subject: Fw: Japanese courtliness

Michael's resident Genji expert needs no help from me, but anyway, I'll
confirm her reading of ayashi in GM.

I suppose courtliness must have something to do with genuinely demanding
standards of comportment and accomplishment, standards that require one,
among other things, to divine and to engage with the feelings of others
(something a courtier cannot afford to neglect); and with an acute
awareness of belonging to a fellowship of "civilized" confreres who stand
apart from and above the uncouth herd. Of course, a courtier--someone
courtly--also belongs in principle to a court, that is, a society of people
who acknowledge the same sovereign or lord and whose main effort in life is
to distinguish themselves in that lord's eyes, hence to become as close to
that lord as possible. Of course, in Japan the military element--great
deeds in combat--is missing. (In GM, the princes who head the Bureau of
War are about as precious and perfumed as you can get.) But I can't see
how the world evoked by GM--well, especially the main chapters--could
possibly be described as other than courtly. Genji himself would have to
be one of the world's ultimate courtiers. Any definition of courtliness
that did not include Genji--the man, the book, the world that created
him--would resemble a definition of the novel so narrow that none qualify
but the works of Jane Austen and so on.

Royall Tyler



Date: Nov 26 2000 23:54:00 EST
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: new members

Let me remind those of you who wrote your profiles some time ago that revisions and additions are welcome at any time. Some of your "forthcoming" papers and books must have appeared in the meantime. Let us know the details. Be sure to tell the editor also if you would like your e-mail address listed in the online database (by default, addresses are not included):
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/pmjs-db.html
To change your profile, contact me off list: wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp

We welcome five more members to the list, bringing us to a total of 233. We also have a new profile from Anna Schegoleva, who asked a question recently about "kanashibari."

Adrian Pinnington <adrianpinning...@...mail.com>

[Adrian has promised a profile when he returns to Waseda from Oregon.]

Adam L. Kern Ý<ak...@...ashington.edu>
Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature, University of Washington, Seattle.
Currently on leave at Kokubungaku Kenkyu Shiryokan.

Soo Kim <so...@...ink4.berkeley.edu>

I am a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley studying Japanese art history.

Rolf Giebel <rolf.gie...@...adise.net.nz>

My chief interest is in Tantric/Esoteric Buddhism (not necessarily confined to Japan), and I am currently engaged in translating several of Kukai's works for the BDK Tripitaka. However, my work as a free-lance translator involves a considerable amount of work related to premodern Japan, and so I have a strong interest in all fields of premodern Japanese studies. Most recent publication: "Soshitsujikara-kyo genten kenkyu shotan -- kanji on'yaku bugon gange to no suitei kanbon o chushin ni --," Tohogaku 99 (2000).

John Breen <...@...s-hub.soas.ac.uk>

Present Position ÝSenior Lecturer in Japanese Studies, Department of East
Asia, SOAS (since 1994) Professional Qualifications BA, MA, PhD (Cantab.)

Membership of Academic Societies British Association of Japanese Studies;
European Association of Japanese Studies; Institute of Historical Research,
University of London; Nihon Rekishi Kenkyukai

Other Activities Editorial Board, Japan Forum Editorial Board, Bulletin of
the School of Oriental and African Studies Trustee, ÝShinto Kokusai Gakkai
Honorary Secretary, British Association of Japanese Studies Chairman, SOAS
Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions Head, Japanese Section,
Department of East Asia, SOAS

Publications 1995-2000
*Nativism restored", Monumenta Nipponica, 55, 3 (2000).
*Shinto in history: ways of the kami, Curzon Press/Hawaii University Press (edited with Mark Teeuwen), 2000.
*"Introduction: Shinto past and present" (with Mark Teeuwen) in ibid.
* Ideologues, bureaucrats and priests: on shrines and temples in early Meiji Japan" in ibid..
*'Heretics in Nagasaki 1790-96' reprinted in S.Turnbull ed., Kakure kirishitan, hidden Christians (2 vols.), Japan Library, 2000.
*"Kaisetsu: doruche etto dekorumu esuto" in Naito Hatsuo, Oka, Chuko Shinsho, 1999.
*"Premodern Japan" in Times atlas of world history, Harper Collins, 1999.
*"The Imperial Oath of April 1868: ritual, power and politics in Restoration Japan" reprinted in Peter Kornicki ed., Meiji Japan: political, economic and social history 1868-1911, London, Routledge, 1998.
*'Shintoists in Restoration Japan: towards a reassessment', reprinted in Peter Kornicki ed., Meiji Japan: political, economic and social history 1868-1911, London, Routledge, 1998.
*"Earnest desires: the Iwakura embassy and Meiji religious policy", Japan Forum, 10, 2 (1998), pp. 150-65.
*"Brian Bocking, ÝA popular dictionary of Shinto", Review in Japan Forum (Spring 1998)
*"Japan"s imperial paradox: continuity and change", Insight Japan, Special Supplement (May 1998).
*"Japan"s postwar paradox: between god and man", History Today, 48, 4 (May, 1998).
*"Public statements and private thoughts: Iwakura Tomomi in Britain and the religious question", International Studies, LSE, Sticerd (1998).
*Japanese in three months, Dorling Kindersely, 1997 (revision of Japanese simplified).
*"Shinto and Buddhism in late Edo Japan: the case of Okuni Takamasa and his school", ÝCurrent issues in the social sciences and humanities: Hosei University occasional papers, vol.14 Ý(1997).
*"The Imperial Oath of April 1868: ritual, power and politics in Restoration Japan", ÝMonumenta Nipponica, 51, 4 Ý(1996).
*Bob Wakabayashi, Loyalism reconstrued. Review in Journal of Japanese Studies Summer, 1996.
*'Accommodating the alien: Okuni Takamasa and the religion of the Lord of
Heaven' in P.F. Kornicki and I.J. McMullen eds. Religion in Japan: arrows to heaven and earth, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
*Japan and Christianity: impact and response, Macmillans Press, 1996 (coedited with Mark Williams).
*"Introduction' Ý(with Mark Williams) in ibid.
*"Beyond the prohibition: Christianity in Restoration Japan" in ibid.
*"The Urakami incident", The Japan Society Proceedings, 126 (1995).
*'Kokugakusha Okuni Takamasa no tenshukyokan: gairaishukyo juyo no ichikeitai', Nihon Rekishi, vol. 568 (1995).
*'Okuni Takamasa"s Shinshin kohoron', (translated and annotated) in Tetsuo Najita ed., Readings in Tokugawa thought, select papers, vol. 9, University of Chicago, Illinois (1995).
*"The Charter Oath: some historiographical reflections", Current issues in the social sciences and humanities: Hosei University occasional papers, vol.12 Ý(1995).

Anna Schegoleva <a...@...s.ac.uk>
I am a PhD student in Japanese religions at SOAS, University of London. In
my prospective paper I am planning to look at the Japanese ghost stories,
mainly new urban myths, with respect to folk beliefs and premodern concepts
of the supernatural. Besides, I am interested in tracing the motifs in all
kinds of kowai hanashi and visual interpretations of supernatural beings. My
graduation paper at the Japanese Studies Dept. of the Oriental Institute,
St. Petersburg, was devoted to tengu and their image evolution through
Japanese cultural history. Other interests include: musha-e prints and
Kuniyoshi school, mythology and folklore, fieldwork theory and method,
censorship in art etc.



Date: Nov 28 2000 01:42:07 EST
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: Japanese courtliness

One way to approach the courtliness question is from the negative. In
medieval European literature, the "courtly" person is distinguished from the
"base" by behaviour, appearance, table manners, etc. One way this is done is
by vilifying the other orders through mocking descriptions of merchants or
peasants.

My question is, to what extent is this done in Heian and medieval
literature? Sei Shonagon makes a stab or two, of course, but my sense is
that there is still a sense that, strange as the rustics are, they are at
bottom like "us" (people of the court). Even a rustic woodcutter...

I remembered the references to saezuru / "bird-like" language of rustic
locals in Suma, but on looking it up I find that the point is that Genji
overcomes the difficulty in communicating to discover that "kokoro no yuku
kata wa onaji koto" -- a start at least!
$B$=$3$O$+$H$J$/$5$X$E$k$b!"?4$N9T$/J}$OF1$8$3$H!"2?$+$3$H$J$k$H!"$"$O$l$K8+$?(J
$B$^$U!#(J
(Kyu-Zenshu 2:204, S. 244)

The inhabitants of Kikaigashima (_Heike_ 3.8 "Arioo") also turn out to be
better than they seem from their rough appearance, again once the language
barrier is overcome.

More references anyone?

The locus classicus for this kind of thing in medieval French literature is
Chretien de Troyes' description of the fellow met by the knight Calogrenant.
Here is the passage in the old Everyman translation by W. W. Comfort

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Yvain/

(Vv. 269-580.) That night, indeed, I was well lodged, and as soon as the
morning light appeared, I found my steed ready saddled, as I had requested
the night before; thus my request was carried out. My kind host and his dear
daughter I commended to the Holy Spirit, and, after taking leave of all, I
got away as soon as possible. I had not proceeded far from my stopping-place
when I came to a clearing, where there were some wild bulls at large; they
were fighting among themselves and making such a dreadful and horrible noise
that if the truth be known, I drew back in fear, for there is no beast so
fierce and dangerous as a bull. I saw sitting upon a stump, with a great
club in his hand, a rustic lout, as black as a mulberry, indescribably big
and hideous; indeed, so passing ugly was the creature that no word of mouth
could do him justice. On drawing near to this fellow, I saw that his head
was bigger than that of a horse or of any other beast; that his hair was in
tufts, leaving his forehead bare for a width of more than two spans; that
his ears were big and mossy, just like those of an elephant; his eyebrows
were heavy and his face was flat; his eyes were those of an owl, and his
nose was like a cat's; his jowls were split like a wolf, and his teeth were
sharp and yellow like a wild boar's; his beard was black and his whiskers
twisted; his chin merged into his chest and his backbone was long, but
twisted and hunched. (5)

Comfort's original note reads:

(5) This grotesque portrait of the "vilain" is perfectly
conventional in aristocratic poetry, and is also applied to
some Saracens in the epic poems. Cf. W.W. Comfort in "Pub.
of the Modern Language Association of America", xxi. 494 f.,
and in "The Dublin Review", July 1911.

Michael Watson

P.S. The original Medtext-list message was this:

>> From: Jim Marchand <march...@....CSO.UIUC.EDU>

Some time back (a couple of years ago) we had a long discussion on Genji,
Japanese court poetry, etc. One question which arose is whether we could
speak of courtliness in speaking of Heian literature. Is Genji a courtly
novel? This goes along with the problem of equating bushido with
feudalism/knighthood. The Japanese concept of miyabi matches pretty well
with courteous, courtoisie, ho"vescheit, etc., and the Japanese concept of
ayashi with that of vilain, country, do"rperlich, etc. Does this permit us
to say that there is a general concept of "courtliness", and that the
medieval notion is simply a specific example of this? If so, of what does
"courtliness" consist? In Chinese one says: "You look like someone from the
country who has never seen anything expensive/elegant." Is that an example
of a courtly ideal? As a card-carrying country bumpkin, I know that this
same attitude exists still today; when that guy ridicules us cols rouges, is
that courtliness?




Date: Nov 28 2000 08:32:09 EST
From: James McMullen <james.mcmul...@...ental-institute.oxford.ac.uk>
Subject: courtliness

There is an important work on the history of courtliness in Europe. It
traces the historical diffusion of courtly conduct as a process of
'courtecization'. The book seeks to combine social and economic with
psychological approaches.

It is by the historical sociologist Norbert Elias: THE CIVILIZATION
PROCESS, tr. Edmund Jephcott, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1996 (original
German edtn., 1939). On Motoori Norinaga's MIYABI, of course, Watanabe
Hiroshi has written a series of articles, '"Michi" to "miyabi" . . .', in
KOKKA GAKKAI ZASSHI, 87 (1974) and 88 (1975). The GENJI was certainly regarded as the source of normative courtly values for non-KUGE from well before
Norinaga's time. For instance, Kumazawa Banzan (1619-91) abstracted the
ideal of JOOROO from it, and interpreted this as a moral as well as an
aesthetic ideal of behaviour. With apologies for the GADEN INSUI, see pp.
335-6 of my recent IDEALISM, PROTEST AND THE TALE OF GENJI, Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1999.



Date: Nov 28 2000 12:08:55 EST
From: Royall.Ty...@....edu.au (Royall Tyler)
Subject: Japanese courtliness

>My question is, to what extent is this done in Heian and medieval
>literature? Sei Shonagon makes a stab or two, of course, but my sense is
>that there is still a sense that, strange as the rustics are, they are at
>bottom like "us" (people of the court). Even a rustic woodcutter...

One certainly sees in "even a rustic woodcutter," in Genji discerning
common ground between himself and the "jargoning" (saezuru) seafolk at
Suma, etc., an admirably human effort to bridge a widely perceived gap, but
the gap IS widely perceived and commented on, and most of the time it seems
to have been all that people (like Sei Shonagon) did see. The common folk
in Genji are certainly not "like us" in any way that matters in a worldly
sense. The gap is bridged, if at all, in moments of private intuition, in
poetic ideals, or in stories like that of Yukihira (wasn't it?) and the ama
he met on the shore--a reminder of higher values that probably were not
part of the aristocrat's daily life or thought.

Humans have gone to a lot of trouble to distinguish themselves from
animals, and an aristocracy goes to great lengths to distinguish itself
from the herd, who are then easily assimilated to animals, as Michael's
example shows.

In great haste--

Royall



Date: Nov 28 2000 23:33:09 EST
From: "kai nieminen" <kaimi...@...abaud.fi>
Subject: Vs: [pmjs] Japanese courtliness

As Michael Watson was asking about attitudes towards courtliness in "Heian and
medieval" literature, I bring up Kenkoo's Tsurezuregusa, which carries several
--sometimes controversial -- testimonies of a 14th century gentleman's approach.
The lengthy one is in chapter 137, where I read the term "yoki hito" to mean "a
gentleman" in the courtly sense of the word. (Keene's rendering in "Essays in
Idleness" is "man of breeding".)
$B$h$-?M$O!"$R$H$X$K9%$1$k$5$^$K$b8+$($:!"6=$:$k$5$^$bEy4W(J
$B!N$J$[$6$j!O$J$j!#JRED<K$N?M$3$=!"?'$3$/K|$O$b$F6=$:$l!D(J

As Keene puts it: "The man of breeding never appears to abandon himself
completely to his pleasures; even his manner of enjoyment is detached. It is
the rustic boors who take all their pleasures grossly..."
And so on, please check further either from the original or from translation.
There are other passages in Tsurezuregusa which take a positive approach even
to the humble. Chapter 14 is telling us:
$B$"$d$7$N$7$E!";3$,$D$N$7$o$6$b...@...P$G$D$l$P$*$b$7$m$/!"(J
$B$*$=$m$7$-Cv$N$7$7$b!"!V$U$9Cv$N>2!W...@...P!"$d$5$7$/$J$j$L!#(J

Keene: "The toil of the humblest peasant or woodcutter sounds delightful when
described in a waka [alluding to the previous sentence], and even the ferocious
boar becomes gentle when the poets speak of 'the couch of the sleeping boar'."
Not to talk about chapters where Kenkoo is lamenting because the men of
breeding no more stand to their breed -- they're too numerous to be listed here.
I hope this contributes a bit to the quest -- if needed, I'm happy to cite more
examples, but I recommend Tsurezuregusa as an entertaining and educating
reading.

Kai Nieminen



Date: Nov 29 2000 14:32:10 EST
From: Royall.Ty...@....edu.au (Royall Tyler)
Subject: Japanese courtliness

Look at this way: the literature is extra. Free. Literature or not, the
top 5% of the population would have abused the other 95% anyway.

Was that abuse worth Heian Ibun and all those kanbun diaries--all those
things written by the gents?

Was it worth the corpus of waka poetry? How can one answer such a question?

Were the women we're mainly talking about (Murasaki S, Sei S, etc.)
responsible for the abuse, so that their works should be condemned? Hmm.
Well, of course they were complicit. So is their complicit work simply a
monument to abuse and exploitation? No, even if the informed reader can
also glimpse that abuse through it. The abuse of the 95% by the 5% is the
same old muck that most of the world has been all too useful most of the
time. Sometimes that muck grows flowers, sometimes it doesn't, but it's
muck anyway, whether it does or not. If it DOES occasionally grow flowers,
are the flowers to be sprayed with moral herbicide?

Royall

[Note that Royall Tyler's answer is in response to the following message from Wayne Farris, sent to Royall but intended for the list as a whole.]

>Dear folks,
> As one who has looked at the common folk during the entire Heian era, I
>merely want to say that when I teach the survey of Japanese history, I always
>use GENJI. But with it I assign a translation of the OWARI GEBUMI from the
>late tenth century, which shows exactly how "custodial governors" (ZURYOO, if
>I'm not mistaken Lady Murasaki was of this class) exploited the common folk.
>Then a question that inevitably comes up is: was the literature, etc. of the
>tiny Heian court worth the abuse of the other 95 % of the population?
>Something to think about.
> Sincerely,
> Wayne
>
>P.S. Do you think that if George W.'s running mate had died, then he would
>have been "Cheney-less"?
(Sender: wwf1 <w...@...ux.utcc.utk.edu>)




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