pmjs logs for April 2003. Total number of messages 41
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* "do" (michi) (Marc Peter Keane, Karl Friday, Noel John Pinnington, Lewis Cook, Meyer Pesenson, David Pollack, Lawrence Marceau, Bernhard Scheid)
* Instructorships in Japanese at Oxford
* X-Post from EMJNet: History Post at SOAS
* Dento Bunka Hoso (Sharon Domier, Michael Watson, Jonah Salz)
* taiko query (Susan Videen, Hank Glassman, Michael Watson, Ginny Tapley, Chris Isherwood)
* new members: Cynthea Bogel, Jesse Palmer, E. Michael Richards, Asuka Sango, Hendrik van der Veere
* Japan-US Friendship Commission Program Guidelines (Philip Brown)
* Visiting Japanese Language Instructor position (Michael Dylan Foster)
* art history teaching position fall 2003 (Tamaki Maeda)
* On Dainihon again (Nobumi Iyanaga, Peter Kornicki)
* Dainihon--> Nihonkokugo Daijiten (Robin Gill, Charles DeWolf, John Bentley, John Bentley, Bob Leutner, Keller Kimbrough, Karel Fiala, Janek Wrona, Lee Butler)
* new members: Juliette Chung, Sarah Fremerman, Jan Leuchtenberger, Michelle Li, Manuel Paias, Seiji Shirane, Mark Stought, Mathew Thompson.
* Post-doctoral Fellowship in Japanese Religions (Lucia Dolce)
From: David Pollack <poll...@...l.rochester.edu>
Date: 2003.Apr.1 23:45:28 Asia/Tokyo
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Bunraku recordings
I've been away at the AAS meeting and may have missed something here. I'm afraid I can't tell from the phrases "that Bunraku play put into movie form" and "film version of the Bunraku play" whether this film uses actors or, as seems more likely, puppets -- but instead of showing them as we would normally see them in performance, it tries somehow to "naturalize" the action against a "realistic" backdrop without showing the handlers? Can you be quite specific about exactly what is being done?
I too would like to have a lot more than just the brief (if excellent) bunraku passage that is included in the short (38 min) 1989 video "Tradition of performing arts in Japan : the heart of Kabuki, Noh and Bunraku."
David Pollack
Marco Gottardo wrote:
The only potential "problem" is that this is not a video recording of a
Bunraku performance, but rather that Bunraku play put into movie form.
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 23:59:13 +0900
From: Jonah Salz <a9267...@...koku.seikyou.ne.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Bunraku recordings
Re: the film of Double Suicides: it is a wonderful, Berlin film Festival award-winning film of Sonezaki Shinju. But manipulators and puppets are filmed in outdoor scenes, with lighting effects and close-ups, that makes for great cinematic images and storytelling, but not authentic document of bunraku as performances. Kurogo are nearly eliminated from the frame, making it appear that the dolls truly are alive, music and staging of scenes varies
from traditional stage.
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 14:59:17 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] "do" (michi)
Karen Mack (Tokyo National Museum) has sent me along the following question for posting on pmjs. It has already appeared on the JAHF listserve, but she and Marc Keane wanted to draw on the collective wisdom of our members too. I will pass on any answers to Karen.
******
Has anyone ever seen a journal article or book that specifically addresses the origin and history of the term "do" (michi, the way, as in Sado or Judo)?
Marc Peter Keane
Lawrence Halprin Fellow (August 2002 - May 2003)
Department of Landscape Architecture
440 Kennedy Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
USA
Website:
http://www.mpkeane.com
Karen Mack
Publications
Tokyo National Museum
m-ka...@....jp
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 09:50:06 -0500
From: Karl Friday <kfri...@...hes.uga.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: "do" (michi)
I discussed "*michi*" and its history a bit in my *Legacies of the Sword* book, but there are fuller discussions of the construct in Konishi Jun'ichi's *Michi: chuusei no rinen* (vol. 3 of *Nihon koten*; Kodansha gendai shinso, 1975), and Ueda Makoto's *Literary and Art Theories in Japan* (Western Reserve University Press, 1967). Konishi's ideas are summarized in English in his *A History of Japanese Literature* (Princeton, 1991) vol. 3, pp. 139-65.
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 18:23:45 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Instructorships in Japanese (Oxford)
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
BOARD OF THE FACULTY OF ORIENTAL STUDIES
Instructorships in Japanese
Applications are invited for three Instructorships in Japanese,
tenable from 1 October 2003. These are permanent posts
(subject to a satisfactory review after the third year), stipend on
the Instructor Salary scale A12 18,265-21,125 [pounds] per annum.
Instructors will give up to 20 hours of instruction in all aspects of
Japanese including translation into English and giving explanation
of grammar in English in each week of the University full term.
Applicants should have a native command or equivalent of
Japanese, good command of English, and experience of teaching
Japanese as a foreign language. The instructor will join a team
comprising three language instructors in all and four university
lecturers in Japanese in the Faculty of Oriental Studies, together
with the teaching staff at the Nissan Institute of Modern
Japanese Studies.
There is no application form. Further particulars of the post
(which all applicants are asked to consult) are available on the
University website at http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/fp/ or
alternatively may be obtained from the office of Ms Charlotte
Vinnicombe, Secretary to the Oriental Studies Board, Pusey
Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE (fax: +44 1865 278190; tel. +44 1865
278210; e-mail charlotte.vinnico...@...nst.ox.ac.uk), to
whom five copies of applications (or one from candidates who
are based overseas) should be sent no later than Friday 2 May
2003.
The University is an Equal Opportunities Employer and
applications from both men and women are encouraged.
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 08:17:17 -0500
From: Philip Brown <brown....@....edu>
Subject: [pmjs] H-Japan (E): X-Post from EMJNet: History Post at SOAS
Subject: History Post at SOAS
Below is a notice of a modern Japanese history post at SOAS. Please forward this to suitable candidates.
Lecturers in History (Two posts)
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, SOAS, University of London
Salary within Lecturer range ?241/2 to ?36k incl.
The Department of History seeks to fill two Lectureships for September 2003. Candidates should have expertise in the history of one of the following areas:
o Modern Japan Vacancy 03-24
o The modern Arab Middle East Vacancy 03-25
o Eastern Africa Vacancy 03-26
The principal responsibilities will be to teach courses for undergraduate and master's level students, to supervise research students, and to engage in research and publication. Candidates are expected to command the languages necessary to carry out research into the history of the area to which they are appointed. The ability to contribute to interregional, interdisciplinary or thematic teaching and research in history is also sought.
SOAS History Department currently comprises 20 members of staff organised in 5 sections: Africa, Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and South East Asia. It teaches for a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and supervises a large number of research students. It obtained the highest rating (5*) in each of the last two Research Assessment Exercises. Prospective candidates seeking further information on the Department and the School may contact the Chair of the Department, Professor Gerald Hawting...@...s.ac.uk
Candidates for lectureships should have completed a PhD--or be close to completion--in a relevant discipline and have a demonstrable record of teaching and research in their field. Appointments for lectureships will be made within the Lecturer A/Lecturer B range with commencing salaries dependent upon qualifications and experience. All appointments will carry entitlement to membership of the Universities' Superannuation Scheme.
The closing date for all the above posts is 30 April 2003. An application form and further particulars may be obtained from the Human Resources office, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H OXG. Tel: 020 7898 4127, Fax no: 020 7898 4129 humanresour...@...s.ac.uk. CVs will only be accepted where accompanied by an application form. Please quote the appropriate reference number for the post(s) in which you are interested.
SOAS is an equal opportunities employer and would particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and women as such groups are currently under-represented within its academic workforce.
--
Drew Gerstle
SOAS
University of London
Russell Sq.
London WC1H OXG UK
Tel. 44- (0)20-7898-4207
Fax 44-(0)20-7898-4239
Email: ...@...s.ac.uk
Websites: www.soas.ac.uk/EastAsia/gerstle/
www.soas.ac.uk/literatures/
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 09:39:37 -0700
From: Noel John Pinnington <no...@...rizona.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: "do" (michi)
I am about to complete a study of the medieval concept of michi taking the Noh theorist Komparu Zenchiku as a case study.
One widely known investigation of michi is Konishi Jin'ichi's short study, which has appeared in various forms, notably in English in Earl Miner's "Principles of Classical Japanese Literature."
Another very useful study is that of Ishiguro Kichijiro: Chusei Geidoron no Shiso, Tokyo 1993. That tries to trace the history of the term's usages in the earlier section.
A good overview of the term in the Far East can be found in the introduction to Rob Gimello and Robert Buswell's Paths to Liberation: The Marga and its Transformations in Buddhist Thought.
Noel Pinnington
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 12:05:05 -0500
From: "Lewis Cook" <lc...@...thlink.net>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: "do" (michi)
Status: RO
Terada Toru wrote a very interesting book on the subject titled "Dou no shisou"- published (I think -- my copy isn't at hand) by Hakusuisha around the early 1980s (not listed in the on-line catalogue of bk1.co.jp so may be OUP).
Lewis Cook
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 09:51:06 -0800
From: Meyer Pesenson <mi...@...c.caltech.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: "do" (michi)
There is an article on some aspects of Chinese Tao -
"I as equivalent to Tao," H.G.Creel, JAOS, v.52, N1 (1932), 22-34
MP
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 13:09:36 -0500
From: David Pollack <poll...@...l.rochester.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: "do" (michi?
I believe there is information on the history of the term michi in the introduction to and texts in
Hayashiya Tatsusaburo, ed., Kodai chusei geijutsuron (Iwanami Shoten, 1973), Nihon shiso taikei, vol. 23
David Pollack
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 16:05:50 -0500
From: "Lawrence Marceau" <lmarc...@...l.Edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Do
Marc,
If you are looking for materials in Japanese, aside from the book by Terada Toru that Lewis
Cook mentioned, there is another by the intellectual historian, Nozaki Morihide, called _Michi: Kinsei Nihon no shiso_. This might also be helpful for looking into the Confucian background of the term Do (Dao, michi). It was published in 1979 by University of Tokyo Press.
Lawrence Marceau
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 18:05:21 +0100
From: Drew Gerstle <...@...s.ac.uk>
Subject: [pmjs] Bunraku recordings
Bunraku recordings:
The Japan Foundation made a video of Imoseyama onna teikin, act three Yama no dan. This includes English subtitles. The book Theater as Music: The Bunraku Play "Mt. Imo and Mt. Se" (U. Michigan, 1990) by Gerstle, Malm and Inobe comes with an audio cassette of this same piece, with a transcription and translation in the book. The video should be available from the Japan Foundation offices.
--
Drew Gerstle
SOAS
University of London
Russell Sq.
London WC1H OXG UK
Email: ...@...s.ac.uk
Websites: www.soas.ac.uk/EastAsia/gerstle/
www.soas.ac.uk/literatures/
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 01:47:11 -0500
From: "Marco Gottardo" <mi...@...umbia.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Bunraku recordings
Dear David,
You are right: it was a somehow vague choice of terms on my part.
As Jonah Salz noted in a Re: message on this thread, early today, the video I described is a movie, not the filming of a Bunraku performance; how this movie compares to a Bunraku performance in terms of "realism" is a complex question one should not answer lightly, and I will not attempt to do so here, but the following points should be of help. The movie does use original puppets and professional Bunraku puppeteers, musicians, and chanter, but it is filmed as a movie, not as a documentary of a Bunraku performance, and therefore the differences between this representation and an actual performance are many and significant. For instance, the scenes are filmed outdoors, not on a Bunraku stage, and the camera produces effects that you just cannot have on a stage (e.g. sweeping, zooming, close-ups, multiple camera angles, etc.). Moreover, all the puppeteers are wearing the kurogo (black cloak and hood), breaking with typical staged Bunraku performances, where it is usual for the main puppeteer to show his face and wear a formal montsuki and hakama. Also, neither shamisen player not chanter/reciter appear in any of the scenes of this movie, while they are of course an essential presence on the actual Bunraku stage.
It is because of all these differences that I included my recommendation that this video not be shown to a class if the didactic purpose is to present an authentic Bunraku performance and to discuss specific issues of staging, puppeteers' movements, performance logistics, etc. On the other hand, this video is still a perfect teaching tool to initiate a class discussion on issues of aesthetics, techniques, interplay between art forms, and interaction between artists, as elements present in Bunraku. This video may therefore be appropriate for a class on Japanese culture and history (as in Morgan Pitelka's initial enquiry), depending on what the focus of the class specifically is. It is the superlative cast of professional Bunraku artists who appear in this movie that makes this possible.
Sincerely,
Marco Gottardo
Department of Religion
Columbia University
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 18:17:58 +0200
From: "Bernhard Scheid" <bernhard.sch...@...w.ac.at>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: "do" (michi)
There are studies in German on this subject, too.
One is:
Klaus Vollmer: Professionen und ihre "Wege" [= MICHI, B.S.] im mittelalterlichen Japan. Eine Einfuehrung in ihre Sozialgeschichte und literarische Repraesentation am Beispiel des Tohoku'in shokunin utaawase
(= MOAG 120). Hamburg: OAG 1995.
A very detailled, specialized study of medieval professions and their representations in literature including an extensive discussion on "do." Even useful for non-German readers for bibliographical references.
Bernhard Scheid
_________________________
Institute for Asian Studies
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Strohgasse 45/2/4
A-1030 Vienna
Austria
Tel +43-1-515 81-6424
Fax +43-1-515 81-6427
Internet: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/ias/
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 13:52:53 -0500
From: Sharon Domier <sdom...@...rary.umass.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Dento Bunka Hoso
We have been looking for a copy of the Hamamatsuya Benten Kozo performance of Kawatake Mokuami's play called Aoto-zoshi hana no nishikie : Shiranami gonin'otoko. I found that Dento Bunka Hoso was showing it last month, but was unable to make any progress trying to talk their rep into sending us a copy. Any advice off the list on how to get a copy of this scene for "educational purposes" would be greatly appreciated.
Also, Is there anyone on this list in Japan that is a subscriber to Dento Bunka Hoso? This looks like a very interesting subscription service for anyone interested in watching (and recording) Kabuki performances etc. There is a fee for academic institutions (Y30,000/month).
http://www.dentoubunka.co.jp/index.html
I am interested to know if any of you are using it in your classes.
Sharon Domier
East Asian Studies Librarian
University of Massachusetts Amherst
(413) 577-2633
sdom...@...rary.umass.edu
http://www.library.umass.edu/subject/easian/
proud to volunteer at AskEASL (Ask an East Asian Studies Librarian)
http://askeasl.askvrd.org
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 14:31:23 -0600
From: Susan Videen <vide...@....wustl.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] taiko query
A taiko drummer friend of mine wants to know the meaning of a line in a piece her group plays. The piece is called "Hiryuu Sandan Gaeshi" and tells of a dragon flying around a village three times, bringing good luck,
prosperity, etc. Three times during the performance the drummers say: Yoi, sore! U tenku sho fu ku so ku sa i en me i!" My friend doesn't know how this is written in Japanese--hiragana, kanji, where words end, etc.
Does anyone know what this means??
With best wishes,
Susan Videen
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 18:48:04 -0500
From: Hank Glassman <hglas...@...erford.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of pmjs <p...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: taiko query
Hi Susan,
Yoi, sore, u! Tenka shoufuku sokusai enmei!
[moji bake--see below/ed]
The lines mean (roughly):
Hey, ho! Hup! Reverse troubles, invite good fortune, save from
disaster, long life!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Let it be so!
best,
Hank
------------------------------------------------------------------
*****************************
Please take a visible stand for peace.
*****************************
Hank Glassman
(610) 896-1265
hglas...@...erford.edu
fax: (610) 896-1224
http://www.haverford.edu/east/glassman
Hank's mail apologizing for moji bake omitted.
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2003 09:07:30 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: taiko query
None of the inauspicious characters came through on my mail software, either Hank.
Bad luck.
If this doesn't work
転禍招福息災延命
see
http://www.biwa.ne.jp/~aisho431/kankouannai.html
next to the pictures of taiko drummersl
Michael Watson
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2003 12:27:28 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Dento Bunka Hoso
There is a fee for academic institutions (Y30,000/month).
Sharon, If you only knew the fight I had in a university committee to keep the university subscription to the BBC at a lesser price. (500,000 / year). We ended up with a compromise that pleased nobody: CNN on one campus and BBC on the other.
For individual viewers with satellite in Japan, the price is 1600 yen.
http://www.skyperfectv.co.jp/ch/325.html
We tried it, but found we'd rather save up the money to go to the real thing.
I would very much doubt that much official help could be obtained in providing recordings of performances.
Michael Watson
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2003 12:09:25 -0800
From: Morgan Pitelka <mpite...@....edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Bunraku materials
Dear Colleagues,
Below please find the four main suggestions I received from members of the
list regarding Bunraku materials. Thanks for the advice, and also for the
interesting discussion of the pedagogical possibilities of the first item.
Morgan
*************
1) a GREAT recording (on video) = "Double Suicide at Sonezaki" with English subtitles, featuring Miyagawa Kazuo at the camera, and Yoshida Tamao and Yoshida Minosuke, amongst the performers (both Living Natural Treasures). The only potential "problem" is that this is not a video recording of a Bunraku performance, but rather that Bunraku play put into movie form. Therefore, it may not be an appropriate teaching tool if you are interested in showing the actual dynamics and "logistics" of Bunraku as it is performed on stage, but it is a truly wonderful film version of the Bunraku play. This is more appropriate to use as introduction to Bunraku as artistic genre, since it catches the beauty and subtelty of the puppets and of the reciter/chanter, and the way the drama of Bunraku can come alive through the puppets.
2) Marty Gross of Marty Gross Productions, Toronto, made a film of the Chikamatsu bunraku play, Meido no Hikyaku, which has been translated as The Courier from Hell. Marty titled his film The Lover's Exile. It came out as a video on Toshiba EMI in the late 80s and I think it is still available. The subtitles are by Marty and Donald Richie. There is an introduction to bunraku by Jean Louis Barrault. Music supervision is by Takemitsu Toru. It features Yoshida Tamao and Yoshida Minosuke among others.
from Marty Gross:
THE LOVERS' EXILE brings an engaging theatrical form from Japan to contemporary cinema audiences, merging the artistry and grace of the legendary Bunraku Puppet Theatre with the power of the screen through the collective talent of many international contributors. THE LOVERS' EXILE is performed entirely by the Bunraku Ensemble of Osaka, widely considered the most sophisticated puppet theatre in the world. Bunraku, although much discussed, has only rarely been seen in the West. Founded in the pleasure quarters of 17th century Japan, Bunraku is now the oldest doll theatre anywhere in the world.
THE LOVERS 'EXILE is an adaptation of Meido No Hikyaku by classic Japanese dramatist Monzaemon Chikamatsu (1673-1724). The story, one Chikamatsu's domestic tragedies, recounts the love between a penniless clerk and an indentured prostitute. Chikamatsu's works have been filmed by Japanese directors Kenji Mizoguchi (The Crucified Lovers) and Masahiro Shinoda (Double Suicide) but never before by a Western film maker.
THE LOVERS' EXILE was presented at the following Film Festivals: Venice, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Festival de Nouveau Cinema (Montreal), Valladolid, Treviso, Turin, Paris. Video version, with a special introduction by: Jean-Louis Barrault Cast: Members of the Bunraku Theatrical Ensemble of Japan Chubei Tamao Yoshida (Living National Treasure of Japan) Umegawa Minosuke III Yoshida Hachiemon and Magoemon Kanjuro Kiritake (Living National Treasure) Joruri Reciters Oritayu V Takemoto, Koshijidayu IV Takemoto (Living National Treasure), and Mojidayu IX Takemoto Samisen Players Enza Tsuruzawa, Senji Tsuruzawa and Kinshi IV Nozawa Credits produced and directed by Marty Gross photographed by Kozo Okazaki and Hideaki Kobayashi narrative subtitles by Donald Richie and Marty Gross music recording supervised by Toru Takemitsu, music editing by Carl Zittrer editing by Marty Gross
in Japanese with English subtitles
90 minutes
VHS video, American or Pal systems
Study guide available upon request
List Price: US $100
For other films on Japan visit us online at:
http://martygrossfilms.com
3) the Japan Foundation made a film of Imoseyama, act three, with English
subtitles. the book Theater as Music: the Bunraku play Mt. Imo and Mt. Se
has a translation of this act and comes with an audio cassette. The Japan
Foundation office in the US may have the Imoseyama video or should be able
to get it.
4) Bunraku, put out by the University of Oklahoma, Early Music Television.
See the website of the Japanese Music Series for more info:
http://www.ou.edu/earlymusic/japanese.html
5) The Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan, put out by GPN in Lincoln,
Nebraska.
http://gpn.unl.edu/generic_product.asp?catalog%5Fname=GPN&category%5Fname=Ja
pan%3A++The+Land+and+Its+People&product%5Fid=446%2E001
*****************
Morgan Pitelka
Asian Studies Department
408 Johnson Hall
Occidental College
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041
1-323-259-1421
mailto:mpite...@....edu
Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2003 07:35:19 +0900
From: Jonah Salz <a9267...@...koku.seikyou.ne.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Dento Bunka Hoso
With due respect I choose to differ with Michael's assessment of the Shochiku/Dento Hoso channel. In the next two days, for example, I will be able to record the full noh Yamamba, a 8mm film about the late noh master
Kita Roppeita, a recent kabuki Kuramabiki, and Tamasaburo Bando's danced version of the Dojoji story, Kane no Misaki. Considering the availability and exorbitant prices of commercial videos, I will have paid for my annual subscription in two days. And (dare I say this in public?) I often prefer my front-row, when-I-want, zoom and angled, video versions to nose-bleed seats at the Minamiza, not to mention the worth of these videos in classes.
--
Dr. Jonah Salz
Faculty of Intercultural Communication
Ryukoku University
Seta Shiga 520-2194 JAPAN
077-543-7875
jo...@...ld.ryukoku.ac.jp
###war is not the answer###
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 2003 09:41:59 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] new members
We welcome the following new members to pmjs:
Cynthea Bogel, Jesse Palmer, E. Michael Richards, Asuka Sango, Hendrik van der Veere.
Cynthea Bogel <cjbo...@...ashington.edu>
Assistant Professor of Japanese art and architectural history at the University of Washington (Seattle).
I work chiefly on the history of Japanese Buddhist icons and imagery, especially those made for eighth-century temples and early Heian Shingon materials. See:
Forthcoming in October, 2003, "The Objects of Transmission and the Subjects of History: _Catalogue of Imported Goods_ (Sho^rai mokuroku)," in a special issue of the Mt. Ko^ya, _Bulletin of the Research Instituteof Esoteric Buddhist Culture_.
"Canonizing Kannon: The Ninth-Century Esoteric Buddhist Altar at Kanshinji." (March, 2002) _Art Bulletin_.
"A Matter of Definition: Japanese Esoteric Art and the Construction of a Japanese Esoteric History," _Waseda Journal of Asian Studies_, vol. 18, 1996.
My primary interests are in site- and ritual-specific meanings for icons and the ways in which visual aspects of material culture affect reception and function (visuality and visual authority). I am currently working on a book that examines early ninth-century imported goods, temples, and Buddhist icons associated with Ku^kai.
I've also published on ukiyo^-e and contemporary textiles. See:
_Hiroshige: Birds and Flowers_, co-author with I. Goldman New York: George Braziller, 1988 (German trans.) Hiroshige, Blumen und Vogel. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1988
http://art.washington.edu/div_arthistory/bogel.html
Jesse Palmer < bekaht...@...oo.com>
University of California at Irvine
I am a graduate student at UCI studying Japanese.
E. Michael Richards <emricha...@...intmail.com>
Associate Professor of Music, UMBC
research and performances of new music by Japanese composers including Akira Nishimura, Joji Yuasa, Tokuhide Niimi, Masataka Matsuo, Mamoru Fujieda. co-organizer, with Kazuko Tanosaki, of Music of Japan Today 2003 in Baltimore and Washington DC - http://www.research.umbc.edu/~emrich/mfj2003.html
Asuka Sango <asa...@...nceton.edu>
Princeton University
I am a Ph.D candidate in Japanese Buddhism at Princeton University. My major area of interest is early medieval Japan, focusing on the relationships between Japanese Buddhist schools (especially Shingon esoteric school) and popular religions.
Hendrik van der Veere <ba...@...cali.nl>
Leiden University, The Netherlands
I studied Indology and Japanology at Leiden University, teaching there Buddhism and Japanese Religion now. My Ph. D. thesis was written about Kakuban. I received full initiation (denbo kanjo) in Shingon's Denboinryu (Buzanha) and am now doing research on the Shikoku pilgrimage, Kukai's Hizoki and Jiun sonja, amonst other things. My main interests lie in Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism and the development of tantric Buddhism.
Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 11:01:04 +0000
From: "Ginny Tapley" <ginnytap...@...mail.com>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: taiko query
I think this query has already been answered, but I wonder if anyone on the list knows of a Taiko group in the Tokyo area that might be willing to take in a total beginner? I've been wanting to try for ages.
Ginny Tapley
ginnytap...@...mail.com
tap...@...ansha-intl.co.jp
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2003 00:54:55 +1200
From: "Chris Isherwood" <c.isherw...@...elfire.com>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: taiko query
Dear Ginny,
I don't learn Taiko but an ethnomusicologist friend of mine does. He offers a couple of suggestions.
One of the better schools in Tokyo is Miyamoto Taiko in Asakusa.
Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten (Miyamoto Taiko)
Asakusa 6-1-15
Taito Ku
Tokyo To 111
Japan
Tel: (03) 3874 4131
They teach both beginners and advanced students. However, they are a little expensive and quite strict, (ten thousand yen joining fee, then ten thousand yen per three classes a month) Each lesson is about two hours long. One other option is to find out when a festival is happening in your area and make inquires with one of the groups playing. You could also check out the Taiko Centre on the net at:
which has quite a lot of handy info. Alternatively you can contact my friend Alan Gamlen at: algam...@...mail.com for any advice on beginning Taiko.
Happy drumming,
Christopher Isherwood
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 22:53:08 -0400
From: "Philip C. Brown" <brown....@....edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Japan-US Friendship Commission Program Guidelines
The Japan-US Friendship Commission (JUSFC) has recently published it biennial report for 2001-2002 and its program guidelines on its website at <http://www.jusfc.gov>. Please consult the website for details.
If you wish to receive a hard copy of either or both documents, please contact us at ju...@...fc.gov.
PLEASE use the above contacts only, and do not send requests to me; I am only forwarding notification of the above and have no connection to JUSFC. Thanks,
Forwarded by:
Philip Brown
Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 10:22:59 -0700
From: Michael Dylan Foster <mfos...@...nford.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Visiting Japanese Language Instructor position
Visiting Japanese language instructor position
Dickinson College
The Department of East Asian Studies at Dickinson College announces an opening for a visiting lecturer position in Japanese language for 2003-4. This is a one-year position with a possibility of renewal for another year. Responsibilities include teaching third and fourth year Japanese, and co-teaching first and second year Japanese.
Candidates must 1) have at minimum an M.A. in Japanese language pedagogy, literature, or linguistics-focus on language teaching preferred, 2) have experience and knowledge of Japanese language teaching at the college level; prior experience with "Genki" and third and fourth year levels will be highly considered, 3) have native or near native fluency in both Japanese and English, 4) be committed to innovative teaching, and have strong collaborative skills for team-teaching, 5) have strong interactive skills with students. ABDs also welcome to apply. Competitive salary with benefits.
Please send an application letter, CV and 3 letters of recommendation to (please note that a teaching video is also extremely welcome, but not mandatory):
Dr. Michiko Suzuki
Japanese instructor search committee
Dept. of East Asian Studies
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA 17013
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
Dickinson College is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer. Women and minority candidates are encouraged to apply.
Information about Dickinson is available at <http://www.dickinson.edu>
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2003 18:45:00 -0700
From: "Tamaki Maeda" <tam...@...ashington.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] art history teaching position fall 2003
Prof. Hong Zaixin of the University of Puget Sound asked me to post the
following job announcement. Please contact Professors Fields or Hong
directly.
Tamaki Maeda
----------------------------------------
The University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Washington) is looking for someone to
teach survey course in Asian Art in fall 2003, plus a course of Japanese
art. Those who are interested please contact Professor Ron Fields
(rfie...@....edu), acting chair of the Art Department, or Professor Zaixin
Hong (zh...@....edu).
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 15:08:34 +0900
From: Nobumi Iyanaga <n-iya...@....bekkoame.ne.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] On Dainihon again
Dear colleagues,
Three years ago, an article entitled "Japanese Nationalism: Ancient and Modern" by Robert Borgen was posted to the PMJS site [see <http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/papers/borgen_jojin.html>, and <http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/papers/Borgen_Jojin.pdf>], and there was a discussion on the term "Dainihon-koku" which was used by Joojin, in his San-Tendai-Godaisan-ki (a document of 1073) [see <http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/archive/2000/dainihon.html>].
Now, I would like to retake this discussion with a new evidence.
It is said in Borgen's article [p. 6-7 of the pdf version]:
Three final points remain concerning Joojin's choice of terminology [of the term "Great Japanese Nation" Dai-Nihon-koku]. First, idea of turning Japan into a "Great Nation" appears to have been a recent development in his day. The oldest example of "Great Japanese Nation" cited in the authoritative dictionary Nihon Kokugo Daijiten is a document dated 1046, a mere 26 years before Joojin used the term [note 9: This first reference is in a prayer to Hachiman Daibosatsu (Heian Ibun: Komonjo Hen, Takeuchi Rizoo ed. [Tookyoodoo, 1974] vol. 3, p. 775]. Thus, although Jojin had not coined the phrase, surely it had not appeared previously in an international setting. [...]
Now, I learned recently from Lucia Dolce that much earlier than 1046, Saichoo (767-822) used the term "Dai-Nihon-koku". Searching for the term with the Indices of the Taisho Canon, I could find three occurrences in Saichoo's works:
T. LXXIV 2362 Shugo-kokkaishoo i.1 142c2;
T. LXXIV 2364 Choo-koo Konkoomyoo-e-shiki 258a4, 18, b9, 21, 28, c14, 29;
T. LXXIV 2365 Choo-goo Ninnou-hannya-kyoo-e-shiki 261b19, c4, 24, 262a7, 14, 29, b15.
Perhaps the ascription of two latter works to Saichoo may be not very certain, but at least the first one, Shugo-kokkaishoo, is one of the most famous writings of Saichoo, dated 818. So, the assertion of the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten must be certainly corrected. And in the context of this passage (T. LXXIV 2362 i.1 142b28-3), "Waga Dai-Nihon-koku" is clearly opposed to "Dai-Too", "Great Tang".
On the use of this term by Joojin, Borgen wrote in his article [p. 6 of the pdf version]:
Reading too much into this term, however, is dangerous. First, Joojin was merely imitating Chinese usage. If Japan is "The Great Japanese Nation," China is "The Great Song Nation," a term Joojin also adopts. Joojin is simply attempting to put Japan on an equal footing with China, not asserting Japanese superiority. In other historical periods, the Chinese might have found such assertions of equality offensive, but the Song was a weak dynasty that faced military threats and was anxious to make friendly alliances. Rather than object, the Song chose to treat Joojin as an official representative of Japan and use his visit as an excuse to seek a revival of diplomatic ties, an attempt that ultimately failed as the Japanese were not much interested [note 8: For diplomacy in Song times, see the essays found in Morris Rossabi, ed. China among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and its Neighbors, 10th-14th Centuries (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983). Diplomatic consequences of Joojin's visit to China are treated in my "Monkish Diplomacy: A Case Study in Eleventh-Century Sino-Japanese Relations," Contacts between Cultures: Selected Papers from the Thirty-third the International Congress of Asian and North African Studies, vol. 4: East Asian History and Social Sciences (E. Mellen Press, 1992).]. Unofficial Chinese tolerance of this usage was demonstrated when the monks at Wutai presented Joojin a document using both the terms "Great Song Nation" and "Great Japanese Nation." In short, Joojin's terminology is more a reflection of traditional Chinese usage than a precursor of modern Japanese imperialism.
This argument would not fit very well in the case of Saichoo, since it was not the "Great Song" time, but the "Great Tang" time, when China was certainly stronger than 255 years later (but of course, Saichoo did not address his work to Chinese officials...).
By the way, searching in the Indices for the Shingon section of Taisho Canon (T. LXXVII 2425-T. LXXIX 2542) and the Tendai section (T. LXXIV 2361-T. LXXVII 2424) for terms like Dainihon, Nihon, I found some surprising differences.
Tendai Shingon
Dainihon 1 0
Dainihon-koku 27 0
Dainihon-koku dai gojuuroku-you 1 0
Dainihonkoku Hieizan Enryakuji
Higashi-too Minami-dani 1 0
Nan-senbu-shuu Nihon-koku 3
Nan-senbu-shuu Dainihon-koku 3
Nihon 20 3
Nihon isshuu 1
Nihon-ki 1
Nihon-gi 4
Nihon-gi Jindai 2
Nihon go-on 1
Nihon Kooki 1
Nihon Kooke 1
Nihon-koku 29 2
Nihon-koku shojin 1
Nihon-koku jingi meishu 1
Nihon-kokujuu gon-jitsu-rui 1
Nihon-kokujuu daimyoojin 1
Nihon-kokujuu taijinguu 1
Nihon-kokujuu daishou gohou jingi 1
Nihon-kokujuu daishou jingi meishu 3
Nihon-kokujuu daijinguu 1
Nihon konpon sinta mani in 1
Nihon shojin 3
Nihon-jin 3
Nihon ryoukan-ki 1
Nihon hoogen 2
Nihon myoozan-oo 1
Of course, these differences may be due to the differences of attention of the compilers of these indices. A more objective statistics would be possible if we had etexts of these texts. However, the differences seem striking to me.
On the other hand, as there are many occurrences of both "Dainihon-koku" and "Nihon" or "Nihon-koku" in the Tendai section, it would be possible and interesting to compare the contexts of these occurrences, to see if the addition of "dai-" adds some nuance to the word "nihon"...
I am sorry for this too long message.
Best regards,
Nobumi Iyanaga
Tokyo,
Japan
Date:: 17 Apr 2003 11:49:48 +0100
From: Dr Peter Kornicki <pk...@....ac.uk>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: On Dainihon again
This does not directly relate to the points made by Nobumi Iyanaga, but the shortcomings of Nihon kokugo daijiten as a historical dictionary of the Japanese language are too substantial for it to be relied upon for the first usage of any lexical item, let alone the first use of a given lexical item in any particular sense. And that is to say nothing of its omissions; I was many years ago astounded to discover that words used by prominent Meiji novelists did not appear at all, and more recently resigned when time and time again 'words' I come across in Japanese sources are simply absent. I do not know whom this should be addressed to, but what the whole scholarly community concerned with Japan needs is a new dictionary of the Japanese language with at least some of the advantages of the OED, such as an online version that is being constantly updated and an attempt to identify the development of meanings and usages. Perhaps such a project is underway, but if not a case should be put to the Gakushiin or other academies: many languages are served better than Japanese is at present and the initiative is unlikely to come from a commercial publisher for a project of this magnitude.
--
Peter Kornicki
Faculty of Oriental Studies
Sidgwick Avenue Cambridge CB3 9DA
UK
Date:: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 15:15:13 -0400
From: "robin d gill" <robin...@...lsouth.net>
Subject: [pmjs] Nihonkokugo Daijiten
In respect to Peter Kornicki's "On Dainihon again that really was on the Nihonkokugo Daijiten,
I am a great lover of the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, because it is the only dictionary that USUALLY helps me when I look up some expression found in Tokugawa era haiku. Because of this I acronym it OJD (Only Japanese Dictionary). This practice of mine irritates some, but the other handful of dictionaries I own are pure hit and miss, and I feel I owe it to the dictionary to properly acknowledge its preeminence.
Yes, there is much the "OJD" lacks, but it offers more interesting usages than the OED, and the collection of etymology is so much fun that I plan to assemble a book of them as soon as I get some Japanese OCR software --- I mean, the editor knew darn well that the idea of "ume" coming from a fusion of the first syllable of utsukushii + mezurashi was pure poppycock, but he or she was gracious enough to include such an etymology among the ten odd ones giv...@...eover, thanks to haiku and senryu, this dictionary, unlike Samuel John...@... often give more satisfying full poems for examples.
I am constantly finding more things the OJD should have and no doubt we all are. But I think we fans of this dictionary must make more of an effort to advertise it --- I worked for a publisher in Japan where the 20 or so Japanese employees were more knowledgeable about the OED and various encyclopedias than this dictionary (in fact, the publisher didn't even own it!) --- at the same time we point out the crying need to enlarge it.
But why haven't the academies already prompted the development of a fuller dictionary as Peter Kornicki wishes? My suspicion is that scholars with dozens of specialized dictionaries and having easy library access do not feel the need for ONE big dictionary that I (far from a decent library, without easy access to Worldcat borrowing and refused usage of the supposedly public Japanese data bases) do! Or --- this is a wild guess --- is it possible they find the many earthy senryu included disturbing?
Since the government didn't help enlarge this book during the bubble, I doubt if we can expect anything from it either. My dream is that a wealthy individual or cultural institution from outside of Japan proves bright enough to invest in this dictionary and that one really large donation from abroad might spark competitive donations, private and public, from Japanese. (I realize there may be a problem at the publisher (too few people deeply versed in traditional culture) , but it will only grow worse if we wait. ).
Anyone for starting an OJD fan club?
robin d gill
<mailto:uncoolwa...@...mail.com>
Date:: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 02:18:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: Charles DeWolf <cmdew...@...oo.com>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Nihonkokugo Daijiten
As a regular user of the Nihonkokugo-daijiten, I was most interested in Peter Kornicki's observations.
Normally I would have enough sense not to throw in my own coments, but robin d gill's reply has emboldened
me.
Calling the dictionary the "OJD" may be going a bit too far, but I nonetheless rely on it as the lexical
reference of last resort. As a linguist, I am interested in Yamato-kotoba etymology, and this, it seems to me, is where both the strengths and weaknesses of the work are particularly clear. *All* known gogensetsu, regardless of plausibility, are listed. Some of them are so far-fetched that Samuel Johnson himself would chortle. And yet faute de mieux...
Improved lexical resources require more broadly trained linguists. Unfortunately, few Japanese trained
in Euroamerican models seem to care about such matters, being far more interested in pursuing the latest theoretical fashion; many seem to find it bizarre that any Westerner would be interested in classical grammar except as a means to prove a pet morphosyntactic argument. I am inclined to think that the traditional analysis of the Japanese verb system, for example, has merit, particularly for students of
kobun, but I usually get very odd looks when I suggest that to those Japanese linguists who can tell you in
detail what Chomsky said about government and binding in June of 1986 but who are a bit vague about what
rentai-kei means.
Charles De Wolf
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 08:24:42 -0500
From: "John Bentley" <tc0j...@....cso.niu.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: On Dainihon again
Dear List,
Peter brings up an important point, and one that linguists (at least historical linguists) have had problems with for a long time.
First, let me say that I think the on-going Jidai betsu kokugo daijiten project is perhaps the closest thing we will get to an OED in Japan. Unfortunately, the project is taking forever. The first volume (kodai-hen) came in 1967. I believe they are up to Muromachi now, but the project is already 35 years old. Granted, even this dictionary is not without problems.
As a linguist, my main concern is the lack of good etymologies in dictionaries. Etymological studies in Japan have been hampered in part by a poor understanding of the methodology. Ryukyuan studies have been devalued by many mainland scholars, and this seriously handicaps etymological work.
As Robin has pointed out, Dai Nihon kokugo daijiten does include many strange etymologies, but most of these are from Myoogoki (1268), itself a triumph in Japan, as I do not think many countries in the world in thirteenth century were doing any kind of etymological work.
So the problem is indeed greater than just finding someone with deep pockets to sponsor a project. The scholarly mindset in Japan needs to change somewhat so that Ryukyuan linguistics is elevated above dialectal studies, and viewed as a full-fledged different language.
Best,
John
John R. Bentley
Assistant Professor of Japanese
Northern Illinois University
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 15:46:18 -0700
From: Thomas Howell <thowel...@...thlink.net>
Subject: [pmjs] Dainihonkoku
Greetings to all,
The full title of the setsuwa collection Ryooiki (824, by Kyookai) is Nihonkoku genboo zen'aku ryooiki. However, at the end of the manuscript, in what serves as the colophon, when the title of the book is written for the last time there is a gdaih in front of gNihonkoku,h making that another early occurrence of the word "Dainihonkoku."
On the Kokugo daijiten. I am not sure how linguists approach this, but I think one thing that inhibits the idea of another or better dictionary is the problem of stating what "kokugo" is. If one was going to revise or add vocabulary to the project of making a kokugo daijiten, one has to decide what to leave out, as well as what to put in. This is less of a problem with English (or a different problem), and the entries in the OED don't date back as far as one has to go in Japanese. Does a kokugo dictionary contain every lexical item Kuukai used, every Chinese and Sanscrit term that was meaningful to Buddhist monks of the ancient and medieval period? How about obscure coinages from European languages in the Meiji period?
There is a theoretical argument on "the formation of national languages" as a political and, ultimately repressive act. We will perhaps eventually find that there are constructive, or at least necessary things, about defining and cataloguing a national language, along with the repressive ones. I suspect others have a more detailed knowledge and ability to evaluate the arguments made by Lee Yeounsuk in Kokugo toiu Shisoo on this topic. However, I think Naoki Sakai has a point when he says, "to be able to read and write was to be able to operate in more than one linguistic medium in some parts of Japan at least until the eighteenth century. Literacy was comprehended within the context of multiple tongues, multilingualism...literacy was not regulated by the demand that the primary function of writing should be to transcribe what is suggested by 'mother tongue.' (Translation and Subjectivity, p 20). Can a dictionary whose object is to capture a
"kokugo," or mother tongue, do justice to this situation? In the end, a complete dictionary of the language use of the people who lived in Japan would have to include what is in Morohashi and all the other specialist dictionaries out there. Otherwise, how do you justify what you leave out?
In the bk.1 database there is a two volume work, Kokugo to Kokujiten no jidai by the chief editor of the Kokugo daijiten, Kurashima Nagamasa q>, writing on the 20th anniversary of the completion of the Daijiten. >From the descriptive blurb, he wrestles with these issues, and discusses the possibility of a large scale dictionary in the future in the light of the problems with the concept of kokugo. I haven't read it, but in general I think the relation of dictionaries to the languages they describe is a fascinating one.
Tom Howell
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 23:13:51 -0500
From: rleutner <rleut...@...e.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Nihonkokugo Daijiten
It is probably unfair to fault any dictionary-maker anywhere for failing to produce the local equivalent of the OED, which exists and sets its own incredibly "high bar" sort of standard for a "dictionary on historical
principles" due to its unique and, face it, very peculiar history. I consider myself lucky to have access just down the hall to the NKD or OJD or whatever we may call it, while recognizing that it is, in a way, just another in what I learned long ago has to be a ridiculously long shelf of dictionaries.
Bob Leutner
Iowa City IA
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 12:42:52 -0400
From: "R. Keller Kimbrough" <rkkim...@...by.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Nihonkokugo Daijiten
Dear Members,
I am also very fond of the _Nihon kokugo daijiten_ (OJD), and I would like to add that with the recent publication of the second edition, the first edition has become an even greater value for its price (at the Book Town Kanda website today, Fukuda Shoten is advertising a set of all 20 volumes for 18,900 yen; Nihon Shobou is advertising a set for 20,000 yen).
My other favorite reference work is the five-volume Muromachi set of the _Jidai-betsu kokugo daijiten_. This is a wonderful work of scholarship (I hereby designate it the WWOS), but unfortunately, it is not so cheap
(Nishiaki Shoten is advertising the five volumes for 200,000 yen). However, for anyone interested in reading Muromachi fiction, these five volumes are worth their weight in gold.
Best,
Keller Kimbrough
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 11:10:14 +0900
From: "Karel Fiala" <fi...@...l.fpu.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Dictionaries
Discussing this subject is important and interesting. But I hear that Japanese readers do not understand the discussion well. Why do you not use the standard Japanese titles of the dictionaries ? Perhaps a dictionary of all these abbreviations used in this discussion (some as jokes - e.g. Nihon Kokugo Daijiten as OJD) would be
helpful.
K.Fiala
BR> Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 08:44:11 +0100 (BST)
From: Janick Wrona <janick.wr...@...tford.oxford.ac.uk>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Nihonkokugo Daijiten
Charles DeWolf wrote:
Improved lexical resources require more broadly trained linguists. Unfortunately, few Japanese trained in Euroamerican models seem to care about such matters, being far more interested in pursuing the latest theoretical fashion; many seem to find it bizarre that any Westerner would be interested in classical grammar except as a means to prove a pet morphosyntactic argument. I am inclined to think that the traditional analysis of the Japanese verb system, for example, has merit, particularly for students of kobun, but I usually get very odd looks when I suggest that to those Japanese linguists who can tell you in detail what Chomsky said about government and binding in June of 1986 but who are a bit vague about what rentai-kei means.
I think there are two different issues involved here neither of which can be blamed on formal syntax.
The first issue is the poverty of good lexical resources. Needless to say a scholar working in P&P, GB, Minimalism etc will have very little to say about this, but we can hardly blame her/him for that anymore than we can blame a phonologist for not contributing to a syntactic model.
The second issue is the neglect of pre-Modern Japanese studies. It is not surprising that formal syntacticians are more interested in Modern Japanese than in pre-Modern Japanese, since it's a lot easier to work with by virtue of having native speakers.
Whether the syllabi at universities around the world groom students for a career in formal syntax rather than historical linguistics is a different matter. I think that Japanese studies at most European universities involve a pre-Modern language module. Perhaps that's the reason I haven't encountered the scepticism towards the study of pre-Modern Japanese (and its grammar) that Charles DeWolf reports.
Very few people would deny that classical Japanese grammar has its place in teaching pre-Modern Japanese and if you're a formal syntactician working in pre-Modern Japanese you would have to familiarise yourself with the terminology (e.g. rentaikee). But if you work with Modern Japanese I don't see why you should go through the trouble of acquiring a technical vocabulary that is of little use in your line of research.
All the best
Janick
--
Janick Wrona
Hertford College
University of Oxford
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:38:40 -0400
From: Lee Butler <labut...@...by.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Nihonkokugo Daijiten
Though we've probably heard enough testimonials of the value of Nihon kokugo daijten (OJD), let me add one more from the perspective of a historian. Since I lugged my newly bought OJD (the 10-volume set, fortunately) from Kanda to Tokyo University and then from there to Ueno Station nearly two decades ago, it has been my most used and indispensable reference work. So-called "classical" dictionaries of Japanese, with their literary focus, are of limited use to historians. Although I am occasionally frustrated by what doesn't appear in the OJD, I'm more frequently pleased by what I find, and I can't imagine working without it. About two years ago, when I had the good fortune of acquiring a substantial chunk of year-end research funds that needed to be spent, I was able to add the historical dictionary Kokushi daijiten to my personal library. Nice as it is, however, I don't turn to it nearly as often as to my OJD.
Lee Butler
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 09:15:29 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] pmjs news
We welcome the following new members to pmjs:
Juliette Chung, Sarah Fremerman, Jan Leuchtenberger, Michelle Li, Manuel Paias, Seiji Shirane, Mark Stought, Mathew Thompson.
Yuehtsen Juliette Chung <ytch...@....edu>
History Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JULIETTE CHUNG is currently teaching "Chinese East Asia" in the History Department of MIT. She has taught a junior tutorial entitled, "Local/Global: East Asian Experiences" in the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, Harvard University in Fall 2000. She received her Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago in 1999. Her dissertation, "Struggle for National Survival: Eugenics in Sino-Japanese Contexts, 1896-1945," was published with Routledge in Spring, 2002. It is a historical investigation of the relationship between science and society through the comparative study of eugenics movements as they developed in both Japan and China from the 1890s to the 1940s. Her eugenics project embodies a specific case study against a greater background of the global transmission of Western science. Her areas of interest include social Darwinism and Nationalism in East Asia, gender and science, women and social history, transnational history of science, ethnography of science, and intellectual and cultural history in East Asia. She holds an A.B. (1987) and an A.M. (1991) in History from Taiwan National University. She is currently finishing a manuscript entitled, Science and Social Nexus: Chinese Eugenics in a Transnational Context. Her current projects are an ethnography of Chinese eugenics, entitled "Better Life or Another Life?--Eugenics and Bioethics in China" and ""Transnational Science: the Japanese establishment of Shanghai Natural Science Institute and the Knowledge of Taxonomy in China, 1923-1945."
Sarah Fremerman <sar...@...nford.edu>
I'm a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Religious Studies at Stanford University, specializing in medieval Japanese Buddhism, specifically the cult of Nyoirin Kannon as it developed in Japan.
Jan Leuchtenberger < acat...@...ch.edu>
I am a candidate in Japanese literature at the University of Michigan.
Michelle Li < mi...@...nford.edu>
Postdoctoral fellow in premodern Japanese Literature
Institute of International Studies and the Department of Asian Languages, Stanford University
I received my Ph.D. in East Asian Studies from Princeton University in May 2000 with a major in pre-modern Japanese literature and minors in pre-modern Chinese and Japanese religions with an emphasis on Buddhism, and pre-modern Japanese history. My focus in recent years has been on the grotesque and other modes of representation centered on the physical body in ancient and medieval Japanese literature. I am especially interested in the places in texts where religion, history, and literature meet. The book I am close to completing, Unfinalized Bodies: Reading the Grotesque in Setsuwa Literature, develops a theory of the grotesque in short tales from the Konjaku monogatari shu and other collections compiled between the tenth and fourteenth centuries. (It is a reworking of my dissertation.)
In addition to my years at Princeton, my academic background includes a master's degree from Ochanomizu University in Tokyo in modern Japanese literature, particularly from the Meiji and Taisho- periods. I have also lived and studied in Beijing, where I began formal training in Chinese. The first time, in 1989, was during an especially intriguing period, during the student protests and military crackdown by the government in and around Tiananmen Square. Chinese language and culture, including Chinese tale literature and its relationship to Japanese tale literature, remain side passions of mine.
Manuel Paias <manuelpa...@...l.telepac.pt>
I am an interested amateur of Japanese Art, specially woodblock prints, from the late Edo Period to the present times.
Seiji Shirane < seiji.shir...@...e.edu>
I am a History Major at Yale with a focus on Japan and China
Mark Stought <stough...@...mail.com>
I am an MA student in the Japanese Dept. at University of Massachusetts Amherst. My research interests are on Nanso satomi hakkenden, as well as contemporary Japanese music and pop culture.
Mathew Thompson <mwt2...@...umbia.edu>
I am a Ph.D. Candidate at Columbia University. I will be writing my dissertation about the processes behind the cultural production of the Gikeiki and other Minamoto no Yoshitsune
There are now more than 500 subscriber addresses--although some of you are counted twice because some of you use (or have used) more than one email address... Now to catch that plane. I look forward to seeing many of you in Stanford!
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 16:49:35 +0100
From: Lucia Dolce <l...@...s.ac.uk>
Subject: [pmjs] postdoc
The following ad may be of interest to some of you
SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES
University of London
Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions
CSJR Post-doctoral Fellowship in Japanese Religions, 2003-4
｣23_K inclusive of London Allowance
Vacancy No: 03-46
Applications are invited for the one-year CSJR Postdoctoral fellowship in Japanese religions (any area) to be held at SOAS from September 2003.
The main purpose of the fellowship is to enable the holder to bring his/her recently completed PhD thesis to publication during the year. In addition, s/he will contribute up to 3hrs teaching per week and organise a symposium in his/her speciality. The Fellow will have access to appropriate study facilities and will be a member of the Department of the Study of Religions, of the Staff Common room and of SOAS Library. It is expected that the successful candidate's doctorate will have been awarded no earlier than September 2000.
Benefits include 30 days annual leave plus statutory and bank holidays and membership of USS pension scheme.
For informal enquiries about the fellowship, please contact Dr John Breen, Chair, Centre for the study of Japanese Religions, SOAS, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG, UK. E-mail: ...@...s.ac.uk.
An application form and job description may be obtained from the Human Resources Department, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG (Tel: 020 7898 4132; Fax: 020 7898 4129. e-mail address: humanresour...@...s.ac.uk). Application forms should be accompanied with: a curriculum vitae (to include a list of publications); an abstract/summary of the applicantｹs doctoral thesis; a clear statement of the candidate's academic plans for the postdoctoral year. No agencies.
Closing date: Friday 30 May 2003
SOAS is an equal opportunities employer
Dr. Lucia Dolce
Centre for the Study of Japanese Religion
Dept. East Asia & Study of Religions
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7898 4217
Fax : +44 (0)20 7898 4239
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ASCJ 2003: Seventh Annual Asian Studies Conference
ASCJ 2003: Seventh Annual Asian Studies Conference Saturday, June 21-Sunday 22, 2003 Sophia University, Ichigaya Campus, Tokyo General registration now accepted.
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~kokusai/ascj/register.htm
Speakers, discussants, and chairs! Make sure that you have registered.
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~kokusai/ascj/register-presenter.htm
Chan, Leo Tak-Hung. _One into Many: Translation and the dissemination of
classical Chinese literature_.
Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2003. 369pp
http://www.rodopi.nl/senj.asp?BookId=ATS+18