pmjs logs for January 2004. Total number of messages: 15
* J lit historical dictionaries (Eiji Sekine)
* post-doctoral position at SOAS (Lucia Dolce)
* Trade visits [to China] (Marc Keane, Barbara Nostrand, Peter Shapinsky)
* Rare Japanese books (Eiji Sekine)
* Still looking for emaki (Barbara Nostrand)
* new members: W. David Garrahan, Nicole Rieder, Petroc Wilton
* [Conlan, _State of War] Now Available (Bruce Edward Willoughby)
* Second Oxford-Kobe Linguistics Seminar (Janick Wrona)
* Position for foreign visiting researcher - NIJL
* website of interest --> Meiyu-bon Genji (Lewis Cook, Michael Watson)
Selected messages have been translated for subscribers to the Japanese digest.
See digest no. 12 and nihongoban index.
Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 17:03:11 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject:J lit historical dictionaries
I am forwarding the following information on encyclopedia of literature sent by Eiji Sekine
to this list.
Scarecrow Press is seeking authors for a volume on Japanese Literature in
the new series of Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts edited
by Jon Woronoff. This would be a one volume encyclopedia including
dictionary entries on important writers, poets, novels and poems, periods,
styles and themes, literary schools, technical terms, etc. There would also
be a chronology, introduction and bibliography.
The book should run some 300-350 printed pages for a first edition, which
could be expanded in subsequent editions. The book can be written by one
person or a small team but we do not want to deal with a collective work and
numerous authors.
For further information about Scarecrow Press and its various series of
historical dictionaries including Literature (first volume later this year)
consult www.scarecrowpress.com <http://www.scarecrowpress.com/>
Prospective authors or teams should contact Jon Woronoff, who can provide
further information on contents, size, deadline and royalties, at
jon.woron...@...cali.fr
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 21:18:44 +0000
From: Lucia Dolce <l...@...s.ac.uk>
Subject:PhD scholarship
SOAS CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF JAPANESE RELIGIONS
CSJR Research studentships, 2004
The Centre for the study of Japanese Religions at SOAS is pleased to invite applications for the 2004 CSJR research studentship in Japanese religions.
The studentship is for training leading to a PhD in Japanese religions and is to be held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, from September 2004. It will consist of a remittance of fees and a bursary of ｣9,350 per year in the first year of postgraduate study, and is renewable for up to a further two years, subject to satisfactory progress. The Studentship is open to outstanding students of Japanese religions regardless of nationality.
Closing date for applications is March 31 2004.
The selection will take place during April 2004.
The CSJR studentship may be awarded to candidates proposing to register full-time for a
research degree (MPhil/PhD) at SOAS in September 2004, and to those who enrolled full
time in September 2003 or after for a research degree at SOAS.
Candidates must have applied for a research degree at SOAS by March 31, 2004 in order to be considered for the CSJR Research Studentship.
Application forms and further particulars are available from:
The Registrar, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornaugh Street, Russell Square,
London, WC1H 0XG.
For informal inquiries, please contact Dr. Lucia Dolce, CSJR Chair, SOAS, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG, e-mail:l...@...s.ac.uk, tel. +44 20 7898 4217.
Further details on the CSJR and its activity may be found on the centre webpage: www.soas.ac.uk/Centres/JapaneseReligions/
-----------
Lucia Dolce
Chair, Centre for the Study of Japanese Religion
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
UK
Tel. (dir): +44 (0)20 7898 4217
Fax: +44 (0)20 7898 4699
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 21:26:44 +0000
From: Lucia Dolce <l...@...s.ac.uk>
Subject:post-doctoral position at SOAS
CSJR Post-doctoral fellowship in Japanese religions, 2004-5
The SOAS Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions invites applications for the one-year CSJR Postdoctoral fellowship in Japanese religions (any area) to be held at SOAS from September 2004.
The main purpose of the fellowship is to enable the holder to bring his/her recently completed PhD thesis to publication during the year at SOAS. Whilst at SOAS, the CSJR Fellow will be expected to contribute some teaching on Japanese religion within existing courses, depending on his/her research field, and to take part in the Centre泣 activities, including the CSJR seminars and fora. In addition, s/he will be expected to organise a workshop/symposium in his/her speciality. Financial and administrative support will be available to this end. The Fellow will have access to appropriate study facilities and will be a member of the Senior Common room and a full member of the SOAS library.
The Fellow's annual stipend will be ≠Q3,259 (including London weighting).
Applications consist of a curriculum vitae and a list of publications, an abstract/ summary of the applicant's doctoral thesis, a clear statement of the candidate's academic plans for the postdoctoral year (including a proposal for the workshop) and the names of three referees. Five copies of these documents together with a covering note should be sent to Human Resources Department, SOAS, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG.
The closing date for applications is Friday 5 March 2004.
Interviews will be held on 22-23 April 2004.
For informal inquiries, please contact Lucia Dolce, Chair, Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions, SOAS, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG, e-mail: l...@...s.ac.uk , tel. +44 20 7898 4217.
-----------
Lucia Dolce
Chair, Centre for the Study of Japanese Religion
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
UK
Tel. (dir): +44 (0)20 7898 4217
Fax: +44 (0)20 7898 4699
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 10:57:31 -0500
From: Marc Peter Keane <i...@...eane.com>
Subject:Trade visits
Dear colleagues;
Does anyone know of any journal article or book (in Japanese or English), that documents the trips made by Japanese envoys, priests and merchants to China during the Kamakura, Muromachi, and Momoyama periods? I am trying to get a handle on, basically, how many trips were made, where they went, and what the travelers were likely to have experienced, in particular, what things related to tea culture - tea service, tea architecture, tea gardens.
Any help would be appreciated.
All for now.
Marc
--
The Office of Marc Peter Keane
209 White Park Road
Ithaca NY 14850-2260
USA
i...@...eane.com
http://www.mpkeane.com
http://www.t-house.info/
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 16:16:22 -0800
From: esekine <esek...@...izon.net>
Subject:Rare Japanese books
Iam forwarding the following info on jpns rare bks. E.s.
CEAL Committee on Japanese Materials(CJM) is happy to announce that
"Directory of North American Collections of Old and Rare Japanese Books,
Other Print Materials, and Manuscripts" (revised Jan. 2004) is available in
PDF format at CJM web site.
http://www.library.arizona.edu/users/hkamada/CJM/cjmhome.html
The directory, which is based on the survey conducted by the CJM
Subcommittee on Japanese Rare Books (Toshie Marra; chair, Reiko
Yoshimura, Hideyuki Morimoto) and revised in Jan. 2004. It was also
printed in the last issue (No.131) of "The Journal of East Asian Libraries"
(Oct. 2003). The committee will keep updating this web version and
welcome your feedbacks.
Kuniko Yamada McVey
Chair, CJM
Harvard-Yenching Library
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 21:55:09 -0500
From: Barbara Nostrand <nostr...@....org>
Subject:Still looking for emaki
Dear List Members:
I think that color reproductions of "Shuhanron" may be in one of the twenty
five volumes of "Nihon Nihon Bijutsu Zenshu". Has anyone seen this collection
and can tell me whether it is in there or not and if so which volume?
I'm also trying to find reproductions of comic emaki with anthropomorphic animals.
Thank you very much.
Barara Nostrand
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 21:55:24 -0500
From: Barbara Nostrand <nostr...@....org>
Subject:Re: Trade visits
Dear list members:
Please include me in your copy list for these voyages. I am also interested
in voyages to India and SE Asia. Thank you very much.
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 21:49:48 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject:new members / member news
We welcome three new members to pmjs.
W. David Garrahan, Jr. <garra...@....harvard.edu>
affiliation = Harvard University, RSEA Program
profile = I am a first-year Master's student in the Regional Studies - East Asia Program at Harvard University focusing on pre-modern Japan. I received my AB in history with honors from Cornell University in 2001, specializing in court-clergy economic exchange in the middle Heian period. After leaving Cornell I traveled abroad in East and Southeast Asia (by way of Japan) before beginning my graduate education in the Fall of 2003. My focus is Nara and Heian history, especially the development of the Northern Fujiwara regency and its relationship with, and superintendence of, the cycle of court ritual (nenju gyoji). In October, 2003, I began assisting Professor Mikael Adolphson (EALC, Harvard) and visiting Harvard-Yenching Fellow Professor Kondo Shigekazu (Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo) in transcribing the Harvard Law School Library?s collection of important pre-modern Japanese documents (komonjo). My wife Amanda and I were married in June, 2002 and live in Lincoln, Rhode Island. In March, 2004 I will begin a two year course of study as a Monbukagakushou Research Student at the University of Tokyo.
Nicole Rieder <nicole.rie...@....net>
affiliation = Student at Department of East Asian Studies, Munich University, Germany
profile = 2003/2004 starting on MA-Thesis on late Heian Fujwara politics & interfamiliar conflicts of the Fujiwara (Tadamichi, Tadazane, Yorinaga, 1120-1156). General fields of interest are: premodern Japanese history, esp. late Heian/early Kamakura period.
Petroc Wilton <pwil...@...sagelabs.com>
affiliation = IT Security
profile = I attempted a translation of Rashomon as part of a course in advanced Japanese recently and thus acquired something of an interest in literary translation. I'm hoping to learn more from this list!
Change of affiliation / email:
Kendal Korach Parker <kendal.par...@...museum.orga>
Affiliation = Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Asian Art
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 10:31:44 -0500 (EST)
From: Bruce Edward Willoughby <...@...ch.edu>
Subject:Now Available
New Publication
STATE OF WAR: THE VIOLENT ORDER OF FOURTEENTH-CENTURY JAPAN
by Thomas Donald Conlan
A John Whitney Hall Book
ISBN 1-929280-16-5 (cloth, $65.00), 1-9292890-23-8 (paper, $24.00)
xviii + 282 pp., 35 illustrations, 5 tables, and 22 color plates
"Outstanding ... Tom Conlan has written an extraordinarily detailed and
thorough history of warfare in the fourteenth century from a wide variety
of perspectives, including the function of the individual warrior in
everyday battle, the number and character of casualties, the logistics of
warfare, loyalty among warriors, and fighting as a sacred pursuit. STATE
OF WAR makes a powerful contention that militarization was the principal
force in the molding of fourteenth-century Japan."
Paul Varley
Sen Soshitsu XV Professor of Japanese Cultural History
University of Hawaii at Manoa
"This exciting book is a landmark in the study of premodern Japanese
history. Informed by easy mastery of a wide range of largely untapped
primary sources and thoughtful conceptualization, Professor Conlan has
produced the most comprehensive study of warfare for any period of
Japanese history. It is the first serious study of how warriors actually
engaged in battle, and of the full range of logistic, intellectual, and
religious factors that surround their lives; to his credit, the author
conveys well the human side of the story. The author's attention to
issues of social change and technology is particularly welcome and
should inspire others to address these matters in other periods of
Japanese history. Readers will also appreciate the fluid writing style."
Andrew Goble
Associate Professor of History
University of Oregon
STATE OF WAR, a path-breaking study of the transformative power of war and
its profound influence on fourteenth-century Japan, presents a fundamental
revision of Japanese history. By illuminating Japan through the lens of
war, Thomas Conlan provides insight into how state and society functioned,
as opposed to how they were portrayed in ideal. Conlan recreates the
experience of war from the perspective of one warrior, and then
reconstructs how war was fought through statistical analysis of surviving
casualty records.
STATE OF WAR also shows that the battles of the fourteenth century
mark a watershed in Japanese history. The fiscal exigencies of waging war
led to a devolution of political power to the provinces. Furthermore, the
outbreak of war caused social status to become performative, based upon
the ability to fight autonomously, rather than being prescriptive, or
determined by edicts of investiture.
This work bridges the intellectual gulf between the fourteenth and
twentieth centuries by exploring how the seemingly contradictory
categories of religion and war were integrally related. The
fourteenth-century belief that the outcome of battle was determined by the
gods meant that religious institutions warred both ritually and
physically, and that religious attitudes frequently underpinned warrior
behavior.
Based on diverse sources, including documents, picture scrolls,
medical and religious texts, and chronicles, STATE OF WAR rehabilitates
warfare as a focal point of historical inquiry and provides a fascinating
new overview of premodern Japanese history.
SHIPPING: $6.00 domestic; $7.50 surface international. Order from Center
for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, at the numbers below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruce E. Willoughby, Executive Editor, Center for Japanese Studies,
University of Michigan, 202 S. Thayer St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608
e-mail address: ...@...ch.edu | phone: 734/998-7265 | fax: 734/998-7982
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 11:58:51 -0500
From: pshap...@...ch.edu
Subject:Re: Trade visits
One good overall source is the _Taigai kankeishi sogo nenpyo_ (Yoshikawa
Kobunkan, 1999).
Peter Shapinsky
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 11:56:05 +0000 (GMT)
From: Janick Wrona <janick.wr...@...tford.oxford.ac.uk>
Subject:Second Oxford-Kobe Linguistics Seminar
Dear all
Happy New Year!
This announcement may be of interest to the linguists on the list.
-----
SECOND OXFORD-KOBE LINGUISTICS SEMINAR:
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE
HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF JAPANESE
The First Oxford-Kobe Linguistics Seminar, entitled 'Language
Change and Historical Linguistics', was held in April 2002.
Following the enormous success of this event, the Kobe Institute of
St Catherine's College (University of Oxford) has agreed to sponsor a
Second Linguistics Seminar, in September 2004, and feels that the
most felicitous focus for this meeting is the history and structure of
the Japanese language. Once again, the aim of the Seminar is to
promote collaboration and scholarly exchange between academic
colleagues from Japan and other countries in a relaxed and convivial
environment. The Seminar is organized by Bjarke Frellesvig
(University of Oxford), Masayoshi Shibatani (Rice University), and
John Charles Smith (University of Oxford).
SEMINAR TIMETABLE
The Seminar will begin in the late afternoon/early evening on Sunday,
26 September 2004, with Registration and a Welcome Reception. The
three days from Monday, 27 September to Wednesday 29 September,
inclusive, will be devoted to papers and discussion. It is suggested
that participants should arrive during the morning or early afternoon
of Sunday, 26 September, and leave on Thursday, 30 September. All
papers will be invited plenary lectures and will last 50-55 minutes.
There are also plans to organize a session of poster presentations.
The language of the Seminar will be English.
INVITED PARTICIPANTS
The following scholars have agreed to give papers at the Seminar:
Bjarke Frellesvig (University of Oxford)
Taro Kageyama (Kwansei Gakuin University)
Satoshi Kinsui (Osaka University)
Susumu Kuno (Harvard University)
S.-Y. Kuroda (University of California San Diego)
Wesley Jacobsen (Harvard University)
Vera Podlesskaya (Russian State University for Humanities in Moscow)
Leon Serafim (University of Hawai'i)
Masayoshi Shibatani (Rice University)
Shoko Hamano (George Washington University)
Lone Takeuchi (SOAS, University of London)
Yukinori Takubo (Kyoto University)
James Unger (Ohio State University)
Timothy Vance (University of Arizona)
Alexander Vovin (University of Hawai'i)
John Whitman (Cornell University)
THE KOBE INSTITUTE
The Kobe Institute of St. Catherine's College (University of Oxford),
in Kobe, Japan, is an independent non-profit-making organization. It
was established in September 1991 by donations from Kobe City,
Hyogo Prefecture and more than 100 companies all over Japan. The
Institute was established with the objectives of stimulating and
facilitating intellectual exchange between Japan and other nations, and
is maintained with financial support from corporate sources. 1997
saw the establishment, as part of this programme, of the Oxford-
Kobe Seminars, which aim to bring together researchers in a
particular discipline to discuss the 'state of the art' in their area of
expertise. The seminar programme is sustained in part with income
from external sponsors.
The Seminar will be held in the Institute's buildings, a purpose-built
independent academic complex at the foot of Rokko Mountain, with
outstanding views over the city of Kobe and Osaka Bay. The
Institute has a library, a computing room with e-mail facilities, a
lecture theatre, seminar rooms, common rooms, dining rooms and bar
facilities. There is also a television room with satellite television.
Information on the Kobe Institute, including access maps,
photographs, and an account of its history, can be found at:
http://www.kobeinst.org
Further details of this Second Oxford-Kobe Linguistics Seminar,
including details of how to register, will be available shortly on the
Institute's web site.
--
Janick Wrona
Hertford College
University of Oxford
-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 00:23:49 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject:Position for foreign visiting researcher - NIJL
I have been asked by Professor Suzuki Jun of NIJL (Kokubungaku Kenkyu Shiryokan, Tokyo) to advertise on pmjs a position for a visiting researcher in the field of premodern or early modern Japanese literature.
There is no deadline for applications as such, but as the position must be taken up between April and September this year, a speedy response would be most appreciated.
For your convenience, I have appended an unofficial English translation. To ask for further details, please contact Professor Suzuki directly at <jsuz...@...l.ac.jp>. For more information about NIJL see
<http://www.nijl.ac.jp>.
I very much hope that a suitable candidate can be found at this late date. A similar position will be available in 2005.
-----------------------
○外国人客員研究員の募集について
Position for foreign visiting researcher (gaikokujin kyaku-kenkyuin)
研究資源系研究主幹 鈴木淳
Suzuki Jun, Head of Research Resources Section
２００４年１月
January, 2004
国文学研究資料館は、２００４年４月より４つの研究系が組織され、それぞれ 研究プロジェクトを推進していくことになりました。そのうち研究資源系で は、２００４年度以降の外国人研究員を探していますが、とくに２００４年の 分を急いでおります。条件等の概略は以下の通りです。
From April 2004, the National Institute of Japanese Literature will be organized into four research departments, each one of which will conduct research projects. The Research Resources department (kenkyu shigen kei) is seeking foreign visiting researchers from the academic year 2004 and onwards. A suitable candidate is urgently sought for the academic year 2004. The conditions are outlined below.
１，日本文学研究者であること。専門の時代は、幕末・明治初期、近世、中 世、中古、古代、いずれも可。
1. The researcher should specialize in Japanese literature. The period of specialization can be any of the following: Bakumatsu, early Meiji, early modern (kinsei), medieval (chusei), Heian (chuko), or Nara (jodai).
２，研究資源系の趣旨でもある、原本（版本、写本など）研究の経験があるこ と、もしくは関心のあること。
2. The researcher should have experience or interest in the study of original texts (early printed texts or manuscripts), as this is the focus of the Research Resources department.
３，専門によって、資源系の三つのプロジェクトである、近世関係、中世関 係、和刻本関係のいずれかに関わってもらい、協力してもらう。
3. Depending on the researcher's field of specialization, he or she will join and participate in one of the three projects of the section: related either to early modern materials, medieval materials, or Japanese printed books (wakokuhon).
４，専門のテーマで、館外の研究者も含めた共同研究会を組織することができる。
4. A joint-research project can be organized about his or her topic of research, with the participation of outside scholars.
５，すでに専任のポストを持っていて、年齢は３０代から５０代までが望ましい。
5. The researcher should already hold a full-time [sennin] post in his or her home institution, and preferably be aged from 30s to 50s.
６，期間は最低６ヶ月、最長１年であるが、場合によっては６ヶ月以内もあり得る。
6. As a rule the minimum period of stay is six months, and the maximum one year, but in certain circumstances a period less than six months may be possible.
７，着任時期は、２００４年４月から同９月までの間、いつでも可。
7. The researcher should be able to take up the post at some time between April and September, 2004.
８，渡航費、滞在費および共同研究会の費用を提供する。
以上
8. Travel expenses, living expenses (taizaihi), and a joint-research budget will be provided.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 17:43:32 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: Re: Position for foreign visiting researcher - NIJL
Professor Suzuki would like to thank the members of the list who enquired about the advertised position at NIJL. In order to expedite the selection process, no new applications will be considered.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 21:15:59 -0500
From: "Lewis Cook" <lc...@...thlink.net>
Subject: website of interest
Here is a link to a website which may be of interest to list members:
http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~sionoya/
It includes articles on the history of Genji illustration, early modern tanzaku, etc., and a study of the Meiyu-bon manuscripts of Genji which offers evidence to question the widely accepted assumption that these are faithful copies of non-extant Teika manuscripts of Genji.
The author of this website, Nomura Seiichi (a distinguished Genji scholar) asks, incidentally, whether there might be any concern among scholars outside of Japan regarding the validity of the Meiyu-bon manuscripts. I tentatively assume that the answer would be no. I hope to be contradicted.
Lewis Cook
Queens College, CUNY
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 01:59:24 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: Meiyu-bon Genji
Lewis Cook has called our attention to a website that includes an article by Nomura Seiichi on the question of the manuscripts of Genji monogatari traditionally attributed to the copyist Meiyu--"DEN Meiyu-hitsubon Genji monogatari", or "Meiyu-bon" for short.
Two subscribers to the Japanese pmjs digest have responded. Here is a rough translation/summary, with their original comments appended.
The original article is profusely illustrated with "kiwamefuda" (documents that record an expert's appraisal of a manuscript, identifying the calligrapher by name)
See <http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~sionoya/> -- depending on your browser you may find it easier to read the study itself with this direct link:
<http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~sionoya/kinzan.html>
-------------
JINNO Hidenori <ji...@....so-net.ne.jp> (Waseda University) wrote as follows.
As Lewis Cook said, it is certainly true that most scholars regard the nine Meiyu-bon chapters in the Toen bunko [Ikeda Kikan's collection] as valuable as the four chapters believed to be in Fujiwara Teika's own hand.
There is a detailed discussion by Ishida Joji in the facsimile edition of Toen bunko, and also in his publications. Unfortunately my copies are at work so I cannot check just now, but as far as I remember the key point is the very close similarity of the Maedake-bon "Kashiwagi" chapter [one of those believed to be in Teika's hand] and the Meiyu-bon "Kashiwagi" (Toen bunko), which agree down to the most minute detail.
From reading Professor Nomura's web page, I learned many things about the question of the "kiwamefuda", the document that records an expert's opinion on the manuscript [=kanteisho, an appraisal]. The Meiyu-bon was probably written by a priest called Meiyu (or Myoyu). The reason that the Toen bunko "Kashiwagi" matches perfectly with the Maedake "Kashiwagi" is because it was a direct copy ("rinmobon"). The value of the Meiyu-bon is therefore unquestionable. This is what I feel.
In the case of the "Hanachirusato" chapter, however, there are bis problems. As for the other seven chapters, I don't have any relevant information to hand, so cannot comment just now. The web page does not fully get across the point that Nomura is making, however. It doesn't make clear how he regards the "Kashiwagi" chapter, for instance.
--------------------------------
Niimi Akihito <zhe...@....ttcn.ne.jp> (Waseda Graduate School) wrote as follows:
In the case of the Meiyu-bon, there is the matter of the seal imprint "Kinzan" [in the appraiser's attribution]. Professor Kanechiku would be able to answer this immediately, but I thought that it was obvious that there were any number of types of this seal. I've have had a close look at the pictures on Nomura-san's web page. The Showa period "Kinzan" seal looks as though it were newly carved. (When a seal is carved, the outer line is broken so as to give it a patina of age--this is well known, I think.)
[http://www.h3.dion.ne.jp/~sionoya/ise.jpg]
Another point is that there were generations and generations of experts in attributing calligraphy (kohitsuka), so it is not surprising that there are differences in the way the attribution slips are written. There are also many errors in identifications of calligraphers--because those who did appraisals of handwriting were also involved in buying and selling--so that it would certainly be dangerous to accept unquestionably the attribution to Meiyu. (I also think that we cannot rule out the possibility of attribution slips and seals being forged. This is also something which Professor Kanechiku could tell us immediately if we asked him.)
I happen to have with me now the facsimile edition of the Jissen Women's College Meiyu-bon texts of "Wakamurasaki", "Aoi", and "Eawase". As Nomura-san says, only "Wakamurasaki" bears the [attribution to] "Kajii-dono". And it is certainly true that the handwriting in "Wakamurasaki" differs from that of "Aoi" and "Eawase". Another difference is that in the "Wakamurasaki" chapter, the ink also hardly ever shows through the paper ("ura-utsuri"). This may mean that quality of the paper is different too. The attribution slip therefore seems to be correct in identifying a change in the copyist of "Wakamurasaki". Nomura-san is also right in saying that the manuscripts were not copied by "Meiyu" alone.
I am not at all familiar with the latest research on [Genji] texts, but I agree with what Jinno-san says: the Meiyu-bon texts are very valuable for textual study--albeit some chapters more than others. It does seem, however, that the Meiyu-bon texts in Jissen Women's College have hardly been studied. (There is an article by Ueno Eiko, "Yamagishi bunkozo Meiyu-bon Genji monogatari ni tsuite", Chuko bungaku, 42 (Nov. 1988).)
As far as I can remember, when I compared some of the transcription of "Eawase", I found it was extremely close to the Oshima-bon. (At the moment I cannot find my copy of the Oshima-bon "Eawase" so that I can't compare it now.).
My personal feeling is that the manuscripts traditionally attributed to Meiyu should be much more studied, from all aspects, positive and negative, including the identity of copyist, the period when the copy was made, as well as, of course, the text itself.
-------
We have put the Japanese originals online, together with additional comments.
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/logs/meiyu/
The usual pmjs login is necessary.
Michael Watson
Midorikawa Machiko
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A linguist on the list has suggested that members might be interested to learn that a reprint edition of Samuel E Martin's Reference Grammar of Japanese is now available from University of Hawaii Press. (url).
Charlotte von Verschuer, _Le riz dans la culture de Heian, mythe et realite_,
Paris, College de France, 2003. 409 pages, index.
Lim Beng Choo, "They came to party: an examination of the social status of the
medieval noh theatre," _Japan Forum_ 16.1 (March 2004), 111 - 133. (abstract).
NIJL - Electronic Library