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TokyoLiz
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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 Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:43 am Post subject: |
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Gwynnie, you said it:
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| Sometimes it's easy to forget why we came here in the first place, or to forget the passion we once had for Japan. |
I've been feeling blue lately. In an effort to pick myself up, and focus on the art, history and culture that attracted me to Japan 11 years ago, I went on a bike ride in my rural neighbourhood on Setsubun. Please read my blog www.chibaraki.wordpress.com
Some blogs I admire are www.pinktentacle.com and http://blog.alientimes.org/ |
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Rakuten
Joined: 14 Jun 2010
Posts: 67
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:17 am Post subject: |
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| Cool Teacher wrote: |
| rxk22 wrote: |
| Rakuten wrote: |
Anything by Haruki Murakami. His books are fantastic, and he is not only my favourite Japanese authors- but one of my favourite authors of all time. If you're just starting out reading him, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle(ねじまき鳥クロニクル), Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ) or Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森) might be good places to start.
All his books are set in Japan in various locations, with a very interesting look at the modern Japanese psyche and tons of philosophical insight and implications. The guy is a great writer, so I highly recommend him.
A! |
I meet very few people, even Japanese who've read his books. I absolutely love the Wind up Bird and Norwegian wood. |
I read about half of both of those books and gave up thinking nothing was going to happen and nothing would be explaned. 
When he wrote a book called Kakfa on the Shore I thought "Ahhhh! that explains it!" because my meormies of rreading Kafka is the same. 
I also read "Sputnik Sweetheatr" and "Underground" and "WEst of the Border South of the Sea". They were all like that too except "Underground" was about a real thing of course.
I don't get the point of Haruki Mukarami's books!!!!  |
I think that's part of what makes them so philosophical and introspective, leaning towards existential. It's not so much about the ending of the book, the conclusion or making a whole lot of sense/tying up all the loose endsーbut more about the experience/adventures and getting to know/getting close to the charaters in the book as a whole.
I personally, think some Murakami book ending are rather weak (read: Wind Up Bird, Dance Dance Dance etc.) but I think of it more about the "ride" as a whole. He's one of those (I think) rare authors who is able to evoke a lot of feeling in the reader simply through the scenes, setting and characters he creates in his books. |
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jcook77
Joined: 08 Oct 2010
Posts: 32
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:45 am Post subject: |
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| I also love "Norwegian Wood" and am currently reading "Dance, Dance, Dance," which isn't bad so far. I'm a cinefile, so Kurosawa movies are where it's at for me. I love some of his lesser-known films, such as "Tengoku to Jigoku" (Heaven and Hell) and "Nora Inu" (Stray Dog). Both movies give you a glimpse of post-war Japan and feature Toshiro Mifune. |
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Cool Teacher
Joined: 18 May 2009
Posts: 930
Location: Here, There and Everywhere! :D
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:00 am Post subject: |
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| Rakuten wrote: |
| Cool Teacher wrote: |
| rxk22 wrote: |
| Rakuten wrote: |
Anything by Haruki Murakami. His books are fantastic, and he is not only my favourite Japanese authors- but one of my favourite authors of all time. If you're just starting out reading him, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle(ねじまき鳥クロニクル), Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ) or Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森) might be good places to start.
All his books are set in Japan in various locations, with a very interesting look at the modern Japanese psyche and tons of philosophical insight and implications. The guy is a great writer, so I highly recommend him.
A! |
I meet very few people, even Japanese who've read his books. I absolutely love the Wind up Bird and Norwegian wood. |
I read about half of both of those books and gave up thinking nothing was going to happen and nothing would be explaned.
When he wrote a book called Kakfa on the Shore I thought "Ahhhh! that explains it!" because my meormies of rreading Kafka is the same.
I also read "Sputnik Sweetheatr" and "Underground" and "WEst of the Border South of the Sea". They were all like that too except "Underground" was about a real thing of course.
I don't get the point of Haruki Mukarami's books!!!! |
I think that's part of what makes them so philosophical and introspective, leaning towards existential. It's not so much about the ending of the book, the conclusion or making a whole lot of sense/tying up all the loose endsーbut more about the experience/adventures and getting to know/getting close to the charaters in the book as a whole.
I personally, think some Murakami book ending are rather weak (read: Wind Up Bird, Dance Dance Dance etc.) but I think of it more about the "ride" as a whole. He's one of those (I think) rare authors who is able to evoke a lot of feeling in the reader simply through the scenes, setting and characters he creates in his books. |
Mmm.... I get where your coming from and I did give Murakami a damn good try (five books aint bad!) but after a while I just got too bored. 
Philosophical? Hmmmm... maybe there are some metaphysical ideas in there, yes, I suppose but after a while it seems like he's treading the same ground. At least two of those stories seemed to be the same with a few extra bits stuck on.
Now I have read some other Japanese writers who have similar wasy of thinking. I think that if you read Kobo Abe's "Woman of the Dunes" then you get the whole Murakami thing without all the extra stuff
But a really good Japanese novel is "Silence" by Shusaku Endo.
Another by the same writer is "The Poison and the Sea".
Many of these books are a bit depressing though.  |
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s10czar
Joined: 20 Feb 2010
Posts: 60
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| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:51 am Post subject: |
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Mishima's Sword by Christopher Ross
Budoshoshinshu by Daidoji Yuzon
Samurai! by Saburo Saki
...and, of course, ...
Shogun (the book not the lamo TV series) by James Clavell |
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Rakuten
Joined: 14 Jun 2010
Posts: 67
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Cool Teacher wrote: |
| Rakuten wrote: |
| Cool Teacher wrote: |
| rxk22 wrote: |
| Rakuten wrote: |
Anything by Haruki Murakami. His books are fantastic, and he is not only my favourite Japanese authors- but one of my favourite authors of all time. If you're just starting out reading him, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle(ねじまき鳥クロニクル), Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ) or Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森) might be good places to start.
All his books are set in Japan in various locations, with a very interesting look at the modern Japanese psyche and tons of philosophical insight and implications. The guy is a great writer, so I highly recommend him.
A! |
I meet very few people, even Japanese who've read his books. I absolutely love the Wind up Bird and Norwegian wood. |
I read about half of both of those books and gave up thinking nothing was going to happen and nothing would be explaned.
When he wrote a book called Kakfa on the Shore I thought "Ahhhh! that explains it!" because my meormies of rreading Kafka is the same.
I also read "Sputnik Sweetheatr" and "Underground" and "WEst of the Border South of the Sea". They were all like that too except "Underground" was about a real thing of course.
I don't get the point of Haruki Mukarami's books!!!! |
I think that's part of what makes them so philosophical and introspective, leaning towards existential. It's not so much about the ending of the book, the conclusion or making a whole lot of sense/tying up all the loose endsーbut more about the experience/adventures and getting to know/getting close to the charaters in the book as a whole.
I personally, think some Murakami book ending are rather weak (read: Wind Up Bird, Dance Dance Dance etc.) but I think of it more about the "ride" as a whole. He's one of those (I think) rare authors who is able to evoke a lot of feeling in the reader simply through the scenes, setting and characters he creates in his books. |
Mmm.... I get where your coming from and I did give Murakami a damn good try (five books aint bad!) but after a while I just got too bored.
Philosophical? Hmmmm... maybe there are some metaphysical ideas in there, yes, I suppose but after a while it seems like he's treading the same ground. At least two of those stories seemed to be the same with a few extra bits stuck on.
Now I have read some other Japanese writers who have similar wasy of thinking. I think that if you read Kobo Abe's "Woman of the Dunes" then you get the whole Murakami thing without all the extra stuff
But a really good Japanese novel is "Silence" by Shusaku Endo.
Another by the same writer is "The Poison and the Sea".
Many of these books are a bit depressing though. |
Yeah, that is one of the major criticisms of Murakami- that it often feels like he is just writing different variations of the same story over and over again. I dunno though, personally I kinda like the 懐かしい feeling you get when you read a Murakami novel and it can remind you of his other works- it's like somehow they are all slightly linked together.
Some people like it- some don't.  I really enjoy him though- I'm still slogging through Book 1 of 1Q84, but the time I finish Book 1- all 3 volumes will probably be released in English -____-
I hear you on "Woman in the Dunes" though. That is an amazing book! It really gives you an interesting glipse at absurdism through a very Japanese lenses or filter. That's another one of my favs. I loved the book, but the Japanese black/white film wasn't my favourite...
Shusaku Endo I haven't read any of yet, but I've been meaning to!
Lots of good info/recommendations in this thread |
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Asher
Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 47
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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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Has Donald Richie been mentioned yet? Almost everything by him is pretty perceptive and worth reading. There's an interesting older thread called 'Good reads' that has comments about him and a host of other authors; then, I recall there being a thread on Alex Kerr (author of Dogs and Demons - that was probably the thread title, in fact!) that IIRC branched out into considering other, less critical/more positive authors and viewpoints.
I know it isn't a book or movie, but one thing I really love(d) about Japan is (was) Pride FC (an MMA organization). Unfortunately it got sold to Zuffa (i.e. the UFC), and Dream (Pride's apparent replacement, and a fusion of Pride and Hero's [sic]) probably isn't quite in the same league yet. Anyway, this seems one of the best HL clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoHZpNX9nQc |
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TokyoLiz
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:07 am Post subject: |
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Donald Ritchie's The Inland Sea is a great book. I read it on a trip to Hiroshima and Shikoku.
Isabella Bird's travel letters, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan is fascinating for the details of daily life and has some of the earliest English language accounts of Ainu culture. |
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sabina
Joined: 11 Nov 2010
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:31 am Post subject: |
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| Out by Natsuo Kirino. And I know someone else mentioned Enter the Void.....I can't stress enough how fascinating that film is..... |
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deibito
Joined: 10 Feb 2011
Posts: 1
Location: Ashikaga, Japan
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| Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:06 am Post subject: |
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Interesting thought about losing sight of the fact of what drew many of us to Japan in the first place. Been here 5 months now, and it's so easy to look past the allure and only focus on the difficulties and negatives.
| s10czar wrote: |
Shogun (the book not the lamo TV series) by James Clavell |
First and last in my book in regards to encapsulating so perfectly the appeal of the mystique of ancient Japan. Quintessential reading! It was this book that rekindled my interest in Japan after a hiatus I'd inadvertently entered after my youthful interest in ninjas inevitably died.
Clavell is my favourite author, his Asian saga the best books I have had the pleasure of reading, with Tai-Pan the 'supreme of the supreme.'
As for the TV version of Shogun, I actually think it did a masterful job of capturing the necessary points as best it could, given so much had to be cut. What really lets it down is Richard Chamberlin's Blackthorne. Try as he might, he just wasn't right for the role, and was only chosen due to his Thornbirds success (and Sean Connery's refusal to do tv work).
| seklarwia wrote: |
I also recently watched a strange movie with Brad Pitt who plays a French(?) merchant that travels to a remote village in Japan to buy silk worms and falls in love with the leader's concubine despite having a loving wife back home. I can't remember it's name, but I watched the whole thing despite it not being the kind of movie I would normally watch. Perhaps someone can help me out on the name.
And for some good ol' Japanophile goodness with lots of killing/dying, there is always The Last Samurai. |
The movie is called 'Silk' - though it's not Brad Pitt (can't remember the actor's name though). Pretty decent, though slow moving. The daimyo's wife/consort the protagonist sees in the onsen is one of the most beautiful Japanese actresses I've seen. She has an alluring aura about her.
And spot on with the Last Samurai. It is quite simply my favourite movie of all time. Engaging, exciting, and what is often overlooked - well written - it captures what I so adore about pre- and mid-Meiji Restoration Japan. People scoff because it's a Hollywood film and stars Tom Cruise, and twists history for dramatic effect, but which of the movies and books mentioned in this thread doesn't??? Superb.
| Rakuten wrote: |
I hear you on "Woman in the Dunes" though. I loved the book, but the Japanese black/white film wasn't my favourite...
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I actually liked this movie, as it was rather eeire and intriguing. However, I never read the book, so I have nothing to compare it to. Had a kind of haunting vibe.
For my own contributions:
No one has yet mentioned the Tales of the Otori trilogy of books by Lian Hearn. I really liked them, probably Across the Nightingale Floor most of all, but Grass for his Pillow and The Brilliance of the Moon were fantastic too.
Now, there's a two book 'series' that I never see mentioned anywhere, and I must bring light to their existence, especially if you liked Shogun.
The Shike saga by Robert Shea. Book 1: Time of the Dragons and Last of Zinja (Book II) were realy well written, engrossing tales both. Set around the time of the Mongol invasions in the early days of the samurai, I strongly recommend either.
Another interesting book, though investigative journalism rather than fiction, was Lesley Downer's Geisha: The Secret History of a Vanishing World. I think she lived here teaching English for 20 odd years, then embarked on discovering and divulging (what remains of) the world of the geisha for this book. The results are very interesting and informative introspection into such a clandestine existence.
As I used to work in a video store, I used to get to watch quite a few obscure Japanese movies. Without going into elaborate detail, here are some worth checking out:
Audition - J-Horror, crazy lonesome woman with serial killer tendencies. The actress is apparently a method actress, meaning she does everything for real, which makes one scene in particular (with one victim chained like a dog) quite disgusting!
Versus - Strange movie about a convict escapee from a Japanese prison, who enters a forest that is haunted by demons (vampires? Don't recall). He is connected to this cursed forest by his heritage that dates back to the days of the samurai. Cool fight scenes, and good soundtrack if I remember correcty.
Wasabi - Jean Reno and an awesome performance by a Japanese girl who doesn't speak French, but memorized all her lines to awesome effect. Good action, and again, awesome soundtrack (biased, as it's heavy with The Prodigy, my fave band!)
Afro Samurai - I'm not a huge fan of Jp anime (aside from The Legend of the 4 Dragon Kings and Akira the Demon Hunter that I watched with my older sister way back in the early 90's when I was way too young on Channel 4) however, I LOVE Afro Samurai. Brutal, stylish, awesome. So cool, RZA's music compliments the great design and basic but compelling story. I love the viciousness, the graphicness, yet understated smoothness of Samuel L. Jackson's Afro - the epitome of badass.
That's all for now, I am sure I have many more to share, and I will - when I remember them! |
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OneJoelFifty
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 463
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:45 am Post subject: |
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| fluffyhamster wrote: |
I know it isn't a book or movie, but one thing I really love(d) about Japan is (was) Pride FC (an MMA organization). Unfortunately it got sold to Zuffa (i.e. the UFC), and Dream (Pride's apparent replacement, and a fusion of Pride and Hero's [sic]) probably isn't quite in the same league yet. Anyway, this seems one of the best HL clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoHZpNX9nQc |
A bit off-topic but do you know why it was bought? PRIDE was discovered to have strong ties to the Yakuza, they lost their network TV deal and no other station would go near them. When Zuffa bought it, they found all kinds of financial misdealings that made the deal amost worthless. The situation has also made it very difficult for the UFC to come and set up in Japan.
The organisations that formed following PRIDE's collapse are having some problems with money at the moment, and there are still rumours of Yakuza ties. Some of the main businessmen previously responsible for PRIDE are involved again behind the scenes. It's all quite interesting. |
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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Ooh yeah, I dimly (LOL) recall something about that, but to be honest I didn't give it much thought at the time and soon forgot about it. Anyway, are western businessmen (the banksters etc) so squeaky-clean? (And even if some are, why can't they put on shows like Pride? Scared of losing money, or simply unwilling to invest much?). |
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