Friday, July 4, 2014

"Things Japanese" (A Book Review and Contest)

Image courtesy of Tuttle Publishing

It was not uncommon in my English lessons for students to ask me about those aspects of Japanese culture to which I felt particularly drawn. In my earlier days in Japan, I often mentioned that I really liked sumo wrestling. This response invariably elicited a someone patronizing little smile and a question about which wrestler I liked best. The answer to that question was actually more loaded than one might imagine.

The sumo wrestler I chose would convey something about not only my understanding of Japanese culture, but also whether or not I had nationalistic tendencies. If I said an American wrestler's name, they'd conclude that my enjoyment was based solely on seeing one of my countrymen participate. If I chose a popular and physically appealing Japanese wrestler, they'd think that I was only attracted superficially to the sport and did not have real depth of understanding.  And, yes, there were physically "pretty" wrestlers who had a lot of muscle and handsome faces. The Western notion of blubbery guys in thongs is not entirely incorrect, but often is based on insufficient experience with the sport.

Knowing that an answer was going to say something about me and my knowledge of the deeper aspects of the culture steered me toward saying "Mitoizumi". During my formative years in Japan, he was known for his lavish tosses of salt into the ring before bouts and his happier than usual nature for a sumo wrestler. In fact, one of the reasons I liked him was his, by Japanese standards, "flamboyant" behavior and lack of suppression of his joy when victorious. When he won his first and only tournament, he shed tears of happiness. This was nearly unheard of in the sumo world, but I loved him for it.

My choice of Mitoizumi was calculated because it not only allowed me to show that I wasn't a superficial fan, but it encouraged follow-up questions that allowed me to show off my in-depth knowledge of this particular corner of Japanese culture. When I talked about how I loved it when a wrestler won using a dramatic "utchari" move - a winning maneuver in which a man with his back against the edge of the ring who looked close to being pushed out would pick up his opponent and swing him around to lift him out (famously performed on many occasions by one of the aforementioned pretty boys of sumo, Kirishima) - the patronizing smiles were history. They unerstood that I knew what I was talking about, and often remarked (quite accurately) that I knew far more about sumo than they did.

It's not particularly uncommon for foreign folks who have a niche interest in some part of Japanese culture to know more than the natives in one or two areas. Japanese people often could not answer my questions about the deeper meaning or history of many of the tokens of their culture and I found that rather disappointing at times. I am not only a curious person by nature, but I also like to be educated rather than only know things superficially. This could be rather troublesome at times for my students who would often have to tell me they didn't know the answers to my probing questions about their culture.

When I was interested in sumo, I scoured the bookstores for resources to inform me in English about it so that I could understand it since I couldn't really query my Japanese acquaintances for answers I knew they didn't have. One of the places which I often visited was a bookstore in Jimbocho called "Tuttle". This is the name of a publishing company that many foreign folks know well for their excellent materials on Japan. If you bought a book that told you all you needed to know about a subject, there was a very good chance that their name was on the spine. One of my earliest guides, a book that I kept with me for many years called A Guide to Food Buying in Japan, came courtesy of Tuttle.

The folks at Tuttle contacted me and offered me a chance to review the release of a beautiful book they're releasing called Things Japanese. Considering the name of my blog, how could I say "no?" Their brief description of the book gave me some idea of what it may be like in terms of the pictures, but the content was much more than I had expected. It offers an in-depth guide to those little things that you see all over Japan, but don't know what they mean, how they came about, or even why they happen to be placed where they are. It answered a lot of the questions that I asked my students about why something is designed in a particular way or how it came about.

What I expected from this book was that it was going to be full of pretty pictures, and it is. The photography makes this a splendid coffee table book at a softcover price. What I didn't expect was that it would provide background information in such great detail and answer questions like, "Why do Japanese people still use tatami when it needs to be replaced so often and attracts dust mites?" It even answered a question I would have asked had I thought of it and that was why my living room was the only room in my old apartment that included a "half mat" as part of its measurements. 

Reading though this book reminded me of my experience with sumo because it allows a non-Japanese person to know Japanese culture in a way that Japanese people often do not. If I were still teaching, I would love to have this book on hand as a resource for starting conversations about Japanese culture. It was always my experience that my students enjoyed talking about Japanese culture both because it was something they had intimate experience with and because they were flattered when a foreign person showed such interest in it. Given that it is often difficult for Japanese people to express themselves in English, being well-versed in a cultural aspect allowed me to help students complete thoughts or find vocabulary for things they wanted to talk about when it came to icons and various elements in their environment. In essence, I was a better teacher for already knowing the answers to at least some of the questions I asked my students. 

Beyond the aid to teaching this book might represent, it's quite interesting to anyone who wants to dig a little deeper into what those stone lantern things are sitting in Japanese gardens, why and what those curtains that are in the doorways or many businesses, or why those short coats worn during summer festivals. The truth is, despite my many years in Japan, I don't know what the history or in-depth information is on such items. I know the names, sure, and I've seen such things plenty of times, but I still don't know the background or reasons. This is a very informative, not to mention attractive, book for those who'd like to achieve the same sort of deeper understanding of Japanese culture that I have of sumo.

In addition to providing me with a free copy of Things Japanese, Tuttle has offered two of my readers a chance to win their own. If you'd like a chance to win a copy in a random drawing, please leave a comment on this post (comments on other posts will not count) telling me your favorite book about Japan (fiction or non-fiction) or, if you don't have one, the cultural icon or aspect that you find most appealing or intriguing. Winners will be announced on this blog at a later date and receive a copy directly from the publisher.

Please make only one comment. If you make multiple comments, I will have to delete one of them because it would be equivalent to two entries in the contest. If you have another comment, please leave it on a different post and note that it refers to this post. Thank you!

42 comments:

  1. I think my favorite would be The Way of Tea, as a lover of all things tea, this was certainly not a surprising pick for me.

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  2. Great review--fascinating story about the sumo wrestling!

    My favorite book about Japan is actually about Europe--The Iwakura Mission is a collection of accounts from a Japanese diplomat who visited Europe in the mid 19th century. I haven't been able to get this text in full so I've only read parts of it, but it's fascinating because the diplomat sees Europe through the eyes of a Japanese person, so he often points out things we find mundane, even today. For instance, he discusses how Europe's road system facilitates trade in great detail--and you can see that both market-based trade between nations and government-funded roads were novel ideas to Japan in the 19th century.

    I hope I can find the book in full in translation some day, but the snippets I have read are quite eye opening.

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  3. My pick would be ヴァーチャル日本語の謎。

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  4. Great post! I love reading your insights about sumo

    I love to sew and I actually really like a lot of the Japanese pattern books translated and released by Tuttle but my favourite book is "Tokyo on Foot" by Florent Chauvonet; a graphic artist who spent 6 months exploring Tokyo. This book is full of beautiful illustrations of the different neighbourhoods and things he's seen there. It makes me want to visit Tokyo every time I read it

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    1. That's a great book. I first found it in Paris, didn't buy it for some reason, and then came home to Osaka and ordered it on Amazon, which required an 8 month wait while the English version was prepared and released. It was well worth it.

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  5. This book looks so interesting! There are so many ubiquitous items and motifs I see when I visit Japan, but - similar to your experiences with your students - when I would ask my mother about them she often would not know, despite them being things she grew up with as part of her culture. Although, I actually hadn't really thought about until now... As usual, your blog posts are enlightening to me! :)

    Anyway, I think that The Diary of Lady Murasaki is very interesting. I really enjoy fashion, so I particularly remember the descriptions of the juunihitoe - the different color combinations and how they indicated rank and so forth. I actually first read it back in high school and had to give a presentation as Lady Murasaki, so I convinced my mother to let me borrow three of her kimono to layer up as a pseudo-juunihitoe. I guess it was actually a sanhitoe? Haha!

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  6. I have a couple of favourite books, they tend to change in importance the longer I live here. The first one was the one I brought over to Japan with me, The Lonely Planet Guide to Japan. It gave me travelling advice, background on various historic sites and I came very close to wearing parts of it out as I travelled around Japan in my solo singleton days.

    Another book, that I still use, is a little book from The Japan Times Press, Quick & Easy Japanese Cooking for Everyone. It has pictures of the food packets when I came over, the ingredients in the recipes are helpfully written in English and Katakana/Kanji, so you can take it to the shop and ask for help finding them, and the instructions are nice, easy and well-written. I think I bought the cookbook on my first trip to Niigata which would have been within my first month in Japan. This book may not be "About Japan", but as you know, Japanese people love their food!

    Thanks for the contest!

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  7. This comment is from kotobacafe (http://kotobacafe.wordpress.com/). It was accidentally deleted, so I'm reposting it for that user here. The comment will qualify for the contest! Here's his/her comment:

    My favourite book about Japan is 'The Secrets of Mariko' by Elisabeth Bumiller. The author spent a year with an 'ordinary' Japanese housewife - interviewing her and her family, joining her in the various tasks and activities that made up her everyday life. The book gives a good picture of a 'typical' Japanese family, taking us through festivals, family relationships, neighbourhood spats, PTA meetings, holidays, the husband's frustrations with work, the kids at school. Its subject matter is quite unique; most of the books I've seen about Japan have either been focusing on a particular aspect of Japanese culture, or on a Westerner's personal experiences living/travelling in Japan. It's nice to get more of a feeling of Japanese people's everyday lives, and to see how they might be different from - or similar to - our own.

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    1. My comment is missing too... doesn't matter particularly, but it's the second time recently. Maybe I comment too much and blogger has decided I am a spam bot?!

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  8. Indigo & Sarasa - Study in Indigo by Shizuko Kuroha. This is a book for quilters or those who loves textiles and fabrics as well as traditional ways of making things. It also gave me an insight into the world of a wonderful Japanese woman and a strong soul. One of the way to learn about the whole country is to get to know people of the country :-)

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  9. That book sounds wonderful! I appreciate your review of it--clearly this is not just a pretty coffeetable book, it's a book made by people who KNOW. That's so much more appealing.
    My favorite book about Japan, or at least an aspect of Heian Japan long ago, is the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon. It makes for fascinating reading, no matter where you open it.

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  10. I don't have a favorite book which is why I am interested in this one. I am intrigued by the kaiseki at various places I read about.

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  11. My favourite book is actually a dictionary. Martin's Pocket Dictionary. My father sent it too me while I was in Japan and it was certainly a lucky pick. The best thing was that it was written in -masu form, which made it easier to understand those early Japanese lessons. It was quite portable and had a surprising wealth of information. My copy is quite dog eared now, but I still keep it around.
    If you meant a book that is about Japan... that is more difficult because I have read many of them, hoping to discover someone whose experiences were closest to mine (a futile attempt, anyone will telly you, as each of us who lived there will tell you--no two experiences are the same) However,I would have to say that 36 Views of Mount Fuji, with it's truly normal praise versus critical, in love out of love with the country prose was quite impactful. For entertainment Sushi Daze is also quite nice.

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  12. My favourite book on Japan would be Junichiro Tanizaki's "The Makioka Sisters" (the English title.) It stays with me because it's set in the Osaka area, where I lived, because the protagonists are often caught between "form" and their true desires, and because it offers a glimpse into days gone by (the pre-WW2 period.) Many of the places mentioned in the book are places that I went to, and one of the characters bears an uncanny resemblance to an ex-co-worker of mine, at least in her mannerisms. Also, I had a similar reaction from many students and friends in Japan when I told them how much I liked this book - they would be impressed that I'd found something "deeper" than the latest Murakami novel. In fact, one student even went out and bought the book and brought it to class, proud that he'd embarked on a "historical novel". I was glad to share.

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  13. This is probably going to sound quite stereotypical, but I would pick The Tale of Genji. I studied medieval European lit in grad school, and anything from that time period is just magical for me.

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  14. Probably Banana Yoshimoto - Asleep. It has one of my favorite quotes...


    Asleep Quotes
    Read
    My rating:
    1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars[ 4 of 5 stars ]5 of 5 stars
    Asleep Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto
    3,766 ratings, 3.72 average rating, 199 reviews
    buy a copy
    Asleep Quotes (showing 1-16 of 16)
    “I never tell my boyfriend that I'm busy when I'm not. No matter how effective they are, cheap techniques like that just don't agree with me. So it's always okay, it's always all right. In my opinion the surest way to hook a man is to be as open with him as possible.”
    ― Banana Yoshimoto, Asleep
    tags: relationships
    61 likes
    Like
    “Her eyes were those of someone who's just fallen in love, someone who sees nothing but her lover, someone who has no fear of anything. The eyes of someone who believes that every dream will come true, that reality will move if you just give it a push.”
    ― Banana Yoshimoto, Asleep
    tags: eyes, fear, love
    43 likes
    Like
    “I was happy. I loved the night, I loved t so much it almost hurt. In the night everything seemed possible. I wasn't sleepy at all.”
    ― Banana Yoshimoto, Asleep
    29 likes
    Like
    “Nothing exists in this world but me and my bed…” (p. 141).”
    ― Banana Yoshimoto, Asleep
    22 likes
    Like
    “It didn't matter whether he was nearby or far away. His image would drift up into your mind just when you least expected it, shocking you, making your chest pound. Making your heart ache.”
    ― Banana Yoshimoto, Asleep
    tags: heart
    18 likes
    Like
    “It was only after my head started reeling and my body started weaving and I tumbled into bed that I'd hear that soothing voice singing...The reverbations of that voice wandered sweetly, softly, working like a massage on the area of my heart that was the most tightly clenched, helping those knots to loosen. It was like the rush of waves, and like the laughter of people I'd met in all kinds of places, people I'd become friendly with and then separated from, and like the kind words all those people had said to me, and like the mewing of a cat I had lost, and like the mixture of noises that rang in the background in a place that was dear to me, a place far away, a place that no longer existed, and like the rushing of trees that whisked past my ears as I breathed in a scent of fresh greenery on a trip someplace... the voice was like a combination of all this.”

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  15. You'll probably laugh but my favorite non-fiction book about Japan is "Dave Barry Does Japan". My favorite fiction book is "Shogun". Thank you for the opportunity to be in a drawing for the book.

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  16. That book (as well as the books that have been mentioned in the comments) sounds really interesting!

    My favourite book about Japan is "The World of the Shining Prince" by Ivan Morris, a non-fiction book about the Heian era. The culture of the aristocrats of Heian era Japan is so different from any other culture I've ever studied that I can hardly believe it existed. It's really fascinating to me.

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  17. Only one of many favorites is "We Japanese: Being Descriptions of Many of the Customs, Manners, Ceremonies, Festivals, Arts and Crafts of the Japanese Besides Numerous Other Subjects," published by Fujiya Hotel Ltd. and bound in the traditional style. The hotel began publishing these brief essays on menu-cards in 1934 and eventually had them collected into a book. They reflect a pre-war Japan showing its best possible face to foreign tourists. If you read it with a certain historic consciousness, it's a lot of fun.

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    1. I have the first of this book! There are actually two parts, published separately, for some of the later editions. I only have the first of two, but I'm looking for the other of the same printing. I thought of that book as soon as I read this post- glad to see someone else has an edition.

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  18. Most of my glossy coffee table books and heavy history texts have long been passed on to people still in America. What gets the heaviest use in my house is an assortment of reference books. Most of them are aimed at Japanese kids, like my daughter’s giant picture dictionary. However, when I need to make sure I’m communicating with just the right subtlety I usually turn to my copy of Sanseido’s “a Handbook of Common Japanese Phrases”. It is actually based off of a book originally published for native speakers looking for the right approach to difficult situations- making a speech at a wedding or offering condolences. While it doesn’t provide any sort of grammar explanation, it provides much more naturally-worded expressions than what I’d be able to come up with on my own. After all, culture extends to language and the way it’s used. Since I didn’t grow up with the language or cultural influences I need a fair amount of help in this department.

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  19. Hello, my favourite fiction book(s) is 宮本武蔵 by 吉川英治 (the English version is one book called Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa; the Japanese is spread over eight books). I've had to read a bunch of non fiction books about Japan for school but none of them really stand out as something to recommend, with the exception of the 古事記 (Kojiki, but it would be a long stretch to call it non fiction). Other more "popular" fiction 'books' that I like are the manga GTO, 夏目友人帳 (Natsume's Book of Friends), 蟲師 (Mushishi, way better than the title lets on...) and 横浜買い出し紀行 (Yokohama Shopping Trip Journal) and also the light novel series 狼と香辛料 (Spice and Wolf), although strictly speaking they aren't about Japan even if they do have some insights into Japanese thinking (ex. 物の哀れ, mono no aware - "the pathos of things") and cultural norms. And as an aside, being that I love reading, one of the things I miss most about not being in Japan anymore is that there isn't a Bookoff where I live now.

    In any case, thank you for all the great content over the years and for doing this contest! I love reading your opinions about things in Japan and really respect how you keep things personal while still being balanced and fair. Recently you have written some really amazing, moving entries. I'm really looking forward to your book! Sincerely, Ryan Hirata

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  20. I really enjoyed Kenta and The Big Wave by Ruth Ohi. It's a children's book, but the artwork was so beautiful and the story was touching -- I have no problem admitting that I enjoyed it as an adult! It tells the story of the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan, and how a boy lost his ball in it and how a boy in America found it and mailed it back to him.

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  21. I like learning about Japanese clothing. From the earliest records to the modern day, and all the changes in-between. The affect of various factors on fashion; such as availability of materials, influence of other cultures, and politics, is something I find very interesting.

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  22. I enjoy learning about Japanese clothing, from the earliest records to the modern day. The affect of various factors on fashion; such as availability of materials, influence of other cultures, and politics, is something I find very interesting. Thank you for holding this contest, your blog is great.

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  23. Amazing book - I have always wondered the same about the tatami mats!!

    My favorite book about Japan is "Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa" by Karin Mueller. While not entirely factually accurate about culture in Japan, it's the autobiographical story of an American woman who works for National Geographic and studies judo who is graciously invited to Japan by a Japanese judo master. While living with his family she gets into all kinds of 'typical' baka gaijin troubles, but we also see her deterioration of the relationship with her host family as her "I-do-what-I-want" attitude fails her in Japan. Very interesting read!

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  24. I have to admit that I also liked Dave Barry Does Japan. It's a humorous source of insights from someone visiting the country. I could identify with some of what he wrote and was fortunate enough to experience living in Japan for two years. That gave me a chance to gain a deeper insight, even though there was a great deal I still don't know. I would love to learn more.
    I personally found that the best way to learn about a country was to try to experience it. I participated in some community activities, such as iaido (a martial art) and was open to invitations from locals to attend events. This exposed me to many great experiences, such as being invited to a new year's dinner once.

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  25. Not a book, but music. I listen to a whole lot of J-Rock, which is probably fairly unusual for an American who's older than you are. I also like many Japanese jazz artists. I visited Japan a few years ago and spent several nights in Shinjuku Ni-Chome, not for its usual draw but for the Shinjuku Pit Inn, with its small but vibrant jazz scene.

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  26. I love the book Kansha: Celebrating Japan's Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions by Elizabeth Andoh. I think Japanese food presentation is so beautiful. Kirsten

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  27. I read 36 Views of Mt. Fuji by Cathy Davidson some years ago and found it fascinating. I thought it gave a clear-eyed, nuanced account of an American's experience of living and working in Japan -- largely positive but not overly romanticized.

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  28. I stayed up until about 3:00 this morning writing a long (possibly TOO long) comment about my three-year quest to learn Japanese and the fact that the language is so difficult and so different in sentence structure that constructing a simple Japanese sentence is still beyond me. Unfortunately, mine was one of the comments that disappeared and I didn’t save a copy.
    Therefore, this time it will be brief! Of the 50+ Japanese books on my shelves, probably the most useful are:
    1) Barron’s 501 Japanese Verbs
    2) Tuttle’s Essential Japanese Grammar
    The hope is that one day all of the information in these books will somehow migrate to my brain!
    Thanks so much for the blog. It is the best resource available anywhere for those of us in search of information on Japan and its culture.

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  29. I found the Lonely Planet Japan guidebook to be an invaluable companion when I was in Japan a few years back.

    As for fiction, I enjoyed Murakami Haruki's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, though I'm not entirely sure I'd say that's about Japan, per se. Also a big fan of anime and manga. =)

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  30. My favorite book about Japan has to be "Hokkaido Highway Blues" a true account of a guy hitchhiking from one end of Japan to the other following the cherry blossoms. This book helped alleviate the "mystique" of Japan and showed how, deep down, everybody is the same. Plus, it is very funny!

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  31. I really enjoy this old fiction series from the mid 1900s called "We Japanese." The books are chock-full of interesting Japanese legends and short stories, as well as the origins of Japanese culture, so you are able to learn quite a lot in one novel (not to mention, the books are great bedtime stories!) They also contain a few passages in Japanese. Some of the text and characters are a little outdated, though, so it can be difficult to translate. Nonetheless, it's a great way to improve your Japanese reading skills and knowledge of Japan. It's always interesting to see how Japanese customs are similar and different compared to ours in America.

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  32. My favorite book on Japan is definitely "Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II" by Dower. When learning about WW2 in school as an American, it always felt like Japan leaped into existence for Pearl Harbor and disappeared til the 80s after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but what happened in the mean time is absolutely fascinating.

    The situation in Japan before the bombings being far, far more dire than it was made out to be, the resignation and acceptance of their position as an occupied nation afterwards, the fear that the Americans were going to rape and pillage and destroy Japan, MacArthur's cult of personality and choice to keep Emperor Showa emperor, the construction of the Japanese constitution by a select group of foreigners, SCAP's extreme censorship and control of the media, the gearing up to use Japan as a bulwark against the spread of communism in Korea and beyond...it's an absolutely fascinating story, and a vital one to understand if you want to understand US-Japanese political relations now and going forward.

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  33. I've always enjoyed the blog "This Japanese Life" so the book he published of blog posts has been a great read! http://www.amazon.com/This-Japanese-Life-Eryk-Salvaggio/dp/1489596984

    I used to work at Borders, so I spent a lot of time going through Japanese Art and Pop Culture books, too. So many good things!

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  34. Joining late to the game, but it's a great topic. Reading books (usually fiction) from or about a place before I visit is one of my favorite things.

    For me, what got me interested in Japan, long before I moved there for a relationship, was a mystery series by Sujata Massey set in Japan.

    And, although I'm not an exceptionally big fan of her work in general, Banana Yoshimoto's story "Hardboiled" gave a really rich description of life in a mountain town. I read it occasionally when I missed where I lived in Japan.

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  35. I'd like to win the book. From the cover I would have guessed it's not but pretty pictures (which gets boring after the first 40 pages) but it sounds really interesting.

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  36. I'm finding it difficult to pick a favourite book, so I'll go with what I've read most recently, which is Jake Adelstein's Tokyo Vice. It's an interesting account of Japan's underbelly from a foreign perspective. An easy read so maybe a good one to save for a flight.

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  37. Nice! My favorite book about Japan is probably Hokkaido Highway Blues. While I don't remember everything about it, I do recall Ferguson's stories being entertaining. I also remember being impressed, or at least satisfied with the level of writing (he's a fellow former JET, and my expectations of these sorts of books by JET alumn have been sadly lowered).

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  38. Wow, I'm one of the winners, thanks! (Apologies to anyone else who really wanted the book).

    Orchid64, just confirming I've sent you an email, in case it was eaten by your spam filter.

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  39. I'm really surprised to see that I'm one of the winners. Thank you! I've also sent the email. I know my address sometimes doesn't make it past spam filters.

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