I reviewed the book “Communication begins with Ki!”, the latest book by Shin’ichi Tohei, the head of the Ki Society and son of the founder of Ki Aikido, Koichi Tohei. In this book he talks about a variety of topics with Professor Katsuhiro Nishinari, many related to Ki or Ki-Aikido.
I’m happy to be able to announce my next book, “Downfall and Other Stories”. This contains English translations of a few pieces of fiction from Hayashi Fumiko (林芙美子), an important Japanese author from the early 20th century. They range from a lighthearted comedy to a poignant post-war tale.
I visit Mochitsuki Japanese festival in Portland this year, for the first time in three years, and was pleasantly surprised. I’ve included a slideshow of a few pictures I took.
Noh, written using the character 能 (meaning “ability”), is a style of classical Japanese theater that combines elements of drama, dance, and music. What is considered Noh theater today was established around 600 years ago in the 14th century, although some of its fundamental elements are over 1000 years old.
The interaction between languages over time can be interesting to follow. Words get imported from one language into another, and meaning often changes, from subtle to drastic ways. New words can even be formed using a composite of words from two languages. For various historical reasons, in the last few decades the Japanese language has… Read More »
A discussion about “ukemi” (受け身), a core part of aikido and one of the things I really enjoy about this traditional Japanese martial art.
The other day I stopped by the Kinokuniya bookstore in Beaverton, Oregon, and stood before the bookshelf of hardcover Japanese fiction as I tried to figure out what to read next. I ended up choosing “The Woman in the Purple Skirt” (むらさきのスカートの女) by “Natsuko Imamura” for two reasons: it had won the prestigious Akutagawa prize… Read More »
Anyone who studies Japanese for even a short time knows there is a huge number of loanwords, and there seems to be more being coined every day. While they come from a bunch of world languages, yappari many are from English. This is both a blessing and a curse. If the word sounds like its… Read More »
Despite the many prose translations I’ve done, I’ve never attempted to translate an entire poem from Japanese to English before. That’s partially because I generally don’t read poetry that often (in either Japanese or English), and hence am even less comfortable trying to translate it. Another reason is that generally I’m pretty picky about what… Read More »
I’ve written a review about “Unseen Japan”, a site that targets unique and interesting stuff about Japan that you aren’t likely to have seen elsewhere.