Unlike the West, Japan does not have a history of strong feminist movements – or, at least, Japanese feminism is less focused on individual autonomy than Western feminism. Even today, most ‘feminist’ dialogue takes place within community or civil rights organizations, not feminist activist groups. While the position of women within Japanese society has changed [...]
Archive for the ‘Book Reviews’ Category
Absolutely Grotesque: Feminist Literature in Japan
Posted in Book Reviews, Japan, Japanese Culture, tagged book review, constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, critical essay, feminism, grotesque, Japan, Japanese culture, Japanese feminism, kirino natsuo, natsuo kirino on September 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Hired Swords vs. Heavenly Warriors: The Development of Warrior Power in Early Japan
Posted in Book Reviews, Japan, Japanese History, tagged constantine in tokyo, constantineintokyo, Heavenly Warrirors, Hired Swords, Japan, Japanese, Japanese culture, Japanese history, Karl Friday, samurai, Temmu, Tenmu, William Farris on September 4, 2010 | 2 Comments »
The common treatment of the Heian court found in textbooks and survey histories depicts Japan’s ruling class as a group of leisured and effete aristocrats more concerned with composing elaborate waka (poetry) and mastering esoteric Buddhist practices than the effective governance of the country. Furthermore, efforts during the Taika Reform era to adopt a Chinese-style [...]
HBO’s THE PACIFIC: Part One
Posted in Book Reviews, Film Reviews, HBO's The Pacific, tagged bushido, constantine in tokyo, film review, HBO's The Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow, Japan, Japanese, Japanese history, Steven Spielberg, The Pacific, war, With the Old Breed, World War II, WWII on May 21, 2010 | 12 Comments »
Following the model laid out by Band of Brothers, The Pacific begins with actual footage of Pearl Harbor and interviews with some of the veterans of the Pacific War. We’re rapidly approaching the time when the generation who fought in WWII will be gone and I find these interviews extremely valuable. In Band of Brothers, [...]
HBO’s THE PACIFIC: Introduction
Posted in Book Reviews, Film Reviews, HBO's The Pacific, Japan, Japanese History on April 9, 2010 | 7 Comments »
The Second World War is a massive subject, so I will endeavor to stick closely to the subject of The Pacific – the land war fought by the marines in the South Pacific and on the islands surrounding Japan. This will be very difficult for me…those who have had the misfortune of experiencing one of [...]
Book Review: Michel Houellebecq’s THE POSSIBILTY OF AN ISLAND
Posted in Book Reviews on April 7, 2010 | 5 Comments »
I was initially going to post an entry complaining about my job, but I think I’ll sit on the draft for a little while longer to see if I still feel the same way tomorrow. Let’s not be rash when it comes to posting on the public domain… So instead you get a post about [...]
5 Things I Want to See in ‘The Pacific’
Posted in Book Reviews, Film Reviews, HBO's The Pacific, Japan, tagged Guadalcanal, HBO, HBO's The Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow, Okinawa, Peleliu, Steven Spielberg, The Pacific, toms hanks, war, With the Old Breed, World War II, WWII on March 25, 2010 | 2 Comments »
5. An accurate depiction of battle, of course. Unfortunately, film can only go so far when it comes to recreating battle. One of the most important features of the battlefield that is absent in film is the smell. Movies cannot show us what the smell of rotting flesh, discarded food, gunpowder, spent artillery, and burnt [...]
HBO’s THE PACIFIC
Posted in Book Reviews, Film Reviews, HBO's The Pacific, Japan, Japanese History, tagged Band of Brothers, Eagle Against the Sun, Eugene Sledge, HBO's The Pacific, Helmet for My Pillow, Japan, Japanese history, military, Pacific theater, Robert Leckie, Ronal Spector, Steven Spielberg, The Pacific, Tom Hanks, war, With the Old Breed, World War II, WWII on March 16, 2010 | 13 Comments »
It only takes the opening theme of Band of Brothers to make me cry. Now, I can add The Pacific to that list. I am not embarrassed to admit this, because anyone who is not brought close to tears when they think about World War II is guilty of either the grossest ignorance or the [...]
Book Review: W.G. Beasley’s JAPANESE IMPERIALISM 1894-1945
Posted in Book Reviews, Japan, Japanese History, tagged beasley, Book Reviews, history, imperialism, Japan, Japanese history, konoe on March 14, 2010 | 8 Comments »
Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945 Review In the space of 50 years, Japan built an empire that stretched from northern Manchurian down to the tip of Australia. Though its existence proved ephemeral, this was a staggering accomplishment for an island nation that had remained largely (though not completely) disconnected from the Western world until the mid-19th century [...]
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