Geisha

Geisha PDF Author: Liza Crihfield Dalby
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520047426
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : ru
Pages : 380

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Book Description
The author, an American anthropologist, describes her experiences during the year she spent as a Japanese geisha, and looks at the role of women, and geishas, in modern Japan

Geisha

Geisha PDF Author: Liza Crihfield Dalby
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520047426
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : ru
Pages : 380

Get Book Here

Book Description
The author, an American anthropologist, describes her experiences during the year she spent as a Japanese geisha, and looks at the role of women, and geishas, in modern Japan

Isles of Gold

Isles of Gold PDF Author: Hugh Cortazzi
Publisher: Weatherhill, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
A selection of over 90 historically significant maps of Japan. The book tells the story of the encounter between the West and Japan through the gradual process of mapping the island empire.

Haiku Master Buson

Haiku Master Buson PDF Author: Buson Yosa
Publisher: Heian International
ISBN:
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
"Haiku Master Buson is the only translation of the work of this important haiku poet in English. Buson (1716-1783), along with Basho and Issa, is recognized as one of the three Japanese masters of the haiku. In addition to a large selection of haiku, the book also includes a selection of Buson's prose and a critical introduction." -- Amazon.com

Buson

Buson PDF Author: Franz Wright
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781935635123
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description
This collection of thirty-nine haiku from Yosa Buson showcases the mastery, delicacy, and mystery of one of Japan's greatest and most deeply admired poets. With this publication, Pulitzer Prize winner Franz Wright offers readers a new avenue into one of poetry's essential voices.

The Path of Flowering Thorn

The Path of Flowering Thorn PDF Author: Makoto Ueda
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Haiku
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Yosa Buson (1716-83) is a towering figure in the history of haiku. A painter by profession, Buson took delight in the natural beauty of colors and forms as well as in the artistic beauty of composition. A seeker of ideals that were more aesthetic than religious or moral, he freely let his imagination wander into a land of exotic beauty far removed from contemporary society, often evoking ancient China, Heian Japan, and the world of the supernatural. This book presents an overview of Buson's life and poetry, beginning with speculations on the mysterious circumstances of his birth and then tracing the various stages of his career as poet. In the process, the author cites some 180 of Buson's haiku in English translation, and analyzes them from a predominantly biographical point of view. The book is illustrated with twelve examples of Buson's work as painter and calligrapher.

Practically Religious

Practically Religious PDF Author: Ian Reader
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824820909
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
Praying for practical benefits (genze riyaku) is a common religious activity in Japan. Despite its widespread nature and the vast numbers of people who pray and purchase amulets and talismans for everything from traffic safety and education success to business prosperity and protection from disease, the practice has been virtually ignored in academic studies or relegated to the margins as a uh_product of superstition or an aberration from the true dynamics of religion. Basing their work on a fusion of textual, ethnographic, historical, and contemporary studies, the authors of this volume demonstrate the fallacy of such views, showing that, far from being marginal, the concepts and practices surrounding genze riyaku lie at the very heart of the Japanese religious world. They thrive not only as popular religious expression but are supported by the doctrinal structures of most Buddhist sects, are ordained in religious scriptures, and are promoted by monastic training centers, shrines, and temples. Benefits are both sought and bought, and the authors discuss the economic and commercial aspects of how and why institutions promote practical benefits. They draw attention to the dynamism and flexibility in the religious marketplace, where new products are offered in response to changing needs. Intertwined in these economic activities and motivations are the truth claims that underpin and justify the promotion and practice of benefits. The authors also examine the business of guidebooks, which combine travel information with religious advice, including humorous and distinctive forms of prayer for the protection against embarrassing physical problems and sexual diseases. Written in a direct and engaging style, Practically Religious will appeal to a wide range of readers and will be especially valuable to those interested in religion, anthropology, Buddhist studies, sociology, and Japanese studies.

A History of Japanese Astronomy

A History of Japanese Astronomy PDF Author: Shigeru Nakayama
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780196265339
Category : Astronomy
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description


A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine

A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine PDF Author: John K. Nelson
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295997699
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
What we today call Shinto has been at the heart of Japanese culture for almost as long as there has been a political entity distinguishing itself as Japan. A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine describes the ritual cycle at Suwa Shrine, Nagasaki’s major Shinto shrine. Conversations with priests, other shrine personnel, and people attending shrine functions supplement John K. Nelson’s observations of over fifty shrine rituals and festivals. He elicits their views on the meaning and personal relevance of the religious events and the place of Shinto and Suwa Shrine in Japanese society, culture, and politics. Nelson focuses on the very human side of an ancient institution and provides a detailed look at beliefs and practices that, although grounded in natural cycles, are nonetheless meaningful in late-twentieth-century Japanese society. Nelson explains the history of Suwa Shrine, basic Shinto concepts, and the Shinto worldview, including a discussion of the Kami, supernatural forces that pervade the universe. He explores the meaning of ritual in Japanese culture and society and examines the symbols, gestures, dances, and meanings of a typical shrine ceremony. He then describes the cycle of activities at the shrine during a calendar year: the seasonal rituals and festivals and the petitionary, propitiary, and rite-of-passage ceremonies performed for individuals and specific groups. Among them are the Dolls’ Day festival, in which young women participate in a procession and worship service wearing Heian period costumes; the autumn Okunchi festival, which attracts participants from all over Japan and even brings emigrants home for a visit; the ritual invoking the blessing of the Kami for young children; and the ritual sanctifying the earth before a building is constructed. The author also describes the many roles women play in Shinto and includes an interview with a female priest. Shinto has always been attentive to the protection of communities from unpredictable human and divine forces and has imbued its ritual practices with techniques and strategies to aid human life. By observing the Nagasaki shrine’s traditions and rituals, the people who make it work, and their interactions with the community at large, the author shows that cosmologies from the past are still very much a part of the cultural codes utilized by the nation and its people to meet the challenges of today.

Preserving the Dharma

Preserving the Dharma PDF Author: John M. Rosenfield
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691163979
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
In this beautifully illustrated book, eminent art historian John Rosenfield explores the life and art of the Japanese Buddhist monk Hozan Tankai (1629–1716). Through a close examination of sculptures, paintings, ritual implements, and primary documents, the book demonstrates how the Shingon prelate's artistic activities were central to his important place in the world of late-seventeenth-century Japanese Buddhism. At the same time, the book shows the richness of early modern Japanese Buddhist art, which has often been neglected and undervalued. Tankai was firmly committed to the spiritual disciplines of mountain Buddhism—seclusion, severe asceticism, meditation, and ritual. But in the 1680s, after being appointed head of a small, run-down temple on the slopes of Mount Ikoma, near Nara, he revealed that he was also a gifted artist and administrator. He embarked on an ambitious campaign of constructing temple halls and commissioning icons, and the Ikoma temple, soon renamed Hōzanji, became a vibrant center of popular Buddhism, as it remains today. He was a remarkably productive artist, and by the end of his life more than 150 works were associated with him. A major reconsideration of a key artistic and religious figure, Preserving the Dharma brings much-needed attention to an overlooked period of Japanese Buddhist art.

Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces

Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces PDF Author: Bruce M. Sullivan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147259083X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
We have long recognized that many objects in museums were originally on display in temples, shrines, or monasteries, and were religiously significant to the communities that created and used them. How, though, are such objects to be understood, described, exhibited, and handled now that they are in museums? Are they still sacred objects, or formerly sacred objects that are now art objects, or are they simultaneously objects of religious and artistic significance, depending on who is viewing the object? These objects not only raise questions about their own identities, but also about the ways we understand the religious traditions in which these objects were created and which they represent in museums today. Bringing together religious studies scholars and museum curators, Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces is the first volume to focus on Asian religions in relation to these questions. The contributors analyze an array of issues related to the exhibition in museums of objects of religious significance from Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh traditions. The “lives” of objects are considered, along with the categories of “sacred” and “profane”, “religious” and “secular”. As interest in material manifestations of religious ideas and practices continues to grow, Sacred Objects in Secular Spaces is a much-needed contribution to religious and Asian studies, anthropology of religion and museums studies.