Category: Cultural
Cultural history.
Japanophilia
I am starting to work on my courses for next semester and am getting excited to teach one of my favorites: an upper-level seminar called “Japanophilia: Or...
If you thought the Chosŏn dynasty was over, think again
Actually, strictly speaking, 88-year-old Yi Hae-won was crowned queen (or should that be empress?) of the Great Han Empire (大韓帝國) last week, rather than the Cho...
Defining Japaneseness: a miscellany
This report (with followups here) suggests that Japan is no longer a “classless society” but I wonder to what extent the concept of class simply to ...
Eloquent oddities
There aren’t a lot of good Japanese-themed quizzes out there…. You Are a Sarariiman! Or “salaryman.” Whatever. Treadmill off, treadmill ...
Finding historical riches
A few items from the news, blogs, etc. The Reverend Corwin & Nellie Taylor Collection at the Korean Heritage Library, part of the USC digital image collect...
Koguryŏ on the box
I know I’m way behind the times on this subject as it was already brought up at the Marmot’s Hole weeks ago, but I’d like to put out a call fo...
The Korean Folk Village
A few days ago I visited the Korean Folk Village near Suwŏn. You can learn all about the village from the English version of its propaganda video, complete with...
Laughter and Tears on the Charles
A book I’ve been waiting for for a long time is finally almost out [PDF]. Adam Kern, an old friend from graduate school, has been working on Edo-period hu...
Hankyoreh on the return of cultural artifacts
Update: Korea Times reports on another long-running dispute over the return of historical documents taken from Korea – in this case those taken from the O...
The Marijuana Crisis of ’75
I’ve been dipping into an excellent book on the history of Korean popular music now and then (이혜숙 & 손우석 – 한국대중음악사) and came across a fascinatin...
Tombs on Tuesday
Apparently, failure to follow sterile work protocols have resulted in damaging molds in the Takamatsuzaka tomb. I don’t understand why, in situations like...
The Other Apprentice
Lewis Libby, The Apprentice, Graywolf Press, St. Paul Minnesota, 1996. Libby’s novel has gotten more attention since his indictment, most of it bad. Howev...
Our Future, more or less
The head of the Japan Foundation (to whom I, like so many, owe thanks) has made some comments on the state and future of Japan Studies. It’s his job, afte...