Rebecca’s Reflections
Tattoos in Japan: Innovation, Customization, Transformation
Today’s post is provided by David Holloway, Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester. David specializes in contemporary Japanese fiction with focus on gender, sexuality, and issues of embodiment. I’ve known David for many years, initially as a student (he...
Brocade Obi to Amulet Pouches: Adaptations in Kyoto’s Textile Industry
Today’s post is provided by Dr. Laura Miller, the Eiichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Endowed Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of History at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Laura explores the interdisciplinarity of Japanese Studies and linguistic...
It’s Just a Cup of Tea
For part one of this story, see previous post, My first—and only—Omiai. And you thought omiai were just for fictional characters in Japanese novels! It was April 1977. I had a dance recital in the large auditorium of a fancy hotel across from Hakata Station. I had...
My first—and only—Omiai
In Tanizaki Jun’ichirō’s novel, Sasameyuki (serialized 1943-1948; translated The Makioka Sisters by Edward Seidensticker, 1957), the action centers around finding the third sister a suitable marriage partner. Matchmakers busily scour the field in search of...
My First Kimono
Mother bought me a kimono of my own for my birthday. When she understood my love of Japanese dance and my deep and growing interest in Japanese culture, she wanted me to have a kimono. She had one. Or at least she had, had one. When she lived in Japan in the 1950s a...
Cherry Blossoms and Samurai Drinking Songs
I learned three dances that year. I started with “Sakura” (Cherry blossom). Everyone starts with “Sakura.” Lydia was ahead of me in her lessons. So Ura Sensei taught her the more difficult “Kuroda bushi” or “Song of the Kuroda Samurai,” ostensibly a “drinking song”...