by Rebecca Copeland | Dec 6, 2023 | Japanese Culture
Part Two: Finding My Fit in a Free-Size Dress “Remember, you need to bring a friend,” Fujie-san said as we prepared to end our phone call. “A Japanese friend.” Ms. Fujie Atsuko was Uno Chiyo’s business secretary, literary agent, and tenacious gatekeeper. She set the... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Nov 22, 2023 | Japanese Culture
Part One: Don’t Take No for an Answer! “You shouldn’t work on a living writer,” some advised me as I struggled to find the subject for my dissertation. A living writer, they argued, was still producing works, their oeuvre yet in progress. I guess they reasoned that... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Nov 8, 2023 | Japanese Culture
Herons are lithe, elegant birds. Gliding over water, nesting in fields, or soaring through the air, the heron’s perceived ability to transcend the elements has led to fabulous fairytales, stately dances, and sublime paintings. Haiku poet Matsuo Bashō wrote verses... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Oct 25, 2023 | Japanese Culture
It happens every time I introduce students to the ill-fated 9th-century exile, Sugawara no Michizane. In the midst of describing the wrongs he incurred, his heart-broken ox, and the flying plum tree, I nearly burst out laughing. It’s not that I relish Michizane’s... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Oct 11, 2023 | Japanese Culture
“Watch, he’s going to salt his hams!” my father called out to me. He had the sumo match on the TV in our Fukuoka living room. It was November 1976. We’d been in the house on Torikai for several months now. Occasionally we’d watch reruns of “Bonanza” together. It was... 
by Rebecca Copeland | Sep 27, 2023 | Japanese Culture
Part Three: The Dancers’ Practice Session “We practice at the Kokin-en. It’s close to the Funaoka Onsen,” my friend instructed. Funaoka Onsen is well known in Northwest Kyoto. Many consider it the best public bath in the city. The name “onsen” means hot spring. But,...
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