UBC Japanese Library Resources Blog

Featuring Alcvin Takegawa Ramos on biwa and shakuhachi and Satomi Saeki on koto
With commentary by Dr. Jan Walls, Professor Emeritus, SFU
Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 2:00 pm
at the National Nikkei Heritage Centre, Ellipse Lobby

Alcvin Takegawa Ramos and Satomi Saeki will offer moving new musical interpretations of the classic poetry of The Tale of Genji. Recitations of selected poems from the tale in both English and the original Japanese will provide links between their renderings of the themes of love, the seasons, solitude, and impermanence perfectly suited to the haunting sounds of shakuhachi, biwa, and koto.

For more information about this event, check the event poster.

Lecture by UBC Asian Studies Professor Joshua Mostow
Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 2:00 pm
at the Royal Bank Cinema, Chan Centre for Performing Arts, UBC
Followed by a special reception with the speaker.

This talk will explore how women were exposed to the Tale of Genji in the early modern period, especially through manuals of feminine etiquette. It will trace how this continued into the 20th century, despite the radical changes that transformed Japan, and the place of Genji in such pop culture genres as manga and anime.

Professor Mostow is an internationally acclaimed specialist of classical Japanese literature and visual culture, with a particular focus on the interplay of text and image in pre-modern Japan.

For more information about this event, check the event poster.

Check out the following newly-received material at Asian Library.

Fine & Performing Arts
Edo kaiga nyumon (江戸絵画入門)

Edo monʾyo zufu (江戸文様図譜)

Kojin korekushon bijutsukan hakubutsukan jiten (個人コレクション美術館博物館事典)

Jidai kimono (時代きもの)

Nihon geino jiten (日本芸能事典)

Bijutsu hihyo to sengo bijutsu (美術批評と戦後美術)

History
Urabe nikki, Tomita memo de yomu ningen Showa Tenno (卜部日記・富田メモで読む人間・昭和天皇)

Edo no kosodate tokuhon (江戸の子育て」読本)

Todofukenbetsu seishi kamon daijiten (都道府県別姓氏家紋大事典)

Heiankyo toshi shakaishi no kenkyu (平安京都市社会史の研究)

Ritsuryo kokkashi no kenkyu (律令国家史の研究)

Language & Literature
Koisuru monogatari no homosekushuariti (恋する物語のホモセクシュアリティ)

Kotoba to jenda no miraizu (ことばとジェンダーの未来図)

Shinbun shosetsu no jidai (新聞小説の時代)

Fukugo joshi ga kore de wakaru (複合助詞がこれでわかる)

Heian kizoku no yume bunseki (平安貴族の夢分析)

Yomihon jiten: Edo no denki shosetsu (読本事典 : 江戸の伝奇小説)

Religion
Kannon jodo ni funadashita hitobito (観音浄土に船出した人びと)

Sanboe o yomu (三宝絵を読む)

Nihon chusei no Bukkyo to Higashi Ajia (日本中世の仏教と東アジア)

In an effort to improve access to resources held in Japanese libraries, UBC has recently become a participating library of the Global ILL Framework (GIF) project. Currently, 134 Japanese libraries provide document delivery services and 74 Japanese libraries lend out books through GIF. For more information on the project, check out the brochure.

All InterLibrary Loans (ILLs) are processed through our InterLibrary Loan office. To order an ILL, go to the UBC ILL site and complete the order form. Please contact me if you are ordering Japanese materials for the first time, or if you are ordering a title that does not come up through a WorldCat search. For items with a WorldCat record, always try and include the OCLC accession number found in the record (see below).

This month I thought I’d feature the following DVDs that we recently received at the library.
Our new DVD area is on the main floor of the library, right beside the circulation desk.

Documentaries
Koto Kyoto no bunkazai (古都京都の文化財)
Koto Nara no bunkazai (古都奈良の文化財)
Meiji (明治)
Yomigaeru Genji Monogatari emaki (よみがえる源氏物語絵巻)

Feature Films
Eiji (エイジ)
DVD | book

Tokyo tawa : Okan to boku to, tokidoki, Oton
(東京タワー : オカンとボクと, 時々, オトン)
DVD | book

Tonari no 801-chan (となりの801ちゃん)
DVD | book

Bizan (眉山)
DVD | book

Anime
Appleseed (アップルシード)
Gunslinger Girl (ガンスリンガー・ガール)
Kokaku kidotai (攻殻機動隊)

The 139th Akutagawa Prize has been awarded to Chinese author Yang Yi for her work Toki ga nijimu asa　(時が滲む朝). Check the following sites for more information:

Akutagawa Prize Official Site (Japanese)

Asahi Shinbun article (Japanese)

Daily Yomiuri article (English)

Also, the Naoki prize has been awarded to Areno Inoue for Kiriha he (切羽へ).

Here are some of the recently received Japanese titles at Asian Library. For more new titles by subject, go to the Japanese Studies Resources page under “New Japanese Materials”.

Customs
Kankon sosai mana jiten (冠婚葬祭マナー事典)

Irasuto de wakaru kankon sosai no shinjiten （イラストでわかる冠婚葬祭の新事典）

History
Zusetsu Nihonto taizen (図説・日本刀大全―決定版)

Nihon shi 1000-nin (日本史1000人)

Chusei buke keizu no shiryoron (中世武家系図の史料論)

Language & Literature
Erin ga chosen! Nihongo dekimasu (エリンが挑戦! にほんごできます) [includes DVD]

Kanken kako mondaishu (漢検過去問題集)

Tomii no kobun dokkai o hajime kara teinei ni (富井の古文読解をはじめからていねいに)

Nihon SF zenshu sokaisetsu (日本SF全集・総解説)

Social Science
Kindai Nihon no sekushuariti (近代日本のセクシュアリティ) [set]

Saishin jinko gensho shakai no kihon to shikumi ga yoku wakaru hon
(最新人口減少社会の基本と仕組みがよーくわかる本)

Yujo no shakaishi (遊女の社会史)

Vancouver Art Gallery will be holding an exhibition entitled KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art from May 17 to September 7, 2008.

UBC Asian Studies Associate Professor Sharalyn Orbaugh and UBC Okanagan Assistant Professor of Creative and Critical Studies Alwyn Spies will be presenting public talks as part of the showing.

Pomona College Professor Lynne Miyake will be presenting a free lecture entitled The Six Faces of Genji: Manga Versions of The Tale of Genji at the UBC Asian Centre Auditorium on June 10, 2:30 – 4:00pm.

Check the Asian Studies Department website or the event poster for more details.

A manga version of The Tale of Genji is available at the library. Click here for the catalogue record.

Yes, it’s true. We now have Japanese-language video games at the Asian Library.

The equipment (consoles) and games are available for 3-day loans. You can browse the game booklets in the reserve area, or click here to see the list of games.