Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art Now Available in Paperback

Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600-2005, by Patricia J. Graham, is now available in paperback.

“This book is densely written and copiously illustrated, rich with evidence that Buddhist art has thrived over the last four hundred years and continues to do so. One of the book’s many contributions is how it traces the widening patronage of Buddhist art, which helped to create and support a new class of Buddhist artists and appreciation for their art beyond the walls of the Buddhist temples.” —Buddhadharma

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3191-2 / $29.00 (PAPER)

Soto Zen in Medieval Japan Now in Paperback

Soto Zen in Medieval Japan, by William M. Bodiford, is now available in paperback.

“Carefully researched and set forth with finesse, Bodiford’s study advances dramatically our understanding of the introduction and development of Zen in Japan. . . . [This] is the most important English work on Soto Zen to date; it is a ‘must’ for any student, scholar, or practitioner interested in the genesis and early development of this important strand of Japanese Buddhism.” —Journal of Japanese Studies

Studies in East Asian Buddhism, No. 8
Published in association with the Kuroda Institute
April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3303-9 / $28.00 (PAPER)

Exploring Work and Life in Urban Cambodia

Khmer Women on the Move: Exploring Work and Life in Urban Cambodia, by Annuska Derks, offers a fascinating ethnography of young Cambodian women who move from the countryside to work in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. Female migration and urban employment are rising, triggered by Cambodia’s transition from a closed socialist system to an open market economy. This book challenges the dominant views of these young rural women—that they are controlled by global economic forces and national development policies or trapped by restrictive customs and Cambodia’s tragic history. The author shows instead how these women shape and influence the processes of change taking place in present-day Cambodia.

““This is a fascinating ethnography about young Khmer women moving to the city to work in the garment factories, in prostitution, and as street sellers. The author makes good use of new theoretical approaches in anthropology that focus on negotiation and creativity in situations of rapid change. The result is not only a welcome new book on post-war Cambodia but an important addition to the literature on women, migration, and labor in Southeast Asia and the world.” —Judy Ledgerwood, Northern Illinois University

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3270-4 / $25.00 (PAPER)

Cultural Borrowing and Japanese Crime Literature, 1868-1937

Purloined Letters: Cultural Borrowing and Japanese Crime Literature, 1868-1937, by Mark Silver, an engaging study of the detective story’s arrival in Japan—and of the broader cross-cultural borrowing that accompanied it—argues for a reassessment of existing models of literary influence between “unequal” cultures. Because the detective story had no pre-existing native equivalent in Japan, the genre’s formulaic structure acted as a distinctive cultural marker, making plain the process of its incorporation into late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Japanese letters. Silver tells the story of Japan’s adoption of this new Western literary form at a time when the nation was also remaking itself in the image of the Western powers. His account calls into question conventional notions of cultural domination and resistance, demonstrating the variety of possible modes for cultural borrowing, the surprising vagaries of intercultural transfer, and the power of the local contexts in which “imitation” occurs.

“This is an impressive book, which casts the early history of Japanese detective fiction within the broader context of Japanese cultural and political modernity. Through his close analysis of three central figures—Kuroiwa Ruiko, Okamoto Kido, and Edogawa Ranpo—Silver demonstrates the complex ways in which detective fiction in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was used to reflect upon new ideas, represent the past, and reveal Japan’s newly ‘modern’ society in grotesque and frightening ways. Lucidly argued and elegantly written, Purloined Letters will become essential reading for scholars of detective fiction, Japanese literature, and translation studies more generally.” —Amanda Seaman, author of Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990s Japan

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3188-2 / $52.00 (CLOTH)

Travel and the Intersection of Place, Gender, and Status in Edo Japan

“Laura Nenzi’s fascinating work bridges visual and narrative representations of traveling with social history and views of traveling from below. She brings to light palpable details on the mechanics of traveling as a means of overturning socialconventions and speculates on their effect on self-transformation. Her discussion of the transformatory capacity of women’s traveling and place commodification are particularly notable contributions to the field and a delight to read. Her delving in grounds of both literary and visual studies is to be endorsed. This kind of interdisciplinary approach is absolutely necessary in the context of the Edo period’s cultural production that knew no division between the two.” —Jilly Traganou, Parsons The New School for Design

“Excursions in Identity provides a new understanding of familiar material by treating it in an original and lively manner. Nenzi approaches travel as a cultural act, arguing that it allowed individuals to challenge and redefine the strictures imposed upon them by social, political, and cultural conventions. She analyzes her subject from a variety of approaches, literary, religious, spatial, and gender, the last of these of particular value to the literature on Japan. The scholarship is sound, the treatment well balanced, and the narrative polished and accessible. The book will be widely read with great benefit by scholars in several fields, including specialists in Japanese history and literature, and more widely by those interested in gender studies.” —Constantine Vaporis, University of Maryland Baltimore County

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3117-2 / $57.00 (CLOTH)

Korean Spirituality

Korea has one of the most dynamic and diverse religious cultures of any nation on earth. Koreans are highly religious, yet no single religious community enjoys dominance. Buddhists share the Korean religious landscape with both Protestant and Catholic Christians as well as with shamans, Confucians, and practitioners of numerous new religions. As a result, Korea is a fruitful site for the exploration of the various manifestations of spirituality in the modern world. At the same time, however, the complexity of the country’s religious topography can overwhelm the novice explorer.

Emphasizing the attitudes and aspirations of the Korean people rather than ideology, Don Baker has written Korean Sprituality, an accessible aid to navigating the highways and byways of Korean spirituality.

Dimensions of Asian Spirituality
April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3257-5 / $15.00 (PAPER)

The New Sun

In 1939 the painter Iwamatsu Jun (1908–1994) and his artist wife, Tomoe, arrived in the U.S. as political refugees. During World War II, Iwamatsu used his artistic talents for the U.S. war effort, and he adopted a pseudonym, Taro Yashima, to protect his young son, whom he left behind in Japan. The New Sun, which was published in the U.S. in 1943, is an account of his life in prewar Japan.

“The quality of Yashima’s art and the economy of the text make The New Sun a powerful and riveting tale of political dissidence against Japanese imperialism.” —from the Introduction by Naoko Shibusawa

Intersections: Asian and Pacific American Transcultural Studies
April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3185-1 / $21.00 (PAPER)