Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook

Posted on 20 June 2011 by UH Press Marketing

The idea for Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook can be traced back to 1980, when Thomas Kasulis (then assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Hawai‘i) dreamed of putting together an anthology focused directly on Japanese philosophical thought. Thirty-one years later, Kasulis and his fellow editors James Heisig and John Maraldo have produced what will be an essential reference for English readers interested in traditional or contemporary Japanese culture and the way it has shaped and been shaped by its great thinkers over the centuries. The story behind the Sourcebook’s development, which involved dozens of scholars from around the world, can be found in the Nanzan Institute for Religion & Culture Bulletin 35 (2011).

July 2011 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3552-1 / $70.00 (CLOTH)

New Catalog Available: New Books Fall 2011-Spring 2012

Posted on 16 June 2011 by UH Press Marketing

The UH Press New Books Fall 2011-Spring 2012 catalog is now available! To view the 5.4M PDF, click on the catalog cover image to the left.

Highlights for Fall 2011 include:

* A handy guide to “power foods”: fruits, vegetables, and nuts that could save your life (Eat Smart, Stay Well)

* The story behind the conservation of the Big Island’s King Kamehameha statue and its meaning for the residents of Kapa‘au (The Painted King: Art, Activism, and Authenticity in Hawai‘i)

* John Clark’s history of traditional Hawaiian surfing (Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past)

* The second Mina Beckwith and Ned Manusia murder mystery from Victoria Kneubuhl (Murder Leaves Its Mark)

* A penetrating, personal look at the effects of colonialism, poverty, and drug addiction in Hawai‘i (Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior)

* An illustrated compilation of traditional Hawaiian design (Links to the Past: The Work of Early Hawaiian Artisans)

* A work celebrating the philosophy and way of life of Native Hawaiian culture (No Na Mamo: Traditional and Contemporary Hawaiian Beliefs and Practices)

* An exploration of the cultural logic behind the custom of burning paper money in China and elsewhere (Burning Money: The Material Spirit of the Chinese Lifeworld)

* The history of one of the most important movements in modern Japanese art (Maximum Embodiment: Yoga, and the “Western Painting” of Japan, 1912-1955)

* A literary introduction to the Vietnamese-American experience (My Viet: Vietnamese-American Literature in English, 1962–Present)

* A long-awaited work that uncovers the richness and diversity of Japanese philosophy in a single volume (Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook)

Restoring the King

Posted on 16 June 2011 by UH Press Marketing

Glenn Wharton, the author of the forthcoming UH Press book The Painted King: Art, Activism, and Authenticity in Hawai‘i, was back in Kapa‘au on the Big Island to celebrate Kamehameha Day (June 11). His visit was covered in the North Hawai‘i News: http://northhawaiinews.com/news/restoring-the-king.html.

The Painted King is Wharton’s account of his efforts to conserve the Kohala Kamehameha statue, but it is also the story of his journey to understand the statue’s meaning for the residents of Kapa‘au. His book will be published in September.

Nuclear Power in Japan

Posted on 16 June 2011 by UH Press Marketing

In recent months UH Press author Martin Dusinberre has written online editorial pieces on the history and future of Japan’s nuclear program for Reuters, the History Workshop, and The Guardian.

Dusinberre is lecturer in modern Japanese history at Newcastle University, UK. He is the author of the forthcoming Hard Times in the Hometown: A History of Community Survival in Modern Japan, available March 2012.

Hard Times in the Hometown tells the story of Kaminoseki, a small town on Japan’s Inland Sea. Once one of the most prosperous ports in the country, Kaminoseki fell into profound economic decline following Japan’s reengagement with the West in the late nineteenth century. Using a recently discovered archive and oral histories collected during his years of research in Kaminoseki, Martin Dusinberre reconstructs the lives of households and townspeople as they tried to make sense of their changing place in the world. In challenging the familiar story of modern Japanese growth, Dusinberre provides important new insights into how ordinary people shaped the development of the modern state. His account comes to a climax when, in the 1980s, the town’s councillors request the construction of a nuclear power station, unleashing a storm of protests from within the community. This ongoing nuclear dispute has particular resonance in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima crisis.