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Books on Asia: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Amy Chavez, John Ross
Books on Asia is your guide to finding quality books on Japan and Asia, including travel, literature, current events, and culture. Explore Asia in-depth. Hosted by Amy Chavez.
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- 5 days ago25 min
Yamagata 3: The Last Human Train Platform Vendor
Episode NotesThis is Part 3 of a 3-part series on Yamagata Prefecture, as part of our Travel & Books focus. If you haven't listened to the first two, you can find them at: Yamagata 1: Samurai, Beef & Bashō and Yamagata 2: Dewa Sanzan and Mt. Yudono Secrets.In this episode, Amy visits a secret train station. As the train from Fukushima slows down at the stop to let people off, she notices a definite excitement among the passengers. "She's there!, She's there!" they murmur to each other while SLR camera lenses are brought up to eye level, and people pose with their cell phones turned to selfie mode. What's going on? A celebrity? Amy asks a local guide, who explains that the woman is the last train platform vendor in Japan, who has been making a certain product for over 100 years!After that, she enters the mountains, visits the Otaki waterfall, and stays at the Fukushimaya Inn that is so immersed in snow in the wintertime, that the family can't leave. Snowed in all winter, they wait for the snow melt in Spring! Amy goes on to discuss climbing Mt. Zao and talks about the Yamabushi priests who practice Shugendo, as well as the Matsuo Bashō museum and the Yamadera temple where you can experience the atmosphere where the poet wrote one of his most famous haiku. The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
- 1 weeks ago36 min
Yamagata 2: Dewa Sanzan (3 Sacred Mountains) + Mt. Yudono Secret
Episode NotesThis is Part 2 of a 3-part series on Yamagata Prefecture, as part of our Travel & Books focus. You can still listen to Part 1: Samurai, Beef and Basho.Content Warning: This episode talks about death and dying.In this episode, Amy visits Mount Yudono, one of the three sacred mountains of the Dewa Sanzan. This mountain has a shrine that is so sacred, those who enter are not allowed to talk about their experience afterwards. Before going into the Yudono Shrine grounds, she asks a Japanese person what the rules are. Once explained, she enters the mountain with her new Japanese guide.Amy decides to "talk around" the sacred shrine for this episode, and we think you'll be genuinely surprised at some of the mountain's secrets, at least the ones we're allowed to talk about. She introduces Shugendo mountain worship as well as the sokushinbutsu self-mummified monks of the past that have been found among the Dewa Sanzan.She also reflects on Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi), esoteric Buddhism, the Morning Star Meditation and the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage and .Books mentioned:Living Buddhas: The Self-Mummified Monks of Yamagata, Japan (McFarland & Co., 2010) by Ken JeremiahArticles mentioned: Diane Neill Tichner's Sokushinbutsu—Self-Mummification to Attain Buddhahood Songs mentioned:The Sukiyaki Song by Kyu SakamotoShout-outs:Thanks to Yamagata Experience for their support on my hike to Mount Yudono, Heartland Japan for the Yamagata Onsen Tour and to "Miki" for her interview about Yudono Shrine. The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
- 3 weeks ago34 min
Yamagata 1: Samurai, Beef and Basho
This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on Yamagata Prefecture, as part of our Travel & Books focus. In this episode, we discuss Michael Booth’s Sushi and Beyond: What the Japanese Know About Cooking, (also known as Super Sushi Ramen Express: One Family's Journey Through the Belly of Japan) which explores the myths and semi-myths behind Japanese beef—from beer-drinking, massaged cows to the influence of breed and diet. You may be surprised at some of the truths. Then we’ll trace the story of Yamagata's Yonezawa beef, the legendary samurai Uesugi Kenshin, and the influence of British English teacher Charles Henry Dallas, who helped introduce the Yonezawa beef brand to the world.We also follow Matsuo Bashō’s journey through the sacred mountains of Dewa Sanzan, as described in his travelougue The Narrow Road to the Deep North. as translated by Yuasa Nobukyuki. We’ll also look to Leslie Downer’s travelogue, On Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North: Journey into a Lost Japan, for another perspective on retracing the poet’s route. Along the way, Amy recalls stays at the traditional Yamagata ryokan Gotenmori said to be the family villa of one of Japan's most famous samurai Uesugi Kenshin. The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
- Sep 28, 202634 min
Japan by Charinko: Tom Gibb's 2,500-Km Ride
Japan by Charinko: Tom Gibb’s 2,500-Kilometer RideJohn Ross chats with Tom Gibb about his cycling adventures in Japan, the subject of his newly released Charinko. In the summer of 2005, Tom set off to see Japan properly. His transport was a cheap bike. And his Japanese was just about good enough for the modest challenge he had set himself: have at least one conversation every day. Six weeks and 2,500 kilometers later, Tom had pedalled from Kyushu back home to Ibaraki (still his home today) and discovered that cycling might be the perfect speed for getting to know a country.The ebook is available from the Plum Rain Press website and from Amazon. The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
- Sep 21, 202628 min
Japanese museums, treasure halls and Nara e-hon
Amy and John talk about recent travels in Japan including great museums, treasure halls full of ancient art and manuscripts, and travel by ferry vs. shinkansen. (Don't miss the Paseo ferry if you're traveling between Kure, Hiroshima and Matsuyama on Shikoku). John introduces a great outdoor museum in Osaka for architecture lovers, and a naval museum. Amy introduces Nara e-hon—which replaced illustrated emaki scrolls of the Heian and Kamakura periods—that started in the Muromachi period (1336-1573) and remained popular through the Edo period). Published in Kyoto (not Nara) they were one of Japan's first codices to use this particular illustration style. The co-hosts also talk about what they're reading and Amy introduces a blast from the past for Asian literature: Dawson's Bookstore in Los Angeles, which is still going, but in an alternate form. Join them for their romp around Japan's book history! The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
- Sep 7, 202620 min
New Lonely Planet Guides on Japan
Alternative title: Lonely Planet arc—from pre-internet days to Instagram + a new Japanese etiquette tip + a couple more guidebook optionsAmy opens the show with her recent experience as a tour guide in the Seto Inland Sea islands. She also introduces a new Japanese manners tip, a result of her etiquette skills being put to shame recently when she traveled with Japanese people on a business trip.From there she delves into the new Lonely Planet Guidebooks and gets a little nostalgic about the older pre-internet publications and tells why they were better than the new editions. She then pivots and tells us why the new Lonely Planet destination guidebooks are better than the old. In other words, neither is better nor worse; the changes are more a reflection of the times (good riddance to tiny font sizes!)At the end of the show, for those old-schoolers who prefer the old LP guidebook style, she introduces Cicerone guidebooks to fill the gap: fewer photos, but better maps. Less Instagram; a more hands-on approach. And the quality of writing a rare find in guidebooks.See the Show Notes for links on the Books on Asia site at www.booksonasia.net The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
- Aug 24, 202635 min
Adachi Masao: Pink Films, Red Politics, with William Andrews
Adachi Masao (born 1939) has lived one of the most extraordinary lives in Japanese cinema. He has made experimental films, worked with leading figures of the Japanese New Wave, and spent decades in Lebabon alongside the radical left-wing Japanese Red Army. John talks to Tokyo-based researcher, writer and translator William Andrews about Pink Auteur, Red Outlaw, his new biography of this provocative filmmaker and revolutionary. Recording this episode, John and William faced radical conditions themselves – annoying ambulances, copulating cats, and clanking bottle collection, and more cats – but for you, dear listener, all that artistic struggle was left on the cutting-room floor. William Andrews’ two books mentioned were: Pink Auteur, Red Outlaw: Adachi Masao and Japan’s Cinema of Revolution (Awai Books, 2026). It is the first English-language book devoted to Adachi and draws on extensive interviews and years of research. Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture, from 1945 to Fukushima (Hurst, 2016) William’s three Adachi film recommendations are (in the order discussed): Revolution+1 (2022) – Adachi’s film about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassin. A.K.A. Serial Killer – completed in 1969, first publicly shown in 1975, it follows the landscapes associated with a serial killer and is the key film associated with Adachi’s “landscape theory.” Galaxy (1967) – one of Adachi’s early experimental films. The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
- Aug 17, 202633 min
The Devil’s Chow: A Chinese Food History–Stephen Jack
Stephen’s childhood in Bendigo, Australia, gave him early exposure to Chinese culture and food. Nineteenth-century gold rushes brought numerous Cantonese workers to the town, and their cuisine has long since become part of local life. Decades later, Stephen – a longtime Taiwan resident – would pursue his interest in Chinese food by making extensive journeys across China. John and Stephen talk about the rich heritage of Chinese agriculture before eventually getting to some notable dishes, from the famed Peking duck to the infamous wangji dan (fertilized egg). Stephen tells the surprising story of chop suey – long dismissed as an American invention – and describes his joy at tracking down its roots in Guangdong. They finish with a healthy Chinese-style dessert: fruit, in this case the Chinese gooseberry (and its better-known descendant, the kiwifruit). The Devil’s Chow: A Chinese Food History by Stephen Jack (2026, Cold Press Books) is a lively combination of food history and travel writing, tracing the development of Chinese cuisine from the earliest times to the present. To learn more about Stephen and his writing you can visit: Stephen Jack’s website:https://www.eatingchina.com/devils-chow-chinese-food-history.htm Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Chow-Chinese-Food-History/dp/6269969425 The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.
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About Books on Asia
Books on Asia is your guide to finding quality books on Japan and Asia, including travel, literature, current events, and culture. Explore Asia in-depth. Hosted by Amy Chavez.
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