Friday, August 25, 2006

jrock in the U.K.



Issue 23 of Bubblegum Slut, one of the U.K.'s most popular music fanzines, features an interview with Josephine Yun, author of jrock, ink. Here's an excerpt:

Bubblegum Slut
: A number of Japanese bands have toured extensively outside Japan over the last few years, i.e. Shonen Knife, The Mad Capsule Markets, etc., but the first few bands in the new wave of interest in Japanese music have often played at anime conventions. Do you think this detrimental to the music being taken seriously?

Josephine Yun: Not at all. Music is music; anime is anime. You can like one and not the other. Besides, there are so many different kinds of anime. Writing anime off as being the same across the board and doing the same with Japanese music, which is produced indpendently of anime, is detrimental only to whoever's dismissing it. That said, several anime conventions, having evolved into Japanese culture or East Asian culture conventions, now name themselves as such to more accurately reflect the media they offer, each rich with variety in its own right.


Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Haiku Apprentice reviewed at the tweney review



The Haiku Apprentice
by Abigail Friedman was recently reviewed on Dylan Tweney's the tweney review, reminding all of us that there are few books like The Haiku Apprentice, "an excellent, companionable guide to haiku and the culture from which it springs."

Monday, August 21, 2006

Anime Companion and Anime Essentials reviewed (in Spanish) on Pananime.com

Pananime.com has reviewed The Anime Companion and Anime Essentials. If you speak Spanish, check out the reviews. If you don't, this is a great reminder to re-read the books!

Patrick Macias brings culinary anime to The World



August 18th -- Patrick Macias, author of Cruising the Anime City shares his knowledge of anime culture on the "Global Hit" section of the BBC's The World. In a strangely hypnotic online video, Orihime Inouye, a character from the anime "Bleach," twirls a leek or negi to a tune by Loituma, a Finnish trance-folk ensemble.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Haiku Apprentice Canadian book launch



The Haiku Apprentice will have its official Canadian book launch at the Morrin Centre in Quebec on Thursday, August 24th 2006. 5 p.m.-7 p.m. in the Library. Don't miss this opportunity to meet the writer, purchase a signed copy of 'Haiku Apprentice,' and celebrate the rebirth of haiku!

Find event details here.

Friedman is the U.S. Consul General in Québec. She also runs her own blog, The Stone Lantern.

Friday, August 11, 2006

The Japan Journals explored in London Review of Books



Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia editor of the Times, reviews Donald Richie's The Japan Journals: 1947-2004 in this week's London Review of Books. The review, "Smilingly Excluded," focuses on literary exile.

Parry posted an excerpt of the review on his blog, Asia Exile.