CHOICE reviews A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors

We love libraries, we love librarians, and we love library media. So we're especially happy about CHOICE's recent, very positive review of Alexander Jacoby's new book, A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors. N. A. Baker of Earlham College writes:

This useful volume offers a critical overview and filmography of over 150 Japanese directors from the silent era to the present, excluding anime....[It] ought to please both scholars in search of a handy (and unique) reference title, and more casual Japanese film enthusiasts seeking information....Recommended.

Man of Manga

As we already noted, Frederik L. Schodt is receiving a major award — Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette — from the Japanese Government. In the Nichi Bei Times, Ben Hamamoto profiles and interviews Schodt in honor of the award, writing:

Frederik L. Schodt has the distinction of not only being one of the pioneers who brought manga to the English-speaking world — both through his translations of important manga works and the books on manga he has authored — but he is also one of the foremost authorities on the subject today.

Anyone with an interest in Schodt's work or the history/future of manga should check out the entire article, "Man of Manga: Fred Schodt's Indispensible Contributions to the Art of Manga."

The Wall Street Journal reviews Pop Goes Korea

In the Wall Street Journal, Evan Ramstad reviews Pop Goes Korea: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music, and Internet Culture by Mark James Russell:

"Mr. Russell's book is the first by a non-Korean to explain the rise of Korea's entertainment industries. With lots of pictures, lists (top TV shows, most expensive movies, worst flops) and sidebar articles, the book could hardly be more approachable."

Read the whole review, "Riding the 'Korean Wave': Exporting ideas and culture, not just steel and silicon."