Japan Society E-Library

Aesthetics

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII
Author: James, Jason

The composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) was only in Japan for twelve days, in 1956, but his exposure to Japanese culture had a powerful impact on his music, resulting in his opera Curlew River.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Kornicki, Peter

Carmen Blacker (1924-2009) became one of Britain's most original and perceptive scholars of Japan, and this account charts the development of her love for the country and the impact this had upon her choice and pursuit of a career in academia.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VIII
Author: Norimasa Morita

This essay details David Lean's interactions with Japan as a filmmaker through his two film projects The Wind Cannot Read and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Cobb, David

This portrait charts the varied history of the acceptance and adoption of the Japanese poetic form Haiku into British culture.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IV
Author: Bennett, Terry

This essay considers the photographic career of 'camera artist' Henry George Ponting (1870-1935), arguably the best British photographer to have worked in Japan, especially as it relates to his photographs of Mt. Fuji and other places and people in Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Hirata Yoko

This essay charts the literary and translation efforts of Honma Hisao (1886-1981), particularly in regard to Oscar Wilde; how he looked outward at English literature, inward at Meiji era literature and then combined the two in the comparative study of world literature.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Burleigh, David

This potrait of poet and playwrite James Cousins (1873-1956) considers his little known, but nonetheless well-documented, visit to Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Koyama Noburu

This portrait discusses James Summers' (1828-91) contributions to the teaching of English Literature in Japan, along with a discussion of his work in relation to the Taisei Shimbun - one of the first Japanese language newspapers published outside of Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VI
Author: Koyama Noboru

This essay provides an account of Japanese tattooists interactions with the British Royal Family during the Meiji period.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume II
Author: Murray, Paul

The outstanding Western interpreter of Meiji Japan, Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), provides the subject for this portrait; his time in America, Japan, and his relationships to his contemporaries.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume III
Author: Gallimore, Daniel

Along with Murakami Haruki, Ninagawa Yukio (1935) is perhaps the most famous of Japanese cultural figures in Britain. This portrait examines Ninagawa's international career as a director and in particular his staging of Shakespeare.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Norimasa Morita

This essay provides an account of how Nishiwaki Junzaburō's (1894-1982) poems and writings on modernist and surrealist poetry transformed the poetic landscape in Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume V
Author: Hughes, George

The poet Robert Nichols (1893-1944) provides an example of extreme culture shock suffered by a British visitor to Japan, and this portrait charts his poetic career and interactions with Japan as a foreign teacher at Tokyo University.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume IX
Author: Norimasa Morita

Following a period of study in Britain and Germany, Shimamura Hōgetsu (1871-1918) pioneered the introduction of Western drama and theatre (shingeki) to Japan. This essay details his srtuggles and successes.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Ruxton, Ian

Tatsuno Kingo (1854-1919) was arguably the leading Japanese architect of his day, and master-minded much of the Western-style architecture of Meiji Japan. This essay examines his general architectural career, as well as his dealings with Britain and its influence upon his work.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume I
Author: Cortazzi, Hugh

This essay considers the friendship between Bernard Leach and Yanagi Sōetsu (1889-1961), as well as their relationship to the Minegi movement.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Norimasa Morita

In his brief life and literary career Kōri Torahiko (1890-1924) had many dealings with Britain and its literary scene. This portrait charts his interactions as a Japanese writer with the culture of Britain and its literature.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume VII
Author: Basham, Anna

Wells Coates (1895-1958) was an eminent figure in the British Modern Movement, and an avant-garde architect-designer who made frequent reference to his upbringing in Japan.

Book: Biographical Portraits Volume I
Author: Blacker, Carmen

Yoshio Markino (1869-1956), artist, philosopher, writer and anglophile, lived in London for most of his life.

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