While the complexities of interpreting in constrained legal contexts such as trials may gradually be getting better understood by legal professionals, the particular difficulties of interpreting for the Deaf remain largely overlooked, and the recent involvement of citizen judges in Japan’s justice system makes it even more important to raise awareness about this aspect of language disadvantage. This paper focuses on a key feature of Japanese Sign Language: the non-manual markers produced by facial and body movements that accompany hand and (...) finger signs. Research shows such markers to be poorly understood by non-Deaf observers and indeed even sign language interpreters sometimes conflate them with gestures used by hearing people. (shrink)

Immerse yourself in the world of the Samurai with this classic text. Code of the Samurai is the 350-year-old summary of the rules and expectations embodied in Bushido-the ancient Japanese "Way of the Warrior." Written by Taira Shigesuke, a Samurai and prominent teacher of military techniques, it was published posthumously in 1834. This influential book was intended as a training manual for young Samurai, outlining personal and professional standards. This accessible and enjoyable translation is by Thomas Cleary, the foremost (...) translator of Asian martial classics, accompanied by the powerful line drawings of master illustrator Oscar Ratti. A new foreword by Alexander Bennett, a leading expert on Samurai history, explains the lasting importance of this classic work and its place within the canon of Japanese literature. (shrink)

This article demonstrates that Fujiwara no Toshinori composed the text of the National Treasure Heike nokyo ganmon, which has usually been attributed to Taira no Kiyomori. First, the article establishes that Toshinori was a prolific author of the ganmon genre, which required skill in composing elaborate parallel prose and a profound knowledge of Buddhist doctrine and Chinese history. It then documents the existence of many, overlooked works written by Toshinori and reveals that certain passages found in them match passages (...) in the Heike nokyo ganmon, thus proving Toshinori’s authorship. It focuses in conclusion on Toshinori’s role in producing a picture scroll for the imperial court, a task precisely analogous to that carried out by his brother, the monk Joken, and suggests that Toshinori and his family may have been responsible for a good deal of the art created in the milieu of the retired emperor Goshirakawa. (shrink)

Ce livre interroge les passages entre dire et chanter, leurs usages, leurs contraintes, les multiples façons dont ils sont nommés et mis en oeuvre, leurs enjeux esthétiques, poétiques, dramaturgiques ou anthropologiques. Il rassemble dix-sept essais comme autant d'études de cas, autour de quatre axes: " Le chant des mots "; " Représentations de la parole et enjeux dramaturgiques "; " Du souffle au cri "; " Voix plurielles et identité ". De multiples états du dit/chanté sont abordés: des manifestations du (...) parlé sur la scène de l'opéra au me siècle au retour actuel de la mélodie parlante orchestrale, des formes vocales exploratoires des années soixante aux modes du chant en poésie, de l'extra-vocalité provocatrice des XXe et XXIe siècles aux musiques rituelles où il n'est plus seulement question de chanter mais aussi de servir avec sa voix. L'ouvrage tient ensemble musicologie, ethnomusicologie et poétique. Il rend compte de structures, de pratiques et de typologies. Les oeuvres étudiées sont entre autres celles de Bernd Aloïs Zimmermann, Jonathan Harvey, Paul Valéry, Jules Massenet, Alban Berg, Claude Debussy, Manuel de Falla, Francis Poulenc, Jean Cocteau, les Beatles, les Pink Floyd, les Who, Helmut Lachenman, Yoshihisa Taïra, Jean-Christophe Marti, Franz Koglmann et aussi des chants liturgiques coptes de Haute-Egypte, de l'Eglise apostolique arménienne d'Istanbul ou encore la musique carnatique d'Inde du Sud. (shrink)

For almost 700 years shoguns ruled Japan. These "gentleman warriors" developed a dedicated system of honor and strict guidlelines of behavior that Taira Shigesuke first brought together in his 16th century book—Bushido Shoshinshu. Present to a modern audience in clear, easy-to-read English, this new translation captures the majesty of the higher principles as well as the usefulness of the daily advice. From principles such as "a samurai should keep foremost in his mind the fact that he must die" to (...) rules regarding duty, personal obligation and even money management, this book sets out the guidelines that defined Japan's "way of the warrior." Honor and obligation are emphasised above all to the reader, who is taught that a samurai is expected to be indifferenet to pain, unquestioningly loyal, and an expert in his training. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Awesome Nightfall: The Life, Times, and Poetry of SaigyōMichiko YusaAwesome Nightfall: The Life, Times, and Poetry of Saigyō. By William R. LaFleur. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003. Pp. ix + 173. Paper $14.95.A quarter of a century ago William LaFleur published his book on Saigyō, Mirror for the Moon, which the present work, Awesome Nightfall: The Life, Times, and Poetry of Saigyō, thoughtfully and masterfully supersedes. In this connection (...) I may mention the philosopher, Nishida Kitarō, whose Zen no kenkyū (An inquiry into the good) was reprinted in 1936, twenty-five years after its first publication. On that occasion Nishida, deeply moved by the thought that his earliest work was still being read, expressed his sentiment by quoting the last two lines of one of Saigyō's poems: [End Page 270]Toshitaketemata koyubeshitoomoikiyaInochi narikeriSaya no NakayamaDid I ever imagineIn my advanced ageI should cross once againThis mountain pass of Saya-no-Nakayama?Ah, it is all thanks to having lived a long life!1(Saigyō composed this poem on going for the second time to Mutsu, the northern region of Japan, forty-two years after his first visit there.)As LaFleur notes, a number of important works on Saigyō's life and his times have been published in Japan in the last two decades, which these offer us more complete sketches of his life and allow an appreciation of his poetry to a greater depth. In the first part of the book, "The Life and Times of Saigyō," the author succinctly incorporates many of these findings and relates Saigyō's poems both to historical events and to his personal life experience (pp. 1-70). The second half of the book contains LaFleur's translation of over 150 poems by Saigyō, all of which appear to be taken from his earlier book (pp. 73-152).LaFleur shows how Saigyō's life (1118-1190) was closely linked to the historical context. The time was fast changing from the insei system (political administration run by the court of the retired emperor) to the Hōgen and Heiji Disturbances, the fierce power struggle between the Taira and the Minamoto military clans, with the dramatic demise of the former and the end of the Heian period. Saigyō's path crossed with such eminent political figures as Taira no Kiyomori in 1172 and Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1186. By juxtaposing historical events with Saigyō's poems, which often bear headnotes describing the circumstances under which he composed them, a full-fledged biography of Saigyō promises to be in the offing.In the present work, LaFleur sketches Saigyō's life in bold strokes and introduces new findings for the English-reading audience, such as the homoeroticism that dominated the court of the retired Emperor Toba (1103-1156)—although Saigyō himself does not appear to have been a member of this coterie.2 LaFleur also draws our attention to the fact that Saigyō practiced religious austerities at Mt. Kōya and Ōmine (pp. 20-21). Going beyond a rather two-dimensional image of Saigyō as a nature-loving poet of the moon and the flowers, the present study presents a picture of a man caught in an impossible love affair; a highly skilled equestrian, archer, and kemari (a sort of kickball) player; and a man who caused a sensation by renouncing the world at the young age of twenty-three despite his promising career as an imperial guard. Saigyō's mental and physical strength, honed by his mountain asceticism, no doubt was essential in his making extensive journeys far and wide. We also see that the distance Saigyō created from the political arena by becoming a monk gave him a keener eye to assess the fundamental political changes that were then taking [End Page 271] place. The full import of his poems, dealing with warfare, emperors, and the court, cannot be understood when separated from the political events of the day, although Saigyō himself maintained his cool objectivity and distanced himself from them.The tantalizing speculation that Saigyō was infatuated with Empress Taikenmon'in, Emperor Toba's consort and Emperor Sutoku's mother, is highly probable... (shrink)