Takumi: Downtown Tokyo Artisan Culture

Author: Manami Okazaki
Publisher: Kingyo Press
ISBN: 9789881250766
Category : Artisans
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Takumi: Downtown Tokyo Artisan Culture looks at 32 artisan ateliers in the shitamachi district of Tokyo; the traditional commoner and merchant region of the Edo era. The book will feature craftspeople working out of small studios across downtown, creating exquisite items by hand. This is a rare glimpse into these spaces; from screen makers, kimono dyers, washi paper makers to glass blowers, presented in an accessible, lavish tome. With hundreds of photos, Takumi: Downtown Tokyo Artisan Culture offers a visual tour into downtown artisan life, with a focus on places that even a casual tourist can also visit as well. Interviews with the craftspeople also provide insight into the philosophy of the Japanese artisan. While many travelers will visit the Asakusa area to marvel at Sensoji, Tokyo's oldest temple, most visitors are unaware of the rich culture that is present beyond the tourist areas. The region has retained many of the craft traditions of the Edo era, and the book also looks at aspects of urbanism such as bathhouses, shotengai shopping streets and nagaya architecture to highlight the inter-connectivity of all aspects of "old Tokyo" life.

Kawaii!

Author: Manami Okazaki
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 3791347276
Category : Photography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Showcasing Japan's astonishingly varied culture of cute, this volume takes the reader on a dazzling and adorable visual journey through all things kawaii. Although some trace the phenomenon of kawaii as far back as Japan's Taisho era, it emerged most visibly in the 1970s when schoolgirls began writing in big, bubbly letters complete with tiny hearts and stars. From cute handwriting came manga, Hello Kitty, and Harajuku, and the kawaii aesthetic now affects every aspect of Japanese life. As colorful as its subject matter, this book contains numerous interviews with illustrators, artists, fashion designers, and scholars. It traces the roots of the movement from sociological and anthropological perspectives and looks at kawaii's darker side as it morphs into gothic and gloomy iterations. Best of all, it includes hundreds of colorful photographs that capture kawaii's ubiquity: on the streets and inside homes, on lunchboxes and airplanes, in haute couture and street fashion, in cafés, museums, and hotels.

Japanese Kokeshi Dolls

Author: Manami Okazaki
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462921973
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 173

Book Description
An inside look at kokeshi dolls: from the skilled woodworkers behind their design to their important cultural significance. Kokeshi are the simple and charming traditional Japanese dolls characterized by their cylindrical shape and lack of arms and legs. Historically made as children's toys in Japan's northern region of Tohoku, they have now become a popular collector's item and have even inspired famous architects and artists. In this visual guide, readers will find: An overview of the different types of dolls How kokeshi dolls are crafted, including information on tools and woods used Interviews with leading kokeshi craftspeople worldwide Detailed information about both traditional dolls and the modern ones being crafted today An exploration of the cultural significance of kokeshi dolls--both historically and for the areas of northern Japan that rebuilt themselves after their region was decimated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 A guide to visiting Japan's kokeshi regions Information on how to buy the dolls--either directly from Japanese artisans or stockists worldwide Filled with artist interviews, gorgeous photos and firsthand travel experience, author Manami Okazaki has created a book to be enjoyed by all--from serious collectors to woodcrafters, interior designers, architects, armchair travelers and anyone with an interest in Japanese culture and travel.

Kokeshi

Author: Manami Okazaki
Publisher: Kingyo Press
ISBN: 9789881250735
Category : Kokeshi dolls
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Kokeshi are traditional, artisanal Japanese dolls, characterized by their lack of arms or legs. They have become iconic; they reflect simple Japanese aesthetic sensibilities with their simple, elegant and minimalist designs. Kokeshi looks at this culture in depth. It profiles 23 artisans in the remote hot spring villages where they are made and highlights many aesthetic theories and sensibilities that are prevalent in contemporary design, even today. With rare interviews, it will delight fans of wooden crafts and Japanese culture.

Tuttle Concise Japanese Dictionary

Author: Samuel E. Martin
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 1462910416
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 1080

Book Description
Every serious student of Japanese needs a reliable and user-friendly dictionary in their collection. Tuttle Concise Japanese Dictionary, now with 30% more content, is a completely updated dictionary designed for students and business people who are living in Japan and using the Japanese language on a daily basis. Its greatest advantage is that it contains recent idiomatic expressions which have become popular in the past several years and which are not found in other competing dictionaries. The dictionary has been fully updated with the addition of recent vocabulary relating to computers, mobile phones, social media and the Internet. Other special features that set this dictionary apart include: Over 25,000 words and expressions including idioms and slang. User-friendly layout with main entries in color. Complete Japanese-English and English-Japanese sections. Romanized forms and the Japanese script are given for all Japanese words. A guide to pronunciation helps the user to pronounce Japanese words correctly. Different senses of each word are distinguished by multiple definitions.

Kimono Now

Author: Manami Okazaki
Publisher: Prestel Publishing
ISBN: 9783791349497
Category : Clothing and dress
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
From the refined homes of Tokyo to the nightclubs of Kyoto; from gangster chic to Harajuku street style; from ateliers and catwalks to city sidewalks and religious festivals--this book shows how the kimono has continued to be one of Japan's most exciting wardrobe elements. Interviews with important industry figures, including clothing manufacturers and fashion designers, reveal how this traditional dress, with its simple and elegant form and timeless textile production methods, is as relevant today as ever.

Toy Tokyo

Author: Manami Okazaki
Publisher: Kingyo Press
ISBN: 9789881250780
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Blurry, out of focus, streaked with light and distorted. While these are adjectives you might not associate with quality photography, these are the quintessential characteristics of photography produced by toy cameras. While generic, commercial, travel photography based on stock has become the norm, Toy Tokyo captures the exhilaration of travel photography and life on the road, in one of the worlds most intense and photogenic locations. First in a series of location specific photography books using toys cams. Included are introductions, interviews with the founders of, and photos of factory visits with makers of the most iconic toy and simple system cameras, such as the Holga, Zero pinholes and the original Diana in Hong Kong, the LOMO LC-A and Horizon in Russia, Japan's Fuuvi, Impossible films and of course, the folks at lomography.

Japan's Best Friend

Author: Manami Okazaki
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 3791387251
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This quirky, nose-to-tail survey of Japan’s love affair with dogs explores why they have played such an important role in the country since ancient times, how they’re represented in traditional and contemporary culture alike, and which breeds are most distinctly part of the canine craze. In Japan’s Best Friend, stunning photographs take readers to religious festivals and shrines that honor dog deities, to the streets of Tokyo where canines are a mainstay of kawaii culture, and inside the doors of cafés that make pup-themed latte art as well as facilities that train rescue dogs to be involved with therapy. Readers are introduced to SONY’s iconic dog robot aibo; to the loyal Akita Hachiko, whose statue is located next to the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing; and to Doge, the Shiba Inu internet sensation. The book looks at how dogs are represented in Japanese traditions, as well as the extraordinary lengths to which they are exalted within pop culture. It includes Edo and Meiji-era woodblock prints, as well as dog-centric work by Pritzker Prize-winning architects and renowned contemporary artists. Interviews with craftspeople, illustrators, and stylists offer a fascinating glimpse into the human-to-animal connection. At turns adorable, funny, informative, and uplifting, this multi-faceted celebration investigates a phenomenon that will appeal to anyone obsessed with dogs, Japan, or both.

McMafia

Author: Misha Glenny
Publisher: House of Anansi
ISBN: 0887848184
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Book Description
Drugs, weapons, migrant labour, women — these are just a few of the many goods that effortlessly cross national borders in this globalized age, often without the knowledge or permission of the nations concerned. How is this remarkable criminal feat managed?From gun runners in the Ukraine, to money launderers in Dubai, cyber criminals in Brazil, racketeers in Japan, and the booming marijuana industry in western Canada, McMafia builds a breathtaking picture of a secret and bloody business.Internationally celebrated writer Misha Glenny crafts a fascinating, highly readable, and impressively well-researched account of the emergence of organized crime as a globalized phenomenon and shows how its secret and bloody business mirrors both the methods and the rewards of the legitimate world economy. Employing his journalistic talent and his prior experience covering organized crime in Eastern Europe, Glenny reports on his travels around the planet to investigate this worrying and worsening situation. After comprehensively surveying the criminal scene, Glenny ends by considering the future of organized crime. McMafia is an important book that assembles all the pieces of this worldwide puzzle for the first time.

Japanese Visual Culture

Author: Mark W. MacWilliams
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317467000
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 365

Book Description
Born of Japan's cultural encounter with Western entertainment media, manga (comic books or graphic novels) and anime (animated films) are two of the most universally recognized forms of contemporary mass culture. Because they tell stories through visual imagery, they vault over language barriers. Well suited to electronic transmission and distributed by Japan's globalized culture industry, they have become a powerful force in both the mediascape and the marketplace.This volume brings together an international group of scholars from many specialties to probe the richness and subtleties of these deceptively simple cultural forms. The contributors explore the historical, cultural, sociological, and religious dimensions of manga and anime, and examine specific sub-genres, artists, and stylistics. The book also addresses such topics as spirituality, the use of visual culture by Japanese new religious movements, Japanese Goth, nostalgia and Japanese pop, "cute" (kawali) subculture and comics for girls, and more. With illustrations throughout, it is a rich source for all scholars and fans of manga and anime as well as students of contemporary mass culture or Japanese culture and civilization.