Japanese Language And Culture

Spesso si studia una lingua straniera per viaggiare. Lo stesso apprendimento, in realtà, somiglia un po’ a un viaggio, in quanto ci fa scoprire la vita e la cultura di un Paese, nonché la storia e la mentalità di una popolazione, elementi che si riflettono nella lingua.
Per esprimersi bene in una lingua è necessario imparare a pensare con essa. È un’impresa ardua, che sovente viene accantonata nella prima fase dello studio. Se, invece, partissimo da una conoscenza organica delle differenze rispetto alla lingua madre, forse si riuscirebbe ad affrontare più serenamente il viaggio, magari trovando una via più agevole per avvicinarsi al modo di pensare giapponese.
Questo libro è dedicato a tutti gli italofoni curiosi della cultura giapponese: attraverso parole già familiari e aspetti della cultura ormai noti anche in Italia, offre loro uno strumento per comprendere il meccanismo con cui la lingua funziona.
La differenza tra le due lingue è enorme, non lo nascondiamo, non sarà quindi un apprendimento “senza fatica”, ma nessun timore: sarà un viaggio stimolante e divertente. È un percorso pratico, adatto a chi studia per hobby o per lavoro, e qualora visitasse il Giappone, potrà mettere in pratica tutto ciò che ha imparato qui.

Ishinomori Shōtarō (石ノ森 章太郎) provided the blueprint for the rewriting of history in Japanese graphic art.  In Japan the hyperbole of his name ‘forest of stone’ is also synonymous with a plethora of other superlatives.  Ishinomori not only wrote the prototype for the first gakushū (学習) manga on economics , defined a new graphic genre in the process and thus paved the way for ‘serious’ manga to enter the educational discourse in Japan, but also holds the Guinness Book World Record for the most pages drawn by a single artist; totaling more than 128,000 pages. As if this was not enough, Ishinomori raised the bar by almost single-handedly penning the first comprehensive history of the Japanese Archipelago in his magnum opus Manga Nihon no Rekishi (マンガ日本の歴史; Manga A History of Japan). This voluminous compendium marks an attempt at historiographical analysis of Japanese history from its ancient ancestral roots right up to the contemporary world.  Despite the transcultural renaissance of manga on a global scale the neglect of his work from the discourse of Japanese cultural representation is somewhat surprising. 

Whereas books on the likes of Tezuka Osamu and the lesser known but still influential Yoshihiro Tatsumi have been highly appraised recently,  Ishinomori,  - usually labelled as a science fiction manga artist - as one of the founding fathers of the modern manga media is hardly discussed in the Western press. With this contradiction in mind this paper will evaluate the position of Ishinomori’s graphic analects of Japan in comparison to several other archetypes of graphic histories such as Yokoyama Mitsuteru’s Sangokushi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 1971-1986), Tezuka Osamu’s Hi no tori (Phoenix, 1978-1995) and Mizuki Shigeru’s Comikku Showa-Shi (Hereafter: Comic History of Shōwa, 1988-1989). The paper will demonstrate how Ishinomori’s representation of Japanese history in manga constitutes a new form of literacy that enables the visualisation of historical artefacts in relation to contentious issues of Japanese identity and memory formation.

The Japanese dance style of butoh provides a rich co-mingling of traditional Japanese dance movements with a new cultural and artistic expression developed in the post-war avant-garde period. The focus of this project will be an analysis of the intersection of this post-war aesthetic with theories of dance and movement in butoh in order to more fully understand the role of the dancer as a vessel for embodying meaning in performance and the role of the body in butoh dance to communicate cultural and emotional meaning. By examining the writings of butoh originators, this project explores the various elements of an original butoh aesthetic and examines that performance aesthetic in its relation to forging an emotional connection with its audience. By drawing on concepts and approaches from the fields of kinesics and phenomenology, this project explains the human capacity to embody meaning, how this is achieved, and how that relates to the communicative goals of butoh performance as laid out by originators of the dance. The project concludes by examining the intersection of aesthetic ideals with theories of human movement and embodiment in an analysis of the recent performance Earth Tomes: celebrating the earth.

Shounen manga is a type of narrative via images that accurately follows the canonical narrative schema. Shounen is an adventure tale in which the protagonist must face a sequence of antagonists, often more powerful as the story carries on, in order to reach a purpose that intersects with his personal development and doesn't concern only plot-related objectives.
Every single author ends up arranging and managing differently the four moments of a story modal structure: manipulation, competence, performance and sanction can be put in different orders to recreate different plots. This thesis intends to comparate three sucessful shounen manga, One Piece, Naruto and Bleach, to show the results these different  methods can lead to.

The issues of Autistic and Asperger Syndrome (hereafter ASD) adolescents were selected because personal observations show that Japanese from these populations may have an interest in becoming learners in an English as a Foreign Language (hereafter EFL) setting. The knowledge gained from the literature review and interview with a psychology professional/educator will find immediate application to educators currently working in an EFL setting with ASD adolescents. The knowledge can also find application with ASD adolescents from collectivist cultures that are currently living in the United States. These adolescents may have come from countries outside the United States because a parent was transferred to the U.S. subsidiary for a few years. Or the parents may have decided to immigrate to the U.S. The knowledge will also find application to future American Child & Adolescent specialists with an MS in Psychology planning to work in Japan or other collectivist cultures in the Asian region.
The educational and psychology professional was selected for her expertise as a psychology educator and clinical developmental psychologist in the fields of Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome in Japan. Professor Miwako Hori is attached to the Faculty of Child Development, Department of Clinical Psychology at Nihon Fukushi University in Japan. She has been a full-time lecturer at Nihon Fukushi University since 1999. Professor Hori also holds numerous advisory positions in various governmental and educational organizations in Aichi Prefecture, Japan (Nihon Fukushi University, 2013, p. 1).

Clancy (1986) proposes that the ways in which Japanese male children are socialized to use masculine first person reference forms, such as ore and boku (both ‘I’) remain somewhat of a mystery. This is because, Clancy assumes, ‘primary linguistic input to both boys and girls comes from their mothers’ (1986: 514). In the present study, I examine data from the CHILDES database consisting of five corpora of child first language learners of Japanese interacting primarily with their mothers. In the analysis, I examine tokens of masculine first person reference first quantitatively and then qualitatively. In so doing, I will pursue the following questions: (1) Are there tokens of ore and boku in the data, and if so, who is producing them? and (2) What processes of language socialization are likely to follow? First, the quantitative analysis revealed that the reference forms in question were present in the data, and that, in the case of boku, Mother produced approximately three times more tokens than Child. In the case of ore, the distribution of tokens produced was roughly equal between Mother and Child. Next, the quantitative analysis showed that (1) boku, as phonological material, is made abundantly available to Child through its use by Mother in accomplishing second person reference, (2) first person referential use of boku is also modeled by Mother through, e.g., the animation of the voices of toys in play, and through quotative use of the voice of Child, (3) Child may be overtly and explicitly socialized to use boku (especially when a ‘gender inappropriate’ form, e.g. atashi ‘I’, is used), and (4) the use of ore may in part be socialized through Mother’s animation of characters during story-reading activities, and through her censure of the situationally inappropriate use of ore.

La plus grande difficulté pour les occidentaux qui s'approchent de la culture orientale se trouve dans une vision fortement cartésienne qui nous induit à des procédés de rationalisation ne pouvant être aisément compris par les orientaux. Tout de même, l'aspect le plus fascinant dans cette rencontre avec l'Orient consiste dans la lecture des philosophies à la base du projet d'architecture, qui, même si aujourd'hui elle est pénétrée de tentatives de réconciliation culturelle avec l'Occident, ne s'éloigne jamais des racines qui ont toujours caractérisé les lieux de l'habiter. Donc, pour nous approcher de ce contexte culturel, on ne peut ne pas comprendre quelques définitions importantes concernant la structuration de l'espace de l'habiter et par conséquent on ne peut pas se confronter à des termes comme MA, EN, OKU.

12th Annual Green Economics Institute Conference  10-12th June 2017
3 Days St Hugh's College, University of Oxford, Keeping Social and Environmental Justice Alive in an age of Tyranny..
Reforming Economics.
Green Finance, Green Investment & Green Economics
Reclaiming The Economy from Privatisers, Fossil Fuellers, Xenophobes and Divide and Rulers.
Keeping social and environmental justice alive in this new age of Barbarism- Post Truth and Post Science

By late medieval times, it was common to describe Prince Shōtoku as "Japan's Śākyamuni, " but how was he symbolically elevated to this status? This article considers "personalized relics"-unique remains identified as a particular part of the actual body of an honored figure-and shows how they played a crucial role in transforming the sacred identities of the Japanese and South Asian princes. The three sections each deal with a different type of relic associated with Shōtoku: a miraculously manifested eye, locks of hair, and various teeth that were enshrined, stolen, and re-enshrined. These case studies trace the incremental replacement of Śākyamuni with Shōtoku as a source of religious power and authority, one that surpassed its original model for its unique and inalienable connection to devotees in medieval Japan.

Effective usage of nonverbal and verbal communication in Japanese such as gestures, mimics, silence and employing grammatical or lexical honorifics plays a significant role in determining the success of foreign language learners in obtaining their intended employment. This study examines the second language (L2) learning of politeness and social interaction in professional life within sociocultural and sociolinguistic competence in situ among those L2 learners of Japanese who took the sociolinguistics competence courses and those who did not. The main purpose of this study to exhibit the importance of employing Sociolinguistic Competence courses to the Japanese Language Education Curriculum in order to have students understand cross-cultural and sociocultural phenomena. In the Sociolinguistic Competence courses graduates do not only learn the theoretical sociocultural background of Japanese society and language. In addition, they familiarize themselves with various practical topics such as social manners, those pertaining to e-mail, the telephone, name cards (meishi), and even the seating orders used in Japanese business. The current study analyzed 80 participants who are graduated and are working with native Japanese speakers in their professional lives. Based on the study findings, implications for teaching sociolinguistic and nonverbal/verbal communication tools were explored.

Abstract: The paper examins traditional Ryukyuan Onarigami-belief which is the belief that a sister’s sacred spiritual power called Seji guards her brother from danger. It is regarded as the basis of Ryukyuan kinship system and the core of the local religion which is supposed to derive from ancient Japanese religion (worship of kami). It also had a deep implications on Ryukyuan social and political culture. Basic sources on the issue (Omoro So:shi), Japanese and Western research  and the Author’s field research data  are used. The article is illustrated with original photos by the Author.
Key words: Ryukyu/Okinawa, Ryukyuan kinship, social  and political systems, Ryukyuan religion, Onarigami-belief, female sacred spiritual power (Seji), priestesses’ cult of sacred groves (utaki), state (court) rituals.
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В статье впервые в отечественном японоведении подробно рассматриваются в историческом, религиозном и культурном контексте региона и общеяпонском культурном контексте фундаментальные концепты традиционной рюкюской культуры, - берущей свои истоки в древнеяпонской культуре, - а именно, культ «сестры-богини» (онари-гами おなり神) и представления о магической силе сэдзи (世持), отражающие важнейшие аспекты религиозной, социальной и политичнской культуры Рюкю. Анализируются различные точки зрения японских и западных исследователей на предмет исследования, который до сих пор остается дискуссионным. Использованы основные источники (рюкюская антология  ритуальных песнопений «Оморо-со:си») и исследования японских и западных ученых по данной теме. Статья иллюстрирована оригинальными фото автора.
Ключевые слова: Рюкю/Окинава, системы родства, социума и политикума Рюкю, религия Рюкю, культ «сестры-богини» (онари-гами), магическая сила сэдзи, ритуалы жриц «священных рощ» (утаки), ритуалы королевского двора Рюкю.

GENÇER, Z. (2017). “Türk Ve Japon Atasözlerinde Hayvan Metaforlarıトルコと日本のことわざにおける動物名とそのメタファー表現について”, Japon Dili ve Kültürü İncelemeleri - 日本語・日本文化諸考究 (ed. Cahit Kahraman & Levent Toksoz), s.201-218,Transnational Press London, UK. ISBN: 978-1-910781-76-0.

Please see the translation's home pages in English, Japanese and Turkish in the links. The .pdf file contains preview of the first pages by Can Yayınları.
Kapadokya’da Catra Patralar is the Turkish translation of the Japanese fantastic novel Tsukiyo no Chatora Patora (月夜のチャトラパトラ). It is a children’s book on Cappadocia by Etsuko Shindō, the writer of many other Japanese books on Turkey.The Turkish translation by Turkish Japanologist Esin Esen has been published from Can Cocuk Publications in 2012.
Shindō, Etsuko, Kapadokya’da Çatra Patralar, Trans. Esin Esen, Can Çocuk Publishing, Contemporary World Literature Series, 2012 (Japanese children’s book translated from Japanese,original title: Tsukiyo no Çatora Patora) ISBN 978-975-07-1553-2
Preview of first pages: https://canyayinlari.com/book_data/9789750715532.2_preview.pdf

国語学・日本語学関係の研究は、以前から敬語・敬語表現・待遇表現・言葉遣いなどを問題にしてきた。それらの諸概念を、小論では、総合的に待遇情報 (honorific modification -HM) として扱う。待遇情報とは、従来の「敬語論」が定義する、「敬意を表す」あるいは「人を立てる」目的で発言内容に含まれる／追加される情報（だけ）でなく、情報伝達過程（コミュニケーション）に不可欠なメッセージ内容である。待遇情報は言語の情報伝達管理補助組織であり、メッセージの下層（非情報部分）として上層（情報部分）に奉仕する組織であると考えられる。
以下、第一に待遇情報と話者の「顧慮」の関係について論じる。「顧慮」は情報伝達環境の普遍的要素であり、階層モデルの下層パラメータ感知・分析活動を含む。続いて下層レベルの働きをめぐってメッセージの情報部分と非情報部分の対立について述べる。次に、現代日本語の例文を利用して非情報部分の選定は「敬語論」に基づいた判断より階層モデルのプロシージャー・プロトコル各層活動によって決められることを指摘する。最後に、「敬語論」より階層モデルの応用性・普遍性について論じ、ポーランド語の待遇情報を分析する。

「心でどこを探してみても、自分より、愛しい者を見いだすことはできない。
　それと同じく、他の者にとっても、自分のことが愛しい。
　ゆえに、自己を愛する者は、他の者を害さぬように」（マッリカー経）

■ 他人のことを無理やり思いやろうとする必要はありません。ただ正直に自分の心を見つめ、「自分は傷つけられたくない。害されたくない。自分が愛しい」と確認します。さらに、「他人も同じだ。他人にとっても自己が愛しい。だから傷つけてはならない。害してはならない」と、丁寧に理解するだけでよいのです。
このように理解することで、自己を想う「自己愛」から、他者を想う「他者への慈しみ」へと、自然に広がっていくのです。
（本文より）

■ 目　次

はじめに　だらしない自分が嫌い

第１章 「自己を大切にする」とは？
・マリッカー経
　１．自己愛を否定しない
　２．視点を転じて、他人に思いを向ける
　３．自己を想う「自己愛」から、他者を想う「他者への慈しみ」へ

第２章　「自己への慈しみ」を育てる５つのステップ
・自分を思いやる
・怒りではなく、やさしさを選択する
・比べない
・心を前向きに
・定期的に瞑想する

第３章　自分を相手の立場に置き換える
・わが身にひきあてて

第４章　我（attā）から無我（anattā）へ
・「私（attā）」を使って心を育てる
・だれが実践するのか？
・輪廻の苦しみを感じてみる
・なんとかしなければ！
・なぜ、「無我」なのか？
・「我」からスタートして「無我」へ

第５章　自己をよりどころに
・心を育てる３つの詩句
　気づいたときから実践をスタート
　自分を守ってくれるもの
　自分の目的をあきらめない　

第６章　自己改善のための「私（attā）」
・自分をいたわり、他者をいたわる
・心の改革へ

あとがき　心のベクトルの転換

Mallikā Sutta 「マッリカー経」


■ 著者紹介
チャンディマ・ガンゴダウィラ長老　Ven. Dr. Chandima Gangodawila

テーラワーダ仏教長老。
2008年、スリランカの国立スリジャヤワルダナプラ大学で、学士号（優等学位）を取得。最優秀賞受賞。2015年、博士号を取得。
カナダに渡り、ブリティッシュコロンビア大学で４年間、仏教チャプレンを務め、さらにヴィクトリア大学にて教鞭を執る。
現在、カナダのオタワにあるテーラワーダ・ブッディスト・ヴィハーラに在住。
カナダを中心に、イギリスのケンブリッジ大学、アメリカ、マレーシア、タイ、スリランカの大学や寺院で、講演や法話をおこなう。
著書に、『感情の波にのまれない心のトレーニング: ストレスから心を解き放つ』『幸せへの鍵：慈経（Metta Sutta）に学ぶ〈15の善習慣〉と〈10の善行為〉』『妄想の対処法―認識プロセスを観察し、妄想ループを絶ち切る：蜜丸経（Madhupiṇḍika Sutta）』『新しい生き方を切り拓く７つの実践：小業分別経（Cūlakammavibhaṅga Sutta）』『業（カルマ）は直線ではない－生き方を変えられるのは、いま：大業分別経（Mahākammavibhaṅga Sutta）』『涅槃への道を妨げるもの: 老いない経（Na Jīrati Sutta）』『新型コロナウイルスへの不安と恐れを乗り越える８つのポイント』, シンハラ語の著書に『රතන සූත්‍රයේ පදගතාර්ථ සහ විවරණ , Ratana Sutta：Text, Word-to-word Meaning, Translation, and Explanations, 英語の著書に『Papañca to Nippapañca：Mental Proliferation to Mental Non-Proliferation』『8 Buddhist Tips to Overcome COVID-19 Fear』(以上 Sukhī Hotu), 『An Annotated Translation Into English Of Ratnamālāvadāna With A Critical Introduction』『A Critical appraisal of the contribution of Germany and France to Sanskrit studies』などがある。
ブログ：Paṭisota (https://patisota.blogspot.com/)
法話(英語)：Paṭisota YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/Patisota/)


■ 訳　者
出村 佳子　Yoshiko Demura

翻訳家。訳書に、チャンディマ・ガンゴダウィラ長老著『感情の波にのまれない心のトレーニング: ストレスから心を解き放つ』『幸せへの鍵：慈経に学ぶ〈15の善習慣〉と〈10の善行為〉』『妄想の対処法―認識プロセスを観察し、妄想ループを絶ち切る：蜜丸経』『新しい生き方を切り拓く７つの実践：小業分別経』『業（カルマ）は直線ではない―生き方を変えられるのは、いま：大業分別経』『涅槃への道を妨げるもの: 老いない経』『新型コロナウイルスへの不安と恐れを乗り越える８つのポイント』（以上 Sukhī Hotu）, バンテ・Ｈ・グナラタナ著『慈悲の瞑想：慈しみの心』（春秋社）, 『マインドフルネス：気づきの瞑想』『マインドフルネスを越えて』『８マインドフル・ステップス』、アチャン・チャー著『アチャン・チャー法話集　第一巻　戒律』『アチャン・チャー法話集　第二巻　マインドフルネスの原点』『アチャン・チャー法話集　第三巻　智慧への道』, エリーン・スネル著『親と子どものためのマインドフルネス』（以上サンガ）などがある。
ブログ：Sukhī Hotu 智慧と慈悲の実践 (https://sukhi-hotu.blogspot.com/)

VISIT AMAZON TO PURCHASE A COPY
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B08KP1937J/

TWO-STAGE  (DUAL) FUNERARY RITUAL OF JAPAN AND OKINAWA AS  A CULTURAL MODEL (Abstract of the Ph.D. Thesis)
Pукопись aвторефератa диссертации на соискание ученой степени кандидата культурологии (специальность 24.00.01 – теория и история культуры, культурология).
Работа выполнена в Секторе «Языки культур» Российского института культурологии. Москва, 2005
Научный руководитель: доктор исторических наук А.Н.Мещеряков
Официальные оппоненты:
доктор филологических наук Т.П. Григорьева
доктор культурологии Т.В. Мордовцева
Ведущая организация – Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет

Folding screens, known as byôbu in Japanese, are treasures within any museum’s collection and are beloved by the general public. This beautiful publication brings together the very finest screens from the world-renowned collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Art Museum. The featured works range from an extraordinary pair of landscapes by Sesson Shukei, a Zen-Buddhist monk-painter of the late 16th century, to daring contemporary works from the late 20th century.

The first half of the Edo period (1615–1868) is especially well represented, with a dozen screens from the 17th century by such masters as Kano Koi and Tosa Mitsuoki. The contemporary scene is also well covered, with ten examples from the 20th century—proving the longevity of this art form and its currency among modern-day artists. Enlightening essays by important scholars in the field cover topics like the emergence of screens as an art form and a novel discussion of the relationship of Japanese screens to those made in other countries.

Más allá de las ''someras recomendaciones'' -cita literal- de la última Ortografía de la lengua española (2010) para la hispanización de voces procedentes de lenguas que no emplean el alfabeto latino en su escritura -y a las que tan solo se dedican varias páginas-, ninguna institución oficial ha desarrollado un método de conversión sólido que permita transformar los sonidos y caracteres japoneses al alfabeto hispánico.
Por este motivo, la presente obra propone dos sistemas (uno de transcripción y otro de transliteración) con los que traducir los elementos lingüísticos (visuales u orales) de procedencia japonesa a la escritura del español. Mientras que el sistema de transcripción ha sido concebido para que cualquier hispanohablante adapte fácilmente los vocablos de origen nipón, el sistema de transliteración posibilitará a los especialistas (docentes, traductores o filólogos) representaciones más precisas, tanto de palabras como de unidades superiores.
Asimismo, en este trabajo se describen el sistema de escritura de la lengua japonesa (canyi y silabarios jiragana y catacana) junto con los métodos de transcripción-transliteración comúnmente usados para su aclimatación occidental (Hepburn y Kunrei). Finalmente, este estudio se completa con un análisis histórico-contrastivo sobre la hispanización de los japonesismos (desde la época de los primeros contactos -siglos XVI y XVII- hasta nuestros días).

1ª sesión del curso "Rashômon y su contexto. Análisis del cine de Kurosawa", celebrado on-line y patrocinado por la Fundación japón en España. Para preservar los derechos de autor, he recortado el audio de dos fragmentos: el 1º es la escena final del parque del protagonista de IKIRU (VIVIR, A. Kurosawa, 1952) en la que cante la triste canción...; y la 2ª es el principio de LA FORTALEZA ESCONDIDA (Kakushi-toride no san-akunin, A. Kurosawa, 1958) que comparo con STAR WARS (G. Lucas, 1977).

Résumé: Fruit du colloque "Spiritualité japonaise - Perceptions et représentations, entre tradition et occidentalisation" organisé par les Universités Libre de Bruxelles et Catholique de Louvain, cet ouvrage propose des recherches en philosophie de la religion sur le Japon comparativement à l’Occident.

Transoceanic passage brought nearly 189,000 immigrants from Japan to Brazil between 1908 and 1941. They were often geographically isolated in Japanese “colonies” as coffee plantation workers and thus able to maintain their Japanese linguistic and cultural identity. A new imagined community coalesced in the several Japanese-language immigrant newspapers that also published locally produced serial fiction. This paper reads two representative works by Sugi Takeo, pen name of Takei Makoto (1909-2011), who was a prolific contributor of original content to the Burajiru Jihô newspaper. In the short stories, “Kafé-en o uru” (Selling the coffee plantation, 1933) and “Tera Roshya” (Terra rossa, 1937), it is the moonshine sellers who see steady profits from every race and type of immigrant laborer while the Japanese newcomers who naively dream of riches by bringing coffee to market reap only a bitter brew of poverty for their efforts.

There is a rich body of literature on the experience of Japanese immigrants in the United States, and there are also numerous accounts of the cultural dislocation felt by American expats in Japan. But what happens when Japanese Americans, born and raised in the United States, are the ones living abroad in Japan?

Redefining Japaneseness chronicles how Japanese American migrants to Japan navigate and complicate the categories of Japanese and “foreigner.” Drawing from extensive interviews and fieldwork in the Tokyo area, Jane H. Yamashiro tracks the multiple ways these migrants strategically negotiate and interpret their daily interactions. Following a diverse group of subjects—some of only Japanese ancestry and others of mixed heritage, some fluent in Japanese and others struggling with the language, some from Hawaii and others from the US continent—her study reveals wide variations in how Japanese Americans perceive both Japaneseness and Americanness.

Making an important contribution to both Asian American studies and scholarship on transnational migration, Redefining Japaneseness critically interrogates the common assumption that people of Japanese ancestry identify as members of a global diaspora. Furthermore, through its close examination of subjects who migrate from one highly-industrialized nation to another, it dramatically expands our picture of the migrant experience.

Check out the website https://redefiningjapaneseness.com
Like the book on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/redefiningjapaneseness/
Watch a short interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0u43MQWZAg
See a book talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGC3D9M6GUk&feature=youtu.be

Co-curated event, "A Pilgrimage to WWII Japanese-American Internment Camps." An exhibit at the Hartnett Gallery, University of Rochester, Nov. 17 -  Dec.11, 2017, with photographs by Margaret Miyake, commentary by Notch Miyake, and historical ephemera from the Re-Envisioning Japan Collection (J. Bernardi). Sponsored by the University of Rochester Humanities Project, the Dept. of Modern Languages and Cultures, The Hartnett Gallery, The RIver Campus Libraries Digital Humanities Center, the American Studies Program, the Dept. of History, the Dept. of English, and the Film and Media Studies Program. A University of Rochester Humanities Project event.

Aizuchi refers to particular utterances performed by listeners during interaction such as un (‘yeah’). Previous researchers have claimed that L1 Japanese speakers have a heightened sense of awareness of aizuchi when compared to speakers of other languages. However, researchers have yet to formally establish the ways in which Japanese speakers are aware of this phenomenon. As a result, this study reports on L1 Japanese speaking participants’ descriptions of aizuchi. These descriptions were elicited through semi-structured reflective interviews and were folk linguistically analysed. The results indicate that participants can articulate accurate and detailed descriptions of aizuchi, when they were compared to previous research findings. Specifically, participants described aizuchi as a particular form, as an affective function, and/or as an interactional function. Participants also distinguished aizuchi responses from other forms of verbal and non-verbal listening behaviours, which they typically described as “reactions”. Consequently, a taxonomy of listening responses in Japanese is proposed in this study. Overall, this research establishes L1 Japanese speakers’ explicit knowledge about aizuchi, which may have implications for other languages, interactional-oriented studies, and Japanese second language classrooms.

The term intercultural communication (ICC, not explicitly distinguished in this paper from the concept of cross-cultural communication) is commonly used to refer to the instances of actual communication acts performed in and/or between heterogeneous communication environments. While the instances of intercultural encounters are usually viewed in terms of heterogeneous codes (languages), different communication environments require diverse linguistic competences and different patterns for their use. The codes, as such, may be regarded translatable and interpretable in abstracto. The patterns, however, usually require specific conditions for their evocation and complete (as well as effective) execution: the latter also requires the (prior) projection of actual goals and subsequent verification of actual changes in the communication environment, which result from a certain act of communication. The subject of the usage patterns of actual codes will be described in this paper in terms of intercultural honorifics, with special emphasis placed on situations of communication and miscommunication typical of a Polish-Japanese communication/translation/interpreta-tion environment, as well as the metalanguages used in the processes of their explanation. The selected instances of communication and miscommunication will be analyzed with respect to the gains and losses in the environment in which the communication acts are performed, including intricate issues of intercultural translatability/ interpretability. For the purposes of this paper, no specific distinction is made below between the notions of intercultural communication and cross-cultural communication.

NihonGO NOW! is a beginning-level courseware package that takes a performed-culture approach to learning Japanese. This innovative approach balances the need for an intellectual understanding of structural elements with multiple opportunities to experience the language within its cultural context. From the outset, learners are presented with samples of authentic language that are context-sensitive and culturally coherent. Instructional time is used primarily to rehearse interactions that learners of Japanese are likely to encounter in the future, whether they involve speaking, listening, writing, or reading. Level 1 is comprised of two textbooks with accompanying activity books. These four books in combination with audio files allow instructors to adapt a beginning-level course, such as the first year of college Japanese, to their students’ needs. They focus on language and modeled behavior, providing opportunities for learners to acquire language through performance templates. Onli...