Search Results

Stone Bridge Press Authors Marc Peter Keane Marc Peter Keane, a landscape architect and a leading expert on Japanese garden design, focuses on gardens not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also (like poetry, sculpture and painting) as allegorical compositions. Over the past 20 years, he has designed and built numerous gardens for private residences, businesses and temples, ranging from a 1200-sq.-ft. tea garden to a 6-acre park. Keane's interest in historic preservation led to his creation of an award-winning master plan for the redesign of a historic district in Nagano, Japan. Omega Point , his installation for the 2000 Kyoto Arts Festival, won the Grand Prize that year. Keane is frequently asked to consult on the restoration of historic Japanese gardens outside Japan. His restoration of the Japanese garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden won an award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy in 2001. Most recently, he has been commissioned to undertake a proposed major renovation project for the Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, NY. Keane has been a lecturer in the Department of Environmental Design at Kyoto University of Art and Design, as well as chair of Kyoto Mitate International, an organization working to revitalize Kyoto's traditional environments and its unique cultural heritage. He also conducts lectures in Kyoto for American college students; runs an annual 2-week seminar in English on Japanese gardens; and lectures extensively throughout the United States, England and Japan. Keane is the author of The Japanese Tea Garden , The Art of Setting Stones and Japanese Garden Design (Tuttle Publishing, 2000). He is co-author (with Jiro Takei) of Sakuteiki: Visions of the Japanese Garden , (Tuttle, 2001). He has also published numerous articles and essays relating to Japanese gardens and preservation in Kyoto. https://www.mpkeane.com/ Titles by Author Of Arcs and Circles Marc Peter Keane A renowned designer of Japanese gardens contemplates wildness, humanity, beauty, the liquid state of the world. Read More The Art of Setting Stones Marc Peter Keane Philosophical essays on the beauty and meaning of traditional Japanese gardens. Read More Japanese Garden Notes Marc Peter Keane Marc Peter Keane's personal journey through 100 Japanese gardens, looking at them with a designer’s eye. Read More The Japanese Tea Garden Marc Peter Keane Marc Peter Keane describes the history, design, and aesthetics of tea gardens, from T'ang China to the present day... Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Helen McCarthy Helen McCarthy has been researching and writing about Japanese popular culture since 1981. After a decade hearing that there was "no interest in that sort of thing" she founded a magazine, Anime UK , to disprove the claim. Her first book was published just over a year later, and she's been writing about anime, manga and Japan ever since. Her work has been translated into Chinese, French, Italian and Korean. In 2010 she won a Harvey Award - the Oscars of the comics world - for her tenth book, The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga . The book was also nominated for an Eisner Award. Helen's other awards include a Japan Foundation Award for furthering understanding of Japanese culture in the United Kingdom, and a Society of Authors/Sasakawa Foundation award. She designs needlework, which led to the creation of Manga Cross-Stitch , a book for those who want to use the energy of Japanese popular culture in their own embroidery. Combining a basic cross stitch course and a potted history of manga with a toolkit for designers and a wealth of fresh, enjoyable, easy-to-stitch charts, it has been welcomed by a host of stitchers. She also writes poetry and tweets haiku and random nonsense daily. In her spare time, she studies and re-creates historic clothing and costume. She lives in London with an artist and a universe of toys. http://helenmccarthy.org/0/Home.html Titles by Author The Anime Encyclopedia Jonathan Clements & Helen McCarthy Updated and expanded! 1,000,000+ words on films, artists, studios, themes, and Japan's animation culture, with key data and advisories. Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama From translator Frederik L. Schodt's website: Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama was born on January 9, 1885, in Neu, a little village in Tottori Prefecture, western Japan. In 1904, at the age of nineteen, he sailed to San Francisco, where there was a growing community of Japanese immigrants, many of whom were shosei , or young student-workers. Kiyama was a talented artist, and while working at a variety of jobs he attended the San Francisco Art Institute. He excelled at life-drawing and painting, and between 1915 and 1920 won several awards and mentions. He also won a scholarship from the New York Art Students League and exhibited his work several times in San Francisco. An April 20, 1920, article in the San Francisco Bulletin reported on an exhibit at the Palace of Fine Arts, and described Kiyama's work as follows: "[His no. 115], Old Wagon Shed, is a solidly modeled, well balanced and vigorously colored design, and his 114, Old House at North Beach, in room 15, in soft green and gray, is quietly effective." Many of Kiyama's works survive today and are occasionally exhibited in the Yonago City Art Museum in Tottori Prefecture. He has a considerable reputation in the area of his birth, not as a cartoonist, but as an example of an early local artist who mastered Western art techniques. Kiyama lived in San Francisco off and on until 1937, eventually opening his own art studio at 1901 Sutter Street, in nihonmachi, or "Japantown." It was a period of intense discrimination and agitation against Asian, and particularly Japanese, immigrants. In 1937, Kiyama returned temporarily to his homeland. While he was there, war broke out between the United States andJapan. Unable to return to San Francisco, Kiyama taught art at a local high school in Neu, and continued painting. Henry Kiyama died on April 24, 1951, at the age of sixty-six. Cartooning was but a small part of his life, but the comic book he created in San Francisco may ultimately ensure his lasting fame. Between February 13 and 15, 1927, Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama held an exhibit of his work at the Kinmon Gakuen [Golden Gate Institute] in San Francisco. In addition to his drawings and paintings, he displayed what was titled Manga Hokubei Iminshi , or "A Manga North American Immigrant History." A cartoon work consisting of 52 episodes, it depicted the lives of Kiyama and three friends in San Francisco between 1904 and around 1924. Drawing in the style of newspaper comic strips then popular in America, Kiyama hoped to have his work serialized in a local news-paper. He was unable to do so. At 104 pages his work was too long, and probably too documentary in nature. Rather than a newspaper comic strip, Kiyama had really created the material for a "comic book." In 1931, while visiting in Japan, Kiyama finally had his work printed. He brought it back with him to San Francisco, where he self-published it under the title of Manga Yonin Shosei, or "The Four Students Manga. " It came with forewords and accolades by prominent local people, including the consul general of Japan. It is one of the first modern-format comic books ever published in the United States, especially with all-new material and a documentary, autobiographical theme. Around 1980, Frederik L. Schodt came across a copy of Kiyama's work in a library in Berkeley, California. In 1997 he began translating it, and in October 1998 it was published by Stone Bridge Press (Berkeley, California), retitled The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco,1904-1924. Kiyama's comic was handwritten in Meiji-period Japanese, but whenever other ethnic groups appear in the story they speak in their native language. Thus the European Americans speak English (somewhat fractured in Kiyama's rendition) and the Chinese denizens of San Francisco who occasionally appear speak Cantonese. In the Stone Bridge Press English edition, every effort has been made to preserve the flavor of Kiyama's unique multilingual style, and to remain faithful to his story. Kiyama's hand-lettered English text is left as-is, and for contrast his Japanese text has been rendered into typeset lowercase English using a turn-of-the-century font. Where Japanese puns are untranslatable, English equivalents have been substituted. In some places Kiyama's panels have been "flipped" to preserve the flow of English left-to-right logic. The Stone Bridge Press English edition of Kiyama's work comes with an introduction and extensive historical notes. The book was a finalist for the USA Pen/West translation award. http://www.jai2.com/HK.htm Titles by Author The Four Immigrants Manga Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama The first English translation of the groundbreaking 1931 graphic novel! Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors John Stevens John Stevens lived in Japan for thirty-five years, where he was a professor of Buddhist studies at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai. Stevens is a widely respected translator, an ordained Buddhist priest, a curator of several major exhibitions of Zen art, and an aikido instructor. He has authored more than thirty books and is one of the foremost Western experts on aikido, holding a ranking of 7th dan Aikikai. Stevens has also studied calligraphy for decades, authoring the classic Sacred Calligraphy of the East. Titles by Author Tantra of the Tachikawa Ryu John Stevens "Enlightenment can only be realized through sexual union, the supreme Buddha activity." Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Yuko Nagasaki Yuko Nagasaki is a Tokyo-based freelance illustrator. http://agdes.net/ Titles by Author Japan from Anime to Zen David Watts Barton An accessible compendium of the most important aspects of Japanese arts, culture and history, for quick reference or a longer, in-depth read, for actual and armchair travelers alike. Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Kenji Miyazawa From his Wikipedia page: Kenji Miyazawa (宮沢 賢治 or 宮澤 賢治, Miyazawa Kenji, 27 August 1896 – 21 September 1933) was a Japanese novelist and poet of children's literature from Hanamaki, Iwate, in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, a vegetarian, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian social activist. Some of his major works include Night on the Galactic Railroad, Kaze no Matasaburō, Gauche the Cellist, and The Night of Taneyamagahara. Kenji converted to Nichiren Buddhism after reading the Lotus Sutra, and joined the Kokuchūkai, a Nichiren Buddhist organization. His religious and social beliefs created a rift between him and his wealthy family, especially his father, though after his death his family eventually followed him in converting to Nichiren Buddhism. Kenji founded the Rasu Farmers Association to improve the lives of peasants in Iwate Prefecture. He was also a speaker of Esperanto and translated some of his poems into that language. He died of pneumonia in 1933. Almost totally unknown as a poet in his lifetime, Kenji's work gained its reputation posthumously,[2] and enjoyed a boom by the mid-1990s on his centenary.[3] A museum dedicated to his life and works was opened in 1982 in his hometown. Many of his children's stories have been adapted as anime, most notably Night on the Galactic Railroad. Many of his tanka and free verse poetry, translated into many languages, are still popular today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Miyazawa Titles by Author Milky Way Railroad Kenji Miyazawa One night, alone on a hilltop, a young boy is swept aboard a magical train bound for the Milky Way. Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Shogo Oketani Shogo Oketani was born in Shinagawa ward, Tokyo, Japan in 1958. His great-grandmother was a geisha, and his great-grandfather was a gambler. His father is the respected literary critic Oketani Hideaki. Oketani graduated from Keio University with a degree in Philosophy and Literature. After graduation he spent over a decade (1986-1996) as a staff writer for The Sangyo Times, Japan’s semiconductor industry news. Then he moved to Northern California, where he was a freelance technical translator for clients such as Lucasfilm, Applied Materials, Hitachi, Apple, Nikkei News, Eastman Kodak, iFire Technologies, The Mori Group, LAM Research, and many others. He was also Project Director for Looksmart and served as Adjunct Professor of Translation at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Shogo has received the 2003 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature from the Donald Keene Center of Columbia University, as well as a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in Translation, together with his wife, Leza Lowitz. After 9 years in California, Oketani relocated to Tokyo in 2003, where he opened Sun and Moon Yoga in Tokyo with his wife, Leza Lowitz. A black belt in Karate and a long-term practitioner of Shaolinquan, Kendo and Judo, Oketani teaches self-defense workshops at Sun and Moon and at various corporations in Tokyo. He also periodically teaches cooking classes. He and Lowitz have a son. Oketani works at Dobunsha Publishers, editing college textbooks in the fields of nutrition, bio-technology and food science. In his spare time, he writes fiction and publishes literary translation. He is at work on an historical novel about a revolutionary samurai in medieval Japan. http://www.j-boysbook.com/author.html Titles by Author J-Boys Shogo Oketani J-Boys presents an appealing depiction of young boys in mid-1960s Tokyo, a time of lingering social & cultural recovery. Read More Kanji Box Shogo Oketani & Leza Lowitz Japanese characters served up with histories and cultural clues to help you decorate your skin/body/life with just the right word! Read More Designing with Kanji Shogo Oketani & Leza Lowitz Japanese words in a fun resource for designers, artists, and tattooers. Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Kogo Noda From his wikipedia page: Kogo Noda (野田 高梧, Noda Kōgo, November 19, 1893 – September 23, 1968, Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan) was a Japanese screenwriter most famous for collaborating with Yasujirō Ozu on many of the director's films. Born in Hakodate, Noda was the son of the head of the local tax bureau and younger brother to Kyūho, a Nihonga painter. He moved to Nagoya after completing elementary school and later went to Waseda University. After graduating, he worked for the city of Tokyo while also serving as a reporter for Katsudō kurabu, one of the major film magazines, using the pen name Harunosuke Midorikawa. On the recommendation of a scriptwriter friend from junior high, Takashi Oda, he joined the script department at Shōchiku after the Great Kantō earthquake. He soon became one of the studio's central screenwriters, penning for instance Aizen katsura (1938), one of its biggest prewar hits. He is most known for his collaborations with Ozu, which began with Noda supplying the script for the director's first feature Sword of Penitence (1927) and led to such postwar works as Tokyo Story (1953), regarded by many critics as one of the greatest films of all time. He co-wrote thirteen of Ozu's fifteen postwar films. When the Writers Association of Japan was formed in 1950, Noda served as its first chair.[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogo_Noda Titles by Author Tokyo Story Donald Richie Here is a translation of the Japanese screenplay to Tokyo Story, with critical observations by Donald Richie on Ozu’s filmmaking... Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Shun Medoruma Akutagawa Prize–winner and activist Shun Medoruma was born in Okinawa. He has written unique novels that are based on Okinawan nature, history, and climate, focusing especially on the Battle of Okinawa and memories of that war experience. Medoruma often expresses his strong anti-base political views through his articles in the local newspapers—and in his blog. https://blog.goo.ne.jp/awamori777 Titles by Author In the Woods of Memory Shun Medoruma A powerful and thought-provoking novel that raises important questions about World War II, war memory, and US imperialism and blowback. Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Albert Wolfe Albert Wolfe is an American who teaches English at Guangdong Peizheng College in Guangzhou, China. He started teaching himself Chinese when he went to China in 2005. The first real test of his spoken Chinese was in his sixth month in China when he was invited to play a gig with a local rock band - no one in the band spoke English. At the beginning of his second year, Albert started a blog (LaowaiChinese.net) to share tips and strategies he was learning. He discovered that other students of Chinese, who had found the standard array of books and resources lacking in adequate or practical information, eagerly adopted his techniques. Chinese 24/7 is Albert's response to the popular demand for a printed and audio-track version of his tips, strategies, and explanations. He has served as a translator in several capacities and has even written a few Chinese pop songs of his own. To this day, Albert has never taken a formal class on Chinese. http://www.chinese247book.com Titles by Author Chinese 24/7 Albert Wolfe A fun, blog-like approach to learning Mandarin Chinese. Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Abigail Friedman Abigail Friedman, a retired diplomat and accomplished, award-winning haiku poet, began composing haiku in a haiku group that met at the foot of Mt. Fuji, led by Japanese haiku master Momoko Kuroda. Her book, The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 2006), captures that experience and her insights into haiku. She is founder of HaikuQuebec, the first French/English bilingual haiku group in Quebec City. Her work has appeared in poetry publications in the U.S., Canada, France, and Japan, including: Frogpond ; AOI; The Asahi Weekly; Association Francophone de Haiku (AFH); The Moss at Tokeiji (Deep North Press, 2010); and Bilboquet. She has presented her haiku at the Montreal Zen Poetry Festival, the Festival international de la poesie de Trois-Rivieres, Haiku Canada, and Haiku North America. In 2012, she was commissioned to compose a haiku to mark the U.S. gift of dogwoods to Japan, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Japan’s gift of cherry trees to the U.S. Awards and Other Honors: First Prize, Mainichi International Haiku Contest (2014); Second Prize, Mainichi International Haiku Contest (2012); Grand Prize, Yamanashi Mt. Fuji haiku contest (2011); Honorable Mention, Mainichi International Haiku Contest (2008); Finalist, Kiriyama Book Prize [for The Haiku Apprentice ] (2007); Second Prize, Mainichi International Haiku Contest (2006). http://thewisteriagroup.com/about-us/ Titles by Author I Wait For The Moon Momoko Kuroda Momoko Kuroda (b. 1938) is a remarkable haiku spirit and a powerfully independent Japanese woman. Read More The Haiku Apprentice Abigail Friedman Discover the beauty of haiku in this poetic memoir of life abroad. Read More

Stone Bridge Press Authors Sean Michael Wilson Sean Michael Wilson is a comic book writer from Scotland who has had more than 30 books published with a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers. Working with various Japanese artists he has written a unique line of Japanese history/martial arts books, including The Book of Five Rings , Yakuza Moon and Black Ships .In 2016 his book The Faceless Ghost was nominated for the prestigious Eisner Book Awards and received a medal in the 2016 'Independent Publisher Book Awards'. In 2017, his book Secrets of the Ninja won an International Manga Award from the Japanese government - he is the first British person to receive this award. https://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/ Titles by Author The Minamata Story Sean Michael Wilson and Akiko Shimojima The true story of how one Japanese village suffered and survived the mercury poisoning of its waters. Read More