Category: Announcements (page 1 of 2)

Level Up Your Japanese With Online TADOKU

Some of our Tadoku (多読) books at Thompson Library, now available online, too!

What is Tadoku?

Do you like to read? Seeing that you have made it to this library website, I’m guessing you do. If so, tadoku (多読 )—literally, “extensive reading”—is one of the best things you can do to improve your Japanese language skills. In fact, you may have done tadoku before without even realizing it!

As a grade-schooler, did you ever have “silent reading?” An “SSR” (Sustained Silent Reading) period? If this rings a bell, then you are already familiar with the practice of tadoku. Now, if you hated being forced to read for long periods of time in school, don’t fret! Tadoku need not be so regimented. In principle, it is the reading of a large quantity of comprehensible material rather than reading short-yet-difficult material (think chapter books over academic reading assignments).

While not a uniquely Japanese concept, tadoku is popular in the Japanese language learning sphere to improve reading speed, comprehension, and vocabulary. Incidentally, you can also use this method for listening practice!  The concept is simple: read a lot from a book that you mostly understand, without the help of a dictionary.

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Announcing the Thomas Gregory Song Research Fellowship, Spring 2023

Thomas Gregory Song ca. 1940 in school uniform in Japan-occupied Dairen
(present-day Dalian, China). Image courtesy of Rare Books & Manuscripts Library

The Ohio State University Libraries is pleased to announce the Thomas Gregory Song Research Fellowship for an independent research project that makes substantial on-site use of the Thomas Gregory Song (TGS) Papers in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library (https://library.osu.edu/collections/ SPEC.RARE.0195/collection-inventory). Written predominantly in Japanese and English (with some documents in Korean), the TGS Papers include Song family genealogical records; personal photographs from Song’s childhood; an Oral History Interview; over 2300 blog posts; and personal correspondence, journals, and essays. The TGS Papers shed significant light on topics of World History, East Asian Studies, Asian American Studies, Asian diaspora, migration, and gender and sexuality studies.  For more detailed information on the Song Family history and related collections held at the University Libraries, please visit the recently launched Thomas Gregory Song Family Exhibit.

Applications are due by on Dec. 15, 2022 at 5:00pm.

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Twenty-first Century Hanga from the Modern Master Tsuruya Kokei

Three prints by Tsuruya Kokei. From the “Five Styles of Banzai-Ukiyoe” series.

The Ohio State University Libraries have acquired a new trio of Japanese woodblock prints, or hanga, now in the care of the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library (RBML). Those with an interest in traditional Edo and Meiji era ukiyo-e prints may find these works interesting, as they were created by the postwar artist Tsuruya Kokei (弦屋光溪, born 1946). All very recent works, the above prints are dated 2020, 2019, and 2018 (left to right). Known for his striking portraits of Japanese kabuki actors, Kokei has created a number of prints that echo in modified style the works of the mysterious yet recognizable Edo-period kabuki printmaker Sharaku (東洲斎 写楽, Tōshūsai Sharaku). While Sharaku’s prints spanned a period of just ten months (from 1794 to 1795), they formed a lasting impression as a dynamic and nonidealized collection of famous theater actors.

Like the early twentieth century shin-hanga (新版画) artists who mimicked the workflow of traditional ukiyo-e masters, Kokei produces all of his work himself, from the design phase, to cutting the woodblocks, and then finally creating the prints. For the vast majority of his prints, Kokei uses very thin and fragile Japanese papers such as ganpishi (雁皮紙), which allow his works to possess both a unique visual quality while demonstrating his impressive skills as a craftsman.

Yose-e by Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). Image courtesy of Wikimedia.org.

Kokei is associated with the prestigious Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo, where he sells limited amounts of his original works. Among the selection now housed in RBML is a 2020 homage to the prolific Edo artist Utagawa Kunisada (歌川 国貞, 1786-1865). A successful print designer recognized for his portraits of kabuki actors (yakusha-e) and female beauties (binjinga), Kunisada is famous as well for his more playful or humorous prints (asobi-e) of people and animals. Kokei’s prints are also evocative of Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川 国芳, 1798-1861), whose humorous prints often featured men’s faces, comprised of bodies, or an assemblage of cats in an array of satirical positions. A quick study of these playful yose-e (寄席絵), or “gather together pictures,” certainly reveals the inspiration behind Kokei’s ironic twenty-first century pictures featuring cats, kabuki artists, and a strange blue face comprised of human bodies!

If you wish to view these or other impressive works of Japanese art held in RBML, please contact OSU’s Japanese collections manager Dr. Ann Marie Davis (davis.5257@osu.edu).

Additionally, OSU Libraries holds many circulating volumes on related Japanese artists and woodblock prints. I have listed a sampling below. Please check them out if you are interested!

Asobi-e of cats representing the 53 stations of the Tokaido, by Kuniyoshi. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.org.

Asobi-e of cats spelling “catfish” in hiragana, by Kuniyoshi. Image courtesy of Wikimedia.org.

 

Select Materials on Tsuruya Kōkei:

Tsuruya kōkei mokuhangashū (Matsuyaginzabijutsubu, 1992)

Tsuruya Kokei, kabuki actor prints : the 100th anniversary of the Kabuki-za Theatre (Shōchiku Kabushiki Kaisha, 1988)

Tsuruya Kokei : the complete woodblock prints, 1978-2000 (Hiraki Ukiyoe zaidan, 2000)

Select Materials on the Shin hanga (New Print) Movement:

Shin hanga : the new print movement of Japan by Barry Till (Pomegranate, 2007)

Kawase Hasui and his contemporaries : the Shin Hanga (New Print) movement in landscape art by Irwin J. Pachter (University of Michigan, Museum of Art, 1986)

Fresh impressions : early modern Japanese prints by Carolyn M. Putney (Toledo Museum of Art, 2013)

Select Materials on the Rise of Asobi-e:

Edo no asobie / Fukuda Shigeo kanshū edited by Inagaki Shinʼichi (Tōkyō Shoseki, 1988)

Kuniyoshi Kunisada by Sarah E. Thompson (MFA Publications, 2017)

Kunisada’s Tōkaidō : riddles in Japanese woodblock prints by Andreas Marks (Brill, 2013)

Maruzen eBook Library (MeL) Now on Trial at OSU Libraries

Update (posted September 1, 2020): Following the trial period described in this blog, OSU Libraries made the decision to permanently adopt the Maruzen eBook Library (MeL) platform, which can be accessed now at: https://library.ohio-state.edu/record=e1002576~S7. Continue reading for details on how to use this helpful new e-resource!

In an effort to increase the list of e-resources for research and teaching in Japanese Studies, we have set up an Extended Trial Reading Agreement for the Maruzen eBook Library (MeL), which will last until the end of May.  During this trial period, OSU users will be able to access over 56,000 Japanese ebook titles.

Also during this trial period, unlimited concurrent user access is possible, but printing and downloading are not. If you have specific printing and downloading needs – or any questions whatsoever about Japanese language e-resources –  please contact me, Ann Marie Davis, the Japanese Studies Librarian at OSU, at davis.5257@osu.edu

To get started using this online platform, click the link in the OSU catalog here: 

https://library.ohio-state.edu/record=e1002576~S7   

For tips on how to search for books in MeL and use the various platform functions, please refer to the Maruzen eBook Library cheatsheet.

If you see something you’d like to consider purchasing, please feel free to e-mail me. If you need MeL materials for your teaching or research projects, you can also fill out this form for eBook purchases, which goes straight to our OSU Library acquisitions office: 

http://go.osu.edu/resourcerequest2020

 

 

 

Introducing KinoDen, a New Online Digital Library of Japanese e-Books

With the new stay-at-home orders of COVID-19, many of us are wondering how we can access the materials we need to continue teaching and studying?  It’s a difficult situation, but the platform KinoDen can help. This new resource offers a brand new library of Japanese e-books that we can now access from the comfort of our homes.

What is KinoDen?

KinoDen is the name of a digital library service that was launched in 2018 by Books Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookstore based in Tokyo. OSU users logging on to KinoDen will find the following user interface (picture below) allowing them to browse, read, and request new titles from a growing selection of thousands of e-books. 

Image of the KinoDen home page now available through OSU Libraries

KinoDen e-books can be read online through a web app called bREADER for smartphones, tablets, and PCs. This app offers useful features such as a bookshelf, highlighter, note-taking function, and more.  OSU Libraries has already purchased a number of KinoDen titles and has plans to purchase many more in the coming weeks.  Once you log on to KinoDen platform, you can browse the titles by clicking “検索.” and then checking out the list as categorized, under various subject headings on the left-hand column.  By clicking the  button “未所蔵を含める” (in the upper left corner of the page), users can view the list of titles that OSU has already purchased and are available now in full-text format.

Returning to the larger list of all available titles (by un-clicking the button “未所蔵を含める”) , OSU users will also have the option to request additional titles for the bREADER. If there is a particular book you would like to access in full-text, please click on the title of the desired book, and then click on the button “購入をリクエスト,” which should be visible on the right-hand side of the page. This will activate a short form for users to fill in order to put in their purchase request to Kinokuniya Books and our Library. (If all else fails, and you’d like to follow up on a book title, please don’t hesitate to contact our Japanese Studies Librarian, Dr. Ann Marie Davis, at davis.5257@osu.edu.)

If you would like more information about how to use this resource, please check out this video, which offers a useful guide to newcomers to KinoDen.  Students and scholars who need Japanese-language books should feel welcome to take advantage of this new platform and suggest titles to add to our growing collection of e-books. 

To view KinoDen on the OSU catalog, please click here.

Still have questions or suggestions? Please contact Japanese Studies Librarian, Dr. Ann Marie Davis at davis.5257@osu.edu.

Announcing the Thomas Gregory Song Research Fellowship, Spring 2020

OVERVIEW:

The Ohio State University Libraries is pleased to announce the Thomas Gregory Song Research Fellowship for an independent research project that makes substantial on-site use of the Thomas Gregory Song (TGS) Papers in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library (https://library.osu.edu/collections/ SPEC.RARE.0195/collection-inventory). Written predominantly in Japanese and English (with some documents in Korean), the TGS Papers include Song family genealogical records; personal photographs from Song’s childhood; an Oral History Interview; over 2300 blog posts; and personal correspondence, journals, and essays. The TGS Papers shed significant light on topics of World History, East Asian Studies, Asian American Studies, Asian diaspora, migration, and gender and sexuality studies. 

Applications are due by on Dec. 15, 2019 at 5:00pm.

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Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: Kyōsai’s Hyakki Gadan Now at OSU Libraries

Japanese Studies invites you to learn about the mythology and artistic culture of Meiji Japan (1868-1912) through the newly acquired Kyōsai Hyakki Gadan (暁斎百鬼画談), a color woodblock print by eccentric painter and manga forerunner, Kawanabe Kyōsai (河鍋 暁斎, 1831-1889). The long, accordion book (orihon) depicts a parade of all manner of weird and wicked yōkai (妖怪), spirits and demons from Japanese mythology. This particular scene is evocative of the hyakki yagyō (百鬼夜行) idiom, a historic theme in Japanese visual representation wherein a procession of legendary creatures sets foot upon the communities of mortal men and women.

For more information about this new acquisition, please check out the full article on our Manga Blog at OSU Libraries, available here: https://library.osu.edu/site/manga/2019/10/02/night-parade-of-one-hundred-demons-kyosais-hyakki-gadan-now-at-osu-libraries/

New Collection of over 600 Picture Postcards of the Great Kantō Earthquake (1923)

Japanese Studies at the Libraries has recently acquired a vast collection of postcards showing scenes from the Great Kantō Earthquake (関東大地震 Kantō daijishin). With over 600 in the set, the photographic images on the face of the cards provide an in-depth look at the progress and ensuing destruction, including the tragic deaths of an estimated 100,000 to 140,000 people, of this historic event. The postcards are in good condition and offer a valuable window on the many sites, from Tokyo to Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, and other prefectures on the Kantō Plain, affected by this disaster.

Sample Postcard Showing the Earthquake’s Destruction in Isezakichō, a district of Naka Ward in Yokohama

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Introducing the newly available Manchuria Daily News Online English Database

Introduction

Japanese Studies at OSU Libraries is pleased to announce that the Manchuria Daily News Database is now available to the university community through the OSU library catalog.  The newly acquired database offers full access to the complete digital text of the Manchuria Daily News newspaper, published from 1908 to 1940.  The database thus offers an English-language archives of a rare newspaper that once provided the official Japanese interpretation of its presence in China in the early twentieth century. 

 

Image of the Database Home Page

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Introducing The Oriental Economist Archives and Database

The Oriental Economist Digital Archives is the 6th database offered through JK Books at OSU.

 

Japanese Studies at OSU Libraries (OSUL) is proud to announce that The Oriental Economist Digital Archives is now open for OSU users.  It is the 6th database offered through JK Books at OSU, along with five other searchable databases. The Oriental Economist (TOE) was published by the Toyo Keizai Inc. (Toyo Keizai Shimposha:  東洋経済新報社) from 1934 to 1985. TOE was exceptional in the sense that, despite being a domestic magazine in Japan, it was written in English and intended for overseas readership.

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