From the beginning of the American Occupation in 1945 to the post-bubble period of the early 1990s, popular music provided Japanese listeners with a much-needed release, channeling their desires, fears, and frustrations into a pleasurable and fluid art. Pop music allowed Japanese artists and audiences to assume various identities, reflecting the country's uncomfortable position under American hegemony and its uncertainty within ever-shifting geopolitical realities. In the first English-language study of this phenomenon, Michael K. Bourdaghs considers genres as diverse as boogie-woogie, rockabilly, enka, 1960s rock and roll, 1970s new music, folk, and techno-pop. Reading these forms and their cultural import through music, literary, and cultural theory, he introduces readers to the sensual moods and meanings of modern Japan. As he unpacks the complexities of popular music production and consumption, Bourdaghs interprets Japan as it worked through (or tried to forget) its imperial past. These efforts grew even murkier as Japanese pop migrated to the nation's former colonies. In postwar Japan, pop music both accelerated and protested the commodification of everyday life, challenged and reproduced gender hierarchies, and insisted on the uniqueness of a national culture, even as it participated in an increasingly integrated global marketplace. Each chapter in Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon examines a single genre through a particular theoretical lens: the relation of music to liberation; the influence of cultural mapping on musical appreciation; the role of translation in transmitting musical genres around the globe; the place of noise in music and its relation to historical change; the tenuous connection between ideologies of authenticity and imitation; the link between commercial success and artistic integrity; and the function of melodrama. Bourdaghs concludes with a look at recent Japanese pop music culture.

From a great master of historical fiction comes a brilliant tale of love amid war. James A. Michener combines powerful storytelling with deep sensitivity in this novel of a U.S. Army man who, against all odds, falls for a fascinating Japanese woman. Stationed in the exotic Far East, Major Lloyd Gruver considers himself lucky. The son of a general, dating the daughter of another powerful military family, he can look forward to a bright future. And he just can’t understand guys like Private Joe Kelly, who throw away their lives in the States by marrying local girls. But then Lloyd meets Hana-ogi. After that, nothing matters anymore . . . nothing but her. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from James A. Michener's Hawaii. Praise for James A. Michener “A master storyteller . . . Michener, by any standards, is a phenomenon.”—The Wall Street Journal “Sentence for sentence, writing’s fastest attention grabber.”—The New York Times “Michener has become an institution in America, ranking somewhere between Disneyland and the Library of Congress. You learn a lot from him.”—Chicago Tribune “While he fascinates and engrosses, Michener also educates.”—Los Angeles Times

Alexander and his older sister Lulu visit Japan and discover many fascinating things including fish markets, outdoor baths, futons, and a frog who writes haiku.

In 'The Four Corners in Japan' by Amy Ella Blanchard, readers are taken on a literary journey through Japan, exploring the cultural nuances and landscapes of the country through the eyes of the protagonist. Blanchard's descriptive and immersive writing style transports the reader to different corners of Japan, painting a vivid picture of the land and its people. The book falls within the genre of travel literature, offering readers a unique perspective on Japan with a mix of history, culture, and personal experiences. Blanchard's attention to detail and lyrical prose make the book a captivating and educational read. Amy Ella Blanchard's 'The Four Corners in Japan' is a compelling exploration of Japan's diverse landscapes and traditions. The author's genuine interest in Japan shines through in her writing, offering readers a rich tapestry of cultural insights and travel experiences. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Japanese culture, history, or travel writing, as it provides a unique and engaging perspective on the Land of the Rising Sun.

Six decades after the end of the occupation of mainland Japan, this volume approaches the theme of the occupation’s legacies. Rather than just being a matter of administrative practices and international relations, the consequences of the US occupation of Japan transcended both the seven years of its formal duration and the bilateral relations between the two countries. Rich with fresh analyses on a range of topics, including transnational and comparative views on the occupation, the influence of Japan on the United States as well as the reverse, international perspectives on this “odd couple”, and the memory of the occupation in both countries, this book provides a greater understanding of the transtemporal, transnational and transcultural legacies of one of the crucial events of the 20th century.

What can ecocriticism do when engaging with Japanese literature and culture? This edited volume Ecocriticism in Japan attempts to answer this question. The contributors place themselves inside the domestic fields of production of works of art and express their concerns and ideas for the English-speaking spheres of the world. Taking up subjects ranging from the eleventh-century novel The Tale of Genji, an early twentieth-century writer Taoka Reiun, the post-WWII atomic bombing literature by women, the internationally-renowned Abe Kōbō, the Nobel laureate Ōe Kenzaburō, the world-widely popular writer Murakami Haruki, the Minamata writer Ishimure Michiko, and the anime artist Miyazaki Hayao to the recent TV anime Coppelion, a production that foresaw a devastating nuclear disaster after the Great East Japan Earthquake, this volume extricates and discusses innate, complex values of Japanese people and culture in terms of nature and environment.

Reproduction of the original: The Four Corners in Japan by Amy E. Blanchard

Provides an introduction to the language and culture of Japan, covering pronunciation, grammar rules, kanas, and vocabulary words, and offers advice for travelers.

I was editor of The Malaya Tribune, a daily newspaper in Singapore, sleepily okaying Page One when 17 Japanese Zero bombers shattered the night. It was December 8, 1941. Having been fed daily stories full of optimism from London, we in Singapore hadn’t an inkling that war with Japan was imminent … I sneaked out when there was a pause in the bombing. Limbs of every description – European, Indian, Chinese, Malay and Eurasian – were everywhere. Parapuram Joseph John – ‘John’ to all – is given an ultimatum by the Japanese invaders: work for us or face the consequences. He becomes No.2 at the Domei news agency, working on Japanese propaganda in Southeast Asia and broadcasting propaganda to Indian troops in India, urging them to switch sides and fight against the British, for which he receives a special commendation from Heinrich Himmler – ‘I was not happy about Himmler’s intrusion into my life, but I kept my mouth shut and my neck intact’. John writes about wanton killings in Singapore and Malaya, the daily struggle to find food, and Blood Alley in Penang, where he witnesses a ‘cleansing’. He talks candidly about the rise of the Indian National Army and its charismatic leader Subhas Chandra Bose (whom he meets on several occasions), the creation of the all-female Rani of Jhansi combat regiment and the lure of the nationalist call of ‘Challo Dilli’ (‘On to Delhi’). This is a fascinating eyewitness account of the Japanese occupation of Singapore and Malaya as told by a career journalist. Following the war, John returned to The Malaya Tribune, where his deputy was S. Rajaratnam, the future Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore.