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New, annotated edition of out-of-print 1890 classic!
What did late-19th-century Western writers think of Japanese women?
Pierre Loti, for one, had definite opinions that today would be considered unpublishably candid.
These opinions the frank French naval officer expressed in Japanese Women, the newly annotated 1890 Harper's article republished here.
Because Loti's observations are revelatory, this document remains the most candid Western snapshot of Japanese women in late Meiji Japan.
Zipped .pdf file, with illustrations and footnotes. 23 pp.
Price: US$5.00
New, annotated edition of out-of-print 1875 classic!
Is it possible that shipwrecked Japanese sailors arrived in North America before Columbus—and even before the Vikings?
Dr. Charles Wolcott Brooks, Japanese Consul in San Francisco, suggests as much—and more: Centuries ago, a few Japanese sojourners even managed to return to Japan with reports of North America and its wonders.
The author cites 60 examples of Japanese shipwrecks, often in haunting detail.
In this newly edited edition, Japanorama's editor has supplemented the original text with dozens of illustrations and over 115 footnotes, to transport the reader back to the 19th-century milieu of the events described, when desperate, starving men clung to waterlogged junks on an uncharted ocean, beyond hope of rescue.
Zipped .pdf file, with illustrations, footnotes, and map. 37 pp.
Price: US$5.00
For seven months in 1878, the peripatetic, redoubtable Scotswoman Isabella Bird, the first female member of the Royal Geographical Society, rode and traipsed through areas of north Japan avoided by Western travelers. En route, in a series of letters to her sister, she described all manner of novelties undiscovered by the less adventurous. Her account of this arduous journey is arguably the greatest Japan travel book of the 19th century. To ensure that this newly annotated edition is clearer than any previous edition, the editors at Japanorama have added an extensive glossary, footnotes, dozens of illustrations, and a map—which make the work all the more enjoyable.
Price: US$5.00
This e-book contains a brief biography of the artist, Ando Hiroshige, and then displays some of Japan's most beautiful landscapes: the 55 woodblock prints of the Reisho edition of the Fifty-three Stages of the Tokaido Highway, which were painted by the 19th-century ukiyo-e artist. The e-book includes landscapes of the two termini (Tokyo and Kyoto) in addition to the 53 post-towns en route.
Enjoy and study images that influenced Western artists such as Manet, Degas, Monet, Gauguin, van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec.
Price: US$5.00
Newly published! A unique metadictionary containing approximately 1,000 words and their definitions culled from over 700 foreign languages (e.g., Japanese), with the intention of introducing them as neologisms into the English language. Hilarious and shocking, the concepts say much about their native cultures—but equally much about English, which shunned them for one reason or another.
Price: US$5.00
Written early in the 20th century by Japanese art critic Okakura Kakuzo, this book is the most famous explanation of the aesthetics of tea in the Far East. For nearly a century it has revealed a different appreciation of beauty, thereby enhancing the aesthetics of the West.
Price: US$5.00
This collection of eerie Japanese ghost stories still disturbs sleep around the world. Caution: Best read after midnight.
Price: US$5.00
The complete texts of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan (1889) and The Constitution of Japan (1947), with preface and photos.
Price: US$5.00
Other inexpensive Japanorama e-books about China, 19th-century America, etc.
An e-book is a book that you can read on your computer or PDA screen by scrolling through the pages. The book is formatted to look like a regular book—with text, images, footnotes, etc.—but it exists as a weightless computer file. And it has other advantages: An E-book makes content available at the click of your computer's mouse—often content unavailable in paper form. Also, an e-book never wears out. Every word of it is searchable, and it often includes cross-links that allow you to jump around the book. Moreover, there is no shipping charge, no trip to the bookstore, no waiting in line, and no snide comment by the retail clerk. And best of all: Japanorama's e-books usually cost no more than $5.00.
How to Order
Enjoy one of the books listed above by clicking on the appropriate button at the right and downloading the file. Then unzip it with the free evaluation version of WinZip(TM) or an equivalent utility.
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