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Giles Murray |
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Date: 10.11.2008
Time: 11:21:46
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Brandon
I was reading the Japan Times yesterday, and they had an ad for their grammar series. It turns out they have intermediate and advanced Japanese grammars too. Maybe you should look into these.
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Brandon |
South Carolina |
Date: 10.11.2008
Time: 01:38:18
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The translation of the particle "ya" is one of the frequently recurrent annoyances facing those rendering Japanese into English. We cannot strictly provide the true meaning of the Japanese without translating it, but on the other hand, we cannot translate it without the employment of some cumbersome phrase such as "and others" or "among others," and thus it often remains incompletely rendered as simply "and." The lack of a one-word equivalent is truly vexing.
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Brandon |
South Carolina |
Date: 08.11.2008
Time: 01:25:11
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Speaking of useful resources, I've just begun downloading books from Google. The abundance of good reference works that have entered the public domain is simply astounding. Yesterday, I downloaded "A Simplified Grammar of the Japanese Language" and "A Handbook of Colloquial Japanese," both of which were published in England in the late 19th century. They seem quite good, though of course I would suggest only delving into them after having studied with a modern text. Foreign language study during that century was much more rigorous and demanding than that practiced in schools and colleges today, and one of the advantages is that the texts tend not to "dumb down" the language for the sake of learners. In fact, the grammar mentioned above is the only work in which I've seen someone address the fact that the Japanese language probably does not have true adjectives or adverbs (Japanese "adjectives" are in fact descriptive verbs, and its "adverbs" are actually nouns or the conjunctive "ku" forms of the descriptive verbs). That's something that might require a little more work for the English speaker to understand in the beginning, but in the long run, it prevents, rather than generates, confusion. For instance, it explains why, to many Japanese scholars, the polite "i"-adjective (e.g. takai desu) is anathema. If we understand takai as a descriptive verb meaning "is expensive" instead of simply the adjective "expensive," we see that takai already contains the notion of being, so that "desu" is redundant. A more reasonable construction would be "takaku arimasu"; indeed, this is the construction used in the ultra-polite, and rarely heard, "takou gozaimasu" (n.b. takaku-->takau-->takou). That's just one issue, but it illustrates what I consider to be a necessity in the study of Japanese, namely the consultation of various sources, old and new.
To those interested in Google books, happy hunting! However, do be mindful of copyright laws in your home country, if not the USA.
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Brandon |
South Carolina |
Date: 07.11.2008
Time: 12:50:42
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I recently discovered Japan Times' "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar" and I think I can say without a doubt that it is the single best reference book that I've ever come across on the modern Japanese language. I find the disambiguation of similar phrases, notably lacking in other books I've used, to be particularly welcome. I don't think it's in print anymore, but it isn't too difficult to track down online.
Reply: Brandon, I agree with you. I referred to this book in 13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese. The Japan Times published little, but whatever they put out was surprisingly good.
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Brandon Floyd |
The Palmetto State |
Date: 04.11.2008
Time: 01:07:49
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Yes, it's very dangerous indeed. You could spend a fortune there in no time (Glad I have a Netflix subscription ). I assure you however that their DVDs are worth the money. Some of the video and audio transfers (especially those of older films) are unbelievably clean and crisp, and Criterion is always good about coming up with some interesting extras. Make sure to check out their Japanese DVDs while you're there.
I should note also that they have another line, called Eclipse, that focuses on lesser-known works. Eclipse DVDs don't quite get the royal treatment that those in the regular line do, though they're still very good by general standards, and they're considerably cheaper.
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Giles |
Tokyo |
Date: 27.10.2008
Time: 08:52:55
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Brandon
I just went to the Criterion DVD website, which you pointed out re-released "Patriotism" and "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters." It's a dangerous place to browse! I should point out that they only ship to USA and Canada, so it's a good idea to use their site to find what you want, then buy it on Amazon, if you live anywhere else.
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Brandon |
South Carolina |
Date: 23.10.2008
Time: 12:41:08
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I had not heard about Ken Ogata's death. It's always sad to see the passing of a great actor, and he was one of my Japanese favorites. I thought he did an incredible job as Mishima. Another of his especially memorable roles was the killer in Imamura's 復讐するは我にあり, which I suppose in modern Japanese would be 復讐するのは我だ. (My ability to interpret that title must be credited to Mr. Staley's contributions to this board concerning classical Japanese. How's he doing, by the way?) That title is available on Criterion here in the US. Ogata also had a small role in a more recent film that I enjoyed 隠し剣鬼の爪; I can't remember the director's name, though...
It's been several months since I've posted regularly here--any new literary concoctions brewing at Kodansha International? I never picked up the second entry in the Read Real Japanese series, though I intend to do so soon.
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Giles |
Tokyo |
Date: 21.10.2008
Time: 19:32:31
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Brandon
I was just thinking of you a few days ago when I read the notice that Ken Ogata, the star of Paul Schrader's Mishima, had died. I must buy the film from that website you pointed me too.
I first came across General Nogi myself when I was translating a book related to the Battle of Iwo Jima. I decided to add a gloss, explaining who he was, as while every Japanese knows what he did and what he represents, foreign readers wouldn't have had a clue.
Here's an interesting piece of trivia. Did you know that you can visit General Nogi's house and see the actual room in which he so famously committed suicide in the center of Tokyo? The house is quite simple, but well located between the HQ of Honda and Tokyo Midtown, a very swish development by Mitsui Fudosan. There is a certain irony in the house of this symbol of old-fashioned Japanese austerity having been engulfed by the gaijin sleaze of Roppongi. Nearest stations are Nogizaka, Roppongi and Aoyama Ichome.
I have the Patriotism film, but I tend to agree with the person who said that it would all have somehow rung truer had the lieutenant's wife been ... male!
Presumably hero-worshipping General Nogi was part of the pre-WWII national curriculum and so part of Mishima's early education. Many people were exposed to this example, but few, at least after the war, chose to follow it.
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Brandon |
South Carolina |
Date: 19.10.2008
Time: 08:00:34
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I'd like to share a passage from Mishima's "Spring Snow," as translated by Michael Gallagher:
"It was hardly surprising, then, that by the time Kiyoaki turned eighteen, his preoccupations had served to isolate him more and more from his surroundings. He had grown apart from more than just his family. The teachers at the Peers School had instilled in their pupils the supremely noble example of the principal, General Nogi, who had committed suicide to follow his Emperor in death; and ever since they had started to emphasize the significance of his act, suggesting that their educational tradition would have been the poorer had the General died on a sickbed, an atmospere of Spartan simplicity had come to permeate the school. Kiyoaki, who had an aversion to anything smacking of militarism, had come to loathe school for this reason."
My primary criticism of "Patriotism" is that the same "Spartan simplicity" that Mishima condemns as distasteful (or at least distasteful to his protagonist) in "Spring Snow" is present to such a great extent in the former. The characters are certainly one-dimensional; in fact, they seem in their perfection to be more god than man. Nevertheless, as you, Giles, have noted, "Patriotism" possesses an incredible intensity. We cannot help but read it voraciously, in terrible suspense--and then the act of seppuku itself is presented in such painful detail that we simply cannot avert our eyes.
The film version suffers from the same lack of character development, but it is, in many ways, just as riveting as the short story. Mishima made the brilliant decision of filming the entire thing on the Noh stage; the elegance of the set was very striking. The choice of filming in black and white was another example of superior aesthetic judgment; the blood stands out so starkly against that pure white background. The music is, in my opinion, a bit overpowering, though I don't think it compromises the mood. If you get a chance, Giles, you should check it out.
Oh, and what do you think of the quote as it relates to Mishima's own decision to committ seppuku?
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Giles Murray |
Tokyo |
Date: 22.09.2008
Time: 14:52:00
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SOMMELIERS OF SWEAT
Male sweat is a recurring motif in Mishima's work. Consider this sentence in "Patriotism" (164-165). "A sweet but melancholy smell rose from the clumps of hair in the armpits, where the sides of the well-muscled chest cast deep shadows, and the sweetness of this smell seemed somehow heavy with the reality of young death."
While not linking the smell of sweat with death or melancholy, T.E.Lawrence (see below) seems to have been acutely aware of it too. Look at this passage in which he analyzes the difference between English and Arab body odor.
"...I learned to pick between their smells: the heavy, standing, curdled sourness of dried sweat in cotton, over the Arab crowds; and the feral smell of Engllish soldiers: that hot pissy aura of thronged men in woollen clothes: a tart pungency, breath-catching, ammoniacal; a fervent fermenting naptha-smell." 
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