Chinese and Korean traders introduced Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, and the ever present Confucianism while Japan provided various regional myths, legends, and lore.
These ingredients were brewed into various and effervescent cultures all across Japan. Each village responding accordingly by pasting outside influences upon their daily lives. These elements were transformed Japan’s landscape and ecosystem and bore entirely new generations of Deities and beliefs.
Category Archives: asia
Scribes and Sake: Kasa-Jizo (かなじぞ)
Reading fairytales within the origin language. Contextual agreements between time and place, emotions and aesthetics. We might localize our hearts out but truth be told we humans are too complex to translate. #japanese #japaneselanguage #folklore #fable
The Japanization of Modernity: Murakami Haruki between Japan and the United States
Oh, Murakami, you sly fox, you mercurial and fluid, thread a web between East and west that we at once desperately need and can’t quite comprehend. And yet we return, thirsty and increasingly drunk of the elixir that is the product of your craft.
Three Chinese Fables to Guide Your Life
Many Chinese fables tell an entertaining story to illustrate a moral lesson. Here are a few such stories. Stopping Halfway, Never Comes One’s Day In the Warring States Period, in the state of Wei lived a man called Leyangtsi. His wife was very angelic and virtuous, who was loved and respected dearly by the husband. One day, LeyangtsiContinue reading “Three Chinese Fables to Guide Your Life”
Fast Times at Ilium: The Glorious Lives & Deaths Homer’s Iliad
Keeping with the dualistic nature of Epic literature to be a hero requires great tragedy. One must all at once bring and preserve life while taking it. Within this text, war is clearly demarcated as a symbol of achieving glory.
Nicholas Andriani 