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Post by Sō Haruko on Feb 17, 2012 10:18:21 GMT -5
Ohayou gozaimasu! A little thinking question for this morning.
My copy of The Knowne World Handbook arrived yesterday, and one of the articles that I thought was very good, but sadly not very helpful to me, was a recommended top ten list of books for "every SCAdian". It includes books on clothing, accessories, armor, heraldry, history, food, art, science, and calligraphy. Of course, it is all with a European bent, which works great for the rest of the Society, but not necessarily for us.
What, in your opinion, would be the best books for a top ten list for a Japanese persona? I would be glad to marshall up everyone's ideas for such a list and post it to the sca-jml files section.
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Saionji Shonagon
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One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Feb 17, 2012 11:43:55 GMT -5
How limiting. (Then again, I blow through a new book every couple of weeks, all things being equal.)
Reminds me I need to update my bibliography page though.....
Fine, here are three to get you started:
Ivan Morris' The World of the Shining Prince. If you're doing Heian kuge class, this is a must, describing every day life in the court, particularly if a slog through the unabridged Tale of Genji makes your brain hurt.
Japanese Costume and Textile Arts by Seiroku Noma. Sorry, no patterns, but it's a great introduction to period style.
The World Turned Upside Down by Pierre Souryi provides a good overview of much of our period, from the end of the Heian up to Sekigahara.
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Post by Yawata Saburou Tadamori on Feb 17, 2012 14:52:39 GMT -5
I definitely second "The World Turned Upside Down"
I feel that "Shinto: The Way Home" by Thomas P Kasulis is very important. Shinto was the central religion of Japan for most of period and knowing more on that subject I believe is extremely important.
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Post by Matsuyama Yoshitoshi on Feb 17, 2012 15:38:46 GMT -5
For C14th ( Nambokucho era) studies: Mass, Jeffrey P. (Ed.), The Origins of Japan's Medieval World - Courtiers, Clerics, Warriors, and Peasants in the Fourteenth Century, Stanford University Press, 1997 McCullough, Helen C. (trans), The Taiheiki - A Chronicle of Medieval Japan, Tuttle Books, 1959, 1979. Yes, I admit it ... I'm an historian  |
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Saionji Shonagon
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One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Feb 17, 2012 16:10:40 GMT -5
Ooh, let's throw McCullough's translation of the Tale of the Heike in there too. Epic literature FTW!
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Post by Yamamoto Morikazu on Feb 18, 2012 11:13:50 GMT -5
Do you fight ?
Hagakure
The unfettered mind
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Post by Sō Haruko on Feb 19, 2012 17:52:31 GMT -5
Who, me? I'd like to, but not yet. I think a book on fighting would be useful.
I think the general point of the exercise is that if someone wanted to to play a Japanese persona, you could point them at this batch of books as a first cut of "read this, it'll make it easier for you to get your look/feel right and lead you into reading more stuff." Sort of a "Persona 101" list.
Sounds like we have suggestions for garb, history, and religion. I would love to see suggestions for fighting, cuisine, pottery (how do I make my feast gear look right?), armoring, mon (for registering your device), calligraphy or painting -- anything that's a good get-your-feet-wet kind of book.
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Saionji Shonagon
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One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Feb 20, 2012 1:45:00 GMT -5
Sounds like we have suggestions for garb, history, and religion. I would love to see suggestions for fighting, cuisine, pottery (how do I make my feast gear look right?), armoring, mon (for registering your device), calligraphy or painting -- anything that's a good get-your-feet-wet kind of book. The Heibonsha Survey of Japanese Art volumes are excellent introductions to everything from domestic architecture to period painting and sculpture genres - they date from the 1970s but can usually be found used pretty easily. Each is authored by an authority on the specific genre, runs about 150 pages, and are heavily illustrated with black & white and color plates. A complete title listing appears here - and I own eleven of 'em so far, including the previously recommended volume on clothing and textiles. library.osu.edu/wikis/library/index.php/The_Heibonsha_Survey_of_Japanese_ArtSho Japanese Calligraphy: An In-Depth Introduction to the Art of Writing Characters by Christopher Earnshaw is what the title advertises. I just reviewed two books on Japanese food culture in the media review forum. tousando.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=media&action=display&thread=3910tousando.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=media&action=display&thread=3997 |
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Post by Yamamoto Morikazu on Mar 13, 2012 14:03:01 GMT -5
for fighting.
Five Rings.
for armoring.
There are lots of picture books. LOTS each one has its unique character.
some are in japanese. doesnt matter pics are great.
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Post by Sō Haruko on Mar 13, 2012 18:16:18 GMT -5
Thank you, Yamamoto-dono, and everyone else, too.
I know I haven't posted this up to the sca-jml files list yet -- I do intend to do it, just seem to have far too many square to-its and insufficent round to-its right now. (; Hope to do so soon.
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Post by losthelm on Mar 17, 2012 16:04:09 GMT -5
stephen turnbull has a few books that are useful for someone starting out.
The focus is mostly martial culture depending on what book your reading.
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Post by Sō Haruko on May 28, 2012 23:46:22 GMT -5
Finally got around to making and uploading the list to sca-jml. I included another book on it, _Traditional Japanese Arts and Culture: An Illustrated Sourcebook_, edited by Stephen Addiss, Gerald Groemer, and J. Thomas Rimer. This book gives a broad-brushstroke overview of many arts (religious arts, painting, poetry, calligraphy, theater arts, pottery, and more) in each of the periods from the Jomon to the Edo. It also has extra suggested reading in the back -- I thought it made a great survey book.
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