Issue 36 (December 2011, Volume 6, Number 6)

In this issue we focus on pioneers and adventurers who opened Japan up to the wider world.

Susan Meehan kicks off with a gripping new work by Roger Pulvers on Lafcadio Hearn, the great Japan chronicler of the 1890s who captured the essence of traditional Japan before it morphed into its modern form. Hearn was himself a true global citizen, having a Greek mother, Irish father and being schooled in England, Ireland and France. This background imbued his observations with a universal appeal which has stood the test of time.

Michael Sullivan looks at Giles Milton’s Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan which charts the life of the first Englishman to learn about and live in Japan. Adams (1564-1620), known in Japan as Miura Anjin [三浦按針], helped forge the UK’s first links with the land of the rising sun as well as establishing the first English factory in the country, something this work also examines. Adams will be one of the focal points in the 2013 Japan 400 celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of initiating official Japan-UK ties.

Next we move from reality to the the realm of fictional adventurers with two reviews of Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure. This beautifully illustrated work by the renowned Japanese artist Yukinobu Hoshino (星野 之 宣) manages to perfectly capture the unique atmosphere of the British Museum while conjuring forth a ripping yarn.

Sir Graham Fry looks at the fictional Irish swashbuckler Milligan in Simon Alexander Collier’s Milligan and the Samurai Rebels which is set in 1860s Japan. The likeable rogue takes on an array of indigenous and foreign foes, surviving some entertaining adventures and encountering a host of beautiful women.

Atsuko Inoue (井上敦子) takes us back to reality with a Japanese book on the real life Australian trailblazer Henry James Black who became a traditional Japanese storyteller, a rakugoka [落語家], in 1891, taking the stage name Kairakutei Black [快楽亭ブラック]. The Australian writer and academic Dr Ian McArthur meticulously researches the life of this extraordinary individual.

Susan Meehan explores director Yuya Ishii’s bittersweet family drama A Man With Style (あぜ道のダンディ), which examines the relationship between two middle-aged men, both of whom are far removed from any association with ‘style.’

Michael Sullivan delves into Taichi Yamada enigmatic “In Search of a Distant Voice” which as the title suggests is a quest to understand a remote echo of the mind. The main character, Kasama Tsuneo, is on an emotional journey involving repressed feelings and a murky traumatic past.

Susan Meehan rounds off this issue with a look Yukio Ninagawa’s visually spectacular production of Cymbeline which chronicles the wanderings of Posthumus, the adventurer and main protagonist of Shakespeare’s gripping and unusual tale.

• The Dream of Lafcadio Hearn
  
  
• Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan
  
  
• Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure
  
  
• Milligan and the Samurai Rebels
  
  
• 快楽亭ブラック[Kairakutei Burakku]
  
  
• Professor Munakata’s Museum Adventure
  
  
• A Man With Style (あぜ道のダンディ)
  
  
• In Search of a Distant Voice
  
  
• Cymbeline

Contributors