Japan Audiobook Libro.fm

Description

A captivating anthology of programmes painting a multifaceted portrait of a unique country

Japan is a land of complexity contrast and contradictions The worlds thirdlargest economy it is a powerhouse of innovation and a pioneer in technology fashion and pop culture But it also has a rich ancient heritage and a deep reverence for custom ritual and tradition This illuminating 2part radio collection traverses the different aspects of this fascinating country from its famous historical figures to its diverse cultural landscape

Part 1 History opens with Japan in Five Lives in which cultural historian Christopher Harding portrays the lives of five colourful characters from the countrys past to answer the question Who are the Japanese In Killing Time in Imperial Japan he explores early 20th Century Tokyo a bustling cosmopolitan capital where the meaning of time was hotly contested Dark Blossoms sees him examining the doubts and misgivings accompanying Japans rapid embrace of modernity while in Japanese Tsunami broadcasters Richard Lloyd Parry and Matthew Sweet discuss the devastating natural disaster that rocked the country in 2011 In Land of the Rising Sums Alex Bellos visits Kyoto to ask why Asian cultures seem so much better at maths in Japan and Religion Roy Jenkins discusses the place of religious traditions in modern Japan and in Supernatural Japan Christopher Harding looks at how the Japanese have used ghosts and ghost stories to make sense of their world

Part 2 Culture celebrates Japans art literature and film In Japan Now 2020 Philip Dodd talks to writers Hiromi Ito and Yukiko Motoya and photographer Tomoko Sawada about womens roles in Japanese culture today Meanwhile in Images of Japan illustrator Fumio Obata and manga translator Jocelyne Allen discuss Japanese comic book imagery and we join novelists Kyoko Nakajima and Yuya Sato in conversation with Christopher Harding Landmark Seven Samurai and Landmark Rashomon see Matthew Sweet and Rana Mitter investigating the stories behind Akira Kurosawas two most influential films in the company of guests including film scholar Ian Christie and authors SF Said David Peace and Natasha Pulley The Tale of Genji takes us into the shimmering world of mediaeval Japan as Rana Mitter explores Murasaki Shikibus masterpiece widely considered to be the worlds first novel Finally in Godzilla and Hayao Miyazaki Christopher Harding considers cinematic depictions of Japanese fear as exemplified by the legendary monster king and the 2013 animated film The Wind Rises

Contents
Japan in Five Lives
Killing Time in Imperial Japan
Dark Blossoms
Japanese Tsunami
Land of the Rising Sums
Japan and Religion
Supernatural Japan
Japan Now 2020
Images of Japan
Landmark Seven Samurai
Landmark Rashomon
The Tale of Genji
Godzilla and The Wind Rises

2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd P 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd