| NOTA |
()(The Last Traces of a Disappearing Way of Life^@Pawnshops and handmade paper, shoe shiners and Shinto jugglers, money rakes and mosquito netting --all these were once a familiar part of daily life in Japan.^@Many elements of that daily life, like the Obon dances and LoreibokoL apprenticeships, have no counterpart in any other culture : they are purely unique to Japan. But with the tremendous changes of the modern age, most traces of traditional life in Japan are fast disappearing, soon to be gone forever.^@Still, there are a few holdouts, especially in JapanLs LshitamachiL, or working-class neighborhoods, where many of the survivors of Japanese crafts, art forms, and festivals are making their last stand.^@Elizabeth Kiritani, an experienced newspaper columnist and long-term LshitamachiL resident, set out to record these vanishing phenomena and figures, like the pipe cleaner and the picture-theater man --both of whom are quite likely the last plying their trade.^@Her deft, meticulous accounts and interviews are delightfully illustrated by her husband, an accomplished artist himself.^@LVanishing JapanL will fascinate and educate the visitor and veteran resident alike, presenting a look at a Japan most foreigners (and even many young Japanese) never see.^) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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