Jun Togawa by Tosh Berman

 

Tosh on Japanese singer/artist Jun Togawa

A Tokyo Romance by Ian Buruma on Tosh Talks

Over the years, and especially going back and forth from Japan, I have read many books by fellow Americans and some British citizens on their time spent in Japan. A lot of them are crap. The ones that stand out are the ones that wrote about Japanese cinema and literature. The girls or guys who went there to get a job as an English teacher are usually not that interesting, but alas, those who are devoted to a specific Japanese artist or thinker, then yes I very much enjoy that type of book. There are two writers that I love when they write about Japan - Donald Richie and the other fellow is Ian Buruma.

Buruma wrote a fascinating book called "Behind the Mask," which is an excellent book on some of the darker elements of Japanese literature and the arts. His new book "A Tokyo Romance: A Memoir" accounts for his time spent in Japan to study cinema, but mostly the theater arts of Kara Juro, an avant-garde playwright, with his theater group in Tokyo. Similar to temperament but not precisely in style as Terayama Suiji. Buruma knew both men, and it's his unique point-of-view, due that he was a foreigner, being involved with Kara's theater group. A lot of foreign writers have written about the oddness of one being part of Japanese society, or living in Japan, and finding it alienating. But then again I think that's the nature of the Western fellow or girl. We're raised to be apart than together, and therefore lies the situation of such countries in Asia and elsewhere.

What makes this book unique for me is that I share Buruma's interest in the Japanese arts, and spending time there as well, I can identify in what he writes about, in regards of living there and appreciating the same sort of artists/writers. Also, the book is full of fascinating figures, some know and some entirely new to me. Donald Richie is a writer I know quite well through his writings in various articles (mostly in the Japan Times) as well as reading his books on Japanese cinema. His Journals are without a doubt, the classic work by him. He is a guy who knew everyone from Ozu to Mishima, and also a gay man living in Tokyo. His insights into the Japanese culture, but also his somewhat detached views are excellent observations of life around him. In that sense, he reminds me of Paul Bowles' travel writing. Buruma shares the same interest as Richie, and is also, a fantastic prose writer. His commentary on Richie, who sort of led him through Tokyo when he first arrived, is a fascinating tour of the metropolis. The second personality of interest is the Actress Yamaguchi Yoshiko. She started her career during the war years making a propaganda film in China, where she was identified as a Chinese actress. But alas, no, she's Japanese and eventually went on to star in the American Film "House Of Bamboo" directed by Sam Fuller. The book doesn't mention it, but she was also married to the artist Isamu Noguchi. Yamaguchi eventually became a member of the Japanese parliament for 18 years and had a TV show where she focused on and interviewed such characters as Mao, Idi Amin, and Kim Il-sung.

"A Tokyo Romance" is a book full of fascinating people, and Buruma himself is interesting because he is also an individual who is half-Dutch and half-English, so he's very much a bi-cultural, or maybe at this point, since he lives in New York City now, a tri-cultural figure. With his background, he has an understanding of what it's like to be in a culture that is very singular in focus and design. A classic book on Japan, but also a rare text in English on the world of Terayama and Kara Juro.


-Tosh Berman

Jun Togawa Japanese Singer on Tosh Talks

Jun Togawa Japanese Singer on Tosh Talks

Togawa Jun (aka Jun Togawa) is an amazing and important music figure in underground Japanese Pop Music. An associate of Yellow Magic Orchestra's (YMO) Haroumi Hosono, and mostly releasing her albums on his label, Yen Records. Togawa was in a band called Guernica, with Composer Koji Ueno and artist/lyricist Keiichi Ohta, that brought up images of Pre-war Japan, a time that flirted with Western decadence. Togawa released a series of solo albums in the 1980s that to a Westerner sounds like a crazed combination of Sparks, French Yé-Yé, with a touch of Kate Bush. Most of her musical roots are in Japanese or Asian folk music, but she does acknowledge Serge Gainsbourg and even Rosie & The Originals' "Angel Baby." John Zorn and Jim O'Rourke are both fans, and you should be as well! - Tosh Berman, your host of "Tosh Talks"

To read my review of Jun Togawa's "Suki Suki Daisuki" go here: http://toshberman.blogspot.com/2018/0...

Tosh Talks: Interview with Kiichiro Yanashita

Tosh Talks.  Tosh interviews Kiichiro Yanashita, a translator, film critic, and a man of great taste. Kiichiro translated William S. Burrough's "Soft Machine," John Water's "Shock Value," JG Ballard's "Crash" as well as countless other great titles into Japanese.  To go to Tokyo and not to meet Mr. Yanashita, is for sure a sign of failure.  Nevertheless I have spent countless hours with Kiichiro to various bars, shops, and god knows what else in Tokyo.  Here we talk books, culture, the issue of translation, cinema, true crime and other fun stuff.

"The Edogawa Rampo Reader"

I feel like i have been waiting for this book for all of my life.  it has been a slow amount of time to get the Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo translated into English.  One of his collections of short stories have been in print for so many years - yet waiting for another title seemed endless.  Now we have at least three other books by Rampo, and I bought them all this year.

"The Edogawa Rampo Reader" is a much needed over-all look of his career.  The first half of this book is short stories and the second half are essays -mostly regarding the nature of the 'detective' story.  i only found one essay the most interesting and that's "The Horror Of Films" dealing with the nature and history of cinema.  It's a great piece on what was then a new medium.  He wrote it in 1926, and for a short essay it covers a lot of ground.  Basically all to do with being the viewer.

The short stories are all in the creepy mode that I love about Rampo's work.  It includes the story about a man who spends a lot of time in the attic where he spies on people down below, and also commits a murder.  The long introduction by Seth Jacobowitz is pretty perfect in capturing what is so essential about Rampo, his times, and the work itself.   A remarkable writer.

Edogawa Rampo's "Moju: The Blind Beast" plus Film by Yasuzo Masumura

Ah, such a perfect read while I am in Japan.  I first heard the name "Edogawa Rampo" from my wife who told me that his writings would give me a certain amount of pleasure.  And as usual (the wife is always right) she is correct.    Rampo is a pen-name, and if you say it really quickly, you will see that the name is based on Edgar Allen Poe.  Rampo's favorite writer, and truly his work is up there with the master.  Except he's more pulpy, more lurid, more...out there.

Rampo is the master of the field that is called "Erotic-Grotesque" in Japan.  A mixture of horror with sex.  And his short novel "Moju" is a perfect example of that genre.  The narrative is about a blind man who is obsessed with the gesture of touching woman with his 'skilled' hands, and then eventually killing them, and cutting them up in pieces.  He also has a genius in displaying his 'work' either by making sculptures made by human parts, or displaying the corpse or part of the corpse in rather imaginative ways.

Rampo goes for the throat, and what makes him so unique is that he has these amazing set-pieces, that is a combination of creepy, funny, but always filtered through the eyes of an aesthetic soul.  I can imagine his stories are not for everyone, but strange enough he has even written (god forbid!) 'young adult' adventures.  A low-rent Tanizaki, but with the brilliance of a B-film genius.   Rampo needs to be exposed to a larger readership in the West.  Hopefully we'll see more of his titles translated into English.

Down below is the film version of the novel, directed by Yasuzo Masumura.  Its a classic piece of Japanese cinema and I strongly recommend watching this film:

Images of My Tokyo Life

All images from the Blue On Velvet bar in Shibuya, Tokyo.  Wonderful bar that specializes in very rare  vinyl from the 60's and 70's.  One can make a request, but make sure you make the right choice.