{"title":"Donald Keene","description":"Donald Keene is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University. He is the author of more than thirty books, including the definitive multi-volume history of Japanese literature. He lives in Tokyo and New York City.","products":[{"product_id":"emperor-of-japan-meiji-and-his-world-1852-1912-paperback","title":"Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Emperor Meiji began his rule, in 1867, Japan was a splintered empire, dominated by the shogun and the daimyos, who ruled over the country's more than 250 decentralized domains and who were, in the main, cut off from the outside world, staunchly antiforeign, and committed to the traditions of the past. Before long, the shogun surrendered to the emperor, a new constitution was adopted, and Japan emerged as a modern, industrialized state. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDespite the length of his reign, little has been written about the strangely obscured figure of Meiji himself, the first emperor ever to meet a European. Most historians discuss the period that takes his name while barely mentioning the man, assuming that he had no real involvement in affairs of state. Even Japanese who believe Meiji to have been their nation's greatest ruler may have trouble recalling a single personal accomplishment that might account for such a glorious reputation. Renowned Japan scholar Donald Keene sifts the available evidence to present a rich portrait not only of Meiji but also of rapid and sometimes violent change during this pivotal period in Japan's history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this vivid and engrossing biography, we move with the emperor through his early, traditional education; join in the formal processions that acquainted the young emperor with his country and its people; observe his behavior in court, his marriage, and his relationships with various consorts; and follow his maturation into a \"Confucian\" sovereign dedicated to simplicity, frugality, and hard work. Later, during Japan's wars with China and Russia, we witness Meiji's struggle to reconcile his personal commitment to peace and his nation's increasingly militarized experience of modernization. Emperor of Japan conveys in sparkling prose the complexity of the man and offers an unrivaled portrait of Japan in a period of unique interest.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51365696930015,"sku":"9780231123419","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/3yPxLvBVum9780231123419.webp?v=1789070106"},{"product_id":"chronicles-of-my-life-an-american-in-the-heart-of-japan-paperback","title":"Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I sometimes think that if, as the result of an accident, I were to lose my knowledge of Japanese, there would not be much left for me. Japanese, which at first had no connection with my ancestors, my literary tastes, or my awareness of myself as a person, has become the central element of my life.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this eloquent and wholly absorbing memoir, the renowned scholar Donald Keene shares more than half a century of his extraordinary adventures as a student of Japan. Keene begins with an account of his bittersweet childhood in New York; then he describes his initial encounters with Asia and Europe and the way in which World War II complicated that experience. He captures the sights, scents, and sounds of Japan as they first enveloped him, and talks of the unique travels and well-known intellectuals who later shaped the contours of his academic career. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKeene traces the movement of his passions with delicacy and subtlety, deftly weaving his love for Japan into a larger narrative about identity and home and the circumstances that led a Westerner to find solace in a country on the opposite side of the world. \u003ci\u003eChronicles of My Life\u003c\/i\u003e is not only a fascinating tale of two cultures colliding, but also a thrilling account of the emotions and experiences that connect us all, regardless of our individual origins.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51365697454303,"sku":"9780231144414","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/Epb_AfTmTK9780231144414.webp?v=1789070109"},{"product_id":"modern-japanese-literature-from-1868-to-the-present-day-paperback","title":"Modern Japanese Literature: From 1868 to the Present Day - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eModern Japanese Literature is Donald Keene's critically acclaimed companion volume to his landmark Anthology of Japanese Literature. Now considered the standard canon of modern Japanese writing translated into English, Modern Japanese Literature includes concise introductions to the writers, as well as a historical introduction by Professor Keene. Includes: \"Growing Up\" by Ichiyo, a lyrical story of pre-adolescence in the 90s; Natsume's story of \"Botchan,\" an ill-starred and ineffectual Huck Finn; Nagai's \"The Sumida River\"; Kokomitsu's Kafkaesque \"Time\"; Kawabata's \"The Mole\"; \"Firefly Hunt\"; a glimpse into Tanizaki's masterpiece \"Thin Snow\"; and the postwar work of such writers as Dazai and Mishima.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376606740703,"sku":"9780802150950","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/9s0COfeR69780802150950.webp?v=1789218144"},{"product_id":"expatriates-of-no-country-the-letters-of-shirley-hazzard-and-donald-keene-hardcover","title":"Expatriates of No Country: The Letters of Shirley Hazzard and Donald Keene - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor more than thirty years, the acclaimed novelist Shirley Hazzard and the renowned scholar of Japanese literature Donald Keene maintained a remarkable epistolary friendship. Brought together by the death of a mutual friend in the late 1970s, they discovered a profound connection built on mutual affinities for literature and culture and common values of humanism and cosmopolitanism. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eExpatriates of No Country\u003c\/i\u003e presents Hazzard and Keene's correspondence, offering readers a new and intimate perspective on the work and achievements of these towering figures. Both left behind their countries of birth, and they shared experiences of displacement, estrangement, and fashioning new lives and selves in adopted homelands. Hazzard, who departed from Australia as a teenager without completing her formal education, led an expatriate life in New York and Italy as she attained literary fame. Keene, a pacifist who served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II, devoted himself to the literature and culture of Japan, where he became revered. Their erudite and elegantly written letters trace the larger story of their friendship, finding striking overlaps between their distinctive worlds. Recording a vanished way of literary and intellectual life, \u003ci\u003eExpatriates of No Country\u003c\/i\u003e casts a new light on two extraordinary people through their unlikely connection.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376709599455,"sku":"9780231214445","price":171.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/QmrVJvqjuy9780231214445.webp?v=1789221752"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/donald-keene.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}