Some Cool Links (updated 3/15/07)

 

Academic

          University of Chicago Department of East Asian Languages & Civilizations:  my new home as a faculty member (2007-present)

            University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies

            UCLA Department of Asian Languages & Cultures:  my first home as a faculty member (1996-2007)

            UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies

UCLA Asia Institute

International Christian University:  my Tokyo home-away-from-home 2005-2007

Association for Asian Studies

            Cornell University:  where I did my graduate work. 

            Cornell University East Asia Program

            Macalester College:  my alma mater in St. Paul, Minnesota.

            Arts & Letters Daily:  nice comprehensive site of all that’s happening in the worlds of culture and scholarship.

 

Japanese Literature and Intellectual Life (Japanese-language only, except where noted)

            Japan Focus . Terrific site maintained by Mark Selden and others:  recent political commentary from and about Japan.  (English)

            Tōhoku University Department of Japanese Literature

            Webcat:  On-line union catalog of virtually every research library in Japan; provides readings in katakana for both author names and titles.

Kindai digital library:  An amazing site – the National Diet Library has digitized thousands of Meiji-period books and provided full access to them.  You can look at first editions of virtually anything that was published in Meiji Japan here.

            Kamei Hideo’s website.  An important scholar of modern Japanese literature.

            Karatani Kōjin’s website.  One of the most important social and literary critics in contemporary Japan. (English available)

Kōno Kensuke’s blog.  One of the most interesting scholars in Japanese literature today.

            Aozora bunko.  Massive collection of full-text versions of works of Japanese literature, both classical and modern. 

            Shimazaki Tōson Memorial Museum in Magome, Nagano Prefecture.  One of my favorite places to visit in Japan.

            Japanese Association for the Study of Popular Music. 

            Museum of Modern Japanese Literature.

            Goyablog.  Blog by Gerald Figal (Vanderbilt University) on Japanese literature, culture, etc.  (English)

 

Japanese Popular Culture

            Tokyo Ramen.  Mark Schilling’s site with lots of information on Japanese film.  (English)

            Midnight Eye.  Great site for info on Japanese film, with an emphasis on cult film.  (English)

            MovieWalker.  Great source of info on Japanese films. (Japanese)

            Ryuganji.  Frequently updated clearinghouse for news about Japanese film.  (English)

            Dorama Database.  Good source on Japanese TV dramas (English).

            J-Dorama.  Another Japanese TV drama website (English). 

            Terebi dorama database.  Comprehensive database on TV dramas. (Japanese)

            Nippop.  Terrific site on all forms of Japanese popular music.  (English)

            Japanese Music Archive.  Guide to contemporary Japanese underground and indies music.  (English)

            J-Music Ignited.  Covers contemporary Japanese pop-rock. 

            Shibuya link.  A site about Shibuya-kei pop-rock in Japan.  (English)

Recommended J-POP CD list.  I stumbled on this useful site by accident; I’m not sure I agree with all the choices, but it’s a nice starter set of 300+ CDs, plus editorial comments on each, perfect  for someone who wants to get acquainted with Japanese popular music since 1945.  (English)

National Film Center:  They have schedules here for the daily film screenings at their Center in Tokyo, plus information about exhibits and their work in film preservation (Japanese)

Neojaponisme.  Fine blog on contemporary Japanese arts and culture.  (English)

 

Music

          The best Kinks’ website, updated regularly.  Good links section, recent news, tour dates, discography, etc.

            Ray Davies’ MySpace page.  Singer/songwriter for the Kinks; all-around genius.

            Dave Davies’ homepage.  Lead guitarist for the Kinks.   Dave regularly answers questions from fans here.

            Peter Pan:  one of the last authentic rock coffee shops remaining in Japan, and where I hang out when I’m in Sendai.  (Japanese only)

            Tribute webpage to the Flamin’ Oh’s, one of the great bands from Minnesota in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

            Twin/Tone Records, the label that recorded many Minneapolis bands in the 1980s.

            Robert Christgau’s website:  the “Dean” of rock critics.  You can search through past Consumer Guides, etc. 

            Greil Marcus’ website:  another legendary rock critic.

            Holler If Ya Hear Me:   Weblog maintained by, among others, rock critic Dave Marsh. 

            The Negro Problem:  one of my favorite LA-based bands.

            The Eels:  another great LA-based band, lots of video and music clips. 

            Reel Radio Top 40 Airchecks. An amazing site:  on-the-air recordings of many legendary radio DJs—Alan Freed, Dewey Phillips, etc.

            Alex Ross:  The Rest is Noise:  Wonderful blog by the New Yorker’s music critic, covering classical, jazz, pop and everything else.

           

Sports

          Sumo Kyōkai:  the ruling body of sumo; both English and Japanese available.  They provide live video feeds during tournaments here.

            Sumo Forum:  A great discussion board for sumo fans. 

            Sumo Techniques.  The Japan Times’ very helpful guide to sumo techniques (English).

            Sumo Talk.  Nice site with daily updates by columnists during sumo tournaments (English)

            Sumo Fan Magazine.  Self explanatory.  (English)

            Twins Geek:  He's back on-line, and that's a very good thing for Twins’ fans.

            Warning Track Power:  Another great Twins’ blog. 

            Elysian Fields Quarterly.  Literary baseball review; always fun. 

            AaronGleeman.com.  Essental Twins’ blog.

 

Newspapers

          Chicago Tribune (the staid local Republican daily)

            Chicago Sun-Times (our local tabloid)

            Chicago Reader (our weekly “alternative” newspaper)

            Hyde Park Herald (our neighborhood weekly newspaper)

            Chicago Maroon (weekly newspaper run by students at the University of Chicago)

Minneapolis Star/Tribune (the newspaper I used to deliver when I was a wee lad)

            St. Paul Pioneer Press (my other hometown rag)

            MinnPost.com (new on-line, non-profit journalistic site covering all things Minnesota)

            Kahoku Shinpō (Sendai, Japan Japanese-language daily newspaper)

            The Japan Times (most extensive English-language daily newspaper in Japan)

            Daily Yomiuri (English-language daily in Japan; good coverage of film, tv, music, etc.)

            Asahi newspaper (Japanese-language daily)

            Tokyo Shinbun (one of the better Japanese-language daily newspapers in Tokyo)

            Gendai (Japanese-language daily tabloid newspaper)

            Los Angeles Times (best Asian coverage of any U.S. daily newspaper)

            LA Weekly (Los Angeles alternative weekly newspaper)

            City Pages (Twin Cities alternative weekly newspaper)

            Daily Bruin (UCLA student-run daily newspaper)

 

Politics

          The Nation.  I've been reading this weekly since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

            Counterpunch. Fire-breathing lefties, where I go to find out how meek my own political leanings are

            Z-Net.  A clearinghouse for various issue- and topic-specific postings.

            Tikkun.  A terrific attempt to keep alive the left-liberal traditions in the U.S. Jewish community.

TomPaine.com  On-line home for a number of interesting writers and journalists. 

            In These Times:  Website for the magazine.

            Informed Comment.  Intelligent commentary and news from the Middle East by Juan Cole (University of Michigan)

            Crooks and Liars.  Good place to keep up on what’s going in the U.S. media, from a left-of-center perspective.

            New Left Review.  A forum for public intellectuals, intelligent and usually well written. 

            Liberal Oasis:  One of my favorite blogs, and a good set of links.

            Huffington Post.  A useful clearinghouse, updated often, of blogs and other commentary and news.

            Public Knowledge. A group devoted to preserving the public domain in knowledge and information

 

 

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