Japanese Images of Nature

Documents the great diversity in how people perceive their natural environment and how they come to terms with nature, be it through brute force, rituals or idealization. The main message of the book is that 'nature' and the 'natural' are concepts very much conditioned by their context.

Zusatztext 'Overall, "Japanese Images of Nature" is an interesting and insightful collection of essays on an important topic.' - Brendan Luyt, Journal of Contemporary Asia Publishers Informationen zum Autor Pamela J. Asquith is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Arne Kalland is a senior research associate working at the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Oslo. Klappentext It is often claimed that the Japanese have a particular love for nature, a love often reflected in their art and material culture. But today equal notice is being given to the environmental degradation caused by the Japanese at home as well as abroad. How can these phenomena be reconciled? This issue is but one of several raised that this volume seeks to address in its examination of the human-nature relationship in Japan. Through topics ranging from medieval literature and fine arts through to modern vending machines and tourism, the authors document the great diversity in how people perceive their natural environment and how they come to terms with nature, be it through brute force, rituals or idealization. The main message of the book is that 'nature' and the 'natural' are concepts very much conditioned by their context, an approach quite different from the uncompromising stance so often found in the West. Zusammenfassung Documents the great diversity in how people perceive their natural environment and how they come to terms with nature, be it through brute force, rituals or idealization. The main message of the book is that 'nature' and the 'natural' are concepts very much conditioned by their context. Inhaltsverzeichnis PREFACE CHAPTER ONE 1 Japanese Perceptions of Nature: Ideals and illusions CHAPTER TWO The Four Seasons: One of Japanese Culture's Most Central Concepts CHAPTER THREE Natural Imagery in Classical Japanese Poetry: The Equivalence of the Literal and the Figural CHAPTER FOUR Bijinga and Nature: A Single Beauty CHAPTER FIVE Nature Tamed: Gardens as a Microcosm of Japan's View of the World CHAPTER SIX Watsuji Tetsuro's Ecological Approach: Its Philosophical Foundation CHAPTER SEVEN The Unnatural as Ideology: Contesting Brain Death in Japan CHAPTER EIGHT Interpretations of Nature and the Legitimation of Gender Differences: 'Natural' Links in the Japanese Social Field CHAPTER NINE Doing What Comes Naturally: Media and Marketing Constructions of Sexuality among Japanese Adolescents CHAPTER TEN Mount Fuji and the Cherry Blossoms: A View from Afar CHAPTER ELEVEN The Cannonization of Nature in Japanese Culture: Machinery of the Natural in Food Modernization CHAPTER TWELVE Marketing Nature in Rural Japan CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Soil as Teacher: Natural Farming in a Mountain Village CHAPTER FOURTEEN Magical Thought at the Interface of Nature and Culture....

Autorentext

Pamela J. Asquith is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Arne Kalland is a senior research associate working at the Centre for Development and the Environment at the University of Oslo.

Klappentext

It is often claimed that the Japanese have a particular love for nature, a love often reflected in their art and material culture. But today equal notice is being given to the environmental degradation caused by the Japanese at home as well as abroad. How can these phenomena be reconciled? This issue is but one of several raised that this volume seeks to address in its examination of the human-nature relationship in Japan. Through topics ranging from medieval literature and fine arts through to modern vending machines and tourism, the authors document the great diversity in how people perceive their natural environment and how they come to terms with nature, be it through brute force, rituals or idealization. The main message of the book is that 'nature' and the 'natural' are concepts very much conditioned by their context, an approach quite different from the uncompromising stance so often found in the West.

Inhalt

PREFACE CHAPTER ONE 1 Japanese Perceptions of Nature: Ideals and illusions CHAPTER TWO The Four Seasons: One of Japanese Culture's Most Central Concepts CHAPTER THREE Natural Imagery in Classical Japanese Poetry: The Equivalence of the Literal and the Figural CHAPTER FOUR Bijinga and Nature: A Single Beauty CHAPTER FIVE Nature Tamed: Gardens as a Microcosm of Japan's View of the World CHAPTER SIX Watsuji Tetsuro's Ecological Approach: Its Philosophical Foundation CHAPTER SEVEN The Unnatural as Ideology: Contesting Brain Death in Japan CHAPTER EIGHT Interpretations of Nature and the Legitimation of Gender Differences: 'Natural' Links in the Japanese Social Field CHAPTER NINE Doing What Comes Naturally: Media and Marketing Constructions of Sexuality among Japanese Adolescents CHAPTER TEN Mount Fuji and the Cherry Blossoms: A View from Afar CHAPTER ELEVEN The Cannonization of Nature in Japanese Culture: Machinery of the Natural in Food Modernization CHAPTER TWELVE Marketing Nature in Rural Japan CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Soil as Teacher: Natural Farming in a Mountain Village CHAPTER FOURTEEN Magical Thought at the Interface of Nature and Culture.