Tag: Jonathan Clements

March 8, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. Takashi Tsumura saw it coming. He suggested that the “computer line” and the television might one day be combined. Moreover, in a “somewhat radical hypothesis” that the Japanese broadcast and phone companies might also combine, he suggested the “net” such a merger produced would have all the power and invasive persuasion of […]

January 9, 2017 · 0 comments

The best Irish-Matt-Damon-fighting-space-lizards movie you will ever see, says Jonathan Clements. In the 11th century AD, the last survivors from a group of European mercenaries finally reach their destination – Imperial China. Amid the rainbow-coloured rocks of China’s arid north-west, Irish brawler William (Matt Damon) and Spanish tough-guy Tovar (Pedro Pascal) surrender to the Nameless […]

December 23, 2016 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements Readers of the 25th December 1880 issue of the London Illustrated News were treated to a seasonal gift – a full-page account of the mysteries of an English Christmas, as drawn by a Japanese artist. Its highlights include a Christmas pantomime, rendered in kabuki style, an impressionistic rendering of the making of […]

September 3, 2016 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. In The Untold History of Ramen, George Solt digs behind invented traditions to tell the story of one of Japan’s most famous dishes, not as a breathless account of urban cuisine, but a hard-nosed anaylsis of demographic changes, supply chains and industrial politics.

August 22, 2016 · 2 comments

By Jonathan Clements. From its cheeky, quirky cover, to the selection of its contributors, to its unifying tone, Mark McLelland’s new anthology deserves to shoot right to the top of Japanese Studies reading lists. The End of Cool Japan: Ethical, Legal and Cultural Challenges to Japanese Popular Culture offers a vital and timely warning for […]