Additional information
by Christal Whelan (Author)
In Kansai Cool anthropologist, writer and filmmaker Christal Whelan offers profound insights in the only collection of essays to focus on Kansai, Japan's ancient heartland.
Kansai--the region in Western Japan that boasts the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara, the bustling commercial city of Osaka and the cosmopolitan port city of Kobe--has a character all its own, right down to its dialect, mannerisms, and cuisine. It is home to some of Japan's oldest history and an area where the country's most time-honored arts and crafts still thrive. Worldly and otherworldly, spirited and spiritual, trendy and traditional, it's a place where past and future live side-by-side, sometimes at odds. Part Japanese travel book, part cultural commentary, these 25 spirited essays and 32 pages of color photos paint a broad yet penetrating portrait of the unique Western Japan region, covering such diverse topics as:- The needs of the spirit--shrines, temples and the call to pilgrimage
- The arts in Kansai--dance, painting, anime, and combat
- The relationship between hi-tech and old-tech
- Material culture--bikes, robots, and dolls
- The culture of fashion in Kansai--from kimonos and obis to modern fashion designers, and the Lolita complex
- The meaning of landscape-- human-made islands and the mystical power of water
- The hidden meaning of food--an anthropology of coffee and traditional cuisine
Author Biography
Christal Whelan is an anthropologist and interpreter who has lived and worked in Japan and Mongolia. She studied at Harvard University, Boston University, and Brown University. Many of the chapters in Kansai Cool originated from her former columns in Kansai Culturescapes, which ran in The Daily Yomiuri.
Number of Pages: 256
Dimensions: 0.8 x 7.9 x 5.1 IN
Publication Date: July 10, 2018
