Harvard University’s Law Library has put 22 Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi period documents online. The online exhibit includes a discussion by Professor Mikael Adolphson [pdf] about how to read and interpret these materials.
Month: October 2009
Samurai Arms and Armor as Art
There’s a review in the NYTimes about an exhibit at the Met: arms and armor of the samurai. For some commentary and criticism of a similar exhibit from San Francisco, see here
International Divorce in Japan: an overview
Joe Jones at MutantFrog Travelogue (don’t let the name fool you, it’s a fantastic blog about Japanese culture, politics and history) has an excellent overview of the law and demographics of divorce and child custody in Japan, especially when foreigners are involved. Jones is a lawyer, with extensive international experience. The topic has come up because of a fairly prominent ongoing dispute between a Japanese woman and her dual-citizenship former husband over child custody, involving both US and Japanese law. You can find details in the links of Jones’ post.
Jomon-era Ceramic Sculpture Exhibit
A new traveling exhibit on Jomon-era “dogu” sculptures highlights the evolving debates about culture and physical remains, etc.
Ask and ye shall be answered: Mystery Circles on Samurai Armor
One of the beautiful things about the internet is that if you ask for help, often you can get it. I posed the question about the mysterious circular gear on the medieval samurai to my blog audience, and got an answer very quickly: they are spare bow string spools. The best picture I’ve been able to find of a “tsurumaki” online is this ebay auction, where you can clearly see the groove around the edge which holds the string.