Travis is a postdoctoral Project Researcher at the University of Tokyo Historiographical Institute. He is terribly fortunate and grateful that he is able, for now at least, to make a living engaging with Japanese & Luchuan (i.e. Ryukyuan, Okinawan) history & traditional arts.
I hold an MA in Japanese Studies and one in Art History, as well as a PhD in History, and have been fortunate to intern in the Japanese art sections of several institutions. I eagerly look forward to hopefully continuing to get to devote my time and energies to teaching, research, and otherwise engaging with Japanese & Luchuan history and culture, whether in formal academia or in the museum world or another capacity. I have also a keen interest in Hawaiian & Polynesian histories, and I very much hope in future to get the chance to teach courses, or design exhibits, on this massive, fascinating, and beautiful but woefully under-appreciated, under-discussed, part of the world.
As you will see if you skim through my posts, in addition to my formal research interests in early modern Okinawan history and traditional and contemporary Okinawan culture, I also periodically blog about books I’ve bought or read; articles, blog posts, or videos I’ve come across; museum exhibits I have visited; historical sites and other travels; early modern and contemporary Japanese arts; theatre; museums and heritage issues, gender, politics, and various other topics.
For my professional website, please see: http://travisseifman.me.
I don’t post here nearly as frequently as I used to. If you’re so inclined, please also visit me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/toranosukev.
I am, like we all are, a work in progress. My views and attitudes change as I continue to learn. I initially began studying Japanese and Luchuan history purely out of interest, because it was different, beautiful, interesting, intriguing, and because I felt strongly that in as diverse a country as the United States, and in an ever-increasingly globalizing world, we should not restrict ourselves to Western perspectives, to US- and Euro-centric attitudes based on US- and Eurocentric understandings of history and culture. For these reasons I continue to pursue the understanding of non-Western cultures, and aim to do what little I can, in my humble little life, to teach others to similarly take a more non-Western, and global, point of view. I cannot change who I am – I was born a white male, and a US citizen, and none of those three things are likely to change. I thus cannot help but speak as an American white male. But I do what I can to keep learning, to keep my mind open, to hear others’ voices, and to pass along what I have learned from them.
I began this blog a great many years ago. I have since learned and grown; my understandings and my appreciation for nuance and complexity have deepened and expanded. I hope you will not judge me by what a younger version of me – in meaningful ways, a different person – wrote so many years ago.
Further, this blog serves as a place for me to share my thoughts on various topics, and to otherwise just share news, websites, books, or the like that I come across; it serves as a place for me to do so without feeling restrained by the requirements of academic rigor. I post here not in my professional capacity as a professional scholar, but in my personal, private capacity as a thinking person with interests and experiences. If you like what you see, then, well, thank you. I’m flattered. But if you think that what you see here is not professional enough, rigorous enough, to stand as proper scholarship, well, it’s not meant to be that.
If we were all limited to only writing what was of the utmost quality, refined over dozens and dozens of edits, not only would we produce a whole lot less, but we would produce on a whole lot fewer topics. In my scholarship, I restrict myself, as we all do, to a rather narrow set of topics. This blog here is my space to get to engage in other topics, and interact with the wider internet, the wider world, on a wider set of things that interest me, and I am so glad to be able to have such an outlet.
One of the wonderful things about blogging is that it is different from, separate from, professional academic writing, or professional journalism, and does not have to be a perfectly refined argument, accounting for all the variables, covering all the possible counter-arguments. What I have here are just some thoughts; hopefully they are on the right track. Hopefully they are useful, meaningful, towards informing or inspiring further investigation. I will continue to read, and to think, and to write, and to hopefully continue to come to fuller, more complex, more nuanced, more thoroughly understood understandings of these sensitive and oh-so important matters. This is just one step along the way, and I ask your forgiveness and understanding if anything I write here is a misstep, in the steps along that path. We are each of us only human. I hope I manage to consistently and sufficiently give others the benefit of the doubt, and I hope that you will do the same for me.
Thank you so much for reading, and please do feel free to leave comments!
Hello –
Over two centuries ago, Japanese Zen master Hakuin Ekaku posed the now-famous koan, “What is the sound of one hand?” Although extensive meditation on koans such as this kept Ekaku focused, he utilized beautiful calligraphic art as a mode of expression as well. His artwork is elegant but also whimsical, and appeals equally to both the untrained eye and that of a true Zen aficionado.
Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Stephen Addiss have compiled the first ever comprehensive collection of pieces by the preeminent Japanese Zen master and artist entitled, The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin (Shambhala, July 2010). The book’s release coincides with major exhibitions of his work in New York, New Orleans, and Los Angeles between 2010 and 2011. This beautifully produced, large-format art book brings together more than one hundred of Hakuin’s greatest works, from Japanese national treasures such as “Blind Men Crossing Bridge” to incidental pieces brushed in moments of inspiration and given as gifts to his students.
The major traveling exhibition of Hakuin’s work, also called “The Sound of One Hand,” contains all of the book’s works on display at the show. Corresponding with the book’s release, the Japan Society will be hosting a gallery in New York City which will run from October 1, 2010 through January 9, 2011. The showing then moves to the New Orleans Museum of Art (February 12–April 17, 2011) and finally to Los Angeles County Museum (dates to be finalized).
Using traditional Buddhist images and sayings—but also themes from folklore and daily life—Hakuin created a new visual language for Zen: profound, capricious, and unlike anything that came before. His art, combined with his voluminous writings, stands as a monument to his teaching, revealing why he is the most important Zen master of the past five hundred years.
If you are interested in reviewing or excerpting The Sound of One Hand in your blog, A Man with Tea, we would love to send you a free copy of this beautiful art book. Simply respond to this email with your thoughts, as well as mailing information to which we can send your copy. Rest assured, this information is kept private and for one-time use only. We hope you find an interest in our book, thank you for your time!
Best wishes,
Joni Bouley
Publicity Intern
Shambhala Publications
Marketing-intern@shambhala.com
Toranosuke, just a short note to say how much I enjoy reading your posts. I’ve especially enjoyed reading about your journey as a Kabuki actor in training. Your report on the recent Kabuki symposium was also fascinating. (I don’t want to take anything away from your other posts, either!) Some friends and I just formed a Kabuki appreciation club this year in the San Francisco Bay Area. We get together at least bimonthly to watch Kabuki classics and participate in other events related to Japanese theatre.
At any rate, I was wondering if it would be ok to link to your blog on our group website. We’d also be honored if you’d join our Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/jetaanc-kabuki-club The Google Group includes a message board where we post recent news from the Kabuki world. Please feel free to post there anytime!
Again, thanks again for your wonderful blog. I can see you going far in the world of cultural and international studies!
Mark,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my posts, and for inviting me to this group.
It’s very exciting that such a group exists. I hope that someday I might get the chance to join you in person for your meetings.
Yoroshiku.
Hello.You’re awesome! I am Japanese and live in Saitama.
I don’t know about Japan so much.
But recently I began to write about Japanese things by my poor English.
I want to read your blog in the future.
Thank you for your kind words! I apologize that I don’t write more often in Japanese; I probably should. It would be good practice. Thank you for reading!
I’ve nominated your blog for Liebster award. If you’d like to participate I have a list of questions on this page, but if not, please just take this as a compliment!
Wow! Thanks so much!
What about a link exchange with http://www.ukiyo-e.it ?
Found your blog today. I lived on Okinawa back in 1971 and 72, and visited there many times since. I am glad to have your musings and engagement with the people pf Okinawa and their History.
Thanks for your perspective and compassion.
Thanks for taking the time to read, and for your kind words!
Travis – How fascinating! I must admit I am a complete ignoramus on Asian art generally but you touched upon a myriad of subjects in a thoughtful and expressive fashion. I randomly alighted upon your blog as I am seeking some information on the life of Hiroshi Sano Gofu. The connection is his longtime friend Kojiro Tomita, latterly at MFA Boston. I shall drop you a brief note on that separately but, meantime, congratulations on an excellent site. It has been like receiving a free history lesson – it seems you have all the credentials to become a fine professor!
With all good wishes – Howard
Wow. Hi, Howard. Thanks for this kind note! I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the name Hiroshi Sano Gofu, but I’m happy to try to help best as I can – and would certainly be interested to hear/learn what I can from your story… Cheers!
Dear 上り口説 Nubui Kuduchi (chaari.wordpress.com)
Nice to talk to you.
My name is Yuta Sugawara.
How are you doing?
I hope you are doing well.
Currently, I live and work in Tokyo.
First, sorry to message you all of a sudden.
I saw your blog posts about Japan, which are so organized and easy to read, with your fantastic description of each location.
So I thought the concept of your blog matches right up with the concept for this website we have in the works.
We plan to invest in some serious search engine optimization, so we plan to see lots of traffic on the site, and the more content we can put on it, the more hits we can expect to get.
Here’s a Facebook page we have up as a teaser while the site is under construction:
https://www.facebook.com/TokyoLocalGuide/?ref=ts&fref=ts
We’re looking to assimilate the content of some of your blog posts (in full) as topical content for pages on our site.
We would include a link to the original post, as well as a profile blurb at the end which would also link to your blog. It’d be a great way to give some old posts more exposure, as well as the new ones.
Plus, further down the line we could put out Japanese language versions of the same posts to bring you traffic from a larger clientele.
Or even better, if you could write posts for your blog on our web service.
It’d be great if you could collaborate with us on making content for the site as a volunteer writer.
In the process, we’d be totally open to hearing input from you, like how the design on a blog page should look. You’d be an honorary member of the company.
If you’re up for it, I’d really like to have you on our team.
Let’s make a wonderful blog platform together.
When it comes to attracting customers,I’m willing to go the extra mile.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you.
Yuta Sugawara
Hi Travis, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experiences on this blog! I’m studying 16th century Ryukyu as part my activities in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and as I researched, I stumbled upon your posts over and over so I figured it was time to drop you a line and express my appreciation. My husband’s family roots are in Okinawa, and it’s been wonderful to learn more about his cultural history in such an active, participative way. Thanks again, and I look forward to reading more of your posts!
Thanks so much for reading, and for taking the time to write this nice note! My updates continue to get more and more irregular (in terms of timing, if not content), but hopefully there’ll be some new Ryukyu content soon… Thank you.