Pierrot requiem : journey in socio-cultural issues / by Tadao Ichikawa ; co-translated by Chie Okazaki and Mary Lou Foster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ichikawa, Tadao.

Language:

English

Japanese

Subjects (All):

Civilization, Modern--1950---Anecdotes.

Civilization, Modern.

Comparative civilization--Anecdotes.

Comparative civilization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 253 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

River Edge, N.J. : World Scientific, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book is a collection of true-to-life essays which offers the reader various ways to view the socio-cultural state of the modern world as seen through the eyes of the author - a somewhat cynical but ethical Japanese professor. Through journeys in various cultures, these stories break numerous stereotypes, from the failure of higher education in Japan to the mysteries of using various types of toilets in Mediterranean Europe. The author narrates brief encounters with all aspects of society, from radical students to conservative academicians, from old-style street merchants to modern business people, from government agencies to independent artists. These stories also include lessons which, the author believes, people and society as a whole can and should learn from such encounters. The episodes highlight what is rapidly being lost across cultures in an era of globalization and the shrinking number of differences that once made every culture independent of the others. The book will captivate those who enjoy seeing another's view of the world, observing many unique 'windows' from which to view global change on a personal level. Also of interest will be the cynical but ethical assessment of the future of Japanese universities which have lost their educational principles at this critical time of survival, and the approaching IT society.

Contents:

A song in praise of Japan

Scent of a lagoon. Paris - the 13th district

Goddess in Beethoven Square

Scent of a lagoon

Preservation

Sounds in town

A beggar in Rome

Porta Rossa

Mist in Venezia

Lodging in Asolo

"Beijing coffee cantata"

Peking duck, bearing a grudge

Shanghai rhapsody

Mi amore toilette

Meet again

A clock in Vienna

Summer in Verona

La Casa

"The opportunity makes the thief"

Marco in Feltre

Battle of wits!? Trouble with transit

Battle of wits!?

Today's students - the three apparitions

All quiet on the employment front

Were Titanic to sink today

Break away from the front

Students disposition: changes during 15 years

"Bolero"

Ann's wedding

Bigi-of-Hiroshima Konami, Koro

Cuccha's view

Aberdeen

In Singapore

Tiananmen - 1989

A visit to the ganges

Sketches of Bangkok

Syndrome academia - digestive organs disease

Syndrome academia - circulatory organs disease

Syndrome academia - respiratory organs disease

Syndrome academia - senile brain disease

More than just... More than just "Coffee, tea or me"

"Babette's feast"

Toronto, Saigon - Puccini

Viva [i18n]!?

Ram ramamoorthy

The "SmithsoniSAUR"

Topknot net

An account of a Spanish adventure - 1997

Tatemae - the art of lying

"Cavalleria Rusticana"

Toilet fantasies

Democracy vs. Minshu-Shugi

"Offering my life to you"

"A room with a view"

"Kimiga-yo" - 1999

And after 50 years

Grumbles by Socrates

"Ode to heavenly joy"

A little white house in Cape Cod

Pierrot Requiem.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

ISBN:

9789812777690

9812777695

OCLC:

879025194