Shows
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OLRCCensorship, Religion and LiteratureA lecture by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya(1951- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on October 5, 1988 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatyana_Tolstaya#/media/File:03_Tatiana_Tolstaja.jpg
2023-04-1045 minOLRCSonya and Other StoriesA lecture by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya(1951- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on October 4, 1988 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatyana_Tolstaya#/media/File:03_Tatiana_Tolstaja.jpg
2023-04-101h 11OLRCThe Poet and His MuseA lecture by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya(1951- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on October 5, 1988 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatyana_Tolstaya#/media/File:03_Tatiana_Tolstaja.jpg
2023-04-1049 min
OLRCContemporary Soviet DramaturgyLecture by Russian playwright Edvard Radzinsky (1936- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on April 2, 1987 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program. Consecutive translation provided by Professor Gerald Mikkelson.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edva…dzinsky_01.jpg.
2023-04-1048 minOLRCRadzinsky on His Own Dramas Pt 2Lecture by Russian playwright Edvard Radzinsky (1936- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on April 3, 1987 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edva…dzinsky_01.jpg.
2023-04-101h 17
OLRCAnton Chekhov in Russian Theatre and DramaLecture by Russian playwright Edvard Radzinsky (1936- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on March 25, 1987 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program. Consecutive translation provided by Professor Gerald Mikkelson.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edva…dzinsky_01.jpg.
2023-03-2853 min
OLRCContemporary Soviet Russian TheaterLecture by Russian playwright Edvard Radzinsky (1936- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on March 27, 1987 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edva…dzinsky_01.jpg.
2023-03-281h 17
OLRCMikhail Bulgakov in Russian Theatre and DramaLecture by Russian playwright Edvard Radzinsky (1936- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on March 30, 1987 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program. Consecutive translation provided by Professor Gerald Mikkelson.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edva…dzinsky_01.jpg.
2023-03-2849 minOLRCVladimir Maiakovsky and Nikolas Erdman in Russian Theater and DramaLecture by Russian playwright Edvard Radzinsky (1936- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on March 27, 1987 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program. Consecutive translation provided by Professor Gerald Mikkelson.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edva…dzinsky_01.jpg.
2023-03-2847 min
OLRCRadzinsky on His Own DramasLecture by Russian playwright Edvard Radzinsky (1936- ) delivered at the University of Kansas on April 3, 1987 as part of the Russian Writers in Residence program. Consecutive translation provided by Professor Gerald Mikkelson.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edva…dzinsky_01.jpg.
2023-03-2856 min
OLRCSegei Zalygin on Contemporary Siberian LiteratureLecture by Russian writer Sergei Zalygin (1913-2000) at the University of Kansas on March 26, 1986. Consecutive translation provided by Professor Gerald Mikkelson.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sergey_Zalygin.jpg
2023-03-281h 43
OLRCAlexander Kushner: Poetry Reading at KUPoetry reading by Russian poet Alexander Kushner (1936- ) at the University of Kansas on October 25, 1993. Consecutive translation provided by Professor Gerald Mikkelson.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kushner_A_S.jpg#/media/File:Kushner_A_S.jpg.
2023-03-0634 min
OLRCDaniil Granin on House on the FontankaRussian Write Daniil Granin (1919-2017) speaks about his 1967 short story "The House on the Fontanka" as part of a class lecture at KU in February of 1990.
2023-02-2142 min
OLRCRasputin Interview on KANUInterview with Soviet writer Valentin Rasputin (1937-2015) conducted by Bill Comfort at the studios of KANU on March 26, 1985. The interview focuses on Raputin's novel Farewell to Matyora and begins with a reading from that novel. Consecutive translation provided by KU professor Gerald Mikkelson.
2023-02-2155 min
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OLRC0178 Swiss ElevenThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Many people have favorite numbers, but have you ever heard of a town with one? Solothurn, a picturesque town in Switzerland, is fascinated with the number eleven. It boasts eleven churches, eleven fountains, and eleven museums. Eleventh birthdays are special occasions. And if you need a time to meet, 11 is the luckiest. Eleven is even the brand name of locally produced chocolate and beer products. Why is this number significant? There’s no real consensus. Perhaps it’s because Solothurn was the eleventh member of the Swis...
2019-11-2001 min
OLRC0177 Millions at MelaThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
When I think about a holy dip, 7-layer bean dip is the first that comes to my mind…but, in the north Indian city of Allahabad, an estimated 15 million Hindus took their turn taking a holy dip into the spiritually cleansing waters where the Yamuna and Ganges rivers meet. This ritual beginning January 14th is part of a 49-day Hindu festival called Kumbh Mela and will gather together an expected, record-breaking 120 million participants, making it humanity’s largest gathering and the first to be seen from spac...
2019-11-2001 min
OLRC0176 Peppa PigThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
2019 rings in the Year of the Pig in China, and along with the usual celebrations and festivities that mark the Lunar New Year, you may find a surprising character thrown into the mix – Peppa Pig! British cartoon Peppa Pig has made a huge cultural splash since its launch in China in 2012. This charming, British family of pigs has had more than 18 billion online views. The phenomenon has even led to the creation of a contest co-sponsored by the British Embassy and Chinese online channel Yōukù
to f...
2019-11-2001 min
OLRC0175 Polar InvasionThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Global warming can be a POLAR-izing issue, but on the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Russian Arctic, thawing ice and a mass invasion of polar bears have caused a state of emergency. Unable to reach the ocean to find food, fifty-two polar bears have invaded two villages on Novaya Zemlya. More than 3,000 residents call this extreme northeast island of Europe home, and as rowdy polar bears invade apartment blocks and other living quarters, military personnel have been deployed to safeguard the local population. But both...
2019-11-2001 min
OLRCDrinking From Ceremonial CupsIn this episode we hear the story of a freshman film major at the University of Kansas whose parents are both from Cameroon. We explore the themes of home, and the connection that children of immigrants feel to the home country of their parents.
Image courtesy of Yemisi Ogbe. Released under a CC BY SA 4.0 International License. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ogbono_plantains.jpg.
2019-06-2408 min
OLRCLearning to FlyIn this episode we hear the story of a software developer from Sudan. We explore the themes of hope, discrimination, and what it’s like to leave a country that you love.
Image courtesy of Flugkerl2. Released under CC BY SA 3.0 Unported. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1963-Cessna-172D.jpg.
2019-06-2411 min
OLRCLooking To The FutureIn this episode we hear the story of an engineer and father from Morocco. We explore the themes of why people choose to leave home, and how having children affects your perspective.
Image courtesy of Hakim Dahoune. Public domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kenitra_main_pic.jpg.
2019-06-2413 min
OLRC0179 Puppets in PragueThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
If you find yourself in the Czech Republic, you may notice a peculiar number of puppet stores. American culture often casts puppets and marionettes in villainous roles, imbuing them with a sinister air to their rather harmless frames. But for the Czech people, puppets were once the protectors of their language and culture. When Prague and the Czech fell under Austrian Hapsburg rule in the 17th century, German became the language of the land with Czech being outlawed for everyone…except for puppets! Through this loophole, th...
2019-05-1001 min
OLRC0180 Blind Cricket Players in NepalThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Mankeshi Chaudhary plays cricket in Nepal where the sport is wildly popular. If you aren’t familiar with it, players use a bat to hit the ball to a wicket (or goal). Mankeshi’s team is unusual; all the players are blind or have very limited vision. But this doesn’t keep the women off the field! They play with minor modifications—the ball, bat, and wicket are larger so that players with partial sight can see them. The ball contains metal pieces which rattle so blind pl...
2019-05-1001 min
OLRC0181 Robots Enjoy Coffee TooThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
From the outside, Enjoy Café in Budapest looks like any other ordinary restaurant. However, just inside the café, a child-sized robot named “Pepper” greets customers and wins them over with his charm and antics. Little Pepper is assisted by a duo of adult-sized robots, who glide between tables to deliver Hungarian cuisine to their guests. Enjoy Café is the first cafe in the world with robotic staff and was opened by IT company E-Szoftver Fejlesztő. The company’s owner hopes to familiarize the public with automation and artifi...
2019-05-1001 min
OLRC0182 Rwandan Women in PoliticsThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Gender representation in congress has been slowly making strides, with women making up about 23% of all new “freshmen.” But did you know you are more likely to see a woman legislator in Rwanda? Due to a gender quota put in place by the government in 2003, the Rwandan Parliament has made great strides in closing the gender gap across a wide range of measures. The change is especially evident in politics,
where women hold around 60% of all parliament seats. So when will equal representation in the United Stat...
2019-05-1001 min
OLRC0183 Wales, the Land of SongThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
It’s common to hear chanting and singing at a rugby matches in the U.K., and especially in Wales, where the love of song can be traced back to 12th Century bardic tradition. Even the language, Welsh, is known for its melodic nature and as inspiration for the Tolkien elven languages, brought to life in modern cinema. In a country historically known for its mining industry, Welsh miners traditionally used song as a social activity to create community and as a temporary escape from tough wo...
2019-05-1001 min
OLRC0184 Lights Out on Lighting-UpThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Everyone wants to remain happy and healthy in the lead up to
the Olympic Games, and Japan is no exception. In light of the
upcoming 2020 games in Tokyo, the Japanese government has
revised its health promotion laws, banning smoking inside all
eating and drinking establishments. Ahead of this ban, Nagasaki
University has employed a blanket ban across their campus,
starting in August 2019. They have even gone so far as to state
that faculty who smoke will not be hired unless they promise to
‘quit the habit af...
2019-05-1001 min
OLRC0169 Pixar's Coco Dubbed in QuechuaThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Pixar’s Coco, the Oscar winning film about Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, continues to charm audiences around the world. And now parts of the film are even available in Quechua, the most widely spoken indigenous language in the Americas. Although Quechua is spoken by roughly 10 million people in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, there are very few films available for schoolchildren whose first language is Quechua. So the father-and-son team of Fernando and Dylan Valencia decided to dub scenes from Coco into Quechua, including some of...
2019-02-1301 min
OLRC0170 Russian Have Winter LickedThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Although Russia is the coldest country in the world, behind only Antarctica, Russians are fanatics about ice cream. The rich, creamy treat has a long history in Russia, but gained immense popularity during the Soviet period, when candy was not readily available. Russian ice cream is so good, that Russian plombir, an ice cream made from heavy cream and egg yolks, is viewed as a luxury product among Russia’s neighbors, especially China. But no one loves ice cream more than the Russians. Even in the mo...
2019-02-1301 min
OLRC0171 Sound Inventory in TaaThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
If you think rolling your R’s is impressive, think again! With 100 consonants, five distinct kinds of clicks and multiple tones, the Taa language spoken by a few thousand people in southern Africa is believed to have the largest sound inventory of any language in the world. Taa, which means ‘human being’, is part of the Khoisan language group spoken in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Khoisan languages have a prevalence of click consonants, and some were adopted into neighboring Bantu languages such as Xhosa, a South...
2019-02-1301 min
OLRC0172 European Capitals of CultureThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
If you’re thinking about where to go on your next international adventure, consider adding Matera, Italy and Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to your short list. They were selected as the 2019 European Capitals of Culture as two of Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Matera is known as the Subterranean City because of its characteristic dwellings built into rock caves; there are over 1000 such dwellings in Matera, often with one dwelling sitting on top of another, and roofs that act as streets. Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulg...
2019-02-1301 min
OLRC0173 The Chrysanthemum ThroneThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
When many hear the word chrysanthemum, it evokes visions of a floral arrangement. In Japan, however, it is used to describe the imperial throne. Emperor Akihito is the current head of the imperial house of Japan, the oldest continuous monarchy in the world. But the Emperor’s recent request to abdicate for reasons of declining health proved highly problematic as the Japanese government actually had to enact a law allowing him to do so. Crown Prince Naruhito is set to follow in his father’s footsteps in A...
2019-02-1301 min
OLRC0174 KalsarikännitThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Phone apps have become so common that you’d have to living under a rock to avoid hearing “There’s an app for that.” Well, now get ready to start hearing, “There’s an emoji for that!” Finland has become the first nation to create country-specific emojis. You’re probably aware of the heart emoji, but what would you make of a heart emoji covered in icicles? Or a playful looking horse with its tongue sticking out? These are two examples of the 56 emoticons created by the Finnish gove...
2019-02-1301 min
OLRC0161 Catch and ReleaseThis is Randi Hacker with my final Postcard from Abroad from the International Centers at the University of Kansas.
There’s a Buddhist parabola that goes like this:
A monk went on a journey. As he was walking, he came to a river, so he built himself a raft of logs and used it to get to the other side. When he reached the opposite bank, he said to himself: “This is a useful raft, I better take it with me.” And he hoisted it on his back and continued walking. After a while he realized that carrying a raft is not...
2019-01-1001 min
OLRC0168 Elves in IcelandThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
The majority of people in Iceland believe in elves, at least to some extent. According to lore, huldufólk (or hidden people) look like tiny humans with pointed ears; they live inside big rocks, and are peaceful unless you disturb their homes. When that happens, mishaps like freak accidents, theft and illness seem to occur. As a result, Icelanders make sure to keep their elves happy. Construction companies hire consultants to check proposed sites for elvish rocks before breaking ground and roads are often rerouted to a...
2019-01-1001 min
OLRC0167 Small TalkThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
Small talk between strangers may be the norm for Americans, but our desire to exchange pleasantries in this way is not shared worldwide. While we might appreciate the grocery clerk asking about our weekend plans or the hairstylist enquiring about our kids, this type of banter can come off as puzzling to many of our international visitors. For those raised outside of the U.S., the seemingly feigned interest that Americans exhibit toward one another may seem superficial and overly personal. When unprompted conversations with strangers...
2019-01-1001 min
OLRC0166 Central America's Pastime LivesThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
KU takes great pride in owning the original handwritten rules to basketball, but the game is far older than James Naismith. Basketball can actually be traced back to the Central American game of ulama, which has been played for about 3500 years. The Olmecs, whose name translates to “rubber people,” created a game in which players tried to get a cantaloupe-sized rubber ball through a small elevated hoop using only their hips or forearms; the hard part was that the ball weighed about nine pounds, leading inevitably to s...
2019-01-1001 min
OLRC0165 Turkish DelightThis is John Kennedy with another Postcard from Abroad from the University of Kansas.
If you like ice cream, you should definitely visit Turkey. The ice cream there is called dondurma— and it’s thick, sticky and slow to melt… and vendors love to tease customers when serving it up. One of the most common pranks is to offer the customer a cone and then to snatch it away just as the customer reaches for it. Thanks to its thick, sticky texture, vendors can tip cones upside down and twirl them around without the dondurma falling off—always keeping the cone jus...
2019-01-0901 min
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OLRC0160 Limber LizardsThis is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Like Tom Cruise in a movie about an impossible mission, Green and Brown Anoles are great climbers and sometimes have to hang on for dear life. If you travel to the Caribbean, you’ll no doubt find these tiny lizards. They’re everywhere! Anoles have adapted to their environment with active camouflage and exceptionally sticky toes. However, last year’s devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean stripped bare and uprooted many trees. You might think that anoles couldn’t survive, but you would be...
2018-11-0701 min
OLRC0159 China's "Airpocalypse"This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Confucius Institute.
Mao Zedong famously said, “Women hold up half the sky.” Until recently, that sky has been so polluted with coal particulates that sometime brought the air index reading up to as high as 500 on a scale where 50 is considered okay. There’s an astonishing photo of a plane over Beijing in a sky so dark that it and the city below it can barely be seen. But a government crackdown on the burning of coal and a widespread shift to natural gas has had a dramatic effect...
2018-11-0701 min
OLRC0158 Parch MarksThis is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU office of International Programs.
Brits might be lamenting the heatwave, but the freak conditions have made this summer one of the best for what archeologists call “parch marks” – ghostly, pale outlines of vanished castles, settlements, and burial sites that materialize when the land dries out and grass and crops die off. Archeologists in light aircraft, residents with drones, and even people walking through their local parks have discovered Iron Age farms in South Wales, a Roman road near Basingstoke, burial mounds in Ireland, and the outline of Second World...
2018-11-0701 min
OLRC0157 Sound JudgementThis is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the Kansas African Studies Center.
With pulsing beats coming from their car stereo and fingers tapping the steering wheel, another happy customer leaves the parking lot of locally-owned Shosh Sounds Systems here in Nairobi. Not only does this happy customer drive away with a newly installed sound system but their system is also equipped with the most recent technological innovations. And who do they have to thank? Great-grandmother Cecilia Wangari. In her late 70s, Cecilia’s nimble fingers know their way around a car stereo, and being part of this fa...
2018-10-1001 min
OLRC0156 Japan's HikikomoriThis is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.
While many cultures have people who live in solitude, Japan’s hikikomori ironically win the prize for sheer crowed size. The word hikikomori literally translates as “pulling inward” or “being confined”, and the 2016 Japan census revealed that at least 540,000 Japanese citizens between the ages of 15 and 39 had not left their homes in 6 months or longer. Because most hikikomori prefer to stay completely hidden, the number could be as high as 1 million. Their reasons for withdrawing are likely related to the strong pressure to succeed in...
2018-10-1001 min
OLRC0155 Chocolatine ConundrumThis is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for Global and International Studies.
A French pastry has been hotly contested for decades. The debate even got political. I refer to the multi-layered, buttery croissant with a chocolate center. You may call it pain au chocolat – 60% of France does. Yet 40% call it chocolatine. These people live in southwestern France and argue that their name is as important as pain au chocolat. They believe that chocolatine, along with the other, should become official names of the pastry. This would highlight the cultural significance of the region and dr...
2018-10-1001 min
OLRC0154 Russian Retiree RevoltThis is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.
Most Americans look forward to retirement – a time to pursue hobbies, spend time with family, and travel. In Russia, it’s the same and that’s why outraged senior citizens gathered in 39 cities to protest the government’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65 for men, and from 55 to 63 for women. Because so many Russian men die in their 60’s, there is real concern that “they’ll get their pensions in their coffins.” Some call the retirement age hike a “true cri...
2018-10-1001 min
OLRC001 It's Okay to Stand UpI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Standing on the Ginza, Tokyo’s primo shopping zone, one sees the expected: people in a hurry to shop until they drop, and the unexpected: people eating standing up at the counters of a McDonald’s franchise. Why is this unexpected? Because it bucks some 2,000 years of Japanese tradition. For millennia, Japan’s complicated rules of etiquette have codified what is done and what is not done when it comes to lunch. In fact, back in the 8th Century, pouring wine while standing was consider...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC002 They Beat Us At the InternetI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Greetings from South Korea, hi-tech Mecca. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, practically the entire country now has access to broadband speeds of up to 20 megabits per second. Compare that to a paltry 4 megabits per second in the United States and it’s clear that South Korea has zipped past Silicon Valley in a major way. Economic crises of the late 1990s sent South Korea barreling down the hi-tech autobahn to save the country’s bottom line. These days, companies from Asia to America are tu...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC003 Disney's Got Feng ShuiI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
In the world of theme parks, feng shui has not played much of a role. After all, if you can’t sell it or ride it, what’s the point? So why is Disney spending big money on a feng shui consultant at its newest theme part in Hong Kong? In a word: karma. According to the New York Times, Disneyland Paris was “roundly criticized for being culturally insensitive” which turned out to be bad for the bottom line. Hong Kong Disneyland wants to avoid this...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC004 Hipuhopu HeapI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Yo. Do you think the US has the corner on hip-hop? Well, move over Eminem and Black Eyed Peas. Loop Junktion and Rip Slyme are coming through…at least in Japan. The movement migrated to Japan back in the 80s but remained underground until 1995. Now hip-hop – or hippu- hoppu as it’s known there – is the fastest growing segment in Japanese music and these two bands are at the top of the hippu-hoppu heap. Rip Slyme’s founder RyoZ was quoted on the Japan Beat website...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC005 Nature of the DMZI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
When most people hear “Korean Demilitarized Zone” they don’t flash on a fish called the kumgang fat minnow, and yet this fish and other flora and fauna are thriving here in the DMZ. Why? Because this narrow strip of land is the final Cold War frontier where few humans have gone for over 50 years. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that 80 species of fish swim in DMZ rivers, hundreds of different birds fly through DMZ airspace, and big cats prowl the zone’s jungles. There are...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC006 Ame for Every OccasionI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Legend has it that the Arctic Inuit have hundreds of ways to say “snow.” Linguists now tell us that this is just another urban myth. It’s a fact, however, that the Japanese have hundreds of words for “rain.” Among them konuka ame, literally rice bran rain, a light drizzle that barely gets you wet and namida ame, “tears rain”, a gentle shower more depressing emotionally than significant meteorologically. Ecologist Kenneth Wilkening says that Japan is a veritable culture of rain. The islands are dependent on abu...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC007 Ramen TownI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
If you need proof that Japan is the noodle capital of the world, consider the Ramen Museum in Yokohama which is devoted obsessively to these inexpensive Chinese delicacies. Ramen is ubiquitous and popular, a staple food of poor college students the world over, and this is ramen's shrine. The museum walls are adorned with instant ramen packets from around the globe; wall-mounted TVs show continuous loops of ramen commercials, and the invention of cup ramen is celebrated. The museum also houses “Ramen Town” a mini-h...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC008 Communist GetawayI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Greetings from North Korea, Your Vacation Paradise! Huh? It’s true: 1500 Western tourists, along with thousands from Asia, visit the last bastion of Communism every year. "Holidays in the Axis of Evil," a BBC Radio series, has reported some of the more surreal sights to be seen in Pyongyang: There’s Restaurant Street, filled with food outlets . . . all of them empty. And the International Friendship Museum featuring an exhibit of gifts given to the Eternal – and dead – leader Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong-I...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC009 ChopsticksI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Chopsticks. Whose fault are they, anyway? They were invented in China 5,000 years ago. After Confucius decreed that no knives be allowed at the table of the righteous man, chopsticks went on to become the utensil of choice throughout Asia. It has been said that using chopsticks improves memory, promotes learning, and encourages manual dexterity. This last benefit took an interesting modern twist recently. According to The Korea Times, South Korean stem cell researcher, Hwang Woo-suk, contributed a major cloning breakthrough to his mastery of th...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC010 Renewable MongoliaI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Chopsticks. Whose fault are they, anyway? They were invented in China 5,000 years ago. After Confucius decreed that no knives be allowed at the table of the righteous man, chopsticks went on to become the utensil of choice throughout Asia. It has been said that using chopsticks improves memory, promotes learning, and encourages manual dexterity. This last benefit took an interesting modern twist recently. According to The Korea Times, South Korean stem cell researcher, Hwang Woo-suk, contributed a major cloning breakthrough to his mastery of th...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC011 Tibet TrainI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
They said it couldn’t be done! The terrain was too barren, the mountains too lofty, the task too ambitious. But the Railroad at the Top of the World linking China with Tibet is proceeding apace. Not surprising. China has a long history of doing what the rest of the world considers impossible. Think Great Wall. Think Three Gorges Dam. When the railroad is finished in 2007, it will run 695 miles from Lhasa to Golmud at nosebleeding heights of up to 16,000 feet above sea level. Opin...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC012 Magic Book BagI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
It’s a book bag! It’s a GPS system! It’s the Oribie Navi Land and it’s two, two, two things in one. Available in Japan, the $300 device is a book bag that uses the same technology as GPS cell phone fusions: with an embedded Global Positioning System chip to help you keep tabs on your kids’ whereabouts. This modern update on ‘call me when you get there’, fits neatly into the longstanding Japanese obsession with safety; checking their GPS maps, parents will know exactl...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC013 Elected Super GirlI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Li Yuchun is China’s newest singing star and she has Beijing shaking in its shoes. It’s not her notes that are worrying the government but her votes. See, more than 400 million people watched the final episode of the American-idol like “Supergirl” show and over 3 million of them cast their vote for her using their unmonitored cell phones. For the first time, citizens of China felt the rush of choosing their own winner. What’s so scary about that? Well, as a Beijing pollster com...
2018-09-2100 min
OLRC014 Naming NuancesI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
With 8,000 years of history behind them, Chinese naming conventions are well-established. For “well-established” read “numerous.” Here are just a few: surname comes first and given name, last. So, for example, Deng Xiaoping is Mr. Deng not Mr. Xiaoping. Siblings and cousins in one generation often share a common character in their given names. So, for instance, Deng Xiaoping’s brother is named Deng Liaoping. Politics can even influence name choices. Thus, during the Cultural Revolution, the name Hong was popular because it means “red” or “revolution”...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC015 Sea WomenI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Here on tiny Mara Island just south of Korea, women are the breadwinners and men take care of the children, do the shopping and, feed the pigs. The women are pretty successful, too: typically earning upwards of $30,000 a year. But hold on, girls. Before you book your ticket, consider what the women do to earn that bread: Deep sea diving. No scuba gear. Collecting sea treasures to sell. Still interested? There should be plenty of job openings: after 1,700 years, the end is at hand: 85% of...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC016 Gold FarmingI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies
Hard work pays off, but it doesn’t have to be YOUR hard work! Especially not in the Age of Outsourcing. Small companies called “gaming factories” have sprung up all over China. In these warehouses, young Chinese gamers work 12-hour days and earn up to -$250 a month playing on-line video games, collecting wealth and experience and selling their character’s progress to those too busy – or simply too impatient – to do it themselves. So how much does a jump to say, level 60 on World of Warcr...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC017 Black Market ShakespeareI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies
Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il have long cornered the Dark Lord market here in North Korea, but it looks as if they’re going to have to share the limelight with Voldemort himself. Harry Potter books, Britney Spears CDs, and even literature the likes of Romeo and Juliet and Jane Eyre have found their way into Pyongyang via a thriving black market. No wand-waving will magically remove the government’s propaganda books, music, and TV programs from the secretive state’s bestseller lists, b...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC018 Whitewashed HistoryI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Japan has often been criticized for trying to whitewash its history of conquest and colonialism. First there were those school textbooks that skim over Japanese war crimes, then there were the prime minister’s visits to the Nationalist Yasukuni shrine; and now there’s Yuko Tojo. To most of the world, General Hideki Tojo was a war criminal on par with Hitler and Mussolini but to Yuko, he’s grandpa and she is campaigning to improve his image. She travels with a box of Tojo-ian...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC019 Company Song ComebackI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies
Back in the days of Japan’s high-growth economy, salarymen across the country raised their voices in song: company song, that is. The equivalent of the university fight song, the Japanese company song embodied corporate values and was designed to instill shafu, company spirit, in employees. Japan’s economic bust of the early 1990s brought a decline in workplace warbling but now, as the nation shows signs of recovery, the company song is making a comeback. Japan’s largest retailer, Ito Yokado, for example, has its...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC020 Kimchi WarsI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Long ago, in a country far, far away (Korea) a pickled vegetable dish was born and it was called kimchi and its fans became legion. So legion, in fact, that 90% of kimchi production ended up being outsourced to China. Then one day parasite eggs were discovered in some Chinese kimchi and South Korea ordered the shipment destroyed. In a so there move, China discovered parasite eggs in some Korean kimchi and banned further Korean imports. Thus the kimchi wars began. Can two countries with a...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC021 Feeling Flush for the OlympicsI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
The whole dream job concept is relative. Just ask Yu Bao Ping or Lou Ya and her husband Ou Zhi Sheng. They are part New China’s new toilet attendant vanguard. Yu Bao Ping was happy to trade the backbreaking labor of farming for toilet cleaning. Lou Ya and her husband are grateful for the steady paycheck and rent-free accommodations: The couple lives in a tiny room attached to one of the luxurious public lavatories built for the 2008 Olympics. For these three Beijing residents, toil...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC022 Great Wall StarbucksI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies
For roughly 2,000 years, the Great Wall – or chang cheng in Chinese -- has snaked more than 4,000 miles through China’s topography doing its duty: deterring invasions from the North. It has been somewhat less successful at deterring invasions from the West: neither its width of 5 meters nor its height of 10 has proven effective against consumerism in the form of designer coffee. That’s right. Starbucks has opened a new store at badaling, 47 miles outside of Beijing and right along the Great Wall. When you think ab...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC023 Spell 'Cool' K-O-R-E-AI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Here in Beijing’s Xidan shopping center, the hot shop is Korea City and the hot ticket items include hip-hop clothing, movies, music, cosmetics and other products that bespeak Korean chic, and Chinese youth are snapping them up. It doesn’t matter that some of the things – like New York Yankees baseball caps or Japanese Astro Boy dolls— have nothing to do with Korea. Nor does it matter that most of this stuff was made in China to begin with. It’s the Korean Wave and you...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC024 Fighting Old FolksI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
What could be dearer to a grandmother’s heart than her grandchild’s smile? Well, for several septuagenarian South Korean grandmas, smashing wooden tiles with their heads comes close. These grandmas are studying taekwondo and many of them have already earned high level black belts. Taekwondo is a martial art from Korea characterized by fast, high and spinning kicks. Many young men have to learn it as part of their military service. Presumably these grandmas have the equivalent of a 4F classification, so they’re takin...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC025 Kanji TVI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Let the French have their Academie Francaise, in Japan they’re harnessing the power of television for language quality control. The shows are called kokugo (or national language) and they were designed to counteract a national slump in both writing kanji characters and semantic knowledge. Viewers of “Quiz! Nihongo-O!” for example were shocked to find that more than half the contestants were unable to write the third-grade level kanji for “nose.” And on “Anata setsumei dekimasu ka? (Can you explain it?),” celebrities were flummoxed when asked to ex...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC026 Gateball, The Shuffleboard of JapanI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
When it comes to Japanese sports, most people think sumo or karate, not . . . gateball. What is gateball anyway? Well, it’s a game not unlike croquet invented to address the lack of healthy recreation for Japanese youth. Back in 1947, rubber was expensive, but wood was cheap, so Suzuki Kazunobu came up with a game where players use mallets to knock wooden balls through gates. This slow-moving sport was a flop with the young, but was embraced by the elderly, becoming something of the shuffleboard of J...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC027 SlowbotI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Here in Asia, Japanese running robots are so last season! If you’re in the market for a cutting-edge, network-upgradeable motorized pal – and who isn’t? – South Korea is where you want to shop. Robotis unveiled its RX model in February and claims it to be superior to Sony’s QRIO in a couple of ways: not only can it be upgraded from an outside network, it also recognizes your face and voice. Standing a hair short of two feet tall, with a top running spee...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC028 Hammocks for Rigid HeartsI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
If there is such a thing as a Japanese national hangup, it might be rigidity. Well, Hammock 2000 aims to help the Japanese relax both physically and, they hope, psychically. Hammock 2000 makes, hi-tech hammocks that fold up and fit into tiny spaces that the Japanese call home. The founder of the company believes that futons have contributed to the stiffness of the Japanese national character and that hammocks, with their flexibility and ability to mold to the shape of the body, can have an ameliorating ef...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC029 KungFu IdolI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
First there was Pop Idol. Then there was American Idol. Soon there will be Kung Fu Idol. Well, technically this is not the title of the show but it might as well be. The show's goal is to find the greatest kung fu master in China and to star this person in a kung fu movie to be produced by the Shaolin monks. Shaolin is well known for its Zen practices and excellence in martial arts. In fact, Shaolin's brand of martial arts has in...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC030 Potty Training Gone Terribly WrongI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Historians discussing the causes of Japanese imperialism usually mention things like resource scarcity or the pathologies of modernization. In 1942, however, Western explanations of Japan's international aggression were less hifalutin and more high colonic. Back then, the anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer advanced the theory that Japanese brutality on the battlefield was caused by traumatic childhood experiences, namely (quote) "the learning associated with the control of the gastro-intestinal tract," that is, "drastic toilet training". Happily, Western understanding of Japan has improved over the years and today no on...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC031 Full of Cynical ChildrenI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Goodbye Hello Kitty. Here in South Korea, kid merchandise is evolving from cutesy to snarky. Products with messages such as “Good job” are being replaced by products with messages such as “Mind your own business!” SSBA stationery is a primo example of just how well nasty sells. SSBA is an allusion to a well-known Korean swear word roughly translatable as “expletive deleted”. SSBA is doing a land office business among cynical Korean youngsters, and it’s not alone. A recent art exhibit that featured pictures of cold...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC032 You Are Never Alone in ChinaI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Here in China, you are never alone. Young couples holding hands and strolling. Citizens practicing tai chi in the park. Elderly women ballroom dancing with one another on the river front balustrade. Men with their donkey carts collecting night soil or sorting through trash. Women sweeping the sidewalks with brooms made of twigs. Business types walking swiftly to an unknown destination, chatting on their cell phones. Restaurateurs squatting outside their restaurants cleaning their bamboo steamers while live carp swim round and round in basins wa...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC033 China vs. ScotlandI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Guess what? The Chinese are now claiming golf as their invention. Of course, they didn’t call it golf; they called it chuiwan, which means “hit ball” and is much harder to say. The Scots are not convinced. So what if 14th century silk paintings show Chinese courtiers playing a game using clubs to hit a small white ball into holes in the ground? Who cares if a book about the game was published as early as the 13th century? The Scots have some question...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC034 First Emperor OperaI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Qin shi huang di was the first emperor of China back in the 3rd Century BC. Qin for the dynasty. Shi for first. Huang for emperor and di for emperor. The First Emperor unified China, standardized the language and started building the Great Wall. Now a veritable pantheon of Chinese talent is collaborating to produce The First Emperor, an opera about this legendary leader: director Zhang Yimou will stage it, author Ha Jin will pen the libretto, and Oscar-winner Tan Dun will compose the mu...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC035 The Friendlies Will Get YouI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
China has the world’s largest population, the tallest mountain, the longest wall and now…the most Olympic Mascots. Five. That’s two more than Sydney had in 2000. They call these mascots the Olympic Friendlies and their names are Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini which, when said together -- Beijing huan ying ni -- means Welcome to Beijing. They are a fish, a panda, an Olympic flame, a Tibetan antelope and a swallow and they symbolize everything from China’s diversity to the Olympic Ri...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC036 Space KimchiI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
In space, no one can hear you scream…but did you know that in space no one can detect your smell either? The smell-taste connection means that food in space is not only weightless but tasteless, too. What’s a flavor-starved astronaut to do? Never fear: kimchi is here. Ever since Korea decided to put a Korean national into orbit, the race to produce a space-friendly version of Korea’s unofficial national food heated up. The picante pickled cabbage is a great choice for space fo...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC037 Detective FictionI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Detective fiction in the West celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. Of course, the detective genre has been around for way longer here in China. The Casebook of Judge Dee was written about 300 years ago. Robert van Gulik, a Dutch diplomat, translated three cases into English in 1976 and then went on to create stories of his own. The real Judge Dee was a canny Confucian magistrate back in the Tang Dynasty. Dee used some techniques that are amazingly modern: forensics, stoolies, stake outs. He al...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC038 Lonely LadiesI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Lee Yu-jin sleeps with a “guy pillow” shaped like half a man’s torso with one arm inexplicably encased in the sleeve of a blue dress shirt. Hong Yun-jeong confides in Dori-Dori, a little doll that sits on her desk and answers questions with a nod or shake of her voice-activated head. Is it any wonder we’re a bit worried about South Korea? Both the “guy pillow” and Dori-Dori belong to a new South Korean market niche comprised of products aimed at providing solace to lost...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC039 Smelly MoviesI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
If you ask some people in Japan what they think of the movie The New World, starring Colin Farrell as John Smith, they might tell you it stinks. But they won't necessarily mean that as an insult. A company that makes aromatherapy machines for homes has developed a fragance-emitting machine to go with this movie. Seven fragrances from rosemary to peppermint are available to be "played" along with The New World. As characters walk through the woods, for example, a scent of pine may wa...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC040 Breast IncreaseI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
As frogs are to the ecosystem, are breasts a bellwether item for the state of a market economy? Could be. According to research done by the Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology – yes, you heard that right – better nutrition and sports have caused the average Chinese chest size to increase about 1 centimeter over the past 10 years, and bra producers in China are scrambling to offer bigger cup sizes. Of course, in the more advanced market economies it is understood that enhanced breast size is not contin...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC041 Divorce EconomyI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Is divorce good for the economy? Some market analysts in South Korea would answer with a resounding “geu rum yo!” That’s “Yes!” in Korean. Korea's rapidly rising divorce rate seems to have softened the stigma attached to marrying a second time and an entire new industry is growing up and thriving because of it. For example, there are special wedding halls like Petit Wedding in Seoul dedicated to those who are tying the knot again. Those re-marrying tend to be more discerning in choosing the...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC042 Goldland Super Mine AdventureI'm Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Gold, or huang jin in Chinese, has been cultural capital for centuries. From pagoda roofs to entrepreneurs' teeth, gold spells success. Enter GoldLand, a new and exciting theme park dedicated to the precious metal. Located in an active mine in Shandong Province, GoldLand invites visitors to try their hand at mining and to eat "golden lotus roots", a snack named after the most sensual novel in Chinese history. If you’re planning a visit, don’t forget your shades: the amount of glittering paraphernalia could be b...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC043 Must Rename GoogleI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
Here in China, foreign brand names are transliterated with marketing in mind. A transliteration that combines propitious meaning and harmonious sound is a marketer’s goal. Coca Cola is a case in point. In China, it is called ge kou ge le meaning “happy mouth.” Alas, it doesn’t always work out so neatly. Take Google for example. Its Chinese name gu ge means “valley song” which might seem innocuous, maybe even poetic, to us but which has caused some netizens in China to feel “ill” and...
2018-09-2101 min
OLRC044 Whale BlameI’m Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.
The Japanese have taken small numbers of whales from their coastal waters for centuries, but Japan only began deep-sea whaling in the 1930s, selling the whale oil to soap makers in Europe and using the profits to fund imperial expansion. During World War II, Japanese whaling came to an end, as the nation's whaling fleet was sunk by Allied bombs and torpedoes. After the war, Japanese whaling looked all washed up, but unexpectedly strong support from Douglas MacArthur's occupation forces revived the industry. American pl...
2018-09-2101 min