{"id":26350,"date":"2012-07-22T11:44:52","date_gmt":"2012-07-22T15:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=26350"},"modified":"2014-04-26T10:16:27","modified_gmt":"2014-04-26T14:16:27","slug":"jq-magazine-book-review-monkey-business-issue-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2012\/07\/22\/jq-magazine-book-review-monkey-business-issue-2\/","title":{"rendered":"JQ Magazine: Book Review \u2013 \u2018Monkey Business Volume 2\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

“Anyone can read this book and appreciate it. It provides a window into the heart, mind, and soul of the Japanese people following the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster.” (A Public Space)<\/p><\/div>\n

By <\/em>Greg Anderson<\/em><\/a>, (<\/em>Fukuoka-ken<\/em><\/a>, 1990-1992)<\/em> <\/em>for <\/em>JQ magazine<\/em><\/a>. Greg is part of<\/em> the fourth <\/em>class of the JET <\/em>P<\/em>rogram<\/em>,<\/em> which began in 1987. He is currently employed as an auditor with the U<\/em>.<\/em>S<\/em>.<\/em> Treasury Department<\/em> and is <\/em>a new member of the <\/em>JETAA<\/em> New York<\/em><\/a> book club.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan<\/em><\/a> is an anthology of opinions, thoughts, and stories written by some of the most prominent writers from the past and present on the subject of Japan and co-edited by Japanamerica<\/em><\/a> author Roland Kelts<\/strong><\/a> (Osaka-shi, 1998-99)<\/strong>. I love this book!<\/p>\n

Why? Because anyone can read this book and appreciate it. You do not have to be an aficionado of Japan or, frankly, be able to locate it on a map. This book provides a window into the heart, mind, and soul of the Japanese people following the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster. Just as in the United States following the events of September 11, 2001, Americans were forced to pause and consider American values, the American way of life and America\u2019s relationship with rest of the world, along with what it means to be an American.<\/p>\n

The events of March 11, 2011 were a watershed moment for the people of Japan. Nothing will ever be as it once was in Japan. The loss of life, failed technology, and deceit\/lies are themes that are all addressed in this issue of Monkey Business<\/em>, released earlier this year. What\u2019s great about this book is that there are two ways that it can be read: You can read it chronologically from page one through page 210, you can browse the index to find an interesting story, or you can simply thumb through the book (like I did), find a story that strikes your fancy, and begin reading (I assure you that you will not be disappointed).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first chapter is a compilation of writings by 17 different individuals who were asked one month after the earthquake and tsunami to respond to the question, \u201cWhat do you wish that we had in Japan?\u201d The first story is written by Shintaro Tanikawa, the poet\/lyricist of the Astro<\/em> B<\/em>oy<\/em><\/a> theme song. Astro Boy<\/em>, a nuclear powered robot created by Japan\u2019s Ministry of Science, is a comic book character that exemplifies the aesthetics of Japan. For those unfamiliar, Astro<\/em> B<\/em>oy<\/em> is the Superman of Japan. Though Astro<\/em> B<\/em>oy<\/em> was created in the 1950s he remains widely popular in Japan. In fact, in November of 2007 Astro Boy was named Japan\u2019s envoy for overseas safety.<\/p>\n

In his brief entry entitled \u201cAstro Boy Mark II,\u201d Tanikawa longs for a new version of Astroy Boy. He does not say it but it is implied that if Astro<\/em> B<\/em>oy<\/em> were around, the disaster of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident could have been averted. This story sets the tone for the first chapter. The remaining stories deal with issues of longing for simple items as a Yoko Ogawa\u2019s \u201cNightcap,\u201d or questioning the pros and cons of relying on technology such as electricity in Ted Goosen\u2019s \u201cDays Without Electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two other stories in the first chapter worth mentioning are the stories like \u201cNeighborhood Cafeterias\u201d by Tomoka Shibasaki, and Sachiko Kishimoto\u2019s, \u201cQ-Taro, The Ghost, or Doraemon.\u201d The former deals with the issue of yearning for the ordinary and mundane fixtures of a neighborhood, in particular a public cafeteria. The story suggests that in the post-tsunami, earthquake, nuclear accident Japan that a public cafeteria would assist in returning normalcy to Japan. Sachiko Kishimoto\u2019s story answers the question that was posed to the authors March 11, 2011. She wished for some sort of alien or powerful being such as a ghost or the fictional character Doraemon, who could have prevented or come to the aid of Japan during the disasters. Finally, the first chapter includes a painting entitled The Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy<\/em> by Osamu Kitamura. The<\/em> Peaceful Use of Nuclear<\/em> Energy<\/em> is a painting of a man urinating into a nuclear power plants. Its meaning is self-explanatory.<\/p>\n

The remainder of the book divides each story into a separate chapter. Some of my favorite stories are as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cSleepville\u201d by Mimei Ogawa<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cThe Futon of Totttori,\u201d a manga by Fumiko Takano based on story by Lafcadio Hearn<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cMr. English\u201d by Keita Genji<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cSleepyville\u201d and \u201cThe Futon of Tottori\u201d are both stories that could be read to a child who would enjoy it just as much as an adult. \u201cSleepyville\u201d is about a town in which all travelers upon entering become fatigued and filled with the incredible urge to sleep. A young man\u2019s goal is to reach the town and not fall asleep. \u201cThe Futon of Tottori\u201d is about a talking futon (blanket) and an innkeeper\u2019s quest to find out why the futon is talking. Finally, \u201cMr. English\u201d is a great story about Soichiro Mogi, employed at a company for 20 years as a temporary employee and nicknamed Mr. English for his fondness for making fun of other employees because of his perceived English language ability and their perceived ignorance of the language.<\/p>\n

    For an interview with Roland Kelts on the debut issue of <\/em><\/strong>Monkey Business, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Greg Anderson, (Fukuoka-ken, 1990-1992) for JQ magazine. Greg is part of the fourth class of the JET Program, which began in 1987. He is currently employed as an auditor with the U.S. Treasury Department and is a new member of the JETAA New York book club. Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan is an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,40,291,58,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articlejournalism","category-books","category-jq-magazine","category-reviews","category-roland-kelts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkZ7m-6R0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26350"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34766,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350\/revisions\/34766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}