#snow country

[cursedaesthetic]

"Snow Country" (雪国 Yuki guni), a woodblock print;ink and colour on paper, self-carved and self-published in 1955 by Yoshida Toshi

#snow country #yoshida toshi #japanese woodblock #woodblock print #woodblock #ink #paper #winter #japanese #art #cold

[casynuf]

Chilly Night Entry to local Jagermeister competition

#art #illustration #artists on tumblr #digital art #deer #jagermeister #deerart #animal #snow country #snow #frozen

[laufire]

march reading meme!

BOOKS

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle. Letters from Watson sent this from January to March, alongside a couple of other shorts ("The Field Bazaar" and "The Man with the Watches"). An interesting thing about it is that Sherlock was portrayed as somewhat bitter on the issue of credit (he does all the work, subpar investigators take underserved glory), while he's usually, in both ACD's later works and adaptations, portrayed as ~above such feelings. "The Field Bazaar" was interesting in that, in describing why Watson is a good "foil" for Sherlock's smarts in the books, actually illuminates why I think the smart investigator/fumbling idiot dynamic just. Fucking sucks for me lol. I don't get a kick out of it, I much prefer when they pair two investigator of different talents and portray those as both interesting and helpful in their investigations.

Investigating Lois Lane: The Turbulent History of the Daily Planet's Ace Reporter by Tim Hanley. Amazing read. It takes you through the history of the character, often looking at it through the lense of real-life issues and movements, getting into the different eras, adaptations, etc. It's giving me a lot to think about, both within the dc fandom and outside it.

Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. This one I also read in substack newsletters, going for about a year, the last one being sent in March. It was a reread, and I maintain it's a book everyone should at least try to read. Inferno is by far my favourite part (the theology lessons in Paradise grate on me, in comparison).

Batman: The Ultimate Evil by Andrew Vachss. This book was written by a crime fiction author and attorney that specialices in representing children and in child abuse cases, who was approached by DC to write a book featuring Batman facing child sex trafficking. In the book, Bruce ends up discovering that his mother, Martha Wayne, was a sociologist who was investigating a child molester ring, and that's what caused their deaths. That's what caught my eye first, because really, how many canons give any weight and importance to Martha? If they opt to make the Wayne murders a conspiracy, it's always about Thomas's actions. I also appreciated that, even though the author clearly had to follow some dc-mandated lines (fictional country, individual villain), he practically hits you with a hammer when it comes to dispel a lot of the myths we have about child molesters and how they operate, specifically to challenge those dc-mandated lines. I wish we'd seen more of the social worker character, but I liked her as it was.

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. I picked this novella exclusively for vibes and not plot, and it's what it gave me. It's also made me think a lot about how men see women, and how through their eyes our selves are twisted. Komako and Yoko are fascinating characters in part for how inescrutable the male lead finds them and how he might be misunderstanding them. There's so, so much hinted under the surface, about their persons and about their relationship.

The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal. Short novelette I picked on a whim. A 60+ yo astronaut is offered a chance to travel to space again, her dream come true. She has to choose between taking it, or staying with her ailing husband, who has little time left. The story apparently later expanded on some novels/prequels, I might pick them up.

COMICS

Secret Origins 80-Page Giant. I picked this one up for Steph's story (I'm going through her comic arcs), but ended up reading all the others. It's cemented my desire to pick up the Young Justice comics. These teens are sooooo chaotic and fun lmao, all of them (back then) with such weird and interesting backstories.

Lois Lane (1986). A two-part issue that shows Lois getting in deep in an investigation about child abductions. It's gets gruesome and heavy at times, but it's a great read, specially for her character. It shows Lois at a moment that the mainline comics seem to have ignored (she missed out on a great professional opportunity due to Superman), and it shows how obsessive she gets and how that is what makes her a great investigator and reporter. I also liked the glimpse at the dynamic between her and her sister Lucy there, how dismissive Lois was of Lucy's stewardess' job, for example.

DC First: Batgirl/Joker. I don't like it as much as the early-Batgirl (2000) run but it's kind of on that vein. Barbara tells Cass about her first encounter with the Joker, and Cass is determined to prove herself against him. I loved the art as well (very different than in the cover).

#reading meme #books #comics #dc comics #my thoughts #dc thoughts #id in alt text #captioned #lois lane #investigating lois lane: the turbulent history of the daily planet’s ace reporter #divine comedy #arthur conan doyle #batman: the ultimate evil #snow country #the lady astronaut of mars #secret origins 80 page giant #lois lane (1986) #dc first: batgirl/joker

[alteredstatesstuff]

frozen mountains

#outdoors #peaceful #serene #nature #photography #landscape #beauty #fantasy #ocean #waves #snow covered #snow country #snow cone #forest #mountains #pinetree hill #pine tree forest #frozen lake

[classicwoodie]

#amazing photo #snow country

[straycalico]

My voice gives out when I’m singing for someone I know well. It’s always loud and brave for strangers.

Kamako, from Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

Art by Fumio Fujita

#snow country #yasunari kawabata #japanese literature

[bookloure]

This wrap-up is late, but whatever. February is short, and I have been busy with work and life (and I'm getting sick). I still want to push through with this, though, because I like documenting books I finished on this platform. And who knows? Perhaps you'll find recommendations as well.

February was a slow reading month, which is what I wanted. I technically finished 7 books but only counted 6 because I did not understand Song Of Solomon when I listened to it on audiobook. So yeah, here are my quick thoughts on the books I finished last month:

💭 Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield - What a strong debut. One of my top reads of the year for sure. I want to talk about this book more in another post. But for starts, I would describe this as a marine gothic, underwater horror, and a (surprisingly) tender queer love story. (a tenderness comparable to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I'd say) It's also very atmospheric. Until now, it's impressed on my brain how dim their house is. It's also an intelligent and very capable book. It has your back; you just have to trust it to take you to places. Plus, the writing is beautiful! I highly recommend!

💭 Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner - I already wrote a longer post of this book somewhere on this page. The short of it is I thought I'd like this more. I love the core themes of this book, but I wish it was more embedded in the narrative. The writing is also not strong. Albeit, I will still definitely recommend. 💭 One Hundred Love Poems ed. Gemino Abad and Alfred Yuson - As collections and anthologies go, I'm bound to like some poems better than others. I'm happy to have read this, but nothing spoke to me in this poetry collection. I also think this would have benefitted from a different arrangement of poems, perhaps by chronology. Or theme. 💭 Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata - This story is the epitome of frustrated love. It centers on one's inability to accept love and how that can destroy everyone around him. This book's writing and imagery are very striking and entirely unforgettable. I don't think this is an easy read. It's very theme- and metaphor-heavy and will benefit from guided reading. That said, I'd highly recommend this. 💭 A Thread Of Grace by Mary Doria Russell - I'm still letting this one brew, but it's already a candidate for my favorite reads of the year. I want to write a longer post about this once I have the time to write. But I will recommend this book to absolutely everyone. I think it was Milan Kundera who said that a novel's responsibility is to ask questions, not to present answers—and this is precisely what A Thread Of Grace does. For everyone who loves Historical Fiction, this is a must-read. It's well-researched and very well-written. It's a perfect book, in my opinion. And it has only about 14k reads on Goodreads, which is criminally low. 💭 Once There Was a War by John Steinbeck - I read this one for the #GameOfTomes book club, and while it isn't a favorite, I'm so glad to have read it. This book is a series of dispatches Steinbeck wrote as a war correspondent during WWII. It's fascinating to witness how reality is colored with propaganda, especially because I was reading it simultaneously with a well-researched historical fiction.

#bookblr #reading wrap up #once there was a war #a thread of grace #snow country #one hundred love poems #crying in h mart #our wives under the sea

[redheadinjapan]

Niigata Weather: Here Comes the Rain

Not only has it almost been almost a year since I first arrived in Japan, but we’re also starting to get into the rainy season (called Tsuyu), so I thought it would be a good time to talk about the weather. Specially, Niigata weather. Niigata weather is, in a word, “rainy” (or, in the winter, “snowy”), but there’s a lot more to it than just that. You can find “Niigata’s cold, rainy, and gets lots of snow in the winter” anywhere, so I wanted to break it down a little bit more.

While it is true Niigata gets a lot of precipitation, which means rain most of the year and snow in the winter, it’s not all rainy all the time. When I first got here last summer, it was hot and muggy (though people kept telling me I’d missed the worst of it) with the occasional rainy day. It wasn’t rainy all the time like I had feared after reading about the area, and when it did rain, it was usually on and off rather than continuously pouring rain. This can make the area a little dreary with lots of overcast days, but it doesn’t stop you from being able to go outside.

Summers and winters in Niigata last for a while, a little more than three months each. I was surprised because where I’m from in the US each season is about the same length, but here there’s a notable difference. Especially when it comes to fall, which lasted maybe a couple of weeks last year. It felt like we had just reached the point where the air had that crisp coolness that I associate with fall and then it was over again. Winter hit hard, starting December off with some wet snow flurries. Then, a week or two into December, it absolutely dumped snow on us. So much snow piled up in one afternoon that some of us were worried about bus/train cancellations and if we’d be able to get home (since Japan doesn’t do snow days like we do in the US). Most people said this was an anomaly, even for Niigata City, we did continue to get a decent amount of snow throughout the winter, and it seems the further inland you get, the more snow you get. A good coat and snow boots are definitely worth the investment.

The season that surprised me the most, though, was spring. It was so refreshing when the warm weather started coming in after nearly four months of cold, wet winter. I’d never seen so many blue skies in Niigata City until spring. One of the first days I noticed the clear blue sky, I took a picture of it to send to my friends in the US since it was so unusual at that point. Another day, I scrapped all of my plans for the evening to go eat by the river because it was so nice outside. Turns out, spring in Niigata is really pretty with less rain than usual and not too much humidity. Of course, this also makes for some good Sakura viewing to kick off the new season. 

Now that it’s July, I’m definitely feeling the summer heat creep up. Though it probably started in June, it’s gotten worse as the rainy season adds more humidity. I can only hope that the summer heat won’t kill me or my electric bill. Though the sunburn might. Even walking to school without sunblock is sometimes enough for me to feel the start of a sunburn. At least the rainy season doesn’t seem to mean “constant rain” so much as “more likely than usual to get a couple of days of heavy rain.” Summer is the only Niigata weather I have yet to really experience, so I’ll have to see how I fare, but so far, despite the humidity and tendency to be rainy or overcast 3/4ths of the year, it’s not as bad as I expected, so at least there’s that.

#japan #jet program #niigata #niigata weather #snow country #japan weather #weather

[deoadjuvante]

Black though the mountains were, they seemed at that moment brilliant with the color of snow. They seemed to him somehow transparent, somehow lonely.

Yasunari Kawabata, Snow Country

#snow country

[kaggsy59]

#1937Club or not? A fascinating title from Japan... #kawabata

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’m pleased that I’ve been able to include translated works for the #1937Club, and today sees another one making its appearance on the Ramblings! This book was a last minute idea, and I’m perhaps cheating slightly with the date, as it’s a work which was released in segments, then a complete version in 1937 and then revised for a later edition. The book is “Snow…

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#1937Club #kawabata #snow country

[with-reverence]

trying to get through my winter themed tbr before the spring equinox ❄️🐣❄️

#yasunari kawabata #snow country #japanese literature #currently reading #🦋 #Chantelle DeMars #mine

[laufire]

He gathered pictures and descriptions of the occidental ballet, and began laboriously collecting programs and posters from abroad. This was more than simple fascination with the exotic and the unknown. The pleasure he found in his new hobby came in fact from his inability to see with his own eyes occidentals in occidental ballets. There was proof of this in his deliberate refusal to study the ballet as performed by Japanese. Nothing could be more comfortable than writing about the ballet from books. A ballet he had never seen was an art in another world. It was an unrivaled armchair reverie, a lyric from some paradise. He called his work research, but it was actually free, uncontrolled fantasy. He preferred not to savor the ballet in the flesh; rather he savored the phantasms of his own dancing imagination, called up by Western books and pictures. It was like being in love with someone he had never seen.

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata.

#talking to the void #quotes #books #bookblr #yasunari kawabata #snow country

[dancefloors]

Right now Israel's bombing Rafah, the last refuge for a million Palestinians, where they were previously ORDERED to evacuate to and are now trapped in while the US news cycle is dominated by Big Football Game And Celebrities In Attendance (at which Israel also aired a million dollar propaganda video). I wish I could say this is unbelievable.

#two zionists lacing up their boots to take the stage while Israel is targeting mosques and areas near hospitals at the one refuge left #I actually feel like I'm going insane #and the geriatric hag at the wheel of that country who's name rhymes with snow pie den is tweeting 'ah superbowl!' #like girl get the fuck up and kill yourself first of all

[classicwoodie]

#F1 Ford #deer #snow country

[straycalico]

The nameless workers, so diligent while they lived, had presently died, and only the Chijimi* remained, the plaything of men like Shimamura, cool and fresh against the skin in the summer. This rather unremarkable thought struck him as most remarkable. The labor into which a heart has poured its whole love—where will it have its say, to excite and inspire, and when? 

Yasunari Kawabata, Snow Country

Art by Shiro Kasamatsu

*Chijimi, or Ojiya-chijimi, is a kind of cloth, painstakingly handwoven, that requires bleaching by being stretched out on the snow. In the novel, the narrator reflects on the work of the women who devoted themselves to weaving Chijimi in the winter months, when heavy snowfall left entire communities snowbound.

#snow country #yasunari kawabata #japanese literature

[kitaston]

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

#yasunari kawabata #japanese writers #snow country #books #literature