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Shinjū (novel)
''Shinjū'' is the title of the debut novel by American writer Laura Joh Rowland, a historical mystery set in 1689 ''Genroku-''era Japan. It is the first instalment in her long running Sano Ichirō series. Plot Sano Ichirō, a '' machikata yoriki'' (police investigator) in the city of Edo, is ordered by his superior, Magistrate Ogyu, to report that two bodies discovered in Edo Bay were a case of ''shinjū'' (ritual double-suicide by lovers). But after an illegal autopsy reveals that the dead man, Noriyoshi, was murdered, Sano quietly investigates despite his orders. The dead woman, Yukiko, belonged to the powerful Niu noble family, and Sano has to be careful not to offend as he questions Yukiko's brother Masahito and her mother, Lady Niu. Sano feels one of Yukiko's sisters, Midori, has more information, but he is shown to the door before he can question her. Sano tries to find out more about Noriyoshi, and after questioning the dead man's employer, as well as a sumo wrestler, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laura Joh Rowland
Laura Joh Rowland (born 1953) is an American detective/mystery author best known for her series of historical mystery novels featuring protagonist set in feudal Japan, mostly in Edo during the late 17th century. She is also the author of two other historical mystery series, one featuring a fictionalized Charlotte Brontë, as well an ongoing series set in Victorian England around the time of the Jack the Ripper murders. Early life Laura Joh Rowland is the granddaughter of Chinese American and Korean American immigrants. She grew up in Harper Woods, Michigan and was educated at the University of Michigan, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a Master of Public Health. She tried a number of careers after college, including chemist, microbiologist, quality engineer with Lockheed Martin, and freelance illustrator, but it wasn't until she took a writing course that she found her calling. Writer Sano Ichirō Rowland's best known work are the Sano Ichi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onnagata
, also , are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. It originated in 1629 after women were banned from performing in kabuki performances. There are many specific techniques that actors must learn to master the role of ''onnagata''. History Edo Period In the early 17th century, shortly after the emergence of the genre, many kabuki theaters had an all-female cast (, or ''kabukimono''), with women playing men's roles as necessary. ('adolescent-boy kabuki'), with a cast composed entirely of young men playing both male and female roles, and frequently dealing in erotic themes, originated circa 1612. The role of the ''onnagata'' was shaped during the Edo period as an expression of femininity that was meant to align with the femininity of real women in Edo society. Both and (or ), actors specializing in adolescent female roles (and usually adolescents themselves), were the subject of much appreciation by both male and female patrons, and were often prostitutes. Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novels Set In The 17th Century
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning 'new'. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, Medieval Chivalric romance, and the tradition of the Italian Renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, in the historical romances of Walter Scott and the Gothic novel. Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, and John Cowper Powys, preferred the term ''romance''. Such romances should not be confused with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiction Set In 1689
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with fact, history, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, fiction refers to written narratives in prose often specifically novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition and theory Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly expressed, so the audience expects a work of fiction to deviate to a greater or lesser degree from the real world, rather than presenting for instance only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood as not adhering to the real world, the theme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1994 American Novels
The year 1994 was designated as the "International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Charter, Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitting December 31. This was due to an adjustment of the International Date Line by the Kiribati government to bring all of its territories into the same calendar day. Events January * January 1 ** The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is established. ** Beginning of the Zapatista uprising in Mexico. * January 8 – ''Soyuz TM-18'': Valeri Polyakov begins his 437.7-day orbit of the Earth, eventually setting the world record for days spent in orbit. * January 11 – The Irish government announces the end of a 15-year broadcasting ban on the Provisional Irish Republican Army and its political arm Sinn Féin. * January 14 – U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin sign the Kremlin accords, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historical Mystery Novels
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categorize history as a social science, while others see it as part of the humanities or consider it a hybrid discipline. Similar debates surround the purpose of history—for example, whether its main aim is theoretical, to uncover the truth, or practical, to learn lessons from the past. In a more general sense, the term ''history'' refers not to an academic field but to the past itself, times in the past, or to individual texts about the past. Historical research relies on Primary source, primary and secondary sources to reconstruct past events and validate interpretations. Source criticism is used to evaluate these sources, assessing their authenticity, content, and reliability. Historians strive to integrate the perspectives o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of Book Publishing and Bookselling." With 51 issues a year, the emphasis today is on book reviews. History Nineteenth century The magazine was founded by bibliographer Frederick Leypoldt in the late 1860s and had various titles until Leypoldt settled on the name ''The Publishers' Weekly'' (with an apostrophe) in 1872. The publication was a compilation of information about newly published books, collected from publishers and from other sources by Leypoldt, for an audience of booksellers. By 1876, ''The Publishers' Weekly'' was being read by nine tenths of the booksellers in the country. In 1878, Leypoldt sold ''The Publishers' Weekly'' to his friend Richard Rogers Bowker, in order to free up time for his other bibliographic endeavors. Augu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quill & Quire
''Quill & Quire'' is a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry. The magazine was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimed readership of 25,000. ''Quill & Quire'' reviews books and magazines and provides a forum for discussion of trends in the publishing industry. The publication is considered a significant source of short reviews for new Canadian books. History Started in 1935 by Wallace Seccombe's Current Publications, ''Quill & Quires original editorial focus was on office supplies and stationery, with books taking on increasing importance only as Canada's fledgling indigenous book publishing industry began to grow and flourish. In 1971, Michael de Pencier purchased the magazine from Southam (who had bought it from Seccombe and owned it for just six months). ''Quill & Quire'' remained with de Pencier as part of the Key Publishers/Key Media stable for 30 years, until its sale in 2003 (as part of a large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seppuku
, also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near the end of World War II) to restore honor for themselves or for their families. As a samurai practice, ''seppuku'' was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies (and likely be tortured), as a form of capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offenses, or performed because they had brought shame to themselves. The ceremonial disembowelment, which is usually part of a more elaborate ritual and performed in front of spectators, consists of plunging a short blade, traditionally a '' tantō'', into the belly and drawing the blade from left to right, slicing the belly open. If the cut is deep enough, it can sever the abdominal aorta, causing death by rapid exsanguination. One ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shinjū
is a Japanese term meaning "double suicide", used in common parlance to refer to any group suicide of two or more individuals bound by love, typically lovers, parents and children, and even whole families. A double suicide without consent is called and it is considered as a sort of murder–suicide. Lovers committing double suicide believed that they would be united again in heaven, a view supported by feudal teaching in Edo period Japan, which taught that the bond between two lovers is continued into the next world, and by the teaching of Pure Land Buddhism wherein it is believed that through double suicide, one can approach rebirth in the Pure Land. Etymology The word ''shinjū'' is formed by the characters for and . In this usage it literally means "heart-inside" or "oneness of hearts", probably reflecting a psychological link between the participants. In popular culture In Japanese theater and literary tradition, double suicides are the simultaneous suicides of two lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
