Geoffrey Bownas's Books

Japanese Rainmaking and other Folk Practices

By: Geoffrey Bownas,Pauline Brown

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Japanese Rainmaking and other Folk Practices

By: Geoffrey Bownas,Pauline Brown

The ritual of rainmaking is one of half a dozen Japanese folk practices and festivals described in this book. The story of rainmaking ceremonies begins with personal experience and then draws on the work of Japanese folklorists to record significant local variations and to construct a general account of the history and purpose of the ceremony. Field research was conducted during study visits to Kyoto, to Tenri in Nara Prefecture and to Shiga Prefecture. The chapter order follows the year cycle, from New Year via early summer purificatory festivals and rainmaking ceremonial to the feast of Bon, which with New Year ceremonies divides the year. Alongside these community or public rites are described private or family rituals concerned with birth, marriage and death. The introductory chapter relates aspects of Japanese culture, myth and language to the constant features of folk practice recorded or extant in 1950s Japan. Originally published in 1963.

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Page Count

179

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1136550895

ISBN 13

9781136550898

Japanese Journeys

Writings and Recollections

By: Geoffrey Bownas

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Japanese Journeys

Writings and Recollections

By: Geoffrey Bownas

Geoffrey Bownas, widely known over the last half century for his writings, translations, broadcasts and commentaries relating to Japan, and an eminent Japanese Studies scholar who pioneered teaching in this field at Oxford (1954) and Sheffield (1966), has at last completed a memoir. It is both a literary triumph and a compelling read – not least for the many who have known him – as well as a historical record of some significance tracking Japan’s post-war history from abject poverty to unimaginable prosperity as the world’s second largest economy, and the ‘lost’ post-bubble years. In particular, the author includes a detailed account of his association with Mishima Yukio while preparing the Penguin New Writing in Japan, his early years in Kyoto and his experience of living in Tenri City. He also offers a critical appraisal of the Japanese aesthetic, documents an extraordinary meeting with Honda Soichiro, and takes a nostalgic journey back to the writing of his many books on Japan, including the Penguin Book of Japanese Verse (with Anthony Thwaite), Japanese Rainmaking and Other Folk Practices, and Japan and the New Europe. Equally, his involvement and input at some of Japan’s key turning points over the last fifty years make fascinating reading, such as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when he was the BBC’s interpreter, and more recently the New Kansai International Airport in the early 1990S as consultant to Watson Steel, a member of the AMEC Group.

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Page Count

296

Publisher

BRILL

Published Date

ISBN 10

9004213775

ISBN 13

9789004213777

Confucius

His Life and Thought

By: Shigeki Kaizuka,Geoffrey Bownas

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Confucius

His Life and Thought

By: Shigeki Kaizuka,Geoffrey Bownas

Concise, carefully researched, and well written, this volume presents an excellent introduction to the life and thought of one of history's most significant thinkers-a book sure to appeal to anyone interested in the philosophical, political, and religious movements of the ancient Far East.

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Page Count

212

Publisher

Courier Corporation

Published Date

ISBN 10

0486421392

ISBN 13

9780486421391

The Spirit of the Quakers

By: Geoffrey Durham

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The Spirit of the Quakers

By: Geoffrey Durham

Who are the Quakers, what do they believe, and what do they practice? The Religious Society of Friends--also known as Quakers---believes that everyone can have a direct experience of God. Quakers express this in a unique form of worship that inspires them to work for change in themselves and in the world. In "The Spirit of the Quakers," Geoffrey Durham, himself a Friend, explains Quakerism through quotations from writings that cover 350 years, from the beginnings of the movement to the present day.Peace and equality are major themes in the book, but readers will also find thought-provoking passages on the importance of action for social change, the primacy of truth, the value of simplicity, the need for a sense of community, and much more. The quoted texts convey a powerful religious impulse, courage in the face of persecution, the warmth of human relationships, and dedicated perseverance in promoting just causes. The extended quotations have been carefully selected from well-known Quakers such as George Fox, William Penn, John Greenleaf Whittier, Elizabeth Fry and John Woolman, as well as many contemporary Friends. Together with Geoffrey Durham's enlightening and sympathetic introductions to the texts, the extracts from these writers form an engaging, often moving guide to this accessible and open-hearted religious faith.

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Page Count

155

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0300175019

ISBN 13

9780300175011

Book's by Geoffrey Bownas

Japanese Rainmaking and other Folk Practices

Japanese Rainmaking and other Folk Practices

Japanese Journeys

Japanese Journeys

Confucius

Confucius

The Spirit of the Quakers

The Spirit of the Quakers

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