In this episode of the Books on Asia podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with author and translator Frederik L. Schodt, who has written/translated many books on Japan including The Osamu Tezuka Story, Manga, Manga!: The The World of Japanese Comics, The Astro Boy Essays, and My Heart Sutra: The World in 260 Characters (read our review).

But the two books we're going to talk about today are his historical non-fiction books Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan and Japan to the West, and Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan. Both books, published by our sponsor Stone Bridge Press, are accounts of American men who pioneered US-Japan relations.

Schodt talks about "Professor" Risley, an early acrobat of the mid-nineteenth century who starts his own circus that he takes to Japan. His trademark move involved juggling his two small sons with his feet. See an example of what is now known as the Risley Act in this video we found on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/VkFIkXXyDVc?si=zXfmUyeW9QBrwM_o

Risley later starts a Japanese circus that he takes touring around the world.

The other book we discuss is Schodt's biography of Native American Ranald MacDonald, who makes his way to Japan during the Edo period and ends up not just teaching English but having a hand in negotiations with Commodore Perry and the opening of Japan.

About the Author

Frederik L. Schodt is a writer, translator, and conference interpreter based in the San Francisco Bay area. He has written widely on Japanese history, popular culture, and technology. His writings on manga, and his translations of them, helped trigger the current popularity of Japanese comics in the English-speaking world. He was awarded the Special Category of the Asahi Shimbun's prestigious Osamu Tezuka Culture Award, and in 2009, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his work helping to promote Japan's popular culture overseas.

You can find him at his Website, on Twitter(X) @fschodt and on Facebook.

The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press. Check out their books on Japan at the publisher's website. Amy Chavez, podcast host, is author of Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan and The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island.

Subscribe to the Books on Asia podcast.

The Books on Asia Podcast is sponsored by Stone Bridge Press. Check out their books on Japan at the publisher's website.

Amy Chavez, podcast host, is author of Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan and The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island.

Books on Asia

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