{"product_id":"shots-in-the-dark-shoji-yamada-9780226947655","title":"Shots in the Dark: Japan, Zen, and the West","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the years after World War II, Westerners and Japanese alike elevated Zen to the quintessence of spirituality in Japan. Pursuing the sources of Zen as a Japanese ideal, Shoji Yamada uncovers the surprising role of two cultural touchstones: Eugen Herrigel's \u003ci\u003eZen in the Art of Archery\u003c\/i\u003e and the Ryoanji dry-landscape rock garden. Yamada shows how both became facile conduits for exporting and importing Japanese culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in German in 1948 and translated into Japanese in 1956, Herrigel's book popularized ideas of Zen both in the West and in Japan. Yamada traces the prewar history of Japanese archery, reveals how Herrigel mistakenly came to understand it as a traditional practice, and explains why the Japanese themselves embraced his interpretation as spiritual discipline. Turning to Ryoanji, Yamada argues that this epitome of Zen in fact bears little relation to Buddhism and is best understood in relation to Chinese myth. For much of its modern history, Ryoanji was a weedy, neglected plot; only after its allegorical role in a 1949 Ozu film was it popularly linked to Zen. Westerners have had a part in redefining Ryoanji, but as in the case of archery, Yamada's interest is primarily in how the Japanese themselves have invested this cultural site with new value through a spurious association with Zen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Shoji Yamada\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226947653\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226947655\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/29\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.10w x 0.70d","brand":"Shoji Yamada","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48064793837823,"sku":"9780226947655","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_93ab572d-c0ba-4b67-87f3-9c6ce9714a59.jpg?v=1768671091","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/shots-in-the-dark-shoji-yamada-9780226947655","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}