Talk:Ryōtarō Shiba

Ryōtarō Shiba's books on Korea

I get to know this Japanese author as following User:Orchis29's near vandalism on several articles motivated by his hatred against Korea. The editor insists on removing or minimizing Korean relations on the articles without any proof. The author seems to be revered and favored by Japanese, but not much of Korean people know his name and works. So should I thank the JPOV pusher for introducing me the author in this funny way? :P

I googled the Shiba Ryotaro and he wrote more than 2 books on Korea.

• 韓のくに紀行 (ISBN-10: 4022501022): Japanese Wikipedia even has its own article.
• 耽羅紀行 (ISBN-10: 4022555483)

and there has a relevant thesis regarding Shiba Ryotaro's perception on Korea [1]

Among prolific works of Shiba Ryotaro, a few are only translated into English, so I can't find an English citation for the works.-Appletrees (talk) 13:15, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

The books you mentioned are Shiba's "Kaidō wo Yuku" series. Shiba wrote in the series about Japan and other countries, such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Mongol, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and New York.--Mochi (talk) 13:31, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, please translate "Kaidō wo Yuku" into English rather transliterate the Japanese words. The books are also introduced as separate books into Korea. I found more his books on Korea, especially on Joseon pottery artisan, but I can't find neither Japanese nor Korean title except briefly mentioned English name of the work. The book looks intriguing to me for its subject. He seems to be considered a relatively objective writer on Korean related subjects in South Korea. --Appletrees (talk) 13:41, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

"Kaidō" means way/road connecting cities, and "Yuku" means going. So "Kaidō wo Yuku" literally means "Going on the road". Shiba traveled Japan and several countries and wrote about the culture and history of those places. They were seriesed on the Weekly-Asahi magazine (週刊朝日) and then compiled into 43 books: China 3 books, Korea 2, Namban(Spain and Portugal) 2, Ireland 2, Netherland 1, Mongol 1, Taiwan 1, New York 1, Japan 30. Shiba also wrote novels. 39 long novels are listed in the Japanese Wikipedia, and two of them are about China, others are about Japan. There're also short novels, but I don't know well them. A novel on Joseon pottery artisan seems "故郷忘じがたく候" (lit. It is hard to forget my home.), one of short novels.--Mochi (talk) 14:45, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for the information. I wish someone translates 故郷忘じがたく候 into either English or Korean in future (my Japanese is very poor) The author wrote really a lot of works, which means this article also to be expanded as well. :) -Appletrees (talk) 15:19, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Shiba handled a lot of countries. Korea is not occupying a big role in him though Korea is one of the countries that Shiba handled. For instance, the title to which the Japanese sentence study grand prize was won by "Gaido Wo Yuku" was not "Korea" and "Nanban"--Orchis29 (talk) 00:15, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree that Korea is one of several countries like Taiwan and Mongol. Meanwhile, Shiba wrote several stories about China, and it is a notable topic. 故郷忘じがたく候 is a novel about a family whose ancestor was moved from Korea to Kagoshima, Japan. The subject matter is in Japan.--Mochi (talk) 03:26, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, as I said, I didn't know the author at all until Orchis29 reverted this page without any rationale just like did to other pages. And an editor who firstly reverted Orchis29's edit claims himself as a professional translator specializing in Japanese subjects per his talk page and I trust the editor more than Orchis29's disruptive edits due to their contribution history respectively. In addition, Orchis29's lie is so obvious and I still don't believe him due to his anti-Korean sentiment and suspicious conducts. I haven't read the mentioned book (of course, I just acknowledge the author), but the subject matter of the novel still seems to link to Korea. The protagonist's activity is set in Japan but it doesn't mean that the subject matter excludes Korea because his origin is a key point of the story.--Appletrees (talk) 03:47, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Orchis29's lie

Now you admit that you have lied about fact?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ry%C5%8Dtar%C5%8D_Shiba&diff=180833094&oldid=171280537

(He is writing neither the essay of Korea nor the novel.)

You should be shameful of yourself. I wonder why you haven't appeared for 2 days which is exactly overlapped with User:Opp2's block duration. Mochi clearly mentioned about the author's novel on Korea such as 故郷忘じがたく候 --Appletrees (talk) 01:14, 3 January 2008 (UTC)