Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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Pulp History – the Changeling Princess

18969778356_bd1e6c1f5e_oAs usual, history can be much wilder than pulp fiction.
Thinking of the Mysterious East, we often read stories of dragon ladies, of dangerous women and mysterious seductresses.
So, in the name of pulp history, consider, if you will, Yoshiko Kawashima, aka Jewel of the East or Eastern Jade.

For starters, her name was not Yoshiko Kawashima, but Aisin Gioro Xianyu, and she was a princess of Manchu origin – her father a lesser character in the Imperial Court at Beijing.
But when she was eight years old, her family sold her to a Japanese called Kawashima. She was, after all, just the fourteenth daughter.
Kawashima-san was an adventurer and a spy – and he thought that breeding a Chinese princess to become a tool of the Japanese empire might be a neat trick.
The girl’s life with Kawashima became an experiment in the thorough bending of a human mind.
It was probably more successful than Kawashima himself dreamed.
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Masterless men

I found this, here, yesterday, doing a research for something completely different.
I’m just sharing, because it is significant, and on topic, I think, and resonates with me.
Comments welcome.

“There are two paths a samurai can walk: that of a clan member, and that of a ronin, a lonely warrior. The former is highly esteemed in Japan, the latter is bitterly detested. Continue reading


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Tokyo, from the inside

cover66758-mediumThey used to say I ragazzi di Torino sognano Tokyo poi vanno a Berlino (Kids from Turin dream about Tokyo then go to Berlin).
They even made a movie, about it.
Indeed, the kids in my generation were endlessly fascinated by the East, Asia, and yes, Japan and Tokyo – we were to the forefront of the first anime and manga invasion, after all.
Most of us dreamed about Tokyo, very few made it there for more than a quick package tour, and a lot of others went to Berlin – to this day, my brother’s favorite city.

I travel with books these days, and I had quite some fun with Micael Pronko’s Beauty and Chaos.
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