Pizza and Pizza Chefs in Japan: A Case of Culinary Globalization: By Rossella Ceccarini
As suggested by the title of the book, Rossella Ceccarini provides an intriguing history and ethnography of the globalization of artisanal pizza and pizza chefs, primarily in and between Italy and Japan. The chapters of her book are each devoted to a particular vertex of a “cultural diamond” of pizza: pizza as a cultural object, Italian pizzerias in Japan as a social world, Japanese consumers as receivers, and Japanese and Italian pizzaiolos as creators. She begins with a history of pizza from its contested etymological origins in Israel and the lands of Levantine Arabic in the late tenth century, to its humble presence on the tables of the poor in Italy from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century, and its gradual popularization among not only the royalty of Italy (especially, Queen Margherita in the nineteenth century), but also the rest of the world (following the Italian migration to the United States and the Second World War). As part of this history, she traces the transformations pizza undergoes in terms of both its physical shape and in the composition of the network of actors associated with its travel (e.g. migrants and later a “package” constituted by the aforementioned vertices of the cultural diamond). In the next chapters on Italian restaurants and pizzerias in Japan from the 1950s to the present, she focuses on the historical and symbolic establishment of Italian cuisine, and in particular artisanal pizza, through the accumulation of cultural capital and signs of authenticity by chefs in Japan. Following these chapters is an analysis of the interaction between Japanese (female) consumers and Italian chefs in the mutual shaping of pizza and taste. Finally, Ceccarini describes the influence, perception, and experiences of Japanese and Italian pizzaiolos, with an emphasis on how the movement of chefs between Italy and Japan shapes both the reception of their product and their occupation. Ceccarini’s study is a valuable contribution to not only the growing literature on food in Japan and food studies more generally, but also to the relatively scarce
Hip-hop Japan
In this lively ethnography Ian Condry interprets Japan’s vibrant hip-hop scene, explaining how a music and culture that originated halfway around the world is appropriated and remade in Tokyo clubs and recording studios. Illuminating different aspects of Japanese hip-hop, Condry chronicles how self-described “yellow B-Boys” express their devotion to “black culture,” how they combine the figure of the samurai with American rapping techniques and gangsta imagery, and how underground artists compete with pop icons to define “real” Japanese hip-hop. He discusses how rappers manipulate the Japanese language to achieve rhyme and rhythmic flow and how Japan’s female rappers struggle to find a place in a male-dominated genre. Condry pays particular attention to the messages of emcees, considering how their raps take on subjects including Japan’s education system, its sex industry, teenage bullying victims turned schoolyard murderers, and even America’s handling of the war on terror.

Condry attended more than 120 hip-hop performances in clubs in and around Tokyo, sat in on dozens of studio recording sessions, and interviewed rappers, music company executives, music store owners, and journalists. Situating the voices of Japanese artists in the specific nightclubs where hip-hop is performed—what musicians and fans call the genba (actual site) of the scene—he draws attention to the collaborative, improvisatory character of cultural globalization. He contends that it was the pull of grassroots connections and individual performers rather than the push of big media corporations that initially energized and popularized hip-hop in Japan. Zeebra, DJ Krush, Crazy-A, Rhymester, and a host of other artists created Japanese rap, one performance at a time.
France in the Middle Ages 987-1460 : from Hugh Capet to Joan of Arc
Translatora s Note. Foreword. List of Illustrations. List of Genealogical Tables. Part I: The Inheritance: . 1. The Empire. 2. The Frankish People. 3. The Principalities. 4. Disturbances. Part II: Lordship:. 5. The Village. 6. The Castle. 7. The Church. 8. King and Lord. Part III: Origins of State and Nation:. 9. The Great Age of Progress. 10. Louis VII. 11. Philip Augustus. 12. The South. 13. The Thirteenth Century. 14. The Fourteenth Century. 15. The Maid of Orleans. Epilogue. Chronology. Bibliography. Index.