The History of Left-Handedness: Persecution and Celebration in the European World

Written by Pierre-Michel Bertrand, translated by Takeshi Kubota (Hakusuisha, published July 2024)

• How prejudice arose and was eliminated Throughout the history of Europe, the left hand has been considered an "evil hand" and left-handed people have been discriminated against. In European languages, there are many idiomatic expressions that describe the right hand as "auspicious" and the left hand as "unlucky." Furthermore, from ancient magical beliefs to Christianity, the right hand has been considered a symbol of "holy" or "good," and the left hand a symbol of "unclean" or "evil." In masterpieces of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Eve often picks the forbidden fruit with her left hand. However, it is not necessary to wait for the southpaw in modern sports; it has been recognized since ancient times that there are situations in which left-handed people have an advantage, for example, in combat. On the other hand, there was a time when intolerance spread in the name of equality, and there is also a tendency to associate left-handedness with genius as the flip side of prejudice. The road from prejudice to its elimination was full of twists and turns. This book explores the history of tolerance and intolerance towards left-handed people, spanning the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. It is a cultural history packed with fascinating stories, including the change in table manners from the Middle Ages, how art historians can tell which hand an artist used from a painting, and the modern Western way of thinking seen through the "superiority of the right hand."

The French Wars of Religion

Written by Nicolas Le Roux, translated by Takeshi Kubota (Hakusuisha, published August 2023)

• Between 1562 and 1598, eight religious wars were fought in France. These were not only religious conflicts, but also factional struggles between the nobility. In the early 16th century, Luther's ideas began to spread in France. This was a time when printing technology developed remarkably, and the Bible translated into French allowed people to read God's Word directly. This return to the original purity of Christianity became a "protest" against the Old Church. On the other hand, printing was also used for satirical and slanderous writings, which raised people's political consciousness and led to unprecedented wars. Plots, assassinations, manifestos... The nobles always carried swords and began to draw them without hesitation, and the chivalry of the past was lost. This book depicts the role that the religious wars played in the significant politicization of French society.

Madness, Language, and Literature

Michel Foucault, translated byTakashi Abe and Fukuda Miyuki (Hosei University Press, September 2022)

• Madness, language, and literature have long occupied a central position in Foucault's thinking. The position of the madman in society and civilization, baroque theater, the relationship between madness and language in the works of Artaud and Roussel, literature and the extralinguistic, Balzac and Flaubert, literary analysis and structuralism. Constantly reconstructing the questions, the new light that illuminates these thematic systems offers new scope and possibilities for Foucault's thinking. Unpublished lectures and texts. First translation in Japan!

The Old Testament in 100 Words

Written by Thomas Roemer, translated by Takeshi Kubota (Hakusuisha Bunko Quessais, published in June 2021)

• The Bible, the product of long tradition and revision, is explored through 100 themes, including important people, anecdotes, regions, motifs, social customs, and religious rituals.

100 quotes from thinkers

Written by Laurence Devillers, translated by Takeshi Kubota (published by Hakusuisha Bunko Quessais, April 2019)

• This book takes up quotes from leading thinkers from ancient Greece to the early 21st century and explains them from a unique perspective. The quotes are from a wide range of thinkers, including philosophers and theologians, as well as social thinkers. Each of them has their own writing style, and the author states that "they are all beautiful writers." A thought-provoking collection of quotes from Heraclitus to Sloterdijk.

Manet's paintings

Michel Foucault, translated by Takeshi Abe (Chikuma Gakugei Bunko, February 2019)

• This book uses 13 paintings to explain the techniques and fashion of painting that Manet brought to 19th century art history. It also includes a posthumous symposium by Foucault, in addition to the transcript of his legendary lecture.

Bunraku Japan - The Body and Scream of Puppets

Written by François Bizet, translated by Nobuko Akiyama (Misuzu Shobo, 2016)

• An experiential theory on Bunraku by a French critic who has lived in Japan for ten years and studied Gidayu himself. His criticism, which draws on Bataille and Guyotat and is linked to Roland Barthes's "L'enfant d'Symbols", is fresh and fascinating, and will completely change the way you view Bunraku. A theory on physical arts filled with originality and esprit.

Pile of bones

Written by Antoine Volodine, translated by Kouichirou Hamano (Suiseisha, 2015)

• In the spirit of the Orbis, Maria Samarkand fought for the Colony with her husband Jean and was sent to a concentration camp. In an apocalyptic world where even hope for revolution has been lost, Maria and Jean weave a sad but beautiful book of dreams. A novel on confinement by the eccentric founder of the new literary movement known as Post-Exotism, who continues to create his own unique worldview under multiple pen names.

Collection of translated novels (New Japanese Classical Literature Series, Meiji Edition, Vol. 14)

Annotated by Nobuko Akiyama et al. (Iwanami Shoten, 2013)

Aesthetics and Art: With Research Essays (Diderot's Collected Works, Volume 4)

Edited by Hisashi Ida et al. (Hosei University Press, 2013)

The birth of a writer

Written by Alain Vialat, translated by Takeshi Kubota et al. (Fujiwara Shoten, 2005)

The Work of 18th Century Scholars: Intellectual Autobiography

Edited by Sergey Karp, translated by Nobuko Akiyama et al. (Hosei University Press, 2008)

History of the Body I: 16th-18th Centuries, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment

Written by Alain Corbin et al. Translated by Hisashi Ida et al. (Fujiwara Shoten, 2010)

Governance of the Self and the Other Lectures at the Collège de France 1982-1983

Michel Foucault, translated by Takashi Abe (Chikuma Shobo, 2010)

From books to reading

Written by Roger Chartier, translated by Toshikazu Tsuyuzaki et al. (Misuzu Shobo, 1992)

Under the Blade

Written by Mandiargues, translated by Toshikazu Tsuyuzaki (published by Hakusuisha in 1996)

Michel Foucault

Written by Frederic Gros, translated by Toshikazu Tsuyuzaki (published by Hakusuisha, 1998)

Historical Encyclopedia of Paris

Written by Alfredo Fierro, translated by Zenta Araki et al. (Hakusuisha, 2000)

The Complete Works of Molière (10 volumes)

Edited by R. Gishmer, Masayoshi Hirota, and Nobuko Akiyama (Rinkawa Publishing, April 2000 - March 2003)
* Winner of the 10th Japanese-French Translated Literature Award

• All the works are new translations, many of which are by Nobuko Akiyama, an up-and-coming Molière scholar. As the translator is a young scholar, the translations are easy to understand for today's young readers, and the titles of the works have also been updated. At the beginning of the first volume, there is "The Ballet of Incompatibles," a part of a poem said to have been written by Molière, and this reveals the important intention of this collection. As Akiyama shows, the characters and structure of comedies-ballets are also closely related to theatrical works without ballets (see the essay "The Relationship between Molière's Comedies-Ballets and Other Works" in Volume 7). For a translator whose doctoral thesis in France was on comedies-ballets, the ballet libretto was indispensable, and this is the distinctive feature of this collection. In Japan, Moliere's comedies have tended to emphasize only their social satire, but with the diverse translations of his comedic/ballet aspects, the introduction of clarifications of the comic aspects by French and Italian researchers, and new interpretations being presented, the many-sided and diverse nature of Moliere's comedies will be better understood. (From Ito Hiroshi, Tragic Comedy, December 2001 issue)

Marcel Aimé's masterpiece short stories

Written by Marcel Aimé, translated by Toshikazu Tsuyuzaki (Chuko Bunko, September 2005)

Action and reaction

Written by Jean Starobinski, translated by Hisashi Ida (Hosei University Press, September 2004)

Travels to the Equator Region of the New World (3 volumes)

Alexander von Humboldt, translated by Eijiro Ohno and Zenta Araki (17th and 18th Century Travel Journals, Volume II, Iwanami Shoten, December 2001 - September 2003)

• Alexander von Humboldt's "Equatorial Voyage" is finally available in Japanese. Although it was one of the books that Darwin referred to when he boarded the Beagle, the day when this masterpiece was translated has been long. However, it is not difficult to imagine the reason. It is because we could not keep up with Humboldt's interests and knowledge, which covered such a wide range of fields. One of the most interesting episodes in "Electricity and Fish" (see page 172 and following, volume 2 of this book) is the story of "Electricity and Fish." This story gives a real sense of the breadth of knowledge of naturalists active in the 18th and 19th centuries, because Humboldt observed both inorganic discharge phenomena and the organic and physiological phenomena of the extremely rare South American electric eel with the same enthusiasm. Humboldt's greatest interest was the grand problem of how inorganic phenomena such as electricity, magnetism, and earthquakes affect life and nature, that is, organic phenomena. On the other hand, Humboldt was also the greatest "earth spectator" of the 19th century, who tried to view the Earth from the highest and lowest points. The theme that ultimately narrowed all of his interests down to one point was the pursuit of "geophysiognomy" and the discovery of "the essence of landscape." In simple terms, it was to know the origin of the view of the Earth. Before Humboldt, travelers divided the world into latitude and longitude, sea and land, and constructed a world view like a checkerboard. However, Humboldt did not stop at such a geometrical perspective, but also took into account environmental factors such as altitude, temperature, magnetic field, and weather, that is, various natural ornaments. As a result, Humboldt recognized a diverse and dynamic landscape, with the existence of a snow line even on high mountains such as Mount Chimborazo, which is located directly under the equator. Individual environmental effects often have an impact on the human mind that far exceeds the measured values. The effect affects the human eye and mind with such force that it makes the measurer lose confidence, and evokes physiological responses of wonder, emotion, and fear. It is exactly like a live version of picturesque art, where the effects are calculated and special performances are performed. This book is full of such descriptions, and you will never get bored. (From Hiroshi Aramata's "Books" April 2004 issue)