Deciphering Early Modern Japanese Art & History

Marie helped me tremendously with my dissertation research by transcribing and translating difficult-to-parse, faded Japanese-language newspapers from Meiji-era Taiwan. It was a joy to collaborate with such an enthusiastic, scrupulous scholar. I continue to study her nuanced translations for language practice and confidently cite her expert opinions in my research.

For more than thirty years, I have been searching for the translation of a scroll I received from my Japanese penfriend’s grandma. I was too shy to ask then, and the Japanese characters remained a mystery. I have been asking many people, even Japanese people, but nobody could help me with this. Finally, with Marie’s professional help, this unknown poem is a solved case. I am more than happy and deeply thankful.

Some years ago I bought an antique Japanese bronze bell in a wooden box, its sides brushed with old script that no one could read. I wondered for years what it said. Dr. Marie Yasunaga deciphered it. The box was inscribed in 1876 by a collector who had bought the bell from the destroyed Mikenji Temple — and she even found a 1791 woodblock print showing four such bells hanging from its pagoda. Mine was one of them. When I hear its soft sound in my garden under a full moon, I am transported to another time.