Interviews & Profiles

When KJ looks for insights concerning Asian cultures, we try to be specific.

Rather than presenting generalizations on "the Japanese," for example, we try to present individuals who express fresh ideas in their own words. Thus, interviews have always been an absolutely essential element of KJ's "perspectives from Asia." In addition, we have published numerous profiles of interesting people, both well- and lesser-known, from contemporary life, and history.

This page lists interviews and profiles still available in KJ back issues – or in photocopy format if the issue is sold out. We plan to post more of the original material from this rich source on this website soon...

We welcome proposals for interviews and profiles.

KJ#72
Japan’s Peacemaker, Shidehara Kijuro and the origins of Article 9
An interview with Peace Historian Klaus Schlictmann – Jean Miyake Downey
Defining the Debate on Constitutional Revision and Peacekeeping, an interview with Prof. Murata Koji –Susan Pavloska and John Einarsen
Into the Atomic Sunshine
Post-war art under Japanese Peace Constitution Article 9
Jean Miyake-Downey talks to Watanabe Shinya
Article 9 and the Future of Japan
Anzai Ikuro and Johan Galtung on Cultivating Article 9
Transforming Tragic Memories into Peaceful Strength:
Syed Sikander Mehdi on Japan’s role in the world – Paul Scott
Becoming a Pacifist in Iraq: An Interview with Aidan Delgado – John Einarsen
“And So Make Peace...” Maxine Hong Kingston talks story – Trevor Carolan

KJ#71
Lu T’ung and The Song of Tea – Steven D. Owyoung

KJ#70
A special issue featuring 39 interviews with a wide variety of Kyoto residents, contents here

KJ#69
Pouring Light into Mombetsu – John Einarsen interviews pinhole photographers Suzuka Yasu, Ishihara Masumi, Sato Tokihiro
Re-Branding China: Wang Min and the Beijing Image
Zen at War: The Buddhist Enablement of Japanese Militarism – Kathy Arlyn Sokol talks with Brian Daizen Victoria

KJ#68
At the Crossroads of the World – Jon Chang interviews university students in Kyrgyzstan

KJ#67
Inside the Smoke: Oda Makoto, Author and Activist – Brian Covert

KJ#66
"Spirit from Fire: Buddhist Statues of the Kathmandu Valley" – Harada Shokei
"The Life and Art of Paul Horiuchi" – Mike Dillon
"Exile: Indonesian Writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer" – Andre Vltchek and Rossie Indira
"Hesitant Laughter in the Land of a Thousand Smiles" – Helen Polychronakos

Online Feature: Pico Iyer is Lost – Mark Mordue

KJ#65
"The View to Mt Sumeru: Donald Richie on D.T. Suzuki" – Osawa Ishibashi Yoshie
"Divide and Rule" – Vinita Ramani interviews film director Bappaditya Bandopadhyay
"Illuminating the Past Within the Present" Mari Luong interviews documentarist Kana Tomoko
"Using Law to Save Nature" – John Haffner talks to Chinese environmentalist Wang Canfa
Online Feature: "An Interview wth Cartoonist Martin Honeysett" – Kathy Arlyn Sokol

KJ#64
"Questioning Gender: an Interview with Japan-based Psychotherapist Kim Oswalt" – Stewart Wachs
"Josephine Ho on Gender & Sexuality Activism in Taiwan" – David Frazier
"They Call Me 'Bunda' (Mother)" – an Interview with Indonesian Celebrity Dorce Gamalama — Justin Ellis
"Beyond Boundaries in Indonesia: Activist Dede Oetomo on Waria" — Justin Ellis
"A Japanese Feminist in Occupied Shanghai: Tamura Toshiko and the Magazine Nu Sheng" — Tu Xiaohua, trans. by Tan Ban Chong

KJ#63
"The Art & Culture of the Ainu: A Call for Respect" – an Interview with activist-scholar Chisato (Kitty) O. Dubreuil by Jean Miyake-Downey & Rebecca Dosch-Brown
"Big Fish Eat Small Fish" – an Interview with Tsurumi Shunsuke, by Oketani Shogo

KJ#62
"Migrating Genius: The Life and Art of Jack Madson" – Stewart Wachs
"The Cartoonist & the Poet" – Colleen Sheils

KJ#61
"Revisiting the Jewish-Tibetan Dialogue": Rodger Kamenetz, interviewed by Jean Miyake Downey & Yehudit Kornberg Greenberg

KJ#60 Korea
Korea’s Key Role in East Asia and Beyond: Lee O-young – an interview by John Einarsen
Ko Un: Human Nature Itself is Poetic – an interview by Pat Donegan
Lessons Where Rivers Meet: Interview with Father Paul Moon by John Einarsen
A Harmony Beyond Control: Yoon Kwang-cho on living with clay – interview by Robert Kowalczyk and Myong-hee Kim
Breath & Movement Deeply Felt – Pat Donegan interviews Korea’s Nijinsky, Sun Ho Kim
Generational Tensions: Yu Young-nan on translation & women writers – an interview by John Einarsen
An Interview with Lee Jae-bong – by John Einarsen

KJ#59
Reporting Reality – an interview with Hirokawa Ryuichi, founder of Days Japan, by Eric Prideaux
Remembering R.H. Blyth – Duncan Baker
Old Mountain Soul – an interview with haikuist James Hackett, by Tim Hornyak
Revealing the Invisible – Manoa's Frank Stewart & Patricia Matsueda on Expanding Cultural Horizons, by Ken Rodgers
A Journey to the Residual World – photographer Hatakeyama Naoya, an interview by Sean O'Toole
Manners of Speech: a Kyoto neighbor, Ohata-san, by Philip J. Cunningham

KJ#58
Dance Kitchen: Buto dancers Tamano Koichi and Tamano Hiroko – Dustin W. Leavitt
A Child of All Time: Butoh Dancer Kazuo Ohno at 98 – John Barrett
A Ragtime Roshi's Musical Peace: Pianist Ikemiya Masanobu – Stewart Wachs
The Silence Before the Cadenza: The story of pianist Fujiko Hemming  – David Greer
In Translation: Reflections of a Psychotherapy Go-between: an interview with Shinji Kazue by Stewart Wachs
An Ikebana Journey – flower arrangement teacher Ishido-sensei, by Jenny Hall

KJ#57
Letting Go of Ego – An interview with Zen Priest David Daigaku Rumme, by Nevin Thompson
A Mantra from Ajari-san, practitioner of Mt Hiei's ascetic tradition – Sherry Nakanishi
Bokunen Remembers – Okinawan woodblock artist, an interview by Jeffrey Irish
Master & Deshi: Rakugoka Katsura Sanshi & Katsura Sanpu – encountered by Butch Read

KJ#56
They Who Render Anew – contemporary literary translators Juliet Winters Carpenter, Janine Beichman, Sam Hamill, Leza Lowitz & Oketani Shogo, Elaine Gerbert, and Royall Tyler, interviewed by Avery Fischer
Mary Yukari Waters, author of The Laws of Evening, interviewed by Stewart Wachs
Nomura Katsuko, a 92-year-old social activist, recalls her life in conversation with Kaori Mizuno
Date Nobuaki and his "Ukeleleization" project (tranforming demolished buildings into unique musical instruments) – by Sherry Nakanishi

KJ#55
This issue profiled the streets of Asia...

KJ#54
Turbulence in the East: Noam Chomsky interviewed by Asano Kenichi
Sweatshops, Asian Cultural Values, and the New Global Protest Movement – Richard Appelbaum interviewed by Philip Grant
Buddhism is Not Un-American: Lawrence Ferlinghetti interviewed by Carl Freire
Tea & Qi, an afternoon with Beijing artist Siao Weijia, by Philip J. Cunningham

KJ#53 (Just Deeds)
Norbert Vollertsen's Personal Campaign – an activist doctor in North Korea, by Don Kirk
Lakei eh Metat: "Man Who Has Disappeared" – Bruno Manser, by Keith Harmon Snow
Goenka-ji: Peace Through Inner Wisdom – Vipassana founder profiled by Chris Summerville
Healing a Divided Land – an interview with Ke Chung Kim on making the DMZ an international park, by Beth Hillman
Mihariban's Matsuura Yoneko – putting citizen pressure on Osaka politicians, by Eric Johnston
The Abandoned Jewels of Cambodia: an interview with Arn Chorn Pond, founder of Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development, by Kimberlye Kowalczyk
Preeta Bharggav, Prison Matriarch - Rita Dixit-Kubiak
Sanjaasurenjin Oyun: Working for Change in Mongolia – Paul D. Scott
Krethsasna: Champions from the Cambodian Streets – Vong Sokheng
Shinomiya Hiroshi: Filming the Forgotten – Tim Hornyak
Torihama Tome: A Small Restaurant on the Edge of Life - as told by David Greer
Recreating Memory - the testimony of Hiroshima survivor Yamaoka Michiko – Paul Scott
Aoki Reiko: Tackling the Traffic - Amanda Suutari
Hands in the Soil: Natural farming with Kawaguchi Yoshikazu – Amanda Suutari

KJ#52

No Apologies! Photographer Yoshinaga Masayuki on bosozoku, yakuza, Asian gaijin, and his life – Sally McLaren
Synthetic Dreams: the Art of Mariko Mori – Robert Jarrell
Robert Falk on Militarization, Globalization, Peace, and Citizen-Pilgrims – Philip Grant
Kondo Tadashi & The United Nations of Renku – Patricia Donegan
Sudo Hisao: Mediating Between Nature and Imagination - Ceramicist profiled by Deidre May

KJ#51
The Abundance of Less – a visit with Nakamura Osamu, by Andy Couturier
Dancing With Words: a profile of translator Red Pine (Bill Porter), by Roy Hamric

KJ#50 (Transience)
Illumination in Each Moment, an interview with Kyoto dancer Nishikawa Senrei, by Toyoshima Mizuho
In the Eternal Now – encountering the Bishamon-ten of Kurama-dera, by Ken Rodgers

KJ#49
Tehelka.com: Internet Journalism's First Big Sting - Kathy Arlyn Sokol interviews Tarun Tejpal
JET Portraits - Experiments in Internationalization, photo-essay by Everett Brown
Ryu & Me - an interview, sort of, with novelist Murakami Ryu, by his translator, Ralph F. McCarthy
Nusari, by Keibo Oiwa and Minamata fisherman Ogata Masato
Revitalizing History – Patricia Wakida on the making of Only What We Could Carry
Jose Juan Tablada – a Mexican poet in Meiji Japan, by D.M. Stroud

KJ#48
Imagining Lady Murasaki - Liza Dalby, interviewed by Sally McLaren
Kato Shuichi on Everything, one of Japan's last Renaissance men, interviewed by Marc P. Keane and Jeffery Irish
The Profligate's Wife, a true tale retold by David Greer
Voices from a Dark Place, Japan's military sexual slavery revisited by Toyoshima Mizuho
Revolutionary Muse, a profile of Chiranan Pitpreecha, by Philip J. Cunningham

KJ#47
Slow is Beautiful, a relaxed interview with Keibo Oiwa, founder of the Sloth Club, by Sally McLaren
Seeing Through the Window –the photography of poet & monk Thomas Merton by Roy Hamric
Yosa Buson: Haiku Master, an appreciation by Edward McFadden
Demons, Misinformation and Kimochi, an interview with Alex Kerr on the failed modernization of Japan, by Catherine Pawasarat

KJ#46 (Media in Asia)
Local TV... after the Big Bang — Nakamura Koji interviewed by Jeff Irish
Media Critic Asano Kenichi — interviewed by Stewart Wachs

KJ#45
The Cambodian Childhood of Loung Ung, interview by Kathy Arlyn Sokol
Re-imagining Asia: Benedict Anderson, interviewed by Philip Grant, Duane Phan, and John Einarsen
A Nisei Life: Daniel Okimoto, interviewed by Kyoko Nozaki, Duane Phan, and Philip Grant
The Lists of a Lady in Waiting – David Greer's tribute to Sei Shonagon

KJ#44
Orville Schell reflects on his 30 years of reading "between the lies" on China, interviewed by Robert W. Snyder
Elizabeth Vining, Quaker tutor to Japan's former Crown Prince, now Emperor – recalled by Morgan Gibson

KJ#43
Walking the World, with Umesao Tadao, founder of Japan's National Museum of Ethnology, interviewed by Jeffrey Irish
Reverential Ecology, with Schumacher Society co-founder and Resurgence editor, Satish Kumar, interviewed by John Einarsen, Stewart Wachs, and Lye Tuck-Po
The Goddess Within, prominent artist-activist Mayumi Oda interviewed by Preston Houser
A Home for Street Children - Didi Ananda Kalika's work in Ulan Bator, by Didi Ananda Kaomudi
Darkness into Light, emerging painter Oshima Hiko profiled by Stewart Wachs

KJ#42 (Time)
Terence McKenna on Archaic Revival, interviewed by Kathy Arlyn Sokol

KJ#41
Donald Richie, a writer and critic who has been mostly based in Tokyo since the Occupation, was interviewed for this issue by Janet Poccoroba

KJ#40
Reel Life and Reel Life – US documentary maker Regge Life: interviewed by Stewart Wachs
50 Years of Sacrifice for the Freedom of Kashmir: Letters from Kashmir's Resistance
(Azam Inquilabi, Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmad Shah) introduced by Kathy Arlyn Sokol and W. David Kubiak

KJ#39
Reaching God Through Music: Ravi Shankar – interviewed by Kathy Arlyn Sokol

KJ#38 (Transforming Conflict)
The Education of a Peacemaker: Johan Galtung, interview by Philip Grant
Dialogue is not a Debate in which there are Winner and Losers: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi interviewed by Debbie Stothard of ALTSEAN-BURMA
Voices from Pakistan: Islam Means Justice, and Justice Means Rights: Imran Khan
Democracy is Survival for Women: Asma Jenhangir – two interviews by Kathy Arlyn Sokol
Like Sculpting Smoke: Author Arundhati Roy (of best-selling The God of Small Things) – interview by Kathy Arlyn Sokol

KJ#37 (Inaka – The Japanese Countryside)
Tales of a Country Doctor: Dr Kenjirou Setoue – journals translated by Jeffrey Irish
Matsuri, Gods and the Land: Tadayoshi Himeda, an ethnographer film-maker talks about his 40 years shooting documentaries on local festivals, with Everett Brown
Sister Matsumi, a profile by Jeffrey Irish
Homegrown: Oral histories of a farming family in Hiroshima and California – Carol Koda
Bear Hunter: Shigeo Iwamoto – Shibata Tsuyoshi
Lake Fisherman: Enami Kishiro – Matthias Ley

more to be added...

basic advice on interviewing