Roger Pulvers – The Amazing Japanese Sense of Humour

Author talk @ Gleebooks

Around the world the Japanese have come to be known as a nation of diligent, ever serious and oftentimes dour people. But throughout their history, right up to the present day, they display a sardonic, witty, whimsical and often deadly sense of humour that pervades social and artistic life.

What is the nature of that humour and in what ways are the Japanese such a comically theatrical people?

Over the past fifty-five years Roger Pulvers - acclaimed author, playwright, theatre and film director, translator and journalist - has enjoyed close relationships with scores of Japanese authors, playwrights, actors and comedians. He has appeared on television and radio with many of them. In this talk Roger will recount incidents from these encounters and give a wide overview of the many forms and guises of Japanese humour.

This talk is co-hosted with Gleebooks, the Glebe bookshop. Please sign up (with a small registration fee) at the Gleebooks website. After the talk AJS members and friends will adjourn for socializing with Roger at a local pub or restaurant. (let us know you're joining us here.)

SPEAKER Bio

Roger Pulvers has published more than fifty books in Japanese and English, including novels such as The Death of Urashima Taro, General Yamashita’s Treasure, Star Sand, Liv and The Dream of Lafcadio Hearn.

In 2017 the feature film of Star Sand, written and directed by him, had wide release throughout Japan. His two memoirs—My Japan: a cultural memoir and The Unmaking of an American—have been praised as forming a unique record of cultural life in Japan in the past fifty years. Famously, he worked on set with David Bowie as assistant to director Oshima Nagisa during the filming of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.

Roger has been awarded the Miyazawa Kenji Prize (2008) among other literary prizes; and honours from both Japan - an Order of the Rising Sun (2018) - and Australia - an Order of Australia (2019).