Try free for 30 days
-
The Narrow Road to the Interior and Hojoki
- Narrated by: Togo Igawa
- Length: 2 hrs and 5 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $14.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
Three Simple Lines
- A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku
- By: Natalie Goldberg
- Narrated by: Natalie Goldberg
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the world’s foremost writing teachers invites listeners on a joyful journey into the reading and origins of haiku.
-
The Pillow Book
- By: Sei Shōnagon
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the closing years of the 10th century. Written by a lady of the court at the height of Heian culture, this book enthrals with its lively gossip, witty observations and subtle impressions. Lady Shōnagon was an erstwhile rival of Lady Murasaki, whose novel, The Tale of Genji, fictionalized the elite world Lady Shōnagon so eloquently relates.
-
-
A superb time capsule
- By L. White on 23-12-2023
-
A Place to Stand
- The Making of a Poet
- By: Jimmy Santiago Baca
- Narrated by: Jackson Gutierrez
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Place to Stand is Jimmy Santiago Baca's memoir of childhood on the small farms of New Mexico, his adolescence spent in orphanages and detention centers, his years as a drug dealer in San Diego and Arizona, and his extraordinary personal transformation under the harrowing conditions behind bars. Life in prison was often brutal, and Baca describes the extreme measures he had to take to survive, which endowed him with an indomitable will to resist the dehumanization of prison life. The act of writing offered a powerful means of transcending his surroundings.
-
Meditations
- By: Marcus Aurelius, George Long - translator, Duncan Steen - translator
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most significant books ever written by a head of state, the Meditations are a collection of philosophical thoughts by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180 ce). Covering issues such as duty, forgiveness, brotherhood, strength in adversity and the best way to approach life and death, the Meditations have inspired thinkers, poets and politicians since their first publication more than 500 years ago. Today, the book stands as one of the great guides and companions - a cornerstone of Western thought.
-
-
Meditations
- By PD on 09-05-2019
-
Sky Above, Great Wind
- The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan
- By: Kazuaki Tanahashi
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryokan (1758–1831) is, along with Dogen and Hakuin, one of the three giants of Zen in Japan. But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by people of all walks of life for the teaching to be experienced in just being around him.
-
-
beautiful
- By Roddi on 27-06-2016
-
The Selected Poems of Li Po
- By: Li Po, Po Li, David Hinton, and others
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Li Po (AD 701-762) lived in T'ang Dynasty China, but his influence has spanned the centuries: the pure lyricism of his poems has awed readers in China and Japan for over a millennium, and through Ezra Pound’s translations, Li Po became central to the modernist revolution in the West. However ethereal in spirit, his poems remain grounded in the everyday experience we all share. He wrote 1,200 years ago, half a world away, but in his poems we see our world transformed.
-
Three Simple Lines
- A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku
- By: Natalie Goldberg
- Narrated by: Natalie Goldberg
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the world’s foremost writing teachers invites listeners on a joyful journey into the reading and origins of haiku.
-
The Pillow Book
- By: Sei Shōnagon
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the closing years of the 10th century. Written by a lady of the court at the height of Heian culture, this book enthrals with its lively gossip, witty observations and subtle impressions. Lady Shōnagon was an erstwhile rival of Lady Murasaki, whose novel, The Tale of Genji, fictionalized the elite world Lady Shōnagon so eloquently relates.
-
-
A superb time capsule
- By L. White on 23-12-2023
-
A Place to Stand
- The Making of a Poet
- By: Jimmy Santiago Baca
- Narrated by: Jackson Gutierrez
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Place to Stand is Jimmy Santiago Baca's memoir of childhood on the small farms of New Mexico, his adolescence spent in orphanages and detention centers, his years as a drug dealer in San Diego and Arizona, and his extraordinary personal transformation under the harrowing conditions behind bars. Life in prison was often brutal, and Baca describes the extreme measures he had to take to survive, which endowed him with an indomitable will to resist the dehumanization of prison life. The act of writing offered a powerful means of transcending his surroundings.
-
Meditations
- By: Marcus Aurelius, George Long - translator, Duncan Steen - translator
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most significant books ever written by a head of state, the Meditations are a collection of philosophical thoughts by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180 ce). Covering issues such as duty, forgiveness, brotherhood, strength in adversity and the best way to approach life and death, the Meditations have inspired thinkers, poets and politicians since their first publication more than 500 years ago. Today, the book stands as one of the great guides and companions - a cornerstone of Western thought.
-
-
Meditations
- By PD on 09-05-2019
-
Sky Above, Great Wind
- The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan
- By: Kazuaki Tanahashi
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryokan (1758–1831) is, along with Dogen and Hakuin, one of the three giants of Zen in Japan. But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by people of all walks of life for the teaching to be experienced in just being around him.
-
-
beautiful
- By Roddi on 27-06-2016
-
The Selected Poems of Li Po
- By: Li Po, Po Li, David Hinton, and others
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Li Po (AD 701-762) lived in T'ang Dynasty China, but his influence has spanned the centuries: the pure lyricism of his poems has awed readers in China and Japan for over a millennium, and through Ezra Pound’s translations, Li Po became central to the modernist revolution in the West. However ethereal in spirit, his poems remain grounded in the everyday experience we all share. He wrote 1,200 years ago, half a world away, but in his poems we see our world transformed.
Editorial reviews
This fine rendering of two classic Japanese tales about the contemplative life demonstrates the power and effectiveness of the Naxos method of combining classic literature and classical music. The modern translations are enriched with verse excerpts in Japanese, traditional Japanese instruments in the musical bridges, and the use of Japanese actors as narrators. "Höjöki" ("The Ten-Foot Square Hut") is the shorter and more accessible of the two works, and Togo Igawa is the more appealing of the two narrators. Takashi Sudo and his tale require more patience, and closer attention. This outstanding production is an excellent introduction to two of the staples of Japanese literature.
Publisher's Summary
Japanese poetry is well-known for its clarity and concision, and The Narrow Road to the Interior and Hojoki are two of the best-loved, and most intensely Japanese, works of their kind; famous for their beautiful, delicate verse and subtle insight into the human condition. It has been said of The Narrow Road that 'it was as if the very soul of Japan had itself written it'. It takes the form of a travel diary, and traces the poet's journey from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to the northern interior. Hojoki, a much earlier work written by Chomei, a Buddhist hermit, is essentially a meditation on the transience of the world. Read by the famous classical Japanese actor Togo Igawa, the full beauty of its ancient cadences and rhythms is drawn out.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
Critic Reviews
"Hojoki, like Virgil's Eclogues, is a poetical hymn to pastoralism. Basho's prose...is equally passionate." (The Guardian)