Yevgeny Semyonovich Shteyner – a japonologist, candidate of philological sciences, doctor of arts. He worked at the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A. S. Pushkin, taught and conducted research at universities in Moscow, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Yokohama, New York, Manchester, and London. Since 2012, he has been a professor at the School of Asian Studies of the National Research University "Higher School of Economics" (Moscow). He is the author of 15 books published in Russia, the USA, Great Britain, and Germany. Y. Shteyner's book "Hokusai Manga: Encyclopedia of Old Japanese Life in Pictures" (Saint Petersburg: Petersburg Oriental Studies, 2016, 4 volumes) received the "Book of the Year" and "Enlightener" awards (in a special nomination) in 2017.
Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) is one of the most famous Japanese artists of the Edo period. Throughout his life, he released albums of engraved drawings called "Manga." In fifteen volumes with four thousand figures and motifs, Hokusai presented an encyclopedia of old Japan in pictures – from the gods and heroes of antiquity to contemporary romantic affairs, household utensils, and various natural landscapes.
The book by japonologist Yevgeny Shteyner is a detailed commentary publication of "Manga." The author believes that cultural-historical explanations are often absolutely necessary. "Hokusai Manga," although not written in hieroglyphs but in "pictographic writing," needs translation – from the language of Japanese historical and mythological plots, as well as foreign cultural realities two hundred years ago.
The book will become a desk reference and will be of interest to all art lovers, enthusiasts of Japanese culture, as well as professional japonologists and sinologists.
