History
Moving ahead to understand Japan and the world of today, Steve McCarty is taking us into his own life and learning. His passion to explore the culture of Japan has been exceptional and he has always demonstrated the highest regard for the cultural richness of Japan.
As he moves ahead to get a book on his life, we get this opportunity to listen about his passion and learning, from him! This 23-minute presentation at the University of Hyogo in Kobe goes more deeply into the biography of Steve McCarty than appears in his long chapter in the new book A Passion for Japan. Formative influences discussed include Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, Tibetan yoga, and Zen. Places include Boston, the Taos Pueblo area of New Mexico, San Francisco, Honolulu, Shikoku island, and Osaka. People encountered include Alan Watts, Ram Dass, Allen Ginsberg, Barbara Durkee (Lama Foundation founder), Edwin O. Reischauer; and in Japan: Donald Keene and the Dalai Lama. Then brief stories about life in Japan include Steve’s international family, playing baseball, English teaching innovations, and research discovering Asian religions syncretized in a mandala of mountains. Steve has thus been an active witness of history as Eastern thought influenced the West, aspiring to be one of those bridge persons.
The illustrated slideshow can be downloaded if desired from https://doi.org/10.17613/rbj8-w718 and the chapter “Discovering Japanese Fusion of Religions on the Pilgrimage Island of Shikoku” is available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361566172 or https://www.academia.edu/82383623 This episode is a recording of the presentation, hence, the quality of the audio is not in an HD format. Prof Steve speaks with clarity of expression as well as voice, so we expect a good learning experience for you.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Hubhopper, Gaana etc.
---------------Japancasting Podcast is based on the content by Prof Steve McCarty.About Steve McCarty: born in Boston, a longtime Professor of English in Osaka, a Japanese government lecturer, and the World Association for Online Education President. Asian Studies specialist, fluent in Japanese, and highly cited author. The author’s homepage can be accessed here.