text and could be shown to classeson late imperial or modern Chinesehistory in both college and highschool classrooms. Although the per-spective is obviously from the Taiwanside of the straits, the narrative is notovertly biased (interestingly, despitethe ’s Taiwanese origins, pinyinromanization is used throughout this, but not the others).

One can view the museum’s collec-tions directly via the “Antiquities” module.Clicking on the words “Chinese Art” on the ’shome page produces an icon menu listing twelvecategories of Chinese art, including sculpture,painting, carving, jade, bronze, calligraphy, andthe “Scholar’s Studio.” This approach would bethe most appropriate for college or advanced highschool teaching. The 136 different items are easily

T hese three -s introduce users to thecollections of the National Palace Museum in

Taipei. The series surprises the user with ingeniousapproaches to the collections but frustrates because

it lacks some simple fea-tures that would make thes much more practicalfor classroom application.

Of the three, Volume Two, A City of Cathay, isprobably the most suitable for classroom use.

The first of the series, The National PalaceMuseum: A Treasure-house of Chinese Art, surveysthe museum’s collections using three differentinterfaces. “The Story of the Museum” modulepresents four short documentary-style montages ofstill photographs narrating the origin, history, andmission of the museum. Each less than five min-utes long, these montages (in particular the firsttwo) put the museum in excellent historical con-

A E SMA P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E A S I A N E D U C A T I O N A L M E D I A S E R V I C E Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies ✦ University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Spring 2001Vol. 4, No. 3

accessible, eitherby chronologicalsequence or

through hyperlinks froma brief narrative describ-ing developments ineach medium. This isalso one of the ’sweaknesses, for itwould be a much more

flexible teaching tool if a single menu listed all theavailable objects at once, enabling the instructor tomove quickly between pieces. It is also frustratingthat not all the objects hyperlinked in the text canbe enlarged.

The objects are presented in excellent detailand can be magnified by one degree. However, the detail is so great that many of the paintings,

Treasure the Treasures SeriesThe National Palace Museum: A Treasure-house of Chinese Art, A City of Cathay, The Dragon in Chinese Art>> Produced by the National Palace Museum, Taiwan. 1999. - available for Windows platform only.

Opium fields along the borders of China and Thailand, from The Heroin Wars trilogy. See review, page 4.

continued on page 3

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News and ReviewsSpecial Issue: Women

Review

ContentsWhat’s New? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

How to Contact AEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Reviews of films, videos, and other media:

Treasure the Treasures Series . . . . . . . . . 1The Heroin Wars Trilogy . . . . . . . . . . . 4Smuggling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Nu Shu: A Hidden Language

of Women in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Gaea Girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Maharajah Burger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Fishing in the Sea of Greed . . . . . . . . 11

Bargain Buys: Japanese Media Resources Under $40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Guide to Distributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Asian Educational Media ServiceThe Asian Educational Media Service (AEMS) is a pro-gram of the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studiesat the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.AEMS offers information about where to find audio-visual media resources for teaching and learning aboutAsia, and advice about which ones may best suit yourneeds. In addition to AEMS News and Reviews, pub-lished quarterly, services include a free call-in/write-inservice and a Web site. To add your name to our mail-ing list, request additional copies of the newsletter touse in workshops or to share with your colleagues, orask for help in locating resources, please contact us.

AEMS is made possible by generous support fromThe Freeman Foundation and The Japan FoundationCenter for Global Partnership.

For more information, contact:

AEMS, Center for East Asian and Pacific StudiesUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign230 International Studies Building, MC-483910 South Fifth StreetChampaign, IL 61820

Telephone: 1-888-828-AEMS (1-888-828-2367) or 217-265-0642Fax: 217-265-0641E-mail: aems@uiuc.eduWeb: http://www.aems.uiuc.edu

Advisory BoardBurnill Clark, President and C.E.O., KCTS Television

Lucien Ellington, Editor, Education About Asia; UC Foundation Professor, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Richard Gordon, Executive Producer, Long Bow Group, Inc.

Peter Grilli, President, Japan Society of Boston, Inc.

Karl G. Heider, Professor of Anthropology, University of South Carolina

Ellen C.K. Johnson, Associate Professor, College ofDuPage

Laurel Kendall, Curator, Asian Ethnographic Collections,American Museum of Natural History; AdjunctProfessor of Anthropology, Columbia University

Marianna McJimsey, Lecturer in History/Social StudiesEducation, The Colorado College

Sharon Wheaton, C.E.O., E.T. Interactive Multimedia

Diana Marston Wood, Associate Director, Asian StudiesProgram, University of Pittsburgh

Editorial Board (Faculty and staff of the Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.)

Nancy Abelmann, Associate Professor of Anthropologyand East Asian Languages and Cultures

Clark E. Cunningham, Professor Emeritus ofAnthropology

David M. Desser, Professor of Speech Communicationsand Director of Cinema Studies

Roberta H. Gumport, Assistant Director and Outreach Coordinator of the Center for East Asianand Pacific Studies

Jacquetta Hill, Professor of Anthropology and ofEducational Psychology

Blair Kling, Professor Emeritus of History

George T. Yu, Professor of Political Science and Directorof the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies

StaffProgram Director: David W. PlathProgram Coordinator/Editor: Sarah I. BarbourAssistant Program Coordinator: Liz Cothen

DESIGN: EVELYN C. SHAPIROPRODUCTION: BONNIE BURGUND

What’s New?Annual Board Meeting

O n March 20, AEMS held its Annual Advisory Board Meeting in Chicago. Board members camefrom around the country to answer questions, give suggestions, and offer advice. New to the

Board over the past year are Lucien Ellington, Editor of Education About Asia, and Ellen C.K. Johnson,Professor of Anthropology at the College of DuPage. They, along with the other Board members,brought with them lots of ideas and plenty of enthusiasm.

Among the ideas that we discussed were a series of teacher’s guides to popular films and documen-taries, an on-line database of images from Asia with accompanying text, and at least one screening series.I will write about all these projects in more detail in upcoming issues of this newsletter. As always, wewelcome suggestions from readers.

Back issues availableBack issues of News and Reviews are taking up space in our offices and we would love to find them goodhomes! If you would like a hard copy of a newsletter you have seen on our Web site, or multiple copiesfor a conference, workshop or inservice, please call Sarah at 888-828-AEMS or e-mail aems@uiuc.edu.There is no charge for back issues. (Sorry—Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 1999 is not available.)

Robin Kervin, Editorial AssistantEducation About AsiaUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga150 Patten #4504615 McCallie AvenueChattanooga, TN 37403Phone: (423) 785-2118E-mail: Robin-Kervin@utc.edu

Call for Submissions

T he Spring 2002 issue of Education About Asia, the K–16 teaching journal of theAssociation for Asian Studies, will focus on teaching about Asia through films, both

feature and documentary. As visual resources become cheaper and more accessible, more and more educators are turn-

ing to films as learning materials. As guest editor of this issue, I hope to publish feature articles(1,000 to 3,000 words in length) and resource essays (750 to 1,800 words in length) that willilluminate creative ways of bringing Asia to the classroom through film and video resources.Prospective authors are encouraged to submit articles that not only recommend superlative filmsbut that also consider the pedagogical methods that will enable teachers to make the most ofthese resources.

The intended audience is K–16 teachers. Wherever possible, articles should have broadapplicability to large numbers of educators. Please see the following Web page for writer’s guidelines:

http://www.aasianst.org/eaa-toc.htm

If you would like to have a manuscript considered for publications, please submit TWOcopies to EACH of the following:

Sarah Barbour, Program CoordinatorAsian Educational Media ServiceUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign805 West Pennsylvania AvenueUrbana, IL 61801Phone: (217) 265-0642Fax: (217) 265-0641E-mail: sibarbou@uiuc.edu

The deadline is September 24, 2001.Submissions by e-mail and fax are acceptable, but please call to make sure that the manu-

scripts have been received. If you would like to discuss a possible manuscript idea or if you have other questions, please

contact me either by phone or by e-mail.Sincerely,

Sarah I. Barbour

New Video from the Media Production GroupJapanese as well as foreigners like to say that the Japanese are an “Island People,” uneasy about livingoverseas. But in today’s global era, sojourns abroad are becoming a normal part of life for Japanese asfor people elsewhere. Maybe the real displaced persons in Japan today are those who have never livedunder another sun?

A new documentary video program takes upthat question. The program is being created by theMedia Production Group (an affiliate of AEMS)jointly with faculty from the Department ofJapanese Studies, National University of Singapore.

Under Another Sun: Singapore’s Japanese is aone-hour program that explores the tensions peo-ple feel between their attachments to their home-land and their desires to be freed from the burdensimposed by living at home. Taking Singapore as acase in point, the program profiles the activities ofJapanese sojourners from several walks of life. Theprogram also reports on shifts in the climate ofsojourning over the 150-year history of Japaneseinvolvement with Singapore.

Location filming for the program was com-pleted in October of 2000. The program is beingproduced and designed by David W. Plath anddirected by Chet Kincaid, the MPG team that created the award-winning documentary, Makiko’sNew World. It is scheduled for release in the sum-mer of 2001 and will be distributed by Documen-tary Educational Resources, the agent for severalMPG programs. ✦

3www.aems.uiuc.edu ✦

A flamenco dance class from UnderAnother Sun: Singapore’s Japanese, scheduled for release this summer.

including classics like Travelers Among Streams andMountains, by Fan Kuan, and Early Spring, byGuo Xi, cannot be shown full-screen except asvery small images. Once magnified, no more thanone-fourth of the painting can be on screen at any one time. Chinese pronunciation is availablewith a mouse-click; audio and text narrationaccompany each piece. Also, each object has “hotspots,” which produce more detailed analyses ofparticular features.

In the “Timeline” module, objects from themuseum’s collection parade across the screen,arranged by dynasty, from “pre-history” throughthe Qing. This section is probably not suited toclasses beyond middle school. Any of the objectscan be clicked on, linking to the detailed descrip-tions available through the Antiquities module.

A City of Cathay

The second volume of the series is probably themost useful for classrooms, perhaps because itfocuses on only one work of art, the 11-meter-

long handscroll here titled A City of Cathay(one of several similar paintings often titled GoingUpstream at the Qingming Festival). The versionpresented here dates from the 18th century,though there are versions that date back as far asthe 12th century.

This painting has long been recognized as avaluable source for teaching and learning aboutChinese life in a large city (originally perhapsKaifeng during the Southern Song era). Streetentertainment, commerce, folk customs, dailyhousehold life, and architecture are just some ofthe many facets of life here presented. This would be very useful just for enabling the cumber-some scroll to be shown in a classroom.

The scroll can be accessed using six differentmenus: “Close-up,” “Highlights,” “Journey,”“Study,” “Guide,” and “Fun,” with the last beingtwo jigsaw-type puzzles taken from the painting.The close-up enables the instructor to focus in onany part of the painting in great detail, at two dif-ferent degrees of magnification. This permits greatflexibility in viewing the painting, although flexi-bility is limited because the magnification has beenarranged into a series of “tiles”; if a particular detailsits on the border between tiles, you may have to

continually return to the wider view to click on theadjacent “tile.” Still, this is a minor inconvenience,and the quality of magnification is exceptional andimportant for so detailed a painting.

For instructors or students who wish a moredirected tour of the painting, the “Guide,”“Journey,” and “Highlights” menus are appropri-ate. The “Guide” narrates the painting, which isdivided into 20 panels. Each panel is described ingreat detail, with hyperlinks to items described inthe narrative, for instance an opera performance, aDaoist temple, or a medicine shop. Some of thescenes also include sound clips, enabling studentsto hear the sounds of Chinese opera or a bustlingmarket. The “Journey” module is similar to the“Guide,” but focuses on the artistic aspects of thepainting more than the social and cultural detailsof its subject. The “Highlights” menu permitsusers to narrow down the painting’s many details,choosing just one element from among eightchoices (storefronts, for instance), which will thenbe highlighted from throughout the painting.

The “Study” module comprises resources tohelp understand the painting and its context,

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Treasure the Treasurescontinued from page 1

4 ✦ 1-888-828-AEMS

The Heroin Wars trilo-gy is certainly origi-

nal and dramatic filmjournalism, but too factu-ally controversial for useas an educational tool. Itwould appear that thedirector paid for hisseemingly exclusive accessto the Shan rebels inBurma (now calledMyanmar) for thirty yearsby projecting a favorableinterpretation, even justi-fication, for the production and distribution ofopium. This illegal product has caused untoldmisery and unnatural death for countless numbersof people around the world. To quote the produc-tion company, “The impoverished Shans had onlyone way to finance their war of liberation—opium.”

The videotape production concentrates on theShan State, which is located in a remote part ofMyanmar along the borders of China andThailand. The Shans built up the Shan State Armywith opium profits for the express purpose ofindependence from Myanmar. The production

highlights the leader-ship of first one andthen another Shanwarlord. Both seemto have successfullyconvinced the pro-duction company to justify the illegaldrug trade under the guise of a war of liberation fromMyanmar.

The first warlordwas arrested by Thai

authorities and eventually extradited to Myanmar.After serving some years in prison, he was releasedand went to work fighting the opium trade for theMyanmar government. The second warlord culti-vated and pampered the international media andbecame famous as “Kuhn Sa.” He eventually sur-rendered himself and 12,000 members of the ShanState Army to the Myanmar government and isnow reportedly a thriving businessman inMyanmar. In summary, both warlords profitedfrom their years in the opium trade in whichmany Shan State Army and Myanmar Armytroops were killed and maimed, and the world was

flooded with the deadly drug. Of course, the ShanState area remains part of Myanmar. Amazingly,the Shan State Army has become a militia force ofthe Myanmar government and both former war-lords are living in comfort.

The narration has an “Alice in Wonderland”quality in which the warlords appear to look hon-orable and credible, but the Thai governmentauthorities, the United States government authori-ties (mainly the U.S. State Department and theU.S. Drug Enforcement Agency), and theMyanmar government look either corrupt, or atleast inept, in dealing with the opium trade forover thirty years. The narrator (who was also thedirector of the trilogy) makes brief allegations ofcorruption and ineptness without substantiationother than the statements of the two criminal warlords. On more than one occasion, the produc-tion company waived journalistic objectivity bybecoming a player in this international life-and-death drama. For example, the narrator claims(and films) that he brought one warlord’s proposalto sell the annual opium crop for twelve milliondollars to the United States Embassy in Bangkok.The narrator claims that bribes and duplicity byagencies of the Thai and United States govern-

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The technical and

artistic quality of the

production is superb

and will certainly

be entertaining for the

novice audience.

The Heroin Wars Trilogy>> Directed by Adrian Cowell. 1996. 60 minutes each. Part 1: The Opium Convoys, Part 2: Smack City, and Part 3: The King of Opium.

continued on next page

5www.aems.uiuc.edu ✦

ments killed the deal—again, no substantiation,just narration, about official cor-ruption which resulted in theannual opium crop again going to the addicts of the world.Therefore, by implication theThai and United States govern-ments, not the criminal druglords, are responsible for the misery caused by subsequent drug addictions.

The technical and artisticquality of the production issuperb and will certainly be enter-taining for the novice audience.Unfortunately, the basic premise,which relies to a great extent onthe honesty of the drug lords, issimply not credible for the educa-tor and the scholar. Perhaps TheHeroin Wars trilogy would be ofsome value to a university-level

Southeast Asian specialist. However, these acade-mics would be well-advised to compare the trilogywith a review of the book, Why Did U Khun Sa’s

MTA Exchange Arms for Peaceby Maung Pho Shoke (MeikKuang Press, Yangon,Myanmar,1996). (Copies maybe available from the Embassyof the Union of Myanmar inWashington, D.C.) Evidentlythe former drug warlord,Khun Sa, cooperated with theauthor and even gave himaccess to his photos of interna-tional visiting dignitaries tohis drug headquarters in theShan State over all those years.Many of these photos arereprinted in the book, includ-ing the visit of former advisorto former United States presi-dent Jimmy Carter, Dr. PeterBourne; the journalist/author,Bertil Lintner, a well know

critic of the Myanmar government; and the KarenNational Union leader, Bo Mya, who cameallegedly to solicit funds from U Khun Sa.

The Heroin Wars trilogy represents a uniquebut tragic look into an illegal drug production anddistribution industry over a thirty-year period.Unfortunately, the two former warlords seem to bethe only people to have benefited from this tragicbusiness. ✦

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Franklin Mark Osanka earned his Ph.D. atNorthwestern University and has spent many yearstraveling and researching in Southeast Asia. Hisfirst book was Modern Guerrilla Warfare (The FreePress/Macmillan, 1962) and he recently wrote theForeword to the late Dr. Maung Maung’s The1988 Uprising in Burma (Yale, 1999).

The Heroin Wars trilogy is available fromBullfrog Films. Price is $395 for the series or $195each for purchase, $75 each for rental.

idate” the criminals), patrollingthe desolate border area, andquestioning a pair of smugglerscaught in the act.

Interestingly, C98 is fundedby a percentage of the proceedsfrom the goods it confiscates.Although Khanh and his com-rades seem dedicated andhonest, one wonders if thissystem might not encouragecorruption over the long term.Ironically, though, C98 is so efficient that it is dis-banded after just six months, the logic being thatif there are no smugglers, there are no proceedswith which to fund the task force. While we hearthis news in voice-over, the camera pans slyly fromthe task force soldiers enjoying a celebratory din-ner to a shot of two young men, carrying bundlesand running past the guard house and over abridge, suggesting that smuggling will continueregardless.

Not surprisingly, the narrator points out theirony of free-market capitalism flourishing on theborder of two communist holdouts. More surpris-ing is the statement that the average inhabitant ofMon Cai earns $140 a month. That may notsound like much to most American students, butaccording to the U.S. State Department, the aver-age per-capita income in Vietnam is $372 a year.

In 1997 my husband and I crossed the borderfrom Laos into a tiny Vietnamese village and

began looking for a ride to the larger town ofDong Ha. We struck a deal with an energeticyoung woman who piled us into her van alongwith a dozen other passengers. None of us wereallowed to bring our luggage into the van, how-ever, until the driver and her helpers had filled thevehicle with what I suspect was the real reason fortheir trip. Hidden compartments that appeared inthe floor, the ceiling, and under the seats, andeven the spaces behind the roll-up window shadeswere stuffed with cartons of cigarettes, shrink-wrapped clothing, plastic sandals, and tiny glassvials filled, presumably, with medicine. Our drivereven asked if she could pack some of her goods inour luggage (we declined). Backpacks, baskets, andthe rest of the passengers’ belongings were thendragged on top of the loose floorboards, and wewere on our way.

According to the documentary Smuggling,made in 2000, the art of running contraband inVietnam continues to thrive. The video focuses onthe town of Mon Cai, on the Chinese border.Here, the C98 Special Task Force guards the bor-der in an effort to prevent smuggling whichKhanh, the C98 leader, says threatens to destabi-lize the Vietnamese economy. The brief documen-tary shows the young soldiers cleaning theirautomatic weapons (which are used “just to intim-

Either the video makers got the numberwrong, or the residents of Mon Cai aredoing very well for themselves indeed.Might there be other reasons that C98was disbanded?

Only 12 minutes long, the video doesnot have time to go into much detail andleaves the viewer wondering about the eco-nomic repercussions of smuggling and thelives of both soldiers and smugglers on thenorthern frontier. On the other hand, thebrief running time makes it easy to view in asingle class period with time left over to dis-

cuss it. The video might kick off informative dis-cussions on, for instance, the reasons that peopleturn to smuggling or the impact of illegal activitieson whole economies, but the video should not berelied upon to provide much information in andof itself. Smuggling would be appropriate for highschool or early-college classes in world studies andgeography, and could also be used to interestingeffect in economics classes. ✦

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sarah I. Barbour is the Program Coordinator ofAEMS and Editor of News and Reviews.

Smuggling is part of The Winds of Changeseries, distributed by First Run/Icarus Films. Priceis $155 for purchase, $45 for rental.

Smuggling>> Part of The Winds of Change series. 2000. 12 minutes.

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work roles for women, and television, have beenlinked to its demise.

One of the things I loved about the film wasseeing examples of spidery Nu Shu calligraphycrawl across the screen. It is said that local mencalled it “ant graphs” or “mosquito graphs” due tothe extended legs of some of the strokes. However,the film doesn’t provide adequate information onthe technical features of Nu Shu, which is pre-dominantly syllabic (each graph represents a sylla-ble), with the addition of logographic, iconic andpunctuation graphs. The writing system containsaround 700 core graphs, and individual graphsmight be composed of one to twenty strokes com-bined with dots, curves or small chevrons. A text

In 1999, the Sunday Times of Londonannounced that a “secret language” used only

by women had been “discovered” in southernChina. The story was prompted by the premiereof Yue-Qing Yang’s documentary film, Nu Shu: A Hidden Language of Women in China. The jour-nalist got it wrong, however, since the subject ofthe film is a writing system, not a language, andits existence had been known and documented byChinese scholars for at least half a century. Afterviewing the film, I am not sure we can blame thejournalist for the misinterpretation.

The writing system, called Nu Shu, literally“women’s writing,” was once used in Jiang Yongcounty in Hunan province, where residents reflecta mixture of Yao and Han ethnic cultures. A pri-mary theme of the film is that Nu Shu helped tostrengthen female bonds and served as a copingstrategy for women dealing with an imported,Han-derived patriarchal system. This is a regionwhere women (and men) customarily created ri-tual siblinghoods, special relationships contractedwith same-sex, same-age friends. A local sayingwas, “Beside a well, one won’t thirst; beside a sis-ter, one won’t despair.” The film is a remarkabledemonstration of the social role of writing in anethnographic context, illustrating how shared andexchanged Nu Shu writings fostered and but-tressed ritual sisterships. Men weren’t really “for-bidden” to learn Nu Shu, as the film asserts, theyjust ignored or belittled it. Nu Shu writing wascherished and squirreled away as treasured memo-rabilia, and was burned at a woman’s death so thatshe could read it in the afterlife.

In the film’s National Geographic–style searchfor the oblique, diamond-shaped script, we learnthat it was intertwined with forms of Han and Yaoliterary genres, including lyric ballads, folktales,and letters lamenting the wretched state of mar-riage. Nu Shu was also tied to a unique local cus-tom, the “third-day booklets” given to a bride byher ritual sisters and female kin. The catharticfunction of Nu Shu writing is particularly high-lighted in the film. We meet eighty-six-year-oldHuan-Yi Yang, one of the few women still able toread and write it, and other elderly ladies whospeak of the importance of exchanging Nu Shu-encoded sentiments. Although younger womenmay still know the songs and poems, they nolonger learn the writing system. Sociopoliticalchanges since 1949, such as the anti-traditioncampaigns of the Cultural Revolution, different

Nu Shu: A Hidden Language of Women in China>> Directed by Yue-Qing Yang. 1999. 59 minutes.

was read upright or titled, right to left and top tobottom, although some samples of boustrophedon(writing in alternating directions) have also beenfound. Groups of women chanted aloud or sangfrom texts while doing embroidery or celebratingholidays and festivals.

Nu Shu is derived from Chinese characters,and the original shapes can still be detected in per-haps half of the graphs if you imagine that square,vertical characters have been gripped by the upperright and lower left edges and pulled diagonally.The whole aspect of the script, inked thinly withcrosshatched lines and threadlike tendrils, resem-bles complex embroidery designs, a similarity

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which folk theory links to its origin. The filmclaims that Nu Shu was once concealed in thedesigns and patterns of embroidery, but many ofthese samples of woven script were tourist itemspopular after Nu Shu became the topic of mediaattention in the 1980s, and earlier evidence of this practice is weak. Nevertheless, the film allowsus a rare opportunity to view many elegant NuShu artifacts, such as decorated third-day booklets,and writing on salmon-colored cloth, pale bluesilk ribbon, stark white paper fans, and delicatehandkerchiefs. We also see rare archival filmfootage of calligraphers writing in Nu Shu.

This is a beautiful and moving film with highartistic merit, but it is also overly polemical. Thefilmmaker wanted to present Nu Shu as the “crucial sustaining force” in the lives of oppressedwomen, and not enough attention is given to linguistic issues. There are extended scenes thatdocument the misery of female lives, yet the actuallanguage used for writing Nu Shu is merelydescribed as a “local dialect.” (The mother tongueof Nu Shu writers, Xiangnan Tuhua, is not mutu-ally intelligible with the official state language.) At times the critical distinction between languageand writing is blurred. Nor are the obvious andfascinating parallels with the Japanese hiragana syllabary of the ninth century fully explored: thecommon descent from Chinese characters, theconnection to particular genres of writing, theimportance of aesthetic qualities, and the associa-tion with women all deserve more attention. For a balanced and scholarly description of Nu Shu, I suggest William Chiang’s book, We Two Knowthe Script; We Have Become Good Friends(University Press of America, 1995).

Although one might wish that the film were abit shorter, with fewer scenes of pretty landscapesand wicked husbands, it could profitably be usedin college-level courses on Asian studies, women’sstudies, and anthropology. Linguistic anthropolo-gists are always looking for films to use in theirlanguage and culture courses, and this willadmirably fit the bill if comprehensive linguisticbackground is provided. ✦

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Laura Miller is an Associate Professor in theDepartment of Sociology and Anthropology atLoyola University of Chicago. Her research inter-ests include linguistic anthropology, gender ideolo-gy, and popular culture. Recently she edited aspecial theme issue of the U.S.–Japan Women’sJournal entitled “Speculating on Spin: MediaModels of Women.”

Nu Shu: A Hidden Language of Women inChina is available from Women Make Movies.Price is $250 for purchase and $75 for rental.

continued from previous page

are pop stars, presumablywell paid and idolized bymany teen-age women.They seem to be welleducated, are in fantasticphysical shape, andbounce happily around(by choice) in a demand-ing career of pseudo-mayhem far removedfrom the world of sub-servient office ladies.They inspire many, inshort; and yet they alsoseem to me to be humili-ated by Nagaya’s toughtraining tactics, andexploited by the demandsof the media, pop culture,and a perpetual life on themargins of mainstreamculture.

We may ask, then, if amostly visual video onprofessional womenwrestlers is a useful teach-ing resource. Does it illu-minate any of the keyissues in Japan? Does itreally honor women?Aren’t our students alreadyall too eager to look uponJapan as bizarre? In theend, I am not sure thatthe Japan Foundation gotits money’s worth—but

perhaps that is because I am an ancient whitemale, long overdue for one of Nagaya’s basic bodyslams. ✦

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Peter K. Frost is the Frederick L. SchumanProfessor of International Relations at WilliamsCollege, an Associate Editor of Education AboutAsia, and Editor of the AAS series, Resources forTeaching About Asia. He regularly offers courses on Japanese history and the Vietnam War.

Gaea Girls is available from Women MakeMovies. Price is $295 for purchase and $90 forrental.

We can fightthe power.

We are violent. . .freakout. We canfight forever!” bellows theannouncer—in English yet—as the GAEA Girls professional womenwrestlers leap, punch,and kick their waythrough the openingscenes of this video.We then see NagayaChigusa put a weepyTakeuchi Saikathrough her intenseprobationary year in the GAEA Girls’training camp.Nagaya is rather abrute, able (the videoshows us) to arisefrom allegedly serioustorture to defeat thesinister Lioness Aska.The daughter of amilitary man whoapparently used thesame abusive tactics,her role, she cheer-fully tells us, is togoad her charges intoworking hard inhopes that they mayeventually be able to beat the “bitch.”

Does all this deserve Japan Foundation fund-ing? The video asks you to make that judgementvisually; oddly enough, there is no narration, noexplanation of who these women are, and no clue(apart from hints of a sell-out) of what role thesport plays in Japan, nor who decides who wins.Certainly the video is nicely filmed, giving usextraordinarily personal scenes of women at work.It is also interesting to see how these stern trainingtechniques compare with traditional Japanesemethods ranging from early Zen meditation onthrough other sports and activities.

Many viewers may also feel that this videoreplaces traditional Japanese stereotypes withimages of empowered women. I say “may” becausethe images seem to me to be mixed. GAEA girls

Gaea Girls>> Directed by Kim Loginotto and Jano Williams. 2000. 106 minutes.

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GAEA girls inspire

many. . .yet they also

seem to me to be

humiliated by tough

training tactics,

and exploited by

the demands of the

media, pop culture,

and a perpetual life

on the margins of

mainstream culture.

Correction: In our last issue, the URL forAEMS’ K–12 Resource list was misprinted. The correct Web address is http://www.aems.uiuc.edu/HTML/K-12.html.

7www.aems.uiuc.edu ✦

8 ✦ 1-888-828-AEMS

In the last issue, this column discussed qualityresources focusing on China that could be

found for under $30. This time I chose to concen-trate on Japan, perhaps the most popular Asian

country to teach, espe-cially at the K–12 level.Unsurprisingly, I had noshortage of material tosort through and many

I wanted to recommend. The ones finally decidedupon are, in my opinion, representative of the bestcheaply available media resources focusing on thefollowing three areas: traditional art-forms, thewartime period, and modern Japanese culture.

Living Traditions: Introducing Japan’s Visual, Performing, and Literary Art Forms

Japan is famous for its rich artistic heritage, a legacy that has been carefully preserved and devel-oped for centuries. In 1980, National Geographicproduced Living Treasures of Japan, a 60-minutedocumentary featuring a number of Japan’s finestartisans. Recognized by the Japanese governmentas the best in their respective crafts, these artistsare responsible for teaching the next generationtheir skills, which include doll-making, weaving,sword-making, koto, puppetry, and others.Another similar documentary suitable for highschool and college students is The Tradition ofPerforming Arts in Japan, part of Japan: The Landand Its People series. Performing Arts containsextensive footage of traditional Japanese theater,focusing on Noh, Bunraku puppetry, and Kabuki.Although this documentary could feature morehistorical background, the performance clips areimpressive and well explained.

There is also a multitude of slide and audio-cassette units that focus on Japanese art. Japan:Images and Words is composed of a 64-page lessonbook, 13 photos, and six slides. Designed forsixth-grade language arts classes, the main goal ofthis unit is to teach students how they can learnabout a society through looking at its artwork.The first lessons compare Western and Japanesetechniques and show connections between artworkand folktales. The final lessons instruct studentson how to create their own screens, a task that will probably involve purchasing additional mate-rials, such as ink, brushes, and calligraphy paper.Another unit, which requires nothing extra exceptsome creativity, is the literary arts curriculum unit, The Haiku Moment, available in elementary andsecondary editions. Complete with 21 slides andan audiocassette, the secondary edition teachesstudents how to write Japanese poetry, using the

traditional five-seven-five syllable patternand explains how seasonal changes andZen Buddhism have inspired haikumasters. The elementary edition, whichfocuses on writing simple haiku,includes 12 slides and a tape.

Japan at War: Views of WWII and the Post-War Experience

Even after over fifty years, Japan’s rolein the Second World War is still hotlycontested. Finding well-balancedaccounts of this conflict is very diffi-cult, especially for under $40.Unfortunately, the videos I viewed thatwere critical of Japan’s conduct (rightlyso in many cases), also tended to userather racist language that I am uncom-fortable endorsing. Therefore, all of thevideos I decided to recommend tend toadopt a pacifist stance and avoid glorify-ing either side of the conflict.

The Japanese version of the war (or at least one moderate view) is beau-tifully conveyed in the animated fea-ture, Grave of the Fireflies. In this story,two young children, orphaned andscorned by their kin, try to survive ontheir own in an increasingly desperatewar-torn nation. This feature is toointense for young children, but olderstudents (8th grade–college) willgain a greater appreciation for thetoll military conflict takes on allmembers of society, even innocentfour-year old children. Another filmthat discusses World War II’s effect onJapanese children is the American fam-ily feature Hiroshima Maiden. Set in1950s America, this hour-long videodetails the experience of a suburbanfamily who decide to take in a youngwoman from Hiroshima so that herextensive scars can be treated by localplastic surgeons. Harassed by his Jap-hat-ing buddies, the family’s elder son mustcome to terms with peer pressure, racismagainst Japanese people, and the effectwar (especially atomic war) has on civil-ians. The young Japanese woman isfaced with constant rejection in boththe United States and Japan. This film is a great vehicle for teaching fourththrough tenth graders acceptance ofdifferent people as well as WWII and

Japanese Media Resources Under $40post-war history. For teacherslooking for a more in-depthanalysis of the atomic bombings,Hiroshima: Why the Bomb WasDropped, an hour-and-a-half longspecial produced by ABC News,debates questions such as: Was thedropping of the bomb really neces-sary? How many lives did it actuallysave? Were there alternative coursesof action? Although this docu-mentary clearly takes the perspec-tive that the United States waswrong to drop the bomb, highschool and college educators canutilize it to initiate a two-sideddiscussion.

Two documentaries can beused to teach about theOccupation period followingWWII, The Pacific Century:

Reinventing Japan and OccupiedJapan: An Experiment inDemocracy. Both of these videosare appropriate for high schooland college students, and featuremany of the same photographs,footage, and interviews, but of thetwo, Occupied is somewhat morecritical of the American occupation.

New Directions: Japan in the Modern Era

Neither the Noh scene from TheTradition of Performing Arts in Japan, nor the maimed face of theHiroshima Maiden portray an accu-rate image of Japan today. Teacherswishing to convey to their studentsthat Japan is a modern, evolvingsociety should check out the fol-lowing videos. For elementaryschool children, Families of Japan,part of the Families of the WorldSeries, records one day in the lifeof two young children and theirfamilies. Similar in format to

the Families of China video I recommended in the last issue,Families of Japan features two fifteen-minute segments, oneabout a boy who lives in a ruralarea and the other about a girlfrom the city. Older students whowant to learn about their Japanesepeers can watch Suburban Tokyo

BargainBuys!

continued on next page

9www.aems.uiuc.edu ✦

High School Students or The College Years, from the Video Letter from Japan series. Produced in thelate 1980s, these films are also narrated in the firstperson and relate the experiences of both boys and girls. Asia Video Reports—Japan, a series co-produced by AEMS, features real footage fromJapanese news programs and is accompanied bydetailed teacher’s guides. Four fifteen-minute tapesdetail different aspects of Japanese culture includ-ing arts and crafts, festivals and holidays, food,and housing. ✦

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Elizabeth Cothen is the Assistant ProgramCoordinator for AEMS. She can be reached at888-828-AEMS or by e-mail at cothen@uiuc.edu.

Videography

Living Treasures of Japan (1980, 60 minutes) isavailable from Facets Video. Price is $19.95.

Japan: The Land and Its People: The Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan (1989, 30 minutes) is available from Great Plains. Price is $39.

Japan: Images and Words (1994) is available fromthe Freer Gallery of Art. Price is $16.

The Haiku Moment (1995) is available fromStanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Exchange (SPICE). Price is$31.95 for elementary edition, $34.95 for secondary edition.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988, 88 minutes) is available from Facets Video. Price is $29.95 for dubbed edition, $19.95 for subtitled.

Hiroshima Maiden (1988, 57 minutes) is available from Library Video Company. Price is $14.95.

Hiroshima: Why the Bomb Was Dropped (1995, 70 minutes) is available from Social StudiesSchool Service. Price is $19.95.

The Pacific Century: Reinventing Japan (1992, 60 minutes) is available from Annenburg/CPB Multimedia. Price is $39.95.

Occupied Japan: An Experiment in Democracy(1996, 60 minutes) is available from PBS Video. Price is $39.95.

Families of the World—Families of Japan (1996, 30 minutes) is available from Asia for Kids. Price is $29.95.

Video Letter II from Japan: Suburban High SchoolStudents and The College Years (1988–91, 30 minutes each) are available from Sasuga Japanese Bookstore. Price is $35 each.

Asia Video Reports—Japan (2000, 15 minuteseach) are available from Social ScienceEducation Consortium (SSEC). Price is $25each, $90 for all four.

direct access to the 126 objects presented in the, ranging from the Neolithic period to the 19thcentury, from jade carvings to silk robes.

Uses and Strategies

These -s present numerous opportunitiesfor classroom use at several levels. I recommendusing them essentially as slides, employing a mul-timedia projector rather than a traditional one.The computer-stored images have a great advan-tage over traditional art slides: because you canmove between images with at most a few mouseclicks, in no fixed order, comparisons amongslides—even comparisons not anticipated by theinstructor—are easily made.

For younger students (perhaps middle school)the timeline feature of the first volume could serveas a useful introduction to Chinese history. Thenarration, though too slow and pedantic for moreadvanced classes, would reinforce the informationpresented visually through the objects. When aclass appeared bored, an object could be selectedfor group discussion. Because A City of Cathaypresents numerous scenes of daily life, includingperforming animals, stage performances, andhousehold games, younger students could beengaged in discussions of how similar or differentlife in imperial China was from life in their owntime and place.

Instructors in the college classroom can use

including essays on the different versions of thescroll, whether its subject is purely realistic, mythi-cal, or some combination, and on the Qing impe-rial painting academy.

The Dragon in Chinese Art

Volume Three offers three ways to interact withChina’s most recognizable cultural symbol.Although creative and interesting, this is notflexible enough to make it useful in most class-room settings. First, an informative and entertain-ing “Documentary” introduces the motif of thedragon in Chinese history and art. Next, the“Dragon Types” menu analyzes the nine differenttypes of dragon commonly depicted in art, fromthe kui dragon with roots in Shang and Zhoubronzes, to the lion-like rampant dragon popularduring the Tang dynasty, to the Ming and Qingimperial seated dragon. Each type is introducedwith excellent graphic detail, using photographs of objects that depict each style and computer ani-mation to illustrate the prominent features.

A chronology presents the major dynastic peri-ods in Chinese history, and invites the user totrace the development of the dragon through eachof them by analyzing stylistic innovations and alsochanges in the meaning of the different depictionsover time. Finally, the “Antiquities” module allows

Treasure the Treasurescontinued from page 3

One of the 126 “antiquities” from the National Palace Museum in Taipei accessible on The Dragonin Chinese Art -.

continued on page 10

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10 ✦ 1-888-828-AEMS

D irected by Frenchfilmmaker

Thomas Balmès, thisfilm takes its name fromwhat the McDonald’sCorporation calls its“Big Mac” sandwich inIndia. Although madewith lamb patties inIndia, the burger’s tradi-tional source of meat inthe West—the cow—is the focus of this film.Maharajah Burger juxta-poses the cow of theWest—considered pri-marily a source ofmeat—with the cow as it exists in India. There, itis a source of milk and of fuel in the form ofdung, a beast of burden in the farmer’s field andultimately, and perhaps most importantly forHindus, an object of reverence. The film’s overar-ching theme comes directly from this juxtaposi-tion, i.e., how an element of one culture can

assume a totally differentmeaning and significance inanother.

Balmès successfully playswith this theme throughoutthe film, interweaving inter-views with Hindus of differ-ent social classes illustratingtheir attitudes toward cowsalong with news segmentsfrom the BBC reporting onthe progress of mad cow disease in the UnitedKingdom. The first part ofthe film, for example, intro-duces an Indian veterinarianat a goshala, or cow hospice,

a place where sick and aging cows can live out therest of their lives, tended by humans who care fortheir well-being. Leaving what may seem to mostin the West as an unfamiliar scene, the directornext shows a group of Indians watching a televi-sion report about the English beef industry andthe impact of mad cow disease. After seeing the

report and the large-scale destruction of cattle, oneIndian viewer becomes angry, incensed that peoplein the West cry when their pet dogs die, but con-sider cows less worthy of such compassion. Otherportions of the film continue this theme.

The one weakness of Maharajah Burger is thatroughly two-thirds of the way through the film,Balmès introduces another theme—that ofWestern cultural imperialism. To illustrate hisargument, he shows the opening of a McDonald’sfranchise in New Delhi, covers scenes of protestingIndian farmers destroying the Kentucky FriedChicken franchise in Bangalore, and draws atten-tion to the presence of laundry detergent, pizza,and Pepsi Cola in the Indian marketplace.Although interesting, the interjection of anothertheme so late in the film detracts from its mainidea. In addition, the focus of the secondarytheme—on what seems to be primarily Americancultural imperialism—may ultimately be more areflection of French, rather than Indian, sensibili-ties on the issue.

Despite this small flaw, Maharajah Burger is abeautifully photographed and well-crafted film.Suitable for an audience from high school throughcollege, it could be an effective tool in illustratingthe differences in cultural values between Indiaand the West, particularly in an introductorycourse about India or a course in comparativesociology. ✦

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Karl J. Schmidt is Associate Professor of Historyat Missouri Southern State College, where heteaches South Asian history and serves as AssistantDirector of the Honors Program. He is alsoDirector of Project South Asia, a Web-based digitallibrary of teaching resources for colleges and uni-versities (http://www.mssc.edu/projectsouthasia).

Maharajah Burger is available from FilmakersLibrary. Price is $295 for purchase and $75 forrental.

CO

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OF

FIL

MA

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LIB

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Suitable for an audience

from high school

through college,

it could be an effective

tool in illustrating the

differences in cultural

values between India

and the West. . .

Maharajah Burger>> Directed by Thomas Balmès. 1997. 50 minutes.

these s to augment, rather than replace, theirown lectures. To do so effectively will require sig-nificant preparation time working with the ,but once familiar with its contents, an instructorcan use the many images stored to illustrate pointsfrom four millennia of Chinese history.

Advanced high school and college undergradu-ate courses are probably the best suited to theses. The documentary-style images that introduceVolumes One and Three could be shown in theirentirety to such classes, setting up further activitiesor discussions. This could be especially valuable inworld history or world cultures survey classes,

where instructors are not always experts inChinese history and art history.

A City of Cathay is probably the most usefulvolume for the classroom at either the advancedhigh school or college level. This is in part becauseof the richness of the source, which provides anunparalleled visual introduction to life in imperialChina. Because the time and location of the paint-ing’s subject is not specific, it can be used in anycourse focusing on traditional, imperial, or late-imperial China. The permits exceptionally flex-ible interface with the painting so that instructorscan focus on specific kinds of practices (religion,entertainment, commerce, architecture, et cetera)and use the painting to illustrate their points.

In conclusion, despite some unintuitive and

awkward interfaces and some inconsistencies in how the images can be viewed, these three -s introduce a valuable collection of arttreasures to a wider audience, and do so in flexi-ble, creative, and usually effective ways. ✦

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>James Carter is Assistant Professor of History atSaint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He holdsa Ph.D. in Modern Chinese History from YaleUniversity.

The National Palace Museum: A Treasure-houseof Chinese Art, A City of Cathay, and The Dragonin Chinese Art are part of the Treasure the TreasuresSeries available from Lee & Lee Communications,U.S.A. Price is $49.95 each.

Treasure the Treasurescontinued from page 7

11www.aems.uiuc.edu ✦

T his film shows how the traditional fishingcommunities of India and Bangladesh have

been struggling to protect their coastal areas fromover-fishing, industrial exploitation, and devastat-ing pollution. Their livelihood and way of life arethreatened by transnational corporations support-ed by development-minded national governmentsand the World Bank. The film introduces studentsto an important worldwide environmental prob-lem, and to the creative ways local communitieshave met this threatthrough concertednon-violent politicalaction. The producer/director is a leadingIndian documentaryfilmmaker, and thefilm is well photo-graphed, realistic and forceful.

The film openswith a fishing commu-nity near Madraswhose men go into theIndian Ocean in smallboats fighting againstthe waves only toreturn after a day offishing with little ornothing to show fortheir work. First, mechanized trawlers owned byIndian fishing companies and more recently, giantforeign-owned factory ships have depleted theoceans. The fishermen and their families are indesperate economic straits and their whole way oflife is jeopardized. Fish, once a staple of their dietas well as their economy, are now sent directly tourban centers and cost more than the rural peoplecan afford. An ex-priest, Thomas Kocherry, whohas been traveling around the country organizingfishermen for thirty years, shows them how tovoice their grievances. He is a fiery speaker, origi-nally inspired by Liberation Theology to help thepoor. In the Madras episode, he recruits the fisher-men into the National Fishworkers Forum, abranch of the World Forum of Fishworkers andFish Harvesters, and then leads them in non-vio-lent protest marches and demonstrations.

We follow Thomas Kocherry as he travels toMumbai (Bombay) to work among the Kolis, thelocal fishing community who have lived for hun-dreds of years in the southern section of the city.Here he organizes a massive march by the fisher-men, their wives and their children, who chant,sing and even dance in a festive mood, and endtheir march by ceremonially burning a replica of a

factory ship. Their songs are about the happydays of the past and the various kinds of fishthey used to catch, many of which are nowalmost extinct from over-fishing. In hisspeech to them, Kocherry tells them aboutthe fishermen of Madras and Ahmedabadwho joined the National FishworkersForum. They agree to follow his plan for a peaceful blockade of Bombay harbor,sailing out en masse in their tiny boats to

meet the giant factoryships, and to urge theircaptains to anchor out-side the harbor or leavethe area entirely. The captains acquiesce, andthe boycott soon bringsthe Union Minister forFood Processing fromNew Delhi to mediatethe dispute.

After his success in Bombay, ThomasKocherry sets off on anew mission, to protectthe coastal zones fromindustrial exploitation.Although India has a lawmaking it illegal forindustries to exploit

beach property within 500 meters of the water,the film shows huge earth-moving machineryengaged in sand mining with the full cooperationof the local government. In this case, the miningcompany destroyed the local mango groves with-out compensating the farmers. Even more pollut-ing and devastating to agriculture has beenaquaculture—the construction of giant ponds ortanks in which shrimp are raised for export. TheWorld Bank and national governments have beeneager to promote aquaculture as a way for debtornations to earn foreign exchange. In aquaculture,the shrimp are raised in salt water pumped infrom the ocean, water which seeps through thetank walls and gushes out through breaches, creat-ing salinity in the soil of adjacent rice-growingland. The land is rendered useless for generations,and the villagers are on the edge of starvation. Inthe film’s final segment, set in Bangladesh, shrimpfarmers have leased large areas of land from absen-tee owners. The local farmers protest not only theruin of their land, but intimidation and themolestation of village women by company goons.Local police join the company’s strongmen to dis-perse the protesters, even killing some.

The film ends on a note of hope. The world-

wide movement to whichIndian fishermen nowbelong has grown in powerand has demanded a globalban on factory ships, indus-trial pollution, and aquacul-ture. In response, India,among other countries, hascanceled the licenses of manyof the factory ships operatingoff its coast. Nature too has a

way of redressing ecological imbalances. In 1997“white spot virus” halted the expansion of shrimpfarms in South and Southeast Asia, while seventy-five percent of the world’s fisheries have beenforced to close down to allow the seas to replenishtheir fish populations.

Although the main purpose of the film is toalert young people to a serious environmental dan-ger, what most impresses the viewer is the pictureof indigenous people struggling to survive and torestore their livelihoods. In spite of all their trou-bles, they try to stay cheerful and maintain theirsense of humor. They sing and dance with eachother and joke about their situation and theiroppressors. This film is well worth showing tohigh school and undergraduate college classesinterested in South Asia, in environmentalism, orin non-violent action as a political technique. ✦

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Blair B. Kling, Professor Emeritus, taught SouthAsian history and civilization at the University ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1962 to 2000.He has published numerous books and articles onnineteenth- and twentieth-century Indian historyand is currently working on a study ofJamshedpur, a center of steel and automobile man-ufacturing in eastern India.

Fishing in the Sea of Greed is available fromFirst Run/Icarus Films. Price is $375 for purchaseand $75 for rental.

Fishing in the Sea of Greed>> Produced and directed by Anand Patwardhan. 1998. 45 minutes.

The film introduces

students to an

important worldwide

environmental problem,

and to the creative ways

local communities have

met this threat through

concerted non-violent

political action.

Annenberg/CPB Collection, P.O. Box 2345, S. Burlington, VT 05407-2345. Tel: 800-LEARN-ER (532-7637). Fax: 800-864-9846. E-mail:info@learner.org. Web site: http://www.learner.org.

Asia for Kids, P.O. Box 9096, Cincinnati, OH45209. Tel: 513-563-3100 or 800-765-5885. Fax:513-563-3105. E-mail: info@afk.com. Web site:http://www.afk.com.

Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, New York, NY10021. Tel: 800-ASK-ASIA or 212-288-6400.Fax: 888-FAX-ASIA or 212-517-8315. Web site:http://www.asiasociety.org.

Bullfrog Films, P.O. Box 149, Oley, PA 19547.Tel: 800-543-3764. Fax: 610-370-1978. E-mail:catalog@bullfrogfilms.com. Web site: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com.

Facets Video, 1517 West Fullerton Avenue,Chicago, IL 60614. Tel: 800-331-6197 or 773-281-9075. Fax: 773-929-5437. E-mail: sales@facets.org. Web site: http://www.facets.org.

Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street, NewYork, NY 10016. Tel: 212-808-4980. Fax: 212-808-4983. E-Mail: info@filmakers.com. Web site:http://www.filmakers.com.

First Run Icarus Films, 153 Waverly Place,Sixth Floor, New York, NY 10014. Tel: 800-876-1710 or 212-727-1711. Fax: 212-989-7649. E-mail: info@frif.com. Web site: http://www.echonyc.com/~frif.

Freer Gallery of Art, Jefferson Drive at 12thStreet, SW, Washington, D.C. 20560. Tel: 202-357-4880. Web site: http://www.asia.si.edu.

Lee & Lee Communications, U.S.A., 399 W. Trimble Rd., Bldg.3, San Jose, CA 95131. Tel: 888-ART-8099 or 408-434-3380. Fax: 408-434-3381. E-mail:leelee@acer.com. Web site:http://www.culturalcafe.com

Library Video Company, P.O. Box 580, 7 EastWynnewood Road, Wynnewood, PA 19096. Tel:800-843-3620 or 610-645-4000. Fax: 610-645-4040. E-mail: comments@libraryvideo.com. Website: http://www.libraryvideo.com.

PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria,VA 22314-1698. Tel: 800-344-3337. Fax: 703-739-5269. Web site: http://www.pbs.org.

Sasuga Japanese Bookstore, 7 Upland Road,Cambridge, MA 02140. Tel: 617-497-5460. Fax:

Guide to Distributors>> A list of distributors mentioned in this issue of AEMS News and Reviews

Asian Educational Media ServiceCenter for East Asian and Pacific StudiesUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign230 International Studies Building, MC-483910 South Fifth StreetChampaign, IL 61820

http://www.aems.uiuc.edu

Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 75Champaign, IL

617-497-5362. E-mail: info@sasugabooks.com.Web site: http://www.sasugabooks.com.

Stanford Program on International andCross-Cultural Education (SPICE), EncinaHall East, Ground Floor, Stanford, CA 94305-6055. Tel: 800-578-1114 or 650-723-1114. E-mail: spice.sales@forsythe.stanford.edu. Website: http://spice.stanford.edu.

Social Science Education Consortium(SSEC), P.O. Box 21270, Boulder, CO 80308-4270. Tel: 303-492-8154. Fax: 303-449-3925. E-mail: ssec@ssecinc.org. Web site: http://ssecinc.org/.

Social Studies School Service, 10200Jefferson Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232. Tel: 800-421-4246 or 310-839-2436. Fax: 800-944-5432or 310-839-2249. E-mail: access@socialstudies.com. Web site: http://www.socialstudies.com.

Women Make Movies, Inc., DistributionDepartment, 462 Broadway, Suite 500R, NewYork, NY 10013. Tel: 212-925-0606. Fax: 212-925-2052. E-mail: orders@wmm.com. Web site:http://www.wmm.com.