Kristine Ohkubo
Official Site of
Author & Editor
Books
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Talking About Rakugo 1: The Japanese Art of Storytelling
(Second Edition)
April 14, 2022
(Original publication date June 21, 2021)
Asia's Masonic Reformation
(Second Edition)
January 1, 2023
(Original publication date January 9, 2019)
A Blogger's Guide to Japan
(Revised Edition)
November 22, 2022
(Original publication date January 31, 2017)
Reviews
Asia's Masonic Reformation...
Kristine Ohkubo brings her penetrating exploration skills to reveal the Freemason’s spread and influence in East Asia. Typically with this writer, her ideas are authoritative, well-researched and a rewarding read. It’s an enlightening book for the fresh and tutored reader alike, replete with fascinating facts, interesting historical profiles and controversies.
Talking About Rakugo 1...
A fascinating exploration into the traditional Japanese art of storytelling known as 'fallen words'. Kristine Ohkubo deftly describes the history of this unique form of Japanese verbal entertainment in a thorough and compelling way
Sakhalin...
“Sakhlin” is a groundbreaking book about a little known corner of Northeast Asia. Well researched and lucidly written, it provides a political and ethnographic review of the island’s tortuous, alternating colonization by the Mongols, China, Japan and Russia, exploring how the local Ainu, Korean and Russian inhabitants struggled in a harsh environment to develop their towns and cultures.
Nickname Flower of Evil...
Ohkubo’s vast knowledge of Japanese culture and history brings light to truth in her book about Japan’s infamous murderer, Abe Sada. Displaying her gift with words, the talented author makes us understand that Abe was no cold-blooded killer, but a victim of the cruel patriarchy ruling her country. The candid love scenes, the heightened sexuality Abe experiences as she searches for someone willing to truly love her, and the shameful powerlessness she silently endures as men make decisions about her body and her life, all help to show us a vulnerable character who was severely abused. When Abe was put on trial for murdering her lover and removing his genitalia, all of Japan was riveted on the tale of this woman scorned as a brutal killer. But Ohkubo’s exhaustive research results in a very different, more empathetic, narrative; and, we readers are breathlessly captivated by Abe’s story from the very first page to the last.
Mark S. Osaki,
Author of Best Evidence
Mark S. Osaki,
Author of Best Evidence
Sheridan Tatsuno,
Author of Created in Japan: From Imitators to World-Class Innovators
Yayoi Winfrey,
Filmmaker, War Brides of Japan
Bio
KRISTINE OHKUBO is a Los Angeles-based author and editor whose work emphasizes topics related to Japan and Japanese culture. While growing up in Chicago, she developed a deep love and appreciation for Japanese culture, people, and history. Her extensive travels in Japan have enabled her to gain insight into this fascinating country, which she shares with you through her work.
Her first book, a compilation of her numerous travel blog articles about Japan, was published in 2016 (revised edition issued in 2022). In 2017, she released a historical study of the Pacific War written from the perspective of the Japanese people, both those who were living in Japan and in the United States, when the war broke out. Two years later, she supplemented her earlier releases with the story of an infamous twentieth century geisha, who was both a victim and an aggressor, struggling amidst a strict patriarchal culture and a rapidly changing social system. In 2019, she followed up her 2017 release, The Sun Will Rise Again, with a book titled Sakhalin. The work examines the far-reaching impact the island changing hands had on its inhabitants and resources and culminates with the tragic events which took place in August 1945.
Beginning in 2020, Kristine turned her attention to rakugo, Japan’s 400-year-old art of storytelling. She released two books, Talking About Rakugo 1: The Japanese Art of Storytelling followed by Talking About Rakugo 2: The Stories Behind the Storytellers. Through a succession of biographical information, anecdotes, interviews, and rakugo scripts, the author explains why this traditional art form has endured for centuries.
In 2022, Kristine contributed her editing skills to yet another rakugo book, this one authored by English rakugo storyteller Kanariya Eiraku entitled Eiraku's 100 English Rakugo Scripts (Volume 1). Following its release in August, she revisited a work she had first published three years earlier.
Originally released in January 2019, Asia's Masonic Reformation: Freemasonry's Impact on the Westernization and Subsequent Modernization of Asia examines how Freemasons have historically been the catalysts for change throughout Asia and the rest of the world. Utilizing careful research and setting aside the misinformation and various conspiracy theories that have emerged throughout the decades, the revised second edition presents the details and irrefutable historical facts demonstrating how Freemasons have notably been at the forefront of history, ushering in rapid change, modernization, and enlightenment.
An avid rakugo fan, Kristine once again shifted her attention to the art of rakugo in 2023. She compiled and released a collection of her own original English rakugo stories. Where applicable, the book also includes detailed historical information from which the author drew her inspiration for the stories.
As an author, Kristine believes that writing from other cultural perspectives encourages empathy and understanding, and at the same time it broadens our knowledge of the events that have unfolded over the years.