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Podcast: New Books in Buddhist Studies
Episode: Roger K. Thomas, "Counting Dreams: The Life and Writings of the Loyalist Nun Nomura BÅtÅ" (Cornell UP, 2021)
Description: Counting Dreams: The Life and Writings of the Loyalist Nun Nomura BÅtÅ (Cornell UP, 2021) tells the story of Nomura BÅtÅ, a Buddhist nun, writer, poet, and activist who joined the movement to oppose the Tokugawa Shogunate and restore imperial rule. Banished for her political activities, BÅtÅ was imprisoned on a remote island until her comrades rescued her in a dramatic jailbreak, spiriting her away under gunfire. Roger K. Thomas examines BÅtÅ's life, writing, and legacy, and provides annotated translations of two of her literary diaries, shedding light on life and society in Japan's tumultuous bakumatsu p...