Cha: An Asian Literary Journal

25/11/2025

[𝐍𝐄𝐖 Cha: An Asian Literary Journal 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖] In Jennifer Eagleton’s review of 𝐾𝑜𝑘𝑢ℎ𝑜 (2025), directed by Lee Sang-il, she observes that its cinematography exquisitely captures kabuki’s ritual and grandeur, while the embedded plays on unrequited love and death mirror the protagonists’ emotional journeys. She also notes the film’s strong box-office success in Japan and its selection as the country’s Academy Awards submission.

/ What makes Lee Sang-il’s 𝐾𝑜𝑘𝑢ℎ𝑜 special are the tight closeups of 𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑎 (men playing female roles in Kabuki) applying their thick makeup, and the widescreen long shots of Kabuki plays being performed, with their slow, stylised shoulder movements and inward-turned knees working in harmony as they glide across the stage. A story centred on the preservation of traditional ways, the problematic presence of outsiders, and the desire for perfection melds together to make a memorable film. /

⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: https://chajournal.blog/2025/11/25/kokuho/
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24/11/2025

[𝐍𝐄𝐖 Cha: An Asian Literary Journal 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖] In Lorence Lozano’s reading, Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒 (2025) is an unsettling study of Fren, an HR manager confronting pregnancy or abortion, whose faltering agency reveals a society hollowed by capitalist precarity, coercive expectations and a modernity collapsing beneath its own exhausted ambitions.

/ The narrative centres on Fren (Prapamonton Eiamchan), a human resources manager who initially hides her pregnancy, grappling with the decision to keep it or have it aborted before the three-month limit set by Thai abortion law. In the opening, we see a womb X-ray before Fren is revealed to the audience. One detail I noticed, which the subtitle failed to capture, is how the doctor insists on her motherhood by addressing her not by her actual name but as “Mom.” Although she is only half-framed, we understand fully that she is not as ready as she appears. This happens twice, both times with the same woman doctor Fren consults. The incongruity between how the doctor addresses her and how she internally feels heightens the tension, as she is coerced without the agency to articulate whether she is prepared or capable. Once there is a sign of her pregnancy, she becomes bound by decree to carry it in accordance with the life system’s prescribed flow. /

⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: https://chajournal.blog/2025/11/23/human-resource/
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24/11/2025

{{{ They are accepting submissions until Sunday 28 December 2025; please note that the submission window may close earlier: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1267874378691811 }}
𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑔 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑚:

❀ “Sun Moon Lake: A History” is a reflection on the impact of the tourist gaze on an indigenous people of Taiwan and their resistance to being consumed by this gaze. Sun Moon Lake, located in the foothills of the Central Mountain Range in central Nantou County, is Taiwan’s largest lake.

The Thao, like other indigenous peoples in Taiwan, are an Austronesian ethnic group. “Thao” is an exonym given to them by researchers during the Japanese occupation. Prior to this, they appear to have referred to themselves by the names of their villages. According to oral tradition, their ancestors arrived in the lake basin on a hunting expedition while tracking a white stag. The stag leapt into the water and escaped. That night an elder had a dream in which a fairy in a white cloak claimed to be the deer and told him the land was theirs.

Sun Moon Lake has been a major tourist destination for several decades. Most Thao derive their incomes from tourism, although the major players in the local tourism industry are ethnic Han Chinese. Shops in the area sell some local products such as black tea, but most items are typical kitschy tourist fare. The lake was a favourite vacation spot of Chiang Kai-shek, and the aruzay fish, an indigenous species of grass carp, was one of his favoured dishes. Restaurants around the lake still advertise aruzay as “president’s fish.”

The Thao traditionally worshipped ancestral spirits. Each family possesses an ancestral spirit basket, but the chief spirit is said to reside in a bishop wood tree on Lalu Island in the lake’s western, moon-shaped half.
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In an upcoming issue of 聲韻詩刊 Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, we will publish an English-language section on 🅆🄷🄸🅃🄴.

Greg Huteson's "Sun Moon Lake: A History" will be included.

{{{ We are accepting submissions until Sunday 28 December 2025; please note that the submission window may close earlier: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1267874378691811 }}
𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑔 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑚:

❀ “Sun Moon Lake: A History” is a reflection on the impact of the tourist gaze on an indigenous people of Taiwan and their resistance to being consumed by this gaze. Sun Moon Lake, located in the foothills of the Central Mountain Range in central Nantou County, is Taiwan’s largest lake.

The Thao, like other indigenous peoples in Taiwan, are an Austronesian ethnic group. “Thao” is an exonym given to them by researchers during the Japanese occupation. Prior to this, they appear to have referred to themselves by the names of their villages. According to oral tradition, their ancestors arrived in the lake basin on a hunting expedition while tracking a white stag. The stag leapt into the water and escaped. That night an elder had a dream in which a fairy in a white cloak claimed to be the deer and told him the land was theirs.

Sun Moon Lake has been a major tourist destination for several decades. Most Thao derive their incomes from tourism, although the major players in the local tourism industry are ethnic Han Chinese. Shops in the area sell some local products such as black tea, but most items are typical kitschy tourist fare. The lake was a favourite vacation spot of Chiang Kai-shek, and the aruzay fish, an indigenous species of grass carp, was one of his favoured dishes. Restaurants around the lake still advertise aruzay as “president’s fish.”

The Thao traditionally worshipped ancestral spirits. Each family possesses an ancestral spirit basket, but the chief spirit is said to reside in a bishop wood tree on Lalu Island in the lake’s western, moon-shaped half.
🖋️ 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠 𝐇𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧 is the author of the chapbook These Unblessed Days (Kelsay Books, 2022). His poems examine transience, the interpretation of natural and human environments, and hope. Recent work has appeared in The Honest Ulsterman, Cassandra Voices, Pulsebeat Poetry Journal, and The Crank, among other journals. He has lived in East Asia for several years and now calls Taichung, Taiwan, home.
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24/11/2025

[𝐍𝐄𝐖 Cha: An Asian Literary Journal 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖] In Fathima M’s latest review for Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, she reflects on Yōko Ogawa's𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑎’𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑏𝑜𝑥 (Pantheon Books, 2024), translated from the Japanese by Stephen B. Snyder, as a gentle study of sisterhood, quiet privilege, and the enduring solace found in reading, memory, and the ordinary. This is our second review of the book.

/ A twelve-year-old Tomoko comes to stay at her aunt’s home in Ashiya following her father’s sudden death and spends most of her time with her cousin, Mina. The anticipated power dynamics arising from Mina’s higher social status are overcome by her genuine generosity, illustrating that profound human connection transcends social class. The cousins live a quiet life, full of affection and kindness, and the lasting bond between them is at the heart of this coming-of-age novel. Most importantly, the cousins read extensively, particularly Mina. /

⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: https://chajournal.blog/2025/11/24/matchbox/
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23/11/2025

[𝐍𝐄𝐖 Cha: An Asian Literary Journal 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖] In Lorence Lozano’s reading, Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒 (2025) is an unsettling study of Fren, an HR manager confronting pregnancy or abortion, whose faltering agency reveals a society hollowed by capitalist precarity, coercive expectations and a modernity collapsing beneath its own exhausted ambitions.

/ Fren is consistently positioned in half-framed compositions, making it difficult to see her in full. She often appears with her back turned to the camera, as if refusing the audience’s gaze. While she is framed in this detached manner, Nawapol reinforces the distance by depicting Fren as desensitised to everything unfolding around her, from the workplace to the life imposed upon her by a motherhood for which she is not ready. /

⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: https://chajournal.blog/2025/11/23/human-resource/
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