The publishing house of the Far Eastern Federal University published the book by N. G. Miz (edited by T. I. Breslavets. Vladivostok, 2013, 156 p.).

This book is dedicated to the history of Russian Primorye. Special attention is paid to the city of Vladivostok, which has become a kind of contact zone for people of different professional aspirations and spiritual beliefs. At the same time, the content range of the book is much wider and goes beyond research focused on local history issues.

N. Miz ' work shows one of the most striking, poorly studied, but multifaceted aspects of various relations between Vladivostok and Japan. At the same time, the book reconstructs the events of the historical and cultural past of the Russian and foreign parts of the Far East. The book uses interesting documents (memoirs, newspaper and magazine publications, archival materials, as well as a tab with color illustrations by Russian artists, rare photographic images, etc.) covering the activities of famous people in the Russian Far East and Japan.

The preface to the book notes that "in the history of Japan and Primorye, there are many Russian writers, poets, artists, artists, researchers, and sailors who have clearly shown themselves in culture, art, and science" (p.6). Indeed, some of these people " lived, studied, served, or worked in Vladivostok; others were <...> short trip to japan. But in all cases, thanks to them, people of science, art and culture, the threads of communication between the Russian mainland Vladivostok and the island of Japan stretched. It still exists today, helping the two peoples to better understand each other and live in peace and harmony" (p.6).

One of the places in the plot narrative is devoted to the events of the Russo-Japanese war and its resonance, which was reflected in the fate of the Russian intelligentsia, military, scientists, representatives of the arts and clergy. The book's heroes include writers (poet Arseny Nesmely, writers B. A. Pilnyak and A. Ya. Maksimov), military navigators (Vice Admiral S. O. Makarov, navigator-researcher E. S. Gernet, Captain V. A. Boysman, etc.), artists (N. A. Maksimova, D. D. Burlyuk, I. B. Obukhov and others), engineers ("the father of the Esperanto movement in Japan" by F. A. Postnikov), artists (singer D. M. Leonova) and priests (Saint John of Kronstadt and Saint Nicholas of Japan)*.

All historical characters in N. Miz ' book are given personal chapters made in the genre of essays. At the same time, the life of each of the heroes is a bright page in the history of imperial or post-revolutionary Russia, the fate of many people, and later their equally glorious descendants, intersect in the space of Vladivostok, through which roads open towards Japan. A vivid example of the continuation of relations between Primorye and Japan are the paintings of N. A. Maksimova (b. 1938), the great - niece of the writer Alexander Maksimov (1851-1896). Natalia Maksimova has repeatedly visited Japan. A significant part of the artist's work is paintings dedicated to the history and natural color of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Many of the materials in N. Miz's book are innovative in nature. For example, detailed information is provided about the almost forgotten author of the 10-volume collected works, Alexander Maksimov, who served for five years in the Far East. His short story "Pop Simeon", dedicated to the Sakhalin ascetic and missionary Simeon of Kazan (Semyon Nikanorovich, ? - the beginning of the 1880s), at one time entered the group of books that A. P. Chekhov got acquainted with before his trip to Sakhalin.

And so it happened that most often it is with "Priest Simeon" that the work of Maximov is associated, who created not only many other works of art (short stories, novellas, novels, plays), but also "political studies"that are very relevant for our time. In his study "Our tasks in the Pacific" (1895), Maximov called Korea "Asian Italy", and Japan - "Great Britain of the Far East". It is noteworthy that, analyzing Maksimov's "political studies", N. Miz, following the author, calls the entire Russian Far East "extreme". That is, the emphasis is not on the remoteness of the eastern lands, but on their extreme position relative to the European center, on their proximity to China, Korea and Japan.

The life of actress Daria Leonova, who once gave concerts in Vladivostok and lived in Japan for more than six months, is bright and full of various creative acquaintances and connections. This Russian singer and vocal teacher in 1895 published the book "Memoirs of the artist of the Imperial theaters D. M. Leonova". Naval commander Stepan Makarov appears in the study of N. Miz as an ascetic for the spread of Orthodoxy in Japan, as a companion of St. Nicholas of Japan in the field of Christian enlightenment of the Japanese.

The book contains rare archival documents that are not yet known to the general public, as well as fragments from newspaper publications of Japanese and Russian periodicals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From the pages of N. Miz's research, the voices of already forgotten authors published in regional periodicals (the Vladivostok, Far East, and Voice of the Motherland newspapers) are also heard, "Far Eastern Review", the magazine "Vladivostok Diocesan Vedomosti") and tracked the facts of visits to Vladivostok by eminent persons.

Significantly complement the reviewed book and

* For more information, see: Akimova A. S. Vostokovedist Nikolay Yaponsky / / Asia and Africa Today, 2011, N 1.

memoirs of participants of various events, as well as materials from the personal collections of N. Miz and her associates.

Separately, we note the good language and style of the book, it is easy to read and with interest. The book outlines a single popular historical plot with elements of scientific and journalistic presentation.

Information about little-known facts and events is relevant for the modern study of the Far East, its historical, social and cultural panorama. The intended range of readers of the book is very wide: from professionals-historians, philologists, cultural scientists and art historians - to amateurs interested in the historical and cultural relations of Primorye and Japan.

E. A. IKONNIKOVA, Doctor of Philology Sakhalin State University (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)

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