The hero of this novel is the young and idealistic Nobuo Nagano, who finds himself forced to make a heart-rending decision, when he must choose between his childhood sweetheart, Fujiko, and his newly found Christian faith. Set in Hokkaido at the turn of the nineteenth century, when for the first time Western culture and ideas were beginning to challenge Japan's long-held traditions, Shiokari Pass takes an intriguing look at Japanese life and thought of a hundred years ago. Filled with drama and featuring a spectacular climax amidst the snows of Hokkaido, the book was a bestseller in Japanese and a successful motion picture as well. Based on the life of a high-ranking railway employee who was revered for his humanitarian deeds, Shiokari Pass offers a revealing glimpse of the long, hard road traveled by Japanese Christians.

    Dick Seaton is a shy, handsome American whose business takes him to Japan to close a very big deal. In violation of a timeless taboo, Dick and Kanno spend slow, tantalizing days falling in love. Then Dick discovers that Kanno’s love was paid for by his businessmen hosts. Sensing his rage and hurt, Kanno flees in confusion. And, too late, Dick realizes the truth—that she really loved him. Now, a stranger in a strange, exotic land, he must find her—and seduce her back into his life. Love her for a night… and you will remember her for a lifetime.

    As a landscape painter he ranks amongst the best who have ever lived, in East or West, and as a woodblock print designer he is unexcelled.Both in Hiroshige's brilliant and prolific career and during the century since his birth, when his fame has multiplied and spread throughout the world, the artist earned a number of flattering sobriquets: the briefest acquaintance with his work reveals why he has been dubbed "The Painter of Rain," his many beautiful depictions of moonlit scenes justify the name "Artist of the Moon," and the wealth of compassion of his landscapes make the title "Poet of Travel" clearly appropriate.This volume presents sixty-seven prints of Hiroshige's Japan compiled from all the great serioes and famous views that the artist made, with the exception of the "Fifty-three Stations on the Tōkaidō", which will be published in a separate volume. Also included is an authoritative biography of the gentle, sometimes sad artist and an analysis of the work that has made him one of the world's best-loved masters of art.