The seventeen-syllable form is rooted in a Japanese tradition of close observation of nature, of making poetry from subtle suggestion. Infused by its great practitioners with the spirit of Zen Buddhism, the haiku has served as an example of the power of direct observation to the first generation of American modernist poets like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and also as an example of spontaneity and Zen alertness to the new poets of the 1950s. This definitive collection brings together in fresh translations by an American poet the essential poems of the three greatest haiku masters: Matsuo Basho in the seventeenth century; Yosa Buson in the eighteenth century; and Kobayashi Issa in the early nineteenth century. Robert Hass has written a lively and informed introduction, provided brief examples by each poet of their work in the haibun, or poetic prose form, and included informal notes to the poems. This is a useful and inspiring addition to the Essential Poets series.

    Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these searches intersect, Okada encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists: a psychic prostitute; a malevolent yet mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old-girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by the hideous things he witnessed during Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria.Gripping, prophetic, suffused with comedy and menace, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a tour de force equal in scope to the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon.Three books in one volume: The Thieving Magpie, Bird as Prophet, The Birdcatcher. This translation by Jay Rubin is in collaboration with the author.

    Learn how to make your aquarium a work of art and a part of your home.

    Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soul-mate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.

    Because their stories are less accessible—-finding someone like Rengetsu is a great gift. To sit with the poems of Rengetsu is to allow a teacher into the depth of one’s mind.”—Bonnie Myotai Treace, spiritual director of the Zen Center of New York At 33, Otagaki Nobu renounced a world that had visited great tragedy upon her (after losing two husbands and two infant children) and was ordained a Buddhist nun, taking the name Rengetsu (Lotus Moon). Lotus Moon is a selection of her finest poetry presented in John Stevens’ elegant translations and includes illustrations of her artwork and pottery.

    Wade's lifelong experience in the Far East enabled him to survive and understand his captors.

    So she placed a large lacquered bowl on Lily's head, and made her promise never to remove it. Yoriko Ito's elegant paintings use traditional Japanese motifs to highlight the adaptation of this inspiring folktale of the rewards of kindness and beauty. Full color. Age5-9. P ub: 10/94.

    The Japanese Army took over 140,000 Allied prisoners, and one in four died the hands of their captors. Here Daws reveals the survivors' haunting experiences, from the atrocities perpetrated during the Bataan Death March and the building of the Burma-Siam railroad to descriptions of disease, torture, and execution.

    Learn how to make beautiful braid patterns on a marudai.

    Do these syndicates have valuable lessons to teach us? Or do they deserve their rap as protectionist cartels? Or both? Only here will you discover the complete and unbiased truth. And only here will you find haunting, firsthand accounts by Japanese subcontractors of their service to the keiretsu -- a side of business rarely seen by Westerners."Our hard-nosed business leaders look like Dorothy wandering through Oz when it comes to dealing with Japan, " the authors say. If you do business in Japan or with Japanese firms -- or are simply curious about the country's rise and possible decline -- Keiretsu will provide an eye-opening, page-turning education.

    In short, simply worded teachings, Muso Kokushi (1275-1351), also known as Muso Soseki, exposes common misconceptions with unprecedented clarity, offering psychological insights designed to lead the reader into the depths of authentic Zen experience. These incisive teachings will be especially valuable for today's Zen students, as they struggle with their own confusion and misunderstandings about the true path of Zen.

    Now a war correspondent who served in the Pacific and Europe tells their incredible stories. Photos and maps.

    This volume includes a translation of Kuroi tamago (the complete edition of 1983), as well as a large selection of her later poems.

    

    Specially selected to show important terrain features, types of equipment and weapons, living and weather conditions, military operations, and details of life in the front lines, they reveal every aspect of the US serviceman's unforgettable experience.

    It is not widely acknowledged, however, that Japan's status as technological leader is the result of historical processes over centuries. This landmark book is the first general English-language history of technology in modern Japan. Impressive for its scope and insight, the book also considers the social costs of rapid technological change. It will be read not only by people interested in modern and premodern Japan, but by those who wish to learn from the Japanese phenomenon.

    The essays in this volume leave the vertical axis of hierarchy and subordination--an organizing trope in much of the literature on Japan--and focus instead on the horizontal, interpreting a wide range of cultural practices and orientations in terms of such relational concepts as uchi (inside) and soto (outside). Evolving from a shared theoretical focus, the essays show that in Japan the directional orientations inside and outside are specifically linked to another set of meanings, denoting self and society.After Donald L. Brenneis's foreword, Jane M. Bachnik, Charles J. Quinn, Jr., Patricia J. Wetzel, Nancy R. Rosenberger, and Robert J. Sukle discuss Indexing Self and Social Context. Failure to Index: Boundary Disintegration and Social Breakdown is the topic of Dorinne K. Kondo, Matthews M. Hamabata, Michael S. Molasky, and Jane Bachnik. Finally, Charles Quinn explores Language as a Form of Life.

    Based on a diary he kept throughout his captivity, this story, told without bitterness, reveals a man who refused to give way to despair. He also recounts how he revisited Japan and met his former captors.

    It utilizes widely available plants, grains, vegetables, & other natural ingredients for everything from soothing teas to delicate facial scrubs. You can dip into it for a recipe as needed, or use it as a manual to devise a complete personal beauty regime. Includes: face washes; facial waters; oils & emollients; treatments, packs & rubs; beauty teas for face & hair; shampoos; hair rinses & treatments; body-polishing bath scrubs; body treatments & vitalizing teas & tonics. Illustrated.

    Even during a recession the country is in the black. Japan's school system produces a blue-collar work force possessing skills that come only with a college degree in most Western countries. Its pension and health delivery systems are efficient and relatively inexpensive, and its unemployment rate half that of the United States and Germany.

    This book introduces, through over two hundred gorgeous duotone portraits, twelve shokunin who today carry on craft traditions that have survived the vicissitudes of a century of radical change.

    Only in this manner can one appreciate the spirit of the place-its quiet lanes, its bustling main thoroughfares, and its juxtapositions of houses and shops, temples and shrines, gardens and industries. This is a guidebook to all of these wonderful places.

    This pocket-size character dictionary includes 1006 "shin-kyoiki" kanji plus over 10,000 kanji compounds in an easy-to-use format.

    Most child development and child psychology texts take cultural diversity in development into account only as an addendum or as a special case--it is not integrated into a comprehensive theory or model of development. The purpose of this text is to redress this situation by enlisting insiders' and outsiders' perspectives on socialization and development in a diverse sampling of the world's cultures, including developing regions that often lack the means to speak for themselves in the arena of international social science.The unique feature of this text is the paradigm. For the minority groups represented, the questions focused on how development was behaviorally expressed within the culture of origin and in new societal contexts. Thus, developmental issues--such as language and mother-child interactions--for African-American children are considered in the United States as well as in the African culture of origin and in France as a country of immigration. This paradigm is considered for African and Asian cultures and the Americas, including Hispanics from Mexico as well as Native Americans.Specific questions posed consider the extent to which: * the development and socialization of minority children can be seen as continuous with their ancestral cultures; * the cultural and political conditions in the United States, Canada, and France have modified developmental and socialization processes, yielding discontinuities with ancestral cultures; * the ancestral cultures have changed, yielding cross-generational discontinuities in the development and socialization of immigrants from the very same countries. * the role of interdependence and independence in developmental scripts can account for historical continuities and discontinuities in development and socialization, both across and within cultures.These questions not only provide the unifying theme of this unique book but also a model for conceptualizing multi-culturalism within a unified framework for developmental psychology.

    As a teacher, he placed special emphasis on koan practice, inventing many new koans himself, including the famous “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” As an artist, Hakuin used calligraphy and painting to create “visual Dharma”—teachings that powerfully express the nature of enlightenment. The text translated here offers an excellent introduction to the work of this extraordinary teacher. Hakuin sets forth his vision of authentic Zen teaching and practice, condemning his contemporaries, whom he held responsible for the decline of Zen, and exhorting his students to dedicate themselves to “breaking through the Zen barrier.” Included are reproductions of several of Hakuin’s finest calligraphies and paintings.

    Based on intelligence material provided by the Japanese government and previously classified "confidential" by the Royal Navy, this study could well become one of the essential books on naval strategy for the 1990s.

    Against long odds, the commission's recommendation that the U.S. government offer financial redress became law on August 10, 1988, when President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act. This book is a case study of the political, institutional, and external factors that led to the passage of this controversial legislation. Based on extensive interviews with Senators, members of Congress, key members of their staffs, and lobbyists, as well as statistical analyses of roll call votes, this book provides a uniquely rich account of the passage of a federal law. It also places the campaign for redress in the broader theoretical context of the workings of Congress and the policy-making process.—Publisher description.

    At a time when women in these two countries are becoming more politically and socially prominent, these essays provide insight into the clashes that have arisen between tradition and change. The contributors compare similarities and differences in the two cultures, considering family life, education, health care, work, reproductive and legal rights, and political participation, including the rise of women's movements in Asia and the battle against sexism and gender stereotyping. Essays written by Japanese and Korean women, leading social scientists and practitioners, illuminate the current political, economic, and social status of women in Japan and Korea.

    

    

    They enjoy their high school life through their friendship, and try to get steady girlfriends.

    'Edo and Paris marks a watershed in Western-language historical scholarship on Japan...From within the comparative thematic framework the editors have provided, the reworkings of our understanding of Paris may help us rewrite history (and histories) from more inclusive perspectives.'-Eighteenth-Century Studies--