Epic in scope, brilliant in imaginative vision, the three unforgettable books that constitute the Tales of the Otori are available in one beautifully designed boxed set.

    . . Hachiko Waits shows us the very best in life; loyalty, devotion, our ability to love-all taught by a beloved, intelligent, and heroic dog. I love it." -Patricia MacLachlan, Newbery Award-winning author of Sarah Plain and TallThe loyalty and devotion of a dog has no boundsWhat a good dog you are. What a fine dog you are. Hachi, you are the best dog in all of Japan." Professor Ueno speaks these words to his faithful dog before boarding the train to work every morning. And every afternoon just before three o'clock, Hachi is at the train station to greet his beloved master.One day, the train arrives at the station without the professor. Hachi waits.For ten years Hachi waits for his master to return. Not even Yasuo, the young boy who takes care of Hachi, can persuade him to leave his post.Hachiko Waits is a novel inspired by a true story. Readers will be touched by the story of Hachiko and his impact on the people of Japan.Hachiko Waits is a 2005 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    11-year-old Satsuki and her sassy litle sister Mei are overjoyed about moving into a historic country house with their dad - but the girls don't realise what a delightful adventure awaits them there.

    Imagine watching hundreds of people pass by every morning and every afternoon. Imagine waiting, and waiting, and waiting. For ten years. This is what Hachiko did. Hachiko was a real dog who lived in Tokyo, a dog who faithfully waited for his owner at the Shibuya train station long after his owner could not come to meet him. He became famous for his loyalty and was adored by scores of people who passed through the station every day. This is Hachiko’s story through the eyes of Kentaro, a young boy whose life is changed forever by his friendship with this very special dog. Simply told, and illustrated with Yan Nascimbene’s lush watercolors, the legend of Hachiko will touch your heart and inspire you as it has inspired thousands all over the world.

    He has become a martial arts icon, known not just as an undefeated dueler, but also as a master of battlefield strategy. Kenji Tokitsu turns a critical eye on Musashi's life and writings, separating fact from fiction, and giving a clear picture of the man behind the myth. Musashi's best-known work, The Book of Five Rings , provides timeless insight into the nature of conflict. Tokitsu translates and provides extensive commentary on that popular work, as well as three other short texts on strategy that were written before it, and a longer, later work entitled "The Way to Be Followed Alone." Tokitsu is a thoughtful and informed guide, putting the historical and philosophical aspects of the text into context, and illuminating the etymological nuances of particular Japanese words and phrases. As a modern martial artist and a scholar, Tokitsu provides a view of Musashi's life and ideas that is accessible and relevant to today's readers and martial arts students.

    Presenting all spoken Japanese as a variation of three basic sentence types, Japanese the Manga Way shows how to build complex constructions step by step. Every grammar point is illustrated by an actual manga published in Japan to show how the language is used in real life, an approach that is entertaining and memorable. As an introduction, as a jump-start for struggling students, or (with its index) as a reference and review for veterans, Japanese the Manga Way is perfect for all learners at all levels.Wayne P. Lammers has taught Japanese at the college level and is an award-winning literary and commercial translator. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

    Fully illustrated, this publication includes annotated descriptions for each work, as well as two essays on Hasui's life and work by Dr. Kendall H. Brown." Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) is considered the foremost Japanese landscape print artist of the 20th century, and he is most closely associated with the pioneering Shin-hanga (New prints) publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962). Hasui's work became hugely popular, not only in his native Japan but also in the West, especially in the United States. His valuable contribution to the woodblock print medium was acknowledged in 1956, a year before his death, when he was honoured with the distinction of 'Living National Treasure'.

    Detailing his life, his lovers, and his ideas on matters high and low, The Japan Journals is a record of both a nation and an evolving expatriate sensibility. As Japan modernizes and as the author ages, the tone grows elegiac, and The Japan Journals—now in paperback after the critically acclaimed hardcover edition—becomes a bittersweet chronicle of a complicated life well lived and captivatingly told.Donald Richie, the eminent film historian, novelist, and essayist, still lives in Tokyo.

    Lyrical language and personal, engaging voices take the reader on a dizzying and affecting journey through a "geography of risk." This wholly original work brings poetry into regions hitherto explored only by the most experimental forms of music and plastic arts.Sawako Nakayasu was born in Yokohama, Japan, and has lived in the US since the age of six. Her previous pubications include Clutch (Tinfish, 2002), Balconic (Duration, 2003), and Nothing fictional but accuracy or arrangement (she (Faux, 2003), and she edits the press Factorial. In 2003 she received the US-Japan Creative Artists’ Program Fellowship from the NEA.

    It includes the famous novella Uta andon (A story by lantern light), the bizarre, antipsychological story Mayu kakushi no rei (A quiet obsession), and Ky�ka's hauntingly erotic final work, Ruk�shins� (The heartvine), as well as critical discussions of each of these three tales. Translator Charles Inouye places Ky�ka's literature of shadows (kage no bungaku) within a worldwide gothic tradition even as he refines its Japanese context. Underscoring Ky�ka's relevance for a contemporary international audience, Inouye adjusts Tanizaki Jun'ichir�'s evaluation of Ky�ka as the most Japanese of authors by demonstrating how the writer's paradigm of the suffering heroine can be linked to his exposure to Christianity, to a beautiful American woman, and to the aesthetic of blood sacrifice.In Light of Shadows masterfully conveys the magical allusiveness and elliptical style of this extraordinary writer, who Mishima Yukio called the only genius of modern Japanese letters.

    In the 1800s, however, they became popular among the general public, and ultimately a unique culture of breeders, collectors, and connoisseurs came into being. Packed with photographs, Kingyo: The Artistry of Japanese Goldfish offers a delightful visual tour of goldfish in Japanese art and design, together with a description of the goldfish breeds that have developed in Japan over hundreds of years of meticulous cultivation.Included in the volume is a novella written in the 1930s titled A Riot of Goldfish which tells of the impossible love of a breeder's son for the daughter of a wealthy patron. As his love grows into an obsession, he attempts to create a goldfish that will capture and reflect her beauty. The story charmingly evokes life in Japan in the early twentieth century and sheds light on the aesthetics of goldfish appreciation.The stunning visual materials presented here reveal the vast iconography of goldfish in the graphic and decorative arts of Japan, extending to textiles, ceramics, paintings, lacquer ware, toys, and even household items. This book will be an inspiration for designers, collectors, and anyone interested in Japanese art.

    During the past six years, the transportation network of the metropolitan area of Tokyo has changed a good deal. In the case of the subway system, lines have been extended, and some rapid-transit lines have been added, so code numbers for each station are given in our atlas for foreign travelers to identify them easily. In addition, as a result of urban development in areas such as Roppongi, Shinagawa, and Shiodome, quite a few new company buildings, stores, and hotels have appeared. These developments are also covered in this updated edition.- 21 area maps of Metropolitan Tokyo (42 pages) showing not only chome numbers but also block numbers (banchi).- 18 detailed maps of Central Tokyo (30 pages) to guide the reader even to numbered subway station entrances.- An additional 7 maps of central Yokohama and Kawasaki and access maps to 3 U.S. military bases (Yokosuka, Yokota and Zama).- Comprehensive index: More than 3,600 entries of town and station names, as well as major organizations and buildings, provide the user with easy access to all destinations.

    Meakashi~Beloved Cutthroat~- Eye Opening Chapter -Welcome to the world of "Higurashi When They Cry Kai".We've finally reached the halfway point.From the viewpoint of the protagonist,try to find the truth behind the tragedy that unfolds.The difficulty is very high.It won't be easy to comprehend the motive of the perpetrator.

    1930) has created some of the most dramatic images in the history of photography. Many of his photographs have become icons of the twentieth century. This important book is the first in-depth English-language study of Tomatsu’s work. Richly illustrated and handsomely designed, it features more than one hundred plates representing—in ten thematic sections—the full range of his career.Tomatsu emerged in the 1950s with his sensitive pictures of postwar Japan. In the 1960s the artist turned his camera to the aftermath of the atomic bomb and the lingering presence of the U. S. military in his homeland. In subsequent decades his lens has captured the elation of Japan’s economic boom and the problems inspired by his culture’s increasing westernization. Throughout, Tomatsu’s pictures have consistently resonated not only with Japanese society but also with American culture. Included in this book are essays by distinguished scholars on all aspects of the artist’s life and career as well as a selection of brief excerpts from Tomatsu’s own writings, many of which have never appeared in English.Skin of the Nation (the book’s subtitle) is both a literal and metaphorical reference to the surfaces that have appeared in countless pictures throughout Tomatsu’s career. For the artist, skin is more than just a surface, it is a kind of map in which one can read the story of Japan—its essence and its future.

    Now for the first time, Ohno's words and insights are available in English. This book brings together two distinct but related works: the first, Food for the Soul, is an interview with Yoshito Ohno about his father and his father's dances. With the help of some 100 photographs, he reveals a compelling and complex figure. The second, Workshop Words, is a collection of talks given by Kazuo Ohno to his students during workshops, complemented by photographs of Ohno in intimate settings. Lavishly illustrated and beautifully designed, this book is a finely nuanced portrait of one of the most distinctive contemporary performers to emerge from Japan in the 20th century. It is an indispensable manual for the aspiring performer in any field.

    "UK rights sold to Ashgate/Land Humphries.

    The Japanese artist Hokusai spent the second half of his life sketching and painting with tremendous energy nearly everything he saw, and this book focuses on one of his most productive periods, when the artist was in his seventies. This book presents fifty works of the artist's astonishing oeuvre. It includes selections from his renowned series of woodblock prints, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, including "In the Hollow of a Wave," "Shower below the Summit," and "South Wind at Clear Dawn." Also presented are images of flowers, waterfalls, bridges, birds, and fish, demonstrating the uniquely precise yet passionate quality of Hokusai's art. An expert on the artist's work, Matthi Forrer provides illuminating commentary on Hokusai's life and technique, offering insight into his enduringpopularity throughout the world.

     The best part is that it doesn’t have to be difficult or take years to master. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes, and we get you speaking right from the first day. Pimsleur courses use a scientifically-proven method that puts you in control of your learning. If you’ve tried other language learning methods but found they simply didn’t stick, then you owe it to yourself to give Pimsleur a try. Why Pimsleur? - Quick + Easy – Only 30 minutes a day. - Portable + Flexible – Core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life. - Proven Method – Works when other methods fail. - Self-Paced – Go fast or go slow – it’s up to you. - Based in Science – Developed using proven research on memory and learning. - Cost-effective – Less expensive than classes or immersion, and features all native speakers. - Genius – Triggers your brain’s natural aptitude to learn. - Works for everyone – Recommended for ages 13 and above. What’s Included? - 30, 30-minute audio lessons - 60 minutes of recorded Culture Notes to provide you some insight into Japanese culture - in total, 16 hours of audio, all featuring native speakers - a Culture Notes Booklet and User’s Guide What You’ll Learn Builds upon skills taught in Pimsleur’s Japanese Level 1. In the first 10 lessons you’ll begin using the past tense. Structures become more complex and informal speech is introduced. Soon you’ll take part in conversations about ordering meals, shopping, and local tourist attractions. As you progress, your fluency will increase as your vocabulary expands. The next 10 lessons will allow you to further combine and build upon known elements, and produce longer and more complex sentences. You’ll be discussing business and social activities, expressing your interests, and talking about the weather. In the final 10 lessons you’ll double your vocabulary and have several hundred structures to draw upon. You’ll learn to express yourself with relative structures – faster, slower, etc. You’ll be able to ask for assistance in many situations and to ask for directions to various locations. You’ll explore sports and leisure activities, manage changing money and banking, and discuss travel plans. By the end of the program, you’ll be speaking at a mid-intermediate level with near-native pronunciation, and you’ll be comfortable meeting most social demands and limited job requirements. One hour of recorded Cultural Notes are included at the end of Lesson 30. These Notes are designed to provide you with some insight into Japanese culture. A Culture Notes booklet is also included in PDF format. The Pimsleur Method We make no secret of what makes this powerful method work so well. Paul Pimsleur spent his career researching and perfecting the precise elements anyone can use to learn a language quickly and easily. Here are a few of his “secrets”: The Principle of Anticipation In the nanosecond between a cue and your response, your brain has to work to come up with the right word. Having to do this boosts retention, and cements the word in your mind. Core Vocabulary Words, phrases, and sentences are selected for their usefulness in everyday conversation. We don’t overwhelm you with too much, but steadily increase your ability with every lesson. Graduated Interval Recall Reminders of new words and structures come up at the exact interval for maximum retention and storage into your long-term memory. Organic Learning You work on multiple aspects of the language simultaneously. We integrate grammar, vocabulary, rhythm, melody, and intonation into every lesson, which allows you to experience the language as a living, expressive form of human culture. Learning in Context Research has shown that learning new words in context dramatically accelerates your ability to remember. Every scene in every Pimsleur lesson is set inside a conversation between two people. There are no drills, and no memorization necessary for success. Active Participation The Pimsleur Method + active learner participation = success. This method works with every language and every learner who follows it. You gain the power to recall and use what you know, and to add new words easily, exactly as you do in English. The Japanese Language Japanese is spoken by about 130 million people, 122 million of whom are in Japan. There are also speakers in the Ryukyu Islands, Korea, Taiwan, parts of the United States, and Brazil. Japanese has many “registers” or levels of politeness. Pimsleur’s Japanese courses will teach you how to speak at a polite register, which is appropriate in virtually any situation you are likely to encounter in Japan. Tech Talk - CDs are formatted for playing in all CD players, including car players, and users can copy files for use in iTunes or Windows Media Player.

    

    Containing Japanese–English and English–Japanese sections, it is an essential reference tool for serious students studying the Japanese language or for businesspeople and tourists wishing to learn Japanese before they travel.Special features include:Lists over 5,000 carefully selected characters with their 10,000+ current readings and almost 70,000 compounds in current use, al with concise English definitions.Scientifically arranged by a logical extension of the traditional radical system so as to make the finding of a given character almost fool–proof, saving hours of time.Makes provision for quickly finding characters either in their traditional or their modern and often greatly altered forms, thus serving for both prewar and postwar literature.Includes 14 valuable appendices giving (1) instructions for the most efficient use of the dictionary, (2) discussions of the written language in general and particularly of its recent and far–reaching official modifications, and (3) much helpful information that readers in East Asian fields have heretofore had to search for in many different places.Contains an on–kun index which makes it not only a reader's dictionary but also a writer's dictionary.

    Ningyo: The Art of the Japanese Doll is the most comprehensive book on antique Japanese dolls and figurines published in English. The book focuses on the many types of Japanese dolls:gosho: palace dollshina: Girl's Day dollsmusha: warrior dolls for the Boy's Day Festivalisho: fashion dollsThe principle forms of the dolls and their history, stylistic development, cultural context, and economic imperatives are discussed against the backdrop of Edo-period society and popular culture. Beautifully detailed color photographs of ningyo drawn from private collections, many of which are published here for the first time, as well as images of related materials selected from celebrated museums and temple collections, such as folding screens, woodblock prints, sculpture, painting ceramics, and textiles, help place the dolls in context. Ningyo: The Art of the Japanese Doll is a fascinating book for anyone interested in Asian doll art and doll collecting.

    While Basho with his mystic asceticism and Buson with his romantic aestheticism immeasurably enriched the haiku tradition, it was Issa who, with his bold individualism and all-embracing humanism, helped to modernize the form to a degree matched by no other poet. Based on the most recent scholarship, the book attempts to identify the sources of his originality in terms of his long checkered life. It traces his growth and maturity by examining his motherless childhood, struggling youth in Edo, wanderings in western Japan, restless existence as a haiku master, return home to Kashiwabara, three brief marriages, and last years as an old poet.

    This sequence of 12 and later 24 hours proved a convenient device for Japanese print artists and their publishers when devising sets of prints showing favourite beauties of the day engaged in daily activities. In this second volume of Hotei Publishing's Famous Japanese Prints Series, three sets centred on the theme of the hours of the clock in the pleasure quarters are discussed in detail: > Kitagawa Utamaro's The Twelve Hours of the 'Green Houses' (Seir j nitoki, c. 1794) > Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's Twenty-four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi (Shinry nij yoji, 1880-81) > Toyohara Kunichika's Scenes of the Twenty-four Hours, A Prictorial Trope (Mitate ch ya nij yoji, 1890-91) A contextual and visual analysis of these works by the authors provides the reader with an insight into the broader cultural and artistic milieu of the early and later nineteenth century."

    The visual and existential turmoil brought on by this transformation was to become one of the core subjects in his work. His gritty photographs of Japanese streets and highways express the conflicting realities of modern japan: the unexpected survival of age-old tradition within contemporary practice, the paradox of a culture disturbed yet fascinated by the changes it is undergoing. This book brings together more than 200 photographs dating from the 1960s to the present and includes some of his most significant series of images. Profoundly influenced by Japanese photographers Hosoe and Tomatsu, Moriyama's vision was also enriched by his acquaintance with the work of two American photographers, William Klein and Robert Frank. Like them he practiced a new, more action-oriented street photography. Often out of focus, vertiginously tilted, or invasively cropped, Moriyama's images convey a sense of the disordered human condition.

    With a compassionate yet critical eye, William Scott Wilson delves into the workings of Musashi's mind as the iconoclastic samurai wrestled with philosophical and spiritual ideas that are as relevant today as they were in his times. Musashi found peace and spiritual reward in seeking to perfect his chosen Way, and came to realize that perfecting a single Way, no matter the path, could lead to fulfillment. The Lone Samurai is far more than a vivid account of a fascinating slice of feudal Japan. It is the story of one man's quest for answers, perfection, and access to the Way.By age thirteen, Miyamoto Musashi had killed his opponent in what would become the first of many celebrated swordfights. By thirty, he had fought more than sixty matches, losing none. He would live another thirty years but kill no one else. He continued to engage in swordfights but now began to show his skill simply by thwarting his opponents' every attack until they acknowledged Musashi's all-encompassing ability. At the same time, the master swordsman began to expand his horizons, exploring Zen Buddhism and its related arts, particularly ink painting, in a search for a truer Way.Musashi was a legend in his own time. As a swordsman, he preferred the wooden sword and in later years almost never fought with a real weapon. He outfoxed his opponents or turned their own strength against them. At the height of his powers, he began to evolve artistically and spiritually, becoming one of the country's most highly regarded ink painters and calligraphers, while deepening his practice of Zen Buddhism. He funneled his hard-earned insights about the warrior arts into his spiritual goals. Ever the solitary wanderer, Musashi shunned power, riches, and the comforts of a home or fixed position with a feudal lord in favor of a constant search for truth, perfection, and a better Way. Eventually, he came to the realization that perfection in one art, whether peaceful or robust, could offer entry to a deeper, spiritual understanding. His philosophy, along with his warrior strategies, is distilled in his renowned work, The Book of Five Rings, written near the end of his life.Musashi remains a source of fascination for the Japanese, as well as for those of us in the West who have more recently discovered the ideals of the samurai and Zen Buddhism. The Lone Samurai is the first biography ever to appear in English of this richly layered, complex seventeenth-century swordsman and seeker, whose legacy has lived far beyond his own time and place.---------------------------------------------------------------- INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM SCOTT WILSON ABOUT BUSHIDOQ.: What is Bushido?A.: Bushido might be explained in part by the etymology of the Chinese characters used for the word. Bu comes from two radicals meanings "stop" and "spear." So even though the word now means "martial" or "military affair," it has the sense of stopping aggression. Shi can mean "samurai," but also means "gentleman" or "scholar." Looking at the character, you can see a man with broad shoulders but with his feet squarely on the ground. Do, with the radicals of head and motion, originally depicted a thoughtful way of action. It now means a path, street or way. With this in mind, we can understand Bushido as a Way of life, both ethical and martial, with self-discipline as a fundamental tenet. Self-discipline requires the warrior at once to consider his place in society and the ethics involved, and to forge himself in the martial arts. Both should eventually lead him to understand that his fundamental opponents are his own ignorance and passions.Q.: How did the code develop and how did it influence Japanese society?A.: The warrior class began to develop as a recognizable entity around the 11th and 12th centuries. The leaders of this class were often descended from the nobility, and so were men of education and breeding. I would say that the code developed when the leaders of the warrior class began to reflect on their position in society and what it meant to be a warrior. They first began to write these thoughts down as yuigon, last words to their descendents, or as kabegaki, literally "wall writings," maxims posted to all their samurai. Samurai itself is an interesting word, coming from the classical saburau, "to serve." So when we understand that a samurai is "one who serves," we see that the implications go much farther than simply being a soldier or fighter.Also, it is important to understand that Confucian scholars had always reflected on what it meant to be true gentleman, and they concluded that such a man would be capable of both the martial and literary. The Japanese inherited this system of thought early on, so certain ideals were already implicitly accepted.The warrior class ruled the country for about 650 years, and their influence-political, philosophical and even artistic-had a long time to percolate throughout Japanese society.Q.: The Samurai were very much renaissance men - they were interested in the arts, tea ceremony, religion, as well as the martial arts. What role did these interests play in the development of Bushido? How did the martial arts fit in?A.: This question goes back to the Confucian ideal of balance that Japanese inherited, probably from the 7th century or so. The word used by both to express this concept, for the "gentleman" by the Chinese and the warrior by Japanese, is (hin), pronounced uruwashii in Japanese, meaning both "balanced" and "beautiful." The character itself is a combination of "literature" (bun) and "martial" (bu). The study of arts like Tea ceremony, calligraphy, the study of poetry or literature, and of course the martial arts of swordsmanship or archery, broadened a man's perspective and understanding of the world and, as mentioned above, provided him with a vehicle for self-discipline. The martial arts naturally were included in the duties of a samurai, but this did not make them any less instructive in becoming a full human being.Q.: What was sword fighting like? Was the swordplay different for different samurai?A.: There were literally hundreds of schools of samurai swordsmanship by the 1800's and, as previously mentioned, each school emphasized differing styles and approaches. Some would have the student to jump and leap, others to keep his feel solidly on the ground; some would emphasize different ways of holding the sword, others one method only. One school stated that technical swordsmanship took second place to sitting meditation. Historically speaking, there were periods when much of the swordfighting was done on horseback, and others when it was done mostly on foot. Also, as the shape and length of the sword varied through different epochs, so did styles of fighting. Then I suppose that a fight between men who were resolved to die would be quite different from a fight between men who were not interested in getting hurt.Q.: How is the code reflected in Japanese society today?A.: When I first came to live in Japan in the 60's, I was impressed how totally dedicated and loyal people were to the companies where they were employed. When I eventually understood the words samurai and saburau, it started to make sense. While these men (women would usually not stay long with a company, giving up work for marriage) did not carry swords of course, they seemed to embody that old samurai sense of service, duty, loyalty and even pride. This may sound strange in our own "me first" culture, but it impressed me that the company had sort of taken the place of a feudal lord, and that the stipend of the samurai had become the salary of the white-collar worker.MThat is on the societal level. On an individual level, I have often felt that Japanese have a strong resolution, perhaps from this cultural background of Bushido, to go through problems rather than around them. Persistence and patience developed from self-discipline?

    Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps. Later, after receiving an ROTC commission in the Army Engineers and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Missouri School of Mines, Boyt joined the Allied forces in the Pacific Theater.While building runways and infrastructure in the Philippines in 1941, Boyt enjoyed the regal life of an American officer stationed in a tropical paradise--but not for long. When the United States surrendered the Philippines to Japan in April 1942, Boyt became a prisoner of war, suffering unthinkable deprivation and brutality at the hands of the ruthless Japanese guards.One of the last accounts to come from a Bataan survivor, Boyt’s story details the infamous Bataan Death March and his subsequent forty-two months in Japanese internment camps. In this fast-paced narrative, Boyt’s voice conveys the quiet courage of the generation of men who fought and won history’s greatest armed conflict.

    Conder remained there for the rest of his life, and his love of the country and its culture inspired him to undertake years of study of Japanese Painting, gardens, and flower arrangement.Conder's classic text-with its eloquent explanation of why certain seasonal flowers should be used, why some are "felicitous" and others "ominous," and how even the simplest-looking arrangement can mean much more than meets the eye-has a great deal to say not only about ikebana but about Japan's sense of ceremony and custom.Richly illustrated throughout, and with sixteen pages of grand color pictures, this new edition of his pioneering work retains the period feel of the original. For modern enthusiasts of ikebana or of more Western-style flower arranging, the book offers a fascinating insight into the sensibilities that helped form the art, In addition, a wealth of written and pictorial information on the various containers used-bamboo tubes, bronze vases, lacquer ware, and baskets-will appeal to those who have an interest in Oriental antiques.And to place all this in context, Paula Pryke-the author of Flowers, Flowers!-and Joseph LaPenta, a Tokyo-based ikebana scholar, provide opening commentaries.

    This is the first comprehensive collection of essays on Shin Buddhism by many of the most important Shin scholars and religious authorities of the last one hundred years.

    This is the story of how a wonderful friendship has blossomed between them... So begins the story of a most unlikely friendship. In 1959 the prefecture of Yamanashi, Japan, was devastated by two typhoons. Richard Thomas, an Iowan who had served in the U.S. military in Japan after World War II, helped organize an "Iowa Hog Lift" that sent 35 pigs flying across the ocean to Yamanashi. Imagine how surprised those pigs must have been when they reached Japan! That act of generosity laid the foundation for America's first sister-state relationship with Japan. Sweet Corn and Sushi tells the heartwarming story of what can happen when pigs fly and cultural differences are bridged by goodwill.

    

    Having earned his impressive reputation in Hawaii, the mainland United States, and Europe as an official trainer for the Japan Karate Association, Kanazawa founded Shotokan Karate-do International Federation in 1979. This association now has branches in more than 90 countries throughout the world.This book is Kanazawa's first complete guide to kumite, or sparring. The karate training process comprises four areas: basics, kata (forms; prearranged movements and techniques), kumite, and competition. Kumite-"the art of grappling with opponents," as it might be called-is the application of kata, and is the key to success in karate tournaments.Karate Fighting Techniques teaches all the various kumite techniques, and presents a systematic approach to applied kumite that is designed to provide essnetial information for match-style kumite and tournament kumite. The author also writes with great affection of his experiences with Master Gichin Funakoshi, and offers some insight into the true spirit and teachings of Shotokan karate.With 700 photos of the author, his students, and some rare photos of the late Gichin Funakoshi and his famous disciple Masatoshi Nakayama (author of the popular Best Karate series), Karate Fighting Techniques is the first book of its kind to provide such a comprehensive guide to kumite and its role in Shotokan karate. It will be an indispensable resource for all karate practitioners.

    In this book, Zolt�n K�vecses proposes a new theory of metaphor variation. First, he identifies the major dimension of metaphor variation, that is, those social and cultural boundaries that signal discontinuities in human experience. Second, he describes which components, or aspects of conceptual metaphor are involved in metaphor variation, and how they are involved. Third, he isolates the main causes of metaphor variation. Fourth Professor K�vecses addresses the issue to the degree of cultural coherence in the interplay among conceptual metaphors, embodiment, and causes of metaphor variation.

    It was the first of a number of sets from the highly productive years of his later life. The designs comprising Famous places in the 60-odd provinces (Rokuju yoshu meisho zue) are taken from all corners of Japan. Designs published before this series had already depicted the famous routes between Edo and Kyoto, the Tokaido and the Kisokaido, and various well known locations such as the famous waterfalls, Lake Omi and the Jewel Rivers, but a series on such a grand scale devoted to the provincies was a novelty. It evidently met with critical acclaim as the publishers Koshimuraya Heisuke issued several editions. In this study, the author Marije Jansen briefly discusses Hiroshige's life and the formal aspects of this series. Jansen takes as her point of departure the set in possession of the German collector Gerhard Pulverer, which is generally acknowledged to be a superb example of a first edition, and compares this series to a number of other sets in public and private collections. The detectable printing variations in each design are carefully analysed, making this an indispensable tool for collectors.

    Japanese gardens are renowned for their serene and peaceful ambiance. The New Zen Garden presents the Japanese garden as it exists today, with all its traditional qualities joined to modern architecture and viewed from a modern perspective. This book takes the concept introduced in the best-selling Japanese Touch for Your Garden and, focusing on the more contemplative gardens that are drawing greater and greater attention, blends it with a more practical approach. Lavishly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs and featuring the works of contemporary garden designers and landscape architects, The New Zen Garden begins with a brief introduction of the history of the Japanese garden and its spiritual roots. It then guides the reader through the basics of garden concepts, layout, and personal needs. With a focus on small- and medium-size home gardens, author Joseph Cali introduces a visually explicit process in which anyone can conceive their own home garden, whether for a single-family residence or the balcony of an apartment or townhouse. Cali also includes a handful "spotlight sections" that feature guidance from prominent Japanese garden designers, each of whom steers the reader step-by-step through a specific building technique, including the making of textured clay walls, traditional stone walkways, and stone settings. The New Zen Garden provides a wealth of information on designing a garden to harmonize with any home or private space. It is a provocative eye-opener both for the serious Japanese garden enthusiast and the weekend gardener.

    Instead of presenting their stories in terms of heroic resistance versus shameful collaboration with the enemy, the volume reveals how the city's dwellers mobilized a variety of social networks to circumvent enemy strictures. They employed strategies that kept alive a culture and an economy that were vital to the survival of the brutalized population.

    Together they cover the entire spectrum of kabuki drama from 1697 to 1905, the period during which kabuki's dramaturgy flourished prior to the onset of Western dramatic influence. Major playwrights, chronological periods of playwriting, and a variety of play types (history, domestic, and dance dramas) and performance styles are represented. All but one are in the current repertory and regularly staged. The volume includes introductions to each play and a new general introduction highlighting kabuki's historical development and relating the plays to their performance context.As the subtitle implies, the plays are translated as if on stage. Stage directions indicate major scenic effects, stage action, costuming, makeup, music, and sound effects. In some cases, complex stage actions such as stage fights are given in detail. The plays collected here are all marvelous examples of dramatic writing, intended to be acted on the stage before audiences. They reveal kabuki's eras of brilliance and bravado, villainy and vengeance, darkness and desire, and restoration and reform. All continue to stir audiences to admiration and excitement.

    The Hidden Gardens of Kyoto is the attractive sequel to Landscapes for Small Spaces by the same photographer, Katsuhiko Mizuno. In this new book, Mizuno introduces the gardens of Kyoto that are not easily accessible or are totally closed to the public. Mizuno was born in Kyoto and has spent most of his life in this old capital, established in the eighth century. Kyoto is not susceptible to short-term fashions, and this rigidness can be seen in the way it has kept the tradition of garden art alive over the centuries in public and private spaces. Thanks to his familiarity with the city, Mizuno has been able to penetrate its hidden corners and capture the beauty of unknown gardens with his cameras. The Hidden Gardens of Kyoto displays more than fifty gardens, from private dwellings to the Imperial Palaces and Villas, temples, tea schools and shrines. The elements and structure of each garden are explained by Masaaki Ono, who studied under the greatest twentieth-century garden designer, Mirei Shigemori. Plans drawn by Ono also accompany some of the garden descriptions. Some Japanese gardens are planned so as to be seen from one vantage point, but many are designed for viewing from multiple angles. In his previous book, Mizuno only showed us one aspect per garden, but this time we are given various views as we explore the stroll gardens or look down from the verandas of the buildings surrounding enclosed gardens. This three-dimensional approach will help both professional and amateur garden designers and landscape architects to understand the structure as well as the diverse vegetation used in one garden.

    As she calmly awaits her fate, she begins to write, carefully setting down on a scroll the secret history of the Okumichi clan…of the gift of prophecy they share and the extraordinary destiny that awaits them. For six centuries, these remarkable writings lay hidden—until they are uncovered by an American woman, a missionary named Emily Gibson, who arrived in Edo harbor in 1861, in flight from a tragic past. Soon an extraordinary man would enter her life: Lord Genji of the Okumichi clan, a nobleman with a gift of prophecy who must defend his embattled family—and confront forbidden feelings for an outsider in his midst. Emily, too, soon finds herself at a turning point; courted by two westerners, she knows her heart belongs to the one man she cannot have. But Emily has found a mission of her own: translating Genji’s ancestral history, losing herself in an epic tale of heroism and forbidden love. For here is the story of Lady Shizuka, the beautiful witch-princess who has enchanted Okumichi men for generations…of Genji’s ancestors, Lord Hironobu and Lord Kiyori, and of the terrible betrayals that befell them…and of Genji’s parents: a wastrel father and his child bride whose tragic love has shaped Genji as a leader and as a man. As Emily sifts through the fragile scrolls, she begins to see threads of her own life woven into the ancient writings. And as past and present collide, a hidden history comes to life, and with it a secret prophecy that has been shrouded for centuries, and may now finally be revealed. Takashi Matsuoka’s spellbinding novel is infused with spectacle, intricately woven, magically told. Autumn Bridge is a feast for the senses, a work of truly dazzling storytelling.From the Hardcover edition.

    This is surely in part due to the editorial skills of a highly respected expert on Japanese society and education. This book offers a great deal of useful knowledge for non-Japanese students, teachers, and scholars, and for their Japanese counterparts as well. . . . I am very pleased that this excellent cooperation between U.S. and Japanese educators has resulted in a strong collection of essays that will help to inform persons interested in Japanese education and society."-Umakoshi Toru, Journal of Japanese Studies

    Home to some of the most sophisticated technology and manufacturing, it also has communities whose daily life has changed little in the last five hundred years. It is a land of great beauty, both in the landscape and in its celebrations, festivals, and traditional arts. After photographing China, Korea, and the United States, Hiroji Kubota spent three years traveling the length and breadth of Japan's many islands, capturing the magnificent diversity of his own country. From rice paddies to pachinko parlors, ancient temples to the Honda assembly plants, Kobota's lens has captured both the ordinary and the extraordinary.

    This collection of 30 charming illustrations, adapted from authentic woodblock prints, features lovely ladies in elegant kimonos playing musical instruments, boating, dancing, strolling, and engaged in other activities.

    This new series delves deep into the thrilling world of espionage, introducing history's most notorious spies, taking a close look at the gadgets of today's secret agents, and much more. Don't miss the chance to peer into this secret world!

    The second volume in theSaga of the Samurai Series focuses on the life of TakedaNobutora (1494-1574). Father to Takeda Shingen,Nobutora's life history is often overlooked in the shadowof his son's many accomplishments as a warlord. Witheleven painted color plates, and several black and whiteillustrations and maps, Saga of the Samurai: TakedaNobutora and the Unification of Kai further brings to lifethe dramatic saga of the Takeda Family.

    It describes in detail the process of how teachers conducted lesson study--how they collaborated in order to develop a lesson, what they talked about during the process, and what they looked at in order to understand deeply how students were learning. Readers see the planning of a mathematics lesson, as well as how much content knowledge the teachers have. They observe students' problem solving strategies and learn how Japanese teachers prepare themselves to identify those strategies and facilitate the students' discussion.Written for mathematics teachers, educational researchers, school administrators interested in teachers' professional development, and professional developers, this landmark volume provides an in-depth understanding of lesson study that can lead to positive changes in teachers' professional development and in teaching and learning in the United States.

    Readers have fallen in love with Asian poetry and writers have been greatly influenced by it.What neither reader nor writer ever witness is the intense engagement behind the poem, how the translator must serve as both artist and alchemist, urging a poem to work and sing in a foreign language. Success is rare, and the practice of translation, as W.S. Merwin has written, is "plainly impossible and nevertheless indispensable."This endlessly fascinating anthology—the first of its kind—gathers essays, poems-in-translation, and worksheets from twenty-one noted translators who discuss their aspirations, methods, and the forces of imagination necessary to bring a poem from one language into another. Languages discussed include Chinese (both ancient and modern), Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Khmer, and Sanskrit."A truly apt translation of a poem may require an effort of imagination almost as great as the making of the original. The translator who wishes to enter the creative territory must make an intellectual and imaginative jump into the mind and world of the poet, and no dictionary will make this easier."—Gary Snyder on translating the Chinese poet Han-shanContributors include: Gary Snyder, Willis Barnstone, Jane Hirshfield, J.P. Seaton, John Balaban, Michelle Yeh, Arthur Sze, W.S. Merwin, and Sam Hamill.

    Wide receptiveness to everything Western was the driving force behind the modernization of Japan initiated by the Meiji government, yet it also induced a rapid rediscovery of indigenous cultural values. At early Paris and London international exhibitions, the Japanese decorative and applied arts sparked off the Western fascination with all things Japanese japonisme. In Japan, on the other hand, new technologies were eagerly adopted the government realized that increasing production for export would be an excellent means of promoting Japanese economic growth and thus enhancing Japan's status worldwide. Meiji Ceramics represents the first in-depth study of the development of Japanese export porcelain against a highly charged background of political, economic and cultural factors. Includes 180 artists's signatures. Text in English.

    It explains why Japanese moern writers oscillate between East and West.

    Although art of the early Edo period (1600-1868) encompasses a spectrum of themes and styles, references to the past are so common that many Japanese art historians have variously described this period as a "classical revival," "era of classicism," or a "renaissance." How did seventeenth-century artists and patrons imagine the past? How did classical manners relate to other styles and themes found in Edo art? In considering such questions, the contributors to this volume hold that classicism has been an amorphous, changing concept in Japan--just as in the West. The authors of the essays collected here are by no means unanimous in their assessment of the use of the label "classicism." Although they may not agree on a definition of the term and its applicability to seventeenth-century Japanese art, all recognize the relevance of recent scholarly currents that call into question methods that privilege Western culture. Their various approaches--from stylistic analysis and theoretical conceptualization to assessment of related political and literary trends--greatly increase our understanding of the art of the period and its function in society.

    Now readers of modern Japanese poetry in translation have gained an impressive intellectual and linguistic companion in their enjoyment of modern Japanese verse. Modernism in Practice combines close readings of individual Japanese postwar poets and poetry with historical and critical analysis. Five of the seven chapters concentrate on the life and work of such outstanding poets as Soh Sakon, Ishigaki Rin, Ito Hiromi, Asabuki Ryoji, and Tanikawa Shuntaro. Several of these writers have only come into prominence in recent decades, so this work also serves to acquaint readers with contemporary Japanese verse.A significant dimension of this volume is the detailed and extensive treatment afforded two important areas of postwar Japanese verse: the poetry of women and of Okinawa. Modernism in Practice is noteworthy not only as an introduction to postwar Japanese poets and their times, but also for the numerous poems that appear in translation throughout the volume--many for the first time in book form.

    Contributions by twelve scholars are organized into sections on the rhetoric of persuasion, taste, communication, gender, and natural nobility. Writing from the perspectives of literature, history, and philosophy, the authors examine the use and purpose of rhetoric in their respective areas.In Rhetoric of Persuasion, we see that in both the third-century court of the last Han emperor and the fourteenth-century court of Edward II, rhetoric served to justify the deposition of a ruler and the establishment of a new regime. Rhetoric of Taste examines the court's influence on aesthetic values in China and Japan, specifically literary tastes in ninth-century China, the melding of literary and historical texts into a sort of national history in fifteenth-century Japan, and the embrace of literati painting innovations in twelfth-century China during a time when the literati themselves were out of favor. Rhetoric of Communication considers official communications to the throne in third-century China, the importance of secret communications in Charlemagne's court, and the implications of the use of classical Chinese in the Japanese court during the eighth and ninth centuries. Rhetoric of Gender offers the biography of a former Han emperor's favorite consort and studies the metaphorical possibilities of Tang palace plaints. Rhetoric of Natural Nobility focuses on Dante's efforts to confirm his nobility of soul as a poet, surmounting his non-noble ancestry, and the development of the texts that supported the political ideologies of the fifteenth-century Burgundian dukes Philip the Good and Charles the Bold.

    There are many major Zen temples in KyØto. Zen has created an original culture -- in architecture, landscape design, cuisine, calligraphy and painting, tea drinking, haiku, kendØ, and archery. This book is bilingual to help Japanese introduce Zen temples and Zen culture to foreigners. We consider the design of this book to express the fragrance of Zen as well. As worldwide interest in Zen grows, KyØto finds itself in the spotlight more and more. This guidebook will be extremely useful for foreign tourists, residents, and Guide-Interpreters to explore the Zen culture of KyØto. 　日本を訪れる外国人は、京都や禅など、日本の伝統文化に大きな関心を寄せています。　 　禅宗の発展の歴史によって、京都には禅宗の大本山や禅寺がたくさんあり、人々の身近な暮らしの中にも禅の文化が息づいています。禅は、建築、造園、料理、書画、茶道、俳句、剣道、弓道など多くの分野に取り入れられ、日本独自の文化を築いてきました。 　本書は、京都の主な禅寺と禅から生まれた日本の文化についての、外国人のためのガイドブックです。日本人が外国人を案内するときにも役立つようにバイリンガルとし、デサインにも禅の香りが感じられるものとしています。 　世界的なＺＥＮブームで京都がますます脚光をあびる昨今、このガイドブックは京都を訪れる外国人観光客や日本在住の外国人の方、外国人に日本文化を紹介したい方や通訳ガイドの方々にも、きっとお役に立つことと思います。 　なお、本書は英語と日本語のバイリンガルとしていまӕ

    A collection of essays on changing lifestyles in contemporary Japanese cities, encompassing the rise of the one-room mansion, the crucial role of convenience stores, and the implications of a dispersed - technology-dependent - infrastructure.

    Izumi Kyoka is known as the Japanese Edgar Allen Poe. He writes stories that are full of adventure, suspense and surprise as well as great beauty, tenderness and passion.Contents:The Holy Man of Mount Koya A Tale of Three Who Were BlindOne Day in Spring

    

    From the 1945 bombing of Japan to the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, photography blossomed in the rapidly evolving country. Documentary photography that captured the horrors of war shifted to focus on the human strength for survival and solidarity. By the mid-1950s, Japan was at a crossroads between tradition and modernization, a contradiction immortalized by the most talented photographers of the time. Chosen for aesthetic merit and content, these 150 photographs are accompanied by essays from renowned Japanese experts, covering historical, social, and photographic perspectives. Three chapters reflect the different periods of this societal transformation and the evolution of Japanese photography from social realism to a subjective and increasingly personal style. Photographers: Ken Domon, Hiroshi Hamaya, Tadahiko Hayashi, Eikoh Hosoe, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Kikuji Kawada, Ihee Kimura, Shigeichi Nagano, Ikko Narahara, Takeyoshi Tanuma, Shomei Tomatsu

    Renowned for the wealth and sophistication of women’s writing, the literature of the Heian period (794–1192) has long been considered central to the Japanese literary canon and Japanese national identity. Yoda historicizes claims about the inherent femininity of this literature by revisiting key moments in the history of Japanese literary scholarship from the eighteenth century to the present. She argues that by foregrounding women’s voices in Heian literature, the discipline has repeatedly enacted the problematic modernizing gesture in which the “feminine” is recognized, canceled, and then contained within a national framework articulated in masculine terms.Moving back and forth between a critique of modern discourses on Heian literature and close analyses of the Heian texts themselves, Yoda sheds light on some of the most persistent interpretive models underwriting Japanese literary studies, particularly the modern paradigm of a masculine national subject. She proposes new directions for disciplinary critique and suggests that historicized understandings of premodern texts offer significant insights into contemporary feminist theories of subjectivity and agency.

    Kids will learn all the steps for creating beautiful, unique, and creative flower arrangements with a few simple materials.This book explores all the elements of authentic Japanese ikebana, including the specific techniques and plants used, the moribana style using a kenzan (spiked base), the nageire style, and arrangements in everyday containers.The Asian Arts & Crafts for Creative Kids series is the first series aimed at readers ages 7 - 12 that provides a fun and educational introduction to Asian culture and art. Readers can explore new crafts through hands-on projects that are both fun, and will give them a greater appreciation of Asian culture. Ikebana Activities introduces kids to the fascinating art of Japanese flower arranging. Kids will learn:All the steps for creating beautiful, unique, and creative flower arrangements with a few simple materialsExplores all the elements of authentic Japanese ikebana, including the specific techniques and plants used, the moribana style using a kenzan (spiked base), the nageire style, and arrangements in everyday containers

    His discovery of the sea route to India established, for the first time, direct contact between Europe and East Asia, ushering in a period of rich commercial and artistic exchange. Published to accompany a major exhibition at the V&A in Autumn 2004 (23 September-5 December 2004), this sumptuously illustrated volume traces the links between these two cultures over three centuries and explores their ongoing fascination with each other - a fascination that persists to this day. The book is divided into three sections: Discoveries is about exploration from East to West and from West to East; Encounters deals with relationships - diplomatic, missionary and personal - highlighting some of the colourful characters that inhabited this period of history; while Exchanges focuses on trade, particularly in luxury goods, which gave rise to a cross-fertilisation of styles and tastes. This resulted in some truly remarkable works of art, some of which are illustrated here for the first time.

    The main character, Hana Tsukishima, a freshman at Suzuran, comes from a very distant countryside in Japan. Although gentle and warm hearted, Hana is a tough fighter who has no problem facing several opponents at one time. His ambition is to claim the bancho status (the head) and unify/bring order to Suzuran by defeating whomever comes in his way with the support of both his friends and upperclassmen who are drawn to his strength and character. At other times, he must fight thugs from rival schools and gangs. This series is what is traditionally called a Yankee Manga (Yankee having a different meaning and pronunciation than in English), which typically involves delinquent young men and thugs filled with action-packed fighting sequences but also presented with a lot of humor.

    Topics include the use of the abacus; the application of sangi, or counting rods, to algebra; the yenri, or circle principle; the work of Seki Kowa, Ajima Chokuyen and Wada Nei; more. 1914 edition. Includes 74 figures.

    about 40 projects devided into the following categories: Private Spaces: apartments and houses- Public Spaces: hotels, restaurants, shops, offices The projects are listed within the categories in alphabetical order by name of owner or name of locations. Indey by architects/designer.

    Correct performance, they claim, demands adherence to traditions. Yet what constitutes noh's traditions and who can claim authority over them have been in dispute throughout its history. This book traces how definitions of noh, both as an art and as a profession, have changed over time. The author seeks to show that the definition of noh as an art is inseparable from its definition as a profession. traditions, as well as the role of these traditions in the institutional development of the noh theatre from its beginnings in the fourteenth century through the late twentieth century. It focuses on the development of the key traditions that constitute the ethos of noh, the ideology that empowered certain groups of actors at the expense of others, and how this ethos fostered noh's professionalisation - its growth from a loose occupation into a closed, regulated vocation. The author argues that the traditions that form the ethos of noh, such as those surrounding masks and manuscripts, are the key traits that define it as an art.

    His works on and of poetry are less well known but equally illuminating. During his eight years studying in Europe in the 1920s, Kuki spent time in Paris, where he wrote several collections of poetry and many short poems in the tanka style.Included in this volume are these Paris poems as well as other verses that Kuki appended to a long essay on poetry, Rhymes in Japanese Poetry, written in 1931. Included as well are translations of two of Kuki's major critical essays on poetry, The Genealogy of Feelings: A Guide to Poetry (1938) and The Metaphysics of Literature (1940).Michael Marra, one of the West's foremost authorities on modern Japanese aesthetics, prefaces his translations with an important essay that gives an account of the current state of Kuki studies in English and presents an intriguing and original interpretation of Kuki's writings. Marra argues that there is an unresolved tension in Kuki's thought between a desire to overcome the rigid schemes of metaphysics, garnered from his knowledge of French and German philosophy, on the one hand, and a constant hesitation to let those schemes go, which is expressed in his verse.

    

    Through the empirical analysis of how Japanese youth dramas are (re)produced, circulated, regulated, and consumed in East and Southeast Asia, each chapter in this volume variously explores the ways in which intra-Asian cultural flows highlight cultural resonance and asymmetry in the region under the decentering processes of globalization. Key questions include What is the nature of Japanese cultural power and influence in the region and how is it historically overdetermined? How is it similar to and different from “Americanization” and other Asian cultural sub-centers? What kinds of images and sense of intimacy and distance are perceived through the reception of Japanese youth dramas? Contributors include Ien ANG, Geok-lian CHUA, Darrell William DAVIS, Kelly HU, ITO Mamoru, Yu-fen KO, Dong-Hoo LEE, Ming-tsung LEE, Lisa Yuk-ming LEUNG, Elizabeth Naoko MACLACHLAN, Jung-Sun PARK, Ubonrat SIRIYUVASAK, Ota TORU, Eva TSAI, Emilie Yueh-yu YEH.

    This text presents an overview of the archaeology of the Jomon Period between 10,000 and 300 BC within the context of more recent complex hunter-gatherer societies. It bridges the gap between academic traditions in Japanese and Anglo-American archaeology and represents an invaluable source of reflection on the development of human complexity.

    P. Verneuil culled striking illustrations of authentic Japanese woven and printed fabrics. This superb treasury, meticulously reproduced from a rare portfolio, depicts scores of designs, among them images of florals, animal life, and geometrics. Portrayed in the manner of stylized Japanese art, the intricate, subtly shaded motifs still retain their enormous appeal almost a century after they were first printed. A valuable sourcebook for graphic artists, illustrators, and students of design, this collection will be of major interest, as well, to devotees of Japanese art.

    It seeks to explore why Japanese intellectuals, historians and philosophers of the time insisted that Japan had to turn its back on the West and attack the United States and the British Empire. Based on a close reading of the texts written by members of the highly influential Kyoto School, and revisiting the dialogue between the Kyoto School and the German philosopher Heidegger, it argues that the work of Kyoto thinkers cannot be dismissed as mere fascist propaganda, and that this work, in which race is a key theme, constitutes a reasoned case for a post-White world. The author also argues that this theme is increasingly relevant at present, as demographic changes are set to transform the political and social landscape of North America and Western Europe over the next fifty years.

    It has also been translated into Korean and German. Author Toshimaro Ama examines the concept of mushukyo, or lack of specific religious beliefs. According to Ama, the Japanese generally lack an understanding of or desire to commit to a particular organized religion, oftentimes fusing Shinto, Christianity, and Buddhism into a hybrid form of spirituality. The book classifies Japanese religion into "revealed," or organized (i.e. Buddhism or Confucianism), and "natural," or folklore based. It explains how folklore and culture have been integrated into the Japanese religious mind, examines governmental influence over the development of Japanese religion, and introduces several attempts to restore authentic spirituality. The book, which has sold more than 100,000 copies, is widely popular among students of Japanese culture and ethnicity as well as lay readers desiring to learn more about Japanese religious identity.

    Ōgai was more than a writer of fiction, however. He has long been regarded in Japan as one of the most influential intellectual and artistic figures of his period, possessing a wide range of enthusiasms and concerns, many developed through his early European experiences.Not a Song Like Any Other attempts to reveal the full range of Ōgai's creative endeavor, providing trenchant examples of his remarkable range, from dramatist and storyteller to poet and polemicist, all translated into English for the first time. The first of seven parts, "The Author Himself," offers a variety of self portraits and other insights into Ōgai's character through his essays--laconic, ironic, detached--written over the course of his career. "Mori Ōgai in Germany" reveals his responses to living in Germany in the 1880s and seeing for the first time how his country was being interpreted from the outside. It includes his celebrated and spirited defense of his country, originally published in a German newspaper. "Mori Ōgai and the World of Politics" relates his uneasy reactions to Japanese society at a later phase in his career. The fourth section provides some of the first information available in English concerning his lifelong interest in painting and other aspects of the visual arts in the Japan of his day. Ōgai's theatrical experiments are briefly chronicled in Part 5. "Four Unusual Stories" offers new evidence of the range of the writer's interests and ambitions. The final section includes some of the first translations of Ōgai's poetry available in English.Contributors: Richard Bowring, Sarah Cox, Sanford Goldstein, Andrew Hall, Mikiko Hirayama, Helen Hopper, Marvin Marcus, Keiko McDonald, J. Thomas Rimer, Hiroaki Sato, William J. Tyler.