Best of
Japan

2006

Japanese From Zero! 1: Proven Methods to Learn Japanese with integrated Workbook and Online Support


George Trombley - 2006
    The lessons and techniques used in this series have been taught successfully for over ten years in classrooms throughout the world.Using up-to-date and easy-to-grasp grammar, Japanese From Zero is the perfect course for current students of Japanese as well as absolute beginners.In Book 1 of the Japanese From Zero series, readers are taught new grammar concepts, over 800 new words and expressions, and also learn the hiragana writing system.Features of Book 1: * Integrated Workbook with Answer Key* Over 800 New Words and Expressions* Learn to Read and Write Hiragana* Easy-to-Understand Example Dialogues* Culture Points about Japan* Bilingual Glossaries with Kana and Romaji...and much more

On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime (Lectures on, #1)


Daisaku Ikeda - 2006
    This booklet contains the lecture by SGI President Ikeda on Nichiren Daishonin's letter "On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime." This lecture was serialized in Living BuddhismSept–Oct 2006 to Mar–Apr 2007.

The Stories of Ibis


Hiroshi Yamamoto - 2006
    She tells him seven stories of human/android interaction in order to reveal the secret behind humanity's fall. The story takes place centuries in the future, where the diminished populations of humans live uncultured lives in their own colonies. They resent the androids, who have built themselves a stable and cultural society. In this brutal time, our main character travels from colony to colony as a “storyteller,” one that speaks of the stories of the past. One day, he is abducted by Ibis, an android in the form of a young girl, and told of the stories created by humans in the ancient past.The stories that Ibis speaks of are the 7 novels about the events surrounding the announcements of the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 20th to 21st centuries. At a glance, these stories do not appear to have any sort of connection, but what is the true meaning behind them? What are Ibis' real intentions?

Mr Two Bomb


William Coles - 2006
    Two days later he catches the last train home. Home to Nagasaki. He arrives just 90 minutes before the world s second atomic bomb explodes into his life. As he battles through the scene of apocalyptic destruction, surrounded by unthinkable suffering, he is plagued by one constant question: is he lucky, or unlucky? This is his answer: he's the luckiest man alive.

A Wild Sheep Chase / Dance Dance Dance


Haruki Murakami - 2006
    But an ordinary life has a way of taking an extraordinary turn. Add a girl whose ears are so exquisite that, when uncovered, they improve sex a thousand-fold, a runaway friend, a right-wing politico, an ovine-obsessed professor and a manic-depressive in a sheep outfit, implicate them in a hunt for a sheep, that may or may not be running the world, and the upshot is another singular masterpiece from Haruki Murakami. "Dance Dance Dance" - High-class call girls billed to Mastercard; a psychic thirteen-year-old drop-out with a passion for Talking Heads; a hunky matinee idol doomed to play dentists and teachers; a one-armed beach-combing poet, an uptight hotel clerk and one very bemused narrator caught in the web of advanced capitalist mayhem; combine this offbeat cast of characters with Murakami's idiosyncratic prose and out comes "Dance Dance Dance". It is an assault on the senses, part murder mystery, part metaphysical speculation; a fable for our times as catchy as a rock song blasting from the window of a sports car.

Insect Country (B)


Sawako Nakayasu - 2006
    lavender

Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600


Haruo Shirane - 2006
    It contains stunning new translations of such canonical texts as The Tales of the Heike as well as works and genres previously ignored by scholars and unknown to general readers.This volume includes generous selections from Man'yÿsh, The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book, Kokinsh, and other classics of Japanese literature, as well as a stunning range of folk literature, epic tales of war, poetry, and no drama. The anthology offers an impressive representation of dramatic, poetic, and fictional works from both high and low culture, along with religious and secular anecdotes, literary criticism, and works written in Chinese by Japanese writers. The wealth of classical poetry, linked verse, and popular poetry is accompanied by extensive commentary.Traditional Japanese Literature is a companion volume to Columbia University Press's Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900 and part of its four-volume history of Japanese literature. Arranged by chronology and genre, the readings are insightfully introduced and placed into their political, cultural, and literary context, and the extensive bibliographies offer further study for scholars and readers. Including a wide range of classic and popular works in poetry, prose, and drama, this anthology presents a definitive overview of traditional Japanese literature and deepens our understanding of classical and medieval Japanese culture.

The Haiku Apprentice: Memoirs of Writing Poetry in Japan


Abigail Friedman - 2006
    While waiting for the light to change, I saw the following public service announcement on the side of a bus: Omoiyari hitonikurumani konomachini (Sympathy / toward people, toward cars / toward this town). Seventeen syllables. Five-seven-five format. It must be a haiku, I thought. But when I reached the office and repeated the announcement to my Japanese coworkers, none of them thought it was a haiku. I knew they were thinking to themselves, What kind of a lunatic is she? One tried to break the news to me gently, It’s not a haiku, it’s an advertising jingle. Well, I knew it was an advertising jingle, but still, wasn’t it an advertising jingle haiku?—From The Haiku ApprenticeAbigail Friedman was an American diplomat in Tokyo, not a writer. A chance encounter leads her to a haiku group, where she discovers poetry that anyone can enjoy writing. Her teacher and fellow haiku group members instruct her in seasonal flora and fauna, and gradually she learns to describe the world in plain words, becoming one of the millions in Japan who lead a haiku life. This is the author’s story of her literary and cultural voyage, and more: it is an invitation to readers to form their own neighborhood haiku groups and, like her, learn to see the world anew."...A deft and seamless merging of genres: at once memoir, travel literature, and an unpretentious guide onto the terrain of Japanese poetry. It will appeal not just to poetry lovers, but to all readers who are curious about the world beyond their own borders." -- Foreword Magazine"Friedman is an appealing guide through an alternate Japan where modern people make poems about teacups and temples but also about skyscrapers and kidney surgery." -- East Bay Express"The book is not designed to make the reader a poet, but it does, perhaps, help us to pay more attention to our poetical eye." -- BiblioBuffet"The Haiku Apprentice gives the reader an original, thoughtful and personal glimpse of one expat’s productive encounter with Japan." -- Metropolis "...Notable for its frankness and enthusiasm...Friedman has made a lively narrative out of the things she learned..." -- The Japan Times

Japanese Portraits: Pictures of Different People


Donald Richie - 2006
    In these fifty–four pieces there are both the famous—Mishima, Kawabata, Mifune, Kurosawa—and the unknown: the would–be geisha, the ex–boxer turned gangster, the scheming bar madame and the old man dying alone. Here is the notorious Sada Abe, who mutilated her dead lover and whose story was filmed in Oshima's The Realm of the SensesAnd here is Oshima himself, dead drunk and making perfect sense; here is the actress who played Abe, exiled in Rome. Here too is the delivery boy who kills himself for love, the girl who loved a Korean, and the actress, a public idol, who suddenly and permanently disappeared from view. And there are dozens of others, individuals who have in common, besides their Japanese nationality, the fact that they knew the author, and that —fortunatly for us—he knew them. This highly personal reminiscences form one of the most original and deeply felt books on Japan ever to appear.

Theatres


Hiroshi Sugimoto - 2006
    "Different movies give different brightnesses. If it's an optimistic story, I usually end up with a bright screen; if it's a sad story, it's a dark screen. Occult movie? Very dark."

Super Potato Design: The Complete Works of Takashi Sugimoto: Japan's Leading Interior Designer


Mira Locher - 2006
    Using traditional Japanese building materials such as bamboo, wood, and stone, but creating original yet timeless spaces, Super Potato's designs avoid specific stylistic characterizations and short-lived fashion. By finding contemporary expression for essential concepts present in traditional Japan and combining materials in unexpected ways to create exciting spaces, Super Potato's work has had a significant impact on interior design in Japan and throughout Asia. Super Potato Design is generously illustrated with 320 full-color photographs by the respected Japanese photographer Yoshio Shiratori, who has recorded Super Potato's projects since the firm's conception in 1973. Architect and Japan scholar Mira Locher introduces the ideas and influences of Takashi Sugimoto, the founder and principal designer of Super Potato, and provides a thorough explanation of each project. Architectural drawings further describe the projects. A forward by Tadao Anso, interviews between Takashi Sugimoto and architect Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama, and also graphic designer Kenya Hara, explore the ideas relevant to Japanese designers today. A list of the Complete Works of Super Potato rounds off the book.

Four from Japan: Contemporary Poetry & Essays by Women


Takako Arai - 2006
    Translated from the Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu, Ryoko Sekiguchi and Cole Swensen. This revolutionary volume represents the first book of its kind, a bilingual anthology dedicated to women working in modern and cross cultural poetry milieus. Published collaboratively by Belladonna Books and Litmus Press in honor of the Festival of Contemporary Japanese Women Poets with support by NYSCA.

Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto's Kikunoi Restaurant


Yoshihiro Murata - 2006
    This sumptuously illustrated volume features-in seasonal format-the style of cooking that began as tea ceremony accompaniment and developed into the highest form of Japanese cuisine.Kaiseki celebrates the natural ingredients of each season with a spectacular presentation. After a front section explaining the history and components of kaiseki cuisine, Yoshihiro Murata, the third generation owner/chef of Kyoto's famed Kikunoi restaurant, introduces the establishment's menu. With candidness and insight, he shares his thoughts on ingredients, preparation methods and the philosophy behind his dishes. He explains how the cuisine has changed over the years-and continues to do so. He even explains how some dishes evolved as he searched for the proper combination of ingredients. Approximately twenty dishes from each season, chosen by chef Murata, have been lovingly and carefully photographed to convey the experience of being a guest at the Kikunoi restaurant. The book also features a glossary of kaiseki terms and exact recipes from the Kikunoi kitchen.

The Honda Myth: The Genius and His Wake


Masaaki Sato - 2006
    Just as the manufacturer's combination of engineering excellence, racing dominance, and risk-taking was driving it into the international spotlight, however its trademark free-spiritedness threatening to take a backseat to bureaucracy and complacency.Honda was the brainchild of two very different men. One, a genius engineer who never went to college but became the face of the company-Soichiro Honda. The other, a shrewd businessman who breezed into management and directed behind the scenes-Takeo Fujisawa. Apart, they may have never met international success, but together they made their mark. Yet, after Honda and Fujisawa's retirement, and decisively after the departure of heir apparent Shoichiro Irimajiri, Honda Motor looks like what it once seemed incapable of becoming-a faceless firm.Overshadowed by the ever-changing competition in areas like F1 racing and low-pollution engine technology that were its pride, the old hothouse of invention is less sexy these days. The Honda Myth argues that the cult worship of Soichiro Honda that Takeo Fujisawa formented, at first to the firm's great benefit, worked against it in subtle ways as well. Though the company's future looks bright, it offers no beaming face.

Deaf in Japan: Signing and the Politics of Identity


Karen Nakamura - 2006
    Legally, they were classified as minors or mentally deficient, unable to obtain driver's licenses or sign contracts and wills. Many worked at menial tasks or were constantly unemployed, and schools for the deaf taught a difficult regimen of speechreading and oral speech methods rather than signing. After several decades of activism, deaf men and women are now largely accepted within mainstream Japanese society.Deaf in Japan, a groundbreaking study of deaf identity, minority politics, and sign language, traces the history of the deaf community in Japan, from the establishment of the first schools for the deaf in the 1870s to the birth of deaf activist movements in the postwar period and current culture wars over signing and assimilation. Drawing on archival and ethnographic research and in-depth interviews with deaf men and women from three generations, Karen Nakamura examines shifting attitudes toward and within the deaf community.Nakamura suggests that the notion of deaf identity is intimately linked with the Japanese view of modernization and Westernization. The left-affiliated Japanese Federation of the Deaf embraces an assimilationist position, promoting lip-reading and other forms of accommodation with mainstream society. In recent years, however, young disability advocates, exponents of an American-style radical separatism, have promoted the use of Japanese Sign Language.Nakamura, who signs in both ASL and JSL, finds that deafness has social characteristics typical of both ethnic minority and disability status, comparing the changing deaf community with other Japanese minority groups such as the former Burakumin, the Okinawans, and zainichi Koreans. Her account of the language wars that have erupted around Japanese signing gives evidence of broader changes in attitudes regarding disability, identity, and culture in Japan.

Almighty X 10 Vol. 1


Aqua Mizuto - 2006
    

The Japanese Way of the Artist: Living the Japanese Arts & Ways, Brush Meditation, The Japanese Way of the Flower


H.E. Davey - 2006
    Living the Japanese Arts & Ways covers key concepts—like wabi and “stillness in motion”—while the other two books show the reader how to use brush calligraphy (shodo) and flower arranging (ikebana) to achieve mind-body unification. Illustrated with diagrams, drawings, and photographs.

Living in Japan


Alex Kerr - 2006
    Yet contemporary Japanese designers and architects keep finding new ways to refurbish and take inspiration from the ways of old. Whether it's a pristinely preserved traditional house or a cutting-edge apartment, the best Japanese homes share a love of cleverly designed spaces and warm materials such as wood, bricks, and bamboo. From a thatched roof farmhouse occupied by a Zen priest to Tadao Ando's experimental 4x4 House, Shigeru Ban's conceptual Shutter House, and a beautiful homage to bamboo in the form of a home, this book traverses the multifaceted landscape of Japanese living today. Also included is a list of addresses and a glossary of terms, such as tatami.

From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States


Sadao Asada - 2006
    Hailed by the British Admiralty, Theodore Roosevelt, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, the international bestseller also was endorsed by the Japanese Naval Ministry, who took it as a clarion call to enhance their own sea power. That power, of course, was eventually used against the United States. Sadao Asada opens his book with a discussion of Mahan�s sea power doctrine and demonstrates how Mahan�s ideas led the Imperial Japanese Navy to view itself as a hypothetical enemy of the Americans. Drawing on previously unused Japanese records from the three naval conferences of the 1920s�the Washington Conference of 1921-22, the Geneva Conference of 1927, and the London Conference of 1930�the author examines the strategic dilemma facing the Japanese navy during the 1920s and 1930s against the background of advancing weapon technology and increasing doubt about the relevance of battleships. He also analyzes the decisions that led to war with the United States�namely, the 1936 withdrawal from naval treaties, the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, and the armed advance into south Indochina in July 1941�in the context of bureaucratic struggles between the army and navy to gain supremacy. He concludes that the "ghost" of Mahan hung over the Japanese naval leaders as they prepared for war against the United State and made decisions based on miscalculations about American and Japanese strengths and American intentions.

The Seabird of Sanematsu


Kei Swanson - 2006
    Spending her time with the young daimyo she forges a bond even death cannot break. Sanematsu, arising to power under the tutelage of others, has never governed his domain as he wished. Only with the strength and courage of Aderyn is he able to dream of becoming Shogun.

Race for the Exits: The Unraveling of Japan's System of Social Protection


Leonard J. Schoppa - 2006
    The country's basic social contract has so far proved resistant to reform, even in the face of persistently adverse conditions. In Race for the Exits, Leonard J. Schoppa explains why it has endured and how long it can last. The postwar Japanese system of convoy capitalism traded lifetime employment for male workers against government support for industry and the private (female) provision of care for children and the elderly. Two social groups bore a particularly heavy burden in providing for the social protection of the weak and dependent: large firms, which committed to keeping their core workforce on the payroll even in slow times, and women, who stayed home to care for their homes and families.Using the exit-voice framework made famous by Albert Hirschman, Schoppa argues that both groups have chosen exit rather than voice, depriving the political process of the energy needed to propel necessary reforms in the system. Instead of fighting for reform, firms slowly shift jobs overseas, and many women abandon hopes of accommodating both family and career. Over time, however, these trends have placed growing economic and demographic pressures on the social contract. As industries reduce their domestic operations, the Japanese economy is further diminished. Japan has also experienced a baby bust as women opt out of motherhood. Schoppa suggests that a radical break with the Japanese social contract of the past is becoming inevitable as the system slowly and quietly unravels.

Japanese Kanji Flashcards: The Complete Set of Kanji for Levels 3 & 4 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test


Max Hodges - 2006
    1: 300 Beginner-Level Kanji Cards' ISBN: 978-0984334902The NEW 3rd Edition of White Rabbit Press' Japanese Kanji Flashcards: The Complete set of Kanji required for Levels 3 & 4 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test We've gathered all the essential information needed to master kanji into a convenient flashcard format that makes learning and drilling as efficient as possible. Preferred by thousands of students, in over 25 countries, White Rabbit Press is the recognized world leader in Japanese kanji flashcards. Each card includes six vocabulary building kanji compounds. We include more vocabulary than other publishers' cards because the essence of a kanji is best grasped by understanding the meanings it forms when combined with other characters. We only use kana scripts--not romaji--to show kanji readings, and we provide clear and precise definitions in English, so you'll spend less time reaching for a dictionary and more time learning kanji. Each card also includes the kanji's On and Kun readings, stroke order diagrams, look-alike kanji, and more. Quality Construction Cards are varnished with rounded corners for durablilty. Color-Coded * 103 JLPT Level 4 cards in Green ink * 181 JLPT Level 4 cards in Blue ink *Includes a complete index. *Boxed with plastic tray and shrink-wrapped What's new in the Third Edition? In addition to some minor design improvements, we made many changes to the vocabulary. The set now includes more official JLPT vocabulary and indicators to let you know which words are important for the test.

A Waka Anthology, Volume Two: Grasses of Remembrance


Edwin A. Cranston - 2006
    These two centuries saw the revival of the prestige of poetry in the native tongue after a century of official preference for versification in Chinese. An anthology of anthologies, Grasses of Remembrance draws copiously from the first four imperially ordered collections, Kokinshu, Gosenshu, Shuishu, and Goshuishu, examining the structure and illustrating the content of each. In all, the book contains over 2,600 poems in lively and readable translation, including selections from Shinsen Man'yoshu, a late-ninth-century collection of parallel verses in Chinese and Japanese, and all 795 poems from The Tale of Genji.

Suicidal Honor: General Nogi and the Writings of Mori Ogai and Natsume Soseki


Doris G. Bargen - 2006
    It was an act of delayed atonement that paid a debt of honor incurred thirty-five years earlier. The revered military hero’s wife joined in his act of junshi ("following one’s lord into death"). The violence of their double suicide shocked the nation. What had impelled the general and his wife, on the threshold of a new era, to resort so drastically, so dramatically, to this forbidden, anachronistic practice? The nation was divided. There were those who saw the suicides as a heroic affirmation of the samurai code; others found them a cause for embarrassment, a sign that Japan had not yet crossed the cultural line separating tradition from modernity.While acknowledging the nation’s sharply divided reaction to the Nogis’ junshi as a useful indicator of the event’s seismic impact on Japanese culture, Doris G. Bargen in the first half of her book demonstrates that the deeper significance of Nogi’s action must be sought in his personal history, enmeshed as it was in the tumultuous politics of the Meiji period. Suicidal Honor traces Nogi’s military career (and personal travail) through the armed struggles of the collapsing shôgunate and through the two wars of imperial conquest during which Nogi played a significant role: the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). It also probes beneath the political to explore the religious origins of ritual self-sacrifice in cultures as different as ancient Rome and today’s Nigeria. Seen in this context, Nogi’s death was homage to the divine emperor. But what was the significance of Nogi’s waiting thirty-five years before he offered himself as a human sacrifice to a dead rather than living deity? To answer this question, Bargen delves deeply and with great insight into the story of Nogi’s conflicted career as a military hero who longed to be a peaceful man of letters.In the second half of Suicidal Honor Bargen turns to the extraordinary influence of the Nogis’ deaths on two of Japan’s greatest writers, Mori Ôgai and Natsume Sôseki. Ôgai’s historical fiction, written in the immediate aftermath of his friend’s junshi, is a profound meditation on the significance of ritual suicide in a time of historical transition. Stories such as "The Sakai Incident" ("Sakai jiken") appear in a new light and with greatly enhanced resonance in Bargen’s interpretation. In Sôseki’s masterpiece, Kokoro, Sensei, the protagonist, refers to the emperor’s death and his general’s junshi before taking his own life. Scholars routinely mention these references, but Bargen demonstrates convincingly the uncanny ways in which Sôseki’s agonized response to Nogi’s suicide structures the entire novel. By exploring the historical and literary legacies of Nogi, Ôgai, and Sôseki from an interdisciplinary perspective, Suicidal Honor illuminates Japan’s prolonged and painful transition from the idealized heroic world of samurai culture to the mundane anxieties of modernity. It is a study that will fascinate specialists in the fields of Japanese literature, history, and religion, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Japan’s warrior culture.

Samurai Girl


Julie Sharp - 2006
    Through a stunning fusion of subcultural images, manga and video game graphics. the Tokyo-based fashion photographer and ex pop idol profoundly immortalises Japanese culture in all its richness, folly, and abstractions. "Julie Watai is a photographer and contemporary artist whose acid-bright, digitized works draw heavily on the worlds of Japanese manga, anime, and otaku culture. Distorted-yet-realistic, Watai combines images from pop cultural fantasies -- from gun-slinging anime girls, to cyborgs, to "kawaii" dolls -- with 3D (real-world) imagery, creating a glitch-type portraiture that excites and overloads the imagination."-Beautiful Decay Watai's photographs and designs have already reached cult status in Tokyo and the renowned photographer has been the focus of numerous publications and documentaries from around the world including a feature by Vice's The Creator's Project. This collection showcases over one-hundred such photographs and graphics that have launched this extraordinary artist to international acclaim.

Elementary Japanese Volume Two: (CD-ROM Included)


Yoko Hasegawa - 2006
    The author and contributors have created a highly structured approach to leaning Japanese that is based on learning the fundamental patters and constructions of the language as well as the writing system including basic kanji. Systematic grammatical explanations are provided in enough detail for this book to be used as a reference work as well as an introductory textbook. The accompanying MP3 audio CD is a great way to learn Japanese and ensures correct pronunciation and helps to build listening comprehension.After completing this course, you will be able to:Describe yourself, your family and your friends.Talk about daily events using basic vocabulary and grammatical constructions.Understand conversations on these topics as well as classroom activities.Read Japanese articles and write short and simple compositions and letters.

A Handbook to Classical Japanese


John Timothy Wixted - 2006
    The work deals with the central issue of classical language, namely, 'verb'-endings: specifically, the endings of verbs, verbal adjectives, pseudo-adjectives, and verb-suffixes. The Handbook treats the issue systematically, presenting 670 real-language examples, nearly 400 of which are discretely different quotations.The work's extensive Introduction walks the reader through key problem areas, with sections on Which Verbs Belong to Which Conjugation? How to 'Unpack' Bungo Verbs, Nari Headaches, Namu/nan Trouble, Items Easily Confused: Apparent Ambiguity, Respect Language, and the like. The body of the Handbook, with its hundreds of examples, serves as a kind of reader; thirty-two verb-suffixes are illustrated in all of their forms or functions (with at least two examples of each). The book's seven appendices introduce a wide range of Western-language material, including comprehensive information about other translations into English, French, German, and Spanish of all texts cited--especially helpful for potential comparative translation study. For those unfamiliar with the topic, the section on Orthography is a model of clarity. Throughout the Handbook, highlighted items in Japanese are printed in bright red and their romanization in dark-black small capitals, to repeat and reinforce material at both conscious and unconscious levels via complementary graphic features. The volume can be used as an introduction to classical Japanese, an initial textbook, a companion text, a review text, and/or a reference work.

The Modern Murasaki: Writing by Women of Meiji Japan


Rebecca L. Copeland - 2006
    Along with traditional prose, the editors have chosen and carefully translated short stories, plays, poetry, speeches, essays, and personal journal entries. Selected readings include writings by the public speaker Kishida Toshiko, the dramatist Hasegawa Shigure, the short-fiction writer Shimizu Shikin, the political writer Tamura Toshiko, and the novelists Miyake Kaho, Higuchi Ichiyo, Tazawa Inabune, Kitada Usurai, Nogami Yaeko, and Mizuno Senko. The volume also includes a thorough introduction to each reading, an extensive index listing historical, social, and literary concepts, and a comprehensive guide to further research.The fierce tenor and bold content of these texts refute the popular belief that women of this era were passive and silent. A vital addition to courses in women's studies and Japanese literature and history, The Modern Murasaki is a singular resource for students and scholars.

The Book of Sake: A Connoisseurs Guide


Philip Harper - 2006
    And as sake increasingly becomes a part of the way we dine and entertain, Americans everywhere are looking for guidance in sorting out the confusing and intimidating array of choices available. In The Book of Sake, brewmaster Philip Harper provides all the information anyone needs to discover the many true pleasures of Japan's national tipple. Harper, the only non-Japanese to rise to the official rank of "master brewer," shows readers how to select a good sake and match a selection with food. He describes each type of sake, how it is produced and acquires its distinctive flavor and bouquet, and how it is best appreciated.Next, Harper introduces a collection of sake lore, a guide to reading sake labels, a groundbreaking new tasting chart, and a selection of sakes for all palates and pocketbooks by the esteemed sake critic Haruo Matsuzaki. To round out the volume Harper offers highlights of Japan's sake regions, then presents perhaps the most intriguing tour of the sake brewmaster's art ever to be published in English.

The Enjoyment of Tea


Sōshitsu Sen XV - 2006
    

A History of Japanese Body Suit Tattooing


Mark Poysden - 2006
    * Highly illustrated: color and b/w photos and illus throughoutTattooing has had a long and sometimes dark life, particularly in Japan. The practice of punitive tattooing has existed for at least two thousand years globally. Japan was the last country to abolish it, in 1870. As elsewhere, the Japanese covered these marks of shame with decorative tattoos. The decorative designs became more elaborate as their popularity increased, largely as a reaction to strict sumptuary laws. Tattooing was repeatedly abolished, without effect. Even today, it is illegal to display tattoos publicly in Japan. In Japan, tattoos are primarily associated with the yakuza-organized crime. A History of Japanese Body Suit Tattooing traces the origins and development of the Japanese yakuza, ranging over their pre-WWII history, samurai and Bushido influences, the darker side of Tokugawa rule, and gambling connections and describing what happens when a highly regulated society disintegrates. The book then discusses the artistic influences on these designs. While acknowledging the impact of Kuniyoshi's famous print series on the art of tattoo, this book concentrates on other print artists who depicted tattooed heroes and kabuki actors. For instance, it profiles the tattoo artist Horikazu of the Asakusa district and includes numerous examples of his sketches and work, with explanations of Japanese motifs and techniques. It also comprehensively covers the history of the Asakusa temple complex and the Sanja Matsuri, the Shinto festival held in Asakusa which is a showcase for full body-suit tattoos adorning members of the various yakuza gangs who reside in the district.

Nine Hours North


Tim Sinclair - 2006
    By the time Marianne arrives, he's been battery-caged for so long it all seems normal - but then she changes everything...

Tadanori Yokoo


Daido Moriyama - 2006
    A number of artists, including Issey Miyake and the writer Yukio Mishima, spotted his talent and requested his collaboration.In the early 1980s, painting became the art form through which Tadanori uncompromisingly began to explore various subjects rooted in personal and collective memories, such as life, death, society, sex, and religion. Impervious to criticism, bent on giving inspiration full rein, he never shrank from shocking his contemporaries as he varied stylistic and thematic approaches. Published to accompany a French exhibition, the book includes recent paintings as well as older work. 100 color illustrations.

Saga of the Samurai: Shingen in Command the Kai Takeda 4(1549-1558) (Volume 4)


Terje Solum - 2006
    The military exploits ofone of the most famous Takeda clan leaders begins in1549 and continues in this volume through 1558. Volumefour includes short biographies of notable personalitiesfrom Shngen's era. You will also find extensiveinformation on samurai cavalry and their horses, and adetailed description of the samurai medical unit andonsen (hot spring).

Photography in Japan 1853-1912


Terry Bennett - 2006
    The 350 rare and antique photos in this book, most of them published here for the first time, chronicle the introduction of photography in Japan and early Japanese photography. The images are more than just a history of photography in Japan; they are vital in helping to understand the dramatic changes that occurred in Japan during the mid-nineteenth century.These rare Japanese photographs—whether sensational or everyday, intimate or panoramic—document a nation about to abandon its traditional ways and enter the modern era. Taken between 1853 and 1912 by the most important Japanese and foreign photographers working in Japan, this is the first book to document the history of early photography in Japan a comprehensive and systematic way.

Strategic Asia 2006-07: Trade, Interdependence, and Security


Ashley J. TellisMartin C. Spechler - 2006
    Through a combination of country, regional, and topical studies, the book assesses trade and investment dynamics in the region, the rise of new powers, the ongoing processes of globalization, and the impact of economic interdependence on security, and evaluates how these trends are altering AsiaÂ's strategic environment.

Power And Pork: A Japanese Political Life


Aurelia George Mulgan - 2006
    Matsuoka belongs to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as a representative of the Lower House constituency of Kumamoto No. 3, one of Japan’s regional electorates. His behaviour has been the subject of much speculation and commentary in the media. The book details Matsuoka’s political stratagems and policy activities as an archetypal ‘traditional’ politician representing farm and rural interests. As an old-style, old-guard LDP Diet member, Matsuoka is the kind of politician that former Prime Minister Koizumi targeted in his attempt to reform his own party and the policymaking process. Matsuoka’s reversal of fortune under Prime Minister Abe with his appointment to the post of Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries raises questions about the durability of Koizumi’s reforms.The scope of the work is contemporary Japanese domestic politics, including electoral processes, zoku influence, pork barrelling and ‘money politics’ as exemplified by one of its key players. Power and Pork gives an account of how Matsuoka has catered to local, sectional and clientele interests in order to build and retain his political power base. One of the most important conclusions of the book is that individual ruling party backbenchers can exercise extraordinary influence over government policy in Japan.

Kuniyoshi's Heroes of China & Japan (Warrior)


Oliver Impey - 2006
    Selections from which are illustrated in this booklet.

Cool Tools: Cooking Utensils from the Japanese Kitchen


Kate Klippensteen - 2006
    Now, Cool Tools goes deep inside the kitchen, into the cupboards and the drawers, to the stove tops and wall hangers where all sorts of utensils are stored. Here are the items being manipulated by the hands of the famous in their awe-inspiring kitchens-and the not-so-famous in their homes.As with so many Japanese creations, the utensils are both functional and artistic. And the pieces that are the focus of this book are treated as both works of art and items of practical interest. The photography, by one of Japan's leading lensmen, celebrates the care in materials and design. The text, by a long-time columnist on Tokyo dining and entertaining, celebrates the history, the usage, the people behind these tools, in brief, informative and entertaining entries.

Simple Delicacies: Japanese Recipes from Hirozen


Candice Obayashi - 2006
    With its easy-to-follow dishes for Japanese-cuisine novices and inventive dishes which encourage experienced chefs to further master their skills, this book demonstrates how simple it is to prepare simple, elegant meals with an authentic Japanese flair. Adapted from recipes made famous at the restaurant Hirozen Gourmet, this cookbook features a combination of traditional and original recipes that chronicle Mr. Obayashi’s inventiveness in the kitchen. From its detailed instructions on how to prepare rice and create basic broths to creating sukiyaki and exquisite sushi dishes, this cookbook contains a balanced mixture of recipes that are accessible to those just learning and challenging to those more proficient in the art of cooking.

Who Was Responsible? From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor


The Yomiuri Shimbun - 2006
    Book by The Yomiuri Shimbun

Kyoto: The Forest Within the Gate


Edith Shiffert - 2006
    With a few deft strokes of a pen and a meditative use of the camera lens, they capture the heartbeat of the allusive moment nestled within."—Judith Clancy, Exploring Kyoto: On Foot in the Ancient CapitalA sensitive response to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. The heart of the book is a dialogue between the poems of Edith Shiffert and over one hundred duotone photographs by John Einarsen. Enriched by essays from garden designer Marc Keane, aesthete Takeda Yoshifumi, and author Diane Durston.

Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs


Joan Sinclair - 2006
    Unrivaled in their creativity and the sheer number of choices, the clubs featured in this book offer their clientele every fantasy imaginable. Subway groping, visits to the nurse's office, and comic book character encounters are just the beginning of the immense list of possibilities that are played out in colorful playrooms for adults where no detail is overlooked. Sinclair's photographs capture it all, while an introduction by sociologist James Farrer provides a brief history of commercial sex in Japan and places the images in the context of contemporary Japanese culture.

In the Dojo: A Guide to the Rituals and Etiquette of the Japanese Martial Arts


Dave Lowry - 2006
    But very soon they begin to wonder about the meaning behind the traditions, gear, and relationships in the dojo. In this collection of lively, detailed essays, Dave Lowry, one of the most well-known and respected swordsmen in the United States, illuminates the history and meaning behind the rituals, training costumes, objects, and relationships that have such profound significance in Japanese martial arts, including    • the dojo space itself    • the teacher-student relationship    • the act of bowing    • what to expect—and what will be expected of you—when you visit a dojo    • the training weapons    • the hakama (ceremonial skirt) and dogi (practice uniform)    • the Shinto shrineAuthoritative, insightful, and packed with fascinating stories from his own experience, In the Dojo provides a wealth of information that beginning students will pore over and advanced students will treasure.

Indigenous Experience: Global Perspectives


Roger Maaka - 2006
    Maaka and Anderson attempt to introduce the reader to the heterogeneity and depth of indigenous groups' colonial experiences. Focused on the global context, The Indigenous Experience takes examples from the North American nations of Canada and the United States; the Hispanic nations of Latin America; Australia; New Zealand; Hawaii and Rapanui from Oceania; from Northern Europe and the circumpolar region, Norway; and from the continent of Africa, an example from Nigeria. This book is also global in its authorship, with articles by leading scholars from areas that are reflected in the examples; Australia, Canada, the United States, and Norway.

Japanese Popular Prints: From Votive Slips To Playing Cards


Rebecca Salter - 2006
    These well-known images were produced by a publisher and artist using the extraordinary skills of carvers and printers, whose identities are rarely known. The same craftsmen also produced woodblock-printed objects for use in everyday life such as decorative paper (chiyogami), votive slips (senjafuda), playing cards (karuta), and board games (sugoroku). As the market changed in the late nineteenth century, the craftsmen increasingly turned to the production of these low-value, essentially ephemeral objects. Although the prices were kept low, many were imbued with the same glorious visual sophistication that had attracted Westerners to ukiyo-e.Approaching the subject as an artist rather than a print scholar, Rebecca Salter focuses on the craftsmen and the complex visual culture within which they worked. Through information gained from interviews with some of the remaining practitioners and analysis of the objects themselves, she builds up a picture of the quiet role woodblock played in the lives of the Japanese as they moved from the isolation of the Edo period to embrace modernization in the early twentieth century.This book is a fascinating exploration of this area of cultural history and the numerous color illustrations encourage a playful investigation of the many threads of Japan's visual culture.Rebecca Salter is a well-known British printmaker. She lived in Japan for six years and is an acknowledged authority on Japanese woodblock printing. She is the author of Japanese Woodblock Printing.

Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking


Harumi Kurihara - 2006
    It looks at soup, eggs and tofu, rice and noodles, meat, and vegetables.

Talk Japanese Coursebook


Lynne Strugnell - 2006
    These short language courses are intended for absolute beginners, and can be used by adults learning at home or in a class.

Understanding Japan Through the Eyes of Christian Faith


Samuel Lee - 2006
    Samuel Lee has skillfully examined various facets of the Japanese society and culture looking for answers of why Christianity is not widely accepted and practiced in Japan. After dealing the historical background of Christianity in Japan and describing the socio-cultural condition of the nation, the author comes up with strategies and suggestions of how Christianity should approach Japan and suggests that Christianity should be reintroduced in Japan. "Understanding Japan through the Eyes of Christian Faith." is a sociological and spiritual handbook for missionaries, mission organizations, churches, Christian Universities/Colleges and every Christian who is interested in reaching Japan. Japan is now ready to embrace the Gospel. You can discover it by reading this book.

Stray


Pat Matsueda - 2006
    Manoa presents traditional alongside contemporary writings from the entire Pacific Rim, one of the world's most dynamic literary regions. Matsueda was born in Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan, the daughter of a Japanese woman and a Japanese American soldier. She has lived at Itazuki and Hickam Air Force Bases and in Kalihi, Kaimuki, and points in between. She now resides in downtown Honolulu. In 1988, she received an Elliott Cades Award for Literature.Praise for Poetry by Pat Matsueda:Evocative, sensuous, plangent, the poems in Pat Matsueda's long-awaited book are charged with the phenomenal world. Line by line, phrase by phrase,these poems won't go away: when you close youreyes, they are there; when you open your eyes, they are still there.—Arthur Sze, author of The Redshifting Web: Poems 1978-1998.It's a remarkable piece of work, confronting realities very few of us have the courage to address, in language that draws us deeply into what is painful, ambivalent, and liberating.—Barry Lopez, author of Arctic DreamsIt is an immensely gratifying book and I will treasure it as one of the best in my collection.—Gene Frumkin, author of Freud by Other MeansSuch wise, tender, and beautiful poems!—Molly Giles, author of IRON SHOESI'm reading STRAY, one poem a day, and finding my first good opinion more than justified--it's the best book to come my way in a long time.—Michael Hannon, author of Trusting Oblivion

Courtyard Gardens of Kyoto's Merchant Houses


Katsuhiko Mizuno - 2006
    Tucked away inside each of these unusually long, narrow dwellings is a hidden oasis: a small garden known as the tsuboniwa. Following on from Landscapes for Small Spaces and The Hidden Gardens of Kyoto, the third book by garden enthusiast and photographer Katsuhiko Mizuno focuses on these miniature courtyard gardens of the machiya. A wide variety of gardens are beautifully photographed and presented: from those in shops, inns, restaurants, and tearooms, to gardens in many private homes. A total of 150 color images from fifty-two houses showcase the flawless Kyoto aesthetic and use of limited space. Surrounding architectural features, such as shoji sliding doors, reed blinds, beams, railings, and walkways are also featured.Each photograph is accompanied by analytical and insightful comments from the author, making this a useful reference book for all garden lovers, as well as a visual feast for anyone with an interest in traditional Japanese design.

Advertising Tower: Japanese Modernism and Modernity in the 1920s


William O. Gardner - 2006
    The activities of advertisers, and the new entertainment culture and patterns of consumption that they promoted, helped to define a new urban aesthetic emerging in the 1920s.This book examines some of the responses of Japanese authors to the transformation of Tokyo in the early decades of the twentieth century. In particular, it explores the themes and formal strategies of the modernist literature that flourished in the 1920s, focusing on the work of Hagiwara Kyojiro (1899-1938) and Hayashi Fumiko (1903-1951). William Gardner shows how modernist works offer new constructions of individual subjectivity amid the social and technological changes that provided the ground for the appearance of mass media. Hagiwara's conception of the poem and poet as an electric-radio advertising tower provides an emblem for the aesthetic tensions and multiple discourses of technology, media, urbanism, commerce, and propaganda that were circulating through the urban environment at the time; while Hayashi's work, with its references to popular songs, plays, and movies, suggests an understanding of everyday life as the interface between individual subjectivity and a highly mediated environment.

Annotated Japanese Literary Gems. Volume 1


Kyoko Selden - 2006
    This multi-volume set of books - six volumes are planned - provides rubi for nearly all kanji at first use. Each story is also included in a plain-text version. Along with the extensive annotations provided, the collection serves as a resource for students of modern Japanese literature and can also be used as an intermediate to advanced language text. The volume is printed Japanese-style, with pages ordered from right to left. The present volume, the first in the collection, introduces stories by three important postwar authors: Readers on the Train, A Dictionary Village, and A Town Called Z from Fox-Possessed Moon, by Tawada Yoko; My Friend, by Hayashi Kyoko; and Trees and Grass, by Nakagami Kenji. Tawada Yoko lives in Hamburg and publishes in both German and Japanese with insight into how individual languages and the spaces between them work. Hayashi Kyoko is a Nagasaki author who spent her childhood years in wartime Shanghai and has written about both A-bomb and colonial experiences. Nakagami Kenji, a native of Shing in Wakayama, and the first Japanese author to identify himself as burakumin, concentrates on the themes of burakumin and their heritage.

Sources of Japanese Tradition, Abridged: 1600 to 2000; Part 2: 1868 to 2000


William Theodore de Bary - 2006
    Unrivalled in its wide selection of source materials on history, society, politics, education, philosophy, and religion, the two-volume textbook is a crucial resource for students, scholars, and readers seeking an introduction to Japanese civilization.Originally published in a single hardcover book, Volume 2 is now available as an abridged, two-part paperback. Part 1 covers the Tokugawa period to 1868, including texts that address the spread of neo-Confucianism and Buddhism and the initial encounters of Japan and the West. Part 2 begins with the Meiji period and ends at the new millennium, shedding light on such major movements as the Enlightenment, constitutionalism, nationalism, socialism, and feminism, and the impact of the postwar occupation. Commentary by major scholars and comprehensive bibliographies and indexes are included.Together, these readings map out the development of modern Japanese civilization and illuminate the thought and teachings of its intellectual, political, and religious leaders.

ART as 1: Japanese Professional Illustrators Vol. 1 (ARTas1® series)


Japan Publicity - 2006
    In addition to providing American creative professionals with a source of information on Japanese talent, Â�full color images of their work, brief biographies, contact information, listings of awards received, clients, and shows in which their work has appeared, the directory also serves as a window into the latest trends in the Japanese illustration world. A convenient key (A=Acrylics, D=Digital, O=Oils) assists in the understanding of the mediums in which each artist specializes. Among the artists featured are Takashi Akiyama, Hitoshi Miura, Tsuyoshi Nagano, Takashi Sekiguchi, Radical Suzuki, and Hiroshi Watanabe.

A Poetics of Courtly Male Friendship in Heian Japan


Paul Gordon Schalow - 2006
    Paul Schalow's original and challenging work inherits these concerns about the transcendence of love and carries them into a new realm of inquiry--the suffering of noblemen and the literary record of their hopes for transcendence through friendship. He traces this recurring theme, which he labels courtly male friendship, in five important literary works ranging from the tenth-century Tale of Ise to the early eleventh-century Tale of Genji.Whether authored by men or women, the depictions of male friendship addressed in this work convey the differing perspectives of male and female authors profoundly shaped by their gender roles in the court aristocracy. Schalow's analysis clarifies in particular how Heian literature articulates the nobleman's wish to be known and appreciated fully by another man.

War Memory, Nationalism and Education in Postwar Japan: The Japanese History Textbook Controversy and Ienaga Saburo's Court Challenges


Yoshiko Nozaki - 2006
    The degree to which Japan is willing to confront its past is not just about history, but also about how Japan defines itself at present, and going forward. This book examines the history textbook controversy in Japan. It sets the controversy in the context of debates about memory, and education, and in relation to evolving politics both within Japan, and in Japan's relations with its neighbours and former colonies and countries it invaded. It discusses in particular the struggles of Ienaga Saburo, who has made crucial contributions, including through three epic lawsuits, in challenging the official government position.Winner of the American Educational Research Association 2009 Outstanding Book Award in the Curriculum Studies category.

Challenging Past and Present: The Metamorphosis of Nineteenth-Century Japanese Art


Ellen P. Conant - 2006
    Scholars of both thepreceding Edo (1615-1868) and the succeeding Meiji (1868-1912) erashave shunned the decades bordering this arbitrary divide, thus creatingan art-historical void that the former view as a period of waningtechnical and creative inventiveness and the latter as one threatenedby Meiji reforms and indiscriminate westernization and modernization.Challenging Past and Present, to the contrary, demonstrates that theperiod 1840-1890, as seen progressively rather than retrospectively, experienced a dramatic transformation in the visual arts, which in turnmade possible the creative achievements of the twentieth century

100 Japanese Stencil Designs


Friedrich Deneken - 2006
    A centuries-old tradition of capturing nature in striking floral and wildlife motifs is reflected in the graceful shapes and lovely lines of more than 100 illustrations. Lush blossoms, bamboo branches, butterflies, birds on the wing, and rustic country homes, among other subjects long associated with Japanese art, are boldly printed in black and white.Ready for use as patterns for wallpaper, textiles, graphics, and needlework, these delicate royalty-free images are ideal for a host of modern decorative and graphic needs.

日本の図像 波・雲・松の意匠


ピエブックス - 2006
    One of the most iconic and enduring images from Japanese art is Hokusai’s famous Great Wave, a painting largely credited with inspiring the French artists of the nineteenth century, mainly the impressionists, to see depth and perspective from a unique, perhaps Japanese, viewpoint. The Japanese have many different words for clouds, the use of which depends on the season, the shape of the cloud, or the particular situation. Clouds in Japanese art are often depicted in unique iconography that is in sharp contrast to traditional Western portrayals. In early Japanese society, traditional performing arts, including Noh, were often performed under pine trees. Pine trees are regarded as sacred objects and are still often seen in the backgrounds of Noh theaters today. It is rare for a Japanese artist or photographer to present an aesthetically beautiful landscape without pine trees, as is evident in the many illustrations and photographs in this book. Over 120 works dating from the fifteenth century through the present are featured in Wave, Cloud, Pine.

Japan’s Dual Civil Society: Members Without Advocates


Robert J. Pekkanen - 2006
    It offers a new interpretation of why Japan's civil society has developed as it has, with many small, local groups but few large, professionally managed national organizations. The book further asks what the consequences of that pattern of development are for Japan's policy and politics. The author persuasively demonstrates that political institutions—the regulatory framework, financial flows, and the political opportunity structure—are responsible for this pattern, with the result that civil groups have little chance of influencing national policy debates. The phenomenon of “members without advocates” thus has enormous implications for democratic participation in Japan.

Okinawan-English Wordbook


Mitsugu Sakihara - 2006
    The first substantive Okinawan-English lexicon in more than a century, it represents a much-needed addition to the library of reference materials on the language. The Wordbook opens to lay user and linguist alike an area heretofore accessible almost exclusively in Japanese works and adds to the general body of scholarship on various Ryukyuan languages and dialects by providing a succinct but comprehensive picture of modern colloquial Okinawan.The current work comprises nearly 10,000 entries, many with encyclopedic discussion, drawn from a wide variety of sources in addition to the author's native knowledge and from numerous areas of interest, with emphasis on the cultural traditions of Okinawa. Entries reflect both contemporary Naha usage and archaisms and areal variants when these are of cultural, historical, or linguistic interest. Thus, in addition to being a comprehensive portrait of the modern Okinawan language, the Wordbook serves as an implicit introduction to the rich field of Japanese dialect studies.Prefatory material discusses the phonology of Okinawan and the romanization scheme employed in the book, with particular attention to phonological features of the language likely to be unfamiliar to native English speakers and those acquainted only with Japanese. A general introduction to the conjugation of verbs and adjectives in Okinawan is made as well.

Kanji Starter 1


Daiki Kusuya - 2006
    Volume 1 concentrates on pictographs and contains some two hundred kanji with memory aids, explanatory drawings, examples of kanji formation by combining elements, and common-use word compounds. Volume 2 contains three hundred more kanji, including those of more abstract construction. Each volume is in a handy size and contains a complete stroke-count index. Recommended as a classroom supplement for all levels.

Turning Pages: Reading and Writing Women's Magazines in Interwar Japan


Sarah Frederick - 2006
    The scholarship is superb, the writing flows beautifully, and the images from the magazines are wonderfully evocative. --Jan Bardsley, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillThis important book contributes to our gendered understanding of Japanese modernity. Frederick has insightfully discerned what we need to know in order to situate the rich materials available to researchers in reprint editions of women's magazines. Because so many significant literary works made their initial appearance in women's magazines, Frederick's book allows students and scholars to appreciate as never before the context in which certain works were first read. --Sally A. Hastings, Purdue UniversityBy the early 1920s, ladies magazines (fujin zasshi) had become a distinct category in Japanese publishing. Women's periodicals increasingly influenced intellectual discourse, the literary establishment, and daily life. Turning Pages makes sense of this phenomenon through a detailed analysis of major interwar women's magazines, especially the literary journal Ladies' Review, the popular domestic periodical Housewife's Friend, and the politically radical magazine Women's Arts. Through a close examination of their literature, articles, advertising, and art, the book explores the magazines as both windows onto and actors in this vibrant period of Japanese history.Turning Pages considers the central place of representations of women for women in the culture of interwar-era Japan and our understanding of Japanese modernity. Taking a holistic approach to the texts and using tools of historical, literary, and cultural analysis, the author examines the triangular relationship among the consumers, the producers, and the texts themselves.

JPG 2: Japan Graphics


Tomoko Sakamoto - 2006
    The changes in Japanese graphic design after the first volume have proved to be far beyond our imagination. Instead of 'more copies, higher resolution, to a wider audience', there is a greater focus on individual and original works. JPG 2 brings together over 20 design teams, showcasing the evolution of teams from the first JPG as well as showcasing new projects, new teams, and the best contemporary design talents. Works by Amane Murakami, Buddha Productions, Dainippon Type Organization, Enlightenment, Hideki Inaba, Higraph, keitarrow, Loworks, Keigo Mohri, Namaiki, Shinji Shimada, Ryuh Tomoaki, Sunday-Vision, Power Graphixx, Takora, Taku Anekawa, TGB design, Tsuyoshi Kusano, Tsuyoshi Hirooka, wabisabi, iseneehihinee.The book is divided into 13 chapters: Photo + graphics, Imaginary landscapes, Printed matter, Customize on the product, Re-product design, Order made, Talking graphics, Portrait, Activism, Fake analog, Digital error, Super fine lines and Digital/manual interaction.

Kimono & the Summer Color of Japan


P.I.E. Books - 2006
    In this book; however, he has focused on the motifs employed in kimonos and obis (sash), with particular emphasis on the materials used in making summer kimonos. Recent summer kimonos have become relatively orthodox and somewhat lacking in creativity. Those who are familiar with these recent summer kimonos are thus in for a surprise with the kimonos they will find in this book. Patterns of flowers and grasses, insects, fish, shellfish, and Western landscapes, in addition to daring colors and delicate embroidery, have elevated these kimonos to the level of art. In the author’s view, these patterns and motifs provide a full display of a delicate sense of beauty and bold design, as well as the playful spirit and creativity with which the Japanese try to keep themselves cool and comfortable in the summer.

Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook Culture and the Kibyoshi of Edo Japan


Adam L. Kern - 2006
    By combining analysis of the socioeconomic and historical milieus in which the genre was produced and consumed with three annotated translations of works by major author-artist, Santo Kyoden (1761-1816) that closely reproduce the experience of encountering the originals, Adam Kern offers a sustained close reading of the vibrant popular imagination of the mid-Edo period. The kibyoshi, Kern argues, became an influential form of political satire that seemed poised to transform the uniquely Edoesque brand of urban commoner culture into something more, perhaps even a national culture, until the shogunal government intervened.

Toraware


Robert, W. Norris - 2006
    A 33-year-old American drifter and Vietnam War veteran has just arrived in Japan seeking one more adventure and an escape from his past. A promiscuous, rebellious, 23-year-old Japanese woman has just returned from a two-year homestay in a Canadian mission, where she was sent by her parents to cure her suicidal behavior. A snobbish, upper-class, 22-year-old Japanese woman who cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality is about to graduate from university and enter the frightening world of adulthood. Three people searching for a place to belong. Three people dancing on a psychological highwire. Three people about to become enmeshed in a relationship that will change each of their lives forever. "Goes beyond the gaijin experience...evokes the rootlessness felt by young Japanese uncertain about their future."--The Japan Times "Crafted in excellent style and patiently honed...the Japanese characters are wholly convincing."--Kansai Time Out Magazine

Beauties for the Four Seasons


Mitsuko Watanabe - 2006
    Works by classical artists including Harunobu, Utamaro, Toyokuni and Eishi show beauties related to the seasons, over more than a hundred years.

Thinking Like a Man: Tadano Makuzu (1763-1825)


Bettina Gramlich-Oka - 2006
    It is especially the (samurai) woman s perspective that makes Makuzu s treatise such a rich source of, often implicit, information on contemporary society. The biographical details of Makuzu s life and family are given social and historical context in terms of her self-conscious status as a samurai woman. Through close analysis of Makuzu s philosophical and autobiographical writings, Dr. Gramlich-Oka reveals Makuzu to have been a natural product of the variety of intellectual schools and circles of her time. In extending Makuzu s unique critique of the intellectual s lack of concern with women to contemporary intellectual history, the author carves a new path in incorporating gender into intellectual history and biography writing."

Japan's Diversity Dilemmas: Ethnicity, Citizenship, and Education


Soo im Lee - 2006
    Foreigners are coming to Japan and many more will come in the near future to meet the demands of an economy that needs workers to compensate for an extremely low birth rate. The ramifications of this influx of foreigners into a society that has based its identity on a mythical ethnic purity are enormous. This book examines the effects of globalization on both new and older ethnic communities. It shows the ways in which minorities, in particular Koreans, are changing their conceptions and practices regarding nationality. It explores issues of human rights and emerging conceptions of citizenship in Japan. It also looks at how forces of globalization are affecting the state ideology of homogeneity and how a new image of diversity and multiculturalism is slowly developing. Several authors focus their attention on implications for education in citizenship education, ethnic education, and international education.Japan's Diversity Dilemmas is not just about minorities, but addresses issues of diversity that impact Japan as a nation in three areas: ethnicity, citizenship, and education. As the population diversifies, the linking of ethnicity and citizenship is being challenged and education is a battleground where these struggles occur. This collection of papers by an interdisciplinary group of authors helps readers to understand Japan's evolving conceptions of the nation and its attempts to balance tensions of unity and diversity.'Japan's Diversity Dilemmas looks at precisely the kind of issues that need examination and discussion, as Japan stands on the cusp of potentially huge demographic and social changes. This collection of studies will enrich and inform classroom and public discourse and those who follow these issues will find this book essential." -Sharon Noguchi, San Jose Mercury News and former Fulbright Fellow, University of Tokyo

Trauma and Dissociation in a Cross-Cultural Perspective: Not Just a North American Phenomenon


George F. Rhoades - 2006
    Dispelling the myth that trauma-related dissociative disorders are a North American phenomenon, this unique book travels through more than a dozen countries to analyze the effects of long-lasting traumatization-both natural and man-made-on adults and children. Working from theoretical and clinical perspectives, the field's leading experts address trauma in situations that range from the psychological effects of the Troubles in Northern Ireland to the emergence of Hikikomori, the phenomenon of social withdrawal in Japanese youth.Reactions to trauma can be both unique according to a person's culture and similar to the experiences of others around the world. Dissociation, intense grief, anger, and survivor's guilt are common responses as people split off mentally, physically, and emotionally from the source of the trauma, whether it's an act of nature (tsunami, earthquake, flood, etc.) or the trauma created by violence, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, assault, confinement, kidnapping, and war. Trauma and Dissociation in a Cross-Cultural Perspective examines the efforts of clinicians and researchers in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America, Australia, and New Zealand to develop sociopsychological methods of providing counseling to people who are suffering physically, emotionally and spiritually, training for professionals counted on to dispense that counseling, and economic and political solutions that might help to limit the devastating effects of natural disasters.Trauma and Dissociation in a Cross-Cultural Perspective examines: the tensions between the National Health Service and the private sector in the United Kingdom how the Mandarin version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) is used in China Djinnai, a culture-bound syndrome and possession trance disorder found in Iran how colonialism has transmitted trauma to the Maori people of New Zealand transgenerational trauma in Turkey religious rituals and spirit possession in the Philippines memory wars in Israel traumatic syndromes among the French differences in dissociative experiences among Chinese and Japanese youth childhood trauma in Argentina and much more Trauma and Dissociation in a Cross-Cultural Perspective is an enlightening professional resource for anyone working in psychology, sociology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy.

Honey: A Gift from Nature


Yumiko Fujiwara - 2006
    Readers learn how the bees collect nectar, how it is turned into honey, and how the honey is collected. Full color.

The Changing Japanese Family


Marcus Rebick - 2006
    Changing Japanese Family explores these significant changes which include an ageing population, delayed marriages, a fallen birth rate, which has fallen below the level needed for replacement, and a decline in three-generational households and family businesses.The authors investigate these changes and the effects of them on Japanese society, whilst also setting the study in the context of wider economic and social changes in Japan. They offer interesting comparisons with international societies, especially with Southern Europe, where similar changes to the family and its role are occuring. This fascinating text is essential reading for those with an enthusiasm in Japanese studies but will also engage those with a concern in Japanese culture and society, as well as appealing to a readership with a wider interest in the sociology of the family.

Translating Mount Fuji: Modern Japanese Fiction and the Ethics of Identity


Dennis C. Washburn - 2006
    By focusing on certain interconnected themes, Washburn illuminates the contradictory desires of a nation trapped between emulating the West and preserving the traditions of Asia.Washburn begins with Ueda's Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain) and its preoccupation with the distant past, a sense of loss, and the connection between values and identity. He then considers the use of narrative realism and the metaphor of translation in Soseki's Sanshiro; the relationship between ideology and selfhood in Ogai's Seinen; Yokomitsu Riichi's attempt to synthesize the national and the cosmopolitan; Ooka Shohei's post-World War II representations of the ethical and spiritual crises confronting his age; and Mishima's innovative play with the aesthetics of the inauthentic and the artistry of kitsch.Washburn's brilliant analysis teases out common themes concerning the illustration of moral and aesthetic values, the crucial role of autonomy and authenticity in defining notions of culture, the impact of cultural translation on ideas of nation and subjectivity, the ethics of identity, and the hybrid quality of modern Japanese society. He pinpoints the persistent anxiety that influenced these authors' writings, a struggle to translate rhetorical forms of Western literature while preserving elements of the pre-Meiji tradition.A unique combination of intellectual history and critical literary analysis, Translating Mount Fuji recounts the evolution of a conflict that inspired remarkable literary experimentation and achievement.

Pilgrimages and Spiritual Quests in Japan


María Dolores Rodríguez del Alisal - 2006
    They apply models of pilgrimage to quests for vocational fulfilment, examining cases as diverse as the civil service, painting and poetry, and present ethnographies of contemporary reconstructions of old spiritual quests, as conflicting (and sometimes global) demands impinge on the time and space of would-be pilgrims.

21st Century Japanese Management: New Systems, Lasting Values


James C. Abegglen - 2006
    They emerge with new management systems in place, but with their values unchanged. From the unique perspective of the author's pioneering analysis of the 1950s, the financial systems, personnel management methods and R&D capabilities are re-assessed, as is the role of the corporation in Japanese society. The book offers a comprehensive analysis of the financial and industrial changes that have taken place in Japan by one of its most highly regarded commentators.

In the Company of Men: Representations of Male-Male Sexuality in Meiji Literature


Jim Reichert - 2006
    Because male-male sexuality occupied a prominent place in the literary culture of the preceding Edo period (1600-1868), the issue was of importance to Meiji writers and intellectuals, especially given the stigma attached to male-male sexuality in Europe and America, the "civilized" societies that Japan strove to emulate as it modernized. The heterosexualization of literature thus emerged as a key component of the production of Japanese literary and cultural modernity. At the same time, male-male sexuality also surfaced as an important cultural symbol for segments of society opposed to the push to modernize. In the Company of Men considers how these conflicting attitudes toward male-male sexuality manifested themselves in Meiji literary history.

Floating World: Japan in the Edo Period


John Reeve - 2006
    This book offers a glimpse of a vanished world that is fresh and visually rewarding to modern eyes.