In this 5000-mile journey through the noodle shops, tempura temples, and teahouses of Japan, Matt Goulding, co-creator of the enormously popular Eat This, Not That! book series, navigates the intersection between food, history, and culture, creating one of the most ambitious and complete books ever written about Japanese culinary culture from the Western perspective.Written in the same evocative voice that drives the award-winning magazine Roads & Kingdoms, Rice, Noodle, Fish explores Japan's most intriguing culinary disciplines in seven key regions, from the kaiseki tradition of Kyoto and the sushi masters of Tokyo to the street food of Osaka and the ramen culture of Fukuoka. You won't find hotel recommendations or bus schedules; you will find a brilliant narrative that interweaves immersive food journalism with intimate portraits of the cities and the people who shape Japan's food culture.This is not your typical guidebook. Rice, Noodle, Fish is a rare blend of inspiration and information, perfect for the intrepid and armchair traveler alike. Combining literary storytelling, indispensable insider information, and world-class design and photography, the end result is the first ever guidebook for the new age of culinary tourism.

    From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese designers have taken the classic American look—known as ametora, or “American traditional”—and turned it into a huge business for companies like Uniqlo, Kamakura Shirts, Evisu, and Kapital. This phenomenon is part of a long dialogue between Japanese and American fashion; in fact, many of the basic items and traditions of the modern American wardrobe are alive and well today thanks to the stewardship of Japanese consumers and fashion cognoscenti, who ritualized and preserved these American styles during periods when they were out of vogue in their native land.In Ametora, cultural historian W. David Marx traces the Japanese assimilation of American fashion over the past hundred and fifty years, showing how Japanese trendsetters and entrepreneurs mimicked, adapted, imported, and ultimately perfected American style, dramatically reshaping not only Japan’s culture but also our own in the process.

    An estimated 74,000 people died within the first five months, and another 75,000 were injured.Published on the seventieth anniversary of the bombing, Nagasaki takes readers from the morning of the bombing to the city today, telling the first-hand experiences of five survivors, all of whom were teenagers at the time of the devastation. Susan Southard has spent years interviewing hibakusha (“bomb-affected people”) and researching the physical, emotional, and social challenges of post-atomic life. She weaves together dramatic eyewitness accounts with searing analysis of the policies of censorship and denial that colored much of what was reported about the bombing both in the United States and Japan.A gripping narrative of human resilience, Nagasaki will help shape public discussion and debate over one of the most controversial wartime acts in history.

    The 2,000-year-old civilization grew through periods of seclusion and assimilation to cultivate a society responsible for immeasurable influences on the rest of the world. What makes Japan so distinctive?The answer is more than just spiritual beliefs or culinary tastes. It’s the ongoing clash between tradition and modernity; a conflict shaped by Japan’s long history of engagement and isolation.We’re all aware of Japan’s pivotal role in global economics and technological innovation. We know that the future of the West (and the entire world) is inextricably linked with the island nation’s successes and failures. But Japanese culture—its codes, mores, rituals, and values—still remains mysterious to many of us. And that’s unfortunate, because to truly understand Japan’s influence on the world stage, one needs to understand Japan’s culture—on its own terms.Only by looking at Japan’s politics, spirituality, cuisine, literature, art, and philosophy in the context of larger historical forces can we reach an informed grasp of Japanese culture. One that dispels prevalent myths and misconceptions we in the West have. One that puts Japan—not other nations—at the center of the story. And one that reveals how this incredible country transformed into the 21st-century superpower it is today.In an exciting partnership with the Smithsonian, The Great Courses presents Understanding Japan: A Cultural History—24 lectures that offer an unforgettable tour of Japanese life and culture. Delivered by renowned Japan scholar and award-winning professor Mark J. Ravina of Emory University, it’s a chance to access an extraordinary culture that is sometimes overlooked or misrepresented in broader surveys of world history. Professor Ravina, with the expert collaboration of the Smithsonian’s resources, and brings you a grand portrait of Japan, one that reaches from its ancient roots as an archipelago of warring islands to its current status as a geopolitical giant. Here for your enjoyment is a dazzling historical adventure with something to inform and delight everyone, and you’ll come away from it with a richer appreciation of Japanese culture.

    

    Its structure has become popular in other languages and today it is probably the best know form of poetry worldwide.There are few rules to haiku, but they are strict: 17 phonetic sounds, a sense of cutting images or ideas, and a reference to a season. From those restrictions, poets have written about many things, from the year’s first blossom to aging, from mosquitoes humming to insects singing, from catching one’s shadow to crossing a stream in the summer.Haiku features 90 classic poems from four poets: Matsuo Bashō, Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa and Masaoka Shiki which range across more than 200 years of Japanese poetry.In Haiku, each poem is presented in Japanese script, along with romanized Japanese (romaji) and an English translation. Beautifully produced in traditional Chinese binding and with a timeless design, Haiku is an expert introduction and celebration of one of the most beautiful and accessible forms of poetry in the world.

    Coming of age in Berkeley, California, during the sexual and feminist revolutions of the 1970s, she learned that marriage and family could wait.Or could they?When Leza moves to Japan and meets the man of her dreams, her heart opens in ways she never thought possible. But she's still an outsider, and home is far away. Rather than struggle to fit in, she opens a yoga studio and makes a home for others. Then, at forty-four, Leza and her Japanese husband seek to adopt—in a country where bloodlines are paramount and family ties are almost feudal in their cultural importance. She travels to India to work on herself and back to California to deal with her past. Something is still not complete until she learns that when you give a little love to a child, you get the whole world in return.This inspiring memoir reflects the author's deep connection to yoga that allows her to realize that infertile does not mean inconceivable. Through teaching, meditation, and community, she transcends her struggles and embraces the joys of adoption and motherhood.Leza Lowitz lives in Tokyo with her husband, the writer Shogo Oketani, and their ten-year-old son. She has edited and published over seventeen books, many on Japan, and has run her own yoga studio in Tokyo for a decade. She travels throughout Japan and Asia to teach yoga and write. Her debut YA novel, Jet Black and the Ninja Wind, won the 2013–2014 Asian/Pacific American Award in Young Adult Literature.

    Mr. Fukuoka is perhaps most known for his bestselling book The One-Straw Revolution (1978), a manifesto on the importance of no-till agriculture, which was at the time of publication a radical challenge to the global systems that supply the world's food, and still inspires readers today. Larry Korn, who apprenticed with Mr. Fukuoka in Japan at the time, translated the manuscript and brought it to the United States, knowing it would change the conversation about food forever. The One-Straw Revolution, edited by Korn and Wendell Berry, was an immediate international success, and established Mr. Fukuoka as a leading voice in the fight against conventional industrial agriculture. In this new book, through his own personal narrative, Larry Korn distills his experience of more than thirty-five years of study with Mr. Fukuoka, living and working on his farm on Shikoku Island, and traveling with Mr. Fukuoka to the United States on two six-week visits. One-Straw Revolutionary is the first book to look deeply at natural farming and intimately discuss the philosophy and work of Mr. Fukuoka. In addition to giving his personal thoughts about natural farming, Korn broadens the discussion by pointing out natural farming's kinship with the ways of indigenous cultures and traditional Japanese farming. At the same time, he clearly distinguishes natural farming from other forms of agriculture, including scientific and organic agriculture and permaculture. Korn also clarifies commonly held misconceptions about natural farming in ways Western readers can readily understand. And he explains how natural farming can be used practically in areas other than agriculture, including personal growth and development. The book follows the author on his travels from one back-to-the-land commune to another in the countryside of 1970s Japan, a journey that eventually led him to Mr. Fukuoka's natural farm. Korn's description of his time there, as well as traveling with Mr. Fukuoka during his visits to the United States, offers a rare, inside look at Mr. Fukuoka's life. Readers will delight in this personal insight into one of the world's leading agricultural thinkers.

    Asian & Asian American Studies. Translated from the Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu. The first comprehensive collection of one of Japan's foremost modernists to appear in English translation, THE COLLECTED POEMS OF CHIKA SAGAWA is an essential book. The project received a grant from the Japan Foundation, and poems from it have appeared in Poetry, Asymptote, Fascicle, and elsewhere.

    Alexander Bennett shows how kendo evolved through a recurring process of “inventing tradition,” which served the changing ideologies and needs of Japanese warriors and governments over the course of history. Kendo follows the development of Japanese swordsmanship from the aristocratic-aesthetic pretensions of medieval warriors in the Muromachi period, to the samurai elitism of the Edo regime, and then to the nostalgic patriotism of the Meiji state. Kendo was later influenced in the 1930s and 1940s by ultranationalist militarists and ultimately by the postwar government, which sought a gentler form of nationalism to rekindle appreciation of traditional culture among Japan’s youth and to garner international prestige as an instrument of “soft power.” Today kendo is becoming increasingly popular internationally. But even as new organizations and clubs form around the world, cultural exclusiveness continues to play a role in kendo’s ongoing evolution, as the sport remains closely linked to Japan’s sense of collective identity.

    A rocky coast along the sea of Japan; an immense plain of rice fields in the snow; Mount Fuji towering over misty wooded hills; silent temples devoid of people but brimming with Buddhist deities; a Torii gate mysteriously emerging from moving clouds and water--these are a few images from this remarkable collection of photographs by Michael Kenna, whose black-and-white work is highly renowned. Forms of Japan, brilliantly designed by Yvonne Meyer-Lohr, is organized into chapters simply titled, -Sea, - -Land, - -Trees, - -Spirit, - and -Sky.- The quietly evocative photographs, often paired with classic haiku poems of Basho, Buson, Issa, and others, provide a contemplative portrait of a country better known for its energy and industry. Gorgeously reproduced to convey the enormous subtleties that exist in Michael Kenna's traditional black-and-white silver prints, the photographs in this book include both well-known and previously unpublished images from all corners of Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Okinawa, and Shikoku.

    This handy volume presents the wide range of Hokusai's artistic production in terms of one of his most remarkable characteristics: his intellectual ingenuity. It explores the question of how the self-styled Man Mad about Drawing approached his subjects--how he depicted human bodies in motion, combined figures and landscapes, represented three-dimensional objects on two-dimensional surfaces and when he used the techniques of illusionism or adjusted reality for greater visual or emotional effect. Including some 50 stunning and unusual paintings, prints and drawings from the peerless Hokusai collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this book is a treasure trove that introduces readers to a witty, wide-ranging and inimitably ingenious Hokusai.Known by at least 30 other names during his lifetime, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was an ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. In 1800, he published his two classic collections of landscapes, Famous Sights of the Eastern Capital and Eight Views of Edo. His influence extended to his Western contemporaries in nineteenth-century Europe, including Degas, Gauguin, Klimt, Franz Marc, August Macke, Manet and van Gogh.

    Literary Nonfiction. In EVENING ORACLE, Brandon Shimoda encounters shadows, specters, and women—young and old, living and undead—and finds himself standing in a graveyard in the middle of a rice field in a town that no longer exists. EVENING ORACLE is composed of poems originally handwritten at night before sleep in the beds of friends and strangers in Japan (2011-2012), and passages from emails and letters to and from friends and family on the subjects of fruit, vegetables, and dying grandparents. Featuring original poems by Dot Devota and Hiromi Itō, and correspondence by Etel Adnan, Don Mee Choi, Phil Cordelli, Youna Kwak, Quinn Latimer, Mary Ruefle, Rob Schlegel, and Karen McAlister Shimoda, among others.http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9780...

    Stop before the shop windows of Tokyo and get lost in the bustle of this futuristic glittering city. Or make your way to Kyoto, where an endless string of lanterns illuminates the night sky.Let your pens and pencils replace your camera to capture the beauty of the kimonos, umbrellas, kites and landscapes that are found on these pages. Best of all, feel the stress melt away as your inner artist comes alive.Appealing to all ages, this intricate coloring book will inspire and delight.

    It is an intimate portrait of a family at the crossroads of their lives. Although their cost was immeasurable in life and in death, they give the world a message of hope and peace.As you read these raw and honest experiences, you learn the true feelings of the Japanese people. You see both sides of the war.Those who lived through the catastrophe of Hiroshima urge all people to give up hatred against each other, find better understanding and live together in a prosperous, peaceful and united way.

    Tale’s world. He doesn’t need to lift a finger. Machines do everything for him, from start to finish. Never graphic, nor gory, nor vulgar in any way, Shinichi Hoshi manages to unnerve his readers with the simplest of language and barest of plots. Written between 1960 and 1984, these parables grow increasingly more spot-on with age. A Well-Kept Life is a blast of warning signals for today, a whistle-blower’s global call to attention.

    Many people die, but the Yamaki family and Miyajima survive. One day, a truck comes to take Miyajima away. The little tree is on its way to the National Arboretum in Washington as a gift of friendship from Japan to America. Miyajima is very proud, but also sad to leave the Yamaki family. At the end of the book, Masaru, the elderly grandfather of the family, and his ten-year-old grandson Akira, make a surprise visit to Washington to visit their much missed and beloved family member.

    However, bunkers can also become real homes, a small Japanese girl and an American POW briefly understand each other and a miraculous tree feeds starving children...This is war, no doubt, but told by someone who understands how children truly experience war and its aftermath - the bombings and parents' deaths, the life of orphans who roam the streets, the starvation and blind violence in a society beyond destruction.Akiyuki Nosaka remembers what it was like to be a child caught in war-torn Japan in 1945, and he retells his experiences in this collection of powerful and beautifully expressive stories for children.

    As a woman born after World War II, her six decades in Los Angeles are captured in verse that link Hokusai woodblack paintings, her grandparents’ journeys to California, church parties playing Motown music, and Buddhist obon festivals. With the color yellow as a running theme, Uyematsu embraces “the idea of being a curious, sometimes furious yellow.” A genuine product of the sixties, she adds her own unique LA Buddhahead twist to Asian American identity in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

    There were many days I didn't know who I was either..."My name is Chiharu Morita. Of course, that is the name on this blog, so that is who I am.The Chiharu you know is only a shadow. Yes, I was in a group called Butterfly Tops. Now I am a composer, the person responsible for some of the pop songs you hear on the radio.Those aren't the reasons you know me, though. You know me because of YUMI. The woman who comes into your living room every night on dramas, music shows, and radio request lines. The most famous woman in the country.Yumi, as you may know, is my childhood friend. We graduated high school and went to audition for a new girl group they were creating. The rest is history.For you, anyway. For me, I still breathe this every day. Because I love Yumi. I have since I was a young girl too stupid to know the words for what I felt.This is my confession. This is the story of not only me, but Yumi too. Of how we left our town and became household names. Of how I fell in love with her and did everything in my power to protect her from the evil in this world. I did not always succeed. I will not rest until you know the truth. All the lies the agencies and labels tried to make us spew will be known.Maybe this will mean the end of what career I have left. But if I don't tell this story, I won't know who I am anymore. I want to be more than "the girl who loved Yumi," and yet it's the only identity I can ever remember having.For better or worse, let us begin.Set in contemporary Japan

    Longing. Hunger. Bread and a Dog is a quirky photographic journey into the psychic trauma of living with a professional food stylist... as a dog. Japanese food stylist Kuwahar Natsuko photographs her breakfast, laid out every morning, in beautifully arranged aerial tableaus with an unexpected twist, her omnipresent, exceptionally well-trained dog. Through 100 photographs, readers will delight not only in Natsuko's delicious meals served on beautiful dishes, glassware and flatware, but in the dog's enthrallment with what is happening on the table above him.Presented as a sequence of photographs, the book concludes with recipes for each breakfast, and tips and tricks on food photography from Natsuko herself.A perfect gift for animal lovers.Features:– Recipes and tips for successful and stylish breakfasts from the author, a professional food stylist.– 100 charming photographs of an adorable dog taken from a refreshing and relatable point of view. Perfect gift or impulse buy for animal or food lovers.

    Many of the prints are by masters such as Utagawa Hiroshige, Kitagawa Utamaro, and Utagawa Kunisada, and currently hang in prestigious galleries and museums worldwide. Katsuhika Hokusai, the artform's most celebrated artist, is also well represented, with many prints from his "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road" series and "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" series, including his world-renowned "Great Wave" print. In addition to prints showcasing Japan's natural beauty, this carefully curated selection depicts roads and railways; favorite pastimes, such as blossom viewing and attending festivals; beloved entertainment, such as kabuki theater; the fashions they wore, and the food they ate. Author Andreas Marks is a leading expert on Japanese woodblock prints, and his Illuminating captions provide background context to the scenes depicted.

    Today the war began! I've just heard the news on the radio. I was trying to finish my homework in English, and at the same time listen to a talk to improve my Japanese. I often use the radio for this purpose. The Marianist Brothes at St Joseph's teach us in English and French, but speaking Japanese at school is forbidden. Which is a pretty stupid rule, since this is where I was born and where my family lives, and on leaving school I want to get a job here... Born in Japan of a French father and White Russian mother, Alex Faure greeted news of war in the Pacific with schoolboy enthusiasm. That is until the hardships of being a 'gaijin' and neutral foreigner in Japan during World War II became a stark reality for the Faure family. December 22nd, 1944. Since Sunday night there has been a raid most days and every single night. The bombing has been relentless. It accounts for the sombre mood; no Christmas spirit in evidence anywhere in this city. Certainly none at the French bank... Peter Yeldham masterfully tells us Alex Faure's own true story against the backdrop of real events in wartime Japan. Laced with excerpts from Alex's diary, Dragons in the Forest is a riveting tale of life as a foreigner in a strange land at a very dangerous time.

    Included are more profiles, over 50 more photos and several new chapters. Kokeshi are the traditional dolls that are made of wood and are characterized by their lack of arms or legs. They are produced in the Tohoku region of Japan and were originally a children's toy, although it is more often used as a form of decoration nowadays and displayed in the home. Abroad, they are considered to be an icon of Japan, and reflect Japanese aesthetic sensibilities with their simple, elegant and minimalist designs. Kokeshi have the appeal of imperfection and hand made exclusivity as no two dolls are the same, each kokeshi embodies the qualities of wood, something that is often referred to as warmth. In fact, for collectors, more than the freshly made kokeshi, many covet the atmosphere of the vintage kokeshi -- rather than degrading, as with plastic or artificial materials, the wood picks up a dewy, subdued colour and the delicately painted features fade gracefully with time. This book is the only English language book that looks at this culture in depth, and is the only book with English language interviews with the masters of the craft. The author, Manami Okazaki, visits all 6 prefectures of Tohoku to profile 23 artisans in the remote hot spring villages where they are made. Included are the work and interviews with the masters to the up and coming artists, and highlights many aesthetic theories and sensibilities that are prevalent in contemporary design, even today. The book also looks at Japanese hotspring culture, and Tohoku culture to paint a holistic picture of kokeshi culture. This book will delight fans of wooden crafts, Japanese culture and travellers to Japan. The book gives an insight into the psychology of the craftsman, the process of production, the motifs and the various types, which will inform the collector. This book will also suit travelers to Japan who wish to explore the Northern region of Japan, and their charming hot spring villages. Included are hundreds of photographs.

    The story of Ieyasu illustrates the close ties between people, things, and politics and offers us insight into the role of material culture in the shift from medieval to early modern Japan and in shaping our knowledge of history.This innovative and eloquent history of a transitional age in Japan reframes the relationship between culture and politics. Like the collection of meibutsu, or "famous objects," exchanging hostages, collecting heads, and commanding massive armies were part of a strategy Pitelka calls "spectacular accumulation," which profoundly affected the creation and character of Japan's early modern polity. Pitelka uses the notion of spectacular accumulation to contextualize the acquisition of "art" within a larger complex of practices aimed at establishing governmental authority, demonstrating military dominance, reifying hierarchy, and advertising wealth. He avoids the artificial distinction between cultural history and political history, arguing that the famed cultural efflorescence of these years was not subsidiary to the landscape of political conflict, but constitutive of it. Employing a wide range of thoroughly researched visual and material evidence, including letters, diaries, historical chronicles, and art, Pitelka links the increasing violence of civil and international war to the increasing importance of samurai social rituals and cultural practices. Moving from the Ashikaga palaces of Kyoto to the tea utensil collections of Ieyasu, from the exchange of military hostages to the gift-giving rituals of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Spectacular Accumulation traces Japanese military rulers' power plays over famous artworks as well as objectified human bodies.

    But the culture of irezumi is deep and rich in meanings, shapes and motifs that have gone from color woodblock prints to being applied to the skin to beautify and protect their bearers. This richly illustrated book reveals the meaning and the secrets behind the most significant motifs from traditional Japanese tattooing—such as mythological and supernatural creatures, animals, Buddhist deities, flowers and historical characters—and turns this art form into a path toward personal knowledge and individual expression. Readers will discover the origin and meaning of each visual representation of the most frequent themes in this art form. The publication begins with a brief review of the history of Japanese tattoo art and then examines each subject (water, mythological animals, real animals, mythological characters, historical characters, flowers, shunga and yokai) through images and descriptive texts, it also includes a gallery of original designs by the author which can be used as templates and a glossary.

    These 42 new essays burrow into the unique intensities that suffuse the city and ponder what they mean to its millions of inhabitants.Based on Pronko's 18 years living, teaching and writing in Tokyo, these essays on how Tokyoites work, dress, commute, eat and sleep are steeped in insights into the city's odd structures, intricate pleasures and engaging undertow.Included are essays on living to size and loving the crowd, on Tokyo's dizzying uncertainties and daily satisfactions, and on the 2011 earthquake. As in his first two books, this collection captures the ceaseless flow and passing flashes of life in biggest city in the world with gentle humor and rich detail."This is a memoir to be savored like a fine red wine, crafted with supreme care by a man who clearly has fallen in love with his adopted city." Publishers Daily Reviews  "Each essay is like a self-contained explanation of one facet of life in the context of a grander conversation, and each one is a complete work in its own right." Reader's Favorite "Charmingly conversational and hard not to find yourself drawn into, Pronko is an insightful author capable of seeing a deeper beauty in everything he writes." Self-Publishing Review  "A terrific series of essays that captures the essence and allure of Tokyo with a lot of heart infused in the work." Feathered Quill Book Reviews"It captures the nuances Westerners find puzzling about Japan and translates them into digestible, vivid insights no visitor should be without." Midwest Book Review  “The earthquake pieces see Pronko finding the human truths in a subject that could easily be discussed with sweeping generality and platitude. Groundbreaking and immensely readable.” Independent Publisher“His approach to writing is an unexpected delight, both clever and insightful where he depicts not only the blemishes of Japanese culture but also the finer things it has to offer.” Book Pleasures“Pronko’s essays are intriguing, reminding readers of the importance of immersing in other cultures beyond surface-level tourism.” Indie Reader“I loved the way each of these short stories bring curiosity, wonder, joy to an everyday moment.” Doing Dewey“That rare voice of one who has lived and studied long enough in an “exotic” environment to get it right, but is still able to present a fresh vision.” Big Al’s Books and Pals“This is another eloquent tribute to a city full of contradictions and wonders.” The BookbagGold Award Readers’ Favorite for Non-Fiction Cultural (September 2016)Gold Award Global E-Book Awards for Travel Writing (August 2016)Gold Award Non-Fiction Author’s Association (2016)Gold Honoree Benjamin Franklin Digital Awards Independent Book Publishers Association for E-Book (May 2016)Winner Best Indie Book Award for Non-Fiction (November 2016)Silver Medal 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards for Best Adult Non-fiction Personal E-book (2016)Indie Groundbreaking Book by Independent Publisher Book Review (April 2016)Finalist National Indie Excellence Awards for Travel (2016)Finalist Foreword’s Indiefab Book of the Year Awards for Travel (2016)Finalist International Book Awards for Travel: Guides & Essays (May 2016)Finalist Independent Author Network for Travel (2016)Semi-Finalist Kindle Book Review Awards for Non-Fiction (2016)

    From his coverage of the Black Panther Party in the mid-1960s to his incomparable access to North Korea, Kubota has prolifically captured the histories of diverse cultures throughout the world. This sumptuous visual biography encompasses the best images of his life's work, broken down into chapters, with illuminating narrative texts throughout. Rooted in his experience of a Japan ravaged by destruction and famine at the end of World War II, Kubota's work is characterized by a desire to find beauty and honor in human experience. Hiroji Kubota: Photographer includes all of Kubota's key bodies of work, including his many extended trips to China, Burma, the United States, and North and South Korea, as well as his home country, Japan.

    Or did it? In The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan, Federico Marcon recounts how Japanese scholars developed a sophisticated discipline of natural history analogous to Europe’s but created independently, without direct influence, and argues convincingly that Japanese natural history succumbed to Western science not because of suppression and substitution, as scholars traditionally have contended, but by adaptation and transformation.             The first book-length English-language study devoted to the important field of honzogaku, The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan will be an essential text for historians of Japanese and East Asian science, and a fascinating read for anyone interested in the development of science in the early modern era.

    Young Japanese children are taught how to properly map their classrooms and schoolgrounds. Elderly retirees pore over old castle plans and village cadasters. Pioneering surveyors are featured in popular television shows, and avid collectors covet exquisite scrolls depicting sea and land routes. Today, Japanese people are zealous producers and consumers of cartography, and maps are an integral part of daily life.   But this was not always the case: a thousand years ago, maps were solely a privilege of the ruling elite in Japan. Only in the past four hundred years has Japanese cartography truly taken off, and between the dawn of Japan’s cartographic explosion and today, the nation’s society and landscape have undergone major transformations. At every point, maps have documented those monumental changes. Cartographic Japan offers a rich introduction to the resulting treasure trove, with close analysis of one hundred maps from the late 1500s to the present day, each one treated as a distinctive window onto Japan’s tumultuous history.   Forty-seven distinguished contributors—hailing from Japan, North America, Europe, and Australia—uncover the meanings behind a key selection of these maps, situating them in historical context and explaining how they were made, read, and used at the time. With more than one hundred gorgeous full-color illustrations, Cartographic Japan offers an enlightening tour of Japan’s magnificent cartographic archive.

    The rapid pace of technological, social and cultural change throughout the 20th century propelled the country forward but left countless establishments, industries and entire towns deserted. Through his photography Jordy Meow explores these forgotten places and sheds light on a lost world that was thriving just a few decades ago. Abandoned Japan documents famed ruins (haikyo in Japanese) such as Gunkanjima, the island featured in the Bond movie Skyfall, which once had a population of over 5,000 but is now completely abandoned, and the Disneyland-inspired Nara Dreamland theme park. Beyond these well-known sites, Jordy Meow also takes us on a journey through every aspect of a rapidly disappearing past: from schools and hospitals to industrial sites and nightlife, including strip clubs and love hotels. The ruins captured here range from the quaint and serene to the dark and nightmarish. Some have an atmosphere reminiscent of the animation films of Studio Ghibli while others seem almost dystopian. These places show that people can leave a lasting mark on their environment but, given the chance, nature finds its way back."

    Join this couple in a race across 17th century Japan where political unrest has created dangerous ronin, civil uprisings, and war-ravaged castles. Caught in the middle of the struggle between Shogun's rise to rule and the old regime, this warrior princess is forced to battle for her life. In the end, she must choose between family honor and her heart's desire.

    Furoshiki has a place not only traditional Japanese-style living, but also in modern, Western-style living as well. The ties in furoshiki represent the ties between people and using them to wrap things is a way of wrapping up and presenting our feelings, making furoshiki a fantastic communication tool. Once you learn the basic ways of tying in this book, you can tie furoshiki in all different kinds of to suit the size and shape of the contents within. This lavishly illustrative book shows you how to wrap a bottle, a book, a bento box and more as well as how to tie like a flower, a dewdrop, a tote bag, and a scarf. This book will surely give you new ideas of gift wrapping.

     (45 stories available at just $8.99 - the same price as 9 stories bought separately.) SERIES 1 The Cursed Temple The Man Who Was Scared of the Wind The Empress and the Monk The Ninja The Demon King SERIES 2 The Sixth Buddha The Picture of Death Buddha’s Hammer The Invisible Assassin The Black Death SERIES 3 The Dark Scrolls The Forty-eighth Ronin The Geisha and the Vampire The Water Barrel The Mountain Killer SERIES 4 The River-dancer The Touch of Death Wabi-sabi The Mad Dog Sickness The Rain Player SERIES 5 Attack of the 60-foot Buddha A Slave’s Tale The Sun Thief The Toymaker The Poet SERIES 6 The Village of the Dead The Yellow Killer The Beauty The Patient Assassin The Fourth Immortal of the Wine Cup SERIES 7 The English Killer The Strange Case of the Disappearing Dragon The Sumo-wrestler The Egyptian Tomb Raider The Boy on the Floating Island SERIES 8 The Dog The Pearl Diver The Girl at the Shrine The Cat Temple The Billionaire SERIES 9 The American A Death in the Orange Grove The Red River The Golfer The Way of the Empty Hand Reviews for ENNIN 'The greatest of Japan's detectives, Ennin, and of course his trusted servant and chronicler Kukai...' M. Dowden, Hall of Fame, TOP 50 Amazon reviewer 'These Ennin Mysteries are absolutely fabulous...' sshap 'I can't stop reading this series! If you love historical mysteries, you will love the period and cultural detail...' Pauline 'Cleverly written and filled with facts regarding old Japan.... Very similar to Holmes and Watson...' Eileen Sedgwick 'An excellent Japanese detective series... I enjoy each and every story...' R. Russell 'Stevens keeps on delivering... This is a great series. Anyone who enjoys Sherlock Holmes will enjoy the similarities in Stevens' characters and Doyle's. Fresh plots, exotic locale, who-done-its, and a unique set of protagonists. I've read all the Ennin series and look forward to each new adventure. Highly recommended...' Abby Normal 'Entertaining read with Holmesian overtones, but very different setting...' Gerry H 'Once you start this, I'm betting you won't be able to set it down until you finish it...' Judy 'The author weaves intrigue, subterfuge and cunning into a very enjoyable story...' J. Cepeda 'Historical setting and cultural background are excellently researched...' D. Werdin 'Wonderful... Like a Japanese room arrangement with clean lines keeping clutter to a minimum...' AcerAcer 'Ben Stevens is masterful. I can't wait to read his next set of stories...' Kindle Customer 'Thoroughly enjoyed it...' Daphne Frampton 'This Japanese detective is a fine addition to the burgeoning field of Asian historical detectives which began with Judge Dee (China) and runs through I.P. Parker's Akitada...' Mcb. 'If you like the Akitada books, you will enjoy this....' Mamakile 'Great short stories...

    Drawing from the collection of Ellen and Fred Wells at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, it features the spectacular beauty portraits of Hashiguchi Goyo, Ito Shinsui (1898-1972), Yamakawa Shuho (1898-1944), and Torii Kotondo (1900-1976), the striking actors of Yamamura Toyonari (Koka; 1886-1942) and Natori Shunsen (1886-1960), as well as the evocative landscapes of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957). Essays by Andreas Marks, Chiaki Ajioka, Ishida Yasuhiro, Yuiko Kimura-Tilford, Amy Reigle Newland, Charles Walbridge, and Yano Haruyo offer extended biographies of each artist and insights into the enticing world of shin hanga. Richly illustrated with more than 300 images, the previously unpublished material in these essays deepens an understanding of the artists as painters and print designers.

    In this 148-page hardback they reveal the places that they have got to know and love and show you why Tokyo is the friendliest big city in the world. It’s a guide book that will lead you to the best in culture and new architecture – and a few fun nights out too.The Monocle Travel Guide series reveals our favourite places in each city we cover, from the ideal route for an early-morning run to the best spots for independent retail. Full of surprises and quirks, they also feature detailed design and architecture pages, neighbourhood walks to get you away from the crowds and our favourite places to eat everything be it tasty fast food or something truly celebratory.

    The T-shaped, straight-seamed, front-wrapping kimono has changed its shape very little over the centuries, but the weaving, dyeing, and embroidery used to decorate its surface make each a unique, wearable work of art. Choice of color and pattern vary richly to indicate gender, age, status, wealth, and taste, and are executed in complex combination of weaving, dyeing, and embroidery techniques, with a single garment sometimes requiring the expert skills of a number of different artisans.Kimono showcases a magnificent range of kimonos from the the Khalili Collection, which comprises more than 200 garments and spans almost 300 years of Japanese textile artistry.Gorgeously illustrated and written by an international team of experts, the book surveys kimono of the imperial court, samurai aristocracy, and affluent merchant classes of the Edo period (1603–1868); the shifting styles and new color palette of Meiji period dress (1868–1912); and the bold and dazzling kimono of the Taisho (1912–26) and early Showa (1926–89) periods, when designers used innovative new techniques and fused traditional looks with inspiration from the modernist aesthetic then sweeping the world.

    Documentary-quality photo essays reveal the local Japanese communities that support these long-established preservation practices. It is by Nancy Singleton Hachisu, author of Japanese Farm Food.Preserving the Japanese Way: Traditions of Salting, Fermenting, and Pickling for the Modern Kitchen offers a clear road map for preserving fruits, vegetables, and fish through a nonscientific, farm- or fisherman-centric approach. An essential backdrop to the 125 recipes outlined in this book are the producers and the artisanal products used to make these salted and fermented foods. The more than 350 arresting photos of the barrel maker, fish sauce producer, artisanal vinegar company, 200 hundred-year-old sake producer, and traditional morning pickle markets with local grandmas still selling their wares document an authentic view of the inner circle of Japanese life. Recipe methods range from the ultratraditional— Umeboshi (Salted Sour Plums), Takuan (Half-Dried Daikon Pickled in Rice Bran), and Hakusai (Fermented Napa Cabbage)— to the modern: Zucchini Pickled in Shoyu Koji, Turnips Pickled with Sour Plums, and Small Melons in Sake Lees. Preserving the Japanese Way also introduces and demystifies one of the most fascinating ingredients to hit the food scene in a decade: koji. Koji is neither new nor unusual in the landscape of Japan fermentation, but it has become a cult favorite for quick pickling or marinades. Preserving the Japanese Way is a book about community, seasonality as the root of preserved food, and ultimately about why both are relevant in our lives today. “In Japan, pickling, fermenting, and salting are elevated as a delicious and refined art form, one that Nancy Singleton Hachisu has mastered.  This is a gorgeous, thoughtful—dare I say spiritual—guide to the world of Japanese pickling written with clarity and a deep respect for technique and tradition. Nancy understands that salting cherry blossoms and drying squid aren’t just about preserving foods—it's about preserving a way of life.” —Rick Bayless, author of Authentic Mexican and owner of Frontera Grill   “In her first gorgeous book, Nancy delved into the soul of Japanese country cooking.  In this stunning new volume, we are introduced to the myriad ways of preserving and fermenting that, like the writing and photography, highlight the gentle elegance and beautiful patience of Japanese cookery.”   —Edward Lee, author of Smoke & Pickles and owner of 610 Magnolia   “Even if you never yearned to make your own miso or pickle your own vegetables, this beautiful book will change your mind. It’s almost impossible to flip through these pages without wanting to join Nancy Singleton Hachisu in the lovely meditation of her cooking. This book is unlike anything else out there, and every serious cook will want to own it.” —Ruth Reichl, author of Tender at the Bone and former editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine

    She is failing English because she’d much rather bury her nose in the latest manga than study pronouns and prepositions. To keep her from getting kicked out of school, she is assigned a tutor in the form of the most popular boy in school: golden-haired genius Takeshi Hinata. You’d think Takeshi would be Hikaru’s surefire way to academic success, but her stubbornness, lack of concentration, and general disinterest in things other than her precious manga frustrate Takeshi to no end. To make matters worse, a young, pretty boy teacher is determined to rescue Hikaru every chance he gets, riling Takeshi up even more—and confusing the hell out of Hikaru. But as they spend more time together and get to know each other beyond their high school reputations, Hikaru and Takeshi enter a situation neither of them expected to find themselves in—one that factors in stolen kisses, controlling parents, a princess-in-hiding, and the deepest yearnings of a teenage heart.

    Challenging the common understanding of kabuki as a subversive entertainment and a threat to shogunal authority, Shimazaki argues that kabuki actually instilled a sense of shared history in Edo’s inhabitants, regardless of their class. It did this, she shows, by constantly invoking “worlds,” or sekai, largely derived from medieval military chronicles, and overlaying them onto the present.Shimazaki explores the process by which, as the early modern period drew to a close, nineteenth-century playwrights began dismantling the Edo tradition of “presenting the past” by abandoning their long-standing reliance on the sekai. She then reveals how, in the 1920s, a new generation of kabuki playwrights, critics, and scholars reinvented the form yet again, “textualizing” kabuki so that it could be pressed into service as a guarantor of national identity, in keeping with the role that the West assigned to theater.Shimazaki’s vivid and engaging reinterpretation of kabuki history centers on the popular and widely celebrated ghost play Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan (Ghost Stories at Yotsuya, 1825) by Tsuruya Nanboku. Along the way, she sheds fresh light on the emergence and development of the ubiquitous trope of the vengeful female ghost, linking it to the need to explore new themes at a time when the old samurai worlds were rapidly losing their relevance.

    It includes a new assessment of the events leading up to the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, and of the potential role of Japanese philosophy in creating a dynamic approach to human nature and our understanding of reality. The book also shows the interrelatedness of various facets of Japanese history and society, including psychological orientation, pop culture, and Japan’s vibrant craft tradition. Finally, it concludes with a possible prediction, that whereas the United States will not be able to escape from its neoliberal economic categories and its commitment to a self-defeating philosophy of “growth,” Japan might surprise us, and turn out to be the frontrunner in the development of post-capitalist alternatives in the 21st century. Written in a personal and accessible style, the book is likely to provide a focus for debate about issues of economy, ecology, and sustainability for years to come.

    Stone, BJ, MA, is a Canadian writer and photographer currently residing in Japan. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in various literary journals magazines, and she also writes about the arts and wellness for several publications internationally. She is at work on a novella and a novel. This is her first poetry collection."Formation” begins with the attempt to engage with a lost childhood through words – but ultimately, it is a search for something deeper, the mining of then and now for a love that hovers, ever elusive. The search inspired a journey eastward, where inner and outer worlds collide. In their form, content and spirit, the poems in this collection reflect the varied landscapes of Southeast Asia, India and Japan. “Formation” takes the reader into the heart of the poet’s reminiscences and passions as they mesh with the lively physical, natural and spiritual spaces encountered.

    In this book 206 works in total are illustrated, covering those by all the Raku successive generations from the founder to the current Kichizaemon XV and the future Raku Atsundo, together with those by the related figures including Sôkei, Amayaki, Hon’ami Kôetsu, Dôgen and Ichigen. The book consists of a general introduction to Raku ware from historical, philosophical and technical viewpoints written by the current head Raku Kichizaemon XV as well as the texts on the Raku generations and the descriptions on all the illustrated works prepared by the future head Raku Atsundo.

    This joyous collection of cherry blossoms, drawn from one of the world’s finest collections of Japanese art, celebrates the universal pleasure of spring. Richly illustrated with examples from grand screens, woodblock prints, and ink on silk, Cherry Blossoms offers exquisitely rendered buds and blooms for all who cherish them.Since the eighteenth-century, elaborate parties of royal maidens and farmers alike have gathered to view the cherry trees, an enduring symbol of the cycle of life in Japan. The flowers feature prominently in Japanese art—magnificent gilded screens show serene blossoms floating majestically among tall evergreens, and in one charming vignette a group of soldiers stop in their tracks as they ascend a mountain path to a temple, overwhelmed by the surrounding pink petals. Japanese cherry trees have inspired artists and poets and were gifted to Washington, D.C., as a symbol of friendship between nations. Today, we celebrate cherry blossom festivals across the United States and worldwide and see our cities framed by the blossoming branches that herald spring. The reproductions featured in this book are accompanied by text from senior curator of Japanese art James T. Ulak, exploring this flowering tree’s timeless appeal and symbolism.

    

    Japan is an archipelago of puzzlement. From the sands that forged their swords and serenity, they traveled a Samurai Road of temples and shrines, feudal fortresses, and flowing mountain streams of wasabi. On sashimi and soy sauce, and green tea over rice, they lived a thousand years of pathos, under cherry blossoms and ephemeral moonlight, in Zen gardens and futon dreams. It was all so perfect.

    Moving deftly from the struggles of the home front to the occupied territories to the ravages of the front line, the book offers rare insight into popular experience from the war’s troubled beginnings through Japan’s disastrous defeat in 1945 and the new beginning it heralded. Yoshimi Yoshiaki mobilizes personal diaries, memoirs, and government documents to portray the ambivalent position of ordinary Japanese as both wartime victims and active participants. He also provides equally penetrating accounts of the war experience of Japan’s imperial subjects, including Koreans and Taiwanese. This book challenges the idea that the Japanese operated as a passive, homogenous mass during the war—a mere conduit for a military–imperial ideology imposed upon them by the political elite. Viewed from the bottom up, wartime Japan unfolds as a complex modern mass society, with a corresponding variety of popular roles and agendas. In chronicling the diversity of the Japanese social experience, Yoshimi’s account elevates our understanding of Japan’s war and “Japanese Fascism,” and in its relation of World War II to the evolution—and destruction—of empire, it makes a fresh contribution to the global history of the war. Ethan Mark’s translation supplements the Japanese original with explanatory annotations and an in-depth analytical introduction, drawing on personal interviews to situate the work within Japanese studies and global history.

    Whether a quick escape through the Alps or a getaway from coast to coast lasting several days, this book takes its readers for a ride through beautiful routes on the most exceptional trains with the best interiors. Trains have always been the only truly cultivated way to travel. Today, in the age of budding airlines, never-ending security controls, and sustainability issues, this is truer than ever before. The slower rhythm from departure to arrival, the relaxed glide through the landscape, and the shift between city and country fill rail enthusiasts with great joy and are pleasures waiting to be discovered by the uninitiated. The Journey presents a varied selection of extraordinary travel opportunities by train from around the world. The reader is invited aboard modern high-speed trains, spectacular panoramic railways, dining carriages, rolling casinos, and elegant compartments of historic luxury trains. The book presents the exteriors and interiors of these different trains, their routes, and their defining character. It takes the reader on a journey to breathtaking canyons and romantic landscapes, recounts adventurous travel reports, and describes the history and current developments of well-known trains, including the Napa Valley Wine Train, the Venice Simplon Orient Express, the Japanese Bullet Train Shinkansen, the Glacier Express, the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the El Transcantabrico. Striking images, informative geographical materials, and personal experiences characterize these train adventures, ranging from the quick three-hour trip to the transcontinental journey lasting several days. The Journey also depicts the many other aspects that contribute to the whole experience of a successful train journey; the architecture of old and new train stations as sites for grand emotions, pictures of passing landscapes and travelling salesmen, advice from experienced train travelers on the right reading material, suitable snacks, recommended stopovers, and how to optimize luggage. Train travel is without a doubt one of the best ways to decelerate from our fast-paced daily lives. After all, the journey is also a destination.

    To nearly everyone’s surprise, Murakami, known as Mashi, dominated the American hitters. With the San Francisco Giants caught in a close pennant race and desperate for a left-handed reliever, Masanori was called up to join the big league club, becoming the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues.Featuring pinpoint control, a devastating curveball, and a friendly smile, Mashi became the Giants’ top lefty reliever and one of the team’s most popular players—as well as a national hero in Japan. Not surprisingly, the Giants offered him a contract for the 1965 season. Murakami signed, announcing that he would be thrilled to stay in San Francisco. There was just one problem: the Nankai Hawks still owned his contract.The dispute over Murakami’s contract would ignite an international incident that ultimately prevented other Japanese players from joining the Majors for thirty years. Mashi is the story of an unlikely hero who gets caught up in an American and Japanese baseball dispute and is forced to choose between his dreams in the United States and his duty in Japan.

    The two countries established diplomatic relations for the first time, forged close economic ties and reached political agreements that still guide and constrain relations today. This book delivers a history of this foundational period in Sino-Japanese relations. It presents an up-to-date diplomatic history of the relationship but also goes beyond this to argue that Japan's relations with China must be understood in the context of a larger “China problem” that was inseparable from a domestic contest to define Japanese national identity.The China Problem in Postwar Japan challenges some common assertions or assumptions about the role of Japanese national identity in postwar Sino-Japanese relations, showing how the history of Japanese relations with China in the 1970s is shaped by the strength of Japanese national identity, not its weakness.

    HELP! There's a VEGAN Coming for Dinner - Japanese Style invites readers to look beyond this narrow preconception and sample delights such as noodle soups, gingered faux beef and tempura apples with whisky dip. Sometimes people who eat a meat-based diet find the thought of cooking for a vegan quite overwhelming. HELP! There's a VEGAN Coming for Dinner - Japanese Style dispels the myth that vegans are impossible to feed, even when cooking up a Japanese style banquet. Every recipe in this beautiful book is free from meat, seafood, dairy and eggs but full of flavour. Each one has a colour picture showing the finished dish along with easy to follow instructions and ingredients readily available from major grocery chains or Asian supermarkets.

    In their rocks and plants, empty spaces and intimate details—Kyoto's gardens manifest a unique ability to provoke thought and delight in equal measure. These varied landscapes meld the sensuality of nature with the disciplines of cosmology, poetry and meditation. Japanese aristocrats created these gardens to display not just wealth and power, but cultural sensitivity and an appreciation for transcendent beauty. A class of professional gardeners eventually emerged, transforming Japanese landscape design into a formalized art. Today, Kyoto's gardens display an enormous range of forms—from rock gardens display of extreme minimalism and subtle hues, to stroll gardens of luscious proportions and vibrant colors.In Kyoto Gardens Simmons' photographs present a fresh and contemporary look at Kyoto's most important gardens. Their beauty is enhanced and humanized by gardeners tending the grounds using the tools of their art. Clancy's graceful text provides historical, aesthetic and cultural context to the Japanese gardens. Combining wonder and rigor, she describes how Kyoto's most beloved gardens remain faithful to their founders' creative spirit and conception. Journey to Kyoto's thirty gardens with just a turn of a page, or use the handy maps to plan your trip.

    Katsushika Hokusai (1760-May 10, 1849) was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. In his time he was Japan's leading expert on Chinese painting.Then, create your own masterpieces using Hokusai's basic painting techniques as well as his unique color theory. Use helpful templates on perforated pages to transfer your favorite Hokusai paintings onto separate canvas or paper that are large enough to mount and frame. Learn to paint classic, traditional Asian art in the style of the master, Hokusai. This book is a lovely addition to any artist's library.

    Across Japan, women and men are rediscovering the kimono. Comfortable, versatile, and easily adapted to reflect one's personal style, the kimono is the perfect canvas from which to create a head-turning ensemble for any occasion. In Kimono Now, while exploring the origins and evolution of this traditional garment, Manami Okazaki explains how the once ubiquitous kimono disappeared from everyday life only to reappear as a fashion statement.

    It has long been recognised that subsequent mastery of that cuisine’s techniques is largely dependent upon it. This exciting new book is a ‘must-have’ for all professional chefs and skilled amateur cooks.The first in a multi-volume series that will unquestionably be the definitive publication on the subject for years to come, this book provides a richly illustrated examination of all the elements that have combined to make one of the world’s most admired, influential and sensitive cuisines the unique phenomenon that it is.

    The samurai of Japan, who were the country's military elite from medieval times to the end of the nineteenth century, were synonmous with valor, honor, and martial arts prowess. Their strict adherence to the code of bushido ("the way of the warrior"), chivalry, and honor in fighting to the death continues to capture the imagination of people today, inspiring authors, filmmakers, and artists. The Pocket Samurai contains the essential writings of the era by the most esteemed samurai and philosophers of the age, including the iconic Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings; Yamamoto Tsunetomo, author of Hagakure, the best-known explication of the samurai code; Takuan Soho, the Zen priest and adviser to samurai; Yagyu Munenori, whose The Life-Giving Sword describes a deeply spiritual approach to sword fighting; and others.

    Bernard Faure introduces readers to medieval Japanese religiosity and shows the centrality of the gods in religious discourse and ritual; in doing so he moves away from the usual textual, historical, and sociological approaches that constitute the "method" of current religious studies. The approach considers the gods (including buddhas and demons) as meaningful and powerful interlocutors and not merely as cyphers for social groups or projections of the human mind. Throughout he engages insights drawn from structuralism, post-structuralism, and Actor-network theory to retrieve the "implicit pantheon" (as opposed to the "explicit orthodox pantheon") of esoteric Japanese Buddhism (Mikkyō).Through a number of case studies, Faure describes and analyzes the impressive mythological and ritual efflorescence that marked the medieval period, not only in the religious domain, but also in the political, artistic, and literary spheres. He displays vast knowledge of his subject and presents his research--much of it in largely unstudied material--with theoretical sophistication. His arguments and analyses assume the centrality of the iconographic record, and so he has brought together in this volume a rich and rare collection of more than 180 color and black-and-white images. This emphasis on iconography and the ways in which it complements, supplements, or deconstructs textual orthodoxy is critical to a fuller comprehension of a set of medieval Japanese beliefs and practices. It also offers a corrective to the traditional division of the field into religious studies, which typically ignores the images, and art history, which oftentimes overlooks their ritual and religious meaning.The Fluid Pantheon and its companion volumes should persuade readers that the gods constituted a central part of medieval Japanese religion and that the latter cannot be reduced to a simplistic confrontation, parallelism, or complementarity between some monolithic teachings known as "Buddhism" and "Shinto." Once these reductionist labels and categories are discarded, a new and fascinating religious landscape begins to unfold.

    Using local ingredients where possible, she demonstrates how easy it is to cook Japanese food at home without spending hours preparing complicated dishes. Fiona has simplified Japanese favourites, such as yakisoba, ramen, tempura, okonomiyaki and miso soup, to make them achievable for cooks of all abilities. Her passion for Japanese cooking shines through in her simple and authentic recipes, each a fusion of mouth-watering flavours. Contains dishes such as Fiona's homemade Japanese curry, Japanese one pot stews, fusion salads, gyoza and sushi - all perfect for a week-night family meal or impressive entertaining

    It has an ancient Asian culture at the forefront of todays globalizing world. The delicacy and simplicity of haiku and ink-wash paintings; the serenity of the traditional tea ceremony; the bustling city of Tokyo; the hyper-sleek modernism of bullet trainsthese cultural icons and more are celebrated in this volume on Japans customs and culture. Covering history and religion; family and friends; food and drink; school and work; arts and entertainment; and cities, towns, and the countryside, Tradition, Culture, and Daily Life: Major Nations in a Global World explores what makes key countries unique magnets for the worlds fascination. Each title in this series contains color photos and back matter including: an index, further reading lists for books and internet resources, and a series glossary. Mason Crests editorial team has placed Key Icons to Look for throughout the books in this series in an effort to encourage library readers to build knowledge, gain awareness, explore possibilities and expand their viewpoints through our content rich non-fiction books. Key Icons are as follows: Words to Understand are shown at the front of each chapter with definitions. These words are then used in the prose throughout that chapter, and are emboldened, so that the reader is able to reference back to the definitions- building their vocabulary and enhancing their reading comprehension. Sidebars are highlighted graphics with content rich material within that allows readers to build knowledge and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Text Dependent Questions are placed at the end of each chapter. They challenge the readers comprehension of the

    She took photographs of traditional Japanese gardens from within Kyoto's Buddhist temples, placing equal weight on the interior and exterior spaces. In two of the temples, she was allowed to move the sliding rice-paper screens, allowing her to create new, enormous spatial entities. The moss gardens of Saiho-ji and the cherry blossoms in Haradani-in constitute another part of the series. These scenes, which change with the seasons--Hassink calls them "living sculptures"--reflect Japanese aesthetics, which see arranged gardens as artificial likenesses of nature as well as representations of paradise.

    Drawn between 1967 and 1974, the fifteen stories within follow Sasaki's unprecedented exploration of collage methods in comics storytelling. Weaving through references to the Beatles, the Vietnam War, and Andy Warhol, Ding Dong Circus demonstrates that Sasaki was not only a manga pioneer, but also an essential figure in Japanese Pop Art and the critical avant-garde art scene of the 1960s.

    The book is dedicated to their honor and memory.

    There, a group of stranded fellow travelers decide to swap ghost stories to pass the night. But the gathering takes on a sinister twist when secrets of unpunished past deeds are brought to light.

    The translation includes traditional commentaries elucidating the experiential meaning of the Zen language Dogen uses in his talks and writings. This is a must read for all those interested in Zen.

    Yet they can be difficult to navigate without first-hand knowledge. The Art Lover's Guide to Japanese Museums acts as a personal guide, introducing readers to some of the most distictive and inspiring museums in the country. In-depth information is given about each listed venue, including the stories behind their creation. From magnificent traditional arts to fascinating artist's houses and from sleek contemporary museums to idiosyncratic galleries, museums are the perfect gateway to discover Japan's culture both past and present.

    Air Force conducted a bombing campaign against the Japanese home islands that escalated to new levels of destruction. Burning Japan is an investigation of how and why the air force shifted its tactics against Japan from a precision bombing strategy to area attacks. The guiding doctrine of the 1930s and 1940s called for focused attacks on specific targets deep behind enemy lines. Eager to prove itself, the nascent Army Air Force at first lauded the indispensability of strategic bombardment in areas otherwise unreachable by the army or navy. But when strategic bombing failed to yield the desired results in Europe and in initial efforts against Japan, the United States switched tactics, a shift that culminated in the area firebombing of nearly every major Japanese metropolis and the burning of sixty-six cities to the ground.  Daniel T. Schwabe closely examines the planning and implementation of these incendiary missions to determine how an organization dedicated to precision decided on such a dramatic change in tactics. Ultimately, Schwabe maintains, this strategic reimagining helped create a comprehensive offensive strategy that did immense amounts of destruction which crippled Japan and brought an end to World War II.

    The large, open format of Writing Japanese Hiragana invites the student to pick up a pencil and get started!Two phonetic syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, and a set of kanji characters based on Chinese ideographs are what comprises written Japanese. This workbook has been carefully designed to facilitate the quick and easy mastery of the forty-six character hiragana syllabary used to write all types of native words not written in kanji. An understanding of hiragana is essential for the serious student wishing to learn Japanese effectively. Each character is introduced with brushed, handwritten, and typed samples which enhance character recognition. Extensive writing space allows for maximum practice to facilitate memorization and ensure proper character formation. Entertaining illustrations and amusing examples of onomatopoeic usage of hiragana in Japanese writings further reinforce memorization in a fun way. Writing Japanese Hiragana is an easy-to-use and practical workbook tailored to the specific needs of young students of the Japanese language. Beginning students of all ages will delight in its fresh presentation.

     Inside you will be treated to a wide selection of vegan Japanese recipes, making it easy to satisfy all preferences. There are recipes that will suit every palate on any occasion whether it is fall, spring, summer, or winter. Recipes include: Vegetable Tempura Miso Soup Udon Miso Noodle Soup Teriyaki and Coconut Eggplant Satay Soy-Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms with Stir-Fried Noodles Sesame Vegetable Stir Fry Japanese Nori Sushi Rolls Nigiri Sushi with Avocado and Cucumber Japanese Orange Tempeh Vegan Butter Mochi Cake And more… Celebrate the joy of plant-based cuisine with Vegan Mastery Cookbook: Simple Japanese Vegan Recipes to Cook at Home.

    From the peripheries of international affairs, India is now at the centre of major power politics. It is viewed as a major balancer in the Asia-Pacific, a democracy that can be a key ally of the West in countering China, even as India continues to challenge the West on a range of issues. This book provides an overview of Indian foreign policy as it has evolved in recent times, it focuses on the twenty-first century and provides historical context for the issues examined. It analyses and discusses India's relationships with both major global powers; the US, China, Russia and the EU, and its neighbouring countries; Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. India's policies regarding regions such as East Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East are also considered along with India's role in key global issues such as international and regional organizations, nuclear proliferation, democracy, climate change and trade. With a gradual accretion in its powers, India has become more aggressive in the pursuit of its interests, thereby emerging as an important player in the shaping of the global order in the new millennium.

    Tens of thousands would return home after Japan widened its war effort in 1939. In Casualties of History, Lee K. Pennington relates for the first time in English the experiences of Japanese wounded soldiers and disabled veterans of Japan's long Second World War (from 1937 to 1945). He maps the terrain of Japanese military medicine and social welfare practices and establishes the similarities and differences that existed between Japanese and Western physical, occupational, and spiritual rehabilitation programs for war-wounded servicemen, notably amputees. To exemplify the experience of these wounded soldiers, Pennington draws on the memoir of a Japanese soldier who describes in gripping detail his medical evacuation from a casualty clearing station on the front lines and his medical convalescence at a military hospital. Moving from the hospital to the home front, Pennington documents the prominent roles adopted by disabled veterans in mobilization campaigns designed to rally popular support for the war effort. Following Japan's defeat in August 1945, U.S. Occupation forces dismantled the social welfare services designed specifically for disabled military personnel, which brought profound consequences for veterans and their dependents. Using a wide array of written and visual historical sources, Pennington tells a tale that until now has been neglected by English-language scholarship on Japanese society. He gives us a uniquely Japanese version of the all-too-familiar story of soldiers who return home to find their lives (and bodies) remade by combat.

    Delightful new versions by Gabriel Rosenstock in Irish and English of haiku master Buson with vigorous trasnscreations in Scots by John McDonald.

    Addressing the question of why the decades were lost, this book offers 15 new perspectives ranging from economics to ideology and beyond. Investigating problems such as the risk-averse behaviour of Japan’s bureaucracy and the absence of strong political leadership, the authors analyse how the delay of ‘loss-cutting policies’ led to the 1997 financial crisis and a state of political gridlock where policymakers could not decide on firm strategies that would benefit national interests. To discuss the rebuilding of Japan, the authors argue that it is first essential to critically examine Japan’s ‘Lost Decades’ and this book offers a comprehensive overview of Japan’s recent 20 years of crisis. The book reveals that the ‘Lost Decades’ is not an issue unique to the Japanese context but has global relevance, and its study can provide important insights into challenges being faced in other mature economies. With chapters written by some of the world’s leading Japan specialists and chapters focusing on a variety of disciplines, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in the areas of Japan studies, Politics, International Relations, Security Studies, Government Policy and History.

    Discussion of contemporary musical practice is situated within broader frames of musical and sociopolitical history, processes of globalization and cosmopolitanism, and the continued search for Japanese identity through artistic expression. It explores how the Japanese have long negotiated cultural identity through musical practice in three parts:Part I, "Japanese Music and Culture," provides an overview of the key characteristics of Japanese culture that inform musical performance, such as the attitude towards the natural environment, changes in ruling powers, dominant religious forms, and historical processes of cultural exchange.Part II, "Sounding Japan," describes the elements that distinguish traditional Japanese music and then explores how music has changed in the modern era under the influence of Western music and ideology.Part III, "Focusing In: Identity, Meaning and Japanese Drumming in Kyoto," is based on fieldwork with musicians and explores the position of Japanese drumming within Kyoto. It focuses on four case studies that paint a vivid picture of each respective site, the music that is practiced, and the pedagogy and creative processes of each group.The accompanying CD includes examples of Japanese music that illustrate specific elements and key genres introduced in the text. A companion website includes additional audio-visual sources discussed in detail in the text.Jennifer Milioto Matsue is an Associate Professor at Union College and specializes in modern Japanese music and culture.

    Over time, they have altered their natural environment in numerous ways, from landscape modification to industrial pollution. How has the human-nature relationship changed over time in Japan? How does Japan’s environmental history compare with that of other countries, or that of the world as a whole?Environment and Society in the Japanese Islands attempts to answer these questions through a series of case studies by leading Japanese and Western historians, geographers, archaeologists, and climatologists. These essays, on diverse topics from all periods of Japanese history and prehistory, are unified by their focus on the key concepts of “resilience” and “risk mitigation.” Taken as a whole, they place Japan’s experience in global context and call into question the commonly presumed division between pre-modern and modern environmental history. Primarily intended for scholars and students in fields related to Japan or environmental history, these accessibly-written essays will be valuable to anyone wishing to learn about the historical roots of today’s environmental issues or the complex relationship between human society and the natural environment.

    They emerged from simple questions: What is Zen? Who was Confucius? What was it like to be a kid in Japan 10,000 years ago, or 1000, or 500? How did death come to seem, as it did for many centuries, so much more important to the Japanese than life? It is the author's proud boast that, though the questions are treated in some depth, not a single definitive answer emerges.

    At the dawn of the shogun era, in 12th century Japan, Tomoe is strong but obedient, a beautiful onnabugeisha (woman who studies the art of war), the concubine and army captain to the reckless orphan Yoshinaka, whose vow to avenge his father’s death and oust his cousin from power takes over their lives. Yamabuki is the sheltered, shy noble sold off to become rough Yoshinaka's legal wife, sent to live in the remote mountains of Japan, where her scornful lady-in-waiting is none other than the warrior woman Tomoe. As the epic Gempei War begins and the women prepare for battles both literal and of the heart, losing means death, but victory might mean losing everything.

    The story is also about Ami Fujishiro, who arrives in Canada along with her family when her father is transferred on a job exchange. Ian and Ami start off simply as strangers living next door to one another, yet although they come from different cultures and there is a difference in age they soon move from being neighbours to friends. However, just as they begin to realise their feelings of love for one another, Ami is sent back to Japan to attend an all girl finishing college after which she is to be wedded into a prearranged marriage. Will Ian and Ami ever find one another again, to become lovers, before it's too late? Or is their romance doomed to failure even before it began...

    Mirroring this, women's self-directed violence has increasingly been thematised in diverse Japanese narrative and visual culture.This book examines the relationship between normative femininity and women's self-directed violence in contemporary Japanese culture. To theoretically define the complexities that constitute normativity, the book develops the concept of 'contradictive femininity' and shows how in Japanese culture, women's paradoxical roles are thematised through three character construction techniques, broadly derived from the doppelganger motif. It then demonstrates how eating disorders and self-harm are included in normative femininity and suggests that such self-directed violence can be interpreted as coping strategies to overcome feelings of fragmentation related to contradictive femininity. Looking at novels, artwork, manga, anime, TV dramas and news stories, the book analyses both globally well known Japanese culture such as Murakami Haruki's literary works and Miyazaki Hayao's animation, as well as culture unavailable to non-Japanese readers. The aim of juxtaposing such diverse narrative and visual culture is to map common storylines and thematisation techniques about normative femininity, self-harm and eating disorders. Furthermore, it shows how women's private struggles with their own bodies have become public discourse available for consumption as entertainment and lifestyle products.Highly interdisciplinary, it will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Japanese studies, Japanese culture and society and gender and women's studies, as well as to academics and consumers of Japanese literature, manga and animation.

    Stigmatized throughout Japanese history as an outcaste group, their identity is still risky, their social presence mostly silent, and their experience marginalized in public discourse. They are contemporary Japan s largest minority group between 1.5 and 3 million people. How do young people today learn about being burakumin? How do they struggle with silence and search for an authentic voice for their complex experience?"Voice, Silence, and Self" examines how the mechanisms of silence surrounding burakumin issues are reproduced and challenged in Japanese society. It explores the ways in which schools and social relationships shape people s identity as burakumin within a protective cocoon where risk is minimized. Based on extensive ethnographic research and interviews, this longitudinal work explores the experience of burakumin youth from two different communities and with different social movement organizations.Christopher Bondy explores how individuals navigate their social world, demonstrating the ways in which people make conscious decisions about the disclosure of a stigmatized identity. This compelling study is relevant to scholars and students of Japan studies and beyond. It provides crucial examples for all those interested in issues of identity, social movements, stigma, and education in a comparative setting."

    It includes the first English translation of Imperialism (Teikokushugi), Kotoku’s classic 1901 work. Kotoku Shusui was a Japanese socialist, anarchist, and critic of Japan’s imperial expansionism who was executed in 1911 for his alleged participation in a plot to kill the emperor. His Imperialism was one of the first systematic criticisms of imperialism published anywhere in the world. In this seminal text, Kotoku condemned global imperialism as the commandeering of politics by national elites and denounced patriotism and militarism as the principal causes of imperialism. In addition to translating Imperialism, Robert Tierney offers an in-depth study of Kotoku’s text and of the early anti-imperialist movement he led. Tierney places Kotoku’s book within the broader context of early twentieth-century debates on the nature and causes of imperialism. He also presents a detailed account of the different stages of the Japanese anti-imperialist movement. Monster of the Twentieth Century constitutes a major contribution to the intellectual history of modern Japan and to the comparative study of critiques of capitalism and colonialism.

    Its main object is to show that Japan, in spite of such modern developments as the feminist or the anarchist movements, still re mains in spirit very much the same as she ever was in the days of yore.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

    Enjoying a far more favorable exchange rate than in recent years, the now-moderately-priced Japan is enjoying a major upswing in its incoming tourism, and our experienced author of many previous guidebooks to Japan has made it even easier to enjoy, easier to understand, easier to tour, in a concise "Easy Guide" designed to fit into pocket or purse.

    What was it like to live through the dizzying changes in Japanese society in the twentieth century, as Japan formed its own imperial colonies in Asia, was defeated in World War II, and achieved its postwar economic miracle?In this book, sociologist Oguma Eiji skillfully locates his father Kenji's personal experiences of this era in the context of concurrent social, economic, and political trends, blending oral history and social history.

    

     However you take her, it is clear that Cure Dolly has very little Western-Earthling enculturation and so comes to Japan with a perspective that is neither Japanese nor, in any of the usual senses, gaijin. Her “Doll’s Eye View” of Japan is unlike anything else you may have read. This book, lavishly illustrated with color photographs, covers her first month in Aichi Prefecture. She photographs and writes about such things as Shinto shrines and maid cafés, but also about sides of Japan that are less often seen, ranging from family life and a day in pre-school, observing the enculturation of very young Japanese children, to wanderings in Japanese countryside and small city environments, observing everything with the passion and freshness of a doll to whom human culture as a whole is something strange and new. At the time of going to Japan, Cure Dolly had been learning (she would probably reject the term “studying”) Japanese for about a year, using the self-immersion methods she advocates. She put her theories into practice by adopting the challenge of using no language other than Japanese during the whole of her stay, even in emergencies (of which there were several). Cure Dolly’s aim was not only to live in Japan but to live in the language she has often declared that she is “in love with”. Being a doll rather than a regular human, there are many occasions in which her inability to negotiate ordinary situations lead to results which seem funny only in retrospect. As she says, her newness in the language was in a way her best friend, since it served as an apparent reason for her difficulty with everyday human situations. The book is full of intense love for all the things she sees and thoughtful, but often entirely unexpected, reflections on everything from infant education to cosplay, from uniforms to Japanese Denny’s. As Cure Dolly says in her introduction: "When I left Japan, for the first time in my life, I experienced culture shock. Japan is not my home. I am not Japanese. I am sure I was almost as strange to the Japanese as I am to anyone else. And they were strange to me. But not as strange. "Seeing an airport full of gaikokujin, I was overwhelmed by the strangeness I had seen around me ever since I came to life. It has never become less strange to me. But after Japan it seemed even more strange. "Which is a rather negative way of presenting my experience. But perhaps it clarifies it a tiny bit. "I want to try to show you Japan through my eyes." This is Japan as you have never seen it before!

    Born in Japan, Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889–1953) arrived in the United States as a teenager and studied art in New York. Although thoroughly integrated into American life, immigration laws prevented him from becoming an American citizen. The early success he achieved with his distinctive modern figural works developed into a compelling and powerful late style.This new survey, the first full retrospective of his works since the Whitney Show of 1948, features seventy of Kuniyoshi's best paintings and drawings, chosen from leading public and private collections in America and Japan.Tom Wolf is professor of art history, Bard College, New York, and the leading Kuniyoshi scholar.

    Step-by-step illustrated instructions are followed by an envelope of paper patterns in four sizes, printed at actual size.

    Written by a team of 30 international scholars, this volume presents seven essays and catalogue entries on 150 works of art, including Dutch and Asian paintings, textiles, ceramics, lacquer, furniture, silver, diamonds, and jewellery.From the Dutch settlements throughout Asia—including Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China, and Japan—Dutch maritime traders brought an astonishing range of luxuries back to the Netherlands. Dutch consumers were enthralled with these foreign goods, which brought new colours, patterns, and textures to their interiors and wardrobes. As seen in the book’s many illustrations, Dutch artists also found inspiration in these objects and incorporated them into portraits, genre scenes, and particularly still-life paintings. Dutch artists and craftspeople also adapted distinctly Asian technologies, such as porcelain and lacquer, to create new works of art inspired by Asia. This catalogue weaves together the complex stories of these diverse works of art and presents fascinating portraits of the dynamic cities of Amsterdam and Batavia (Jakarta)—the Dutch trade centre in Asia during the 17th century.

    Like their Western counterparts, these contemporary adaptations tend to have a more female-oriented perspective than traditional tales and feature female characters with independent spirits.In From Dog Bridegroom to Wolf Girl: Contemporary Japanese Fairy-Tale Adaptations in Conversation with the West, Mayako Murai examines the uses of fairy tales in the works of Japanese women writers and artists since the 1990s in the light of Euro-American feminist fairy-tale re-creation and scholarship. After giving a sketch of the history of the reception of European fairy tales in Japan since the late nineteenth century, Murai outlines the development of fairy-tale retellings and criticism in Japan since the 1970s. Chapters that follow examine the uses of fairy-tale intertexts in the works of four contemporary writers and artists that resist and disrupt the dominant fairy-tale discourses in both Japan and the West. Murai considers Tawada Yoko's reworking of the animal bride and bridegroom tale, Ogawa Yoko's feminist treatment of the Bluebeard story, Yanagi Miwa's visual restaging of familiar fairy-tale scenes, and Konoike Tomoko's visual representations of the motif of the girl's encounter with the wolf in the woods in different media and contexts. Forty illustrations round out Murai's criticism, showing how fairy tales have helped artists reconfigure oppositions between male and female, human and animal, and culture and nature. From Dog Bridegroom to Wolf Girl invites readers to trace the threads of the fairy-tale web with eyes that are both transcultural and culturally sensitive in order to unravel the intricate ways in which different traditions intersect and clash in today's globalising world. Fairy-tale scholars and readers interested in issues of literary and artistic adaptation will enjoy this volume.

    Born to Japanese parents, raised in Manchuria, and educated in Beijing, the young Yamaguchi learned to speak impeccable Mandarin Chinese and received professional training in operatic singing. When recruited by the Manchurian Film Association in 1939 to act in "national policy" films in the service of Japanese imperialism in China, she allowed herself to be presented as a Chinese, effectively masking her Japanese identity in both her professional and private lives. Yamaguchi soon became an unprecedented transnational phenomenon in Manchuria, Shanghai, and Japan itself as the glamorous female lead in such well-known films as Song of the White Orchid (1939), China Nights (1940), Pledge in the Desert (1940), and Glory to Eternity (1943). Her signature songs, including "When Will You Return?" and "The Evening Primrose," swept East Asia in the waning years of the war and remained popular well into the postwar decades.Ironically, although her celebrated international stardom was without parallel in wartime East Asia, she remained a puppet within a puppet state, choreographed at every turn by Japanese film studios in accordance with the expediencies of Japan's continental policy. In a dramatic turn of events after Japan's defeat, she was placed under house arrest in Shanghai by the Chinese Nationalist forces and barely escaped execution as a traitor to China. Her complex and intriguing life story as a convenient pawn, willing instrument, and tormented victim of Japan's imperialist ideology is told in her bestselling autobiography, translated here in full for the first time in English. An addendum reveals her postwar career in Hollywood and Broadway in the 1950s, her friendship with Charlie Chaplin, her first marriage to Isamu Noguchi, and her postwar life as singer, actress, political figure, television celebrity, and private citizen. A substantial introduction by Chia-ning Chang contextualizes Yamaguchi's life and career within the historical and cultural zeitgeist of wartime Manchuria, Japan, and China and the postwar controversies surrounding her life in East Asia.

    Until finally, one evening after watching the classic Japanese movie Tampopo, something happened. As the movie drew to an end he turned to his wife and sighed deeply. "I've always wanted to go to Japan...." Much to his surprise, she replied "So let's go!" His 50th birthday was looming on the horizon and it seemed like the perfect time to buy some extra-legroom seats on a plane, spread their wings and fly away. After joining up with a small band of fellow adventurers, two British-Canadians headed off to the land of the rising sun to experience the delights of bullet trains, bento boxes, communal baths and eating pancakes on Mount Fuji. Told with gentle humour, this is the story of their trip to Tokyo, Takayama, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima and Kawaguchiko. Grab a pot of green tea or a bottle of sake, curl up in your favourite armchair and experience the journey for yourself from the comfort of your own home. Beautiful photographs in every chapter will help guide you on your way, and at the end you will find yourself sighing "I want to go to Japan."

    When electric lights and submarines were high-tech, Oshikawa Shunro, a father of Japanese science fiction, wrote this tale that would be the inspiration for the Japanese science fiction motion picture "Atragon."

    Plagued by crippling anxiety attacks, Erin travels to Los Angeles, searching for a sign that life is still worth living. Shortly after she arrives, she meets Ben, a mysterious young man who captures both her curiosity and her heart. As they explore Los Angeles together, Ben reveals shocking secrets of his tragic childhood and helps Erin believe that she can heal from the wounds of her traumatic past. But Ben is hiding a horrible secret. A secret that could tear them apart.One year later, Erin journeys to Japan with her best friend, Adam, to carry out her mother's bucket list. When Erin was just four years old, her mother mysteriously vanished. Erin's only clue to her mother's possible whereabouts is a handwritten itinerary for a dream trip to Japan, a trip that Erin doesn't know if her mother ever had the chance to take.But Erin's trip won't be going according to plan.Hours after they arrive in Tokyo, in a jet-lagged fog, Erin and Adam end up in bed together. While struggling with the tension that now dominates their once innocent friendship and the trauma stirred up from Erin's painful past, Erin and Adam visit the places on her mother's list. As they explore the wonders of Japan, Erin finds herself haunted by strange "memories" that seem to belong to her mother. Could these memories be real? If so, perhaps her mother can be found.Books in the LOST duology:Book 1: LOST IN LOS ANGELESBook 2: LOST IN TOKYO*Each book stands alone, and the books can be read in either order.Praise for LOST IN LOS ANGELES:"I have read many books and I don't think one has moved me as much as this one did. My eyes are welling up and my heart aches. I absolutely love this book." -- Elizabeth, The Bookish Way ★★★★★"Lynne made me feel like I was right there with Erin, feeling everything she was. Her pain was so real and it broke my heart. You have to read this book! Trust me. The ending will blow you away." -- Susan, Goodreads ★★★★★"A beautiful story about finding the will to live again. It has definitely won one of the slots for my favorite books." -- Tiffany, Goodreads ★★★★★"If you are looking for a story to make you believe in the magic of love, Lost in Los Angeles is it." -- Dianne, Tome Tender Book Blog ★★★★★Praise for LOST IN TOKYO:"Full of heartbreak, loss and finding yourself while falling in love with your best friend. I would absolutely recommend this book." -- Amy, Goodreads ★★★★★"Beautifully written emotional adventure. Quite a few scenes brought out the goosebumps." -- Denise, Goodreads ★★★★★"I absolutely loved this book! I couldn't put it down. The way the plot kept unfolding, I never knew what was going to happen next." -- Amanda, Goodreads ★★★★★The LOST duology has captivated fans of ELEANOR & PARK (by Rainbow Rowell), TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN (by John Green), IF I STAY (by Gayle Forman), 180 SECONDS (by Jessica Park), THIRTEEN REASONS WHY (by Jay Asher), ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES (by Jennifer Niven), and ONE OF US IS LYING (by Karen McManus).Don't miss this powerful story of healing and hope, with shocking twists that you won't see coming!

    Government agencies and the nuclear industry continue to push a nuclear agenda, while the mainstream media adheres to the official line that nuclear power is Japan's future. Public debate about nuclear energy is strongly discouraged. Nevertheless, antinuclear activism has swelled into one of the most popular and passionate movements in Japan, leading to a powerful wave of protest music. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Protest Music After Fukushima shows that music played a central role in expressing antinuclear sentiments and mobilizing political resistance in Japan. Combining musical analysis with ethnographic participation, author Noriko Manabe offers an innovative typology of the spaces central to the performance of protest music--cyberspace, demonstrations, festivals, and recordings. She argues that these four spaces encourage different modes of participation and methods of political messaging. The openness, mobile accessibility, and potential anonymity of cyberspace have allowed musicians to directly challenge the ethos of silence that permeated Japanese culture post-Fukushima. Moving from cyberspace to real space, Manabe shows how the performance and reception of music played at public demonstrations are shaped by the urban geographies of Japanese cities. While short on open public space, urban centers in Japan offer protesters a wide range of governmental and commercial spaces in which to demonstrate, with activist musicians tailoring their performances to the particular landscapes and soundscapes of each. Music festivals are a space apart from everyday life, encouraging musicians and audience members to freely engage in political expression through informative and immersive performances. Conversely, Japanese record companies and producers discourage major-label musicians from expressing political views in recordings, forcing antinuclear musicians to express dissent indirectly: through allegories, metaphors, and metonyms. The first book on Japan's antinuclear music, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised provides a compelling new perspective on the role of music in political movements.

    In the United States, the debates surrounding this trajectory can be so fierce that it feels like we are in uncharted waters. As Christopher Bjork reminds us in this study, however, we are not the first to make testing so central to education: Japan has been doing it for decades. Drawing on Japan’s experiences with testing, overtesting, and recent reforms to relax educational pressures, he sheds light on the best path forward for US schools.             Bjork asks a variety of important questions related to testing and reform: Does testing overburden students? Does it impede innovation and encourage conformity? Can a system anchored by examination be reshaped to nurture creativity and curiosity? How should any reforms be implemented by teachers? Each chapter explores questions like these with careful attention to the actual effects policies have had on schools in Japan and other Asian settings, and each draws direct parallels to issues that US schools currently face. Offering a wake-up call for American education, Bjork ultimately cautions that the accountability-driven practice of standardized testing might very well exacerbate the precise problems it is trying to solve.

    As founder of the Kyoto School, he began a rigorous philosophical engagement and dialogue with Western philosophical traditions, especially the work of G. W. F. Hegel. John W. M. Krummel explores the Buddhist roots of Nishida’s thought and places him in connection with Hegel and other philosophers of the Continental tradition. Krummel develops notions of self-awareness, will, being, place, the environment, religion, and politics in Nishida’s thought and shows how his ethics of humility may best serve us in our complex world.

    It provides a corrective to the perception that the ukiyo-e tradition was the product of the creative talents of individual artists, revealing instead the many identities that made and disseminated printed work. Julie Nelson Davis demonstrates by way of examples from the later eighteenth century that this popular genre was the result of an exchange among publishers, designers, writers, carvers, printers, patrons, buyers, and readers. By recasting these works as examples of a network of commercial and artistic cooperation, she off ers a nuanced view of the complexity of this tradition and expands our understanding of the dynamic processes of production, reception, and intention in fl oating world print culture. Four case studies give evidence of what constituted modes of collaboration among artistic producers in the period. In each case Davis explores a different configuration of collaboration: that between a teacher and a student, two painters and their publishers, a designer and a publisher, and a writer and an illustrator. Each investigates a mode of partnership through a single work: a specially commissioned print, a lavishly illustrated album, a printed handscroll, and an inexpensive illustrated novel. These case studies explore the diversity of printed things in the period ranging from expensive works made for a select circle of connoisseurs to those meant to be sold at a modest price to a large audience. They take up familiar subjects from the floating world - connoisseurship, beauty, sex, and humor - and explore multiple dimensions of inquiry vital to that dynamic culture: the status of art, the evaluation of beauty, the representation of sexuality, and the tension between mind and body. Where earlier studies of woodblock prints have tended to focus on the individual artist, Partners in Print takes the subject a major step forward to a richer picture of the creative process. Placing these works in their period context not only revealsan aesthetic network responsive to and shaped by the desires of consumers in a specific place and time, but also contributes to a larger discussion about the role of art and the place of the material text in the early modern world.

    Geographically, both countries lie between United States and China. Diplomatically, they are solidly tied to the United States. Economically, they are increasingly tied to China. In their political cultures and values, both share strong commitments to the free market, democracy, rule of law, human rights, and human dignity. In this thought-provoking book, Japanese and South Korean scholars collaborate to examine closely Japanese and Korean domestic politics and foreign policy and explain how the unfriendly relations between the two countries developed.