The co mpanion will interest tourists, students and business travel lers to Japan. '

    This ride has legions of devoted fans and influenced tributes, spinoffs and an entire entertainment genre: the seasonal haunted house. Why is this?Boundless Realm is a wry tour of the creaky old house on the hill, brushing aside cobwebs, uncovering obscure corners, and prying up the floorboards in search of the answer. Not just an attraction history, this critical appreciation - written with a connoisseur's eye for detail - encompasses American history, popular culture and folklore, and a sharp understanding of design to make a case for The Haunted Mansion as the 20th century's definitive haunted house. Entertaining and opinionated, Boundless Realm will give you a new appreciation for Disney's ultimate cult attraction.

    The result is an enthralling combination of powerful technical wisdom and the philosophical elucidation offered to martial artists by Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism, and Taoism. From the metaphor of the Four Elements and fundamentals of physical practice and strategy to an offering of Zen wisdom on the "way" of nature, "Musashi's Book of Five Rings" is as profound and important a book on martial arts as you will find.

    In 2004 The Wabi-Sabi House helped popularize this ancient Japanese philosophy in North America. Simply Imperfect is a fully revised and updated edition of The Wabi-Sabi House aimed at moving past our belief in life, liberty, and the pursuit of stuff to finding beauty in austerity, serenity, and authenticity.Far more than home decor, wabi-sabi is a state of mind: living modestly in the moment, stripping away the unnecessary, and finding satisfaction in everyday things. Simply Imperfect recounts wabi-sabi's rich history, tracing it from its Zen Buddhist roots through to the present day. This beautifully-illustrated book reveals ways to introduce wabi-sabi into your home such as:Clearing clutter and blocking noiseIntegrating salvaged and recycled materials Making and growing things yourself (or supporting local artisans who do)Taking time and space for self-reflectionWabi-sabi is everything that today's sleek, plastic, technology-saturated culture isn't. Simply Imperfect asks readers to see that mass-produced perfection is seductive but boring. This gentle book is for anyone who is overwhelmed by consumerism or whose focus has shifted from getting more to getting by.Robyn Griggs Lawrence is editor-in-chief of Natural Home magazine and a prolific writer and speaker on topics ranging from green building and ecological design to organic gardening. She has been instrumental in introducing the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi to a Western audience.

    The "Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia" celebrates Capcom's 30 years in the industry and gives fans concise information about every major Capcom character, their key artwork, statistics, background information, and interesting notes on the history of each character and game franchise. Including almost 200 characters from the Capcom family, this "Character Encyclopedia" sheds new light on these characters in a way nothing else does!

    Illustrated throughout with behind-the-scenes photos.

    A serious problem. The soul-wrenching kind. The career killing kind. He needs to finish a piece for the Pope—but doesn’t know how. Alas, figuring it out is no trivial task. In fact, nobody ever has. Of all the great and grand quests that humans have undertaken, none has been more attempted or elusive than gaining a comprehensive grasp of God. When seeking to know Him with the head rather than the heart, to rely on reason rather than faith, the obstacles appear insurmountable. If He is all powerful, and we are His children, why do so many suffer so horribly? Why would He punish people who don’t believe in Him? Why haven’t we seen or heard from Him for thousands of years? Join Leonardo and the Archangel Gabriel as they survey and surmount these stumbling blocks. Listen in as Gabriel reveals why obvious answers remain obscured. Follow along as he leads Leonardo all the way to an intuitive understanding of the Almighty. Set during Da Vinci’s struggle to give God a face in his masterpiece, The Last Supper, Leonardo and Gabriel is no less entertaining than it is educational. Although the framework is historically accurate, the conclusions of this original work are as unpredictable as they are compelling. Engage with an open mind—as Gabriel councils Leonardo to do—and it may even change your life. _________________________ Do you like logic puzzles? Pondering big philosophical questions? Are you open-minded and eager to learn life-improving lessons? Then this book’s for you. On the other hand, if you prefer to sit in the pews, repeating along while scripture is passionately delivered from the pulpit, then you should probably pass on this one. _________________________ BEFORE YOU BUY, PLEASE NOTE TWO THINGS: 1) This novella is considerably shorter than the author’s novels. The price reflects the caliber of the content, not the page count, and was selected to discourage impetuous purchase. 2) This is essentially an entertaining self-help book, a philosophy text that reads like a thriller. It is intended to stimulate life-improving thought and adequately answer one of history’s most perplexing questions by creatively presenting original analysis on an important topic that touches us all. _________________________ The publisher recommends Leonardo and Gabriel for use in undergraduate logic and philosophy courses, and will make copies of the ebook available free of charge to the faculty and students of accredited academic institutions. Kindly Submit inquiries to edu@timtigner.com.

    It is difficult for us now, even with all our engineering and architectural skills, to imagine the extraordinary ways these medieval houses of worship were constructed. Midway through the twelfth century, the building of cathedrals became a crusade to erect awe-inspiring churches across Europe. In their zeal, bishops, monks, masons, and workmen created the architectural style known as Gothic, arguably Christianity’s greatest contribution to the world’s art and architecture. The style evolved slowly and almost accidentally as medieval artisans combined ingenuity, inspiration, and brute strength to create a fitting monument to their God. Here are the dramatic stories of the building of Saint-Denis, Notre Dame, Chartres, Reims, and other Gothic cathedrals.

    Topics range from expressive hand gestures to patron saints, pasta, parmesan, shoes, opera, the Vespa, the Fiat 500, gelato, gondolas, and more. History, folklore, superstitions, traditions, and customs are tossed in a delicious sauce that also includes a wealth of factual information for the sophisticated traveler:• why lines, as we know them, are nonexistent in Italy• why a string of coral beads is often seen around a baby’s wrist• what the unlucky number of Italy is (it’s not thirteen, unless seating guests at a table, when it IS thirteen–taking into account the outcome of the Last Supper)• why red underwear begins to appear in shops as the New Year approaches In addition to the lyrical and poetic, Italianissimo provides useful and indispensable information for the traveler: deciphering the quirks of the language (while English has only one word for “you,†in Italy there are three), the best place to find balsamic vinegar (in Modena, of course), the best gelato (in Sicily, where they first invented it using the snow from Mount Etna). There are also recommendations for little-known museums and destinations (the Bodoni museum, the Pinocchio park, legendary coffee bars).This is a new kind of guidebook overflowing with enlightening and hilarious miscellaneous information, filled with luscious graphics and unforgettable photographs that will decode and enrich all trips to Italy–both real and imaginary.

    Following the narratives of six individuals, the book traces the shape of a disaster and the heroics it prompted, including that of David Chumreonlert, a Texan with Thai roots, trapped in his school's gymnasium with hundreds of students and teachers as it begins to flood, and Taro Watanabe, who thought nothing of returning to the Fukushima plant to fight the nuclear disaster, despite the effects that he knew would stay with him for the rest of his life. This is a beautifully written and moving account of how the Japanese experienced one of the worst earthquakes in history and endured its horrific consequences.

    The secrets they seek are hidden in mountain ranges and lost in deserts, buried in the ocean floor and lodged deep in polar ice. The aim of The Explorers Guild: to discover the mysteries that lie beyond the boundaries of the known world.Set against the backdrop of World War I, with Western Civilization on the edge of calamity, the first installment in The Explorers Guild series, A Passage to Shambhala, concerns the Guild’s quest to find the golden city of Buddhist myth. The search will take them from the Polar North to the Mongolian deserts, through the underground canals of Asia to deep inside the Himalayas, before the fabled city finally divulges its secrets and the globe-spanning journey plays out to its startling conclusion.The Explorers Guild is a rare publishing opportunity, powered by the creative passion of one of the world’s true storytelling masters, Kevin Costner.

    Its images are shaped by an eye and a mind legendary for their empathy and for going to the heart of the matter. Cartier-Bresson's talent, his famous mantle of invisibility and his good connections with such figures as Nehru allowed him to capture the quintessence of India - a land renowned for its contradictions and variety. His pictures of Hindus in refugee camps after the Partition or beggars in Calcutta speak with the same passion and authority as those of the Maharaja of Baroda's sumptuous birthday celebrations or of the Mountbattens on the steps of Government House. Considerable space is given to his famous reportages, such as the astonishing sequence on the death and cremation of Gandhi.

    Some were evacuated before the Marines landed and others were taken as Prisoners-of-War. The Japanese army and navy combatants are given a voice to share their experiences in the battle that coined the phrase, "Uncommon valor was a common virtue."

    It also relates the extraordinary history of the museum's collection, a collection that has enabled the Van Gogh Museum to evolve into a world-renowned centre of knowledge about Van Gogh's work and the art of his time.