Ninjutsu: The Art of Invisibility--Japan's Feudal-Age Espionage Methods (Tuttle Library of Martial Arts)


Donn F. Draeger - 1992
    Practitioners of the art, known as ninja, were masters of exotic weapons, martial skills, and techniques of stealth and concealment. Their ability to move swiftly and silently, and to strike at will with deadly force, made them seemingly invincible opponents, giving rise to stories of amazing exploits and supernatural powers.

Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga, Vol. 3


Jiro Kuwata - 2016
    Many Western readers were only recently introduced to the existence of this unique take on the Caped Crusader. Now DC Comics presents the series in its entirety for the first time, fully translated and unabridged! Collects Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga digital Chapters 39-52.

Battle for the Solomons (Illustrated)


Ira Wolfert - 2019
    Wolfert was in the thick of it, facing death alongside the troops, and he reproduces events as they happen in real time, making for a tense, suspenseful read. Wolfert risked his life on several occasions for the sake of authenticity, and survived to write this, one of the most remarkable combat memoirs of World War 2.

Tintin


Jean-Marc Lofficier - 2002
    Packed with facts as well as expert opinions, each book has all the key information you need to know about such popular topics as film, television, cult fiction, history, and more. In addition to an introduction to the subject, each topic is individually analyzed and reviewed, examining its impact on popular culture or history. There's also a reference section that lists related web sites and weightier (and more expensive) books on the subject. For media buffs, students, and inquiring minds, these are great entry-level books that build into an essential library.

Who I Am and What I Want


David Shrigley - 2003
    In this mock autobiographical collection his mischievous drawings capture life's anxieties and ambitions from the mundane to the surreal. Here, at last, is The Truth about beer, doctors, shadow puppets, lunch, dolphins, boredom, and supernatural forces. Seductively strange and addictively amusing, this edgy little book welcomes the uninitiated and rewards the faithful.

Dragonball


Jesse Leon McCann - 2003
    Once, long ago, they were kids -- but they still ended up saving the world! Now you can join Goku and his friends on their epic journey. Can they find the hidden Dragon Balls before Emperor Pilaf and Monster Carrot can get their greedy hands on the source of ultimate power?With more than fifty full color Dragon Ball stickers, and information about all your favorite Dragon Ball characters, now you can be a part of the Dragon Ball adventure!

Kenji


Ryuchi Matsuda - 1992
    Kenji (拳児) is a manga about a Japanese teenager named Kenji who practices the martial art Bājíquán (Japanese: Hakkyoku-ken) and his encounters with other martial artists, including some from real life, such as Adam Hsu and Liu Chia-Liang.The series is based on the life of Song Tien Long Dz and has had histories of Hakkyoku-ken, Li Shu-Wen, and Liu Yun-Chiao.Kenji's archnemesis is a gangster named Tony Tan who practiced Hung Gar and later Xinyiliuhequan.This series primarily features Bājíquán, but also gets into Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Baguazhang, Chen T'ai Chi Ch'üan, Pi Quan, Xingyiquan, Xin Yi Liu He, Shaolin, Hung Gar, Daito Ryu, Shotokan and numerous other styles.

Anime Explosion! The What? Why? and Wow! of Japanese Animation


Patrick Drazen - 2002
    . . exploding. But where did Japanese animation come from, and what does it all mean? Written for fans, culture watchers, and perplexed outsiders, this is an engaging tour of the anime megaverse, from older arts and manga traditions to the works of modern directors like Miyazaki and Otomo. Read about anime standbys like giant robots, samurai, furry beasts, high school heroines, and gay/girl/fanboy love—even war and reincarnation, plus all of anime’s major themes, styles, and conventions. At the end of the book are essays on 15 of fandom’s favorite anime, including Evangelion, Esca-flowne, Sailor Moon, and Patlabor."A good resource and guide to the foundation, historical development and overall themes in Japanese animation and serves as an excellent reference source whether you are an established fan or a person who wants to learn about the cultural aspects of this specific and increasingly popular genre. It is an easy yet thorough read on the myriad of societal aspects and cultural references Japanese animation holds." -- Active Anime

The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War


Yagyu Munenori
    The work of Yagyῡ Munenori from 1632 concerns martial arts and military science. It is translated by Thomas Cleary and can be found tucked behind Miyamoto Musashi‘s “the Book of five rings” from 1643. Both these texts analyse conflict between two men armed with swords and scale this up bigger battles. These important treaties on swordsmanship, and have been taken as giving lessons on life in general.

Sword and Blossom: A British Officer's Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman


Peter Pagnamenta - 2006
    At least five generations of the Hart family had served in the British Army-his father, grandfather, and uncle had risen to the rank of general, and the ambitious young officer expected to keep up the tradition. Arriving in Tokyo on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, Arthur met Masa Suzuki at the Officers' Club and tested out his first few words of Japanese on her. Masa had grown up in the working-class section of Tokyo, amid small-shop keepers and craftsmen. The sixth in a family of seven, she had left school at age fourteen to work in a shop. She was a dutiful Japanese daughter-when she helped her mother serve meals, she would kneel at a respectful distance while her father and brothers ate. Arthur and Masa fell in love quickly and powerfully. Throwing convention to the wind, they lived together in Tokyo until orders came for Arthur to return to England. For the next decade and a half, the two unlikely soul mates attempted to make a life together, testing the limits of racial and cultural tolerance in their countries and in themselves. Separated for years at a time, they stayed in touch through long, deeply affectionate letters they wrote to each other in Japanese. The great love affair sustained Arthur through some of the most horrific battles of the First World War, and even when the relationship came to an end, in a way that neither could have foreseen, they continued their correspondence. They wrote to each other through the troubled interwar period, as Arthur's family estate was caught up in a civil war in Ireland, as the great earthquake of 1923 ravaged Tokyo, as the militarists seized control of Japan and took the country into a brutal invasion of China, and finally, in a bitter twist of fate, as the once-allied Britain and Japan faced off against each other in the Second World War. Her letters to him were lost, but she saved every one of his, more than eight hundred in total. The authors use this treasure trove of letters to describe a story of great love and great loss and of destinies etched amid the conflicts of the first half of the twentieth century.

Stepping on Roses, Vol. 1


Rinko Ueda - 2008
    But can Sumi fool high society into thinking she's a proper lady? Moreover, is it worth giving up everything for this sham of a marriage?

Prison School, Vol. 6


Akira Hiramoto - 2017
    Meanwhile, Kate's plan for revenge is quietly set into motion...!

They Call It Pacific (Annotated): An Eye-Witness Story of Our War Against Japan from Bataan to the Solomons


Clark Lee - 1943
    They Call It Pacific is an insightful account of events leading up to the war and beyond from an authority on Japanese-American affairs at the time. It is also a thrilling journal detailing Lee’s unbelievable real-time escape from the Philippine Islands with the help of the Filipino resistance. The book contains extensive accounts of the battle for the Philippines on Bataan and Corregidor, interviews with soldiers including General Douglas MacArthur, talks with Japanese prisoners, and descriptions of combat as the author accompanied Navy pilots such as Swede Larson on flights over Guadalcanal. This new edition of They Call It Pacific has been updated with footnotes and images from the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. *Includes original footnotes. *Includes photographs from World War 2.

Rurouni Kenshin, Volume 01


Nobuhiro Watsuki - 1994
    Set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, it tells the saga of Himura Kenshin, once an assassin of ferocious power, now a humble rurouni, a wandering swordsman fighting to protect the honor of those in need. A hundred and fifty years ago in Kyoto, amid the flames of revolution, there arose a warrior, an assassin of such ferocious power he was given the title Hitokiri: Manslayer. With his bloodstained blade, Hitokiri Battosai helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu period and end the reign of the shoguns, slashing open the way toward the progressive Meiji Era.  Then he vanished, and with the flow of years became legend. In the 11th year of Meiji, in the middle of Tokyo, the tale begins. Himura Kenshin, a humble rurouni, or wandering swordsman, comes to the aid of Kamiya Kaoru, a young woman struggling to defend her father's school of swordsmanship against attacks by the infamous Hitokiri Battosai. But neither Kenshin nor Battosai are quite what they seem...

Satsuma Gishiden Volume 2


Hiroshi Hirata - 2005
    But behind the stern demeanor was a society coming apart at the seams. Clashes in class systems and the need for a nation to come together threaten to break up the old ways of warring samurai — these are tales of such struggles. This is the story of Japan’s history and the beginning of the end of the samurai era.