It recounts a series of stories from the life of his patient Eiji Ijichi, a former Yakuza boss, as told in the last months of his life.The true and fascinating story of one of the last traditional gang bosses in Japan.

    One especially fast-growing area of interest is the "experience-driven" or "wellness" vacation, a proactive approach based on the idea that true recreation involves positive engagement: acquiring a new skill or volunteering to share your own expertise; exercising your intellect or extending yourself in some creative, physical, or spiritual way.In response to such aspirations, this timely book showcases a broad range of the most life-enriching getaways in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with something for every taste and every interest. Here are programs dedicated to kayaking lessons, mountain biking, yoga instruction, and more. Perhaps you'd prefer to spend an arts and crafts holiday focused on a creative activity like cooking, painting, or woodworking. Imagine studying French in a Maine village, learning about nutrition at a historic North Carolina spa, or helping rebuild the devastated communities of the Gulf Coast. Weave a Navajo rug; make a film in New York; learn to surf in Mexico; or choose any of scores of other possibilities.Elegantly designed and packed with attractive and fun descriptions, detailed travel information, lists of unique activities, and special sidebars, this unusual resource tells you all you need to know to ensure that your next vacation won't just be time off—it will be time well spent.

    Topics include parts of speech, sentence structure, idioms, and pronunciation advice. All Japanese words are presented phonetically. Important points of grammar or vocabulary, as well as subject heads, are printed in a second color as a quick-reference aid for students. New to this edition is a Japanese-English vocabulary list.---From back cover:Second EditionA methodical presentation of the elements of Japanese grammar and usage make this book ideal for those beginning their language study and those reviewing the Japanese they've already learned. Pronunciation, word order, sentence structure, and parts of speech are reviewed; idiomatic phrases, numbers, days, months, lists of synonyms and antonyms, and verbs charts are included.

    Whether you are traveling first class or on a limited budget, this Eyewitness Top 10 guide will lead you straight to the very best the city has to offer. Dozens of Top 10 lists -- from the Top 10 sights in literary Bloomsbury to the Top 10 pubs, shops and hotels -- provide the insider knowledge every visitor needs. And to save you time and money, there's even a list of the Top 10 Things to Avoid. Find your way effortlessly with the help of detailed maps and hundreds of photographs. And on www.Top10London.dk.com, find out what fellow travelers have ranked as a Top 10 sight or venue, and cast your own vote for the very best of London.

    'South America on a Shoestring' is full of helpful advice on what to see, where to go, local customs, where to stay and other useful hints for those travelling through South America on a restricted budget.

    Walking in the footsteps of Byzantine emperors and Ottoman sultans, you’ll explore the city where Europe meets Asia. With this up-to-date advice, you’ll make the most out of your time and money, and have your pick of good-value hotels and restaurants. Self-guided walking tours lead you through historic mosques, ancient mosaic-speckled churches, bustling bazaars, and artifact-packed museums. You’ll find out where the locals go for sea-food and for the tastiest Turkish delight candies. In this guide, Lale Surmen Aran and Tankut Aran team up with Rick Steves to bring you the best of Istanbul.

    . .A city girl with a morbid fear of deep water, Torre DeRoche is not someone you would ordinarily find adrift in the middle of the stormy Pacific aboard a leaky sailboat – total crew of two – struggling to keep an old boat, a new relationship and her floundering sanity afloat.But when she meets Ivan, a handsome Argentinean man with a humble sailboat and a dream to set off exploring the world, Torre has to face a hard decision: watch the man she's in love with sail away forever, or head off on the watery journey with him. Suddenly the choice seems simple. She gives up her sophisticated city life, faces her fear of water (and tendency towards seasickness) and joins her lover on a year-long voyage across the Pacific. Set against a backdrop of the world's most beautiful and remote destinations, Love with a Chance of Drowning is a sometimes hilarious, often moving and always breathtakingly brave memoir that proves there are some risks worth taking.

    This revised edition includes newly discovered sites and full-color illustrations of real-life scenes from "National Geographic."

    Packed with photographs, illustrations and maps the Eyewitness Travel to Italy has mapped out all of the remarkable flavors of Italy. Use this guide to help you decide where to stay, eat, relax, and shop. Every page in the Eyewitness Travel to Italy has pinpointed the highlights of each fascinating region. Annually revised and updated Beautiful new full-color photos, illustrations, and maps Includes information on local customs, currency, medical services, and transportation Consistently chosen over the competition in national consumer market research

    With our 4th edition you'll discover the many sides to this diverse country - camp out by the shores of lovely Lake Siljan, peruse the latest fashions in Stockholm's trendy Sodermalm, hike up the Sami holy mountain of At

    Marshy Everglades, and tropical Keys occupy the south, while the vacation capital of Miami rises along the east coast. From the extravagant Gilded Age of manses and fantastic beaches of the Gold and Treasure Coasts to the amusement parks of Orlando, and St. Augustine's Spanish-Colonial era architecture in the Northeast, Florida is a region of stark contrasts. For more valuable travel information about art, shopping, entertainment, nightlife, hotels and sports look to Eyewitness Travel to Florida.

    The originals are in the Riccar Art Museum in Tokyo, the world's largest and most celebrated collection of such prints. On account of their rarity and value, 87 of them have been designated Japanese National Treasures or Major National Cultural Heritage Items. The introductory essay, "Ukiyo-e - Origins and History", by the Curator of the Riccar Art Museum, Mitsunobu Sato, familiarizes the reader with the history of this art form. This is followed by the chapter "Cherry - Wood - Blossom", in which Thomas Zacharias, Professor at the Munich Academy of Art examines the technique, content and style of Japanese prints and their influence on European art at the turn of the century. The major section of the book consists of the 139 reproductions, grouped by artist, each accompanied by a detailed, sensitive commentary. Street scenes, lovers' trysts, festivals, portraits of courtesans and actors, landscapes and travelogues - these are the motifs of the ukiyo-e print. The dominant theme, however, is woman's beauty, the grace of her posture and attitudes, and the decorative aesthetics of her flowing garments. Amongst the most celebrated of the artists featured here are Utamaro, with his beautiful courtesans and geishas; Sharaku, with his portraits of actors on the kabuki stage; Hokusai, with his landscapes, among them the "36 Views of Mount Fuji"; and Hiroshige, with his "53 Stations on the Tokaido" and his "100 Views of Famous Places in and around Edo". The ten-page appendix includes a glossary of technical terms and biographies of all 43 artists.

    A Ranger's Guide to Yellowstone Day Hikes features 29 day hikes of different lengths and levels of difficulty. Each hike in the book has a GPS-compatible map, color photograph, narrative about natural and human history, botany, geology, and other highlights along the trail. Visit FarcountryPress.com for more information.

    And some people have no sense of direction, are terrified of pigeons, and get motion sickness from tying their shoes. These people are meant to stay home and eat nachos. Geraldine DeRuiter is the latter. But she won't let that stop her. Hilarious, irreverent, and heartfelt, All Over the Place chronicles the years Geraldine spent traveling the world after getting laid off from a job she loved. Those years taught her a great number of things, though the ability to read a map was not one of them. She has only a vague idea of where Russia is, but she now understands her Russian father better than ever before. She learned that what she thought was her mother's functional insanity was actually an equally incurable condition called "being Italian." She learned what it's like to travel the world with someone you already know and love -- how that person can help you make sense of things and make far-off places feel like home. She learned about unemployment and brain tumors, lost luggage and lost opportunities, and just getting lost in countless terminals and cabs and hotel lobbies across the globe. And she learned that sometimes you can find yourself exactly where you need to be -- even if you aren't quite sure where you are.

    Designed to appeal to the generations of Westerners who grew up on Pokemon, manga and video games, A Geek in Japan reinvents the culture guide for readers in the Internet age.Spotlighting the originality and creativity of the Japanese, debunking myths about them, and answering nagging questions like why they're so fond of robots, author Hector Garcia has created the perfect book for the growing ranks of Japanophiles in this inspired, insightful and highly informative guide.