Kyoko Kuonji is said to be with child for the last twenty months, and her husband Makio disappeared a few months prior to her pregnancy. The odd circumstances have left the family with no one to turn to for help, until a freelance writer asks his exorcist friend to take on the case. The catch-the exorcist does not believe in ghosts. To Akihiko "Kyogokudo" Chuzenji, the supernatural is as much metaphysical and mental as it is unearthly.The Summer of the Ubume was the debut work by the Neil Gaiman of Japanese mystery fiction - Natsuhiko Kyogoku. Weaving together intrigue and Kyogoku's passion for Japanese folklore, particularly the paranormal and preternatural, this Summer gives birth to a new form of Japanese fiction.

    Geared toward students, teachers, readers, and writers alike, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory explains critical jargon (intertextuality, aporia), schools of literary theory (structuralism, feminist criticism), literary forms (sonnet, ottava rima), and genres (elegy, pastoral) and examines artifacts, historic locales, archetypes, origins of well-known phrases, and much, much more. Scholarly, straightforward, comprehensive, and even entertaining, this is a resource that no word-lover should be without.

    A writer and academic, Tracy carefully constructed a life she loved in her hometown of Boston. But everything is upended when she falls head over heels for the most unlikely mate: a Japanese salary-man based in Osaka, who barely speaks her language. Deciding to give fate a chance, Tracy builds a life and marriage in Japan, a country both fascinating and profoundly alienating, where she can read neither the language nor the simplest social cues. There, she finds herself dependent on her husband to order her food, answer the phone, and give her money. When she begins to learn Japanese, she discovers the language is inextricably connected with nuanced cultural dynamics that would take a lifetime to absorb. Finally, when Tracy longs for a child, she ends up trying to grow her family with a Petri dish and an army of doctors with whom she can barely communicate. And yet, despite the challenges, Tracy is sustained by her husband’s quiet love, and being with him feels more like “home” than anything ever has. Steadily and surely, she fills her life in Japan with meaningful connections, a loving marriage, and wonder at her adopted country, a place that will never feel natural or easy, but which provides endless opportunities for growth, insight, and sometimes humor. A memoir of travel and romance, The Good Shufu is a celebration of the life least expected: messy, overwhelming, and deeply enriching in its complications.

    But when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, Emma's family moves to a town outside Lowell, Massachusetts, to stay with Emma's grandmother while her mom undergoes treatment.Emma feels out of place in the United States.She begins to have migraines, and longs to be back in Japan. At her grandmother's urging, she volunteers in a long-term care center to help Zena, a patient with locked-in syndrome, write down her poems. There, Emma meets Samnang, another volunteer, who assists elderly Cambodian refugees. Weekly visits to the care center, Zena's poems, dance, and noodle soup bring Emma and Samnang closer, until Emma must make a painful choice: stay in Massachusetts, or return home early to Japan.

     For those of you who can’t just slip away from life, travel to France and immerse yourself in the language in order to learn it, this is your solution! Reading and listening to native-spoken French stories is the next best thing. You have at your fingertips the written word AND an accompanying audio recording that allows you to: Gain a greater vocabulary that you can use immediately, every day. You will add 1,500+ French words and expressions to your repertoire through the encounter of descriptive sentences and casual conversations woven throughout the stories. Sharpen your comprehension of the spoken word by listening to a native French speaker. Learn how to pronounce French words properly by comparing the written word to the audio recording. Familiarize yourself with a wide range of grammar structures and put them to use today. Avoid the monotonous task of memorizing grammar rules. How awesome is that?! How this book will improve your French language skills: Each story is recorded in two different ways: A slow version helps beginners improve their pronunciation, and a normal, natural speed for intermediate and advanced learners trains your ears to understand what is being said. You receive 4 hours of MP3 audio recording! There is no need for a dictionary. Each story is broken down with a French and English glossary that introduces you to the words and phrases you might not understand. This comes in handy because there is no need for the irritating process of flipping pages, continually searching for definitions or translations. A vocabulary recap at the end of each chapter allows you to review what you have read and listened to so you don’t forget the essential words and expressions taught throughout the lesson. The book contains 15 stories with the following themes: Family, Months, Days, Numbers, Weather, Introduce yourself, House, Nature, Clothing, Shopping, Visiting/Tourism, Weekend Activities, Daily Routine, Describe yourself, Food, Cooking, Jobs and Occupation, At the Train Station. All stories are written using vocabulary that you could easily use in your day-to-day conversations. With this book and accompanying audio you can start improving your French today!

    This clearly written history explains how a country embedded in the traditions of Shinto, Shoguns and Samurai has achieved stupendous economic growth and dominance in this century.

    Bouya just wants to be the number one fighter in school and in doing so he sets off a chain of events of high school gang warfare in the area.

    And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.But the city is changing. As it does, it pushes her to the margins where she chances upon a series of apparent strangers – from a homeless man squatting in an abandoned hotel, to a shut-in hermit afraid to leave his house, to a convenience store worker searching for love. The cat orbits Tokyo’s denizens, drawing them ever closer.

    Ranging through history, literature, folklore, linguistics, and sociology, this is a breezy, straightforward primer of surprising breadth.

    His magnum opus, the Go-Rin-Sho or Book of Five Rings is a classic that is still read by tens of thousands of people each year—Japanese and foreigners alike.Alex Bennett's groundbreaking new translation of The Book of Five Rings reveals the true meaning of this text for the first time. Like Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Musashi's book offers unique insights, not just for warriors, but for anyone wanting to apply the Zen Buddhist principle of awareness to achieve success in their endeavors. This book sheds new light on Japanese history and on the philosophical meaning of Bushido—the ancient "code of the Japanese warrior."Unlike other translations that are based on incomplete and inaccurate versions of Musashi's work, Bennett's is the first to be based on a careful reconstruction of the long-lost original manuscript. Capturing the subtle nuances of the original Japanese classic, the result is a far more accurate and meaningful English version of The Book of Five Rings text. Richly annotated and with an extensive introduction to Musashi's life, this version includes a collection of his other writings—translated into English for the first time. A respected scholar, as well as a skilled martial artist, Bennett's understanding of Musashi's life and work is unparalleled. This book will be widely read by students of Japanese culture, history. military strategy, and martial arts. It sets a new standard against which all other translations will be measured.

    This striking book contains full-color woodblock prints made during Japan's famous Edo Period, historic and contemporary photographs of geisha life, and images of the "floating world" Japan's mysterious artistic subculture. The accompanying text includes evocative Japanese poems and haikus. All celebrate the beauty and creativity of the geisha, who with her exquisitely detailed costume, elaborate make-up and hairstyle, and artfully ritualized behavior, chastely beguiles and entertains Japan's most powerful men.

    Comprising of twelve titles on Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, this series caters to students of classes VII to X. The core objective of the series is to help aspiring students understand the basic concepts with more clarity, in turn, developing a problem-solving approach. It also encourages students to attempt various competitive examinations from an early age. Introduces the IIT-JEE syllabus and approach in a simple manner making it easy to integrate along with the regular curriculum Uses graded approach to generate, build and retain interest in concepts and their applications Comprehensive pedagogy:  Illustrative examples solved in a logical and step-wise manner  "Test Your Concepts" at the end of every chapter for classroom preparations  "Concept Application" section with problems divided as per complexity-basic to moderate to difficult  Hints and explanations for key questions along with highlights on the common mistakes that students usually make in the examinations Students aspiring admission in IIT's and other top engineering colleges.

    Taro would wear the historic dark blue uniform and learn alongside other little Einsteins while she basked in the glory of his high achievements with the other perfect moms. Together they would climb the rungs into the country's successful elite. But it didn't turn out that way. Taro had other things in mind.While set in Japan, their struggles in the school's hyper-competitive environment mirror those faced by parents here in the US and raise the same questions about the best way to educate a child—especially one that doesn’t quite fit the mold. Public or private? Competitive or nurturing? Standardized or individualized. Helicopter parenting or free-range? Amid this frenzied debate, how does one find balance and maintain a healthy parent-child relationship?Dear Diary Boy is an intensely personal, heartwarming, and heartbreaking chronicle of one mother and child's experience in a prestigious private Tokyo school. It's a tale that will resonate with all parents as we try to answer the age-old questions of how best to educate our children and what, truly, is in their best interests versus what is in our own.

    A tried and tested course over 40 years with proven track record of success, it is ideal in terms of the topics covered and short time taken to learn. It is suitable for schools and colleges in the UK and other Western English speaking countries. This course is a comprehensive and popular course for the teaching of the Qur'anic and Traditional Arabic, originally devised and taught at the renowned Islamic University of Madinah, catering for the non-Arabic speaking students from all over the world. Over the years, this course has enabled students to become competent in their use of the Arabic language and to participate and benefit from scholarly pursuits such as Qur'anic exegesis, Hadeeth, Fiqh, Seerah, History, and classical and modern Arabic literature.Whilst there are now several courses available on the market for the teaching of the Arabic language, the unique features of this particular one are: 1. It is very concise, consisting of only three books, all of which are short but extensive in their coverage. 2. It combines modern Arabic vocabulary with Islamic terminology as used in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. 3. It covers all the essential Arabic grammatical rules in such a way that the student is spared the monotonous task of memorizing them 4. The author presents Arabic as a living and vibrant language and takes examples from Arabic in everyday use, as also from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, so that as the student learns the languages, he also acquires an understanding of hundreds of Qur'anic verses, ahaadeeth, Arabic parables and poetry. This allows the student to become directly involved in the study of the Qur'an and the Sunnah while also acquiring a sound understanding of the Arabic language.

    Born in Tokyo but also raised and educated in the United States, Minae Mizumura acknowledges the value of a universal language in the pursuit of knowledge, yet also embraces the different ways of understanding offered by multiple tongues. She warns against losing this precious diversity.Universal languages have always played a pivotal role in advancing human societies, Mizumura shows, but in the globalized world of the Internet, English is fast becoming the sole common language of humanity. The process is unstoppable, and striving for total language equality is delusional--and yet, particular kinds of knowledge can be gained only through writings in specific languages.Mizumura calls these writings "texts" and their ultimate form "literature." Only through literature, and more fundamentally through the diverse languages that give birth to a variety of literatures, can we nurture and enrich humanity. Incorporating her own experiences as a writer and a lover of language, and embedding a parallel history of Japanese, Mizumura offers an intimate look at the phenomena of individual and national expression.