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"Since ancient times, the Japanese have lived with superstitions of strange presences and phenomena known as "yōkai, " creating a culture by turns infused with unease, fear, and divinity. Tsukimono spirit possessions. Fearsome kappa, oni, and tengu. Yamauba crones. Ghostly yūrei. Otherworldly ijin ... Where did they come from? Why do they remain so popular? Written by Japan's premier scholar of yōkai and strange tales, this book is both an introduction...
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"Japan's Wooden Heritage: A Journey Through a Thousand Years of Architecture brings together essays by architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori and photographs by Mitsumasa Fujitsuka, and commentary by structural engineer Mikio Koshihara that originally appeared in Kateigahō, Japan's premier magazine of art and culture, supplemented with additional essays by Mitsumasa Fujitsuka. What distinguishes this volume is its selection of 23 locations--including...
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"Nakano Kōji opens the door to the treasury of Japanese classics by introducing six writers who are his personal favorites. The writers under his lens span seven centuries, ranging from the twelfth century to the nineteenth. Three are poets; three wrote timeless prose. The hermit-monk Ryōkan, a poet who loved nothing more than bouncing balls with neighborhood children or just sitting sprawled in his hut listening to the sound of rain, teaches...
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"Toward the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, Mutsu Munemitsu was ousted from his home Kishū-han as a result of his father's defeat in a power struggle. To avenge this, Mutsu bolstered his talent to become a man of "genius and learning in equal measure." He joined the Kobe Naval Training Center founded by Katsu Kaishū and, later, Kaientai, a trading and shipping company and private navy founded and managed by Sakamoto Ryōma before the Meiji Restoration...
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"It is said that Japan is currently experiencing its third opening to the outside world. However, in terms of importance, rather than the so-called second opening— which refers to the reforms following World War II— the more significant opening was that of the Meiji Restoration, initiated and carried out by the Japanese themselves. Consequently, as Japan today finds itself feeling trapped with a sense of despair, it is to the Meiji era that we...
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"For several hundred years, Japanese porcelain has been highly acclaimed and sought after around the world. Sophisticated porcelain ware has long been produced in the Arita area of Kyushu, and artisans from the Kakiemon family have gained particular renown for their skill in enamels and their artistic designs. Now, for the first time, the techniques and tradition behind the creation of their ceramic works are disclosed through the words of the late...
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"Video games are often thought to draw children out of nature and into isolated, closed spaces. In The Lure of Pokémon: Video Games and the Savage Mind, however, Nakazawa Shinichi shows how the Pokémon series of video games, far from standing in opposition to nature, actually seeks to represent the true, hidden essence of the natural world. From humble beginnings as a video game launched in the mid-90s, Pokémon has become a global entertainment...
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"Thirty years have passed since Japan emerged on the global stage as the second largest economy quickly moving upwards. More than twenty years have passed since the bubble burst, wiping away inflated dreams of Japan as Number One. The Cold War ended and China has overtaken Japan as Number Two. The digital revolution has come and IoT is changing everything. And yet Japan remains near the top as the third richest economy in the world despite the fallout...
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"In this penetrating biography of Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931), one of Japan's foremost entrepreneurs, Shimada Masakazu traces Shibusawa's youth, when he witnessed the decay of Japan's feudal society and experienced the benefits of modernization at first hand in Europe; his service in the Ministry of Finance of the new Meiji government in its early years; and his venture into business and involvement in literally hundreds of companies as he set about...
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"Wasan--a unique form of Japanese mathematics--was developed during the Edo period (1603-1868), a time when the entire country was isolated from the rest of the world. Mathematics was enjoyed as a form of entertainment by adults and children alike and by people of all social classes. Jinkōki, an extraordinary mathematics textbook, was used at private elementary schools called terakoya and became a bestseller that could be found in every household....
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This book describes the history of the relationship between the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), heir to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and the United States Navy (US Navy). The two navies fought each other fiercely on the seas and in the air during the Pacific War. Each found the other a formidable enemy - they came to respect each other in action. Soon after the war, when the Cold War turned hot, they began to work together as allies....
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"Religion and tourism seem to be an unlikely pair, but in fact, taking a look at these two human behaviors provides invaluable insight into modern society. In the past, holy sites were of immense importance to those who followed a particular religion, and these places used to attract many faithful pilgrims. These days, however, people without faith visit holy places simply to experience something out of the ordinary. Furthermore, many places without...
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"True stories of three little-known Japanese of the Edo period who lived lives of sublime selflessness and purity, blurring the boundary between self and others. Merchant Kokudaya Jūzaburō comes up with a brilliant scheme to rescue his dying town from poverty. He and others go deep into debt, risking all to raise money for the cash-strapped daimyo and receive annual interest in return. Prodigious scholar and former Zen monk Nakane Tōri refuses...
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The author reexamines the dispute over historical perception between Japan and South Korea, identifying the many independent variables that have affected the situation. From the history textbook debates, to the Occupation-period exploitation of "comfort women," to the Dokdo/Takeshima territory dispute and Yasukuni Shrine visits, the author traces the rise and fall of popular, political, and international concerns underlying these complex and highly-fraught...