Black Lotus
• Laura Joh Rowland
MYSTERY •
2002 •
PAPER
When an unknown arsonist sets fire to a cottage on the grounds of the Black Lotus Temple, killing three sect members, seventeenth-century samurai detective Sano Ichiro is called on to investigate.
(JPN229, $6.99) |
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The Book of Five Rings
• William Scott Wilson
• Miyamoto Musashi
LITERATURE •
2002 •
HARD COVER
• 160 PAGES
The classic treatise on samurai philosophy, swordplay and winning by the legendary swordsman Musashi, originally published in 1643. Wilson includes an extensive introduction and a translation of Musashi's rarely published The Way of Walking Alone as well as original art by Musashi and new calligraphy by Shiro Tsujimura.
(JPN413, $19.00) |
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The Concubine's Tattoo
• Laura Joh Rowland
MYSTERY •
2000 •
PAPER
Sano Ichiro, is called upon to investigate a young concubine who was poisoned while applying a lover's tattoo, but the case is complicated by his new wife's interventions in the investigation, in a mystery set in seventeenth-century Japan.
(JPN231, $6.99) |
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Grass for His Pillow
• Lian Hearn
LITERATURE •
2007 •
PAPER
• 344 PAGES
• YOUNG ADULTS
Part two in the epic Otori series of adventure novels for young adults, set among the battles and warriors of feudal Japan.
(JPN276, $15.00) |
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Island of Exiles
• I. J. Parker
MYSTERY •
2007 •
PAPER
• 356 PAGES
Parker's hero Sugawara Akitada returns in a tale of gripping political intrigue. When an exiled prince is poisoned, Akitada is called upon to investigate and discovers a deadly conspiracy.
(JPN262, $15.00) |
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Japanese Inn
• Oliver Statler
LITERATURE •
1982 •
PAPER
• 365 PAGES
Set at a Japanese inn along the road from Kyoto, this partly fictional account evokes life through four generations -- an impressionistic overview of traditional Japan solidly based on actual historic events. Inspired by the author's discovery of Minaguchi-ya and its proprietors during his stint as a civil servant during the American occupation of Japan, the inn and its proprietors are real even if much of the history was reconstructed and invented. It's a gracefully told, engaging story. Illustrated with 50 Japanese prints.
(JPN39, $24.00) |
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The Perfumed Sleeve
• Laura Joh Rowland
MYSTERY •
2005 •
PAPER
When 1694 Edo erupts into violence in the wake of a conflict between two rival factions in 17th century Japan, the shogun's most esteemed investigator, Sano Ichiro, is urged by both sides to join their numbers.
(JPN226, $8.99) |
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The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
• Shonagon Sei
• Ivan Morris
LITERATURE •
2007 •
PAPER
• 416 PAGES
An eloquent, account of Heian court life, written in the 10th century by Sei Shonagon, an attendant to Empress Sadako. In addition to fascinating descriptions of goings-on about the court and musings on life and nature, there are classified lists of items such as "Things that Cannot be Compared" and "Things That One Is in a Hurry to See or Hear." Sei Shonagon's witty observations are a delight to read for their insight into 10th-century court life.
(JPN76, $17.00) |
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The Samurai's Wife
• Laura Joh Rowland
MYSTERY •
2001 •
PAPER
Sano Ichiro investigates the murder of a high Kyoto official in this mystery set in 17th century Japan.
(JPN230, $6.99) |
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Snow Country
• Edward G. Seidensticker
• Yasunari Kawabata
LITERATURE •
1996 •
PAPER
• 175 PAGES
A lyrical, moving short novel about the love affair between a prosperous Tokyo businessman and a young geisha from the mountains, set at a spa in the snowy mountains. This novel earned Kawabata the Nobel Prize for literature. Masterfully translated by Edward Seidensticker.
(JPN40, $14.00) |
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The Tale of Genji
• Murasaki Shikibu
• Edward G. Seidensticker
LITERATURE •
1983 •
PAPER
• 1090 PAGES
The unabridged version of one of the most famous works of Japanese prose, masterfully translated by Edward Seidensticker. This is the story of Genji, a romantic man in the Heian court, as written in the 11th-century by Lady Murasaki, and brought into a colloquial modern language by Seidensticker. Illustrated throughout with woodcuts from a 17th-century Japanese edition.
(JPN73, $29.95) |
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Tale of the Heike
• Helen Craig McCullough
LITERATURE •
1988 •
PAPER
• 489 PAGES
Japan's most famous war tale about the fall of the Taira (Heike) clan and the victory of the Minamoto (Genji) during the end of the 12th century, marking a violent end to the largely peaceful Heian period. Also known as the Heike Monagatari, this military epic was compiled from several oral sources and finally transcribed in the 14th century.
(JPN75, $29.95) |
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