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ART AND CRAFT OF JAPAN
More Books

36 Views of Mount Fuji, On Finding Myself in Japan • Cathy Davidson BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2006 • PAPER • 288 PAGES A thoughtful set of witty reflections on Japan, Japanese culture and the adventure of living overseas by a talented writer who taught at an all women's university in Japan in the 1980s. This new edition includes an afterward by the author, who went back to see friends in 2005 (whose lives were changed by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake). (JPN65, $23.95)
About This Life, Journeys on the Threshold of Memory • Barry Lopez ANTHOLOGY • 1999 • PAPER • 273 PAGES A collection of essays on far-flung travels -- both actual and internal -- by the wonderful writer and traveler. Lopez includes Galapagos, Hokkaido, Bonaire and Antarctica among the thoughtful essays. As in all his work, the book is a rare combination of fine writing, adventure, insight and personal reflection. (GEN42, $15.00)
Ainu, Spirit of a Northern People • William Fitzhugh ARCHAEOLOGY • 2001 • PAPER • 416 PAGES A magnificently illustrated, handsomely produced overview of Ainu history, art and culture. Dozens of experts contributed to this companion volume to the Smithsonian exhibition, edited by William Fitzhugh. (JPN101, $49.95)
Anthology of Japanese Literature from the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth Century • Donald Keene ANTHOLOGY • 1988 • PAPER • 442 PAGES A classic first published in 1955, this book presents great Japanese literature over the ages. Followed by "Modern Japanese Literature" (JPN72). (JPN12, $16.95)
Architecture and Authority in Japan • William H. Coaldrake ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1996 • HARD COVER A study of Japanese architecture and its relationship to political and religious power structures throughout the history of the country. (JPN112, $64.95)
An Artist in the Floating World • Kazuo Ishiguro LITERATURE • 1989 • PAPER • 206 PAGES In his second novel, Ishiguro weaves a tale of an aging artist in postwar Japan. In the midst of his daughter's engagement preparations, he reflects on his career, questioning his decision to become a political painter and wondering whether he should have remained a traditional painter of tea houses and geisha. (JPN58, $14.00)
Audrey Hepburn's Neck, A Novel • Alan Brown LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 304 PAGES This exquisite short novel follows the adventures of 23-year-old Toshi, a young man from the rural north who makes his way to crazy, contemporary Tokyo. Apart from its stunning language, strong images and characters, this prize-winning novel also captures the eclectic, mixed-up society of contemporary Japan. (JPN14, $20.95)
The Battle for Okinawa • Yahara, Hirochimi BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1997 • PAPER • 245 PAGES First published in Japan in 1973, this enthralling personal account of the last great battle of WWII is from the viewpoint of the the senior staff officer of the Japanese 32nd Army. (JPN222, $19.95)
The Birds of Heaven, Travels With Cranes • Peter Matthiessen • Robert Bateman NATURAL HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 352 PAGES • COMING IN Matthiessen traveled with the cranes to Siberia, Japan, Mongolia, North America, China, Bhutan, East Africa, Australia, India and Texas for this handsomely illustrated, informative book. Organizing the book geographically, he interweaves his travels with insightful commentary on the conservation, ecology, and the significance of the crane in art and culture. With color paintings by Robert Bateman. (BRD11, $16.00)
Black Arrow • I. J. Parker MYSTERY • 2006 • PAPER • 352 PAGES In this installment of I.J. Parker's Sugawara Akitada series, set in eleventh-century Japan., detective Akitada is working as provisional governor in the isolated Northern city of Echigo, where there is a series of brutal slayings. (JPN201, $15.00)
Black Rain • Masuji Ibuse • Johan Bester LITERATURE • 1994 • PAPER • 304 PAGES The people of a Japanese village fight to maintain their humanity and tradition in the radioactive "rain" after the bombing of Hiroshima. (JPN192, $12.00)
The Blue-Eyed Tarokaja, A Donald Keene Anthology • Donald Keene CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1996 • HARD COVER • 290 PAGES Personal, eccentric and well informed, the renowned professor of Japanese literature and distinguished translator offers miscellaneous essays and recollections of life and culture in Japan. Keene tackles Japanese music, language, society and literature in these insightful pieces. (JPN15, $45.00)
Botchan • Natsume Soseki LITERATURE • 2005 • HARD COVER • 172 PAGES The humorous tale of a young man's rebellion against "the system" in a country school in southern Japan. (JPN191, $22.00)
Buddhism, A Concise Introduction • Huston Smith • Philip Novak RELIGION • 2004 • PAPER • 256 PAGES This two-part primer, derived in part from Smith's bestselling World Religions focuses in the first half on Theravada Buddhism comparing South Asian and other traditions. The second part, written by Smith's student Philip Novak, looks at Buddhism in the west. (ASA41, $12.99)
Buddhist Art and Architecture • Robert Fisher ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1993 • PAPER • 216 PAGES A wide-ranging, illustrated survey of Buddhist art, architecture and iconography in the excellent World of Art series. It includes examples from throughout Asia. (ASA30, $19.95)
Cha-No-Yu, The Japanese Tea Ceremony • Arthur L. Sadler • A.L. Sadler CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1991 • PAPER • 265 PAGES An enlightening, exhaustively detailed guide to the disciplined ceremony associated with drinking tea in Japan, first published in 1933. With a genealogy of tea masters, helpful illustrations and a few black-and-white photographs. A reprint of the 1962 edition (in very small type). (JPN59, $14.95)
Chrysanthemum and the Sword, Patterns of Japanese Culture • Ruth Benedict • Ian Buruma CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2006 • PAPER • 324 PAGES Published in the aftermath of World War II, this brilliant exploration of the Japanese psyche and culture retains its interest today, as much for its perspective on the West as for insights about the Japanese character. Benedict, who also wrote Patterns of Culture, was a respected anthropologist of the time. Written with the full cooperation of the Office of War Information, Benedict based her study on interviews with hundreds of Japanese, many of them immigrants to America. (JPN23, $15.00)
Classic Japanese Inns and Country Getaways • Margaret Price GUIDEBOOK • 1990 • PAPER • 288 PAGES The essential, illustrated guide to the ryokan of your desire, organized by prefecture and with a good introduction to the evolution of the Japanese inn. Price, a journalist and writer who has lived in Japan since 1982, describes favorite inns, often ancient, sometimes luxurious, throughout the country. (JPN182, $23.00)
A Cook's Tour, Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines • Anthony Bourdain FOOD • 2002 • PAPER • 274 PAGES In this deliciously funny book, Bourdain eats his way around the globe on a quest for the perfect (or perfectly odd) meal. From fried Mars Bars in Glasgow to cobra hearts in Cambodia, there's nowhere this wise-cracking chef won't go and nothing he won't try. (TVL90, $14.99)
Crawling at Night • Nani Power LITERATURE • 2002 • PAPER • 240 PAGES Two nocturnal denizens of New York, a widower from Japan and a single mother from North Carolina, stumble through the city and their troubled pasts in this atmospheric debut novel from a former sushi chef. (NYC83, $13.00)
Deep River • Shusaku Endo LITERATURE • 1996 • PAPER One of many novels by the 20th-century Japanese writer, a Roman Catholic whose many works explore chistianity and morals. This one is set among a group of Japanese tourists in India. (JPN159, $14.95)
Dogs and Demons, Tales from the Dark Side of Japan • Alex Kerr CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2001 • PAPER • 320 PAGES Alex Kerr, a long-term resident of Japan, documents the changing economy and current economic crisis in this provocative book. He sees the effects of a myopic modernization everywhere, from a damaged environment to the collapse of the tourism industry. In making a case for examining Japan with the emphasis of simply the economy, Kerr creates a fascinating, compelling work. (JPN55, $18.95)
Donald Richie Reader, 50 Years of Writing on Japan • Donald Richie • Arturo Silva ANTHOLOGY • 2001 • PAPER • 238 PAGES A wonderful selection of essays, criticism and other writing from Richie's many books, published articles and unpublished diaries on Japan. He covers a wide range of topics and interests, including travel, film, aesthetics and Zen Buddhism. (JPN89, $19.95)
The Dragon Scroll • I. J. Parker MYSTERY • 2005 • PAPER • 432 PAGES In this installment of the popular mystery series set in eleventh-century Japan, detective Sugawara Akitada travels to the province of Kazusa to investigate a theft. (JPN202, $15.00)
During the Rains & Flowers in the Shade • Nagai Kafu • Lane Dunlop LITERATURE • 1994 • PAPER • 223 PAGES Two 1930s novellas of seamy Tokyo by the writer whom Donald Richie called the "finest of Tokyo chroniclers." "During the Rains" takes as its subject a working girl of the Ginza district, while "Flowers in the Shade" follows a man whose lover (and breadwinner) is a prostitute. Throughout both books, Nagai Kafu laces lingering, nostalgic descriptions of Tokyo neighborhoods. (JPN106, $21.95)
Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of WWII • John W. Dower HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 676 PAGES A social and political history of Japan during the postwar occupation, mixing analysis, reporting, popular culture and straight-forward narrative history. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, it's an eye-opening account by a leading scholar of Japanese-American relations at MIT. With 80 photographs and illustrations, including some terrific cartoons and other cultural artifacts from the period. (JPN54, $19.95)
Empire of Signs • Roland Barthes CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1983 • PAPER • 109 PAGES In these marvelous, original and exasperating reflections, the great French semiotician comments of the signs and meaning of things Japanese. With chapters on chopsticks, pachinko, packages, bowing, food and other Japanese cultural artifacts. Donald Richie includes Empire of Signs in a short list of best books on Japan. Barthes, who visited Japan in the 1960s, uses his experiences and concrete observations as a point of departure. (JPN163, $14.00)
The Empty Mirror, Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery • Janwillem Van De Wetering RELIGION • 1999 • PAPER • 160 PAGES A candid account of novelist van de Wetering's experiences as a novice monk at Daitoku-ji Zen monastery in Kyoto in the late 1950s. Van de Wetering is the Dutch author of a wildly popular series of detective novels. (JPN164, $14.95)
The Essential Haiku, Versions of Basho, Buson and Issa • Robert Hass LITERATURE • 1994 • PAPER • 329 PAGES A felicitous pairing of translator and text. Like the former Poet Laureate Robert Hass, who edited the volume, these three Japanese masters -- Basho (1644-1694), Buson (1716-1783) and Issa (1763-1827) -- looked out of their windows often and in many moods. They wrote glintingly, but deeply, of the natural world and their places therein. (JPN93, $16.99)
First Fish, First People, Salmon Tales of the North Pacific Rim • Meg McHutchinson • Judith Roche • One Reel ANTHOLOGY • 1998 • PAPER • 204 PAGES An anthology of essays, poems and histories by a pan-Pacific cast of writers whose various cultures -- including Ainu (Japan), Coast Salish (British Columbia), Spokane (Washington) and Ulchi (Siberia) -- have traditionally identified with the salmon. It's a lovely book, illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs, and made the more poignant by the salmon's decline in the coastal regions. (PNW116, $24.95)
Five by Endo • Shusaku Endo LITERATURE • 2000 • PAPER • 96 PAGES A posthumously published collection of short stories by the 20th-century Japanese writer, a Roman Catholic whose many works explore Christianity and morals. (JPN158, $12.95)
The Floating World • James Michener • Howard A. Link ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1990 • PAPER • 453 PAGES Michener delves into the history of Japanese printmaking, a tradition that has endured for two centuries because of the government's strict regulations and the country's geographic isolation. (JPN57, $27.95)
Fodor's Exploring Japan • David Scott GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 288 PAGES A compact guide to the history, culture and attractions of Japan, this guidebook published in England features color photographs, maps and a region-by-region overview of attractions. It includes walking tours and good neighborhood maps. (JPN33, $22.00)
Frommer's Japan • Frommer's GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 672 PAGES A comprehensive, practical guide to travel in Japan. (JPN117, $25.99)
Gambling with Virtue, Japanese Women and the Search for Self in a Changing Nation • Nancy Ross Rosenberger CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2001 • PAPER • 344 PAGES In this intriguing work of social analysis, Rosenberger follows the fates of Japanese women from the 1970s through the 1990s, looking carefully at changing experiences, demands and notions of identity. A cultural anthropologist by training, the author builds a portrait of Japanese society through the personal experiences of dozens of women. (JPN129, $28.00)
Geisha • Liza Crihfield Dalby CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2008 • PAPER • 380 PAGES In the mid 1970s, Liza Dalby, an American graduate student in anthropology, made her research personal when she decided to study the world of the geisha by becoming one herself. This book is her collection of observations and interpretations concerning this intriguing role in traditional Japanese society. (JPN49, $25.95)
Getting Wet, Adventures in the Japanese Bath • Eric Talmadge CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2006 • HARD COVER • 256 PAGES • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE Talmadge reflects on Japanese bathing culture and the obsession with finding the perfect environment (bath "theme parks" are one), the perfect temperature, and the perfect odor to achieve the ideal bath. The long history and science of Japanese bathing mingle with a study of water's healing powers and sound advice on where and when to visit the baths. (JPN197, $22.00)
The Girl Who Played Go • Shan Sa • Adriana Hunter LITERATURE • 2004 • PAPER • 320 PAGES An accomplished novel set in a Manchurian city in the war-torn 1930s, where a spirited 16-year-old Chinese girl and a young Japanese soldier find peace in a game of Go. Winner of the 2004 Kiriyama Prize, the novel captures the turmoil of the changing fortunes and war in the region. Sa Shan, who was born in Beijing, has lived in France since 1990. This is her first novel to be translated into English. (CHN214, $15.95)
A Guide to the Gardens of Kyoto • Marc Treib • Ron Herman GUIDEBOOK • 2004 • PAPER • 202 PAGES Treib, a professor of architecture at the University of California at Berkeley, covers 52 gardens in this convenient guide. With a history and overview, visitor information and succinct commentary. Organized geographically, each of the featured gardens gets several pages with special features, practical information, history, comments and several black-and-white photographs. (JPN07, $22.00)
Haruko's World, A Japanese Farm Woman and Her Community • Gail Lee Bernstein CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1985 • PAPER • 199 PAGES A portrait of everyday life in contemporary rural Japan. The author six-month stayed with Haruko and her family in 1974-75. With photographs. Haruko emerges as a complex, lively character, far removed from the usual stereotypes. (JPN150, $24.95)
The Heritage of Japanese Civilization • Albert M. Craig HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 173 PAGES An accessible short history of Japanese history and culture from prehistoric times to the end of the 20th century, written for an undergraduate audience. With black-and-white illustrations and maps throughout. (JPN174, $49.80)
Hired Swords, The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan • Karl F. Friday HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 265 PAGES A scholarly history of court-warrior relationships and the rise of Japanese military institutions from the 7th to mid-12th centuries. With illustrations of Illustrations of the armor, weapons and other military accouterments. (JPN146, $27.95)
Hiroshima • John Hersey HISTORY • 1989 • PAPER • 152 PAGES This classic book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, first published in 1946, puts a human face on the unthinkable. Hersey explores the tragedy through interviews with residents, scientists and politicians. (JPN20, $7.95)
The History of Gardens • Christopher Thacker NATURAL HISTORY • 1985 • PAPER A standard world history of gardens, well illustrated and wide-ranging, covering everything from Zen gardens in Japan to English country gardens. (GRD09, $45.00)
A History of Japan • Conrad D. Totman HISTORY • 2005 • PAPER • 684 PAGES A revised edition of Totman's authoritative history of Japan from c.8000 BC to the present day, geared for undergraduates. (JPN199, $59.95)
A History of Japan, From Stone Age to Superpower • Kenneth G. Henshall HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 235 PAGES A brief, accessible survey of the transformation of Japan, its people and economy, from feudal society to economic powerhouse. (JPN133, $21.95)
Hitching Rides with Buddha • Will Ferguson TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2006 • PAPER • 304 PAGES As irreverent as ever, Will Ferguson tracks cherry blossoms from Kagoshima to Rishiri Island in this rollicking report from the cultural frontlines in Japan. Fall foliage is nothing compared to the mania experienced in Japan over Cherry Blossom Viewing. It's got it's own name (hanami) and it is, among other things, a good excuse to loiter (in parks, temples, cemeteries) and get roaring drunk. Ferguson spent five years living in Japan. (JPN188, $14.00)
In the Ring of Fire, A Pacific Basin Journey • James Houston CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1997 • PAPER • 224 PAGES A lyrical narrative of the author's journeys through Japan, Indonesia, Micronesia, Hawaii and California. From contemplating the Kilauea crater to watching a Ryukyuan dance at an Okinawa community center, Houston reveals the pan-Pacific identity that has emerged from the mixing of Eastern and Western cultures. From the author of "Farewell to Manzanar." (PAC45, $14.95)
The Inland Sea • Donald Richie TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2002 • PAPER • 255 PAGES • FAVORITE Richie's book, on its surface a travel account, is a beautiful reflection on all things Japanese by one of the country's most acute observers. Anyone with an interest in Japan would enjoy this book, those on a voyage through the inland sea even more so. Written after many decades in Japan, The Inland Sea is among the best of the master's many books. Arturo Silva, who edited the Donald Richie Reader, calls it his masterpiece (and a work of fiction). (JPN13, $16.95)
Insight Guide Japan • Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 400 PAGES A comprehensive, illustrated guide to the culture, history and attractions of Japan for the traveler, featuring excellent full color maps. It includes sections on arts and crafts, performing arts, etiquette, and other topics of interest. Half the book is devoted to a survey of attractions throughout the archipelago. (JPN74, $23.99)
Introduction to Japanese Architecture • Michiko Kimura Young • David Young ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2003 • HARD COVER • 128 PAGES A brief overview of Japanese architecture from early settlement through the 20th-century. The authors consider Buddhist and local influences, the impact of the shogunates and Western influences. With 270 watercolors and color photographers. (JPN171, $34.95)
Japan and Its World, Two Centuries of Change • Marius Jansen CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1995 • PAPER • 150 PAGES Jansen distills a lifetime of scholarship in this elegant meditation on ideas the Japanese have had of themselves, the United States, and the Western world, originally delivered as a lecture series in 1975. (JPN221, $30.95)
Japan Atlas, A Bilingual Guide • Kodansha International GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 88 PAGES This newly revised, one-of-a-kind guide features large-scale regional maps, as well as maps of major cities, tourist areas, transportation, national parks and historic spots. Kodansha's guide is the only atlas that includes place-names in English and Japanese on all 68 maps. (JPN208, $24.00)
The Japan Journals, 1947-2004 • Donald Richie • Leza Lowitz BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2005 • PAPER • 494 PAGES A well-edited collection of journal excerpts from the eminent film historian and observer of Japan. With 75 black-and-white photographs. (JPN141, $18.95)
Japan Map • Periplus Maps 2009 • MAP Handsome, accurate and regularly updated, this convenient map covers the island nation with insets of the major cities. It has a variety of scales, with the majority at 1:2,000,000. Two Sides. 20x38 inches. (JPN06, $8.95)
Japan, A Reinterpretation • Patrick Smith CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1998 • PAPER • 400 PAGES Informed by the author's experience as a journalist in Asia and wide-ranging research, this provocative book tears down the image of Japan as a nation of conservative workaholics. It's a thoughtful, stimulating look at the country since World War II, targeting the role of the U.S. in creating modern Japan. Highly recommended. (JPN16, $15.95)
Japan, A Short Cultural History • George A. Sansom HISTORY • 1978 • PAPER • 548 PAGES A classic overview of Japanese culture and history, originally published in 1931. Sansom was professor of Japanese studies and Director of the East Asian Institute (1947-1953) at Columbia University. (JPN151, $38.95)
Japan, Its History and Culture • W. Scott Morton HISTORY • 2004 • PAPER • 311 PAGES A concise survey of Japanese history, people and culture from ancient origins to contemporary society. With selections from Japanese literature and arts, anecdotes and illustrations. Aimed at the college student, the book is also appropriate for the traveler. Morton keeps a tight focus on the character and personality of Japan as it evolved over the centuries. (JPN03, $21.00)
Japan/Korea Political Wall Map • 1995 • MAP A National Geograpic wall map showing Japan and Korea at a scale of 1:3,500,000. 30" x 24". Price includes separate shipping in a sturdy cardboard tube. One Side. 30x24 inches. (JPN122, $14.99)
Japan: Why It Works, Why It Doesn't • James Mak • Shigeyuki Abe • Kazuhiro Igawa • Shyam Sunder CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1997 • PAPER • 219 PAGES Organized as a series of 26 short essays, this social and economic history of Japan is of equal interest to students and travelers. It's a lively look at the everyday economics of the Japanese. Witih chapters on marriage, gifts, pachinko, brand-name goods, small shops, vending machines, hiring practices, banking, television and other topics. (JPN153, $20.00)
Japanese Beyond Words, How to Walk and Talk Like a Native Speaker • Andrew Horvat GUIDEBOOK • 2000 • PAPER • 176 PAGES • COMING IN A long time resident of Tokyo, Horvat explains how to dress, walk, talk, slurp, and bow your way to cultural fluency in Japanese. He covers the sometimes confounding etiquette of shoes, doors, politeness, dress, business cards and other keys to getting along in Japan. (JPN194, $14.95)
Japanese Culture • Paul Varley HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 383 PAGES A popular introduction to Japanese history and culture for undergraduates, expanded for this fourth edition. In this admirably succinct book, Valery traces cultural trends from the emergence of Japanese civilization through the present age, touching on religion, gardens, tea ceremony, the visual arts, theatre, literature and cinema. With black-and-white photographs throughout. (JPN84, $24.00)
Japanese Discovery of Europe, 1720-1830 • Donald Keene HISTORY • 1969 • PAPER • 272 PAGES A classic overview of Japanese perceptions of the West before the arrival of Commander Perry by the marvelous scholar of Japanese literature, originally published in 1952. This revised edition includes two chapters covering 1798 to 1830. The book is an schorarly but nicely written study of Japanese and Western interactions, much of which involved the Dutch presence in Nagasaki. Keene focuses in particular on the work of Honda Toshiaki, an intriguing writer of the late Edo period. (JPN152, $24.95)
Japanese Foreign Policy at the Crossroads, Challenges and Options for the Twenty-First Century • Yutaka Kawashima HISTORY • 2003 • HARD COVER • 162 PAGES A though-provoking analysis by the man who was Japan's vice minister of foreign affairs from 1999 to 2001. Kawashima, who argues for international co-operation, has been ambassador to Israel, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and teacher at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. (JPN132, $32.95)
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)
The Japanese Today, Continuity and Change • Edwin O. Reischauer • Marius Jansen HISTORY • 2004 • PAPER • 459 PAGES A classic survey of Japanese culture and society by the infulential Harvard professor Edwin O. Reischauer, first published in 1977 and revised for this edition by Marius Jansen. (JPN83, $29.00)
Japanese Touch for Your Garden • Kiyoshi Seike • Masanobu Kudo • Haruzo Ohashi GUIDEBOOK • 1993 • PAPER • 80 PAGES A color guide to creating a Japanese garden with step-by-step instructions on design and planting, suggested garden plans and notes on plant care. It's well illustrated with color photographs of well known gardens of Japan. (JPN172, $25.00)
Japanese, A Language Map • Kristine K. Kershul LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2001 • PLASTIC CARD This durable, foldout card, featuring 1,000 words and phrases, works as a quick reference for travelers. (JPN177, $7.95)
Japanese, Start Speaking Today • Language/30 LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 1992 • AUDIO CD A 90-minute crash course in Japanese, featured on compact disc with a phrasebook. (JPN224, $24.95)
Lafcadio Hearn's Japan • Lafcadio Hearn • Donald Richie ANTHOLOGY • 2007 • PAPER • 256 PAGES An astute sampling of the 19th-century teacher and translator's stories, letters and reflections on Japan and it people. Ricthie, who selected these gems from Hearn's many writings, provides a preface and introduction. Hearn died in Tokyo in 1904. (JPN50, $16.95)
Learning to Bow, Inside the Heart of Japan • Bruce Feiler TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2004 • PAPER • 321 PAGES As surprising, helpful and informative as it is funny, this is an insightful account of travels and teaching in Japan. Feiler presents the rituals, personality traits and cultural peccadilloes of the Japanese through anecdote, often making fun of himself in the process. Highly recommended. First published in 1991. (JPN111, $13.99)
Letters to Henrietta • Lisa Chubbuck • Isabella Bird BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2003 • PAPER • 356 PAGES This eye-opening collection of letters back home, nicely selected by Lisa Chubbuck with an intrridction and notes, reveals the tenacity, self-promotion and verve of the Victorian maiden aunt of modern travel writers. An unlikely candidate for adventure, Bird's ill health propelled her to the Colorado Rockies, Hawaii, China, and Japan -- and into the confidence of Queen Victoria, the King of Hawaii, and William Gladstone. She also carried on with a one-eyed trapper and fended off many other more suitable suitors. That's quite a transformation for a middle-aged spinster from the Isle of Mull. Travel does a person good. With 32 illustrations, maps, notes, and bibliography. In two parts: The first world tour, 1872-3 (the sea Australia, Hawaii, Colorado); The second world tour, 1878-9 (Japan and the way thither, China, Malay Peninsula). (WLD39, $24.95)
Life of Jesus • Shusaku Endo BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1989 • PAPER An extended essay on Jesus by the 20th-century Japanese novelist, a Roman Catholic whose many works explore chistianity and morals. (JPN156, $11.95)
Light Verse from the Floating World • Makoto Ueda LITERATURE • 1999 • PAPER • 273 PAGES An anthology of 400 seventeen-syllable verse poems, divided into ten sections, each introduced by Makoto Ueda. The comic poems poke fun at the ruling and warrior classes, foibles and habits of townsfolk, and other aspects of the human condition of Edo Japan (where adultery was apparently common place). (JPN86, $28.00)
Liquid Jade, The Story of Tea from Wast to West • Beatrice Hohenegger HISTORY • 2006 • HARD COVER • 256 PAGES Hohenegger takes in the history, as well as the spiritual, cultural and economic importance of tea in this captivating tale of politics and intrigue. (ASA54, $25.95)
Lonely Planet Hiking in Japan • Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 440 PAGES This convenient guide features trail maps and route descriptions of walks throughout Japan. With detailed practical information, color photography, 70 contour maps and good background on preparing for your trek. (JPN154, $24.99)
Lonely Planet Kyoto • Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 220 PAGES A practical travel guide to Kyoto, covering history and culture, as well as its many temples, gardens and other attractions. With detailed day trips, travel information and 32 pages of maps, this is an excellent guide to Kyoto. (JPN60, $22.99)
Lonely Planet Tokyo • Lonely Planet GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 264 PAGES A compact, practical guide in the hallmark Lonely Planet style with a helpful section of 32 color maps (JPN100, $19.99)
Lost Japan • Alex Kerr TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2009 • PAPER • 269 PAGES Originally appearing as a series of 15 articles in a Japanese magazine, long-time resident Kerr offers an account of the Japan that he knew as a child. It's a wistful account of traditional culture and change in contemporary Japan, combining travelogue, memoir, and journalism. (JPN36, $14.99)
The Lost Wolves of Japan • Brett L. Walker NATURAL HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 331 PAGES Drawing on Japanese history, literature, folklore and biology, Walker looks at the forces that caused the extinction of the wolves in Japan. It's a tale of the loss of habitat and changed attitudes toward nature. Walker is also the author of The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion,1590-1800. A volume in the excellent Weyerhaeuser Environmental series, chosen and with a forward by William Cronon. (JPN215, $35.00)
The Making of Modern Japan • Marius Jansen HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 871 PAGES An epic account of Japan and its transformation from feudal society to modern superpower from 1600 to the present. Well worth the effort for the traveler interested in history (JPN88, $28.50)
The Makioka Sisters • Tanizaki Junichiro LITERATURE • 1995 • PAPER • 530 PAGES The story of a merchant family in prewar Osaka and the struggle of four beautiful sisters to maintain their position in society after the death of their parents, also made into a delightful film by Ichikawa. Janichiro evokes old Osaka and the relationship amonghte sisters in rich detail. (JPN41, $16.00)
Memoirs of a Geisha • Arthur Golden LITERATURE • 2005 • LARGE PRINT A large print edition of the runaway best-selling novel about a geisha in the celebrated Gion district of Kyoto. A major feat of literary impersonation, the Golden's novel is rich in period detail and ceremony. (JPN217, $28.95)
Memoirs of a Geisha • Arthur Golden LITERATURE • 2005 • AUDIO CD An audio-book edition of the runaway best-selling novel about a geisha in the celebrated Gion district of Kyoto. A major feat of literary impersonation, the Golden's novel is rich in period detail and ceremony. As read by Elaina Erika Davis. (JPN218, $24.95)
Midway, The Battle that Doomed Japan • Mitsuo Fuchida HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 224 PAGES A groundbreaking first-person account of the Battle of Midway told from the Japanese perspective. Fuchida's military history is well researched as he details the events leading from Pearl Harbor to Japan's defeat at Midway. Both an outstanding piece of historical writing and a compelling personal account. (HWI58, $19.95)
Modern Japanese Literature • Donald Keene ANTHOLOGY • 1989 • PAPER • 448 PAGES A popular sampling of Japanese literature from mid-19th century to the mid-20th. This volume follows "Anthology of Japanese Literature from the Earliest Era to the Mid-Nineteenth Century" (JPN12). (JPN72, $15.95)
Musashi, An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era • Eiji Yoshikawa • Charles S. Terry LITERATURE • 1995 • HARD COVER • 984 PAGES The classic samurai novel about the exploits of Miyamoto Musashi, Japan's famous swordsman and folk hero. Set in 17th-century Japan, it's a rousing, historical novel full of incident. Originally published in serialized form in the Asahi Shimbun before WWII. Musashi's The Book of Five Rings is widely read. A number of Yoshikawa's popular historical novels have been translated into English. (JPN168, $35.00)
The Narrow Road to Oku • Basho Matsuo • Donald Keene LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 188 PAGES Keene gives a precise and poetic translation, alongside the original Japanese characters, in this edition of Basho's (1644-1694) famous journey to Oku. The edition is further enhanced by the beautiful and whimsical artwork of Masayuki Miyata. (JPN211, $25.00)
Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches • Nobuyuki Yuasa • Basho Matsuo LITERATURE • 1967 • PAPER • 178 PAGES These marvelous prose-and-poetry sketches by the famous poet wanderer Basho (1644-94) invoke the mysteries of the cosmos manifest in the Japanese landscape. The haiku included are acknowledged some of the best ever composed. He concludes his masterpiece with: "In this little book of travel is included everything under the sky -- not only that which is hoary and dry but also that which is young and colorful, not only that which is strong and imposing but also that which is feeble and ephemeral." (JPN91, $14.00)
National Geographic Japan • Nicholas Bornoff GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 400 PAGES This guide to Japan, published in the National Geographic attractive visual style, features hundreds of photographs, full color maps, and good information on history, nature, culture and travel in Japan. (JPN120, $27.95)
National Geographic's Living Treasures of Japan • National Geographic Society CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1980 • DVD A documentary film by National Geographic portraying nine traditional Japanese artists, performers and craftspeople. (JPN121, $19.98)
Noguchi East and West • Dore Ashton ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1993 • PAPER • 331 PAGES A biography of the California-born sculptor and multimedia artist Noguchi, written by a pre-eminent historian of 20th-century art. Dore Ashton makes sense of Noguchi's many periods and influences, considering both his Japanese and American inheritances. (ART16, $29.95)
The Old Capital • Yasunari Kawabata • J. Martin Holman LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 160 PAGES Kawabata captures perfectly the tension between tradition and new ways in postwar Japan in this lyrical novel, originally published in 1962. Set in Kyoto, it's the story of Chieko Saga, the adopted daughter of a kimono manufacturer -- and her discovery of an identical twin sister. Kawabata won the Nobel Prize in 1968. (JPN185, $15.95)
Old Kyoto, A Short Social History • John Lowe HISTORY • 2000 • HARD COVER • 70 PAGES An anecdotal, illustrated history of the city. Organized chronologically, the book covers Kyoto's emperors, shoguns and samurai, merchants and artists during its long reign as royal court and Shogunate from 794 to the end of the Edo period in 1868. With 20 color and 19 black-and-white illustrations. Part of the Images of Asia series by Oxford University Press. (JPN167, $18.95)
The Other Japan, Voices Beyond the Mainstream • David Suzuki • Keibo Oiwa CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1999 • PAPER • 336 PAGES For this collection of voices, Suzuki -- a Canadian environmentalist of Japanese descent -- interviewed reformers, minorities, radicals, environmentalists, human rights activists and others outside the Japanese mainstream. He collaborated with Oiwa, an anthropologist who has worked among minority and aboriginal groups in Japan. (JPN128, $18.95)
Our Land Was a Forest, An Ainu Memoir • Kayano Shingeru BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1994 • PAPER • 172 PAGES This lovely memoir of life on Hokkaido in the years following WWII is also an account of the disappearing traditions of the Ainu people in the face of a modernizing nation. (JPN46, $37.00)
Perfectly Japanese, Making Families in an Era of Upheaval • Merry Isaacs White CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2002 • PAPER • 265 PAGES An anthropological analysis of the changing nature and structure of the family in Japan over the past 100 years. Merry Isaacs White is Professor of Anthropology at Boston University. She demolishes the notion of the Japanses family as any one thing but shows the institution in its many forms over time. (JPN169, $26.95)
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Japanese • Pimsleur Language Method LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2005 • AUDIO CD Four audio CDs with eight 30-minute lessons in basic Japanese, covering elementary vocabulary and phrases used in travel and everyday situations. The Pimsleur method emphasizes the use of listening skills without reading materials (so there isn't a book to follow along). It's advertised as "Totally audio: hear it, learn it, speak it." (JPN175, $19.95)
The Rarest of the Rare, Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds • Diane Ackerman NATURAL HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 208 PAGES This collection of six essays includes Ackerman's insightful commentary on the migrations of the monarch butterfly, as well as wonderfully written chapters on the Golden Tamarin, Hawaiian monk seal and other animals. The second collection by this wonderful writer and reporter, Ackerman once again artfully interweaves travel and natural history to capture the spirit of endangered places and animals and those who would preserve them. (BST26, $12.95)
Rashomon Gate • I. J. Parker MYSTERY • 2006 • PAPER • 368 PAGES This installment in the popular series set in eleventh-century Japan takes detective Sugawara Akitada to the Imperial University in Heian Kyo, which is now Kyoto. (JPN203, $15.00)
Read Japanese Today • Len Walsh LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 1969 • PAPER • 160 PAGES A classic guide to understanding and deciphering the basic meaning of 300 of the most common and useful characters in written Japanese. The author focuses on the pictographs from which the characters are derived. (JPN110, $14.95)
Red Chrysanthemum • Laura Joh Rowland LITERATURE • 2006 • HARD COVER • 288 PAGES In the 11th title in Rowland's series of page-turners set in 17th century Japan, samurai Sano Ichiro searches for the murderer of his pregnant wife. Rich in drama, atmosphere and historical detail. (JPN220, $24.95)
Religion in Contemporary Japan • Ian Reader RELIGION • 1991 • PAPER • 294 PAGES This collection of case studies, a popular university text, illuminates the influence and practice of religion in contemporary Japanese society. An ethnographer with an interest in religion, Reader spent several years living and teaching in Japan. He draws together interviews from many participants at Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, festivals and other events with religious significance. (JPN127, $23.00)
Religions of Japan in Practice • George J. Tanabe, Jr. RELIGION • 1999 • PAPER • 550 PAGES A well-chosen collection of 45 essays and original religious texts, including selections on prayer, ritual, routines and dieties. It is a scholarly overview of the culture and religion of Japan, organized thematically and accessible to the general reader. (JPN162, $47.95)
The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 • John Toland HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 976 PAGES A rich and readable history of Japanese militarism from the intricacies of Tokyo politics in the 1930s to riveting WWII Pacific battles. Expertly researched, Toland provides a good deal of fresh information. (JPN223, $21.95)
The Rising Tide, A Novel of the Second World War • Jeff Shaara LITERATURE • 2006 • HARD COVER • 672 PAGES From the author of Gods and Generals and the son of Michael Shaara, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Killer Angels, comes this piece of historical fiction set during World War II in the Pacific, North Africa and throughout Europe, whose main characters are Hitler, Mussolini, Eisenhower and Churchill. (EUR235, $27.95)
The River Ki • Sawako Ariyoshi LITERATURE • 1982 • PAPER • 248 PAGES Originally published in 1959, this novel chronicles the lives of its main character, Hana, her daughter and granddaughter in a village along the River Ki. Ariyoshi, a popular modern writer who died in 1984, illuminates traditional life -- and change -- in Japan in the years before World War II. (JPN126, $16.00)
The Roads to Sata, A 2000-Mile Walk Through Japan • Alan Booth TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1997 • PAPER • 281 PAGES A revealing, humorous account of the author's 2,000-mile walk north to south from Hokkaido to Kyushu by a wonderfully eccentric British expatriate. Booth is a disarming writer, chronicling his encounters along the byways of rural Japan with farmers, misfits, tramps and others who crossed his path. By the author of "Looking for the Lost." (JPN11, $16.00)
Rough Guide Japan • Rough Guide GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 1078 PAGES This sturdy comprehensive guide in the British series nicely balances a historical and cultural overview with practical travel information. (JPN166, $28.99)
Rough Guide Music Japan • Various Artists MUSIC • 1999 • AUDIO CD A carefully chosen sampling of the diverse sounds of Japan, featuring such indigenous instruments as the stringed koto, the shakuhachi flute, and tako drums. (JPN216, $14.95)
Ruins of Identity, Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands • Mark Hudson ARCHAEOLOGY • 1999 • PAPER • 323 PAGES Hudson considers race, culture and national identity in this comprehensive scholarly account of the origins of the Japanese people. Winner of the John Whitney Hall Prize (Association for Asian Studies). (JPN198, $25.00)
Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures, Issues in the Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan • William Wayne Farris ARCHAEOLOGY • 1998 • PAPER • 333 PAGES A collection of scholarly writing on archaeology in Japan. (JPN195, $40.00)
The Samurai's Garden • Gail Tsukiyama LITERATURE • 1996 • PAPER • 224 PAGES Tsukiyama sets her poignant tale of a young Chinese man coming-of-age in a rural Japanese village in the momentous days just before WWII erupts. (JPN173, $13.95)
Samurai, The World of the Warrior • Stephen Turnbull CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2003 • HARD COVER • 224 PAGES A handsomely illustrated overview of the warrior elite of early Japan, their traditions, history and legacy, by a leading authority. (JPN147, $29.95)
The Sea and the Poison • Shusaku Endo LITERATURE • 1992 • PAPER • 167 PAGES One of many novels by the 20th-century Japanese writer, a Roman Catholic whose many works explore chistianity and morals. This one set in Tokyo during WWII. (JPN161, $12.95)
Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens • David A. Slawson ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1991 • PAPER A meditation and manual on the art of Japanese garden design. (JPN165, $30.00)
The Secrets of Mariko, A Year in the Life of a Japanese Woman and Her Family • Elisabeth Bumiller CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1996 • PAPER • 368 PAGES Bumiller, a Washington Post journalist, sketches the daily routines and challenges in the life of a contemporary Japanese family. She interviewed the family, and especially Mrs. Tanaka over the course of a year for this lively, nuanced portrait. (JPN142, $14.95)
Seeing Japan • Charles Whipple • Morihiro Hosokawa GUIDEBOOK • 2005 • HARD COVER A wide-ranging introduction to modern Japan. Charles Whipple covers the basic elements of Japanese family and society, as well as geography, art, theater and sports. A great companion to life in modern Japan, with a foreword by former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa. (JPN179, $35.00)
Seeing Kyoto • Juliet Winters Carpenter • Sen Soshitsu CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2006 • HARD COVER • 96 PAGES In this oversized visual celebration of Kyoto and neighboring Nara, long-time resident Carpenter presents the cobblestone streets, temples, gardens, history and traditions of the ancient capitals. With an introduction by Sen Soshitsu, the tea master of the Urasenke School. (JPN180, $35.00)
Shadow Shoguns: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Postwar Political Machine • Jacob M. Schlesinger CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1999 • PAPER • 320 PAGES The Tokyo correspondent for the Wall Steeet Journal, dissects the political character of modern Japan. At the center of the story is Kakuei Tanaka, the populist political boss who built a political machine that dominated the long ruling Liberal Democratic Party from the 1970's to the 1990's. (JPN37, $28.95)
Shogun • James Clavell LITERATURE • 2009 • PAPER • 1152 PAGES Clavell's immensely popular story of an English traveler and his encounters with a Japanese warlord and a beautiful woman in 17th century Japan. While it is a long book, it is also a rousing modern epic, full of adventure and emotion. (JPN47, $18.00)
Silence • Shusaku Endo LITERATURE • 1980 • PAPER The best known work by the 20th-century Japanese novelist, about the 17th-century martyrdom of a young Portuguese missionary in Japan. (JPN155, $11.95)
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)
Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume 1 • Ry-Usaku Tsunoda • William Theodore de Bary RELIGION • 1990 • PAPER • 506 PAGES This scholarly sourcebook of writings collected through the 18th century and concerning Buddhism, Confucianism and Shinto, would be of interest to the traveler in search of primary resources. Volume Two is also available (JPN64). (JPN63, $21.00)
Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume 2 • William Theodore de Bary • Donald Keene RELIGION • 1990 • PAPER • 399 PAGES This second volume in a scholarly sourcebook of writings on Japanese religion and philosophy collects pieces from the 18th century up through the middle of the 20th century. Volume One is also available (JPN63). (JPN64, $35.00)
Stained Glass Elegies • Shusaku Endo LITERATURE • 1990 • PAPER • 165 PAGES A collection of short stories by the 20th-century Japanese novelist, a Roman Catholic whose many works explore Christianity and morals. (JPN160, $13.95)
The Tale of Murasaki, A Novel • Liza Crihfield Dalby LITERATURE • 2001 • PAPER • 426 PAGES The life of the 11th-century court personage and author of The Tale of Genji, as imagined by Liza Dalby (who also wrote Geisha and Kimono). (JPN149, $14.95)
Tea in Japan, Essays on the History of Chanoyu • Paul Varley • Kumakura Isao CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1995 • PAPER • 334 PAGES The authors in this collection of scholarly essays address the history, evolution and meaning of the tea ceremony in Japan. (JPN200, $31.00)
Through Japanese Eyes • Richard H. Minear CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1995 • PAPER • 360 PAGES A survey of Japanese culture, society and people as presented through letters, diaries, newspaper articles and historical documents. A project of the "Center for International Training and Education," this classic volume, first published 20 years ago, has been updated for this compact, single volume edition. (JPN92, $21.95)
Thunder from the East, Portrait of a Rising Asia • Nicholas Kristoff • Sheryl WuDunn CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2000 • PAPER • 377 PAGES From the pens of a husband-and-wife team of Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondents for the "New York Times," comes a study of the changing face of Asia's economy and culture. It's an ambituous book, organized thematically with alternating chapters by Kristoff and WuDunn. The book combines interviews, newspaper-style profiles, statistics and anecdote. (ASA24, $15.95)
Tokyo Underworld, The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan • Robert Whiting HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 400 PAGES Whiting, a reporter based in Japan, tells all in this fast-paced tale of opportunism, corruption and empire. In particular, he follows the life and times of the colorful Nick Zappetti, an American soldier who stayed after the war and porspered. (JPN143, $16.00)
Turning Japanese, Memoirs of a Sansei • David Mura BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2005 • PAPER • 376 PAGES The riveting, wonderfully observed story of a thoroughly American Sansei (i.e. Japanese-American), born and raised in California, who embarks on a trip to Japan with his American wife. (JPN44, $14.00)
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan • Isabella Bird TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2007 • PAPER • 400 PAGES A narrative of travels in back-country Japan in 1878 by the most intrepid and unassuming of Victorian lady explorers, Isabella Bird. Japan had just re-opened its doors to the west, and Bird (after sojourns in the Rocky Mountains and Hawaii, journeys which both produced enjoyable travelogues of their own) could not resist the allure of the unknown island-nation. She wasted little time on the cities, however, and headed straight out to meet the peasants in their fields. This predilection for the common folk seems only fitting in the country parson's daughter, who was so sickly in her youth that she never expected to leave Yorkshire, much less the British Isles. (JPN94, $12.95)
Underground, The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche • Haruki Murakami LITERATURE • 2001 • PAPER • 366 PAGES Murakami, one of Japan's most important contemporary novelists, interviewed hundreds of people, both random victims and members of the of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, in this riveting portrait of the 1995 attack on Tokyo's subway with poison gas. (JPN144, $15.00)
Untangling My Chopsticks, A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto • Victoria Abbott Riccardi TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2004 • PAPER • 304 PAGES The appetizing memoir of Victoria Abbott Riccardi's experiences in Kyoto, where she studied the ancient culinary art of kaiseki, the ritual which precedes the Japanese tea ceremony. Riccardi writes with a good-natured humor that could only come from someone who has fought the uphill battle of learning the local language from scratch, and a wide-eyed appreciation for all that she learned about Japanese culture, history, and, of course, food. She includes 25 recipes for traditional and less traditional Japanese dishes. (JPN135, $19.00)
Volcanoes, Fire From the Earth • Maurice Krafft NATURAL HISTORY • 1993 • PAPER • 175 PAGES • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE This lavishly illustrated pocket-size encyclopedia by the great French scientist (who died on the job on Mount Unzen in Japan in 1991) covers the formation and study of volcanoes along with dozens of famous examples. (GEO06, $15.95)
Wallpaper City Guide Tokyo • Wallpaper Magazine GUIDEBOOK • 2012 • PAPER A stylish, thin (it fits in your back pocket) city guide compiled by the design magazine Wallpaper's local reporters. Well-organized, with chapter tabs, many photographs and of-the-moment recommendations. (JPN204, $9.95)
War Letters, Stories of Courage, Longing and Sacrifice • Robert Kenner HISTORY • 2002 • DVD Produced for PBS, this hour-long documentary dramatizes letters home from the American Revolution to Persian Gulf, Directed by Robert Kenner and narrated by Joan Allen, Edward Norton, Bill Paxton, Giovanni Ribisi, David Hyde Pierce among others. (WAR77, $19.98)
Washoku, Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen • Elizabeth Andoh FOOD • 2005 • HARD COVER • 328 PAGES A cookbook and guide to the techniques, aesthetics, and philosophy of washoku, written by a leading English-language expert on Japanese home cooking. With color photographs throughout. Andoh includes recipes for soups, rice dishes and noodles, meat and poultry, seafood, and desserts. (JPN186, $40.00)
The Way of Zen • Alan Watts RELIGION • 1999 • PAPER • 236 PAGES A history and introduction to the practices of Zen, first published in the 1950s. This book traces the development of Zen Buddhism and explains many of its modern principles. (JPN71, $14.00)
What is Japanese Architecture? A Survey of Traditional Japanese Architecture • Kazuo Nishi • Kazuo Hozomi ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1996 • PAPER • 144 PAGES A concise introduction to traditional Japanese buildings, from prehistory to the mid-19th century. Organized into short units and illustrated with 250 drawings and plans, this is a clearly written overview of the cultural background, design and construction of structures including Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, castles, residences and teahouses. (JPN69, $32.00)
What Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds • Gordon Matthews CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1995 • PAPER • 296 PAGES An anthopologist by training, Mathews interviewed 52 Japanese and 52 Americans about what was meaningful in their lives for this provocative book. The Japanese call the concept ikigai, "that which most makes one's life seem worth living." At the heart of the book is a comparison of nine matched pairs of individuals. (JPN170, $28.95)
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle • Haruki Murakami • Jay Rubin LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 607 PAGES Novelist Murakami's take on nationalism, miltarism and Japanese history unfolds in modern-day Tokyo, Murakami's usual element. As in his other novels, the city is hip, frenetic and westernized -- this book opens with its protagonist cooking spaghetti -- but in this book Tokyo is also a place with a past. The narrator discovers how much of a past when he meets a former imperial soldier who witnessed untellable atrocities during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. We say "untellable," but this is not a book for the squeamish. It is an unstinting, weighty book by a major modern novelist. (JPN107, $16.95)
A Woman's Asia • Marybeth Bond ANTHOLOGY • 2005 • PAPER • 310 PAGES These thirty-five personal, often hilarious accounts of women's adventures from China to Sri Lanka to Turkey to Bhutan, not only illuminating the everyday, oft-overlooked cultural practices of Asia, but also giving a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of the female traveller. Featuring selections from Jan Morris, Pamela Logan and Alison Wright. (ASA49, $17.95)
Women of the Silk • Gail Tsukiyama LITERATURE • 1993 • PAPER • 278 PAGES In this lyrical debut, Tsukiyama sets her absorbing tale of a young Chinese girl against the backdrop of enormous changes in China in the years from 1919-1938. Much of the novel is set in a rural silk factory (hence the title). (CHN269, $13.95)
The World of the Shining Prince, Court Life in Ancient Japan • Ivan Morris • Barbara Ruch HISTORY • 1994 • PAPER • 352 PAGES First published in the 1960s, this book recreates court society in 11th-century Japan, as it was written about in "The Tale of Genji" (JPN73). (JPN70, $17.00)
A Year in Japan • Kate T. Williamson TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2006 • PAPER • 192 PAGES Williamson records her extended stay in Kyoto, its architecture, gardens, culture and traditions in 350 watercolor illustrations. (JPN189, $19.95)

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