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, $21.95)
70 Japanese Gestures  •  Hamiru-aqui LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  2005 •  PAPER  • 158 PAGES A clever, useful guide to decoding body language in Japan. With 70 black-and-white photographs of engineer Takafumi Hamada demonstrating each gesture, along with accompanying expressions and explanation. Hamiru-aqui includes both everyday gestures and slang. (JPN193, $9.95)
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, $15.95)
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, $59.95)
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, $13.95)
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 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, $14.00)
Black Rain  •  Masuji Ibuse  •  Johan Bester LITERATURE •  1994 •  PAPER  • 304 PAGES (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, $35.50)
Botchan  •  Natsume Soseki LITERATURE •  2005 •  HARD COVER  • 172 PAGES (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, $12.95)
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, $18.95)
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  •  Ezra Vogel 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)
Confessions of a Mask  •  Meredith Weatherby  •  Yukio Mishima LITERATURE •  1988 •  PAPER  • 254 PAGES Inspired by historical events, this powerful book is the story of the monk who burned the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. It's an unsettling portrait of society in Post War Japan. On another level, the book tells of the coming of age of a complex, tragic figure who, among other things, struggles with his homosexuality. Mishimi is also the author of "The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea." (JPN18, $12.95)
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 prefectly 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, $14.95)
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, $13.95)
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, $17.00)
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, $14.00)
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)
East Asia, Tradition and Transformation  •  John Fairbank  •  Edwin O. Reischauer  •  Albert M. Craig HISTORY •  1990 •  HARD COVER  • 1027 PAGES A sprawling history of China and Japan, covering ancient through modern times. (ASA18, $171.96)
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, $13.00)
The Empty Mirror, Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery  •  Janwillem van de Wettering 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, $13.95)
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, $16.00)
Everyday Life in Traditional Japan  •  Charles Dunn  •  Laurence Broderick CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1998 •  PAPER  • 208 PAGES A fascinating cultural portrait of daily life in Tokugawa Japan under rule of the shogun, with details on religion, courtship, commerce and class relations. With illustrations and chapters devoted "The Samurai," "The Farmers" and "Actors and Outcasts." (JPN68, $14.95)
Eyewitness Guide Japan  •  Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2007 •  PAPER  • 408 PAGES This superb guide to all of Japan features color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a region-by-region synopsis of the country's attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, the volume is an excllent overview of the country. For more detailed practical information, especially for an independent traveler, consider Gateway to Japan. (JPN130, $25.00)
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, $9.95)
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)
Forgotten Armies: The Fall of British Asia, 1941-1945  •  Christopher Bayly  •  Timothy Harper HISTORY •  2005 •  HARD COVER  • 608 PAGES A gripping history of Britain's WWII campaigns in India, Burma and Malaysia by two Cambridge University historians. The authors draw on multiple perspectives, including that of the Japanese, in this authoritative history of famous and horrifying battles. With 34 black-and-white photographs and seven maps. (ASA45, $29.95)
Frommer's Japan  •  Frommer's GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 672 PAGES A comprehensive, practical guide to travel in Japan. (JPN117, $24.99)
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, $26.00)
Geisha  •  Liza Crihfield Dalby CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1998 •  PAPER  • 347 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, $22.95)
Geisha, A Life  •  Mineko Iwasaki BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2003 •  PAPER  • 368 PAGES The memoir of a celebrated Geisha, rich in details, culture and traditions of Kyoto's Gion Kobu district. Iwasaki, now in her 50s, was also the chief source of information for Arthur Golden's best-selling "Memoirs of a Geisha." (JPN131, $15.00)
Getting Wet, Adventures in the Japanese Bath  •  Eric Talmadge CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2006 •  HARD COVER  • 256 PAGES 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, $14.95)
God Lives in St. Petersburg, and Other Stories  •  Tom Bissell LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 212 PAGES Bissell (Chasing the Sea) returns to his years in Central Asia as a Peace Corps volunteer in these sharp, witty fictionalized accounts. His six fast-paced tales are set in Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and the Aral Sea. (CAS117, $13.95)
The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits, Japanese Eccentrics, and the Opening of Old Japan  •  Christopher Benfey HISTORY •  2004 •  PAPER  • 352 PAGES The fascinating tale of a group of late Victorian, mostly American travelers, scientists and adventurers dedicated to the idea of Japan. The group, noted for wealth and influence, included Lafcadio Hearn, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Herman Melville, Henry Adams, Mabel Loomis Todd and President Roosevelt. This is the same group that touted Kakuzo Okakura's The Art of Tea to Boston society. (JPN138, $14.95)
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, $23.95)
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, $46.67)
Herons and Egrets of the World, A Photographic Journey  •  James Hancock NATURAL HISTORY •  1999 •  PAPER  • 208 PAGES A photographic survey of all 47 species and subspecies of herons by a lifelong advocate. With range maps, large color photographs and detailed descriptions. (BRD09, $29.95)
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, $26.95)
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, $7.50)
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, $41.95)
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, $50.95)
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)
The Illustrated Book of Five Rings  •  Miyamoto Musashi  •  Thomas Cleary CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2006 •  HARD COVER  • 192 PAGES The original account of samurai philosophies and warfare by the undefeated swordsman and samurai Miyamoto Musashi, originally published in 1643. (JPN206, $24.95)
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 East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan  •  Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK •  2001 •  PAPER  • 412 PAGES An illustrated guide to the history, culture and traditions of China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan featuring 250 color photographs and 16 maps. (ASA27, $24.95)
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 Atlas, A Bilingual Guide  •  Kodansha International GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER  • 128 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)
Japan Bilingual Map  •  Kodansha International GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  PAPER This full-color double-sided map includes the entirety of Japan at a scale of 1:500,000, as well as individual maps of Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya and Fuji-Hakone. Indexed. (JPN209, $14.95)
The Japan Journals, 1947-2004  •  Donald Richie  •  Leza Lowitz BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR •  2005 •  PAPER  • 440 PAGES A well-edited collection of journal excerpts from the eminent film historian and observer of Japan. With 75 black-and-white photographs. (JPN141, $29.95)
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, $36.95)
Japan/Korea Political Wall Map  •  National Geographic 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. (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 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, $21.95)
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 Garden Design  •  Marc P. Keane  •  Haruzo Ohashi ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2004 •  PAPER  • 184 PAGES An illustrated introduction to the aesthetics and meanings of Japanese gardens. It relates the social, religious and historical contexts to landscape and garden design. With chapters on the origins of the Japanese garden, gardens of Heian aristocrats, gardens of Zen Buddhism, tea gardens, Tsuba gardens and Edo stroll gardens. The author is a landscape architect and garden designer living in Japan. (JPN52, $30.00)
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, $22.00)
The Japanese Today, Continuity and Change  •  Edwin O. Reischauer  •  Marius Jansen HISTORY •  1995 •  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, $25.00)
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)
Kyoto Map  •  Periplus Maps 2003 •  MAP Designed for the traveler, this convenient map includes detailed information on Old Kyoto -- an invaluable guide for exploring the city on your own. It shows different sections of Kyoto and surrounding areas at a variety of scales, ranging from 1:12,000 to 1:500,000. (JPN27, $8.95)
Kyoto, Seven Paths to the Heart of the City  •  Diana Durston  •  Katsuhiko Mizuno CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  2002 •  PAPER  • 68 PAGES An oversize, nicely illustrated walking guide to seven historic districts, which includes 100 color photographs and 8 very helpful full-color maps. Durston (who also wrote the excellent Old Kyoto) augments the neighborhood descriptions with notes on architecture, food, crafts and festivals. (JPN119, $24.95)
The Lady and the Monk, Four Seasons in Kyoto  •  Pico Iyer LITERATURE •  1992 •  PAPER  • 337 PAGES Deeply romanticized, this short novel is nonetheless redolent in the places, sights and sounds of modern day Kyoto. Iyer writes with infectious charm the story of a young American man and his affair with a bored Japanese married woman. (JPN32, $14.95)
A Lateral View, Essays on Culture and Style in Contemporary Japan  •  Donald Richie CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1992 •  PAPER  • 245 PAGES An insightful, wide-ranging collection of essays on the arts, society and culture of modern Japan by the reigning dean of critics (JPN01, $14.95)
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, $22.95)
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, $25.00)
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, $24.95)
Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook  •  Yoshi Abe LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS •  2008 •  PAPER  • 259 PAGES A palm-sized, handy guide to pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (JPN136, $8.99)
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 •  2008 •  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 •  1996 •  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, $10.95)
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, $24.50)
The Makioka Sisters  •  Tanizaki Junichiro LITERATURE •  1995 •  PAPER  • 530 PAGES The story of a merchant family in prewar Osaka and the strugggle 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, $15.95)
Memoirs of a Geisha, A Novel  •  Arthur Golden LITERATURE •  1999 •  PAPER  • 434 PAGES The runaway bestseller by a middle-aged white academic who, in this lyrical first novel, effectively impersonates Sayuri, a formidable geisha in the celebrated Gion district of Kyoto in the years before WWII. A major feat of literary impersonation, the novel is rich in period detail and ceremony. Sayuri's rise from humble rural beginnings to practically goddess-hood is all the more poignant because of the contrast with her not-so-pretty or talented sister, also sold into servitude, who becomes instead a prostitute in a bad part of town. (JPN45, $14.95)
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  •  Masayuki Miyata  •  Donald Keene LITERATURE •  1997 •  PAPER  • 188 PAGES • FAMILY 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)
National Geographic Traveler 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)
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, $25.95)
Old Kyoto, A Guide to Traditional Shops and Inns  •  Diane Durston GUIDEBOOK •  2005 •  PAPER  • 240 PAGES An excellent travel companion, this guide focuses on the neighborhoods, shops, restaurants and inns that reflect the traditions, architecture and ways of life of the ancient capital city. It also includes a number of day trips outside Kyoto. With maps, suggested walking tours, and invaluable directions, the book has at its heart wonderfully intimate, elegant essays on carefully chosen shops, many tiny, often in out-of-the-way streets or neighborhoods that you might not discover on your own. (JPN24, $22.00)
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, $34.00)
Out  •  Natsuo Kirino MYSTERY •  2005 •  PAPER In this well-received mystery, Masako Katori, a middle-aged wife and mother working the night shift at a Tokyo factory, strangles her abusive husband. (JPN196, $13.95)
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, $22.95)
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, $16.00)
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, $14.00)
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)
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, $19.00)
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, $39.95)
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)
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)
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, $36.00)
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)
Seabirds of the World, A Photographic Guide  •  Peter Harrison FIELD GUIDE •  1996 •  PAPER  • 317 PAGES • COMING IN A field edition of Harrison's definitive seabird identification guide, featuring 740 color photographs. It illustrates all the world's seabirds, many in a variety of plumages. The book also contains a convenient key to identifying the confusing albatrosses, petrels and other tubenoses, as well as range maps and information about habitats and distribution. This is the book that you'd carry on any sea voyage; our ten-year-old edition has been everywhere. (FG16, $29.95)
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)
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, $26.95)
Shibori, The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing Tradition Techniques Innovation  •  Yoshiko Wada ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1999 •  PAPER  • 303 PAGES This oversize, heavily illustrated book introduces the traditions, practice and techniques of the Japanese art of tie-dye. Of equal interest to both the practitioner and visitor with a serious interest in textile arts. (JPN78, $48.00)
Shogun  •  James Clavell LITERATURE •  1976 •  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, $7.99)
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, $13.95)
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, $28.00)
South of the Border, West of the Sun  •  Haruki Murakami LITERATURE •  2000 •  PAPER  • 224 PAGES Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) stirs jazz, neon-lit streets, out of the way shrines, hustle and bustle and wonder into this lyrical tale of love lost and found, marvelously set in contemporary Tokyo. (JPN213, $13.95)
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, $12.95)
Structure and Surface: Contemporary Japanese Textiles  •  Matilda McQuaid  •  Cara McCarty ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1998 •  HARD COVER  • 104 PAGES An exhibition catalog, this volume celebrates a diversity of contemporary Japanese artists, techniques and fabrics. featuring 66 illustrative fabrics, glossary and introductory essay on process and technique. Published by the Museum of Modern Art. (JPN79, $29.95)
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)
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)
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)
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, $25.00)
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, $15.00)
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)
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, $14.95)
The Unknown Craftsman, A Japanese Insight into Beauty  •  Soetsu Yanagi  •  Shoji Hamada  •  Bernard Leach ART & ARCHITECTURE •  1990 •  PAPER  • 230 PAGES One of Japan's most respected thinkers, Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961) writes in this book of Japanese crafts, their integral place in Japanese society, and the expanding role of the craftsman. With 76 mostly black-and-white plates. It's an excellent overview of the foundations of the Mingei (folk-craft) movement in Japan. This edition, adapted by Bernard Leach, was originally published in 1972. (JPN116, $35.00)
Unsui, A Diary of Zen Monastic Life  •  Giei Sato CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1973 •  PAPER  • 142 PAGES The daily life of the monastery as depicted in 97 watercolor sketches. Giei Sato looks back at his time as an apprentice monk with warmth and grace. (JPN145, $20.00)
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, $12.95)
Wallpaper City Guide Tokyo  •  Wallpaper Magazine GUIDEBOOK •  2006 •  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, $8.95)
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 philosphy 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, $35.00)
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, $12.95)
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, $26.95)
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