Japan

WILDERNESS TRAVEL
Japan | READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE
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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, $28.00)

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)

Japan, A Traveler's Literary Companion •  Jeffrey Angles •  Thomas Rimer •  Donald Richie
ANTHOLOGY • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES
This marvelous anthology, organized geographically, is both an introduction to Japan and to its contemporary writers. Donald Richie underscores Japan as a small place of great diversity in his appreciative foreword. (JPN187, $14.95)

In Praise of Shadows •  Junichiro Tanizaki •  Thomas J. Harper •  Edward G. Seidensticker
ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1980 • PAPER • 56 PAGES
This essay by the great Japanese novelist, first published in 1933, offers tremendous insight into Japanese aesthetics. It's an earthy meditation on traditional Japanese art, architecture and design. Most illuminating. (JPN19, $9.95)

The Art and Culture of Japan •  Nelly Delay
ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1999 • PAPER • 160 PAGES
An illustrated historical survey of the art, architecture and culture of Japan in a compact 5" x 7" format. It's a portable encyclopedia featuring 165 archival and modern illustrations and a section of original documents, surprisingly thorough in its coverage of all Japanese arts considering the size. (JPN51, $12.95)

Japan Map •   Periplus Maps
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)

Related Categories

70 Japanese Gestures •   Hamiru-aqui • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • A clever guide to body language and slang in Japan as demonstrated in 70 witty black-and-white photographs and explanatory text. (JPN193, $9.95)

Fodor's Tokyo's 25 Best •   Fodor's Guides • GUIDEBOOK • A shirt-pocket map and practical guide. (JPN05, $11.95)

Japan Bilingual Map •   Kodansha International • GUIDEBOOK • 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. (JPN209, $14.95)

Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook •  Yoshi Abe • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • A handy, palm-sized guide to pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (JPN136, $8.99)

Old Kyoto, A Guide to Traditional Shops and Inns •  Diane Durston • GUIDEBOOK • Wonderful, elegant essays on carefully chosen shops, often in out-of-the-way neighborhoods. (JPN24, $22.00)

Tokyo, A View of the City •  Donald Richie • GUIDEBOOK • A literate essay on the culture, history and fabric of Tokyo, where the author has lived for 50 years. Structured as a geographic tour starting at the Imperial Palace and branching out. With black-and-white photography. (JPN90, $25.00)

A Traveller's History of Japan •  Richard Tames • HISTORY • A lively and concise narrative history of Japan and its transformation from Shinto, Shogun and Samurai traditions to 20th-century powerhouse. (JPN09, $14.95)

Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of WWII •  John W. Dower • HISTORY • A social and political history of the postwar years in Japan. 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. (JPN54, $19.95)

Everyday Life in Traditional Japan •  Charles J. Dunn • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • This detailed evocation of traditional Edo Japan portrays all walks of life -- samurai, farmers, courtiers, priests, outcasts and merchants -- with hundreds of marvelous black and white illustrations. (JPN331, $16.95)

Geisha •  Liza Crihfield Dalby • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • The observations of an American graduate student who apprenticed as a geisha, interpreting this intriguing role in traditional Japanese society. (JPN49, $24.95)

Getting Wet, Adventures in the Japanese Bath •  Eric Talmadge • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE • Tokyo-based Talmadge journeys from seaside resorts to mountain retreats and megaplexes in this cultural history of Japan through the tradition of the bath. (JPN197, $22.00)

Hiroshima •  John Hersey • HISTORY • Never sensational, this classic by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Hersey, 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)

Inventing Japan, 1853-1964 •  Ian Buruma • HISTORY • A favorite writer with keen insight about Japan, Buruma offers an admirably succinct, dramatic history of Japan's transformation from feudal state to host of the 1964 Olympics, with a focus on World War II in this lively entry in the Modern Library Chronicle series. (JPN139, $12.95)

Japanese Culture •  Paul Varley • HISTORY • 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. (JPN84, $24.00)

The Book of Tea •  Kakuzo Okakura • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • A graceful, witty meditation on Japanese aesthetics and culture as reflected through the tea ceremony. A celebrity and cultural ambassador, Okakura was a curator at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. (JPN21, $9.95)

The Japanese Today, Continuity and Change •  Edwin O. Reischauer •  Marius Jansen • HISTORY • A wide-ranging, engaging survey of Japanese culture and society by two prominent historians. (JPN83, $26.50)

Unsui, A Diary of Zen Monastic Life •  Giei Sato • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • The daily life of the monastery as depicted in 97 watercolor sketches. Giei Sato looks back at his time as an apprentice with warmth and grace. (JPN145, $22.00)

Zen and Japanese Culture •  Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • Suzuki describes Zen, its ideas, origins and practice in simple, poetic language, conveying how the Zen emphasis on simplicity has shaped a Japanese aesthetic. A classic by the hugely influential Zen master, first published in 1959. (JPN338, $29.95)

Hiroshige, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo •  Melanie Trede •  Lorenz Bichler • ART & ARCHITECTURE • A sumptuous, large format edtion of the 19th-century ukiyo-e masterpiece, a series of lively woodblock prints of bustling Edo, now known as Tokyo, reproduced from the rare complete set at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Tokyo. (JPN330, $150.00)

Japanese Architecture, A Short History •  A. L. Sadler • ART & ARCHITECTURE • Sadler's classic study, first published in 1941, is a lucid introduction to Japanese architecture from prehistory to the modern Edo period. With black and white illustrations. (JPN363, $19.95)

Japanese Art •  Joan Stanley-Baker • ART & ARCHITECTURE • Concise, thoroughly illustrated and comprehensive, this handsome book in the "World of Art" series is a fine survey of Japanese art from the prehistoric period to modern Japan. With 167 illustrations. (JPN08, $18.95)

Japanese Gardens •  Gunter Nitschke • ART & ARCHITECTURE • In keeping with the aesthetics of a Japanese garden, Gunter Nitschke has produced a simple but elegant tribute with this collection of photographs. (JPN270, $14.99)

The Art of the Japanese Garden •  Michiko Kimura Young •  David Young • ART & ARCHITECTURE • An illustrated profile of aristocratic gardens, graveled courtyards, Zen and other Japanese gardens, featuring 250 color photos. (JPN181, $55.00)

36 Views of Mount Fuji, On Finding Myself in Japan •  Cathy Davidson • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 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. (JPN65, $23.95)

Dave Barry Does Japan •  Dave Barry • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • Good will ambassador and columnist Barry takes no prisoners in this outrageous commentary on Japan and its culture. (JPN234, $13.95)

Learning to Bow, Inside the Heart of Japan •  Bruce Feiler • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • As surprising, helpful and informative as it is funny, this is an insightful account of travels and teaching in Japan. Feiler presents anecdotes on the rituals, personality traits and cultural peccadilloes of the Japanese. (JPN111, $13.99)

Japan, Through Writer's Eyes •  Elizabeth Ingrams • ANTHOLOGY • These tales by both Japanese writers and visitors, including Pico Iyer, Junichiro Tanizaki and Jan Morris, illuminates the history and culture of Japan. (JPN351, $33.95)

Black Arrow •  I. J. Parker • MYSTERY • Detective Akitada must solve a series of brutal slayings in the northern city of Echigo. (JPN201, $14.00)

Memoirs of a Geisha, A Novel •  Arthur Golden • LITERATURE • The runaway best-selling novel about a geisha in the celebrated Gion district of Kyoto. A major feat of literary impersonation, the novel is rich in period detail and ceremony. (JPN45, $15.00)

Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories •  Ryunosuke Akutagawa • LITERATURE • Modern and pre-modern clash in this crisp new edition of Akutagawa's celebrated stories. (JPN317, $16.00)

South of the Border, West of the Sun •  Haruki Murakami • LITERATURE • Murakami stirs jazz, neon-lit streets, out of the way shrines, hustle and bustle and wonder into this lyrical tale of love in contemporary Tokyo. (JPN213, $14.00)

The Hell Screen •  I. J. Parker • MYSTERY • Suguwara Akitada returns in another mystery of 11th-century Japan, with rich ambiance and superb historical detail. This time, a murder in a temple catches Akitada unprepared. (JPN327, $14.00)

The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon •  Shonagon Sei •  Ivan Morris • LITERATURE • Exquisite short essays and vignettes of Japanese court life in the Heian period. (JPN76, $16.00)

The Samurai •  Shusaku Endo • LITERATURE • This historical novel by one of Japan's best-known modern writers is set in the world of the 17th-century Samurai. A Roman Catholic, Endo explored Christianity and morals in his many novels and stories. (JPN157, $14.95)

Thousand Cranes •  Yasunari Kawabata •  Edward G. Seidensticker • LITERATURE • This novella by the great Kawabata may be Japan's best-known literary work, a story of love, grief and redemption. Kawabata's prose is as economical as the tea ceremony itself, and very beautiful. (JPN34, $13.95)

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and North-East Asia •  Shimba Tadao • FIELD GUIDE • Featuring 800 color photographs, up-to-date range maps and notes on identification. (JPN264, $40.00)

Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia •  Mark Brazil • FIELD GUIDE • Brazil's comprehensive guide, featuring 234 color plates, includes Japan, Taiwan and the islands along with the adjacent areas of the Asia from Kamchatka to Korea. (JPN332, $39.95)

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	These 6 items are available for $86, including U.S. shipping, a 15% discount (Item no. EXJPN98)	E-mail Print
Select Item

	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, $28.00)
	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)
	Japan, A Traveler's Literary Companion • Jeffrey Angles • Thomas Rimer • Donald Richie ANTHOLOGY • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES This marvelous anthology, organized geographically, is both an introduction to Japan and to its contemporary writers. Donald Richie underscores Japan as a small place of great diversity in his appreciative foreword. (JPN187, $14.95)
	In Praise of Shadows • Junichiro Tanizaki • Thomas J. Harper • Edward G. Seidensticker ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1980 • PAPER • 56 PAGES This essay by the great Japanese novelist, first published in 1933, offers tremendous insight into Japanese aesthetics. It's an earthy meditation on traditional Japanese art, architecture and design. Most illuminating. (JPN19, $9.95)
	The Art and Culture of Japan • Nelly Delay ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1999 • PAPER • 160 PAGES An illustrated historical survey of the art, architecture and culture of Japan in a compact 5" x 7" format. It's a portable encyclopedia featuring 165 archival and modern illustrations and a section of original documents, surprisingly thorough in its coverage of all Japanese arts considering the size. (JPN51, $12.95)
	Japan Map • Periplus Maps 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)

	70 Japanese Gestures • Hamiru-aqui • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • A clever guide to body language and slang in Japan as demonstrated in 70 witty black-and-white photographs and explanatory text. (JPN193, $9.95)
	Fodor's Tokyo's 25 Best • Fodor's Guides • GUIDEBOOK • A shirt-pocket map and practical guide. (JPN05, $11.95)
	Japan Bilingual Map • Kodansha International • GUIDEBOOK • 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. (JPN209, $14.95)
	Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook • Yoshi Abe • LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • A handy, palm-sized guide to pronunciation, basic grammar and essential vocabulary for the traveler. (JPN136, $8.99)
	Old Kyoto, A Guide to Traditional Shops and Inns • Diane Durston • GUIDEBOOK • Wonderful, elegant essays on carefully chosen shops, often in out-of-the-way neighborhoods. (JPN24, $22.00)
	Tokyo, A View of the City • Donald Richie • GUIDEBOOK • A literate essay on the culture, history and fabric of Tokyo, where the author has lived for 50 years. Structured as a geographic tour starting at the Imperial Palace and branching out. With black-and-white photography. (JPN90, $25.00)
	A Traveller's History of Japan • Richard Tames • HISTORY • A lively and concise narrative history of Japan and its transformation from Shinto, Shogun and Samurai traditions to 20th-century powerhouse. (JPN09, $14.95)
	Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of WWII • John W. Dower • HISTORY • A social and political history of the postwar years in Japan. 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. (JPN54, $19.95)
	Everyday Life in Traditional Japan • Charles J. Dunn • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • This detailed evocation of traditional Edo Japan portrays all walks of life -- samurai, farmers, courtiers, priests, outcasts and merchants -- with hundreds of marvelous black and white illustrations. (JPN331, $16.95)
	Geisha • Liza Crihfield Dalby • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • The observations of an American graduate student who apprenticed as a geisha, interpreting this intriguing role in traditional Japanese society. (JPN49, $24.95)
	Getting Wet, Adventures in the Japanese Bath • Eric Talmadge • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE • Tokyo-based Talmadge journeys from seaside resorts to mountain retreats and megaplexes in this cultural history of Japan through the tradition of the bath. (JPN197, $22.00)
	Hiroshima • John Hersey • HISTORY • Never sensational, this classic by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Hersey, 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)
	Inventing Japan, 1853-1964 • Ian Buruma • HISTORY • A favorite writer with keen insight about Japan, Buruma offers an admirably succinct, dramatic history of Japan's transformation from feudal state to host of the 1964 Olympics, with a focus on World War II in this lively entry in the Modern Library Chronicle series. (JPN139, $12.95)
	Japanese Culture • Paul Varley • HISTORY • 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. (JPN84, $24.00)
	The Book of Tea • Kakuzo Okakura • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • A graceful, witty meditation on Japanese aesthetics and culture as reflected through the tea ceremony. A celebrity and cultural ambassador, Okakura was a curator at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. (JPN21, $9.95)
	The Japanese Today, Continuity and Change • Edwin O. Reischauer • Marius Jansen • HISTORY • A wide-ranging, engaging survey of Japanese culture and society by two prominent historians. (JPN83, $26.50)
	Unsui, A Diary of Zen Monastic Life • Giei Sato • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • The daily life of the monastery as depicted in 97 watercolor sketches. Giei Sato looks back at his time as an apprentice with warmth and grace. (JPN145, $22.00)
	Zen and Japanese Culture • Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki • CULTURAL PORTRAIT • Suzuki describes Zen, its ideas, origins and practice in simple, poetic language, conveying how the Zen emphasis on simplicity has shaped a Japanese aesthetic. A classic by the hugely influential Zen master, first published in 1959. (JPN338, $29.95)
	Hiroshige, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo • Melanie Trede • Lorenz Bichler • ART & ARCHITECTURE • A sumptuous, large format edtion of the 19th-century ukiyo-e masterpiece, a series of lively woodblock prints of bustling Edo, now known as Tokyo, reproduced from the rare complete set at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Tokyo. (JPN330, $150.00)
	Japanese Architecture, A Short History • A. L. Sadler • ART & ARCHITECTURE • Sadler's classic study, first published in 1941, is a lucid introduction to Japanese architecture from prehistory to the modern Edo period. With black and white illustrations. (JPN363, $19.95)
	Japanese Art • Joan Stanley-Baker • ART & ARCHITECTURE • Concise, thoroughly illustrated and comprehensive, this handsome book in the "World of Art" series is a fine survey of Japanese art from the prehistoric period to modern Japan. With 167 illustrations. (JPN08, $18.95)
	Japanese Gardens • Gunter Nitschke • ART & ARCHITECTURE • In keeping with the aesthetics of a Japanese garden, Gunter Nitschke has produced a simple but elegant tribute with this collection of photographs. (JPN270, $14.99)
	The Art of the Japanese Garden • Michiko Kimura Young • David Young • ART & ARCHITECTURE • An illustrated profile of aristocratic gardens, graveled courtyards, Zen and other Japanese gardens, featuring 250 color photos. (JPN181, $55.00)
	36 Views of Mount Fuji, On Finding Myself in Japan • Cathy Davidson • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 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. (JPN65, $23.95)
	Dave Barry Does Japan • Dave Barry • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • Good will ambassador and columnist Barry takes no prisoners in this outrageous commentary on Japan and its culture. (JPN234, $13.95)
	Learning to Bow, Inside the Heart of Japan • Bruce Feiler • TRAVEL NARRATIVE • As surprising, helpful and informative as it is funny, this is an insightful account of travels and teaching in Japan. Feiler presents anecdotes on the rituals, personality traits and cultural peccadilloes of the Japanese. (JPN111, $13.99)
	Japan, Through Writer's Eyes • Elizabeth Ingrams • ANTHOLOGY • These tales by both Japanese writers and visitors, including Pico Iyer, Junichiro Tanizaki and Jan Morris, illuminates the history and culture of Japan. (JPN351, $33.95)
	Black Arrow • I. J. Parker • MYSTERY • Detective Akitada must solve a series of brutal slayings in the northern city of Echigo. (JPN201, $14.00)
	Memoirs of a Geisha, A Novel • Arthur Golden • LITERATURE • The runaway best-selling novel about a geisha in the celebrated Gion district of Kyoto. A major feat of literary impersonation, the novel is rich in period detail and ceremony. (JPN45, $15.00)
	Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories • Ryunosuke Akutagawa • LITERATURE • Modern and pre-modern clash in this crisp new edition of Akutagawa's celebrated stories. (JPN317, $16.00)
	South of the Border, West of the Sun • Haruki Murakami • LITERATURE • Murakami stirs jazz, neon-lit streets, out of the way shrines, hustle and bustle and wonder into this lyrical tale of love in contemporary Tokyo. (JPN213, $14.00)
	The Hell Screen • I. J. Parker • MYSTERY • Suguwara Akitada returns in another mystery of 11th-century Japan, with rich ambiance and superb historical detail. This time, a murder in a temple catches Akitada unprepared. (JPN327, $14.00)
	The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon • Shonagon Sei • Ivan Morris • LITERATURE • Exquisite short essays and vignettes of Japanese court life in the Heian period. (JPN76, $16.00)
	The Samurai • Shusaku Endo • LITERATURE • This historical novel by one of Japan's best-known modern writers is set in the world of the 17th-century Samurai. A Roman Catholic, Endo explored Christianity and morals in his many novels and stories. (JPN157, $14.95)
	Thousand Cranes • Yasunari Kawabata • Edward G. Seidensticker • LITERATURE • This novella by the great Kawabata may be Japan's best-known literary work, a story of love, grief and redemption. Kawabata's prose is as economical as the tea ceremony itself, and very beautiful. (JPN34, $13.95)
	A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and North-East Asia • Shimba Tadao • FIELD GUIDE • Featuring 800 color photographs, up-to-date range maps and notes on identification. (JPN264, $40.00)
	Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia • Mark Brazil • FIELD GUIDE • Brazil's comprehensive guide, featuring 234 color plates, includes Japan, Taiwan and the islands along with the adjacent areas of the Asia from Kamchatka to Korea. (JPN332, $39.95)