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)