Japan Books

This book is part of a collection of 4 books that has been mass published and is widely available in local Retail book stores. I have mixed feelings about because this because it is an attempt for him to become more mainstream. That could be good, could be bad.

To me his mind is the greatest ever to have synthesized 4 major religions; Bhuddism, Taoism, Zen and Tantra (to name a few). I have all 4 books of this edition, to include over 40-50 other hardcovers and 20-30 softcovers. I may never read them all....but I justify them because; I consider 10 percent church gross tithing to be astronimically more than what I've will ever spent on his books. In that regard, I don't think that I am a nutcase.

This series, like many that are of late, to my knowledge, is not a unique production. They are extrapolations of speeches from earlier books fused together by members of his present day commune. In other words, some of his verbage is word for word verbatim, other parts are possibly fabricated together by Osho literature experts. The end result is the same, a book filled with beatuiful ideas.

Osho's literature, along with Ghandi, are the only 2 deists who have had libraries dedicated to them in the Indian Parliament. If you are not well versed on Osho, this just gives you an idea of how tremendous his ideas and principles are and what you have been missing. I am not pro-Ghandi by any means, but you can argue that Osho's voice could be considered to be the greatest to have ever come out of India. Much like Einstein is the Gold standard; and considered to be the greatest mind in science to have come out of Europe.

My question is........Are Osho's ideas greater than the Gita? JC? Bhudda? Muhammad? I don't believe Osho came up with original thoughts, he just stood on the shoulder's of giants like Einstein; and synthesized them. I am aware that its considered irreverent and overtly sacrilideous by outer circles to remotely assert so much credibility, but if you consider him to be the existentialist's existentialist; please judge for yourself. There, I said it. Have I gone out on a Shirley McClain limb???? I know it makes me look like a Kool Aid drinker, but his literature is very simple and empowering.

It would take a staff of Univ Professors to accumulate and synthesize the knowledge that he has. For the life of me, I don't understand how Osho's literature does not overshadow his Antelope Ashram fiasco. But, then Nietzsche's reference to the masses and the marketplace falls into play.

The reason why I have so many of Osho's books is that in future years someone is going to bring attention to his teachings and methods and the books will sky rocket in value. Like a 1959 Gibson Les Paul.

Some original thoughts that Osho came up with were originally bad. Like driving on the wrong side of the road, and other nabs which were intended to force people to think. Acting on Nostrodamus, Ashram birth control, Nitrous Oxide/Valium and hiring Sheela. But those mistakes are what make him human. He did not even acknowlege himself as a scholar whom he despised or a philospher (which he had degrees in) but rather a psychologist.

Osho just might be the "master of all masters" when in comes to those who have been sharers of the "way," of awakening, or of enlightenment - all the same. "His books" are actually audiotape recordings from when he used to speak, so when you read his words, they really are "his words."

Osho tells you no lies; he only speaks the truth, and for some this is a hard pill to swallow. Some will instantly throw it back up in disgust; some will struggle, but digest it nonetheless; and some will embrace it as pure nourishment, even if it causes pain. Usually those with closed, dogmatic minds find him offensive, but for those who are true "seekers" of truth - those who question and have open minds - Osho will be your completion. One cannot give an accurate or adequate review of this man's insight. His words are something that can only be experienced.

I can only guarantee you one thing: if you read Osho with an open mind he will change your life.

- Peace and love in Oneness

Quite simply, this book was a catalyst for the transformation of myself, the removal of many things that caused suffering and difficulty in my life.

Osho is a very good author to read if, like me you are a westerner (or more specifically American). I have read other excellent books on Buddhism, but Osho's writing style is so digestible, so accessible to the western mind that I would suggest this book specifically for anyone looking for an introduction to Buddhism. I found his instruction to be a practical way to apply these truths in my own life.

The beautiful photography on nearly every page also soothes, and I found that having eye candy like this made it easier to keep my attention on this very intense subject.

But this book for anyone who seeks truth.

This is an easily readable, attention-holding account of the secret construction of one of the three largest ships ever built up to 1944. The author gives detailed insight into the naval architects, the naval commanders, shipyard workers, and ship's personnel who planned, built, commanded, and lived in the Musashi. Central to this story is the incredible extent the Japanese went to in order to hide the battleship's existence from the outside world. Monumental camoflage efforts, security procedures, and clandestine actions fill the chapters. Detailed descriptions are provided on the technical aspects of building and launching a 68,000 hunk of steel carrying the largest (18.1" dia. shells) naval guns in the world. The political infighting amongst the Japanese military factions in developing the strategies to use the Musashi and her two sisters, Yamato and Shinano (converted to an aircraft carrier) is covered quite well. Photographs and descriptions of the Musashi's combat employment and eventual sinking by an overwhelming amount of ordnance in the Sibuyan Sea in October 1944 are well done and clearly constructed. This book is a fast-reading saga which gives us a fascinating picture of a determined people and the pride they placed in creating a magnificent seagoing monument to the last of the Japanese warrior empire.

This is one of my favorite books on one of these behemoths. Before reading this book, I had very little information on the Musashi, except that which I could gather up from other books I have read. This is one of the best.

This book has been reprinted with the new title: Battleship Musashi, The Making and Sinking of the World's Biggest Battleship.

In Soldier's Home, Hemingway's fictional account of a soldier returning from the Great War, the protagonist struggles to communicate his experience to the residents of his small town:

"At first Krebs, who had been at Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel and in the Argonne did not want to talk about the war at all. Later he felt the need to talk but no one wanted to hear about it. His town had heard too many atrocity stories to be thrilled by actualities."

Captured Honor, a work of non-fiction, begins in similarly painful territory, with a moving description of Jack Elkins' homecoming after service in the War in the Pacific. Elkins had an extremely bad war as a prisoner of the Japanese in the Philippines and Japan, the details of which are frankly told in author Wodnik's compelling account. At war's end, Elkins finds himself pushed to the microphone on the stage of his small town church before an audience that includes his grammar school principal, old girlfriends, the hardware store clerk and his parents, among others. Their eyes search him for clues as to whether he remains the high school quarterback they remember, or has instead been transformed into "some sanitarium freak returned home to mom and dad."

Like Krebs, Elkins finds words inadequate to describe the enormity of his wartime experience. "You either tell all, or tell nothing" he thinks, and elects to keep the awful details to himself for more than 50 years.

Fortunately for us author Wodnik, a good listener and a fine writer, is able to engage Elkins and others who suffered as prisoners of the Japanese in their painful memories. Elkins, who fought bravely at Corregidor, survived the brutal Cabanatuan POW camp, and ended the war as a slave laborer working in the Mitsubishi shipyard in Yokohama, is a compelling subject, an ordinary man enduring extraordinary brutality in wartime. The book includes stirring memories of others including Fran Agnes, an apple picker turned Army aircraft mechanic who witnessed the Japanese destruction of Clark Field and survived the Bataan Death March and Henry Chamberlin, a medic, who is dispatched by his captors to Japan on a Hellship in conditions of unspeakable squalor.

Wodnik's important history is interspersed with scenes from the home front in Everett Washington, such as Veronica Lake flying in to sell war bonds to the star-struck citizenry. The correspondence of Ed Fox, an Everett hotel clerk and book fiend whose deepest influence seems to have been Dashiell Hammett, shows us the underside of a town emerging from the Depression, and fully engaged in wartime production of Boeing aircraft.

Captured Honor is a beautifully written book that presents with unsentimental empathy the stories of nine Americans who fought on Bataan and Corregidor. It juxtaposes these stories with an account of what was happening on the home scene -- specifically, in Everett, Washington, a town busy with war work -- as recorded in the diaries of a bookish hotel clerk. The juxtaposition works; it offers relief, and with these stories, I needed it.

Recently I learned much about the POW experience on the Bataan death march, on the "hell ships" and in the camps in the Philippines and Japan when I found a privately published 1959 novel written by a survivor. To me the other book was fantastical, so hard to believe that I started reading other veterans' narratives in an effort to make sense of it. Now Wodnik's nonfiction account has confirmed just about everything in it.

I think Captured Honor is an essential contribution to the history of the Pacific war -- and that Wodnik must be a gifted interviewer; these are often horrific, unglamorous memories that might have remained unrecorded. Time is running out for gathering these kinds of oral histories. But as hard as it is to read them, I am grateful for this book.

For anyone who is interested in the accounts of these brave men, this author has the ability to translate their memories into a fasinating and heartfelt read.

He put's you as much as is possible "at Corregidor, Bataan, and the infamous Zero Ward at Cabanatuan with Henry Chamberlain. Jack, Galen, Hanson, Johannsen,,, hero's all. It is to men like these we truly owe our right to walk in Freedom.

The book also gives you an account of what is happening at home which is an important part of the telling of the whole story. The auhor's command of the descriptive phrase makes people like Gracie, and Ed come alive. "the window in the room must have looked out onto a sky hanging so low in winter it seemed to scrape bricks from the faces of Seattle's tallest buildings".

Captured Honor .. thank you for capturing the memories for us before they were lost and faded...

This is a captivating story of the unexpected love between an American soldier and an aristocratic Japanese student, set in WWII. They are together against the world - her parents in Kyoto-Japan, his parents in America, and the prejudices of the era against mixed marriages and the product of them, mixed children. 'The Hidden Flower' is one of Buck's masterpieces!

This book is one of the most intelligent, moving and open-minded statements on interracial love and relationships that I have ever come across. Buck's story of a star-crossed pair of East-West lovers set in post-War Japan explores the racial pride and prejudices of both the East and West. She also manages to tell a deeply moving human story that transcends race. And remember, she was doing this in pre-MLK America, when non-mixing of the races was a cherished American value. Few if any authors have handled this subject with more insight and even-handedness than Buck. And none with more genuine compassion. Should be required reading in any multi-ethnic society.

I first read this book when I contained my own "not so" hidden flower, I was a six months pregnant American woman married to a native Japanese. I was also young, in my early twenties. It touched me incredibly deeply. It is the story of young naive love, love that does not question if it chooses wisely. It is about passion without reason and the consequences of that love that cause great pain in the end. The young heroine chooses to love an American military man and marry him. He is enamoured with her, comletely taken and brings her home to be his bride only to discover that it is against the law to be married to a non-white. Indeed this law was changed only within my own lifetime. I can't imagine having to make the terrible choices the young woman was faced with once she found she was going to have a baby. The other interesting issue is the taste the American serviceman shows for the sexy exotic nature of his bride, but when it truly comes to the reality of life he easily discards her. ALthough he initially married her one can see the old saying emerge: "Asian girls are for fun, white girls are for marriage."

A touching and sad story, one that is hard for the younger generation to comprehend.

Powelson turns to the historical experience of nations for an answer to the central question of economic development: why do some nations grow rich while others do not? The answer lies in the relationship between the decentralization of power and the ability of economic actors to play a role in the formation of transactional institutions. Absolutely necessary for students of development.

Jack Powelson's book, Centruies of Economic Endeavour, gives a clear explanation of why some countries (like the U.S. and Japan) are so much better at providing economic resources to its citizens than other countries, like in Eastern Europe, Africa and South America. His many years in business as well as academia results in relevant and clearly detailed notes for the reader to follow up. This book helped me understand why, even today, so many countries with large amounts of natural resources, cannot seem to get their people out of poverty. Must reading. Highly recomended.

If you believe in Lord Acton's dictum that "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely," this book is for you. There have been a variety of theories why some countries have prospered and some have not. Some say it depends on allowing free trade; some argue it depends on the degree of democracy as opposed to socialism or communism. Douglass North won a Nobel prize for his work to prove that the key is having the right societal institutions. Certainly it takes more than having natural resources.

Professor Powelson (Economics at the U. of Colorado) has worked extensively in developing countries and observed that despite all the good advice these countries received, and had been receiving for 50 years, they were making very little progress. To find out why, he decided to study history, going back over ten centuries in every important region of the world to see what lessons could be learned. His conclusions are startlingly simple: People prosper and societies thrive where there is genuine diffusion of power -- power earned, not bestowed by a ruler. Where power is centralized among a ruling few, the ruling few are able to take care of themselves, but their nations fail to grow and prosper and the people stay poor.

This book explains why every college freshman should be required to study Western Civilization before studying any other. As George Santayana has said already, "Those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them." Professor Powelson has written the most important history book of the past century for anyone interested in the lessons to be learned from the histories of Northern Europe, Japan, China, India, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, all covered beautifully in this one book.

History should never be disguised or rewritten or we will be doomed to repeat ourselves. Ms. Finch documented history of her 4 years as an American POW is a story worthy of an Opera expose.

A mind-boggling account of horrific proportions that every American should read. As seen through the eyes of a preteen, this is a factual presentation of events that transpired during WWII. Its heroic account of survival against infinite odds is a testament to the amazing love shared by mother and daughter, their unshakable faith, and prescient ability to adapt. Forced to observe and participate in reprehensible acts, they somehow managed to survive. Do not begin to read this book unless you have a free day, are willing to experience horror, anger, revulsion, and uncontrollable tears. 5 plus stars! Art Peterson

Ms. Finch has written an impressive account of her experiences as a child POW. She and her mother survived through their love, strength and courage as prisoners of the Japanese during World War II, and her painful recollections will stay with you long after reading the last page. It is also a richly detailed story of the times and of the family ties that bind when the world around is being torn apart.

I inherited my grandmother's Noritake china set when she died, and wanted to know the year of production and what it was worth. The pictures of the maker's marks and patterns were very useful. I discovered our pattern was made in 1931, and was worth about $2,500! Not that I would ever part with such a sentimental gift...It's just nice to know the history of something. Thanks to the author for her research!

I found this book to be very useful. It's very well organized and well written. An only suggestion for the next edition is to have glossier/brighter/clearer photographs.

I found this book to be logical and informative. The foundation of this book is based upon the chronilogical use of each mark. The patterns are then listed alphabetically within the time period that "mark" was used. Because of this book - all my freinds and colleages think of me as a "Early Noritake Expert" - I dont have the heart to tell them that I am not! I highly recommend this book to any and all collectors and/or dealers of Noritake!

I collect older (collectible) MADE IN JAPAN items and therefore I have quite a few books on the subject. This book is not complete but quite helpful. Photos are nice.

Many different volumes have been written on this subject. Infact, I own 3 other books on this subject.

When "Made in Japan" collectibles were issued there were sooooo many different items sold, that it would be impossible to include all of them in just one book. The author tried and did a good job though.

Book #2 is every bit as good as the first one. NO REPEATS !... and new information on the companies that made these delightful pieces. Color photos, marks and all the information you need. Ms. Whites books are getting like potato chips to me.. you can't have just one!

Carole Bess White has put together an exhaustive reference work on Japanese ceramics from the early 20th century to today. Her extensive research really pays off in this book, crammed full of photos of all types.

Bess covers everything from ash trays to water sets, candy dishes to salt & pepper sets, Satsuma to souvenir plates. I especially like the many photos of various backstamps (marks) she provides. The book has over 250 pages of photos, and includes catalog pages from current novelty producers. If you're interested in collectible ceramics "Made in Japan", don't hesitate to buy this book!

I collect older (collectible) MADE IN JAPAN items and therefore I have quite a few books on the subject. This book is not complete but quite helpful. Photos are nice.

Many different volumes have been written on this subject. Infact, I own 3 other books on this subject.

When "Made in Japan" collectibles were issued there were sooooo many different items sold, that it would be impossible to include all of them in just one book. The author tried and did a good job though.

This was an awesome product for me to have because I have alot of ceramics that have the made in japan labels on them. It is really fun to look them up to see if what you have is worth anything.

Made in Japan Ceramics Book 3 continues to give the readers what they want: INFORMATION ! Biscuit Barrels, Figurines, Condiment Sets , Wall Pockets, etc.,etc., with top notch color photos. Carole Bess White has chosen to share her vast knowledge and love of these charming pieces. Thanks Carole. When shall we expect volume #4 ?

This book is written in a matter of fact way that provides an excellent understanding of the trials medical personnel underwent during the Battle for Iwo Jima. I began to read it one evening after work and couldn't put the book down until I had read the final page! It is rare to find such a book that captures your attention for such a long time. I recommend this book.

I am happy to see that this book is now available in paperback. I just finished reading Dr. Vedder's book - I had found a 1984 hard-cover edition in a used book store. This is a great narrative about brutal combat on Iwo Jimo, but from the perspective of the physician, working under rather extraordinary conditions. This is an excellent book for any reader interested in WWII in the Pacific, and especially for those interested in military medicine.

Finally back in print, Vedder's Surgeon On Iwo is a classic. The most detailed account of combat from the medic's point of view I have ever read. It never gets too wordy or trite but paints an accurate picture of combat and saving lives in America's worst battle. As a career military physician I recommend this as must reading for anyone wanting to know how bad it can get, both for the medics and combatants. The writing style is matter of fact, almost stark. The best description of intensly contested, unrelenting battlefield conditions in print. All war libraries must have this book.