Japan Books

Certainly by far the best in print book on the subject. Many good pictures and unlike many books by this publisher it actually has some worthwhile text.I would have like to have seen a little more on late war items and variations but this does not diminish the quality of this book, If you are interested in Japanese Army uniforms and equipment this is an important book to have .

Finally a great book on an often overlooked subject. Mr. Hewitt has made a great effort to get it right and it shows. This book will serve as a stand-alone reference on the subject. With wonderful color photos, supporting text, and several views of many items listed, this book will easily replace the "next best thing" and that book isn't even in English. Mr. Hewitt's attention to detail and collectors eye lend authority to the work. His passion for the subject is obvious on every page. If you want a solid reference on Imperial Japanese uniforms and equipment used during WWII, this book is it.

Victory in the Pacific and the Far East is part of the Images of War series, and here Andrew Rawson has assembled photographs that wonderfully summarize the time and place. This volume is centered on the last six months of the war in the Pacific, the Philippines, Burma, and China.

The names and battles are familiar; the images are not. The photo of one US Marine jumping into a crater while another Marine takes a break, his arms lazily cradling his head, gives us the bizarre logic of wartime courage. The picture of a cameraman killing a Japanese soldier is remarkable in its combination of surprise and banality.

The sight of an American GI and his Japanese prisoner walking side-by-side, each smiling for his unseen audience, captures the collision between the reality of war and an image of it. We are seeing something false at the moment of its creation, and few things are ever as honest. This book is filled with many equally compelling images

This is a very well done pictorial of numerous campaigns in the Pacific Theatre of Operations in 1945.

There is a separate chapter on the fighting in Burma and China but the primary emphasis of the book is on the island-hopping campaigns, beginning with the assaults on the Phillipines (3 chapters) and continuing with the assaults on and around Iwo Jima and Okinawa (4 chapters). There is a final brief chapter on Japan's surrender but there are no photos of the devastation wreaked on Hiroshima or Nagasaki, nor (oddly, enough) of the effects of any bombing runs on Tokyo or anywhere else on Japan.

The photographs are fascinating and, in most instances, extremely clear and crisp, the best ones I have seen in any one of the numerous books I own in this "Images of War" series. (Whether that is due to the quality of the original photos or the quality of the press run for the book I have no way of knowing.)

As with its twin by the same author on the Victory in Europe, the book is full of action photos of Allied troops (primarily Americans, as with the European counterpart) engaged in various phases of battle (i.e., just before, during, and just after).

There are a wide variety of photos of beach landings and assaults, including an interesting aerial photo of parachutes littered across the landscape.

As with other books in this series, there is little text (1-2 pages for each chapter) and the emphasis is on the photos, which are accompanied by informative and expansive captions.

One drawback I found is that there seem to be too many photos of dead Japanese soldiers (at least for me), more than, for example, dead photos of Germans in the volumes on D-Day and Victory in Europe. The only one of these that is out of the ordinary is a photo of a U.S. Signal Corps cameraman, fully outfitted in all his photographic paraphernalia, with his gun drawn after shooting a Japanese soldier who had just tried to ambush him. Another drawback is that there is only a brief mention of "Gen. Kruger" (a personal favorite of mine, whose actual name was Walter Krueger) and his role in these operations, much less any photos of him.

In any event, overall the book is a fine photographic rendition of the battles in the Pacific theatre during the last six to eight months of World War II, with superb and well-chosen photos (over 250 altogether).

I had this book for a long time and have read it at least five times.This book basically puts you into it and you can almost feel the cold environment as well as feel the chills and suspense that laces the book throughout.I found that it also captures Japan in a rare and realistic way. A must buy....when and if you can find a copy.

This is truly a great book. It may not be great as in deep and spiritual, but great as in really, really fun to read. It is too bad that this book is out of print. It deserves to be a bestseller.

Wow! I am so happy to find this great works on "amazon.com". This CD-ROM features "Historical and Modern Tokyo". You can comprehend real shape of Tokyo just clicking your mouse. Tokyo has lots of historical place and cultural treasures. There many stuff which introduce Tokyo to you. But this CD-ROM is completely different from any kind of them. It's so fun, and easy to use. You will be familiar with everything about Tokyo when you will finish browse this great works without

any patience.

I recommend you to purchase this CD if you'd like to enjoy real Tokyo without long trip to Tokyo! Enjoy!

I'm going to Tokyo next summer and got some books, but nothing compares to this CD. I can explore places and zoom in to really see the detail. I've never seen anything like this - it is very cool, and so easy to use. And my girlfriend loved the cute Japanese music in the background.

I would recommend this CD to anyone planning to visit Tokyo or wants a digital memory of it.

A successful businessman who once committed a crime with a partner now wants to keeps tabs on him...

A rising movie actor who is very cautious about his newfound success due to his secret murder of his lover - to which a single person was witness, and who is now his worst nightmare come to life...

A bar hostess so desperate for real love that she would arrange for pretenders to be murdered with other women as bogus love suicides...

A bank clerk hell-bent on revenge from a former co-worker who seduced his sister and left her for dead to cover up their affair...

A terminal-cancer stricken haiku poet who is tricked to be used as a pawn in the murder of another woman...

All these are examples of the short stories you'll find in this great book. Matsumoto's short stories really dazzle you as the criminals' motives are explained slowly and carefully. Adam Kabat does a terrific job in his translation. Mesmerizing... not to be missed!

Having two mystery novels of Seicho Matsumoto I had to get this book of short stories and I am very happy I did. Set in Japan, during the 50s and 60s, the stories are about unsolved crimes, 6 crimes which we, as the readers, follow along with the main characters, be they murders, bystanders or police. I really enjoy the feel of Matsumoto's Japan, a Japan still trying to find itself in a Post-World War Two/Cold War world, a mixture of train schedules, rare if modern phones, old fashion kimonos and tea.
I also enjoy the details he pours into each story. He gives you all the facts - he doesn't cheat and rarely tosses in come clue in the last sentence. I wish more of his work was in English!

I have to give Joseph King's book "Waiting to Serve" the highest rating for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was such an uplifting and delightful surprise to come across, (completely by chance), a book written by an old friend, an old Army buddy that I had served with more than sixty years ago. But even better than that was the reading, along with photos, and recalling our experiences together. It is a very well done and a thoroughly enjoyable read.I (Lou Trapasso) would like to get in touch with Joe to congratulate him personally so, if he, or others reading this review who can reach him, will type my name into an internet search, my name and connecting link will come up in the listing.

This book provides a touching and personal perspective of the latter days of WW2 seen through the eyes of a young man and a few of his friends from the "greatest generation" and how the war affected his life and the lives of his family and friends. This is not your traditional "historical war story" and provides an interesting slant on some of the way the military works "well off of the front lines." The author also provides some unique insights into some of the private sector industrial machine that supported our troops during this critical period of our history.

I read the book on a recent plane flight. Once I opened the book, I could not put it down until I finished it. It is a great one session read. The book is dotted with many interesting and unique photos and illustrations from this young soldiers collection of memorabilia which adds to the interest created by the book. Very recommended.

Written by Yokohama City University creative writing teacher Holly Thompson and illustrated by Tokyo-born artist Kazumi Wilds, The Wakame Gatherers is a children's picturebook about a young girl, Nanami, who has two grandmothers on opposite sides of the ocean: Gram in Maine and Baachan in Japan. When Gram visits Japan for the first time, Gram, Baachan, and Nanami go on a seaside trip to gather Wakame, a long, curvy seaweed that floats near the shore. Gram and Baachan share stories about how seaweeds are used in Maine and Japan, and Nanami translates for both. Enthusiastic color paintings illustrate this wonderful tale about family togetherness and forming connections between cultures.

This book is spot on when it comes to comparing and contrasting the cultures of two grandmothers from Japan and Maine (USA) as they harvest seaweed together with their Japanese granddaughter. The attention to details by the artist is a welcome treat as anyone who has actually been to this part of Japan will attest. The sweet twist at the end doesn't come as a surprise but begs for a sequel.

The first two chapters were a warm up for the real guts and glory! I have never met the author but just reading his book made me proud to be an American. Using the genious approach to cannibalizing parts to fly planes that had no chance of surviving against such great odds is overwhelming.

My advise is to buy the book and read, start to finish!

In any story one reads about Wake Island, Lt. Kinney is always mentioned as a key player. It is interesting to piece the Wake saga together with the individual stories and anecdotes of the men like Kinney who were there.
The story Kinney tells is a humble one, considering the events he has seen and endured. He is the original "MacGuyver," fixing equipment not only at Wake, but also throughout his career.
Kinney's story is like walking through nearly every chapter of military aviation history. Few can ever say they flew in everything from Curtiss Jennys to early Vietnam era jets.
A great read for Wake Island, WWII, aviation and Korean War enthusiasts alike.

America defense forces has become weak. We cannot put our troups in Iraq and Korea at the same time. We have cut our defenses back to far. There are so many potential hot spots in the Middle East and Central Asia in the next decade that we must return to strength. A must to read. Lets Wake Up America!

The book keeps you going and you will find that you will not lay it down. A side to WW-II I have never read before. There is a lesson in the book as to why America should wake up and keep our military strong. I never realized the extent of suffering we asked our men(boys) to suffer, fighting a ruthless enemy without supplies and equipment. The book has made me aware of how gratefull we need to be of our fighting men. A must to read. Kenneth Gatzke

The Japanese artistic sense continues incorporating the old with new sensibilities to produce new forms. The old culture impregnates the new artistic expression and women artists are having their say finally. There is something that is always intriguing about Japanese arts and crafts for it is hard to identify. The intensity of subtleness, the effort put into producing the beautiful and yet the faint hint of the ugly need for strength to survive one's environment all meld in Japan's current art. This book will intrigue, puzzle and make you think about art and its relevance today.

Written by Tokyo-based art critic Yumi Yamaguchi, Warriors of Art: A Guide to Contemporary Japanese Artists is a jaw-dropping showcase of contemporary Japanese art, from sculptures to drawings to photography to unorthodox media. Though some pieces are clearly influenced by manga or anime, many others are of a unique and refreshingly original style. Full-color photographs on every page immerse the reader in a grand visual spectacle, while the text introduces the reader to the basic concepts and message of individual artistic talents. A small number of pieces show nudity or even graphically sexual images; Warriors of Art is not for young children, though the majority of artworks presented are not erotic. Highly recommended.