Japan Books

This is one of the most intimate and exceptionally written books about combat I have every read. Eugene Sledge portrays the war in the Pacific in such a way that you feel the pain and suffering of the men who sacrificed everything for eachother in combat. You will be humbled by Sledge's memoirs. A must read for all.

There are so many reasons to pan a book like this, writting, viewpoint, historical accuracy, but this book gets 5 stars in all catagories. So true, so full of action, so sad, so much to say. My true interest lies on the Eastern Front between Germany and Russia, but this was so good it is my favorite of WW2 in spite of the subject matter. Wow.

I have told people that war is the Second worse thing that could happen to a human. The first? Slavery - which is the battlefront against Hitler's National Socialists and the Imperial Japan in World War II.

That's where this story takes place. I have read few books that convey the realism and horror of war so well, without reservation. This is one.

Eugene B. Sledge, an Alabama boy, heads into War in the Pacific as a member of the U.S. Marines. He lands with the famous 1st Marine Division - 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. His training was concentrated and intense - but still nothing prepares one for the onslaught of Pelilieu. He was a vet when he hit Okinawa where the fighting got even tougher. The image that sticks with me about Okinawa is a Marine who has to head back to get ammo. He slips in the mud and slides down the hill, rising to discover that he was covered in the maggots uncovered by his slid that were gnawing away at the dead bodies in the mud. This Marine, inured to death and destruction, is rattled badly. That image has stayed with me to understand the horror of this generation's sacrifice and their quiet acceptance of Duty.

By the time Sledge hit the hell of Okinawa, he was a combat vet, still filled with fear but no longer with panic.

I can't go into detail since I didn't read it myself, but my dad enjoyed it a lot.

I have wanted this book for some time. The seller gave a fair price and good service. I received the book in good shape, as advertized.

Books this long need to be way more interesting or it turns into a slog, I don't care how fast you read. This one really bogged me down. I am not saying it was not a good story, it just needed to be way shorter and keep moving a lot faster.

As a high school student, I first encountered this character in a series made up of five books. At the time, each book was released weeks or even months apart. I was so enamored with the story that I finished each book before the next one was released. But I eagerly anticipated each installment. It was like being hooked on a daytime soap. But mind you, this is no soap opera. This is perhaps the most captivating story I have ever encountered. I am pleased to find this edition contains the whole set in one book. If you are a fan of sword fights that begin with but an intent in the mind of the combatant coming to an end in the deceptively tranquil plains of feudal Japan, look no further. This story reminds you that however perfect the sword is as a tool for killing, the deadliest weapon remains the swordsman and not the sword. Musashi is the ultimate swordsman and his story has all the elements of an engaging epic containing betrayal, honor, struggle, unrequited love, death and much more. The duels of the sword depicted here are like nothing I have ever read or seen or heard about before back then as a high school student and now as an adult. Printing quality and paper quality is excellent as befits a treasure of literature.

Great story!! Full of action and wonderful details so you really feel like you are part of the story. My son who does not like to read cannot help but enjoy this one. Just when he seems a little bored the author has something exciting. A great read for boys or men.

I read this books while I was in the senior high school, approximately twenty years ago, but until now the story is still clinging in my mind and it refused to forget it because this is a best novel I've ever know.Extremely worthy to own it. It seems that Eiji Yoshikawa did a great deal of works to perfecting it.

I read Musashi 15 years ago, and I remember it vividly. It's such a sweeping, wondrous novel, I'm surprised it's not more famous than it is. I became a bit of a Yoshikawa fan from this, and visited his home, preserved as a museum, outside Tokyo. A beautiful serene place. Musashi, in retrospect, was highly inspirational to me as a writer, in terms of pacing, character development, and raw storytelling. I recently bought a copy for a fellow writer, who has samurai themes in his works, and I'm sure I will continue to gift this novel to my friends. Enjoy!

Well written from a more neutral prespective. Easy to follow narative. I have this book on my nightstand and find my self reading it when I really should be sleeping. Great Book

I, as with many -- perhaps most -- general readers particularly interested in World War II naval history, assumed there wasn't much earth-shatteringly new I could learn about the Battle of Midway. Having read most of the standard narratives, I tackled "Shattered Storm" expecting to simply gain a more detailed picture of the battle from the Japanese point of view. What I got was detailed to be sure, but rather than merely filling in gaps in my understanding, "Shattered Sword" shattered my neat assumptions of the entire campaign. That is exactly what Parshall and Tully intended.

The authors understood that most readers, from the general military history buff like me, to well-educated military historians, had a well-formed idea of what happened preceding, during and after the conflict, why and how it turned out as it did, and its impact on future campaigns -- indeed on the outcome of the Pacific War as a whole. Much of what we knew about Midway, they came to believe, was essentially based on a lie, subsequently perpetuated by lazy scholarship. They felt that the seminal work on Midway from the Japanese perspective, Fuchida's "Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan" (which I have not read -- yet) was a self-serving attempt to deflect blame, which for a variety of reasons, was ever after accepted at face-value by Western researchers and writers.

I personally believe most "revisionist" history is a close-cousin of UFO exposes and conspiracy theories, little more than whining or axe-grinding. Tully and Parshall avoid this trap. Their argument is that the standard picture of Midway is flawed simply because most writers on the subject simply stuck to the previously written script without doing the obviously difficult work involved in scouring and interpreting the Japanese primary sources. They set about carefully reconstructing the battle from the perspective of what the IJN was in 1942 vs. what the dimming mists of time lead us to think it was.

Approaching "Shattered Sword" felt daunting at first. I'm not a historian or a journalist -- my formal education ended with nursing school. I feared this hefty book might be too dense to wade through, but my fears were unfounded. Tully and Parshall write with a relaxed, easy narrative style, wonderfully free of the cant that so often intimidates general readers. They managed to explain technical details and arcane doctrine in a way that was easy to understand without being patronizing. They did not lose sight of the fact that, under it all, they were telling a story, one where most readers already knew the outcome, and had well-formed ideas of who the "good guys" and "bad guys" were. They managed to keep me riveted, while eliciting a measure of, if not sympathy, then empathy for the other side. They presented the facts to bck up their argument within the context of the narrative, so it flowed smoothly within the framework of their underlying story. In the end, they concisely wrapped up the facts and laid out the reasoning behind the conclusions they drew. They offered up a perspective I had not yet seen, and they articulated some nebulous ideas that had been floating around my understanding of Midway and the Pacific War. The graphics they used to bolster their arguments were clear, pertinent and enlightening.

In summary, I found this book persuasive, clear, well-organized, thoughtful (and thought-provoking), and above all entertaining. While I wouldn't recommend it to a reader with no more than a passing interest in World War II history, or to a reader who doesn't have a basic understanding of the Battle of Midway, I would highly recommend it on so many different levels to anyone with a genuine interest in the history of the war in the Pacific. I would urge those who do select this book to read it with an open mind. Certainly one of the most interesting books on the Pacific war I've yet read. I wish Tully and Parshall would put their collaborative writing/researching skills together again for a fresh look at Midway from the American perspective.

A very carefully researched and written account of the events leading up to and during the Battle of Midway from both sides. Reading this book almost puts one back in time and part of the story. This is an exceptional book to read that has a refreshing new perspective on a great story that by many accounts was a complex set events that is explained in a way that no other book has done.

Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully have put together a complete revision of the Battle of Midway. Using many Japanese sources we find out the underlying truth of this battle.
I have not read Mitsuo Fuchida's Midway and I cannot comment on his errors or omissions. However, in reading Shattered Sword, I learned a great deal of the mindset of the Imperial Navy of Japan in 1942. It is a fact that Japan's hubris made for the unexplained lack of professionalism in their actions of their offensive on Midway. Yamamoto's battle plan was flawed, he assumed the Americans were mentally beaten at this point in time.
As pointed out in this book and which is widely known even before the writing of Shattered Sword is that the United States had broken the Japanese code. It is fact that they knew the location of the Japanese attack.
However the battle was not won on this fact alone. What Parshall and Tully have done is to examine the points of the Japanese failures and they were many. They sent out their reconnaissance planes much too late to spot American carrier activities. They also made the cardinal sin of sending out all their planes and leaving their carriers unprotected.
At this time the Japanese were in command and were pushing forward to deal the decisive blow. They indeed failed. Japan in fact seemed to think of themselves as infallible. Even in their training exercises they created predictable scenarios in which their school solutions were indeed winners.
In fact Midway never became the ultimate solution. As Midway faded into American victory, the sun was beginning to set on the land of the rising sun.
As Parshall and Tully concluded, in reality even if America did lose Midway, it would have been unlikely that Japan would have prevailed. In conclusion the industrial might of America would have won out. All destroyed carriers and planes would have been replaced. America's fate was indeed to win the war in the Pacific. That was obvious to a real student of history even on December 7, 1941.
Great read, thoroughly researched with great photographs and diagrams. Five Stars, no problem!!

Shattered Sword by Parshall and Tully is simply breathtaking, the most thoroughly researched and lucidly thought out history of an event that I have ever read. Setting out to tell the story of Midway primarily from the Japanese side they have created the new standard of that crucial battle in the dark days of 1942 that shines as an example of scholarly effort without parallel.

First these authors clearly did their homework, and to say that they explore the battle in the utmost would be an understatement. Setting the stage for the battle with germane explanations of the geopolitical, then strategic, and then operational backdrops that led up to 4-5 June 1942 the authors then delve into the battle wielding an awesome array of salient information ranging from the psychological makeup of the senior Japanese commanders on the scene, to Japanese naval doctrine of the time, to the naval architecture of the four Japanese flat tops, to how many bomb carts each carrier had (and are thus able to derive such details as the quickest possible practical TIME, down to the minute, it could have taken to re-arm waiting dive bombers and torpedo planes in the hangar bay) to even the names of individual Japanese pilots in the CAP and when they were launched. What emerges is a picture of the battle in toto, grounded in a thorough understanding of the pacific campaign and the entire war itself, aided by a completely fresh and unbiased look (which subsequently shatters many myths about the battle) and delivers not just the most accurate picture of what happened and why during the fighting, but also what it meant in the larger scheme of how the rest of the war was fought and ultimately won (or lost by the Japanese). This is truly the stuff history is supposed to be about.

What is better yet is that the book, in a surprising cut against the grain for pieces written by more than one author, reads both like an erudite intellectual analysis and Tom Clancy-esque action thriller. Throughout the book you are taken from the strategic and coolly logical minds of senior commanders, to white knuckle seventy degree dives in the cockpits of cascading American SBD's flying through walls of flak and marauding Japanese zeros. Later you are privy to the acts of desperate survival of Japanese engineers sweating in the asphyxiating air of the engine rooms in their carriers as the ceilings above them start literally glowing red from the heat of uncontrollable fires ravaging above and blocking their only route of possible escape.

After setting the stage of the history of the Japanese naval war in the Pacific up until the time of the battle and explaining the strategies, doctrines, and technical features (i.e. carrier air wing make up, command organizations, etc.) of both the American and Japanese navies the authors place you onboard the ships of the Kido Butai for a minute by minute account. This in depth and detailed account takes you from the moment they sortie from Hashirajima bay to their ignominous retreat mere weeks later. The writing is crisp, fast paced, and clear, conveying information, tension, emotion, and action all at the same time without compromising any of those features. Told primarily from the Japanese side it is taut and disciplined, delivering information to the readers as it came in real time to Nagumo and the staff of the Kido Butai on the cramped bridge of the Akagi and under fire, instead of giving the reader a truly "God's Eye View" of the battle. There is just enough delving into the worlds and actions of Nimitz in Pearl Harbor, Flether onboard the Yorktown, Spruance onboard the Enterprise, and several other American forces to give appropriate context and understanding, but the reader is basically experiencing what the Japanese commanders were going through. This allows the reader to truly appreciate the Clausewitzian "friction" that plagues any battle, and to understand the decisions the commanders made at the time. After the fact everything is tied together by the authors to deliver a true picture of exactly what happened each minute of the battle. The scope of the battle and the author's telling of it is enormous, covering not just the more familiar strike on Midway istelf and ensuring carrier duel, but the ordeal of survivors from each carrier as they attempted, futilely, to save their ships then abandoned them, to the harried Japanese retreat and the less familiar American attacks on the Mogami and Mikuma which ultimately led to the latter's destruction.

The book sets the record straight on many things, of which I cannot mention all. When the American dauntlesses rained down upon the Japanese carriers at 1020 however it is clear that their decks were NOT full of a strike package just moments from launching to crush TF 17, this was a myth that was propagated by Mitsuo Fuchida after the war's end for self serving purposes as well as dramatic flair. VT-8's heroic and fatally doomed torpedo attack did not draw down the Japanese CAP, instead it was just one of a series of hurried and poorly organized American attacks that virtuously threw the Japanese into confusion and left them reacting to conditions rather than shaping them. The Americans were not so outmatched as is commonly believed, but still won a glorious victory ableit against a deeply flawed plan developed by the actually bullying and overbearing Yamamoto (who was restricted from leaving Kure Naval Harbor while in Japan to visit Naval General HQ in Tokyo on fear that other resentful officers there would literally kill him.)

The lessons the authors draw from this battle are applicable even today. The Japanese primarily lost the battle, and the entire war for that matter (although for the entire war the relative industrial might of the US played a far more important role than it obviously could have in this single, early on confrontation), due to an operational rigidity born of national culture and character. This rigidity left it unable to correctly learn lessons from its past operations, anticipate future operations as well as enemy capabilities and reactions to such, and, most critically, to adapt to real world circumstances when their overly elaborate plans inevitably began to unravel against determined and unpredicted enemy actions. (The Japanese expected to face a cowed, fearful, and largely reactionary and passive US Navy at Midway, and not the aggressive and ably commanded force that Nimitz actually sortied to meet them and that guided itself on the flexible principle of calculated risk rather than dogmatic devotion to operational planning.)

I simply can not say enough good about this book. It is useful to anyone with an interest in history as an example of the heights that that discipline can reach and the edifying fruits it can bear when practiced properly, to those in the military who seek a better understanding of how war actually is fought and can be fought best, to someone who wants to read about a real world battle written with the excitement and drama of a great fiction author.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Sailor Moon is one of my favorite manga of all time. These books are so hard to get. If you can find one grab it !

I haven't read the manga(any of it) but I want to point something out. Who in this entire universe would want the name Bunny? I woundn't. Maybe that's why they changed it to Serena. Just a tiny clue, you know.

This is one of the best volumes. Usagi and Mamoru and Serena and Darien and Bunny and Darien are my favorite couple. This volume is so romantic and touching. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask are my favorite couple. This volume is so romantic and wonderful. I loved it. I read every volume and loved it. I've been a huge fan since 1995 and still love this series- the anime, manga and lvie action version. Usagi/Mamoru Serena/Darien Bunny/Darien Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask are the best couple and the main couple and have the best love story.

This is one of my favorite Sailor Moon volumes. In it, my favorite couple, Bunny/Darien, Usagi/Mamoru, Serena/Darien have lots of romantic moments. I loved both the Japanese and English versions. The Japanese version is my favorite and the English version is great. I use both the Japanese names, Usagi and Mamoru and the English names Bunny and Darien. In this book, Usagi, known as Bunny and Mamoru, known as Darien begin to date. When Usagi (Bunny) wakes up in Mamoru (Darien)'s bed, they reveal their secrets to each other. Tuxedo Mask rescues Sailor Moon from a battle and kisses her. Darien reveals his identity as Tuxedo Mask. He tells Bunny the truth about his past. Although at first they'd enjoy teasing each other, when Darien reveals his identity to her, she admits that she has strong feelings for him and they begin to date. Darien tells her about his childhood. Bunny finds a pocket watch and takes it with her, while Darien saves Bunny's handerkerchief. He gies her a new nickname, in the Japanese version, Mamoru's nickname for her is Usako. Usagi then calls Mamoru Mamo-chan. In this version, Darien's nickname for Bunny is Buns. Bunny becomes very happy with Darien's new name for her. The next time they meet, Bunny sees her new boyfriend, Darien, reading about crystals. Darien playfully teases Bunny as they talk together. Bunny gets excited as they begin to talk. Bunny decides to keep his identity a secret, so the others will let her stay together with Darien. Darien apologizes about before and Bunny smiles and tells him it's alright. Bunny tells Darien that she wants to return his pocket watch. Darien tells her to keep it and he tells her he has something for her and they can trade next time. They reunite when Sailor Moon is about to fall and Tuxedo Mask saves her. Sailor Moon kisses Tuxedo Mask. Darien begins to think about the different sides to her. When Sailor Moon is about to be attacked, Tuxedo Mask saves her. Darien takes the shard for Bunny. Bunny is in shock. She calls out to Darien. Then their past is revealed. Usagi and Mamoru, Bunny and Darien, find out that in the past they were two lovers, Serenity and Endymion. They were in love and reincarnated in the future to meet in the present. Bunny finds out that Darien is her true love. When she sees him in her arms, he is taken away. Bunny is heartbroken and stays in her room for a week as she begins to remember the past. This volume is romantic, touching and will make you cry. It is truly one of the best volumes ever.

Well, this book is when sailor V first appears. She is totally cool. Darien and Bunny (Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon) figure out eachothers true identities. And they find the silver imperium crystal(which is very very important). If you have seen Sailor Moon on Cartoon Network, just a thing. This is much different. Sailor Moon isn't as...clumsy. And the whole crystal thing is done way differently. Still an amazing book, well written, good plot. Any real sailor moon fan will absolutely adore this book.

Inspector Morimoto is a detective who works in the Japanese city of Okayama, which is a medium sized city. He like to ride around on the city trams, and take slow train journeys through the countryside. And he likes to sit in his office with his feet on his desk drinking tea and staring out the window while he discusses problems with his helper - who is Police Officer Suzuki. And in one of the chapters Inspector Morimoto will show you how to cook a Japanese pancake! It is a wonderful book, and I never realized umbrellas could be so fascinating!

I love reading books written by westerners who have spent a lot of time in Japan. I've been there many times myself. I prefer the non-fiction, but have read most everything available, so sometimes read the fiction.

The story is engaging, however, I feel it could have taken place just about anywhere. It didn't have a Japanese feel to it. Inspector Morimoto and Suzuki could have been a detective team in any country as there was almost nothing about their characters that seemed Japanese. There just wasn't that feel of Japanese charm or that little touch of humor that I think there should have been. Even in this day and age in Japan I find it unbelievable that a Japanese man would get tea for a younger Japanese woman--or most any woman.

The train ride descriptions and the lockers in every Japanese train station are very accurate. However, the larger lockers usually cost much more than the smaller ones which usually do cost 300 yen (About $2.50 right now). There are usually three sizes of lockers--the largest ones costing 500 to 600 yen. I've stuffed my luggage in them many times. I know, I'm probably nitpicking.

I also thought there was an obvious way the bad guy could have saved himself a lot of trouble and obtained the desired result for himself. But then, there couldn't have been a book.

This book was interesting enough to make me want to read the next books. I'm hoping there's much more character development in those.

I really enjoyed reading "Inspector Morimoto and the Two Umbrellas". I liked the main plot and I particularly enjoyed reading about the train rides.
I am not good at solving riddles but I could hardly put down the book. I finished reading the book in just 3 days. I thought it was a very clever story. I felt so good when I read the ending. After reading this book I decided to read the rest of the series.

This has got to be the dullest detective story that I've had the misfortune to read. The action consists of Detective Morimoto and his sharp young math-minded assistant Suzuki taking the train to different locations. Now when I find the descriptions of the scenery between Okayama and Osaka the most interesting part of the novel that spells trouble for the storyline. Besides the fact that the detectives don't do much besides ponder the problems and interview people, the writing itself slows the story down. Overuse of words such as "quite" and "rather" and lines like "as we shall see later in the story" make the writing style altogether passive. I would have liked to have seen more character description - these two protagonists could have been located in any country as they did not use a single Japanese word for flavor. (I recommend using the Japanese honorifics such as "san" at least.) Yawn... here we have proof that being a good mathematician does not lead to being a good novelist.

What really annoys me the most is all of the bogus 5 star reviews posted here at Amazon for this book. I can tell that the author self published this book with no editor and promoted it here with these generic 5 star reviews so that it would be prominently displayed on Amazon's lists. Bah humbug! I got suckered into buying this but I hope that anyone who reads this far looks elsewhere for their entertaining detective novel.

I admit it, I'm a sucker for all things Japanese. I like this series and am working my way through them steadily. They are very, very dry [although it rains a lot] and some might say that not a damn thing happens. In reality, a crime occurs and then 'the team' of Morimoto and Suzuki work on their inductions and then their deductions till they have the crime figured out. Then they talk it through again, then they confront the criminal, then they sum up. They also spend a vast amount of time on the tram, the train and the bullet express, so the chances of a police chase are pretty slim. As slim as the books themselves, in fact. All very cerebral, exactly as you'd imagine a police procedural written by a mathematician.

I've read a number of books on Zen, which technically can't be written about. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Reps and Senzaki is a good example of the pithy stories and poems that teachers use to "point toward the moon" while helping students not to confuse the finger for the moon.

The selection of material and translation are very good.

I have the Shambhala edition. It is a shame that one of the few good-quality translations in Shambhala's Pocket Classics series is out of print. If you can find one you should buy it, because it really can be read again and again and it really does fit in your pocket.

For a different sort of introduction to Zen I recommend D. T. Suzuki's Introduction to Zen Buddhism (An Introduction to Zen Buddhism).

For a fuller treatment it is hard to beat D.T. Suzuki's Essays (Essays in Zen Buddhism: First Series).

This little book was the first popular introduction to Zen in the English language, published by Hawai'ian/ Japanese publisher Tuttle in 1957, compiled from earlier booklets. The date gives the Introduction and the comments a quaint Beat Generation-ish flavour not without its charm.
This was the book that introduced me to Zen at the age of 15: I felt I had discovered a new world, I read and re-read it, carried it around with me, was delighted by the stories, baffled by the koans. Many years later I've lost count of how many copies I've gone through.

It consists of four parts. First, 101 Zen stories, including old favourites that I've since seen in so many other books. Then a translation of the "Mumonkan", the "simplest" of the classic koan anthologies. Then the wonderful "Ox-Herding Pictures", an allegory of the stages of spiritual life from the first inkling that "there must be something more to life" to complete realisation. This by itself is a comprehensive spiritual guide.

The last section is the most surprising: a translation of a brief mediaeval Tantric text called the "Vijñana Bhairava", 112 sentences of spiritual instruction supposedly spoken by the god Shiva to his "consort" Devî. (The introduction attributes a ridiculous antiquity to this text.) Each one of these sublime sentences is a concise spiritual method: you could reach Enlightenment through any one of them if you could develop that "Give me Liberation or give me Death" attitude. What it's doing in a book on Zen I haven't figured out, but it's worth the price of the book by itself.

Shame no-one these days prints cute little paperbacks like the old blue Pelican of this book, which you could stick so easily in your pocket. But it's great to know that it's still in print, still introducing teenagers to the delights and brick walls of Zen, to the suspicion that maybe doors open somewhere in the apparently solid façade of "real life". After fifty years and an avalanche of Zen publications this is still the best Beginners' Guide to Zen, and I recommend it with enthusiasm and huge affection.

Passing in the hot street
once and forever
we - knowingly - smile

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones is a beautiful work. There's no scholastic interference - just straight up Zen stories, koans, etc.

Unassuming and small, the size of the book betrays the depth of its message. Four books in one - 'Zen Stories' originally published in 1939, 'The Gateless Gate' originally published in 1934, '10 Bulls' originally published in 1935, and 'Centering' originally published in 1955.

'Centering' is the last work but of the most importance. It was born through Kasmir Saivism and, as Paul Reps and others feel, it is of the same spirit as Zen. It is a Tantric text, with 112 methods of meditation (which Paul Reps calls 'Centering'), otherwise known as Dharanas. The sanskrit word Dhyana, in its wandering, became Jhana in Pali, Ch'an in Chinese, and Zen in Japanese. Therefore, the last book of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones could be seen as a Zen manual for self-realization. Practicing its techniques while remaining mindful of the spirit of the Zen stories and koans elsewhere in the book will surely guide a sincere seeker home.

This book will stay by my side for years. Strongly recommended for those after a taste of Zen spirit.

This is one of the earliest Zen books available in English. ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES is not "about" Zen, it "is" Zen. An omnibus of beloved Zen tales ("101 Zen Stories"), the classic ten "Oxherding Pictures," and the "Mumonkan" ("The Gateless Gate") a collection of those ironic, irreverent, and seemingly illogical Zen riddles known as Koans, this book is an excellent, one might say, indispensable, part of any Zen practitioner's library, whether beginner or Dharma Heir.

It's an excellent translation. Zen writings are essentially paradoxical, filled with sense impressions, and sometimes arcane (Koans descended from Chinese law cases of the Confucian period and are still called Cases today). ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES will not have you tearing your hair out trying to decipher the language of the Zen Masters (given the number of shaven-headed monks, you have to wonder), but it still gives the reader a great sense of the fluidity of thought that marks the material.

There are other books out there that "explain" Zen, or "teach" Zen, but ZEN FLESH, ZEN BONES is the essence of the immediate experience that IS Zen. The recorded version, read by Peter Coyote, is a wonderful listening experience.

Sit with it.

What strikes me as I read many of the reviews here is that most of the reviewers have a truly fond feeling for this book and that many have also read and re-read it over the years. Both of these experiences are true for me too!

"Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" is a collection of Zen tales that touch the heart and mind in the true spirit of Zen.

It was the first book that I ever read about Zen and it is invaluable still. I purchased my first copy in my early college days and over 20 years later I bought this book again, because I had lost my taped up and worn out copy in a move. I simply had to have this book once more, which in a strange way is an Attachment, yet not... which sounds like some half-baked Koan or humorous Zen twist like those that are so wonderful in the stories in this book. ( "What is the sound of one page turning?" )

If I had to choose one book on Zen it would be this one.
There are many, many fine books that delve deeper into the subject of Zen, but "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" has the friendly essence and simplicity that is Zen. If you had no other introduction to Zen, somehow I think what is in this book would suffice.

The title of the book is no lie, it is telling the truth!

Peace

I really enjoyed this book, the story is the classical tragic love story, but set up in Japan, and written through a Japanese point of view. So the surroundings or the landscapes became part of the story, the description of the moods of the characters are beautifully portrayed in the nature that surrounds them.... I thought it was lovely.

A lot of people wrote on these reviews that the translated version misses out a lot of things, but this always happens when translating, and as I can't read Japanese, I was happy with being able to read it in English!

Yukio Mishima (The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea) is the fascinating subject of two recent DVD releases Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Criterion Collection and Patriotism - Criterion Collection. His 1966 novel, Spring Snow (Haru no Yuki), is the first in his "Sea of Fertility tetralogy," which also includes Runaway Horses (1969), The Temple of Dawn (1970), and The Decay of the Angel (1971). (Mishima committed ritual suicide on the day he completed the final book in his tetralogy, November 25, 1970.) Considered to be his masteriece, Mishima's tetralogy follows the successive reincarnations of Kiyoaki Matsugae (1895-1914). Set in the early years of the Taishô period (1912 to 1926), Spring Snow tells the story of a two-year relationship involving forbidden love between Kiyoaki, the 18-year-old son of an aristocratic family, and Satoko Ayakura, the 20-year-old daughter of an aristocratic family. Kiyoaki's friend, Shigekuni Honda, a law student, observes the events set forth in the novel. After Kiyoaki and Satoko meet under a bad omen: a dead black dog at the top of a high waterfall, Satoko asks Kiyoaki, "Kiyo, what would you do if all of a sudden I weren't here any more?"--a question which vexes Kiyoaki throughout much of the novel. Satoko is under instruction that she should not lose her virginity before being touched by any bridegroom chosen for her. After experiencing their first kiss together on a rickshaw ride in the snow, Satoko and Kiyoaki exchange love letters and eventually make love, before Satoko accepts the marriage proposal of another man, Prince Harunori. Meanwhile, Kiyoaki has a series of prophetic dreams before he dies at the age of 20. The novel was adapted into a 2005 film of the same name starring Satoshi Tsumabuki as Kiyoaki, Yûko Takeuchi as Satoko, and Sosuke Takaoka as Shigekuni Honda. Spring Snow attests to the rare genius of Yukio Mishima.

G. Merritt

Japan. 1912. Japanese society is divided, or at least complex. Still with most of it's body and soul in the ancient tradition of the East, but with ever increasing impulses towards the "Western culture" (In the unsemitically correct reality, we of the "West" have infinitely more in common with the traditional culture of the East than we do the current world-wide Weimar Republic, but oh well). Mishima, the author, was more or less a Japanese representative of the "conservative revolution", and appears to have been quite well read. His life reminds me in many ways of Corneliu Codreanu and Julius Evola. His well-known dramatic ritual suicide as a protest against the betrayal of tradition in Japan, and the Japanese submission to American rule, followed him and his radical "right wing" organization's (The Shield Society) failure to arouse the Japanese Defence Force into rebelling.

The book is the first in a tetralogy, and follows Kiyoaki Matsugae, a young student from a family of the lower nobility in his relationship with Satoko Ayakura, the daughter of one of the 28 families of the higher nobility, her being the daughter of a count. The book in many ways actually reminded me of the excellent "Victoria" by Knut Hamsun, with the constant back and forth in the interaction between the characters, sometimes they love each other dearly, and at other times torment each other. Such is the nature of difficult relationships, I guess! The book paints a very vivid picture of the end of a noble era, and the translation I read was excellently done. The moral teaching of this period, and it's sometimes less noble effects is excellently portrayed.

Through certain misunderstandings, Satoko ends up being future wife of one of the royal princes, and Kiyoaki is driven to despair. Long story short, as all the books in the series, there is no happy ending, but that is basically the ending of all our lives. This is a book I highly recommend, and apart from a few minor flaws, it is all in all an excellent tale, and I look very much forward to reading the rest of the series. 4,5 stars.

(I read a different edition)

Maybe it was a bad transalation. Maybe I could not relate as a westerner to an old Japanese story, but I really did not enjoy this book. It was maudlin and unbelievable. Story was boring. Character development was terrible and it was poorly written/transalated. I recommend Murakami's Norwegian Wood for those who want to read books by Japanese authors.

Mishima's Spring Snow is a coming-of-age tale for nouveau riche Kiyoaki, whose naive childhood crush on the more mature Satoko grows into something much more powerful, beautiful and, ultimately, destructive. Kiyoaki's failings are human and familiar; acting on rash impulses, immaturity, a failure to realise what he wants till he has lost it. Mishima's characterisation is finely drawn and accurate. The scheming Tadeshina turns out to have her own secret heartbreak, enervated Ayakura lacks guile but not luck, the ancient loyalties of the Abessess make her a formidable eminence grice. The characters are at once individually drawn and representative of a unique and fascinating era of flux and change in Japan, as ancient modes of behaviour gave way to modernising forces. Mishima's novel is both of its time and timeless. A true masterpiece.

I have this book since 1984 when Tetsuko Kuroyanagi became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. I was in 7th grade at that time. I have read it over 20 times. Every time, I found joyful, happiness, and touching. But I lost it when we moved. I did get an used one. And I have read it over and over again. This book inspired me to study Japaneses. I love it. GREAT BOOK for children and for adult. READ IT if you want to find your childhood and refill your imagination.

In 1969 I was part of a group of teachers who created a school much like that featured in Toto Chan. We thought we were on the "cutting edge" of educational practices without knowing that a school in Japan had been delivering many of the same holistic, humanistic educational practices over a quarter of a century before. I'm sure many U.S. educators who thought/think they were/are in the vanguard of educational practices would appreciate this beautiful story of a dedicated educator and his students.

Honestly I read this book over 25 years ago and thought that this book has long been discontinued. I guess this proves what a time-tested treasure it is. The author, a TV celebrity in Japan, recalls her childhood and the unorthodox school she went to. Absolutely adoring in the simple story of how a concerned mother tried to do the best for her daughter and how a simple man did his best to give a bright and meaningful future to the few children who comes into his life.

It is the type of book that makes you wish that there were more teachers like him and that you had a teacher like him.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. First published in Japan in 1981, this beautiful book depicting the true story of innocent little Totto-chan, her family, friends, and above all, the innovating educationer she befriends in the years leading up to, and during the first years of WW2, remains a national best seller in Japan to this day. I don't have any children of my own, but if I did, and if Tomoe-Gakuen (the elementary school Totto-chan attends) existed today, I would immediately enroll my children there. Since there is not, I hope I have the good luck of finding somebody like Sosaku Kobayashi to help make my child the happiest and kindest child in the world.

It was due to this book's beauty that then UNICEF Executive Director, James P. Grant persuaded those working at UNICEF to appoint the author, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (who is Totto-chan grown up), to UNICEF's International Goodwill Ambassador, enabling her to visit and help children in need all over the world.

For people who have read this book and those who have not, I also recommend "Totto-Chan's Children : A Goodwill Journey to the Children of the World" by the same author. It tells the story of Totto-chan grown up, still big-hearted as ever, striving to help children in need. Check it out!

I have not read a better book which has made me laugh, cry, love, and ponder over is such a way! This book is awesome and worth much more than 5 stars.

For over forty years, I've been reading about the end of World War II and Japan. Were the Japanese ready to surrender? Were the atomic bombs dropped to intimidate the Soviet Union? Was racism the real motive?

Richard Frank's DOWNFALL: THE END OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE EMPIRE, is the best book on this subject I've ever read. Frank takes us back to 1945, and shows what the United States knew then, and how they knew it. Based on the information they had available at the time, the U.S. and British leaders had no reason to believe that the effective leaders of Japan were going to surrender any time soon, or that any alternative course they chose would lead to fewer deaths. Further, he shows that these judgments were correct: there is still no evidence that the effective rulers of Japan would have surrendered in 1945, and all the alternatives to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have definitely led to hundreds of thousands MORE DEATHS of civilians and soldiers.

I regard the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as atrocities and crimes, but the whole of the war was a succession of atrocities and crimes, the greatest bloodbath in history. Frank shows, convincingly, that the use of atomic weapons was the least evil among the choices Harry S Truman faced.

I was moved to reread this fine book by Richard Frank by the allegation by Presidential candidate Senator Barak Obama's former preacher and confidant Jeremiah Wright's that one of America's supposed "sins" that he was cursing it for was the use of the Atomic Bombs on Japan at the end of the Second World War. I was in High School during the Vietnam War period and I recall my teachers telling us that that use of the Bomb was unnecessary and was carried out merely to scare the Communist Soviets and didn't matter anyway since the Japanese were supposedly viewed as "racially inferior". We were taught that the United State government is inherently dishonest, so any such decision to use the bomb must have had "tainted" motiviations. Such cynicism is potentially destructive, as Frank shows in his book.
Attitudes like these have unfortunately become common in the United States over the years, and as Frank points out, are based on ignorance and self-righteousness. President Truman's aide, Admiral Leahy claimed after the war that the use of the bomb was "unnecessary" (Frank points out that there is no record of his opposition at the time the decision was made). This is, of course, true. The Japanese would have eventually surrendered even without the use of the bomb. The question, though, remains "at what cost"? There are two possible scenarios, (1) American and Allied forces invade the Japanes Home Islands in order to force a decision, or (2) no invasion is mounted, but a tight blockade and heavy air bombing keep up the pressure.
Frank shows that although a two-phase invasion was planned, Operation Olympic in Kyushu, followed by Operation Coronet on Honshu near Tokyo, as time passed, American interception and decryption of Japanese messages showed that powerful forces were being brought up to the planned invasion zones along with thousands of aircraft designed for Kamikaze attacks. The civilian population was also being trained to carry out suicide attacks (the government's slogan was "100 Million Die Together"). As a result, American enthusiasm for the invasion scheme waned and, instead, a plan to destroy Japan's railroad system to prevent the distribution of food was developed, which, along with the naval blockade, would bring starvation to the population, forcing the Japanese government to eventually capitulate. The question remained "how long would it take to reach this situation"? Frank points out that over 100,000 Chinese were dying every month during the war, in addition to large numbers of Allied prisoners and forced Asian laborers in southeast Asia. If the war dragged on longer, hundreds of thousands of these people would have died. Had the blockade "succeeded" in bring famine in addition to plague and civil disorder to Japan, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Japanese would have died.
Frank also points out that something like 350,000 Japanese died in the Soviet campaign to conquer Manchuria, many of them civilians. In addition there were still large Japanese forces in China , the Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia) and southeast Asia. Without the shock of a surrender brought about by the use of the Atomic bombs it is conceivable that these forces would have continued to fight on (the Japanese Army in China had a history of subordination). There was also a Soviet plan to invade the Japanese home island of Hokkaido. One can only specularte on how many deaths would this have caused, in addition to the possibility that the USSR would have set up a "Japanese Peoples' Republic" in their zone, just like they did in Korea, for which the world is still paying to this day. It is odd that those who show "compassion" for the Japanese people in saying that the bomb shouldn't have been used, seem to lack the same compassion for the oppressed thousands who were dying every day in the Japanese-occupied territories.
Frank also shows that the popular "deus-ex-machina" scenario that supposedly the Japanese government had really made a decision to surrender and were in contact with the USSR government is false. It is true that there were contacts with the Soviets, but they were on a low diplomatic level, and no decision to surrender had been made before the first use of the bomb. In addition, no contacts were made during the three days that passed before the use of the second bomb. It turns out that some Japanese leaders thought the bomb was merely a one-shot affair which the Americans couldn't repeat. Frank shows clearly that America's leaders had no choice but to make the decision they did and that this decision saved untold number of lives, both Allied and Japanese. Anybody who saw the horrific casualties at places like Iwo Jima and Okinawa in addition to the mass suicides of Japanese civilians at Saipana and Okinawa would reach the same conclusion.
Richard Frank is performing an invaluable service in destroying the "politically correct" myths demagogues like Wright are propagating and showing that a clear, open mind leads one to the truth.

Frank has done an excellent job of dispassionately presenting the facts about the endgame of the Pacific War. I appreciate that Frank laid out the evidence and left it to the reader to judge where it pointed.

What is clear from the evidence is that neither the Japanese nor American leadership had adequate information to judge the other's intentions during 1945. In fact, there is some evidence that the Japaneese High Command was being mislead by underlings regarding the state of American morale. Thus the War Council believed that they were just one decisive battle away from being able to negotiate with the Americans for softer terms than Unconditional Surrender. On the other hand, American intelligence community were not adept enough to draw out from the vast array of intercepted cable traffic a clear picture. Thus they did not provide Truman information that was 'actionable'.

As for the bomb, the preponderance of evidence amassed by Frank points to the conclusion that once the decision to build the atomic bomb was made, the Manhattan project took on its own momentum and thus made the bombs use inevitable.

All-in-all a terrific book. Since I finished it on September 30th, it makes it onto my Summer Reading Favorites of 2007 :-)

Richard Frank conclusively shatters a number of myths about the end of the Pacific side of World War II.

First, Japan was NOT ready to accept unconditional surrender, even with the caveat of the preservation of the Japanese throne, until after both bombs were dropped. Frank uses extensive declassified transcripts of Ultra (military) and Magic (diplomatic) U.S. codebreaking to get members of the Japanese war cabinet's own words, or lack thereof, on this issue. Within that is the fact that Japan's attempt to use Russia as an intermediary-ally in negotiations was totally out of tune with reality, so much out of tune that Tokyo actually expected Moscow to honor the full one year's "down time" after abrogating the two countries' neutrality agreement.

Second, the Japanese Army was ramping UP the plans for Keisu-Go, the all-out defense of the Japanese homeland, after the spring firebombings of Tokyo and elsewhere. Top Army brass considered that the U.S. might well try blockade, and thought it had enough kamikazes, midget submarines, etc., to make the U.S pay enough a price for even the blockade that it would settle for a negotiated peace. Again, Frank looks in-depth at Magic and Ultra transcripts to show how much support there was for this.

Third, Frank demonstrates that U.S. casualty fears of an invasion of Kyushu were well-warranted and may even have been understated in some cases.

The determination of the Japanese Empire to resist was well-known by American troops in the Pacific who had seen the Japanese, on average, take 97 percent casualties in many of their defensive actions. A militaristic government was ready to exploit this to the death.

The atomic bomb was therefore used for reasons of the highest seriousness. It was NOT dropped on Hiroshima as a demonstration for Stalin. And, speaking of demonstrations, the fact that it took two atomic bombs on Japan to get it to surrender puts the lie to the idea that a "demonstration" bomb would have been enough to get the Japanese to a non-negotiated surrender with them attempting to hold on to territory.

I was so fascinated by this book that I read all the previous reviews. I only want to add my unlimited praise and to add a few thoughts and stories...
I was as unaware as anybody of the details of the end of the Pacific war until I met a fellow (Bill Lear, son of "the" Bill Lear) who was on a troop ship to Olympic. He said the officers told them that they all were going to die. After that the book was a natural, and I couldn`t have chosen better.
In my present line, I am in Japan a lot. If there is any one thing that makes Frank`s book fascinating, it is the detailed look at the inner workings of that eastern mind in the government and military leaders, and the resulting confusion for their hapless diplomats. In some cases it is not so radical - we Americans still get huffy about Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese were following a pretty basic tenet of war. Frank didn`t really go to a lot of trouble to remind us that the "unfathonable" Asian way of seeing things is normal to them. Perhaps it isn`t necessary. Any Japanese soldier who sees dying for his emperor/country as his highest honor will tend to see anyone who surrenders or is beaten before he can sacrifice himself, as the lowest sort of worm, not worthy of bayonet practice let alone a bowl of rice. Just an example, but with a point. Frank managed to state facts, back them up with numbers and intel documents and let it go at that. The case builds easily in the reader`s mind that this was a terrible war and that the allies/Americans were in a real conundrum about how to end it. Which brings up the sadly fascinating fact that the very thing that the allies demanded, as a way of keeping "these fascist and militarist governments from starting a world war every few years", was unconditional surrender, the very thing the Japanese couldn`t accept.
One thing which makes a really great book is that it opens discussion on the topic rather than, say, on the writer`s vocabulary. By that measure, this is one of the best. Please indulge me...
I have been to the peace museum in Hiroshima. It is very moving and also very evenhanded. It shows the little uniforms of the school kids killed - they were in town that day to help build firebreaks. It also has the army order on the wall which commanded that when the invasion came, all subjects were to show up on the beaches with pitchforks, sticks or any other weapon that came to hand. Hiroshima, by the way (to answer a previous comment) was the headquarters of the 5th Japanese Army, in charge of Japan and Korea (where they'd been since 1920, only getting to Manchuria in 1931, re another comment)It was also a recruit center, and a navy shipyard, in other words not exactly non-military.
My Dad flew in B-29s. He was a tough old farm boy, but once he met an army buddy who had also `been there` That`s the only time I saw him cry. I don`t think it`s wrong to lament the terrible things humans are capable of doing to each other and to make them stop; a basic about war, by the way. The fact that millions of innocents had died and were likely to keep dying in this war would make any way of stopping it look pretty good, ie, "moral". I personally would say, you can`t argue with success. The Japanese had been fighting since at least 1920. Days after the bomb, it was over. I`m in the camp of "the Russians had nothing to do with it." I want to thank Mr. Frank for explaning readably and in detail, how that came about.
Finally a note from my Mom... The war council was correct in believing that Americans were sick of the war (Incorrect in their eastern way in seeing Potsdam as weakness). They were beaten but wouldn`t quit. If you had a family member in the service, you put a red star in your window, and if they were killed, you changed it to a gold star. There were plenty of houses with two gold stars in the window. People in 1945 wanted the war to end and wanted the boys home. Imagine you are Truman, and a wife/mother says to you, "You mean to tell me you had the means to end this war the day before my boy was killed, and you didn`t do it?"
Read this book.

I was looking for a comprehensive Japanese cookbook that uses original ingredients (rather than what happens to be available in the West). This is the best Japanese cookbook from this perspective that I've seen. However, I still only give three stars, because being the best is not good enough.

I have not found a single comprehensive cookbook that fully uses Japanese ingredients. Many ingredients might not have been available in the West when the book was written (like wagyu beef), but they are now so the cookbook should cover them.

I suppose such a cookbook will be written during the coming decade, in the meantime I can recommend this imperfect book.

If you are aware of a book that fits my needs, please let me know in the comments section below.

I agree with all of the reviewers who cite the thoroughness and the attention to technique and to information on unfamiliar ingredients. I ordered the 1980 version by mistake, because it was so much cheaper. I really don't know if it is much different than the newer version, but somewhere I read that it hadn't been revised much. If I have any disappointment about the book, it is that there are very few pictures.

I have to admit that I haven't yet to try one recipe from here. It is so informative. I like to read cook book and learn about the background of each food so this is the book for me.

What Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking was to the cuisine of France, so "Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art" is to Japanese food. This is the single-absolute-must-have book for anyone interested in cooking or even simply appreciating and eating the many delights and delicacies that come from this culinary culture.

Author Tsuji Shizuo doesn't simply want to teach you how to cook. He wants you to understand the thought process that goes into Japanese cooking, into the culture of food-lovers that produced one of the world's most delicious and diverse national cuisines. Starting with the ingredients, he walks your through all of the core items you will need, the flavors found within, how they can be combined and how they should be prepared. Everything that is touted in modern cooking: freshness, seasonal ingredients, food prepared to augment its natural flavor; it all comes from Japan.

Along with theory, this is a serious cooking manual as well. Cutting techniques, preparation styles, in-depth recipes for all major traditional Japanese foods; this is a classroom in a book. Along with the ingredient list there is also an explanation of traditional tools, and what can be substituted from what is commonly found in a Western kitchen. Knives get a lot of focus, as the standard Western knife set is designed for French cooking which has different demands than Japanese.

One thing this book is not is "food porn". There are no glorious and mouth-watering color photographs of the various recipes, no clever and cute names for dishes or original variations. The illustrations are all instructional in nature, with step-by-step processes to show you how to cut and stir to get the desired result. "Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art" is probably not for the casual fan who just wants something easy and quick. It is much more Anthony Bourdain than Rachael Ray.

But if you really want to master the art of Japanese cooking, then you need this book. It is that simple.

This is the only Japanese cookbook you will ever need. As other reviewers have already mentioned, it is indeed "the Bible of Japanese cooking."
A little bit about me, I first feel in love with Japanese cooking at the age of 8, when for my birthday, my parents took me to Joto's Japanese restaurant and I tried Sukiyaki. The sauce was to die for. The sauce won me over more than the ingredients inside the pot.
I just had to know how to cook it so luckily for me there was a Japanese market nearby. I went inside a bought Japanese Cuisine for Everyone by Yukiko Moriyama. It was ok for the time. It does contain actual photographs of all the sauce bottles and packages of dried foods that you need to find. It can be hard to locate items at the market and the pictures helped in the beginning. Then, years later, I bought Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat by Naomi Moriyama. It does have some traditional recipes mixed in with fusion cooking. Recently I bought Japanese Homestyle Cooking by Tokiko Suzuki and Harumi's Japanese Cooking by Harumi Kurihaara. Someone let me borrow an old book from Time Life books in the Foods of the World series called The Cooking of Japan. I have looked through the Nobu cookbook and it is filled with wonderful pictures but the recipes are hard for the average cook. That said, Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art towers above all others in content, detailed descriptions, cutting techniques, meal planning, and how to put together lunches and dinners based on the seasons. Other books have the aboved mentioned information but not on the level of Tsuji. Its like comparing the novels of Jane Austen to those of Danielle Steel. Both are romantic writers but only one is a genuis whose works stand the test of time.
Now in its 25th Anniversary, not much revising was needed, according to the author's son, you can see real Japanese cooking without all the added fusion cooking of today.
I do agree with Tsuji in his introduction where he writes, "With a Japanese recipe, however, unless you have been to this country and eaten the food, you will probably have little idea of what you will be aiming at." Despite the fact that sushi bars are everywhere and numerous Japanese restaurants are popping up, I feel dissatisfied everytime I go to a Japanese restuarant in the Tampa Bay area. Ok the sushi is good for the most part, if you avoid the California and cucumber rolls, but the main dishes are usually sub par. Each time I look at the menu and see Teriyaki Chicken or Steak I cringe. Its just not what I'm looking for. I'm sure America does have real Japanese resturants like Rangetsu in Orlando that cater to Japanese tourists or in other places like LA or NYC. I'm baised because I'm spoiled. I lived in Osaka, Japan for three years and Osaka has to be one of the great food cities, along with Kyoto, in all of Japan. Tokyo does have excellent food and the giant crab in Hokkaido is great but there's something about the food in Kansai that is extraordinary.
I lived with a Japanese host family for 1-year. Often on Saturdays, if I had no other plans, we would go to the supermarket to pick out things for the whole family. I got first hand experience on how to pick what kind of fish and why and how to buy various ingredients.
Then she would cook and I would sneak around the corner and watch. Sometimes I didn't think she wanted me to see how to cook so I was always quiet. Then I would slip back to my room and write it all down.
Also, you could wander around Osaka and just happen to find little soba and udon stands, kaiten 100-yen sushi, ramen restaurants, sukiyaki shops, shabu-shabu, Yakiniku grills, and my own personal favorite, Okonomiyaki (seafood pancake) where your table is a grill and you make and cook Okonomiyaki yourself. Staying 3-years in Osaka, I never had bad food even at the occasional trips to Wendy's or MacDonalds. Ok with that in mind, Japanese Cooking shows most of the stuff I learned from my host