Japanese Books

Even though Sau-ling Cynthia Wong notes that "no other Asian-American writer since has been able to match Mori's community portraits for mellowness," his portraits of Japanese-American life just before World War II show the strain of a double identity at that time. (Even the title itself serves to illustrate the cultural binary.) Mori's prose is sparse, yet it is not cold. In all of the characters, from Sessue Matoi, the philosopher who "must be drunk and sober at the same time," to "the woman who makes swell donuts," there is a warmth and humanity throughout every story, even while the hints of the coming war begin to appear

This book was suppose to come out in print in 1941, but due to the attack on Pearl Harbor and anti-Japanese propaganda, it postponed its release until 1949. Toshio Mori is a master of storytelling. These collections of short stories should be with such classics as Hemingway and Saroyan. Yokohoma, California is both heart-felt and humorous. It is one of the best books on the Asian American experience.

I stumbled upon this book, in a japanese bookstore in N.Y., several years ago. Only now, that the common mortal cannot buy it, I fully realize how lucky and well directed my compulsion to buy books was, in that instance. An excellent travelling companion, this anthology of japanese folk zen sayings has never let me down, in times of trouble, sorrow and joy.
This is an outstanding compilation, by Zen scholar Soiku Shigematsu, of japanese tanka (five lines), haiku (three)and dodoitsu (four) mostly from the Zenrin Segoshu, a handbook compiled in japanese by Zen masters to meet the demands of those Zen students that found the Zenrin Kushu difficult to read, because it was written in Chinese. It must be remembered that the classical study of koan in the Renzai Zen monasteries required students to dwell in jakugo or capping phrase exercises. Once the first phase of the koan analysis is over, the student must pick a capping phrase from thousands of poems in a special anthology (the only book allowed in the meditation hall), that best expresses the mental and physical state reached by him through meditation. This exercise
of course leads to the study of all the poems in the anthology and therefore expands the students knowledge and understanding of the Zen culture and classic texts.
In order to give an idea of the poems that this book contains and to promote a new printing of it, here are some of the jewels from this paper box:

There seems,
But there's never:
Moon in the water.
-------------
"There is", someone says,
And we stick to that "there is."
See there's nothing-
Only the sound
Of the pine wind from the beach.
---------------
Since legendary times,
Nothing has changed:
Running water and the love
Between woman and man.
-------------
In the dark
I lost sight of
My shadow;
I've found it again
By the fire I lit.
--------
Little clear streams rustle
Down through the mountain rocks
And finally let the battleship
Float on the sea.

THIS BOOK MUST BE REPRINTED FOR THE DELIGHT OF COMMON FOLKS AND POETRY FANS.

The night before I found this book I had a dream about it... A mentor of mine who died two years before was in the dream and he showed it to me and I think he said to read it or he had read it... The next day I saw it at a half price book store... It caught my eye because the cover was the same as in the dream.. When I read the introduction it said this was the same book Zen monks must memorize and always have a copy of in their pocket... Upon reading the book I thought it was excellent..!! I forgot all about why I picked it up... I think I must have read it three times... Like a block head I traded it in at a used book store for beer money and thought it would be easy to find somewhere else... Now it's out of print... and I'm still looking for it...sigh..

THE CRANE'S BILL : Zen Poems of China and Japan. Translated by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto with the assistance of Taigan Takayama, Zen Master. 143 pp. New York : Grove Press, 1973 and Reprinted.

Zen poetry is one of the glories of Zen, and yet few in the West seem to care or even know about it. Though undoubtedly sincere in their efforts to understand Zen, most readers seem drawn to prose treatises or explications or analyses of one sort or another, while overlooking the fact that, as Taigan Takayama expresses it : "Zen detests conceptualization" (page xi). Tenzan Yasuda has expressed the same idea this way : "What expresses cosmic truth in the most direct and concise way - that is the heart of Zen art" (page xxxvii).

The poetry of Zen ranges all the way from the tiny seventeen-syllable haiku of a stupendous poet such as Santoka, which have been beautifully translated by John Stevens (in 'Mountain Tasting : Zen Haiku by Santoka Taneda'), through to the Zen verse treatise, of which the finest example is the Third Patriarch Seng-ts'an's 'Hsin-hsin-ming.' This poem brilliantly captures the essence of Zen in its thirty-one verses, and is a text that deserves to be far better known. Although the present book is devoted to shorter poems, an easily accessible translation of the 'Hsin-hsin-ming' will be found in D. T. Suzuki's 'Manual of Zen Buddhism' ('On Believing in Mind,' pages 76-82).

'Crane's Bill' is a collaborative effort which falls into three parts. First we are given, in a Foreword, Preface, and Introduction, 42 pages of interesting and informative material in which a very persuasive case is made for the fact that we should be reading these poems. Then follow 151 poems on enlightenment, death, and general subjects, drawn from a wide range of Chinese and Japanese writers. The book is rounded out with 48 pages of notes on the poems, though it unfortunately lacks both an index and a conversion table of the Japanized Chinese names

The translations, as might have been expected from the present team, read very well. Here is Poem 1, with my slash marks to indicate line breaks:

"The mountain slopes crawl with lumberjacks, / Axing everything in sight - / Yet crimson flowers / Burn along the stream" (page 5).

Here to provide a comment on Poem 1 is Poem 14:

"Iron will's demanded of / the student of the Way - / It's always on the mind. / Forget all - good, bad. / Suddenly it's yours" (page 10).

Compare this with first verse of the Hsin-hsin-ming, the original Chinese of which may be read as follows:

"To realize the Way is not difficult / If you'd only stop choosing; / Just let go of all of your hate, and love, / And everything will be brilliantly clear."

Do we really need to know more? If you don't believe me, here is Poem 97 from the great Japanese Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253):

"Four and fifty years / I've hung the sky with stars. / Now I leap through - / What shattering!" (page 63).

'Crane's Bill' is an extremely interesting and highly successful collaborative effort which no-one who is seriously interested in Zen can afford to overlook. Because it really is all in the poems!

This is in my top ten favorites to read and re-read. I was lucky to have actually find this book laying around, now I feel it has actually found me.

I don't know Japanese, but I still have this manga and am very surprised to see it here. Ai Yazawa is one of, or the, best manga artists out there for girls' manga. She's not only an extremely talented artist, but also has a very distinct and original style. Her art kind of looks like it's from the '70's, almost, but she dresses her characters with clothes from all different eras. The story is rather simple: It's about a girl named Mikako who goes to a fashion high school, and her brand of clothes that she designs called Happy Berry. Mikako is supposed to be the older sister of Miwako, from Paradise Kiss, Ai Yazawa's more popular manga. You can get it in English, so it's easier to find.

If you like Ai Yazawa's style and would like to find more fashion manga, you can look for a magazine called 'bessatsu margaret' at Japanese bookstores. Artists like Aiji Yamakawa, Yuka Oohashi, and Ichigo Takano all occationally have stories running in it, but are virtually unknown in the States. Also, George Asakura has lovely artwork, and his manga 'A perfect day for love letters' is being translated to English, and is due to be out in June 2005.

I've seen the anime and read parts and bits of the novel. From what I have read and watched, this novel/anime is really good. It is about a girl named Youko, who is taken from her world, Japan, and placed in to the world of the Twelve Kingdoms. Through all her hardships, she becomes the King of Kei, one of the twelve kingdoms. But even though she is the King of Kei, she still have many ways to go, to understand the world of the Twelve Kingdoms and is thrown into the plot of assassinations and upsurpers...while along the way gains allies and companions. Just so you readers know, there are more than one main character, but the one character that the story focuses on is Youko, King of Kei. Through all this, this novel written by Fuyumi Ono, is a complete series, so you have to buy the rest of the other books to continue the series. As for the anime, there are 46 eps, which you can buy. I highly suggest you buy the Deluxe boxsets of volume 1 and volume 2.

This was an amazing Seinen manga. I plan on getting more of the series. There's a great mix of romance and action in this volume that makes me want more, and the story isn't too slow either. It goes by fast but still good enough for me to carry along on what the storyline is.

I recommend this to Older Teenagers..

This is a quality compilation of 100 royalty free Japanese stencil designs that were originally published in German in 1895. The images are very clear and crisp and include stencils of carp, cranes, flowers, trees, leaves, dragons, bamboo, butterflies, lobsters and some abstract designs. The book will definitely be useful for those interested in the fiber arts stenciling, and it will have other applications as well.

108 Heroes of the Suikoden by the Japanese tattoo master Horiyoshi III. The book is hardcover, very large(appx. 9.84" x 13.90") and is absolutely breathtaking. The book is 216 pages with 108 b&w images of different Suikoden heros and Horiyoshi includes the names, details and stories for many of the figures in English and Japanese. The drawings are examples of images he used for full body tattoos and the detailing is incredible. Includes an afterward by Horiyoshi III himself. A must have for those interesting in traditional Japanese tattoos.

This book portrays all the heroes of the legendary Chinese gang that inspired so much Japanese tattooing and reproduces all the nuances of Horiyoshi's amazing artwork, with full commentary on each figure in both English and Japanese.

Well, we're finally here. After eleven volumes of bloody death, otherworldly shocks, suicide, murder, tears being shed, shape-shifting aliens, sexual torture, psychotic teenagers, crooked government plots, destruction, nuclear explosions, reincarnation, fatal accidents, kids wielding weapons, psychic powers, dysfunctional families, schoolyard bullies, gang rape, and planetary war we come to the end of our story. In many ways, the very ending of this tale--and by "ending", I mean last few pages--is as innocent and happy and lighthearted as the beginning. But it's also a thousand times more amazing.

I can't possibly put this in words, but the conclusion to Shadow Star Narutaru will blow you away.

Unlike past reviews, I'm not going to reveal anything. I won't give away one bit of the ending, because it's too good to give away. It symbolizes a new leaf turned over for the characters who remain, and this fresh start carries Kitoh's message of worldly respect and peace after the countless occurrences of violence and brutality that the readers and cast have endured.

It's such a simple thing, but at the same time it has so much to say. The final moments of this magnificent manga are so touching that I couldn't help but smile. While there are a few loose ends that need tying up, it's nonetheless a beautiful tale ranging from absolute truth to absolutely surreal, and this last volume has everything you could want from an ending.

Of course, like every other volume of Narutaru, leading up to the conclusion there are a lot more deaths, revelations, and instances of mayhem. It's just as miserable and, like other volumes, if you have a weak stomach you should veer away from it. But the last few chapters are really what make it work. Everything comes around full-circle: there was a happy beginning, the middle plunged into blackness, and the ending comes back to shine again.

It's fantastic to think how this series has grown, and the ending won't disappoint for any eager fan. You will love it. You will feel it. And you will never forget it.

I've been looking for motifs to use in polymer and metal clays for jewelry, and this book has a stunning collection of faces. It also has several wonderful Hiroshigi's and Hokusai's (particularly and ocean wave I'm fond of). While I'm not sure that the designs will work out as transfers, the book is still enjoyable. I found several artists about whose work I was previously ignorant. Something new to contemplate.