Japan Books

Ooka the Judge was a real judge who tried cases with fairness and justice long ago in Japan. These timeless stories capitvate children's interest and pique their imaginations. There are at least 10 stories by I.G. Edmonds about this Japanese judge - you should really read them all. The stories are great springboards to lively discussions of fairness and justice, and honor. This book belongs in everyone family's library!!

There was a Judge named Ooak, he was sent to resolve some issues. He was asked to judge 3 of the following problems:
1. Should he punish a man for stealing a smell?
2. Order a barber to give an ox a shave?
3. Call in a willow tree as a witness to a crime?
One day there was a very poor student that could only afford plain rice to eat and a small apartment, which was above a tempura shop. One of the days he was eating his plain rice he smelled the food when the owners caught him. He demanded monies for stealing a smell. They went to court and you will have to read the book to find out what happened next!
Two men walked into the court room who were arguing over a contract. If the barber would give haircuts to the worker and his helper in return for all the wood the worker's ox brought in.
The Judge is faced with a tuff descion if this one man is guilty, he pleads that he never has been to the place they accused him of going. to be continued

Well, there was a Judge that was named Judge Ooka and he was left with three big decisions on should you punish a man for stealing a smell should he order a barber to give an ox a shave and to call in a willow tree as a witness to a crime Well fisrt. It all started with a poor student and he rented a room they fries food becuase onder was a food shop but all he could afford was plain rice everyday all day when finally the store keeper caught him smelling the food and then he yelled thief I think you should pay him then the student said no I can not because he only has enough money to pay the rent so he took him to court and the judge said he should pay the same price so then he told the student to take out a dollar bill and crunch it as he did that the judge says there you go your payed back.
One day they went to court to settle an argument they barber said he would give a free shave to him and his helper if he gives all the wood that his oxs brings and then that also means the cart but then the worker said he gave him a shave but not his helper but then the barber said he did then the worker said no the ox is my helper and the judge ordered the barber to shave the ox or no deal so then the barber had to shave the ox or no wood.
There was a man and there was a big crime and they new he was guilty and he pleeded he never had been there so then the plantiff said lets postpone a week to bring the willow tree in for a witness the the defendent said it was inpossible because the tree was on the cliff it would fall in the river if cut then at that moment they clearly shown he was guilty he had been there before and had committed the crime.

Well, there was a Judge that was named Judge Ooka and he was left with three big decisions on should you punish a man for stealing a smell should he order a barber to give an ox a shave and to call in a willow tree as a witness to a crime Well fisrt. It all started with a poor student and he rented a room they fries food becuase onder was a food shop but all he could afford was plain rice everyday all day when finally the store keeper caught him smelling the food and then he yelled thief I think you should pay him then the student said no I can not because he only has enough money to pay the rent so he took him to court and the judge said he should pay the same price so then he told the student to take out a dollar bill and crunch it as he did that the judge says there you go your payed back.
One day they went to court to settle an argument they barber said he would give a free shave to him and his helper if he gives all the wood that his oxs brings and then that also means the cart but then the worker said he gave him a shave but not his helper but then the barber said he did then the worker said no the ox is my helper and the judge ordered the barber to shave the ox or no deal so then the barber had to shave the ox or no wood.
There was a man and there was a big crime and they new he was guilty and he pleeded he never had been there so then the plantiff said lets postpone a week to bring the willow tree in for a witness the the defendent said it was inpossible because the tree was on the cliff it would fall in the river if cut then at that moment they clearly shown he was guilty he had been there before and had committedthe crime.

This book is a wonderful book. The Case of the Stolen Smell is quite interesting in how it is solved. This book is highly recommended.

In Aces Against Japan, military historian Eric Hammel provides the reader with riveting first-person accounts from thirty-nine American fighter aces who fought their way across the bloody skies of the Pacific and East Asia from December 7, 1941 through the final air battles over Japan in August 1945. An effective interviewer, Hammel presents fascinating and informative air-combat tales and anecdotes from the men who were their. Vivid, superbly presented, Aces Against Japan is enthusiastically recommended reading for all military buffs and a very welcome addition to any World War II history collection or reading list.

Reading about the Pacific airwar in the recent novel, The Triumph and the Glory, sparked an eager interest in me in the topic and prompted me to order this book. I found "Aces Against Japan" great reading, filled with gripping accounts of action from the men who fought the air war against Imperial Japan. If you are interested in WWII aerial combat this book is for you!

A truly great book. I recommend it for anyone, not just history enthusiasts. The first hand accounts are well written and bring the stories to life. Equally as good is Hammel's other book, ACES AGAINST GERMANY.

The war in the Pacific was a bloody confrontation for the resolution of opponents and the straining combat environment. Flying under such pressure was undeniably a great feat and sustaining a proper level of operational capability was a superb example of airmanship. In this book all aspects of air combat come alive with the intriguing personal tales of the pilots who served in this theater. Each account reveals the insight of lifestyle, tactics and training that led to amazing results in aerial battles. From their personal experience, it is possible to catch the feelings the pilots had about their machinery, climate and combat methods before actually flying the missions in their harsh frontline.

Beatifully written, this volume is really easy to read, even if some accounts disclose a predilection to be stylish or glorifying from time to time.

This book is about the many pilots that fought for the US navy in the pacific Theatre.Many of which were very young but would die for their country!It talkes about their experiences of there first kills and becoming aces, shootings down zeros,and betty bombers and imperial japenses crusiers of all sorts in the pacific. Pilots talk about their experiencs in the battles of Pearl harbor,Midway,Port Moresby,Guadalcanal,Rabaul,Lyete Gulf,and Okinawa. Fly with 1st Lt. Jim Swett as he nails 7 bandits out of the sky with his F4F wildcat. Fly with pilots in their warhawks,wildcats,lightnings,Thunderbolts,mustangs,and corsairs agaist the 1 of the best navys in the world.Another book i want is Aces against germany but they dont print it anymore!Buy ACES AGAINST GERMANY and listen to the stories told by are heroes of ww2.The men that kept us free,the men that kept the axis from taking over the world,the men that died for us! Now id like to salute all the men that died for us in ww2 thanx guys! -HEAVEN BELONGED TO GOD.THE SKY BELONGED TO AMERICA'S ACES.

This is actually one of the easier to understand writings from the infamous Mishima. The provocative sentiments he evokes in this story gives timeless relevance in every corner of the earth in this romance between an entrepreneuring new rich with noble spirit to elevate her loved one, an aristocrat who ran out of money.

A strange book, written by a Japanese author in 1960. Later, he committed ritual suicide, as seen in the movie "Mishima". In some ways, it is so uttterly immersed in the Japanese culture, describing in exquisite detail nature and Kazu's kimonos. It seems to be about the clash of two polar opposite natures, who, nevertheless, marry, and then discover who they really are, as revealed in the campaigning of a political election. In the end, Kazu chooses life over the very real peril of an untended grave, which was then a horror to any Japanese. It got better the further along it went.
A stunning sentence - ". . . her words were not slipping through his face as through a sieve, but sinking deeply and certainly . . ."

Kazu is a middle-aged woman and the proprietress of a successful restaurant -- the Setsugoan -- in Tokyo. During a banquet for the Kagen Club, she meets and falls in love with Yuken Noguchi, a aristocrat and retired politician. They wed, and soon, Kazu decides to secretly use her wealth to aid her husband in returning to public office, despite protestions and warnings from her friends.

"After the Banquet" is a fascinating look at love and politics. Kazu is head-strong, wealthy and not ashamed to use her money to get what she desires. Noguchi, a few years older than her, is idealistic and stubborn, wanting to stick to win the election on his own. Along with that clash, they are also torn between the modern Japanese woman and the traditional role of the Japanese wife. Kazu wants to be out and about, aiding her husband any way she can; Noguchi is determined to keep her out of politics, at one point even forbidding her to leave the house.

It's amazing to see how Yukio Mishima sets these two opposties together, how they interact with each other and with the world of politics. A great book.

Mishima wrote After The Banquet well into the second half of his career. It was one of his last books before The Sea Of Fertility. So, his worldview was surely fully formed by this point. Yet, the book breaks quite a few of the stereotypes that surround Mishima's work.

First of all, the main character is a woman. This is rare for Mishima, who had quite a reputation for manliness. The last time he had a female protagonist was in Thirst For Love, his second novel. But there, the woman was obviously a cardboard cut-out more than a character, a hysterical "repressed housewife" type who lost her head over a strong, manly young man. Not in After The Banquet, though. Dig this quote: "Kazu...realized that for all her headstrong temperament, she had never loved a man younger than herself. A young man has such a surplus of spiritual and physical gifts that he is likely to be cocksure of himself, particularly when dealing with an older woman, and there is no telling how swelled up with self-importance he may become. Besides, Kazu felt a physical repugnance for youth. A woman is more keenly aware than a man of the shocking disharmony between a young man's spiritual and physical qualities, and Kazu had never met a young man who wore his youth well. She was moreover repelled by the sleekness of a young man's skin." (31-2)

This is a strange statement, coming from a man who allegedly worshipped youth and physical fitness, to the extent that he voiced a desire to die before he ever grew old. Not only is Mishima disparaging young men, he's doing so from the perspective of a woman over fifty. And this woman is not a decrepit and bitter shell like, say, the old Honda in the last two volumes of The Sea Of Fertility, but a vivacious, energetic hell-raiser. Well, then.

So anyway, in After The Banquet, the strong and lively older woman falls in love with a sixty-year-old politician who professes radical views. This happens when she is present at a dinner attended by various old politicians, and she sees that this particular man was the only one at the gathering who still expressed some passion for the present, instead of constantly reliving past glories. This part is well in line with Mishima's supposed views. After all, Mishima was also widely considered to be an old-school nationalist radical.

But, interestingly enough, he never explains Noguchi's political views in the novel. It is stated that Noguchi is a member of the Radical Party, but that's all. There is no way to tell if this party is liberal or conservative. Mishima states that Noguchi likes to lecture his wife on socialism, but not whether he is for or against it. The one scene that depicts a political speech given by Noguchi is full of deliberate comedy. Mishima portrays Noguchi as a terrible public speaker, and the only one of his positions that the book reveals is something silly about banning bicycles in public places. In other words, Mishima is quite consciously poking fun at this principled radical.

Mishima does generally speak with admiration about Noguchi's sense of honour, but within limits. For instance, Noguchi does not allow his wife to buy him a new suit, and prefers to go about dressed in clothes that he bought decades ago. Mishima shows his approval through the wife's eyes, but nonetheless describes Noguchi's behaviour as follows: "Such childish drivel, as anyone could see, covered an undercurrent of narrow-minded dread." (170) In another chapter, Noguchi gets angry at his wife when she tells him about how his friends talk about them behind his back. Mishima's commentary: "This was Kazu's first intimation that her husband's noble mind lacked sufficient powers of discernment." (94)

There's another line of thought regarding Mishima that holds that he didn't really care about politics, he only cared about dying a glorious death when he was still in his prime as a man. This explanation can be plausible, and the book's mild mockery of Noguchi, even as it praises him, may appear to support it. But that still doesn't explain the protagonist, quite old by Mishima's standard. Kazu does think about death, like many of Mishima's characters, but there's a refreshingly convincing materialistic streak to these thoughts. She wants to die as a part of a respected family, and to be buried among dignified people. This objective is more suitable to highly motivated people who build their fortune from nothing on their own than to radical dreamers with some abstract idea of honour or national greatness. And by the end of the book, she rethinks even this position. This is quite different from, say, Mizoguchi's dreams of beauty and fire in The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion -- even though, it must be noted, Mizoguchi ends up deciding that he wants to live.

Perhaps the only aspect in which Kazu might be a "typical" Mishima character is that she never thinks about having a family. It's a bit strange that a woman of fifty would appear to feel no regret about having no children. It may be that she is too cynical to believe that she might want to have children with any man, but nonetheless, in her private moments, she might still wish that she had had children, even abstractly. However, there is a passage in the book that may imply that her thoughts about death are caused in part by her lack of family.

There's a common image of Mishima as a "philosophical" writer, interested in big ideas more than the lives of individuals. But when he had a mind to, he could write about real life with exceptional humour and attention to detail. Kazu's worldliness annoys and upsets her husband. And it seems that Mishima likes her more than him.

the main plotline of this story may not sound very compelling, but this is not the main attraction - what draws you into the story is the way that Mishima is so deft in his character portraits. he give descriptions of things like hand movements and facial expressions in such a subtle way that very early on in the novel you feel as if you intimately know and understand the main characters - so much so that you can see them clearly in your minds eye - not just their appearace, but expressions, feelings, and mannerisms. i think that this is a great strength of mishima's in the novel - in presenting a psychological portrayal of his characters.

After the banquet tells the story of a mature, successful japanese woman who gives up her restaurant business to devote herself to marriage with a politician. a politician you say - how boring - but noguchi is different, he has an honesty and vitality about him -"Why don't we drop all this talk about the old days? We're still young after all."

however the relationship is doomed because of an impotant diference - kazu has had to work very hard to gain success in life, even if it meant acting in an immoral way. her husband, on the other hand, has been born into an easier life; therefore respect and integrity are more important to him than 'commercial' success. this all comes to a head when kazu tries to revive her husbands ailing political career, using methods he cannot approve of.

even if you find the plot incredibly boring, you just HAVE to love Kazu. she's not just successful and streetwise - she can act despicably at times, causing us to wonder if she has any feelings at all. you'd think this would make you hate her, but it does just the opposite because although her behaviour can be devious and manipulative, it is at the same time chidish and has an innocence about it. if you've read Chaucer's Wife of Bath then you'll know wht i mean; somtimes you want to strangle her, at others admire her.
even if yu find yourself really not liking kazu, you have to admire her if only for the fact that she managed to make herself so successful having come from a very poor backround - she is a woman before her time.

i just gotta say one more thing - its very interesting to see hoe kazu and nouchi can both be innocent, but in different ways - noguchi in his trust in so-called 'friends', and kazu in her manipulation of people - although it could be argured this shows qualities that are anything but innocent and childish.

ultimately, kazu has to make a choice; unfortunately, she cannot have the successful career and 'wifey' role at he same time. she must choose between conforming and resisting, between acting in her own or others interests.

Being an Asian-American born in the US, sometimes we need something to understand Asian cooking and foodstuffs ourselves! I consider Bruce Cost the ultimate Asian food expert considering he's not Asian! Everything is explained in an easy to understand manner and is authentic as any Asian food reference. His Big Bowl cookbook is also excellent.

Asian Ingredients is a cookbook in reverse. The familiar formula dictates that a little of the cookbook is dedicated to some cultural background titbits and a glossary; the rest is devoted to recipes. Cost, as his title indicates, offers us a major tour of the foodstuffs with just a sprinkling of recipes throughout. And that is exactly why the book appealed to me. Here you get the best bookish knowledge mixed with personal experience as he gives ingredients not just names, but cultural context, almost bringing them to life as if historical characters. Soy sauce, he tells us in the introduction, "evolved from ancient methods of fermenting and preserving meat and game ¡K" The Chinese value fresh water fish above salt water because the latter are considered to be already partly preserved (less fresh) - salted by the water they swim in. Amongst gems like these are plenty of practical advice for both the market and kitchen. But while the book includes a Region of Use listing for each ingredient, the geographical origin of each recipe is unfortunately left a mystery. The book is also crying out for a separate recipe index. You would not buy this book for the recipes alone but I tried four or five and whenever I wore my reading glasses and did not try to cut corners, I ended up with some really good food. Simple Roast Chicken with Sichuan Pepper (I was drawn to the word Simple), for example got the thumbs up from my friend Linda. The photographs being black and white are not always as illuminating as they should be, and there may be a few questionable facts. For instance, we learn that Dong gwa (gua) is Cantonese for Winter Melon. Not mentioned is the fact that this pronunciation is virtually identical in Mandarin. All in all I would call this an excellent reference.

A terrific reference for people like myself: round-eyes who want to learn about authentic asian ingredients and cuisine. The book is a great guide to many obscure and, to outsiders, mystifying ingredients. What's most important is that the book clearly describes the ways in which they are commonly used and (often) provides sample recipes; this allows you to utilize previously unknown items correctly and learn how their flavors are part of traditional asian dishes.

The book is well-written, though this version is the first I've seen, so I can't comment on whether it's really "new and expanded". Someone with a keen interest in food can sit down and read it cover-to-cover. I was also impressed by the care taken to differentiate national/regional applications of ingredients. Much discussion is given to how the region and history shaped the use of ingredients and what is accepted in contemporary cuisine.

All in all, a great reference book.

This excellent, informative book deserves to have been reprinted (how could such a fine book have gone out of print?), but beware of the "fully revised and expanded" claim. I ready owned the out-of-print hardcover and bought the new paperback edition to check out the updated information. I've looked pretty closely, and the only new copy I can find is very incidental (i.e., changing the locations of farms from exotic locations to the US as more domestic farmers are now growing Asian produce). No new recipes, either, although some new titles (to throw unsuspecting readers off the scent?). If you don't have this book, and you are an Asian food aficionado, do add it to your collection. However, I am very irritated at the publisher's suggestion that this is a new edition (it's a good old-fashioned reprint, and that's all) and at the previous reviewers who didn't find it necessary to warn other buyers of this important fact. I would rate it much lower for readers like me who own the original, but newcomers to this classic will find no quarrel.

`Asian Ingredients' by Bruce Cost is one of those books like Patience Gray's `Honey from a Weed' and Claudia Roden's `New Book of Middle Eastern Food' which gets cited as THE authority on its subject by culinary heavyweights such as Ruth Reichl and Alice Waters. So, in my quest for the perfect culinary library, I really need to read and review this book. I am very happy to say that the reputation of this book is not overdone. It is one of the finest books on culinary ingredients I have seen on either Oriental or Occidental cuisines. The author states from the outset that his objective was not to give us an encyclopedic work. What we get is much closer to some of the finer books on Mediterranean cuisine such as Nancy Harmon Jenkins `The Essential Mediterranean'. In many ways, Cost's book is far more practical, albeit less analytical than Jenkins' work.

Cost deals with the fairly homogeneous food world of Japan, Korea, China, Viet Nam, and Thailand. He mentions India as an influence on Thai cuisine, but does not deal directly with Indian cuisine, as it is substantially different from the cuisine of China and the rest of the Far East. The book also does not deal with the cuisine of the Philippines or Indonesia, as the cuisines of these two nations are heavily influenced by European colonization beginning in the 16th century.

One of the best things about Cost's book is that it is organized in such a way to make it a pleasure to read for background information. While I have never sat down to read the Larousse Gastronomique for pleasure, I read Cost's book from cover to cover with great pleasure, skipping a very few subjects on which I was very familiar. Costs book is divided into the following seven (7) major chapters:

Fresh Ingredients including Herbs and Seasonings, Vegetables and Fungi, Meat, Poultry and Eggs, Fish
Preserved and Processed Ingredients including Dried Ingredients, Cured Ingredients, and Soy and Coconut
Condiments and Sauces including Soy based condiments, Fish based sauces, Chili based sauces, Vinegar and spirits, and Flavored oils
Spices, Sugars, Nuts, and Seeds, including Spices, Sugar, Nuts and Seeds
Rice
Noodles and Wrappers
Flours and Thickeners
Cooking Fats and Oils

One of the most dramatic lessons to be learned from this book is the fact that like the Mediterranean respect for dried and preserved ingredients such as salted cod, dried pasta, and dry beans, Asian dried ingredients such as seaweed, vegetables, fish, and mushrooms are highly regarded ingredients in their own right. They are not `second best'. By drying and concentrating their flavors, they bring something to the party that is simply beyond their fresh precursors.

Another fairly dramatic discovery is the fact that while so many of the spices prized by Europe and so greatly desired by Renaissance Europe were grown just next door to China and Japan, these spices such as black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon (cassias) really did not and still do not play a big part in East Asian cuisine, except for Thailand, which is influenced by the curries and other spices of India. Northern China and Japan almost totally reject the use of the `cookie spices' except for ginger, which is used heavily throughout the region covered by the book.

It is interesting to see both the harmony and the dissonance created when one lays Mediterranean and Far Eastern cuisine side by side. Some of the biggest parallels are the importance of garlic, pork, mushrooms, cilantro, and New World (capsicum) chilis. Some differences are in the relative importance of drying versus salt curing. As Nancy Harmon Jenkins points out, salt is much more important in the Mediterranean cuisines simply because the Mediterranean is saltier than the oceans, so it is a lot easier to acquire than on the Pacific Rim. There are some salt cured pork products, with hams very similar to Smithfield hams, but nowhere near as much of the Charcuterie / salume culture of Western Europe. The greatest differences between the two areas lies in the use of milk. There is simply no milk culture in East Asia from cows, goats, sheep, or buffalo. The Chinese and Japanese feel the same towards Europe's more aromatic cheeses as westerners may feel about fermented fish sauce, birds nests (dried bird saliva), and seaweed. Where the European uses animals' milk, the Asian uses milk refined from soy or coconut.

An important part of this book, more important than similar samples in most other books of this type, is the recipes, especially for things such as fish and chicken stocks, which are far simpler than comparable French stocks. They are not just simpler; there is a whole rationale in the Chinese cuisine against including vegetables in chicken stock recipes.

Two of the most useful aspects of this book are the recommendations on how to best use Asian markets and which commercial preparations are of a high quality. I had some reservations regarding a local Chinese run farmer's market with a fish counter until I read Cost's description of Asians' regard for freshness in fish. The `Iron Chef' episodes where virtually all seafood ingredients are presented live is not for the sake of show business. These people are SERIOUS about their fresh fish! Note that while this book was originally written and published in 1988, the new paperback edition was revised in 2000, so the numerous comments about which prepared brand name ingredients are the best should be fairly current.

This book is so good you will be remiss if you buy any other book on East Asian ingredients without first reading this new edition. Other books may offer better coverage of selected aspects of this subject, but this book is certainly the gold standard against which other books should be measured!

Very highly recommended, especially if you like to read about food as well as eat it.

Butterflies of the Night is the first hand account of one American woman's journey into the Japanese world of the nightclub, where friendship and sex is offered. For a price. From the sleazy sex clubs to the high class geisha houses the author reveals much through interviews with club owners, hostesses, strippers, gangsters and even customers. The system seems to allow men to find relief from stress, find emotional support and even do major business deals. It also allows some women to find social and economic freedom outside the normal world of low paying jobs and marriages.
My only problem with the book is that many of the chapters were published in magazines in the late 1980s and the book was first printed in 1992. I would like to know how things changed or have not changed since than. What has happened after the boom economy has popped? I guess I have to find a book from the late 90s or early 21st Century for that.

This is the best book on hostess clubs that I've read. It was entertaining, informative from a first persons perspective without being biased. If you are interested in the Japanese nightlife get this book.

This is another book that i happened to stumble upon while looking through the Japanese history section of a large used bookstore. This was a fascinating book about women who entertain men for a living in Japan. Everything from geisha to girls who work at soaplands. Nicely detailed with delightful although sometimes disturbing interviews. Ms. Louis has written a fine book for those who want to know a bit more about Japan than just salary men. There is even a chapter on the notorious Yakuza. I must say, however, that those who are worried about feminist issues might not like this book. Not the writer, but some of the ways in which the Japanese men talk about women. Wives and geisha are called property. Also I am not saying that all Japanese men say this just some of those who are interviewed for this book. Too bad this book was never reissued in paperback I'm sure that it would have reached a receptive audiance. Also I wished there had been a bibliography of further books to reference, but since this book is based on personal experiences and interviews i guess a bibliography would be unnecessary.

The author Lisa Louis is an American who traveled to Japan and actually lived there for a number of years. When in need of some extra money she dabbled in the night life profession herself as a hostess at a bar where she poured drinks and entertained men. She is also fluent in the Japanese language. It?s because of these things that I think she was able to write such a compelling book. Since she has been a part of both cultures she is able to explain things to an American audience in a way that we can relate to.

I also really like the layout of the book. She starts out with her story and what compelled her to make the book. But without assuming she is all-knowing on the subject matter. She recruited numerous others to tell their stories as well.

I got the book because of my interest in Geisha but learned so much more than I ever expected to. I had no idea of so many of these things! It was quite a page turner as you?re eager to learn even more.

This book is the result of a limited sociological research of nightlife (mizu shobai) in Japan by an American woman who knows the business well because she worked in it.
As she states '... supply the material for a man's dreams and desires. Being able to keep a man believing that he has a chance, a possibility of making love, and yet always tactfully turning him down in such a way that he enjoys his time, is a hostess's true talent'. (p.50)
It is a lively and very interesting inside look into this more or less hidden part of the Japanese society.
This book covers all the strata of the Japanese sex/entertainment business: from 'top of the bill' geishas to heroin hookers. As Lisa Louis states 'the mizu shobai stage reflects a bizarre mixture of humanity, including top company executives, power-wielding gangsters, ranking politicians, Buddhist monks, preservers of ancient tradition, curious Westerners, third-world economic refugees, desperate women, and lonely men.' (p.206)
But it also gives indirectly a good picture of the Japanese society in general: lonely men, lonely wives, women who work at night for their parent's old days, the subordination of women.
Not to be missed by those interested in the Japanese society.
For a more general vieuw of the erotic aspect of the Japanese society I recommend 'Pink Samurai' by Nicholas Bornoff and the books of Ian Buruma.

National Living Treasure Kokan Nagayama's "Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords" is one of the definitive references on Japanese swords (nihonto) available in English translation. I bought it after either purchasing or familiarizing myself with several other essential, but much more basic tomes such as John Yumoto's "The Samurai Sword: A Handbook," Kazan Sato's "The Japanese Sword: A Comprehensive Guide," and Kapp and Yoshihara's "The Craft of the Japanese Sword." Each of these books has a niche, along with relative strengths and weaknesses (e.g., Yumoto's book is but a brief overview with crude hand illustrations, Kapp & Yoshihara focus on a general overview of forging, etc.) such that those seriously entering the world of nihonto would be well-served to collect them all (after all, all of these books together are going to cost a infinitesimal fraction of the cost of a nihonto and will therefore be a sound investment).

The stated intent of the Connosieur's Book is to arm the novice with a beginning understanding of the types of things that one would need to learn about kantei, the art of nihonto appraisal. Having said that, the level of detail here is far beyond that found in most other introductory books about nihonto for novices, and probably more than the casual fan of "samurai swords" would benefit from. The book is really designed as a reference and includes considerable detail. It does a nice job of going through major and subtle differences of nihonto through different eras and schools of sword-making, along with a brief historical context to explain changes and influences. It likewise gives an illustrated reference to variations in sugata (shape), design (sori, mune, shinogi), hamon (hardened edge), nakago (tang), kissaki (tip), hada (steel grain), horimon (engravings) and the like. There are no photos, but there are ample oshigata-style illustrations showing the subtlest variations to match with the text. Significant detail is included listing various schools of forging and individual smiths -- all of which are essential building blocks for kantei. There's also an appendix on inspection etiquette, charts organizing smiths and characteristics of their blades, and a glossary.

It's therefore a fine reference, from one of Japan's leading authorities, but as with the other books of the genre, there are strengths and limitations. The strong point of this text is its encyclopedic detail along with decent organization and illustrations. I picked this book up hoping to learn more (having read the other books, taken a course in forging of Japanese swords, and training in Japanese swordsmanship) about differences in major traditions of swordmaking. The book helps to explain that, but perhaps not in the clearest way. As but one simple example, Nagayama Sensei writes, "Swords of the Shoshu tradition typically have abundant ji-nie as well as chikei in the ji, and a hamon consisting of nie with vigorous activity such as kinsuji and inazuma." The Japanese terms can be cross-referenced elsewhere in the book, but they are presented individually and piecemeal, such that it can often be hard for the novice reader to get any kind of clear overall mental picture of the subtleties referred to in the text (e.g. what does it really mean that the nie is 'abundant' or 'vigorous?'). So what is missing? More illustrations of entire swords (and at least some photos) could be of use, along with side-by-side comparisons to understand the relative differences between styles (e.g. here is a typical Bizen, here is a typical Shoshu and here's how they're different), or maybe a few examples of swords in which the reader is taken through the process of kantei.

Of course, there is only so much you can teach in a book... you can't very well expect to read a manual on swordsmanship, car repair, or reading EKG's and then get right to it -- rather the manual gives you an overview, you then take up the practice, and later you go back to the book for reference. So it is here -- I seriously doubt the book would be very helpful for those who don't plan to earnestly start collecting nihonto and studying kantei, and in fact the level of detail and complexity might very well turn some away. But for those looking for "the next level" of reference after Yumoto or Sato, this book is a good start to learn and refer back to as you then track down, join, and attend your local Token-Kai. It's probably one of the best English language references, but it's not a tutorial or class-in-a-book nor does it claim to be.

This book is essential for all that want to take a closer and deep knowledge on japanese swords. Complete and easy to use.

This book must be the most informative (almost too much) but easy (as possible considering the subject) to read book I have ever owned. It really does have everything you need to know if you are thinking about purchasing a sword. I live in Japan, and when I showed my book to the shop owner I am friends with he was very impressed. Even with a language barrier we were able to communicate about certain features of swords that he was selling in his shop. A must buy if you have any interest on the subject.

This book contains more info than one could even imagine! In fact, that's all I'm going to say becuase it would take to long for me to even give you even a basic idea! I will tell you this: If you don't have this book in your library then you are missing out big time!!!!! Oh, by the way, the illustrations are awesome too!!!!

Enjoy and make sure that you have a weekend free to read.... you'll need it ;-)

I'm not really into sword collecting, but I nonetheless found
this book to be fascinating. Two-thirds of it is pure reference
material related to particular sword makers and that part would be
invaluable to collectors, but it is not of general interest. The
descriptions of the history of swordmaking and the attributes of
the craftsmanship, however, stands on its own as interesting reading.
One comes away with a much greater appreciation of the art form.

First of all, you need both this book and the beginner's guide (Also available). The index in the back of this volume references both books and occasionally you will look up a grammar phrase and find it's in the blue beginner's volume.

Expensive, but a necessary reference. My main gripe is that it's sometimes not obvious how to look up a phrase and i spend a lot of time digging through index. A little standardization would help (Ex: yarou to suru... would you look this up under "you to suru", or "to suru", or "suru"?)

The appendices offer good usage info on topics as compound verbs and counters. I use it as an English counterpart to some of the japanese profieciency exam grammar reviews that are available in Japan in Japanese.

This book is still the standard, the one recommended to and for Japanese students, and they let it drop out of print? Why? Someone please either update this book or reissue it because it is still the best book available and getting harder to find!

Everytime I am confused about an element of Japanese grammar I consult this reference book and I always walk away satisfied with all my questions answered. The translations are fantastic, the example sentences are chosen to clearly demonstrate the grammar point, and different usages are explained. What I like most is that this book takes varying English translations of the grammar point and shows how they are conceptually connected, so that you only have to remember the one grammar point rather than memorizing a bunch of seemingly different English translations.

I hope to be a Japanese teacher in the future, and I'll be keeping this book by my side at all times.

I've been a student of the language since 1989 and consider this two-book series to have been the most useful for both study and reference, as they illustrate grammatical constuctions that are otherwise difficult to understand, even with today's online tools.

These are so good that I'd buy the 3rd in the series, if it existed, sight-unseen.

This is a great book as the Basic japanese grammar. it's well organized like an encyclopedia. having this book and the one before will cover most often used japanese grammars. one of the best grammar out there. very concise and useful for those who are serious about being fluent in japanese. no other book have i come across that is as easy to use and understand as this book. this book is like the bible of japanese grammar. Also get the Basic japanese grammar. it will give you a very strong foundation which is a must for those who love the japanese language.

I originally bought this book in order to do a report for a japanese culture class about ki (kiai), but found it so interesting that I still open it every now and then a year later. It gives some real insight on the writer's days in Japan and what he learned in martial arts, and I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the martial arts and the related culture in Japan.

Great book filled with one of a kind information. If you are looking for techniques then this is not the book for you. However, if you want history and insight then this book is one of the best. I rank it up there with the works of Donn Draeger.

A reprint of the turn of the century book on the martial arts of Japan. A fascinating view of not only the martial arts of that time, but the social, cultural and philosophical influences during a critical period of development. It provides context and understanding of the future development of Judo, Karate and other martial arts. If you pair this book with Jay Gluck's book, "Zen Combat" you would have several long days of very entertaining and enlightening reading. I think anyone interested in the history of modern martial arts should read this.

Someone asked me to get an old copy of this book for them but I couldn't find it. So I bought it from amazon.com and got it shipped to their address direct - only to find that they'd moved! So it was redirected to me. What a piece of luck. This book is an informative and entertaining read. Not only is it readable, but it is very re-readable. So impressed was I that I now have two copies, one for me - and one just in case the person I originally bought it for ever turns up, belatedly demanding their copy! This is one book no martial artist should ever get caught without.

Someone asked me to get an old copy of this book for them but I couldn't find it. So I bought it from amazon.com and got it shipped to their address direct - only to find that they'd moved! So it was redirected to me. What a piece of luck. This book is an informative and entertaining read. Not only is it readable, but it is very re-readable. So impressed was I that I now have two copies, one for me - and one just in case the person I originally bought it for ever turns up, belatedly demanding their copy! This is one book no martial artist should ever get caught without.

Iwo tells the tale of the battle for Iwo Jima, as a veteran of the battle, Mr. Wheeler was in an excellent position to tell us about the battle that few historians would be able to meet. Mr. Wheeler opens his book by describing the Japanese leaders and preparations for defending Iwo Jima. This is rapidly followed by the American preparations and the initial landing. The center piece is the assault and flag raising on Suribachi; concluding with the Americans taking Iwo Jima

My Likes
Mr. Wheeler tells this in a very gritty way, that of a Marine who was on the beach and tasted the sulfur in the air and dirt. When reading this book you can almost feel the shells crashing around you and know that someone is watching each move you make up the beachhead. I particularly love how Mr. Wheeler provides nice details about each of the Marines he covers; a little more than most historians would provide you. Another love is the details on E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division; his old unit. When describing his unit, Mr. Wheeler provides excellent background and feeling for the men. Particular attention is paid to the two flag raisings. Another great addition Mr. Wheeler provides is on the Japanese, their preparations and their leaders; something just starting when this book was originally written. The additional pieces about the Japanese help us to understand more about the battle.

My Dislikes
Maps. The few maps in the edition I have are of lower quality. I would have loved to have seen some nice maps included in the book that showed where the Marines were on at the end of the first day and other significant days. I also would have enjoyed having a nice breakdown of what the Japanese bunker networks looked like. This would have been great for showing readers how terrible the fields of fire were. I also wish the Navy would have been included a little more than they were (they're there, but more to take the Marines to Iwo, prep the area, and then support them). My other desirement for the book was focusing on the other Marine units as well as he did his own.

The Rating
A very solid 4 star book (going rapidly to 4.5 stars). The writing is nice and clean as it's told from the Marines perspective. There's also excellent photos. This made me lean to 5 stars, but with the lack of maps and the coverage of the other Marine units not being as good as the assault on Suribachi I'm rounding to 4 stars. That said, I seriously doubt that any book can describe the valor of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines as well as this one did. A very good book!

We were searching for books that would depict the true situation on Iwo Jima during WWII. We were thrilled with this selection. We found two pictures we believe to be my husband's father. We have looked for photos where my mother-in-law could see well enough to say if it was her husband. These photos were excellent.

written so excellent, one will hardly ever forget. Dramatic, shocking and sad book about proud not afraid to die but nevertheless doomed Japanese soldiers and desperate, brave, pushed to the limits Marines, all dying for..(?!). Books about Stalingrad and Monte Casino come to my mind and "Iwo" should be on your shelf together with them. Maybe your children will read it some day and try to ponder nature of wars decided by individuals (rulers/politicians) and resulting in tragedy for many; as
Bertrand Russell noted: "war does not determine who is right, only who is left".

I am a USMC veteran who reads extensively about WW II. This is the best book about Iwo Jima I have ever read and have recommended it to my old buddies.

IWO is spellbinding. Written from the point of view of the Marines that fought, it tells their story and keeps the reader glued to the pages. Graphic discriptions of life and death hold the attention and provide a new insight to this battle. A must read for anyone intrested the military and war history.

Have you ever felt like you stood out from the crowd? Like you were so strange and different, that people couldn't help but stare? Lately, Aimee's been getting that feeling all the time. Yes, she's a fangirl from California who has the ability to detect all things cute. She loves dolls, drawing, manga, and video games. In her spare time, Aimee and her friends like to cosplay, which is making costumes and dressing up as your favorite anime or video game character. But none of these things are the reason that Aimee stands out like a sore thumb. Aimee's 6' tall and, while that's not such a big deal in California, when you're visiting Japan, you might as well be Godzilla.

When you're 6' tall and in Japan, you tower over almost everyone else. People might mistake you for a monster out of a Godzilla movie. You don't always fit in every bathroom stall. Losing your luggage on the flight is a big deal, because finding cloths your height is almost impossible. People are scared to share a hot springs pool with you. And dressing up as a geisha means you need two people and a chair just to put on a wig.

Aimee's determined to have a good time while she's visiting Japan. It's her dream to see Kyoto, home of traditional Japanese culture, and Tokyo, a city that's all about the future. Along the way, she and her friends, A.J. and Judy, visit temples, watch musicals, get lost on the trains, cosplay in Harajuka, and adopt a doll. Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan is Aimee's sketchbook journal of the entire trip.

Cute. Simple. A lovely guide book to one girl's adventures in Japan. So don't look for millions of pages of details. This is about her and her two friends and their journey to the VOLKS store in Tokyo by way of Kyoto. The cartoonist happens to also be six feet tall. It is a sketchbook and guide to many of Japan's little delights and, sometimes, tiny problems. It has a glossary and a appendix of websites of hotels, food places, stores and so on.

Seriously love this book. It's a fun account of Ms. Major Steinberger's travels in Japan. Not only are you taken through her own experiences as a foreigner, but you're also given little cultural tidbits that are just as interesting. Plus, the illustrations are fabulous. I look forward to more from Aimee in the future.

I purchased this book because I had heard of it in a chat forum and was already familiar with the author/artist. Most books don't keep my interest long enough to get through the book in a day or two, but this was impossible to put down. Aimee's lovely sketches and playful comments kept me laughing at the turn of every page. Her useful information will fuel anyone dreaming of a trip to Japan into setting the date after reading this book. I am excited to visit the places she mentions and share in the wonderful experiences she wrote about.
What a brilliantly lighthearted way to address the ups and downs of tourism.

A+

I picked up Japan Ai not really expecting much. I thought it'd be a cute read, but not something I'd really read twice, let alone buy. I was pleasantly surprised when I flipped through the pages. Steinberger's eye for details is amazing when it comes to describing her travels through Japan. Some people may be decieved by the seemingly simplistic artwork on the cover that the storytelling is just as simplistic, but they'd be amazed. The author's passion for travel, anime/manga, & hobbies comes through on every page. Fans of anime, manga, & cosplay will get into the journal because of the detailed information about those interests, but the average person will get drawn into the journal for the attention to details. It is easily accessible to most people. I would consider it a good guide to read before going overseas so one can plan out where to go, as well as knowing what to expect if you are a english speaking traveller.