Japan Books

Cave has done her homework following the New Mexicans through the Bataan Death March and labor camps.

Dorothy Cave has really done an excellent job of research and storytelling with this book. She was able to accuratly document the fate of many of the soildiers that were mobilized in 1940 in New Mexico.

I hope that Dorothy Cave will write a second book on the 200th and include more of the research material that would mean so much to the relatives and decendents of the warriers of the 200th Regiment.

Since I was born in Silver City NM and am now a member of the New Mexico National Guard, I request that all new Officers assigned to my Battalion to read Beyond Courage so that they may better understand the importance that history may place on their contirbution to New Mexico and the United States.

When I first moved to New Mexico in 1963, I became aware that many of the troops on the Bataan Death March came from New Mexico. They used to have an annual reunion here in Las Cruces, and I met a few of those men.

This book is by a professor of history at Eastern New Mexico University, who is I think a relative of one of the men on the march. The book entails the experiences of the 200th and 515th Coast Artiliary units, which were based in New Mexico.

I had always imagined that the worst part of their ordeal was the 60-mile forced march (and at war's end in 1945, I traversed that 60 miles in a jeep, a truly terrible ride in the Philippine heat and humidity). But far worse were the trips those heros made in the holds of enemy cargo vessels. They were put in the holds, so crowded that everyone had to stand, where the human urine and excrement simply dropped to the deck for everyone to stand in, and where people died standing up. The cruelty was worse than anyone could possibly imagine.

These units were the first to fire on the Japs and the last to lay down their arms when surrender came. And you learn of the espionage these guys performed when doing their slave labor in the factories and the mines of Japan and Manchuria. Such labor, and the treatment forced on the prisoners, were in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, of which Japan was a signatory.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The author is a superb writer.

I read this book after reading Alan Booth's comments on Dazai and his life - so I have to admit, I was rather cynical.

I very much warmed to Dazai through these excellent translations by Ralph McCarthy. The tales have many ingredients which will appeal to lovers of Akutagawa and Kawabata. Those who like to see Chinese stories through Japanese eyes will not be disappointed.

There is also a fine preface, giving a historical perspective to the stories.

This was really a good little book. i picked it up several months ago, and subsequently forgot about it, but after finishing a book by yasunari kawabata, i saw this book on my shelf and decided to give it a shot. . . i finished it in two days. this book is very entertaining some of the stories are sad while others are very funny. . . you will not forget Taro the wizard, Jirobei the fighter, and saburo the liar for a long time pick this book up you will not be disapointed

Osamu Dazai in an author best known for his penetrating autobiographical novels set in the tragedy of post-war Japan. His book "No Longer Human" is an unquestioned classic of Japanese literature, with its themes of societal alienation and personal decline. His tragic life was marked by three suicide attempts, until he finally "got it right," drowning in a river with his married mistress. But this is not that Dazai.

"Blue Bamboo: Japanese Tales of Fantasy" is the other Dazai, with a mind full of fantasy, steeped in Brother's Grimm fairy tales and Japanese folklore. This is the author of children's stories and happy endings. Well, as happy as and ending gets in Japanese literature, at any rate. Certainly happier than Dazai's own ending.

Collecting seven fairy tales and fantasy stories, "Blue Bamboo" is an absolutely charming book, mixing the best of German and Japanese folklore into something unique that represents neither. Dazai's style is light and capturing, and it is hard not to finish this book a few days after you crack the cover. Each story is a tasty little morsel that beckons the consumption of the next.

Two stories, "Of Love and Beauty" and "Lanterns of Romance" center around the Irie family, an artistic bunch who pass the time by telling chain stories, starting with one family member who writes a page or two and then passes it on. Each of the family members are distinct, so each of the relayed chapters are distinct and yet completely fitting. "Lanterns of Romance," the longest in "Blue Bamboo," begins with the tale of Rapunzel, but becomes something completely different and wholly satisfying.

"Cherry Trees and the Whistler," "The Chrysanthemum Spirit" and "The Mermaid and the Samurai" are pure Japanese folktales, complete with melancholy ending that is somehow redemptive. These three miniature yarns balance out the longer entries in the book.

"Blue Bamboo" and "Romanesque" are the finest in the collection, each a subtle blend of influences. "Blue Bamboo" was taken from Chinese myth, and is a cautionary tale about evoking the Gods for selfish reasons, and the ever important power of love. "Romanesque" is a quirky and seemingly-unconnected telling of the lives of three men, Taro the Wizard, Jirobei the Fighter and Sabruo the Liar. It is entirely possible that a moral is buried somewhere in there, but the stories are so entertaining that you will want to read them a few times hunting for it.

People looking for good, entertaining fairy tales would really enjoy "Blue Bamboo: Japanese Tales of Fantasy," and that is a rare thing to say for a book of Japanese folktales. Dazai combines the Western and Eastern influences together in a form that is enjoyable by both, yet beholden to neither.

"Bold Plum" is a unique contribution to an understanding of Chinese
Communist organization, methods and policies during the "Anti-Japanese
War" years 1939-1945. As a retired Chinese-language-trained Foreign
Service Officer, I particularly value first-person accounts of
experiences in China that are written objectively. Hsiao-li Lindsay tells
of her experiences living in Communist-controlled villages
dispassionately - a rare virtue when too many first-person accounts are written
with "an agenda". While her husband, Lord Michael Lindsay,
was working with the Communists to improve their radio communications
in the struggle against the Japanese occupiers, Hsiao-li
observed the daily life of the villages in which they lived.
"Bold Plum" is not only a unique contribution to the literature for the
specialist, it is also fascinating for the general reader. (In 1955 Lord Lindsay published
"China and the Cold War" (Michael Lindsay: Melbourne Univ. Press),
a dissection of the increasingly irrational aspects of Chinese Communist
policies after the end of World War II).

The book is a first hand history of the war against the Japanese by Mao Tse Tung and the Chinese during WWII. It was fascinating, could not put it down. Imagine being a young newly wed walking many miles, enduring attacks and hardships, giving birth and suffering hunger in a distant place. Very unique story.

The wartime China from 1937-1949 has not been sufficiently discussed in both the academic and popular realms. Bold Plum provides an alternative narrative from the official history-- one that is told by a Chinese woman whose lived an extraordinaray life during the time -- that will surely deepen our understanding of the rising power of the Communist China in rural northern China in the 1940s.

It is my fortune to come across the publication of Bold Plum; it has given me so much information about the wartime China. I bought a copy of it and coudln't put it down. The story is a personal account of the argubly most important time of modern China, a nation was transforming into a socialist state. I highly recommand it to all students and reserachers of the history of (modern) China.

Koichi Tohei explains his four principles to unify mind and body. This book tries to help you learn these four principles, apply them and then teach them. The book is rather small, though its goal is large. It is very easy to read and understand by us westerners.

I started studying this form of Ki shortly before I found this book. Having the book clarified what I was doing in class. Better, it allows me to practice on my own and helps, as the title suggests, with the application of Ki principles to everyday life--since in everyday life aikido throws can't usually be used to deal with problems. For example, how to maintain energized relaxation in difficult situations, how to sleep better, etc. I recommend it highly.

Interesting book, it gives examples of different ki building exercises that one can perform as well as an interesting story at the end.

There has never been a time when I did not adore this book, largely for the amazing illustrations. I loved it when I was little to the point of obsession.

A few years ago, I rediscovered the book and was incredibly surprised at how little text and story there actually was. It must have dug itself so deeply into my imagination that I invented all sorts of events around the images and wonderful story. I remember being frightened, excited, happy... It had everything a budding bookworm could ever desire. Even though it was not as elaborate as I remembered, it holds a special place on my shelf and it always will.

This is a beautiful version of this classic tale. The artwork is stunning and the story flows seamlessly. I remember reading this tale in a large storybook as a child. I was fairly young and I remember it disturbed me. So I wouldn't recommend this for very young children.

For those who don't know, it is about a boy, who likes to draw cats, living in a village and sent to a temple to become a priest because there are too many mouths to feed at home and he's not much good at anything but drawing. He draws cats everywhere inside the temple, including on the walls. One night he tucks himself into a closet to sleep, and begans to hear terrible noises outside of the closet, which last most of the night. In the morning, he emerges from the closet to find a gigantic dead goblin-rat, as big as a cow. And the fangs and claws of his cat pictures are covered with blood because they came to life to save his life. This is a pretty great folktale but probably not for very little children.

The Boy Who Drew Cats is a little hard to classify; it is both a ghost story and a monster story. I first read this story when I was about ten years old, and I have never forgotten it. This is a great story for Halloween, and a wonderful story if you love cats. It's sure to make you appreciate your own feline companion.

BRILLIANT! SHUJI NAKAMURA AND THE REVOLUTION IN LIGHTING TECHNOLOGY tells of the evolution of LED technology and how it was stalled over making an LED that would emit the bright blue light needed to make useful white light LEDs - until researcher Shuji Nakamura's key invention which single-handedly created the industry of solid-state lighting. Author Bob Johnstone is the first Western journalist to meet and interview Nakamura, and here provides a powerful blend of science and biography to show how the inventor made his ground-breaking discovery and how LEDs are revolutionizing the world. Any science library strong in invention history needs BRILLIANT!

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I heartily recommend this book for people who are interested in innovation, business, science, technology, etc. The book tells the fascinating story of Nakamura and the impact LEDs are having on the lighting industry.

Part One of the book tells the story of how Nakamura invented the first commercially successful GaN LED. Part Three explains how Nakamura became unwanted at Nichia and how he decided to move to UCSB. Parts Two and Four talk about some of the companies that are using LEDs to make exciting new products. I'll be a nit picker and say the book should be titled "Shuji Nakamura and the *Coming* revolution in Lighting Technology" because the revolution is just starting.

Although LEDs have been around for about four decades and everyone already owns products that incororate them, very few people understand the potential of LEDs and the impact that they will have on lighting over the next few years. The conversion to white LEDs for general lighting is underway. People will want to understand more about this phenomenon as they recognize the impact that LEDs are having on the lighting industry and energy consumption. The good news is that this book will serve as a tutorial for people who want to learn about LEDs.

Brilliant!!! Refreshing!!! Bob Johnstone is correct in espousing Shuji Nakamura as the leader of the LED revolution. Shuji's list of patents and accomplishments in his field far outshine all of his peers put together. Definitely a Nobel Prize in the works for Mr. Nakamura and hopefully a Pulitzer for Mr. Johnstone for his ability to explain this complex subject to the average reader in a true tale of high intrigue! The LED scientific community is still rather small. The competition for the holy grail (replacing the everyday lightbulb) is phenomenal. Bob and Shuji have this unusual, provocative combination that tells the story of this new high tech race. Bob spends quite a few chapters explaining the unusual and life changing ramifications of LED development worlwide. A must read for any investor or those with eco-green concerns!!!

I read the book looking for an introduction to Japanese feminism more interesting than your average textbook and I was not disappointed. The interviews explore the women's personal interests, projects, and views about feminism. Each interview is supplemented by the a brief biography of the interviewee and an exerpt from something she has written.

Dense and interesting, definitely worth it.

This book breaks the stereotype of the submissive Japanese woman by presenting interviews and written works by Japanese women who are considered to be leading feminists in their fields, surprisingly few of those academic. It shows that Japanese feminists have the same concerns as American feminists, but they continue to focus on the family and mother roles as the saving grace of society. It's a refreshing viewpoint away from radical feminism, and it made me rethink my definitions of feminism. There are extensive references to Japanese culture and language, which may be hard to follow for those not familiar with Japan, but a good chronology and glossary are provided. It covers such issues as abortion, pornography, fertility treatments, and environmentalism. It's a very interesting book without the heavy obscure jargon of most academic publications. I highly recommend it if your interest lies in Japan, feminism, or both!

this book was really useful for me while i was working on my senior thesis. but i think that it would be a good read for anyone who is interested in feminism and women's issues. japanese feminisms have many differences from american feminisms, but at the same time, there are quite a few parallel. one of the best parts of this book was the section on the translated version of our bodies ourselves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Peace and love in Oneness

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

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

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

But this book for anyone who seeks truth.

Anyone who is interested in trading, whether its on NYSE,NASDAC,or FOREX like my self you buy this book. Loaded with tons of information.

I found this book informative. I have been interested in candlestick charting for years and I was not able to find a text that could give me simple, clear, and concise information until Candlestick Charting for Dummies. This book is just what I needed.

I have found many technical analysis books are written with too much jargon and are difficult to understand for the non-professional. This book simplifies everything in a well written and comprehensive guide for the layperson looking to learn about candlestick charting technical analysis.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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