Japan Books

There have been other fine books that show and describe bamboo in Japan, both plants and craft, but no other book has so effectively shown how this remarkable plant has shaped a culture in all of its aspects, from the roots of its language, to its cuisine, its art, and its commerce---from the most mundane tools of daily life to the most sublime aspect of art and spirit. Beautifully designed, the book itself is a work of art, with text and photographs woven together in such a way that one finds that one has not simply read a book about a topic, but has become a part of that experience. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

BAMBOO IN JAPAN is one of the most exciting and beautiful books I've read in years. During her many years of researching in Japan, Bess discovered that bamboo contributes to every aspect of Japanese life: from architecture to religion, from household goods to children's toys. Bamboo is made into fans, baskets, kites, fences, tea ceremony whisks and scoops; into rakes, blinds, lanterns, spoons, dolls, umbrellas, fish rods, swords, and even into musical instruments such as the eerie, reedy shakuhachi. The book is filled with fascinating facts and anecdotes. Ancient documents chronicle the use of a small bamboo knife that was thought to have magical powers, and so was used to cut the umbilical cord after birth. In the 17th century an ordinance mandated that peasants plant bamboo in order to use the leaves for fuel. Did you know that some varieties of bamboo grow so quickly that one can actually watch them grow? Or that the adult plant is strong enough to support traditional scaffolding tens of stories high, yet delicate enough to be cut into fibers hardly wider than a hair? A Japanese folktale describes a bamboo cutter's discovery of a beautiful miniature princess in a bamboo shoot. Additionally, Bess includes resources for observation and research in Japan and in the US. An internationally known textile and basket craftsperson, Bess has produced a book so vibrant and colorful, it will grow and grow sky high in your imagination.

What a pleasure to see the soul of bamboo portrayed with such insight! Many examples of bamboo in use, a feast for the eyes. This book is a treasure of bamboo knowledge.

Purchased as a gift for my son who is very interested in Japanese culture. He had nothing but praise for the content and author.

The Bamboo Sword And Other Samurai Tales by Shuhei Fujisawa is a superb collection of eight intrinsically interesting and truly evocative stories inspired by two popular Japanese films: "The Twilight Samurai" and "The Hidden Blade". These tales of the samurai include: A Passing Shower; All For A Melon; Kozuru; Shinza, The Samurai; Out Of Luck; The Runaway Stallion; Dancing Hands; and the title piece, The Bamboo Sword. Shuhei Fujisawa has written an exciting and engaging collection of remarkable samurai stories. that will grasp and hold the readers total attention from beginning to end. The Bamboo Sword is very highly recommended to all readers intrigued by tales of the eastern regions and the orient in general, and those who enjoy Japanese samurai lore in particular.

Fujiawa's collection of short stories "The Bamboo Sword and Other Samurai Tales" is a simply lovely book with lovely stories. Collected from a variety of other collections published in the Japanese, this present work forms a sort of introduction to Fujisawa.

The stories look at life during the Edo Period, (under the Tokugawa Shoguns), from a variety of angles, not only from the viewpoint of the samurai, (although they are certainly the main focus). The viewpoints include even a day in the life of a knife sharpener who moonlights as a burgular, (one of the more interesting stories for me).

Each of the stories is deeply human in its quality, taking in such elements as a samurai's problem with his wife and so on. They are touching windows on a domestic world often glossed over in other works and the movies. However, don't be fooled: there is plenty of action with swords and fighting in the book to satisfy the more martially oriented.

At only 253 pages, I found the book far too short and can only hope that more of Fujisawa's stories get translated into English. He is a gentle though energetic writer. This is onle of the best books I have read in some time.

This was the first time that I have read Basho's Narrow Road to Oku, snd I enjoyed it a great deal. Actually I read it twice this week. The first time I read through it I tried to read it without using the notes. I was lazy, so it came out that I really didn't enjoy what I was reading because I really didn't know what was going on throughout most of the book, so I read it again using the notes, and I got much more out of it. The annotations are on the left page while the actual text is on the right page, so there is no flipping to the back of the book every time that you need to look up something. There are endnotes that give more information about the haiku Basho writes. This is a very cool book, that gives the reader a glimpse at the literary world of japan back during the 17th century.

This is a very well translated and annotated edition of this great work.

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (9/06)

Matsuo Basho (1644-94) was a famous Japanese haiku poet. In 1689, he took a 1,233 mile journey across Japan. His travels lasted five months. He was joined by his friend Kawai Sora. Basho wrote about this trip. He titled it, "Oku No Hosomichi," which translates to "Narrow Road to the Interior." This story is considered to be a masterpiece of Japanese literature. He took four years to write it and revise it.

Basho started this trip when his house burned down. He had two goals. One goal was spiritual; it involved "poetic truth." The other goal was a practical one in which he would use his travels to become well known as a poet. Sora developed stomach problems and had to end his travels with Basho. Basho wrote a short piece for him. In the second part of this book, there is a translation of "A Farewell Gift to Sora."

Basho funded his travels with donations from wealthy friends and students. He felt that there were three types of poets. The first type is confused noisemakers. The second type is wealthy people who desire to write instead of gossip. The third type is poets who work hard at writing true poetry. These poets write to "soothe their heart." Basho was the third type of poet.

Hiroaki Sato includes annotations to go along with the writings. This adds richness to the story and helps explain more about the culture and what was happening at the time. I read the story first with the annotations to gain understanding of what I was reading; then I went back and reread the story by itself so that I could feel how it flowed. Without the annotations, I would have enjoyed Basho's story, but I would not have understood much of what was written. Sato also includes pages of notes and commentaries. This is a well researched piece. "Basho's Narrow Road" is a beautiful story about Basho's travels. In it he reflects on the beauty of the countryside and the spirit of the people that he encounters.

I recommend "Basho's Narrow Road" to people that enjoy Japanese poetry, especially Haiku. It would also be a great book to use for a college literature class. I really enjoyed Basho's journey.

I read this book some time ago and it was really a wonderful experience! I didn't have heard anything about the samurai history before and of course I did't know anything about the "Golden Age" of samurai battles, which is the 16th century. Mr Turnbull has done a fine job here, analysing nine famous Japanese battles: Kurikara (1183), Kamakura (1333), Okehazama (1560), Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima (1561), Anegawa (1570), Mikata-ga-Hara (1572), Nagashino (1575), Shizugatake (1583) and Sekigahara (1600). In each one the narrative flows in an excellent way and the story is read like a novel, full of heroes, epic clashes, self-denial, traitors and strange war ethics. There are also many simple but fine maps which support the text and enough information of how those battlefields are still preserved today. The Japanese are really fond of their history and this is shown in the condition of their monuments! Don't miss this book!

Stephen Turnbull's BATTLES OF THE SAMURAI is an enthralling look at the history of Japan's "Sengoku jidai", or "warring states period." Turnbull provides fascinating accounts of a number of important battles of the era, relating dramatic anecdotes of heroism, courage, and valor, as well as of betrayal and tragedy, while also describing the more technical aspects of the battles, such as the terrain, weather conditions, tactics, strategies, and weaponry. Turnbull's book is richly illustrated with maps and artwork, helping the reader to understand the geographical layout of the areas in which battles occurred and the paths taken by the troops of the various warring factions. In addition, Turnbull provides explanation of the political events and clan struggles taking place between the battles, which is very helpful in tying everything together. Turnbull's volume is also written in such a manner as to be a viable guide for travelers interested in visiting and exploring the sites of the various battles described.

What a shame this is out of print! Our family used this book extensively as a guide to our sightseeing of Japan this past summer as it offers not only historical background, portraits of great samurai personalities, and dramatic stories of the battles, but also information on visiting the battlefield sites today. Unable to obtain maps or directions to Sekigahara and Nagashino battlefields from the Japanese Tourist Organization (they told us "nobody goes there - there is nothing to see!") we relied on directions and photos in this book to discover for ourselves that samurai battlefields (Kamakura, Sekigahara) can be toured with relative ease and offer much for the modern tourist. Of course, it was the book's excellent coverage of the battles that first made us want to walk in the footsteps of Tokugawa, Mitsunari, Yoshisada, etc. A valuable resource!

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.

For this Japanese textile collector, this rates among the very best for photography, not to mention information on the various dyeing techniques and other information on Japanese textiles. Not to be missed for the serious affecionado.

I checked this book out from the library and knew I had to have a copy on hand for my own research. It has more information between its covers than several other books I've read on kimono combined. Extremely valuable for anyone interested in the history of kimono and Japanese textiles. Beautiful color photographs, well-written and well-researched sections, copious footnotes and good quality paper all make this book worthy of a place on any textile collector's bookshelf.

This publication gives an excellent and extensive overview of the traditional Japanese folk textiles that are in the collection of the Seattle Museum of Art. Articles include an overview of these textiles and their use of color and bast fibers. Other articles highlight sashiko, kogin and hishizashi embroidery; katazome, tsutsugaki and yuzenzome, kasuri (ikat) weaving and the textiles of Okinawa. The book is lavishly illustrated with very high quality photographs of garments from the museum's collection. This will be a nice additiion to the library of any fiber artist or someone interested in Japanese design and crafts.

A meticulously researched memoir that in its revelation of truth reads as a work of fiction. The story leaves the reader with an emptiness that is borne of all suicides... even those where the victim is not one of our own. It takes courage to write a memoir like this one, how to tell what can be told and that which can not be expressed about an older family member, beloved and iconic, whose death forces those who wish to grieve silently to try to find a way back to the missing. It is a story of war, all wars, a story of survival and how with the stories we tell we keep the dead alive. The reader is relieved to see the quotidian details of the narrator's life as a way of momentary displacing grief, additionally these background noises remind us how we are all sitting next to someone who may be making a meatloaf while crying.

In Black Glasses Like Clark Kent, Terese Svoboda has rendered a beautifully nuanced memoir. Her uncle has a secret about his service as an MP in post-WWII occupied Japan that becomes more urgent when he sees the photographs of Abu Ghraib. But he won't reveal this secret easily to her. He sends her tapes of his memories through the mail, and Svoboda must piece together all the information at her hands -- her uncle's memories, his letters home to his girlfriend during his service, her familial relationships, statistics about the occupation of Japan -- many of which are conflicting, her understanding of heroism, and interviews with aging WWII veteran and Japanese native populations to try and uncover the secret. In the vein of Susan Griffin, Svoboda offers a mosaic text with pieces of the puzzle -- military documents, memories, photographs, and taped transcripts juxtaposed so that the reader joins her in the journey of trying to uncover what her uncle couldn't bring himself to say. This memoir is written for readers who like to be actively engaged by a story rather than sitting back and having it spoon fed to them. Her writing is beautiful. Her honesty is bracing. It should never be forgotten during the reading that this is a true story -- her uncle's last story. If we are to understand how events like Abu Ghraib happened, then we need to understand how it was not an isolated incident in our military history. Svoboda takes the difficult and accurate view that the brave men and women who serve in our military are often asked to do things in the line of duty that will haunt them the rest of their lives. I highly recommend this book.

Black Glasses Like Clark Kent is one of those non fiction books that reads like a novel, almost a French novel, in that the narrator is self-aware and weaving the opinions and feelings and revelations of the characters in the story around the action of the book. The action is haunting -- what DID happen to the MPs and their prisoners in Postwar Japan and why does no one want to talk about it -- but, equally as haunting, is the family suffering the loss of the uncle MP who recently committed suicide. Was what he saw and lived through unbearable? He has sent his writer niece (Terese Svoboda) the tapes of what happened and she listens and then begins to investigate. As with all suicides of someone one knows and loves, she feels she did not do enough. She does enough to tell his story and find the morality that he himself was reckoning with. Of course, the book makes us, once again, reflect on the high moral and mortal cost of all who "serve". It proves that if the serviceman is willing to remember, the pain can get him. Hence, many of Svoboda's interviewees aren't talking. Svoboda's style (in all her books) is spare, sly, and unflinching in getting to the heart of her story. In this book, her father (the uncle's brother) rallies her on. Personally, I am partial to non fiction by novelists, since they cannot but give you all the facts without going to the heart. The book stays with me.

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.

A VERY WELL WRITTEN,WELL ILLUSTRATED VOLUME ON THE B-29 IN BOTH THE CBI THEATER AND THE PACIFIC DURING WW2,AS WELL AS THE NUMEROUS TEETHING PROBLEMS DURING THE PLANE'S DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL DEPLOYMENT TO INDIA AND CHINA. I ESPECIALLY LIKED THE DISCUSSIONS OF JAPANESE DEFENSES AGAINST THE RAIDS, AND THERE IS AN OUTSTANDING RECOGNITION CHART WITH ALL THE VARIOUS JAPANESE FIGHTER TYPES EMPLOYED AGAINST IT. ALSO COVERED IS THE HISTORY OF THE 20th AIR FORCE,WHICH TOOK OVER COMMAND OF THE BOMBERS AND TRANSFERRED THEM TO TINIAN ISLAND IN THE PACIFIC, AFTER MISSIONS FROM INDIA AND CHINA PROVED VERY DISAPPOINTING.I DON'T REVIEW BOOKS UNLESS I GIVE THEM 5 STARS, WHICH THIS BOOK LIVES UP TO WITH TIME-LIFE'S USUAL HIGH STANDARDS.

The title is a bit misleading, since this book is mainly a history of the B-29 during WWII, including its development, mechanical workings, early flights, and of course, its bombing missions over Japan.

The book is a terrific photo essay, and has really great photos of the innards of the B-29, as well as shots of the B-29 bases in China and then at Guam, pictures from the bombing missions, pictures of the Japanese fighter pilot opposition, etc. Almost every aspect of the history of the B-29 is covered, including a photo of the crash site where Boeing test pilot Edmund Allen was killed. I had read elsewheres already that the prototype B-29 had plowed into a meat packing plant - the photo in this book shows pigs that were let loose by the crash standing on the roof of the partially collapsed building!

There are just so many photos like that one that are intensely unique and eye-catching; the book just sweeps you back into time, back when the B-29 was first struggling to get going, and then progressing to where it became the most devastating deliverer of death and destruction of WWII.

Part of the acclaimed Time/Life World War Two series and one of the more hard to find titles in the series, this book provides an amazing detailed history of the later stages of the Pacific War. Some of the finest photos of any WWII series, this book truly should be part of any comprehensive personal WWII reference library.