Japan Books

The Japanese short-stories in this book were absolutely brilliant.

Each story has a moral to be learned. In each story, the decieving are punished in different ways. It also gives a magical perspective of everyday morals to the reader.

A wonderful collection of short stories, easy to read. They have been translated with Westerners in mind, but still remain uniquely Japanese. There are beautiful black and white illustrations with each story.

Reviewed by Brianne Plach (age 9) for Reader Views (6/07)

Do you like fairy tales? If you do and are looking for something other than Cinderella or the Elves and the Shoemaker, you might like something like this. Trying something other than American fairy tales can be fun and educational at the same time.

"Japanese Fairy Tales Volume 2" is the second book in the series. It has 6 different stories within its covers. The stories include: The Straw Millionaire, The Contest, The Bouncing Rice Ball, The Monkey's Statue, Little One Inch Boy and Tail Fishing. Each one of them has a short introduction before the story begins. The stories feature things like not being greedy, how to gain happiness and how cruelty never pays. Each story is very well written. They are funny and have very good themes.

Even if this book by Keisuke Nishimoto was written for the audience of ages 4-8, and I am older than that, I still enjoyed reading the stories and somewhat getting a glimpse into Japanese culture and humor. The illustrations are in watercolor and really add delight to the stories. Take a trip to Japan by reading "Japanese Fairy Tales!"

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The book consists of six tales: The Straw Millionare; The Contest; Bouncing Rice Ball; The Monkeys' Statue; Little One Inch Boy; Tail Fishing. The humorous tales address themes such as how to live a good, kind life, how to achieve happiness, and the price to be paid for cruelty, greediness and cowardice. The tales themselves are very entertaining, but what I like most of all is that they are very well written. The words seem to flow off my tongue as I read the stories to my daughter.

I think the book is appropriately categoried in the 4-8 year range. The tales vary in length from about 400-1000 words each.

The illustrations are done in watercolor. There's one illustration per page. Each sets the stage for the tale, but leaves enough for your imagination to conjure up the rest of the story.

I like this book so much I'm going to purchase Volume 1.

This is a small (80 pages) book that is worth every penny of its price. The cover and back are adorned with fabulous examples of coats done in sashiko embroidery that were produced on Awaji Island in Japan. The coats, stitched with white thread on indigo-dyed cloth, were produced in large numbers for every day and dress up into the 1920's, but production stopped when industrialization came to the fore in the Japanese fishing industry. Although there is now a revival of sashiko in Japan, many fewer garments are produced.

This book is replete with photos of life in fishing communities and both old and newer garments. An extensive catalog of the garments that were featured in an exhibition at UCLA is appended to the text. If you own Susan Briscoe's Sashiko Sourcebook you will have no difficulty figuring out how to produce these garments or how to use the techniques in your own design efforts.

I spent 2 weeks researching indigo dyed Japanese fishermen's coats while preparing for a new design in my own work. In doing so I found vintage photographs of men who fished for a living in Japan. They wore coats to protect themselves from the elements,made by the women in their lives who also mended them ,using the art of stitching to hold together layers of fabric.The fabrics that they used to mend with were from other garments,all in blues from indigo.

This books has a collection of these coats that truly honors the blood,sweat and probably tears from the men who worked endlessly long hours to support their families.

I love this book and count is as one of my favorite reference books in creative library.I can't say enough about the beauty of these clothes and thank all of the people behind creating such a perfect collection.

Thank you!

The presentation of floral designs in this book are lovely. It is a way to break from the monotony of standard containers. Using the ideas in this book can make a gift of flowers extraordinary! (It also has me wanting to learn more about origami! Time to buy another book case!)

If you lust after beautiful flower arrangements, but are shy of high-quality vases, this is the book to buy. Hey, even if you have a storage room filled with Eastern European cut crystal, you'll still want this book.

Huge photos show you how to wrap containers (think "milk carton") with paper, string, and/or yarn. Yes, this sounds trite and strained until you see the results for yourself. Using these truly easy and inexpensive techniques, your friends will beg to visit in order to see your arrangements. Further, if you started giving gifts of flowers presented in this manner, you'll turn acquaintances into friends, all of whom will adore you. Are you a professional florist? What you'll learn in this book will transform your career.

Wonderfully straightforward and informative, I learned much about the beneficial properties of the foods discussed in the book. Every recipe I've tried is concise and the results have been universally splendid.

I tend to be highly skeptical about this kind of book, mainly because they usually present some sort of idealized fantasy of a health-conscious and simple Japan where everyone is deeply in tune with the rhythms of nature, whilst I know from many years of experience living in Japan that your average Japanese person is much more likely to sit down to a steaming pile of fried chicken, reconstituted ramen and a few cans of beer rather than ocean-harvested kombu and mountain vegetables gently simmered followed by a sweet cup of amazake. However I was pleasantly surprised when the authors stated up front that "Japanese people don't eat this way", and acknowledged that many of these foods will be more readily available in an American health food store than in a Japanese supermarket.

With that fresh start, I was able to enjoy "Japanese Foods that Heal" for what it is, a brilliant guide to eighteen traditional Japanese ingredients that are powerhouses of health, with medicinal properties that strengthen the human body and provide resources and defenses against all manner of illnesses. Each ingredient is considered in-depth, talking about the traditional harvesting/creation methods, the known medicinal properties of that ingredient, and the traditional healing powers associated with it. The authors are careful to state what is a proven effect of the food and what is only a "potential" effect. Some of the foods, such as miso and green tea, are quite familiar and well-known for their health value. Others, such as soy sauce and the sweetener mirin, were more of a surprise, as I had not thought of them as having any particular value other than as a flavoring agent. Some of the ingredients I had never heard of, such as seitan and mizu ame, which the author admits you would need to either make yourself or find at a specialized store.

While there are recipes for each ingredient included, "Japaneses Foods that Heal" cannot really be considered a cookbook. About five or six simple recipes with no photographs are all you get for each item, and the bulk of the text is educating you about the food itself. While the recipes are easy to make and delicious, I was more intrigued by the concept put forward of using these foods in regular recipes replacing items of little nutritional value, such as refined salt or white sugar, with more nutritious substitutes like mirin or the salty picked-plum umeboshi. Definitely something to give a try.

The only drawback to this book is that the authors reinforce the stereotype that eating healthy means eating expensive. When they talk about soy sauce, they are quick to distinguish between the mass-produced condiment available anywhere, and the healthy, hand-processed variety only made in few places and only available at specialty stores for quite a bit more than you would expect to pay. The cheap stuff, they say, isn't worth your time. The same story is told for almost every food, with a lengthy description of its traditional, healthy processing method followed by a disclaimer saying how the majority is now chemically produced in factories, and you will have to search out and be prepared to pay for the good stuff.

I bought this book when I first discovered I was interested in learning Japanese. The book does use Kana from the beginning, and that caused me to buy books on learning to write Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.

I still have this book, and I still use it for reference. It's not an easy book for a complete beginner. You'll need other books to supplement it. But for overall usefulness for someone who is really interested in the language, and for someone who understands that they will need more than just this book, in my opinion it's excellent.

Its probably one of the best for those who have at least a basic background of Japanese skills or have learned it elsewhere. Because the book is mainly in kana and starts you right off into it. The revised edition is well organized and does define most of the words, occasionally theres some new words introduced that weren't defined. I found that the lessons move quickly so that you don't feel like that its taking to long to go through the book. This book is recommended by me, and I feel that it can help everyone learn Japanese if they try it out. Also, the tapes aren't included, i had to download them from somewhere else... thats the only real main issue i have.

The best book on Oriental medicine I've ever read. Carefully researched, extensively referenced, comprehensive, but written in an easy-to-read style. Excellent resource for herbal medicine!

I am most enthusiastic about Robert Rister's new book, "Japanese Herbal Medicine: The Healing Art of Kampo". While I am not a practicioner of Kampo (I come from a TCM/Western Herbal background) and cannot judge his portrayal of that system, Rister has written an excellent book for those trying to bridge their understanding of Asian and western herbal databases. My favorite part is the materia medica of 157 herbs and medicinal substances, organized by English common name, with Japanese names in parentheses and an appendix with Chinese, Korean, pharmaceutical and botanical Latin names and additional identification and dosage data.

A common problem with American students of Oriental herbal medicine is that they often are unaware that the substances they use are the same as western herbs they may understand- for instancea common form of Wu jia pi (Acanthopanacis) is Siberian ginseng or that modern Mang xiao (Mirabilitum) is Epsom salts. This book allows one to do that.

Up to date research on the herbs is presented in clear English, combining new knowledge with traditional uses. Extensive references are in an appendix. I spent several hours cross referencing this book with Bensky's Materia Medica and added as much from one book as to the other. The Kampo book tends not to include animal products used in Chinese medicine, as well as herbs used primarily in external application or against parasites, which accounts for its smaller database. But it includes the most important herbs used in Chinese and Japanese medicine.

The book is not organized by Chinese medicinal categories, although functions and indications are described in the text. It does not have a list of tastes, temperatures and channels, but parts of the body affected and organoleptic qualities are included in the text. One annoyance is the lack of a separate multilingual medicinal substance index, but the general index includes herbs by Japanese and English names. Occasionally I had to look up an herb in Bensky, check its Japanese name and refer to the index.

One major criticism is that I was not always certain that the research referred to the botanical species used most prevalently in Japanese (and Chinese) medicine (although I admit that I haven't yet spent time digging through the references). And one listing might be given for several parts of a species- like Lotus root, leaf, seed-receptacle, stamen, seed and sprout with the text addressing the various strengths in sketchy detail. Like most other Oriental materia medicas it lacks information on endangered species, cruelty (though few animal products are included) or modern substitutes like Serrulata sheng ma/black cohosh or Typhonium ban xia/pinellia.

There are sections on formulas, diseases organized by western name with differential diagnosis within the disease discussions, sources of Kampo goods and services and 65 pages of references.

An excellent adjunct materia medica for students of Oriental Medicine.

Transaction cost economics introduced the concept of hierarchy (or company) to explain the raison d¡¯etre of the firm. The existence of the firm beside the market stands as a puzzle to neoclassical economics. If all the resources are distributed through the market mechanism, why there should be the company? Activities in and out of the firm are intrinsically economic one which is not that different from the one performed on the market. But those are not performed on the based on price mechanism. Then what¡¯s the rationality of the existence of the company? Setting up the company could be considered as rational economic action? Judging from experience, it¡¯s definitely so. Transaction cost is introduced to solve this discrepancy between theory and practice. Market activities are inherently bridled with ¡®incomplete information¡¯. ¡®Rational¡¯ market actor should rely on limited information to transact on the market (bounded rationality). The bounded rationality invites transaction cost beside nominal price on every transaction. The company is the device to reduce that cost. Its explanation seems successful. And thereafter transaction cost economics has become the dominant theory in economics of organization. But it pulls another puzzle towards us: it sounds great. Then how to explain the interaction between firms? They cite the opportunistic behavior between contractors. But examples of Japanese firms counter such modeling. Company lives with other firms. They compete and cooperate with each other. It goes without saying that their basic motive is selfish: making money, in other word, market-rational. But like all other human affair, their relation presupposes the rule and the other. The rule could be formal statute or implicit custom. The other could be competitors, or suppliers, cooperators, customers. Transaction cost economics retains the limited rationality model of economic man. So a limited picture is it that they can¡¯t draw up whole story of reality. Here comes the concept of institution and network.
This book is a case study of Japanese interfirm network, widely known as keiretsu. Japanese interfirm network has been recognized as very unique one. Competition and cooperation between Japanese companies are not entirely market-based. ¡®Trust¡¯ has been attributed to it to describe their relationship. But author argues that they make some points, But such a story lacks clarity, and that, does not fit well into the reality of Japanese business. Drawing up a realistic picture is the aim of this book. Such a drawing needs the in-depth field research from scratch. There has been plethora of literature on Japanese keiretsu, but, author argues, not much useful one based on real story. For example, according to the dominant theory in the West, Japanese main banks take the role of corporate governance instead of market. They play the role of signaling, monitoring and rescuing in the behalf of themselves and other stakeholders. But author argues that that kind of picture is no more than tatemae (socially correct story). The honne (real story) is quite different. The relationship between main bank and its client firm is imbued with ¡®relational transaction¡¯ and power imbalance. Relational transaction is peculiar to Japanese business. To do business, company should take part in some group. This is what is called as trust. But it¡¯s far from pastoral scenery. Basically, the relationship functions as power amplifier to the firm: to mobilize as much resources as possible against other. Resources are like these: financing, information, political clout on regulatory bodies, customers, and the like. So we can conclude that inter-group relationship is inherently political. But interfirm relationship within group is far from genial. It¡¯s characterized by the power imbalance based on resource imbalance between them. The relationship between main bank and client firm is based on information imbalance. Here main bank take the upper side. Contrary to tatemae, such as monitoring, rescuing, their relations are deeply based on self-interest.

Few Americans have the experience and breadth of knowledge about the Japanese economy as Mark Scher, who has spent the last 25 years mining its secrets. Finding that most western Paradigms about the Japanese economy don't fit the facts, Scher developed his own. Scher's work is widely known and respected in Europe (his Phd is from the University of Manchester, no less). However, our "Chicago School" economists will not be satisfied with a perspective that suggests that something other than a totally free market can work.

Cotton Mather and PP Karan traveled the length and breath of Japan in a small red car, attempting to make the landscape "speak." Somewhere on the Kii Peninsula, south of Ise, what they'd been looking at finally began to make sense: categories and generalizations began. From this point on, their generalizations were tested and retested with the resultant Primary and Secondary Characteristics of what one sees in Japan: Paucity of Idle Land; Scarcity of Level Land; Compactness; Meticulous Organization; Immaculateness; Interdigitation; and Tiered Occupance among others. A nice explanation with plenty of photos by men who have been involved with Japan since the Second World War.

When i first bought this book for a gardening friend i thought i wouldn't like but it turned out i did. the next day iwent back and got one for myself.it was stimulating and inspiring and i thought it was excelent!

This scholarly work examines the nature of organized crime in great depth and details the evolution of Japan's mafia, called the yakuza, and the challenges confronting it in the 21st century. Although Peter B.E. Hill's style is rigorously academic, the nature of the material itself is so sensational that the book is at times a thrilling read. It offers a glimpse of the underside of Japanese government and society, and reveals historical facts likely to shock the average non-Japanese reader. getAbstract finds that this book will, of course, interest readers who are professionally concerned with crime, sociology, economics, Japanese studies and the like. However, it may also appeal to fans of true crime stories and hard-boiled fiction - a rare attribute for an academic book.

This book can help researchers of Asian gangs identify the uniqueness and features of the Yamaguchi gumi and other Japanese organized crime syndicates. The information provided by this book unquestionably has long-term impacts on criminology and sociology of crime, especially on the area of Asian crime.