New/Notable
In the Teach English in Japan Aisle:
Ganbatte Means Go for It! Or. . . how to Become an English Teacher in Japan by Celeste Heiter Paperback
158 pages
The most recent of the bunch. A step by step guide to researching the market, getting an English teaching job, moving to Japan, etc.
In the Travel Aisle:
Cruising the Anime City: An Otaku Guide to Neo Tokyo by Patrick
Macias Paperback
144 pages
A guidebook with a difference. Explore the Japan where anime is urban fashion and cultural zeitgeist with this first street-smart English guide. Featuring interviews with tastemakers, it covers studios, toys, museums, games, film "locations," music, plus where to hang and how to cruise. Four-color, with maps and index.
In the Living and Relating Aisle:
Live and Work in Japan 2004 Edition by David Roberts, Elisabeth Roberts Paperback
288 pages
In the Japanese Literature Aisle:
Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990s Japan by Amanda C. Seaman Hardcover
264 pages
A scholarly look at the recent boom in Japanese women's detective fiction.
In the Gaijins In Japan Aisle:
Longfellow's Tattoos: Tourism, Collecting, And Japan by Christine M.E. Guth Paperback
234 pages
Charles Longfellow, son of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, arrived in Yokohama in 1871, intending a brief visit, and stayed for two years. He returned to Boston laden with photographs, curios, and art objects, as well as the elaborate tattoos he had "collected" on his body. His journals, correspondence, and art collection dramatically demonstrate America’s early impressions of Japanese culture, and his personal odyssey illustrates the impact on both countries of globetrotting tourism.
In the Contemporary Culture Aisle:
Schizophrenic in Japan: An American Ex-Pat's Guide to Japanese and American Society/Politics and Humor by Mike Rogers Paperback
312 pages
The expatriate author expounds on topics from the war in Iraq, to the differences between Japanese and American baseball, to kamikaze taxi drivers. Sort of like Dave Barry on drugs!
In the Popular Culture Aisle:
Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews by Carl Macek (Foreword), Fred Patten Paperback
360 pages
Anime expert Fred Patten's quarter-century of observations on the business of anime, fandom, artists, Japanese society and the most influential titles. Illustrated with original fanzine covers and archival photos.
In the History Aisle:
The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits, Japanese Eccentrics, and the Opening of Old Japan by Christopher Benfey Paperback
352 pages
When the United States entered the Gilded Age after the Civil War, argues cultural historian Christopher Benfey, the nation lost its philosophical moorings and looked eastward to “Old Japan,” with its seemingly untouched indigenous culture, for balance and perspective. Japan, meanwhile, was trying to reinvent itself as a more cosmopolitan, modern state, ultimately transforming itself, in the course of twenty-five years, from a feudal backwater to an international power. This great wave of historical and cultural reciprocity between the two young nations, which intensified during the late 1800s, brought with it some larger-than-life personalities, as the lure of unknown foreign cultures prompted pilgrimages back and forth across the Pacific.
In the Learning the Japanese Language Aisle / Dictionary Shelf
Kodansha's Basic English-Japanese Dictionary by Seiichi Makino Paperback
1520 pages
An index of basic Japanese words appearing in the dictionary; 4,500 entries; 18,000 vocabulary items; information on stylistic differences between words; example sentences illustrating each English entry, together with Japanese translations, both in Japanese and romanized script; notes explaining words with unusual grammatical behavior; how to use grammatical particles correctly to match the meaning of the verb; how kanji are used, especially when several kanji can be used to write the same word; pitch accent markers on romanized translations of the basic entries; and appendixes dealing with technical vocabulary, characteristics of the Japanese language, and grammar charts.
In the Learning the Japanese Language Aisle / General Guides Shelf
Japanese in Mangaland: Learning the Basics by Marc Bernabe Paperback
263 pages
Master the basics of Japanese with thirty lessons, including drills, and a glossary of 160+ basic kanji.
In the Fiction with Japanese/Asian Themes Aisle:
Country of Origin: A Novel by Don Lee Hardcover 352 pages
An American girl disappears on the dark side of Tokyo, a world of hostess clubs and corruption, racism, and conformity. The young U.S. Embassy official assigned to her case, Tom Hurley, is in over his head.
In the Video Aisle:
The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film by Tom Mes, Jasper Sharp Paperback
376 pages
A comprehensive study of Japanese filmmaking, both live action and animated, profiling 19 contemporary Japanese filmmakers, from the well-known (Kitano, Miike, Miyazaki) to the up-and-coming (Naomi Kawase, Satoshi Kon, Shinya Tsukamoto) and reviewing 97 of their recent films. 100+ images. Foreword by Hideo Nakata, director of Ringu.
In the Cuisine Aisle:
Sushi for Dummies by Judi Strada Paperback
284 pages
From rolling sushi properly to presenting it with pizzazz, this book has everything you need to know to impress your friends with homemade maki-sushi (rolls) and nigiri-sushi (individual pieces). You’ll find over 55 recipes from Tuna Sushi Rice Balls to Rainbow Rolls, plus handy techniques to demystify the art of sushi making – and make it fun!
In the Mind and Spirit Aisle:
Letters Of The Nun Eshinni: Images Of Pure Land Buddhism In Medieval Japan by James C. Dobbins Paperback
259 pages
Eshinni (1182-1268?), a Buddhist nun and the wife of Shinran (1173-1262), the celebrated founder of the True Pure Land, or Shin, school of Buddhism, was largely unknown until the discovery of a collection of her letters in 1921. The author offers a complete translation of the letters and an explication of them that reveals the character and flavor of early Shin Buddhism. Dobbins examines the portrayal of women in Pure Land Buddhism, the great range of lifestyles found among medieval women and nuns, and how they constructed a meaningful religious life amid negative stereotypes.
In the Business Aisle:
Judo Strategy: Turning Your Competitors' Strength to Your Advantage by Mary Kwak Paperback
256 pages
Judo for businesses! Adaption of the principles for a corporate audience, showing how they can also be used to help companies battle bigger and stronger competitors.
In the Architecture Aisle:
Tokyo Architecture and Design by Martin Nicholas Kunz Paperback 191 pages
This guide highlights several of Tokyo's most interesting buildings (by architects such as Renzo Piano and Tadao Ando) and also showcases outstanding interior design.
In the Traditional Culture Aisle / Ceramics/Pottery Shelf
Meiji Ceramics: The Art of Japanese Export Porcelain and Satsuma Ware 1869-1912 by Gisela Jahn Hardcover
359 pages
Go for Kids Paperback
250 pages
OK, it's written for children age 12 (sixth grade) and up, but it might function pretty well as a beginning Go book for anybody. 427 panels of question-and-answer cartoon strip dialogues between instructor and students which augment its 340 coventional diagrams and their accompanying explanatory text.
In the Traditional Culture Aisle / Home/Garden Shelf
Garden Plants of Japan by Ran Levy-Yamamori, Gerard Taaffe Hardcover
440 pages
An illustrated and extensive encyclopedia of trees and shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants, grasses and ferns. Each entry covers cultivation requirements and illuminating details about how plants are used in gardens or bonsai, along with illuminating horticultural points of interest and historical background.
In the Traditional Culture Aisle / Ikebana Shelf
The Flowers of Japan and the Art of Floral Arrangement by Josiah Conder Hardcover
240 pages
New edition of an ikebana classic.
In the Traditional Culture Aisle / Kabuki Shelf
Kabuki Plays on Stage: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864 (Kabuki Plays on Stage, Volume 3) by James R. Brandon Hardcover
416 pages
The fourteen plays mark an extreme point in the development of kabuki dramaturgy. The plays are remarkable, even within kabuki, for their intense theatricality, gutsy individualism of character, cold-blooded and ferocious violence, realism pushed into fantasy and grotesquery, novelty for its own sake, sexual aggressiveness, and assertion of female will. The plays depict a society in extremis, the end of an era, a time often marked by unmitigated darkness and desire.
In the Traditional Culture Aisle / Swordmaking Shelf
The Yasukuni Swords: Rare Weapons of Japan, 1933-1945 by Tom Kishida, Kenji Mishina Hardcover
155 pages
An extensive study of the 8,100 swords manufactured in the grounds of the Yasukuni Shrine between 1933 and 1945.
In the Traditional Culture Aisle / Ukiyo-E Shelf
The Prints of Isoda Koryusai: Floating World Culture and Its Consumers in Eighteenth-Century Japan by Allen Hockley Hardcover
313 pages
Five appendixes catalog all of the artist's known print designs.
In the Traditional World Aisle
Castles of the Samurai: Power and Beauty by Jennifer Mitchelhill Hardcover
96 pages
The book gives a background to the great period of castle building in Japan, and details the essential elements of castle construction, such as location, layout, walls, moats, towers, storehouses, gates, shooting holes, and more.
In the Martial Arts Aisle / Judo Shelf
Judo Basics: Principles, Rules, and Rankings by Pat Harrington Hardcover
200 pages
Subjects include a brief history of judo, the structure of international judo, a basic introduction to judo (enrollment, bylaws, principles and aims, the dojo, equipment, judogi, and tatami), ranking system, warming-up and cooling-down exercises, kumikata, bowing, Gokyo-no-waza, learning to become an instructor, ukemi, uchikomi, the role of the coach, breakfalling basics, adult (seinen) grade requirements, adolescent (shonen) grade requirements, children (yonen) grade requirements, younger children (mon) grade requirements, the International Judo Federation Sports and Organization Rules, and the International Judo Federation Refereeing Rules.
In the Martial Arts Aisle / Karate Shelf
Shotokan's Secret: The Hidden Truth Behind Karate's Fighting Origins by Bruce D. Clayton Paperback
329 pages
The author uses sketches, historical research, archival lithographs, period photographs and contemporary technique demonstrations to reveal shotokan’s deadly intent and propose modern practical applications of such knowledge.
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