Written by imperial command in the eighth century, The Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters is Japan's classic of classics, the oldest connected literary work and the fundamental scripture of Shinto. A more factual history called the Nihongi or Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) was completed in A.D. 720, but The Kojiki remains the better known, perhaps because of its special concern with the legends of the gods, with the divine descent of the imperial family, and with native Shinto. Both works hav...
Primary Sources, Historical Collections (Primary Sources, Historical Collections)
by Jules Verne
Primary source material This book, from the series Primary Sources: Historical Books of the World (Asia and Far East Collection), represents an important historical artifact on Asian history and culture. Its contents come from the legions of academic literature and research on the subject produced over the last several hundred years. Covered within is a discussion drawn from many areas of study and research on the subject. From analyses of the varied geography that encompasses the Asian contine...
A reprint of the famous collection of Japanese historical stories, fairy tales, customs, and traditions, compiled by one of the first foreign diplomats in Japan.
Japanese Fairy Tales (Akasha Classics ) (Cosimo Classics Myth & Folklore)
by Yei Theodora Ozaki
This colorfully illustrated multicultural children's book presents Japanese fairy tales and other folk stories--providing insight into a rich literary culture. The rich world of Japanese fantasy is very apparent in Japanese Fairy Tales, a compilation of twenty-two favorite stories from the land of the rising sun. A fantastic selection of ghouls, goblins and ogres, sea serpents and sea kings, kindly animals and magic birds, demons and dragons, princes and princesses hide within these pages. These...
A Room Where the Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard (Japanese Studies)
by Hideo Levy
Set against the political and social upheavals of the 1960s, A Room Where the Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard tells the story of Ben Isaac, a blond-haired, blue-eyed American youth living with his father at the American consulate in Yokohama. Chafing against his father's strict authority and the trappings of an America culture that has grown increasingly remote, Ben flees home to live with Ando, his Japanese friend. Refusing to speak English with Ben, Ando shows the young American the way t...
White Aster
by Karl 1865-1939 Florenz and Tetsujiro 1856-1944 Inoue
The Samurai Mind is a collection of five seminal Japanese texts that convey the essence of traditional samurai philosophy and ethics from very different, but complementary points of view. These texts range from the ferocious to the esoteric-with their common thread being the importance of mastering one's own mind as the key to overcoming opponents. They were written from the mid-18th to early 19th century, The authors were acknowledged master samurai warriors keen to address a broader audience...
Noh Plays of Japan (Tuttle Classics of Japanese Literature)
by Arthur Waley
Noh plays live on as a magnificent artistic heritage handed down from the high culture of medieval Japan. Among the major types of Japanese drama, the No, which is often called the classical theatre of Japan, has had perhaps the greatest attraction for the West. Introduced to Europe and America through the translations of Arthur Waley and Ezra Pound, it found an ardent admirer in William Butler Yeats, who described it as a form of drama 'distinguished, indirect, and symbolic' and created plays i...
A classic tale that will captivate lovers of Japan, history, and epic adventure alike. Japan's most celebrated tale of chivalry, loyalty and revenge-and the basis for a Hollywood feature film starring Keanu Reaves-47 Ronin is the epic tale of a heroic band of Samurai warriors who defy the Japanese Emperor to avenge the honor of their fallen master. The story begins in 1701 when the noble Lord Asano attacks an official at court. His punishment is swift and harsh-the Emperor orders Lord Asano...
Nagai Kafu is one of the greatest modern Japanese writers, but until now his classic collection, American Stories, based on his sojourn from Japan to Washington State, Michigan, and New York City in the early years of the twentieth century, has never been available in English. Here, with a detailed and insightful introduction, is an elegant translation of Kafu's perceptive and lyrical account. Like de Tocqueville a century before, Kafu casts a fresh, keen eye on vibrant and varied America-world...
