When Pico Iyer decided to go to Kyoto and live in a monastery, he did so to learn about Zen Buddhism from the inside, to get to know Kyoto, one of the loveliest old cities in the world, and to find out something about Japanese culture today — not the world of businessmen and production lines, but the traditional world of changing seasons and the silence of temples, of the images woven through literature, of the lunar Japan that still lives on behind...

Megan explores Buddhist temples, world heritage sites, and bargains at the city's best flea market. She then learns the art of Zen meditation and visits the Gion distract, home to many of Kyoto's few hundred remaining Geisha. She then travels to bustling Osaka, and Iga-Ueno then continuing by train through the Japanese Alps and by ferry to the remote Sado Island. Finally, in Himeji, she witnesses a dramatic fighting festival.

After thirty-two years in Japan, Pico Iyer can use everything from anime to Oscar Wilde to show how his adopted home is both hauntingly familiar and the strangest place on earth. "Arguably the world's greatest living travel writer" (Outside). He draws on readings, reflections, and conversations with Japanese friends to illuminate an unknown place for newcomers, and to give longtime residents a look at their home through fresh eyes. A Beginner's Guide...

Japan: The gorgeous Path of Flowers in Japan takes you past over 250 varieties of cherry trees, and provides a rich tapestry that shows why Japan is often considered the ultimate meeting of tradition and modernity. Vietnam: Discover modern Vietnam while staying in Ho Chi Minh City. Explore this mysterious country from the Mekong Delta to Halong Bay. Nepal: A 1000 mile trek from Darjeeling in India to Kathmandu in Nepal. Explore the Himalayan environment...

"Award-winning poet David Mura's critically acclaimed memoir chronicles how a year in Japan transformed his sense of self and pulled into sharp focus his complicated inheritance. Mura is a sansei, a third-generation Japanese-American who grew up on baseball and hot dogs in a Chicago suburb, where he heard more Yiddish than Japanese."--Back Cover.

"Haunting color photographs and evocative essays document a decade-long collaboration between performance artist Eiko Otake and photographer and historian William Johnston, who have visited the surreal, irradiated landscapes of post-nuclear meltdown Fukushima, Japan"--