"In the United States, a bow is most often taken by a performer at the end of a concert or play. But in Japan, a bow is the traditional gesture to greet another person. This country close-up teaches upper-elementary students Japanese customs and much more about the Asian island nation."--

"With the longest healthy life spans in the world, Japanese people understand the art of living well. This beautiful book distills traditional Japanese philosophies intrinsic to wellbeing, providing easy-to-follow exercises to inspire those who want to live a happier, more balanced life. With sections on kokoro (heart and mind) and karada (body), plus a guide on how to form and nurture good habits, the book includes entries on ikigai (living with...

Whether you are traveling in luxury or with just a pack on your back, it's important that you have a safe, fun, and easy-going trip. Bad etiquette and a misunderstanding about customs can put an otherwise very exciting trip on hold faster than a bad case of food poisoning. Use this customs and etiquette book as not only your basic travel guides but be an ambassador making good impressions of the United States wherever you go. This guide will be invaluable...

"Born in Tokyo to a Japanese mother and an American father in 1997, Christine Mari Inzer spent her early years in Japan and relocated to the United States in 2003. The summer before she turned sixteen, she returned to Tokyo, making a solo journey to get reacquainted with her birthplace. Through illustrations, photos, and musings, Inzer documented her journey. In Diary of a Tokyo Teen, Inzer explores the cutting-edge fashions of Tokyo's trendy Harajuku...

This insightful book by a leading expert on the subject explores the ways in which luck-encouraging and misfortune-repelling rituals - long woven into the fabric of Japanese life--are used in tandem with diligence and a positive attitude to engender a healthy optimism that helps people survive all of life's many twists, turns and bad patches. It explores how customs and beliefs play a vital role in creating positive personal expectations - not only...

An Introduction to Japanese Society provides a highly readable introduction to Japanese society by internationally renowned scholar Yoshio Sugimoto. Taking a sociological approach, the text examines the multifaceted nature of contemporary Japanese society with chapters covering class, geographical and generational variation, work, education, gender, ethnicity, religion, popular culture, and the establishment. This edition begins with a new historical...

"A collection of manga short stories about aging and death. Anxiety and longing suffuse incisive portraits of post-war Japan."--

"Edward Seidensticker's A History of Tokyo 1867-1989 tells the fascinating story of Tokyo's transformation from the Shogun's capital in an isolated Japan to the largest and the most modern city in the world. With the same scholarship and sparkling style that won him admiration as the foremost translator of great works of Japanese literature, Seidensticker offers the reader his brilliant vision of an entire society suddenly wrenched from an ancient...

"Acclaimed for his visionary short-story collections The Push Man and Other Stories, Abandon the Old in Tokyo, and Good-Bye--originally created nearly forty years ago, but just as resonant now as ever--the legendary Japanese cartoonist Yoshihiro Tatsumi has come to be recognized in North America as a precursor of today's graphic novel movement. A Drifting Life is his monumental memoir eleven years in the making, beginning with his experiences as a...

"For the first time in English, the work of master Haruki Murakami is available in manga form. In this collection you'll find striking full-color adaptions of these iconic short stories: Super-frog saves Tokyo -- A few days after an earthquake, Katagirl-san finds a giant frog in his home. The forg promises to save Tokyo from the next earthquake, but Katagiri-san must help him. Is this real, or a dream? Where I'm likely to find it -- A woman's husband...