Search results for ""Stone Bridge Press""

"An indispensable guide to Japanese cinema and culture." --Library Journal "Viewed any which way, Japan through the eyes of Donald Richie is an interesting and rewarding place to read about. This is...yet another reminder that he is a master of the short essay and a thought-provoking guide to his subject." --Jeff Kingston, The Japan Times This definitive new collection of essays by the writer Time calls "the dean of arts critics in Japan" ranges from Kyogen drama to the sex shows of Shinjuku, from film and Buddhism to Butoh and retro rock 'n' roll, from wasei eigo (Japanese/English) to mizushobai, the fine art of pleasing. Spanning some fifty years, these thirty-seven essays--most never anthologized before--offer cross-sections of Japan's enormous cultural power. They reflect the unique perspective of a man attempting to understand his adopted home. The writings of Donald Richie--film critic, reviewer, novelist, and essayist--have influenced generations of Japan observers around the world.

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This highly entertaining business memoir describes what it was like to work for Japan’s premiere animation studio, Studio Ghibli, and its reigning genius Hayao Miyazaki. Steve Alpert, a Japanese-speaking American, was the “resident foreigner” in the offices of Ghibli and its parent Tokuma Shoten and played a central role when Miyazaki’s films were starting to take off in international markets. Alpert describes hauling heavy film canisters of Princess Mononoke to Russia and California, experiencing a screaming Harvey Weinstein, dealing with Disney marketers, and then triumphantly attending glittering galas celebrating the Oscar-winning Spirited Away. His one-of-a-kind portraits of Miyazaki and long-time producer Toshio Suzuki, and of sly, gruff, and brilliant businessman Yasuyoshi Tokuma, capture the hard work and artistry that have made Ghibli films synonymous with cinematic excellence. And as the lone gaijin in a demanding company run by some of the most famous and influential people in modern Japan, Steve Alpert tackles his own challenges of language and culture. No one else could have written this book.

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Xu Xu 徐訏 (1908-1980) was one of the most widely read Chinese authors of the 1930s to 1960s. His popular urban gothic tales, his exotic spy fiction, and his quasi-existentialist love stories full of nostalgia and melancholy offer today’s readers an unusual glimpse into China’s turbulent twentieth century. These translations--spanning a period of some thirty years, from 1937 until 1965--bring to life some of Xu Xu’s most representative short fictions from prewar Shanghai and postwar Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Afterword illustrates that Xu Xu’s idealistic tendencies in defiance of the politicization of art exemplify his affinity with European romanticism and link his work to a global literary modernity.

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How the mindset of traditional Japanese society can guide our own efforts to lead a green lifestyle today.If we want to live sustainably, how should we feel about nature? About waste? About our forests and rivers? About food? Just Enough is a book of stories and sketches that give valuable insight into what it is like to live in a sustainable society by describing life in Japan some two hundred years ago, during the late Edo period, when cities and villages faced many of the same environmental challenges we do today and met them beautifully and inventively.

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"A light-hearted approach to the problem of beached whales, Humphrey's story allows librarians to give a happy 'yes' to that often-asked question, 'Is this a true story?'"--School Library Journal "What happens to Humphrey makes a fascinating and delightful story for young and old alike."--KIdsGrowth.com Humpback whales are magnificent creatures that sing beautiful songs to each other underwater. In the whole world there are very few of them, so each one is quite special. And they are intelligent. Every winter they travel south, every summer they head north, and they always know the way. But even whales can make mistakes ...In October 1985 a forty-five-foot long, forty-ton humpback whale wandered into San Francisco Bay and for twenty-six days struggled mightily to find his way back to the ocean. This true, illustrated story of Humphrey's adventure has been a children's favorite for more than twenty-five years. The 2014 edition has updated news on whales but retains the beloved art and text for big-ocean-mammal lovers everywhere. Adopted for Reading Rainbow. Wendy Tokuda is a well-known Bay Area media personality with numerous broadcasting awards. Richard Hall is an award-winning TV and film producer in Los Angeles, California. Hanako Wakiyama lives in southern California and is a widely published author and illustrator of children's books.

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No one has written more, or more artfully, about Japan and Japanese culture than Donald Richie. Richie moved to Tokyo just after World War II. And he is still there, still writing. This book is the first compilation of the best of Richie's writings on Japan, with excerpts from his critical work on film (Richie helped introduce Japanese film to the West in the late 1950s) and his unpublished private journal, plus fiction, Zen musings, and masterful essays on culture, travel, people, and style. With a critical introduction and full bibliography. Donald Richie's many books include The Films of Akira Kurosawa, The Japanese Tattoo, and the PBS favorite The Inland Sea. Vienna resident Arturo Silva lived in Japan for 18 years. "To read [The Donald Richie Reader and The Japan Journals] is like diving for pearls. Dip into any part of them and you will surely find treasures about the cinema, literature, traveling, writing. The passages are evocative, erotic, playful, and often profound." - Japanese Language and Literature

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From his vantage point as a garden designer and writer based in Kyoto, Marc Peter Keane examines the world around him and delivers astonishing insights through an array of narratives. How the names of gardens reveal their essential meaning. A new definition of what art is. What trees are really made of. The true meaning of the enigmatic torii gate found at Shinto shrines. Why we give flowers as gifts. The essential, underlying unity of the world.

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This book is the first of its kind, a deep-dive into a single sake-producing region to highlight its delicious brews as well as the people, land, and culture behind them. Brewing in Yamaguchi — in southern Honshu, Japan — reflects the whole history of sake in Japan, from boom to bust to resurgence, and many of its brands, including the fabled Dassai, are now at izakaya and fine restaurants around the world. Expert Jim Rion takes us on a tour of all 23 Yamaguchi breweries to introduce the character of each and its brewmasters’ best picks. Along the way he provides background on such topics as rice farmers, drinkware, brewing methods, and the controversy over sake “terroir” (does it exist?). An added bonus for travelers is a mini sightseeing guide to the region and its many delights. Illustrated with photographs and quick-reference sake labels.

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The word sensei in Japanese literally means “one who came before,” but that’s not what Janet Pocorobba’s teacher wanted to be called. She used her first name, Western-style. She wore a velour Beatles cap and leather jacket, and she taught foreigners, in English, the three-stringed shamisen, an instrument that fell out of tune as soon as you started to play it. Vexed by the music and Sensei’s mission to upend an elite musical system, Pocorobba, on the cusp of thirty, gives up her return ticket home to become a lifelong student of her teacher. She is eventually featured in Japan Cosmo as one of the most accomplished gaijin, “outside people,” to play the instrument. Part memoir, part biography of her Sensei, The Fourth String looks back on the initial few years of that apprenticeship, one that Janet’s own female English students advised her was “wife training,” steeped in obedience, loyalty, and duty. Even with her maverick teacher, Janet is challenged by group hierarchies, obscure traditions, and the tricky spaces of silence in Japanese life. Anmoku ryokai, Sensei says to explain: “We have to understand without saying.” By the time Janet finds out this life might not be for her, she is more at home in the music than the Japanese will allow. For anyone who has had a special teacher, or has lost themselves in another world, Janet Pocorobba asks questions about culture, learning, tradition, and self. As Gish Jen has said of The Fourth String, “What does it mean to be taught? To be transformed?”

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In Kanazawa, the first literary novel in English to be set in this storied Japanese city, Emmitt’s future plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of negotiations to purchase their dream home. Disappointed, he’s surprised to discover Mirai’s subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo, a city he dislikes. Harmony is further disrupted when Emmitt’s search for a more meaningful life in Japan leads him to quit an unsatisfying job at a local university. In the fallout, he finds himself helping his mother-in-law translate Kanazawa’s most famous author, Izumi Kyoka, into English. While continually resisting Mirai’s efforts to move to Tokyo, Emmitt becomes drawn into the mysterious death thirty years prior of a mutual friend of Mirai’s parents. It is only when he and his father-in-law climb the mountain where the man died that he learns the somber truth, and in turn discovers what the future holds for him and his wife.Packed with subtle literary allusion and closely observed nuance, with an intimacy of emotion inexorably tied both to the cityscape and Japan’s mountainous terrain, Kanazawa reflects the mood of Japanese fiction in a fresh, modern incarnation.

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MONKEY New Writing from Japan is an annual anthology that showcases the best of contemporary Japanese literature. Volume 2 celebrates TRAVEL -- we may not be able to travel much during this second year of the pandemic, but we can travel in our imaginations. MONKEY offers short fiction and poetry by writers such as Mieko Kawakami, Haruki Murakami, Hideo Furukawa, Hiromi Kawakami, Aoko Matsuda, and Kyohei Sakaguchi; new translations of modern classics; a graphic narrative by Satoshi Kitamura; and contributions from American writers such as Brian Evenson and Laird Hunt.

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Here is a concise guide to supplement any course of study and help with homework, travel, and test preparation. Topics include word order, time, nouns, verbs, adjectives, word choices with verbs and adverbs, and letter writing. The simple format has one goal: quick mastery and growing confidence. Qin Xue Herzberg, a graduate of Beijing Normal University, has taught Chinese for decades and has been an upper-level Chinese professor at Calvin College for ten years. Larry Herzberg did his PhD work in Chinese and founded the Chinese language programs at Albion College and Calvin College. Qin and Larry live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are co-authors of the popular China Survival Guide as well as the recently released Chinese Proverbs and Popular Sayings.

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Thirteen stories are linked by the daily life of a husband and wife and their three children

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Since its first publication in 1992, this book has become a curious classic, taking a simple (yet often incorrectly performed) activity and depicting it with a graphic, manga-style edge. In twelve drawings a young Japanese man is shown preparing, rinsing, soaking, communing, relaxing, contemplating—all an encouragement to readers to slow down, ease into the hot water, and enjoy this timeless ritual of purity and release.

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For fans of Japanese literature (Haruki Murakami and more) and readers who want to be introduced to exciting new writers. MONKEY New Writing from Japan is an annual anthology that showcases the best of contemporary Japanese literature. Volume 4 celebrates MUSIC, as we welcome the post-pandemic flourishing of artistic expression. MONKEY offers short fiction and poetry by writers such as Hideo Furukawa, Mieko Kawakami, Haruki Murakami, Hiromi Kawakami, Aoko Matsuda, and Hiroko Oyamada; graphic stories by Satoshi Kitamura; new translations of modern classics; and contributions from American authors Stuart Dybek, Kevin Brockmeier, and more.

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For readers who want to be introduced to exciting contemporary Japanese writers, especially women (Mieko Kawakami, Aoko Matsuda, and more).MONKEY New Writing from Japan is an annual anthology that showcases the best of contemporary Japanese literature. Volume 3 celebrates CROSSINGS: Transitioning Out of the Pandemic, we are inspired by stories of transformation and the joyful play between Japanese and Western literatures. MONKEY offers short fiction and poetry by writers such as Mieko Kawakami, Haruki Murakami, Hiromi Kawakami, and Aoko Matsuda; a graphic narrative by Satoshi Kitamura; and contributions from Stuart Dybek and Matthew Sharpe.

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A powerful graphic novel /manga that tells the story of "Minamata disease," a debilitating and sometimes fatal condition caused by the Chisso chemical factory's careless release of methylmercury into the waters of the coastal community of Minamata in southern Japan. First identified in 1956, it became a hot topic in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, growing into an iconic struggle between people versus corporations and government agencies. This struggle is relevant today, not simply because many people are still living with the disease but also because, in this time of growing concern over the safety of our environment--viz. Flint, Michigan--Minamata gives us as a very moving example of such human-caused environmental disasters and what we can do about them.

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A complete handbook for learning to read and write Japanese katakana, the syllabary that is the second of Japan's three writing systems introduced to all beginning students. Using real-world examples, illustrations, quizzes, and practice squares, this book teaches correct stroke order as well as examples of how katakana are used for words borrowed from other languages, for emphasis, and in advertising for its “cool” factor.

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In February 2004, when her American husband, a recently ordained Zen monk, leaves home to train for a year at a centuries-old Buddhist monastery, Tracy Franz embarks on her own year of Zen. An Alaskan alone—and lonely—in Japan, she begins to pay attention.My Year of Dirt and Water is a record of that journey. Allowed only occasional and formal visits to see her cloistered husband, Tracy teaches English, studies Japanese, and devotes herself to making pottery. Her teacher instructs her to turn cup after cup—creating one failure after another. Past and present, East and West intertwine as Tracy is twice compelled to return home to Alaska to confront her mother’s newly diagnosed cancer and the ghosts of a devastating childhood. Revolving through the days, My Year of Dirt and Water circles hard questions: What is love? What is art? What is practice? What do we do with the burden of suffering? The answers are formed and then unformed—a ceramic bowl born on the wheel and then returned again and again to dirt and water.

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A complete handbook for learning to read and write Japanese hiragana, the syllabary that is the first of Japan's three writing systems introduced to all beginning students. Using real-world examples, illustrations, quizzes, and practice squares, this book teaches correct stroke order as well as examples of how hiragana are used for question words, adverbs, special words, and pronunciation of difficult characters.

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Oh, Tama! describes the haphazard lives of Natsuyuki Kanemitsu and his loosely connected circle of dysfunctional acquaintances and family. Natsuyuki is prevailed upon by his friend Alexandre, an occasional porn-film actor, to adopt the very pregnant cat Tama, who gives birth and remains throughout the novel as a silent observer of her human hosts. Further complications arise surrounding the mystery of who the father of Alexandre's sister Tsuneko's unborn child is, with Tsuneko (a bar owner) happy to collect money from anyone who may be responsible. One of these possible dads turns out to be Natsuyuki's half-brother, abandoned and forgotten long ago as easily as Tama has parted with her kittens. A "fast and comedic novel," Oh, Tama! plays out against a backdrop of cramped apartments and cheap food and drink where everyone seems to have an opinion on film, photography, and fashionable French art theory. It is part of the author's esteemed series of "Mejiro" novels, named after the northwest area of Tokyo that so richly informs their urbanity and outlook.

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Tabemasho! Let's Eat! is a tasty look at how Japanese food has evolved in America from an exotic and mysterious--even "gross"--cuisine to the peak of culinary popularity, with sushi sold in supermarkets across the country and ramen available in hipster restaurants everywhere. The author was born in Japan and raised in the U.S. and has eaten his way through this amazing food revolution.

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"From the Sabbath to circumcision, from Hanukkah to the Holocaust, from bar mitzvah to bagel, how do Jewish religion, history, holidays, lifestyles, and culture make Jews different, and why is that difference so distinctive that we carry it from birth to the grave?" This accessible introduction to Judaism and Jewish life is especially for Christian readers interested in the deep connections and distinct differences between their faith and Judaism, but it is also for Jews looking for ways to understand their religion--and explain it to others. First released in 2002 and now in an updated edition.

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The Heart Sutra is the most widely read, chanted, and copied text in East Asian Buddhism. Here Frederik L. Schodt explores his lifelong fascination with the sutra: its mesmerizing mantra, its ancient history, the “emptiness theory, and the way it is used around the world as a metaphysical tool to overcome chaos and confusion and reach a new understanding of reality--a perfection of wisdom. Schodt's journey takes him to caves in China, American beats declaiming poetry, speculations into the sutra's true origins, and even a robot Avalokiteśvara at a Kyoto temple.

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Xu Xu 徐訏 (1908-1980) was one of the most widely read Chinese authors of the 1930s to 1960s. His popular urban gothic tales, his exotic spy fiction, and his quasi-existentialist love stories full of nostalgia and melancholy offer today’s readers an unusual glimpse into China’s turbulent twentieth century. These translations--spanning a period of some thirty years, from 1937 until 1965--bring to life some of Xu Xu’s most representative short fictions from prewar Shanghai and postwar Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Afterword illustrates that Xu Xu’s idealistic tendencies in defiance of the politicization of art exemplify his affinity with European romanticism and link his work to a global literary modernity.

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Tokyo Stroll is the best guidebook for travelers who want to wander the streets and discover the city as it unfolds before their eyes. There is no "start at point A and go to point B" prescribed route. Instead you are invited to wander as whimsy takes you. This guide includes: Over 600 locations to satisfy any interest including historical sites, art museums, upscale ryotei dining, traditional craft shops, shrines and temples, and remarkable architecture both traditional and stunningly modern 22 neighborhoods of Tokyo to experience, from the bright, bustling Shibuya to the serene shrines and temples of lesser-known Yanesen 150 maps to help you navigate, download the map markers for locations in Tokyo Stroll to your phone or tablet for easy access 75 full-page photos Practical advice on preparing your trip, with information on the best times of year to go, as well as how to use public transport and change money when you get there A primer on useful phrases and etiquette so you’re never left wondering Day trips to get you out of the city with advice on transportation A focus on history and businesses that have stood the test of time, often over 100 years A glossary of Japanese terms and an index

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A remarkable and true tale of loyalty, vengeance, and ritual suicide. . . . In the spring of 1701, the regional lord Asano Naganori wounded his supervising official, Kira Yoshinaka, during an important ceremony in the ruling shogunate's Edo Castle and was at once condemned to death. Within two years, in the dead of winter, a band of forty-seven of Asano's retainers avenged him by breaking into Yoshinaka’s mansion and killing him. Subsequently, all the men were sentenced to death but allowed to perform it honorably by seppuku. This incident—often called the Ako Incident—became a symbol of samurai honor andat once prompted stage dramatization in kabuki and puppet theater. It has since has been told and retold in short and long stories, movies, TV dramas. The story has also attracted the attention of foreign writers and translators. The most recent retelling was the 2013 Hollywood film 47 Ronin, with Keanu Reeves, though it was wildly and willfully distorted. What did actually happen and how has this famous vendetta resonated through history? Hiroaki Sato's examination is a close, comprehensive look at the Ako Incident through the context of its times, portraits of the main protagonists, and its literary legacy in the haiku ofthe avengers. Also included is Sato's new translation of Akutagawa Ryunosuke's short story about leader Oishi Kuranosuke as he awaited sentencing.

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How is China organized politically? What are the issues that young people face in today's China? What is China doing about its problem with pollution? Is the Chinese internet like our internet? What's China's role in the world today? And how much do you know about China's great woman emperor or the Chinese explorer whose voyages may have inspired the legend of Sinbad the Sailor? What are the major Chinese holidays, their superstitions regarding numbers, and the true nature of the Chinese written language? In nearly 60 brief essays, long-time China expert Larry Herzberg tackles important facts and myths about China, its history, people, and culture, as well as its contemporary society. Anyone dipping into this book will emerge that much smarter about China, whether visiting, conducting business, studying the language, or simply being fascinated by one of the world's greatest and most influential civilizations.

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These devotions inspired by ancient Shinto rituals are a series of calls-and-response that directly address the awesome power of the natural world to heal and restore the soul. Readers are invited to stand before rivers, stones, and trees, to listen to thunder, and to be touched by the wind and rain in order to cultivate a spirit of reverence for Nature and awaken the cosmic content within the human. Included are steps for conducting misogi (waterfall purification) and resources for learning more about Shinto practice in North America. Stuart Picken, an ordained minister, has taught religion in Japan since 1972 and is international adviser to the High Priest of Tsubaki Grand Shrine. He is author of Essentials of Shinto.

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This highly entertaining business memoir describes what it was like to work for Japan’s premiere animation studio, Studio Ghibli, and its reigning genius Hayao Miyazaki. Steve Alpert, a Japanese-speaking American, was the “resident foreigner” in the offices of Ghibli and its parent Tokuma Shoten and played a central role when Miyazaki’s films were starting to take off in international markets. Alpert describes hauling heavy film canisters of Princess Mononoke to Russia and California, experiencing a screaming Harvey Weinstein, dealing with Disney marketers, and then triumphantly attending glittering galas celebrating the Oscar-winning Spirited Away. His one-of-a-kind portraits of Miyazaki and long-time producer Toshio Suzuki, and of sly, gruff, and brilliant businessman Yasuyoshi Tokuma, capture the hard work and artistry that have made Ghibli films synonymous with cinematic excellence. And as the lone gaijin in a demanding company run by some of the most famous and influential people in modern Japan, Steve Alpert tackles his own challenges of language and culture. No one else could have written this book.

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MONKEY New Writing from Japan showcases the best of contemporary Japanese literature. This first issue celebrates food and was published during the first year of the pandemic. It includes short fiction and poetry by writers such as Mieko Kawakami, Haruki Murakami, Hideo Furukawa, Hiromi Kawakami, Aoko Matsuda, and Kyohei Sakaguchi; new translations of modern classics; graphic narratives by Satoshi Kitamura and Jon Klassen; and contributions from American writers such as Steven Millhauser and Barry Yourgrau.

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