This is a userfriendly and concise Japanese phrase book and guide to Japanese slang and Japanese curses.The Japanese are extraordinarily polite and soft-spoken people who are always indirect and evasive in their dealings with each other. Right? Well, not really. They can be just as explicit, vicious, vile and downright vulgar as anyone else when they want to be. This little gem of a book teaches you hundreds and hundreds of Japanese taunts, threats, curses and exp...

Hari-Kiri is a definitive text on Japanese ritual suicide, also known as suppuku.To the average westerner, the word hara-kiri conjures up an image of excruciating, self-inflicted pain; of a deep, fatal incision. To the Japanese, this kind of suicide embodies the best qualities of courage, honor, and discipline.Through extensive research, author Jack Seward brings to the English-speaking public a dissertation on the subject that is...

In the absorbing, epic tradition of The Winds of War, author Jack Seward presents a new novel of war, passion, and divided family loyalties.The MacNeil family is torn apart by the horrors of war, which is consuming Asia as strife, intrigue, and romance inevitably follow. Like its predecessor, The MacNeils of Nagasaki, this lively novel is a storytelling gem from a prolific author, a perfect beach read for all lovers of family sagas, historical fic...

Strange but True Stories from Japan is a fascinating collection of vignettes, ranging from historical to the personal.Here you will be exposed to the goings-on of Americans serving time in Japanese prisons and the many who claimed the identity of Tokyo Rose. And learn about the bizarre habits of the eels that roam the Chikugo River.In this eclectic and, well, strange, book you'll relive-from a distance-Kamakura's hara-kiri bloodshed and discover th...

This comprehensive book helps you learn the 92 basic Kana characters and 2,136 standard Kanji characters.Complete, compact and authoritative—this Japanese language book provides all the information needed to learn kanji and kana, including the 92 basic hiragana and katakana phonetic symbols (known collectively as Japanese Kana) and the 2,136 standard Joyo Kanji characters that every Japanese person learns in school. This new and completely revised edition reflects ...

Samurai Tales is about the legendary men from the samurai class who fought for the helm of power in 19th century Japan. These are stories of courage, honor, fidelity, disgrace, fate, and destiny set in the bloody time of political change and social upheaval in the final years of the Shogun.The final years of the samurai were an age of unprecedented turmoil and bloodletting in Japan. They heralded the end of nearly three centuries of rule under the Tokugawa...

Yagyu Munenori was a great swordsman from the Nara Basin of Japan. During the great wars of the medieval era, his clan had first lost its castle, then its lands, until finally it was thrown upon the mercy of a local temple. Munenori was forced to become a ronin, a masterless samurai, destined to lead the life of a wanderer.The Period of Unification in which Munenori lived was one of the great turning points in Japan's medieval era. After more than two centuries of ...

Written in 1645, The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin no Sho) is a legendary Japanese treatise on strategy, combat, and discipline by master swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Divided into five sections—Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void—the book outlines Musashi's philosophy of martial arts and the mindset required for victory. Beyond swordsmanship, Musashi's teachings emphasize awareness, adaptability, mental clarity, and strategic thinking. His principles extend far beyond the battlefield, offering ...

Over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers-Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there-were shot down. Flyboys, a story of war and horror but also of friendship and honor, tells the story of those men.Over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers-Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there-were shot down. One of those nine was miraculously rescued by a ...

The true story of a Japanese American family that found itself on opposing sides during World War II—an epic tale of family, separation, divided loyalties, love, reconciliation, loss, and redemption."This deeply researched and elegantly written history is a rare human drama that spans the Japanese American experience as few, if any, books have done." — USA TodayAfter their father's death, Harry, Frank, and Pierce F...

For years, a young man joined covens to investigate and practice Wicca. He puzzled over two questions and wrote a book about his answers. That book encouraged people, for the first time ever, to learn and follow Wicca on their own, changing Wicca into the fastest growing faith on the planet. That book was Wicca, A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. That man was Scott Cunningham.Who was he? What drove him as a writer and in his personal and spiritual life? Donald Michael ...

A foremost scholar of samurai texts approaches this martial arts classic as a meditation on the Zen concept of “death of the ego”—offering a fresh translation unlike any other.Discover what it takes to be a samurai with the 18th-century martial arts treatise that delves into minds of legendary Japanese warriors.Living and dying with bravery and honor is at the heart of Hagakure, a series of texts written by an eighteenth-century sa...