JAPAN

Ferris Wheel

chengtsu — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:07:03 +0000

Winner of the 2007 Japan-US Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, Ferris Wheel delivers the world of modern Japanese tanka to Western readers. Astonishingly complex imagery and emotions condensed into 31 syllables are the hallmarks of these evocative vignettes. Tanka have been an essential part of Japan's literary aesthetic for more than 1,300 years, and Ferris Wheel shows how modern masters have renewed tanka as a dynamic expression of the evolving way the Japanese see themselves, each other, and the world.

In this collection, Kozue Uzawa and Amelia Fielden translate 101 poems, many appearing for the first time in English, that combine classical form and an unmistakably modern sensibility. Each poem is presented in three forms on the same page: in English translation, in romanized transliteration, and in the original Japanese. This format makes Ferris Wheel as relevant to translators and students of Japanese as it is welcoming to everyone interested in Japanese poetry.

Professor, poet, and translator Kozue Uzawa has written an informative preface about tanka's history, structure, translation, and composition in English, and Ferris Wheel is rounded out with an appendix of short biographical notes about each poet. Accessible and rewarding, Ferris Wheel will be a delight to both newcomers and connoisseurs of poetry, who will want to visit it again and again.

The 2006 Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 3 & 4 Questions and Correct Answers w/2CDs

Eve — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:40:15 +0000

If you are preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency test, this combined text of the 2006 exam for levels 3 and 4 can help you practice. The answers to the exam as well as a CD for listening comprehension are included as well as exam guidelines, statistics and the scripts of the listening comprehension section.

The Imjin War

chengtsu — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:07:03 +0000

In May of 1592, nearly three hundred and fifty years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent a 158,800-man army aboard a thousand ships from Kyushu to Pusan on Korea's southern tip. Its objective: to conquer Korea, then China and then the whole of Asia. The Imjin War is the most comprehensive account ever published in English on this important event, so little known in the West. It begins with the political and cultural background of Korea, Japan, and China, discusses the diplomatic breakdown that led to the war, describes every major incident and battle from 1592 to 1598, and introduces a fascinating cast of characters along the way: Hideyoshi himself, Korea's admiral Yi Sun-sin, Chinese commander Zhao Chengxun, and kisaeng Chu Non-gae.

The 2006 Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 1 & 2 Questions and Correct Answers w/2CDs

Eve — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:32:31 +0000

If you are preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, this combined text of the 2006 exam for levels 1 and 2 can help you practice. The answers to the exam as well as a CD for listening comprehension are included as well as exam guidelines, statistics and the scripts of the listening comprehension section.

Encyclopedia of Asian Civilizations: Ten Volume Set

chengtsu — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:07:03 +0000

This comprehensive encyclopedia gives in a single work information only available by consulting several thousand other works. Countries and subjects covered by this encyclopedia are broad and include Afghanistan, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and some CIS territories, art, religion, music, linguistics, history, literature, and science. 10 volumes are contained in 9 physical books; Volume 6 is a double volume. Supplementary Volume 11 lists over 5,000 works concerning all the subjects covered in the body of the 10 volume set. In English. P. EJ-MP, 1977-1987; 6 x 9.

Japan: Past And Present Series/Buddha In The Land Of The Kami (7th-12th Centuries) DVD

Ginevra — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:40:37 +0000

The history of Japan past and present is the story of the kami, the supernatural spirits who created the Japanese islands at the beginning of time and remain today the ones responsible for health and luck, for success in childbirth and business, for the proper functioning of silicon chips and the uniqueness and unity of the Japanese. This program begins with the Shinto creation myth and explains the origin and scope of the kami concept; explores the arrival of Buddhism and how Buddhism was combined with the Shinto tradition; discusses the role of Chinese culture, style, and writing in Japanese culture; and demonstrates how the Japanese garden epitomizes the Japanese view of the relationship between humans and nature.

Japan: Past and Present Series/Essence Of Being Japanese (20th Century)

Ginevra — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:52:43 +0000

Japan in the modern age is a nation existing between the protection of the kami, the geological dangers of earthquake, and a vital role in the world economy. This film covers the cataclysmic events of the 20th century—the devastating earthquake of 1923, the rise of militarism, the accession of Emperor Hirohito, the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and the Pacific War, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the American occupation of Japan—but its primary focus is on what makes Japan Japanese: the Shinto rituals that are part of modern mercantile life; such societal traits as conformism and determination; attitudes toward violence and brutality; business ethics and the life of the salaryman; and the role of spirituality in modern Japan.