The Brothers: The Hidden World of Japan's Richest Family by Lesley Downer \n\nThe epic, untold story of the men behind Japan's greatest business dynasty, and their rise from obscurity to extreme wealth and power, The Brothers recounts the public and private lives of the Tsutsumi family, who are to Japan what the Rockefellers or the Gettys are to the West. \n\nEditorial Reviews\n\nThe Sultan of Brunei and the Queen of England are said to be the only people in the world richer than Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, whose assets are variously estimated to be between $9 billion and $22 billion. Although largely unknown in the West, his family has played an important role in the development of post-WWII Japan. His father, founder of the Seibu corporation and a land developer, became speaker of the Diet and a dominant figure in business and government. Yoshiaki, who inherited the major portion of his father's estate, owns a sixth of all the land in Japan, and he too has been a powerful player in Japanese politics. His brother, Seiko, an accomplished writer, was less favored, inheriting a relatively small portion of the Tsutsumi estate; but he also built a business empire. In detailing the family's private and public lives, business dealings, brushes with the Mafia, mistresses, wives and political maneuvers, British journalist Downer (On the Narrow Road to the Deep North), with privileged access to the family, offers important and fresh insights into the last 50 years of Japanese history as it was touched by the Tsutsumi dynasty. In themselves, the family's personal relationships and scandals are the stuff of classic drama. (July) - Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\n\nA British journalist traces the rise of the Tsutsumi brothers, bitter rivals who together own one-sixth of Japan. - Library Journal

THE BROTHERS

DOWNER, Lesley

RANDOM HOUSE UK

The Last Concubine

Growing up deep in the mountains of rural Japan in 1861, Sachi has always felt different. Her life is turned upside down at 11 when she is taken to the women’s palace in the great city of Edo. There she is chosen to be the young shogun’s concubine. Set in one of the most tumultuous eras in Japanese history, The Last Concubine is an epic evocation of a country in revolution, and of a young woman’s quest to find out who she really is.

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Penguin Canada

British, Japanophile writer (she lived there for several years, returned home to work for a Japanese company, and subsequently came up with this book project) follows in the footsteps of the legendary writer Basho.

ON THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH

Travel

Asia

JONATHAN CAPE.

Japanese vegetarian cookery

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Regional & International

J. Cape

In 1689 Matsuo Basho, a Japanese poet, set out on his last and longest journey, to the remote northern provinces. His account, rich in strange, surreal and comic encounters along the road, is a famous work in Japanese literature. Three hundred years later, inspired by Basho's writing and her writing for Japan, Lesley Downer set off in his footsteps. Walking and hitchhiking hermit priests, meeting people who had never seen a Westerner and dining on flowers and sauteed grasshoppers, she discovered a world which most Japanese believe vanished centuries ago.

On the Narrow Road to the Deep North: Journey into a Lost Japan

Hodder & Stoughton General Division

FINE AS NEW CLEAN AND TIGHT - SOFT COVER. SHIPS FROM WA- USPS. EXPEDITED SHIPPING AVAILABLE. Pantheon Books. Four years' residence in rural Japan gave Downer a good knowledge of that basically vegetarian cuisine. She offers three major sections of recipes: vegetables, with chapters for broccoli, chestnuts, etc.; eggs and beans, especially soybeans; and grains. She includes recipes from all parts of Japan, and from temple to farmhouse, and relates a much folklore. Given the breadth of her topic, she's done a good basic job. Most of the preparations are not intricate, expensive, or time-consuming. Some compel a new look at a familiar vegetable. Cookery, Japanese; Cooking; Japan; Non-Fiction; Vegetarian; Vegetarian cookery

JAPANESE VEGERTARIAN COOKERY

Pantheon

Describes Japan's geography, climate, and cuisine, looks at family meals, restaurants, feasts, and the tea ceremony, and includes recipes for traditional Japanese dishes

Japanese Food and Drink

Children's Books

Franklin Watts

Sachi finds her life changed forever when she becomes the Shogun prince&amp;acute,s favourite concubine. Epic history and romance combine in a sweeping novel featuring the beautiful mistress of the last Shogun EmperorSachi ve cómo su vida cambia para siempre cuando se convierte en la concubina favorita del príncipe del Shogunad

The Last Concubine. Lesley Downer

United States

Corgi Books

In the brave new Japan of the 1870s, Taka and Nobu meet as children and fall in love; but their relationship will test the limits of society. Unified after a bitter civil war, Japan is rapidly turning into a modern country with rickshaws, railways and schools for girls. Commoners can marry their children into any class, and the old hatred between north and south is over - or so it seems. Taka is from the powerful southern Satsuma clan which now dominates the country, and her father, General Kitaoka, is a leader of the new government. Nobu, however, is from the northern Aizu clan, massacred by the Satsuma in the civil war. Defeated and reduced to poverty, his family has sworn revenge on the Satsuma. Taka and Nobu's love is unacceptable to both their families and must be kept secret, but what they cannot foresee is how quickly the tables will turn. Many southern samurai become disillusioned with the new regime, which has deprived them of their swords, status and honour. Taka's father abruptly leaves Tokyo and returns to the southern island of Kyushu, where trouble is brewing. When he and his clansmen rise in rebellion, the government sends its newly-created army to put them down. Nobu and his brothers have joined this army, and his brothers now see their chance of revenge on the Satsuma. But Nobu will have to fight and maybe kill Taka's father and brother, while Taka now has to make a terrible choice - between her family and the man she loves ...

The Samurai's Daughter: The Shogun Quartet, Book 4

Contemporary

Corgi

The year is 1853, and a young Japanese girl’s world is about to be turned upside down. When black ships carrying barbarians arrive on the shores of Japan, the Satsuma clan’s way of life is threatened. But it’s not just the samurai who must come together to fight: the beautiful, headstrong Okatsu is also given a new destiny by her feudal lord – to save the realm. Armed only with a new name, Princess Atsu, as she is now known, journeys to the women’s palace of Edo Castle, a place so secret it cannot be marked on any map. Behind the palace’s immaculate façade, amid rumours of murder and whispers of ghosts, Atsu must uncover the secret of the man whose fate, it seems, is irrevocably linked to hers – the shogun himself – if she is to rescue her people . . .

The Shogun's Queen: The Shogun Quartet, Book 1

Literary

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by DOWNER, Lesley. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by DOWNER, Lesley