The People and Culture of Japan (JAPAN LIBRARY)

Donald Keene

Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture (JPIC)

In this delightfully engaging look at Japan's traditional dance-drama, Matsui Kesako approaches kabuki in the same way a paleontologist might examine geological layers, with each play revealing a fascinating story about the time and place in which it was created and performed. Starting with Danjūrō I's Shibaraku, which dates to the late seventeenth century, Matsui artfully traces the origins and evolution of many of kabuki's defining characteristics while linking them to larger patterns of cultural development in Japanese society. As a novelist and former writer for the kabuki stage herself, she offers a unique perspective on 10 of the most famous and beloved plays in the traditional repertory, ending her survey with Mokuami's Sannin Kichisa, which premiered in 1860-just prior to the start of Japan's modernization. Her keen insights, encyclopedic knowledge, and easy writing style bring this centuries-old theatrical tradition to life, rendering it readily accessible to those who may have no prior knowledge of the subject. Originally intended for Japanese readers, this groundbreaking work is now available in English, offering the international community glimpses into why kabuki can truly be called a "mirror of Japan."

Kabuki A Mirror of Japan (JAPAN LIBRARY)

M. Kesako

Why did Showa Japan rush to war? Where did Japan fail? This compilation of the most up-to-date studies by 15 leading Japanese historians tries to find answers to these questions. Each chapter contains a list of selected reference books with brief annotations for the benefit of readers who wish to study more about the subject. The fifteen chapters offer nuanced understanding of prewar Showa history that challenges stylized discourse about Showa Japan prevalent in recent historiography.

Fifteen Lectures on Showa Japan (JAPAN LIBRARY)

T (ed) Kiyotada

This book covers the history of physics, chemistry, and pharmacology in modern Japan, focusing on the 1920s through the early 1960s. Led by the editor's introduction, "A Portrait of the History of Scientific Thought," readers will soon find themselves in the middle of a complex double narrative comprising both `the telling of history' and `the telling of the history of history.' In the end, readers will come to understand an intricate historical aspect, made possible through such a grand and meta-appreciation.

Essays on the History of Scientific Thought in Modern Japan

Literature & Fiction

O (ed) Kanamori

Essays & Correspondence

It is said that Japan is currently experiencing its third opening to the outside world. However, in terms of importance, rather than the so-called second opening-which refers to the reforms following World War II-the more significant opening was that of the Meiji Restoration, initiated and carried out by the Japanese themselves. Consequently, as Japan today finds itself feeling trapped with a sense of despair, it is to the Meiji era that we should turn, and more than to anyone else, the person we should turn to is Fukuzawa Yukichi.

Self-Respect and Independence of Mind: The Challenge of Fukuzawa Yukichi (JAPAN LIBRARY)

Shinnichi Kitaoka

In 1947, Japan eternally renounced war and the possession of armed forces with its constitution. How, then, did the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) survive, moreover, evolve over the ensuing 70 years into the prominent presence it is today? Sado Akihiro reviews the JSDF's history chiefly from the viewpoint of restrictions imposed on it by civil officials of the national bureaucracy, based on lessons gleaned from the arbitrary conduct of the military in pre-World War II days. He also explores the financial constraints placed on the JSDF in the form of a percentage of the GNP. This book traces the inside story of U.S.-Japan relations and Japan's defense policy. It attempts to shine a light on the true state of the JSDF in the midst of new challenges that put it at a crossroads, including post-9/11 international terrorism, North Korean nuclear development, and China's increased military presence in Asia.

The Self-Defense Forces and Postwar Politics in Japan (JAPAN LIBRARY)

Politics & Social Sciences

Akihiro Sada

Politics & Government

・Sixteen incisive essays by Soetsu Yanagi, founder of the Japanese folk craft movement and author of The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty. ・Sixty-four full-color pages devoted to textiles, ceramics, wood and lacquer, metal, sculpture, and pictorial art. The common utilitarian objects depicted in this book were considered aesthetically insignificant until the appearance of Soetsu Yanagi. It was Yanagi who discovered the beauty that could only be produced by simple, humble craftsmen repeatedly and unselfconsciously working on the same objects day after day. From this quotidian world emerged a distinctive beauty-wholesome, free, and devoid of self-awareness. To bring these crafts to the notice of the world, Yanagi established the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in 1936, from whose collection the objects illustrated herein have been chosen for inclusion by the publisher. In the essays, Yanagi expounds his philosophy of folk crafts and highlights particular pieces. Altogether, the book constitutes a penetrating insight into the world of Japanese handicrafts.

Soetsu Yanagi: Selected Essays on Japanese Folk Crafts (JAPAN LIBRARY)

Sogetsu Yanagi

True stories of three little-known Japanese of the Edo period who lived lives of sublime selflessness and purity, blurring the boundary between self and others. Merchant Kokudaya Jūzaburō comes up with a brilliant scheme to rescue his dying town from poverty. He and others go deep into debt, risking all to raise money for the cash-strapped daimyo and receive annual interest in return. Prodigious scholar and former Zen monk Nakane Tōri refuses a government post and elects to live in abject poverty, weaving sandals. Though perhaps the age's greatest poet, he throws his works into the fire and ends his days teaching in a country village. Otagaki Rengetsu, a noted beauty in Kyoto, loses two husbands and five children. She becomes a Buddhist nun and devotes her life to poetry and pottery. With her savings she feeds the hungry and builds a bridge across Kamo River.

Unsung Heroes of Old Japan (JAPAN LIBRARY)

Michifumi Isoda

In this penetrating biography of Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931), one of Japan's foremost entrepreneurs, Shimada Masakazu traces Shibusawa's youth, when he witnessed the decay of Japan's feudal society and experienced the benefits of modernization at first hand in Europe; his service in the Ministry of Finance of the new Meiji government in its early years; and his venture into business and involvement in literally hundreds of companies as he set about building the roots of modern corporate Japan. Shimada also looks closely at Shibusawa's social activities and his insistence that economics and morals are inseparable. In troubled times like the present, when the limits of capitalism are being seen around the world, Shibusawa's vision is as relevant as ever.

The Entrepreneur Who Built Modern Japan: Shibusawa Eiichi

Shimada Masakazu

Young people in present-day Japan, a socially-polarized society, have been reportedly "unhappy." According to statistics, however, 80 percent of them are currently "satisfied" with life. By drawing attention to this very fact, The Happy Youth of a Desperate Country, a magnum opus by acclaimed sociologist Noritoshi Furuichi, has revoltionized the discourse on youth theory in Japan. Containing more than six hundred footnotes, this work offers a probing examination of the portrait of "young people" and serves as the definitive edition for anyone seeking to attain a wide-ranging grasp of Japan and its "young people," from a defining voice of their generation.

The Happy Youth of a Desperate Country (JAPAN LIBRARY)

Noritoshi Furuichi

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Books by Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture (JPIC)