First published as Hanamushiro in 1948, the setting for The Flower Mat is eighteenth-century Japan, a time when familes were bound together by a rigid code of honor and individual lives were of necessity valued far less than the interests of the group.It tells of a young bride, Ichi, born into such a tradition, groomed in the virtues of ideal womanhood, and finally tempered by tragedy. Her life and fate are bound up inexorably with the fortunes ...
This fascinating novel reconstructs the story of Will Adams, a native of Gillingham, in Kent, England, and his voyage to Japan in the seventeenth century.Adams' knowledge of seafaring vessels at the time causes him to be taken into the favor of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and,in time,to become recognized as the founder of the Japanese navy. Adams was one of the most picturesque and daring of Britain's maritime traders, and this depictio ...
Kagero Nikki , translated here as The Gossamer Years , belongs to the same period as the celebrated Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikuibu.This remarkably frank autobiographical diary and personal confession attempts to describe a difficult relationship as it reveals two tempestuous decades of the author's unhappy marriage and her growing indignation at rival wives and mistresses. Too impetuous to be satisfied as a subsidiary wife, this bea ...
Harp of Burma is Japan's haunting answer to Germany's well-known requiem for the First World War, All Quiet on the Western Front . Winner of the prestigious Mainichi Shuppan Bunkasho prize, and the subject of an acclaimed film by Ichikawa Kon, Harp of Burma portrays a company of Japanese troops who are losing a desperate campaign against British forces in the tropical jungles of Burma. The young soldiers discover that the trials ...
Murder and mayhem are coupled with Japanese folklore and fable in this riveting tale of suspense.When the body of one of Nagano Prefecture's most prominent businessmen is found propped against a tree on Poison Plain, home of the legendary Demoness Maple, Inspector Takemura finds himself searching for the killer with the help and hindrance of an esteemed Tokyo professor and a beautiful university student. As the bodies begin to multiply in t ...
"One of the first and in many ways still one of the best books on Japan." —The Japan TimesFirst published in 1871, Tales of Old Japan has withstood the test of time and taken its place as one of the classic volumes of Japanese literature.The book presents a broad cross section of Japanese prose—historical tales like the famous story of the Forty–seven Ronin; nonfiction reporting on marriage, funerals and the auth ...
"A thunderbolt, full of lightning and excitement, one you won't put down until its last extraordinary page." — The Japan Times The violence of twelfth-century Japan explodes in this half-legendary, half-true story of a violent man who becomes a folk hero. A heartless savage, the Ronin, or «wandering samurai,» slashes his way up from the gutter to wealth, honor and status. In spite of his crime sand bloodthirsty cruelty, he ...
[b]This epic saga of brotherhood and rivalry, of loyalty and treachery, of victory and death, forms part of the indelible core of classical Chinese culture and continues to fascinate modern-day readers. In 220 EC, the 400-year-old rule of the mighty Han dynasty came to an end and three kingdoms contested for control of China. Liu Pei, the legitimate heir to the Han throne, elects to fight for his birthright and enlists the aid of his sworn broth ...
