Japanese English

While intensely attentive to its own tradition, Japanese literature has also embraced the outside world, particularly the influence of China. Beyond this, Japan boasts a powerful literary culture, made up of cultivated reading publics, both aristocratic and bourgeois, literary salons, specialized presses, authoritative judges of talent who cultivated and celebrated particular writers and styles, and a canon consisting of classics. This Very Short Introduction traces the rich history of Japanese literature from its beginnings over a millennium ago to the present day.

Japanese folklore is abundant with tales of ghostly creatures and the supernatural. In Haunted Japan, author Catrien Ross reveals the legends that have been passed down for generations and continue to terrify us today.

Master 50+ fluency-boosting Japanese idioms in 30 days, with this innovative, story-based immersion method. Just listen to one chapter per day, complete the exercises, and watch as one of the trickiest parts of becoming fluent in Japanese falls into place and improves your speech without a hitch!

Toothbrush? Check. Her special journal? Check! Eight-year-old Jasmine Toguchi—flamingo fan, tree climber, and top-notch messmaker—can hardly wait for her family vacation to Japan, and by the time their plane finally touches down, she’s ready to dive into their new adventure. There are so many things to see in Tokyo: Ramen Street, which she learns is not a whole street made of ramen; old temples with fancy gates; and Tokyo Tower, where you can even spot Mount Fuji on a good day.

Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki is the genius behind such animated classics as Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds. His bountiful imagination and compassion have earned him accolades the world over. Until the early 1990s, Miyazaki’s work was largely unfamiliar to American audiences. But that would soon change, and now fans of all ages eagerly await new material from the master.

According to the Japanese philosophy of Ikigai, the existence of each of us has a purpose, a real mission that must be pursued to find maximum gratification in our days. It is no coincidence that anyone who has discovered what their purpose is is happier, more satisfied, energetic, and able to face any difficulty that fate puts before them. Living life according to our ikigai leads to enormous benefits in personal and work relationships, and it allows us to act as fulfilled and successful people full of joy in carrying out our projects.

Journey to where the fog never lifts… Libelle, a city by the sea. Those who venture into its fog are said never to make it back alive—a murderous phenomenon that’s another of the Four Major Human Errors that has ravaged the world. But for Menou, it just may be the solution she’s looking for. To fulfill her role as Executioner, she needs to find a way to murder Akari, the girl who seems to spring back to life whenever she’s killed. Maybe this time, Menou will be successful in carrying out her duty.

Finding your ikigai—the thing that makes you jump out of bed in the morning—is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. The concept of ikigai is closely linked to the idea of finding one's passion in life. If you want to live a life of meaning and passion, you’ll have to start by facing your deepest fears and desiring a life worth living. If you don’t have this desire, your life becomes a journey of self-improvement with nothing else to define you. In this audiobook, you will learn what Ikigai is all about.

Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories brings together 15 stories that span Hisaye Yamamoto's 40-year career. It was her first book to be published in the United States. Yamamoto's themes include the cultural conflicts between the first generation, the Issei and their children, the Nisei; coping with prejudice; and the World War II internment of Japanese Americans.

普段ネイティブが日常的に使っているシンプルで短いフレーズを多く収録。英語初心者はもち ろん、そこそこ英語に自信がある方にもおすすめ。繰り返し聞き流すことでネイティブらしい言い回しが身につきます。 １巻から順番に聞かなくてもOKです。好きな巻数から始めてください。英語-日本語版を先に聞き流し、英語に慣れてきたら英語版のみを聞き流すのがオススメです。

Megan Kamalei Kakimoto's wrenching and sensational debut story collection follows a cast of mixed native Hawaiian and Japanese women through a contemporary landscape thick with inherited wisdom and the ghosts of colonization. This is a Hawai'i where unruly sexuality and generational memory overflow the postcard image of paradise and the boundaries of the real, where the superstitions born of the islands take on the weight of truth.

Naomi Osaka grew up in Japan and the US, with one foot in each place. But wherever she was, she loved to play tennis—and she worked hard at it too, always practicing and improving. Many people doubted that she would make it as a professional player, but she persisted and showed the world that she is a champion. Her talent on the court and her activism for racial justice and mental health causes off it have made Naomi an inspiration to fans everywhere.

In Japanese gardens, composition follows from placement of the first stone; all elements and plantings become interconnected. These eight essays on Kyoto gardens similarly begin with keen description and build into richly meditative excursions into art, Buddhism, nature, and science. Landscape architect Marc Keane shows how Japanese gardens are both a microcosm of the natural universe and a clear expression of our humanity, mirroring how we think, worship, and organize our lives and communities.

The incredible true story of the most spectacular aircraft-carrier battle in history - World War II's Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Here is the true account of those great and terrible days - by those who were there, in the thick of the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Drawing upon numerous interviews with American and Japanese veterans as well as official sources, Clash of the Carriers is an unforgettable testimonial to the bravery of those who fought and those who died in a battle that will never be forgotten.

Most efficient language-learning course ever designed for travelers. Each set contains over 90 minutes of speech: English, then foreign-language equivalent, followed by pause for repetition.

All in all, Japan seems to be a country of paradoxes and oppositions, of yin and yang. Yet it doesn’t seem to suffer from it; instead, it is thriving, growing, and developing, and it has been doing so for a long time. From those contradictions, a sense of unity and pride arose, guiding Japanese history and civilizational development through the ages, leaving an unquestionable mark on the world heritage and mankind. But this is only the surface of an astonishing culture that deserves a deeper look.

Eight-year-old Jasmine and her family travel to Hiroshima to visit her grandma and cousin Akari. After finally building a good relationship with her older sister, Sophie, Jasmine couldn't be more excited to spend time together in Japan—and make a new friend in Akari. But Akari seems to only want to play with Sophie, and Jasmine's jealousy threatens to upend their visit. Can Jasmine befriend Akari and keep the peace?

Eight-year-old Jasmine Toguchi is now an expert on travel and doesn't want summer to end! In this final book chronicling her family vacation in Japan, she visits Kyoto. And wowee zowee, on this vacation there is still lots more to see. This is their last stop, and Jasmine is thrilled to be enjoying the city with her older sister, Sophie, and her Obaachan who teaches her how to live in the moment. Sad to see their trip coming to an end, in true Jasmine fashion, she hatches a plan.

Before you take that trip to Japan, get a solid foundation of Japanese first! Start speaking Japanese in minutes and learn key vocabulary, phrases, and grammar in just minutes more with Absolute Beginner Japanese. Our native Japanese hosts break down all the sentences, grammar, and more in a simple, easily understandable way!

Start speaking Japanese in minutes, and grasp the language, culture, and customs in just minutes more with Lower Beginner Japanese, a completely new way to learn Japanese with ease! Lower Beginner Japanese will have you speaking with proper pronunciation from the very first lesson and arm you with cultural insight and other information to utterly shock and amaze your Japanese friends.