Japanese English

In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they'll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives. It's also run by talking cats.

The capture of a narwhal and the ensuing power struggle between the northern and southern districts of Kerube has Lawrence caught in the middle! Backed into a corner by his own trade guild, can the merchant find a way to extricate himself from this delicate situation? And what of the wolf bone from Holo's pack? Can the Wisewolf of Yoitsu manage to keep her rage and frustration in check?

From the authors of the New York Times best-selling The Heart of Everything That Is and Halsey's Typhoon comes the dramatic untold story of a daredevil bomber pilot and his misfit crew who fly their lone B-17 into the teeth of the Japanese Empire in 1943, engage in the longest dogfight in history, and change the momentum of the war in the Pacific - but not without making the ultimate sacrifice.

I've lived in this world killing slimes for 300 years...so when did I turn into a little kid?! I bet it was those mushrooms Halkara cooked... And now everyone in my family is trying to coddle me! Please, cut it out!

After botching a suicide attempt, salaryman Hanio Yamada decides to put his life up for sale in the classifieds section of a Tokyo newspaper. Soon interested parties come calling with increasingly bizarre requests and what follows is a madcap comedy of errors, involving a jealous husband, a drug-addled heiress, poisoned carrots - even a vampire. For someone who just wants to die, Hanio can't seem to catch a break, as he finds himself enmeshed in a continent-wide conspiracy that puts him in the crosshairs of both his own government and a powerful organized-crime syndicate.

In an immersive, exciting narrative nonfiction format, this powerful book follows a selection of people who experienced the 2011 Japan Tsunami.

Naofumi and his friends defeat the Spirit Tortoise after it rampages across the country. They leave in search of the other missing heroes and meet Ost along the way, who says she is one of the Spirit Tortoise's servants. She tells Naofumi that the Spirit Tortoise is still alive and that someone is pulling the strings to use the tortoise to destroy the world! Can Naofumi protect those he loves from this new danger?

Yahoo's lead baseball columnist offers an in-depth look at the most valuable commodity in sports - the pitching arm - and how its vulnerability to injury is hurting players and the game, from Little League to the majors.

An innovative new take on the travel guide, Rice, Noodle, Fish decodes Japan's extraordinary food culture through a mix of in-depth narrative and insider advice. In this 5,000-mile journey through the noodle shops, tempura temples, and teahouses of Japan, Matt Goulding, cocreator of the enormously popular Eat This, Not That! book series, navigates the intersection between food, history, and culture, creating one of the most ambitious and complete books ever written about Japanese culinary culture from the Western perspective.

There's a catfish under Japan, and when it rolls, the land rises and falls. At least, that's what Sora was told after she lost her mother to an earthquake so powerful that it cracked time itself. Sora and her father are some of the few who still live near the most powerful of these "zones"—the places where time has been irrevocably sped up, or slowed down.

Two years after waking up in a mysterious fantasy world, Kirito and his oddly human NPC friend, Eugeo, continue their quest to become Integrity Knights—and find Alice, who disappeared so long ago and yet has somehow lingered in the back of Kirito's mind. Their journey takes them to the Imperial Swordcraft Academy, where they must train to become two of the top twelve seats in the class to have even a hope of seeing Alice again. Meanwhile, as Asuna desperately searches for Kazuto Kirigaya, she stumbles across the deeper secret of his new world.

The Merciless Queen, a high-ranking commander unit for the Legion, has finally been taken into custody. Now the Federacy, the United Kingdom, and the Alliance of Wald can conduct a thorough analysis of this special Ameise, which houses the consciousness of Legion developer Zelene Birkenbaum. If their efforts bear fruit, they may learn the secret to stopping the Legion once and for all! In the meantime, the Federacy has decided to rest its battle-worn blades. The Eighty-Sixth Strike Package has been allowed leave for the first time in ages.

This history will be of interest to people who know nothing about Japan, but also full of insights for those who do. Lesley Downer takes the listener through the great sweep of Japanese history, focusing on the dramatic stories of larger-than-life individuals—from emperors descended from the Sun Goddess to warlords, samurai, merchants, court ladies, women warriors, geisha, and businessmen who shaped this extraordinary modern society.

Start speaking Japanese in minutes, and grasp the language, culture and customs in just minutes more with Absolute Beginner - Japanese, a completely new way to learn Japanese with ease! Absolute 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.

On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere.

Pacific War expert Mark Stille examines the key aspects of battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval encounter in history and probably the most decisive naval battle of the entire Pacific War, with new and insightful analysis and dismantles the myths surrounding the respective actions and overall performances of the two most important commanders in the battle, and the “lost victory” of the Japanese advance into Leyte Gulf that never happened.

Hearing rumors of a "leg bone of the wolf" being used as an artifact of the Church to showcase its power, Lawrence and Holo head to the site to gather more information. Holo can't just turn away from what might be a relic of her own kind, after all. Of course, upon arrival, the travelers find that the town is the center of a giant trade dispute! Seems that Col will be getting a lesson in microeconomics!

Flo is sick of Tokyo. She is stuck in a rut, her translation work has dried up, and she's in a relationship that's run its course. That's until she stumbles upon a mysterious book left by a drunken passenger on the Tokyo Subway.

In near-future Japan, Susie Sakamoto is mourning the loss of her husband and son to a plane crash. Alone in her big modern house, which feels like more of a prison, Susie spends her days drinking heavily and taking her anger out at the only “sentient” thing left in her life: Sunny, the annoying home robot her husband designed. Susie despises Sunny, and sometimes even gets a sinking feeling that Sunny is out to hurt her.

Japanese literary sensation Fuminori Nakamura’s latest novel is as a dark look into human psyche - what turns someone into a killer? Can it be something as small as a suggestion?